in time the woods wears a man down.

[lynde37avery]

me and my uncle worked a solid 7 hrs today cutting/skidding hardwood.
pretty much i fell asleep in the easy chair 5 min after i got in for an hr. my uncle went right home to his kid/grandson.
he told me and i could see he was real worn down about 4 pm today. hiking in the snow, cutting big timber. it was windy at 17*F not a bad temp but bearable. for our work.
im just curious but is most men in there 50's that have run a cable skidder 35 years about like this? after 4 or 5 or so in the afternoon the guys just whipped straight? i feel bad. maybe i worked him too hard.

anyone have those days where ya just cant warm up n feel like dog poo when you get home?

[SquareG]

I'm tired of winter also.

[coxy]

I feel that way just thinking about going to work in the morning in this weather  :D :D :D :D  I am not in my 50s but some days I feel like I cut 20000 feet and only cut 3000  :D :D :D :D

[Maine logger88]

We have been working from about 8 by the time everything is going to 4 to 5 and by the time I get home I'm pretty tired and if I'm not then I didn't cut enough

[snowstorm]

thats why when you get old you buy machines. this is how i do it. start harvester or fowarder let it run for 15min. while i wait it the warm truck. by the time i get into the site the cab is warm. take jacket off for the rest of the day. end of day start truck let it run for 10 min. then go home. if nothing breaks you go home just as clean as you left. 2 gallons of chainsaw gas would last me 6 months. it dose cost a lot more to go mechanical a lot more. but to me its worth it

[Corley5]

Hand cutting with a chainsaw and dragging cable would be really hard in this country this winter.   

[Southside]

I think the weather makes it worse, 10 minutes before reading this I asked my wife when we got old.  Even though I have a processor I end up with a saw in my hands more days than not, and end up pulling cable behind the grapple - one man operation, wet non frozen ground, and trying to leave a savanah type finish on this lot.  One bad thing about a big grapple skidder - she is a long way up into the seat.

[loggerboy9325]

thats why when you get old you buy machines. this is how i do it. start harvester or fowarder let it run for 15min. while i wait it the warm truck. by the time i get into the site the cab is warm. take jacket off for the rest of the day. end of day start truck let it run for 10 min. then go home. if nothing breaks you go home just as clean as you left. 2 gallons of chainsaw gas would last me 6 months. it dose cost a lot more to go mechanical a lot more. but to me its worth it

living the good life sometimes I wish My dad and I could go fully mechanical. But its not in our budget and it aint our style. I havent seen a delimber that could delimb a hard wood tree successfully.

[CCC4]

Dude...you're 28! Buck up! LMAO! Just messing with ya...

[plasticweld]

I am not that far from 55, everyone that works for me is younger some by almost half. I work every day to make them look bad production wise and can normally pull it off. With old age and experience their are very few wasted moves, very few mistakes. The two other young guys that cut and skid with me run another of my machines a C6 I run my old 240 and normally tree for tree cut either just as much or more in a day, I also work a longer day and start a little earlier. I learned a long time ago a early start is the key, every mistake costs about 20 minutes of production. I fall a sleep in my chair every night, I work until there is nothing left. I know my old partner who passed away at 84 worked in the woods until he was 72 so I have no excuses. I would rather have this cold than the heat that seems to take far more out of me

[jwilly3879]

Working in the cold definitely seems to make me more tired, 20 minute ride home in a warm truck, take off everything down to long underwear, hit the couch for an hour or so and I'm rested and ready for dinner.

[Nemologger]

When I was in my early teens and early 20's It was nothing to go to work and work 10 hours a day cutting big timber, Me and another guy made 1 cent a foot each. We would sometimes make 6-700 per week each. Run like 5 gallons of gas through our saws a day. Running a Stihl 051 and a 225 Jack. Smoked 2 packs of winstons a day. Go to the tavern every night and close it down.                                                                                                                                                                                               
  Now Im 53, I still hand cut but not 10 hours a day, more like 6. Run grapple skidders with heat and air. Don't go to any taverns, anytime. Quit smoking years ago. Still ain't seen a 60,000 ft. week in years...lol...Makes a person wish he had his head out of his a$$ when he was younger... Father time takes his toll.

[Ianab]

In the cold you are wearing heavy clothes just to stay warm, everything you do takes more effort.

If you are beat at 4:00, you should probably call it a day. You make mistakes when you are tired, and they could be fatal.

Heat has a similar effect too....

Ian

[HiTech]

I have a friend that says if you give it a good 6 solid hrs. of work a day you are beat. This guys moves a lot of wood. I stepped off my skidder today and went into waist deep snow, could barely get the cable to the trees. Almost didn't get them out and said,"that's it". It's no fun like that and a person could get hurt. May take the skidder and try to make some trails today. It's been a tough winter. If the snow settles some it won't be a s bad. If it's not below zero it is snowing. I have 6 below this morning and is supposed to go to 20 below tonight. May just stay home and feed the wood stove. lol

[David-L]

I plan on Six hrs a day in this cold weather, I am 51 and go to the chiropractor every two weeks and take Turmeric for the arthritis and inflamation and I swear by it. Everything usually hurts by the end of the day as I still pull cable and set chokers. Getting on the Timberjack has helped the last few years as climbing up on the old 440B wasn't working for me anymore.  I find that when hand chopping the level of concentration can also wear you out ,especially when your cutting big hardwoods that need to land right as not to destroy the understory. What i have learned in this game is when things start breaking and going wrong to walk away and it will all be there for you tomorrow to try again.  Had an old farmer friend always say at his ending days god rest his soul, " make sure they bury me with my John Deere as there has never been a hole she hasn't gotten me out of "

                                            David l

[coxy]

I   Had an old farmer friend always say at his ending days god rest his soul, " make sure they bury me with my John Deere as there has never been a hole she hasn't gotten me out of "

                                            David l

I like that saying never heard that be for  must have been a great guy to say that ;D ;D

[Stephen Alford]

   Your uncle is lucky to have a man working with him thats got his back.  Once your over 50 I think its a good idea to have a physical  every year.  It is made easy for you here because if you do not have one they will downgrade your drivers license.  :-\ More often than not a bad sitch can be avoided with a little maintenance prevention.  Not much difference than the ol skidder really, just easier to fix at the landing.   ;)

[Woodboogah]

I would rather the cold then the heat.  The cold definatley take more out of you, makes for a good nights sleep.  Have to be a little more careful when it comes to breaking stuff.  I leave a little later when its cold let the sun hit the machine for a bit, stay till dark.  In the summer it takes all I have to stay in the woods.  I hate hot humid days. 

[Ed_K]

 I'd rather cold than hot,but not this cold  .I worked a short day yesterday as I had to go to the book keeper.I cut one 26" s/maple brought out 4 saw logs and 1/2 cord of wood out of the tree.The hour ride to the job,the cold to get skidder started,14" of snow and a skid rd that has 2 steep hills up out and in the cut is still wet doesn't help.I quit when I slipped getting on the skidder and had to pick myself out of the snow,worked from 11:00 to 3:00 and I was beat.
I really would like heat & air but it's to late for a one person op to change now.

[Corley5]

I'll take the cold too within reason.  It's still -1 here right now.  The three feet of snow on the ground is making it hard for the forwarder to get around.  Even though it's this cold I'm not wishing it was 95.  Sixty to sixty five would be just about right

[Autocar]

Iam 66 and I haven't worked sence new years day, twenty inches of snow dragging a saw around climbing up in my grapple skidder wears me out. Even with no snow and average temperarure by 2:00 or so Iam done cutting timber maybe a hour and half longer if I don't stop to eat. Let me stop for a half hour to a hour Iam shoot. I just got off the phone with a log buyer and told him Iam ashamed I haven't been working but Iam starting to realize what I can and can't do anymore. And when the weather breaks I'll get back at it not as fast but still enough that when I go home Iam satisfied and tired  :D My mind still thinks like Iam twenty but my body disagrees and its hard for me to change my mind if that makes any sence to you.

[SquareG]

When it warms up it will be to muddy.  I'll take summer.  It's always dry ground.  I don't take the heat any better than anybody else, but I'm going to starve at this rate.  And the sawmills are hungrier in summer.  Got alot done last summer by my standard.  4am to 2.

[cutter88]

well im a long way off 50 and after 8 or 9 hours cutting and skidding with my 640 deere in snow almost to my waist in the big maple I can hardly stay awake to eat my supper lol

[SquareG]

I'd like to think I'm half tuff, but there's a bunch of you twice what I am.  Conditions aren't near that bad here, and I ain't gettin nothin done for skidding or trucking.  Knocking some down.  Even my pickup quits with a couple feet of snow.

[SwampDonkey]

Good honest days work, and the wife knows where ya are after supper. :D Nothing easy about woods work, but sometimes it seems so when you get a little boost in pay and production for a time. ;)


Just some fodder here. ;)
Some fellas are burning lots of chain saw gas, 5 gallons/day? I suppose it's the size of the saws.   I'm just comparing to a brush saw here, only 57 cc's, but I can only burn at most 1 gallon in 8 hours and that would have to be real thick ground with the saw screaming. Normal cutting I can use a 5 gallon jug 7 or 8 days. I get 50 min in thick ground and up to 1 hr and 45 mins in very light plantation. We were on one site this year and I cut 2.5 acres 4 days in succession.  On 4 - 5 tanks a day for $400 ain't bad. Was very light, lots of walking, but not much cut'n. Some of the fellows said, 'what?' There's the strip on the map, there's the gas jug. I like them light strips. Sometimes it's a pain to have to go searching for the gas jug along the edge of the work strip though. Ah, back there 50 yards. Need a gas boy. ;D Sometimes we have a 600 yard walk to the back of a strip, if it ain't too hilly we work from the back to the front, shorter walk each day. Gotta work smart at times. But if it's all hill gotta start from the bottom and work up. Top of the hill could be at the road or the back. ;)

[SquareG]

I know what your referring to.  I noticed that too.  I don't think my 90 cc would burn 5 gal in 12 hr blocking firewood like a wild man, but there's bigger saws I guess.  But then he said 30000 ft a day.  Thats 12 10 wheelers.

[SwampDonkey]

2 saws are only going to consume so much, maybe they have one in each hand. ;D

[SquareG]

Don't want to doubt it though, heard impressive #'s too often.  Probably should reconsider 5 gal on 660.  Burned 1.5 today in 6 hrs, and walking alot.  If clear cutting big trees, maybe so.  But those footage #'s, lordy moses.  I guess I might have knocked down and limbed 3000, it you count the firewood, doubt it though.

[HiTech]

I plan on Six hrs a day in this cold weather, I am 51 and go to the chiropractor every two weeks and take Turmeric for the arthritis and inflamation and I swear by it. Everything usually hurts by the end of the day as I still pull cable and set chokers. Getting on the Timberjack has helped the last few years as climbing up on the old 440B wasn't working for me anymore.  I find that when hand chopping the level of concentration can also wear you out ,especially when your cutting big hardwoods that need to land right as not to destroy the understory. What i have learned in this game is when things start breaking and going wrong to walk away and it will all be there for you tomorrow to try again.  Had an old farmer friend always say at his ending days god rest his soul, " make sure they bury me with my John Deere as there has never been a hole she hasn't gotten me out of "

                                            David l

I was ready for a knee replacement...stiffness, pain/swelling and inflammation. Couldn't get around some days. About 3 months before the cut a friend stopped by to see me one day and she is a nurse. I told her of my upcoming surgery. She poked and prodded my knee/leg and told me there was nothing wrong with it but lack of fluid. She asked how much water I drink in a day. I told her coffee, soft drink, ice tea, etc. . She went and got me a glass of water and made me drink it. I had a hard time getting it down. About a half hour later she made me drink another. When my body started processing the water you wouldn't believe how thirsty I really was. I drink water faithfully every day now and never got the knee operation. No more pain in my joints or muscles. Amazing what water can do for you. The Surgeon wouldn't tell me that, he wanted his big bucks. Everyone I ever asked say they drink plenty of water when in truth they barely wet their lips.

[thecfarm]

Winter I don't drink as much as summer. But I still drink alot of water,just don't carry around a jug like in the summer.

[SwampDonkey]

I  drink lots of water especially when working in the bush with a brush saw. It leeks out of me everywhere in the heat. We have a hard head working with us, that I expect his heart to explode some day out there. Doesn't drink water or eat anything all day, and sucks on cigarettes. That's just being stupid and I don't mind saying it. My water glass at the house is a big half litre glass mug, I use it often. ;D

[coxy]

I don't eat   only dinner in the summer but drink a ton of water  the food makes me sick in the heat 

[SwampDonkey]

By not eating your energy levels are getting low. Then when you gorge a big dinner and go to bed that ain't good neither. I like to have a little snack between my noon sandwich, like a banana or dried fruit (figs, dates) and nuts. I've never been sick that way. However I have seen sickness of others from lack of water and food, heat stroke.

[SquareG]

I've heard of heat stroke too from not eating anything.  The "victim" went to the doctor.  Said eat some, or gatoraid, with the water.

[Ed_K]

Pass a kidney stone and I garrantee you'll drink more water.It's hard to keep water in the truck,on the skidder and on the tractor in this weather tho  ;D.
I keep a gateraid bottles with 1/2 juice 1/2 water and table spoon of lemon juice to keep hydrated.

[240b]

Well, this is timley thread.  I the last week, I have run into two guys who both cable log/hand cut..(both are highly respected loogers around here) they are in the their mid fifties. I was shocked at the state they are in, both, just worn out.. knees, shoulders, hands curled up like claws.. It really makes you wonder.  I am 44 now and can still manage 10 cords a day avg. But I mostly credit that to the fact that I can run the skidder in my sleep and make very few of the mistakes I did in my younger years, felling..(Equipment seems to wear out instead of getting smashed).  Buying logging supplies is a fun, I get the same response " nobody works with a cable skidder now!, you need a grapple."  Yeah, I think lets lose money faster..  I am really starting to think working in the winter is just NOT worth it.. Short days, cold weather, mills getting filled up in two days by the big guys..  the markets used to be better in the winter but seem to be the same year round now..  Maybe its just this long cold winter we are having, but the truckers seem to be burned out already and we have another month to go.. Heck they are all older too.. there just is a general lack of young people willing or able to to this.. Talking with a friend over the weekend who owns a large trucking/ logging outfit..He was saying if they had to cut any thing by hand, he only knew a couple people who were able, and they worked for themselves already, so he'd be out of luck..  The owner of the saw shop said," there are only a couple loggers left in the county, there are a bunch of equipment operators handling wood though."

[SwampDonkey]

Young people cannot get the loans to buy them trucks and processors. The banks up here are real tight with money. Even the mills have to borrow from the government or get loan guarantees from them. They don't want to give a little, but don't mind making a lot. ;D

[Woodboogah]

I am only 30 and think about how my body will be in another 20 or so years.  I love what I do, I try to be smart about the moves I make, when to make them, etc.   I have no ambition to get any bigger then a one man show with a cable machine, maybe diversify, sell firewood or something.  I hope doing a good job, taking pride in what  I do keeps me busy.  Some days are frustrating with breakdowns and just general bad days, everyone has them.  At the end of the day  I love what I do and I wouldnt change it, especially with mechanized equipment!

[jwilly3879]

My son is 46, chiropractor every week and on 3/5 he goes in for surgery on this elbow, they call it tennis elbow but he says I never played tennis. He will be out of work for 8 weeks. He did try to schedule it for posted road season, last year they went up 3/9. The grandson plans on skidding his own hitches if the roads are still open. He will get a bigger share then.

[plasticweld]

I would bet that any logger in his 50s can do more than just about anyone else in any other trade. While some here seem to show signs of wear and tear I look around at the over weight out of shape of other men my age and give logging the credit for keeping me in good shape. I don't know any logger who had to order some late night exercise  tapes to get into shape. I bet no one here belongs to a gym, or runs on weekends. I would be surprised to find any of you that suffer sleepless nights. So your knees hurt, your back is sore and your tired, Suck it butter cup your loggers not accountants and paper pushers.  Who after all gets to share a great story and a scar to go with it. I remember the story line in Jaws when the two guys are comparing scars with each other and how they got them, that's what real men do; I don't think and office workers do that. We do cool stuff, run lots of cool equipment and do things that most can not. If all we are is tired and sore then we are still ahead of the rest of the world, at least in my demented little mind

[Ryan D]

I would bet that any logger in his 50s can do more than just about anyone else in any other trade. While some here seem to show signs of wear and tear I look around at the over weight out of shape of other men my age and give logging the credit for keeping me in good shape. I don't know any logger who had to order some late night exercise  tapes to get into shape. I bet no one here belongs to a gym, or runs on weekends. I would be surprised to find any of you that suffer sleepless nights. So your knees hurt, your back is sore and your tired, Suck it butter cup your loggers not accountants and paper pushers.  Who after all gets to share a great story and a scar to go with it. I remember the story line in Jaws when the two guys are comparing scars with each other and how they got them, that's what real men do; I don't think and office workers do that. We do cool stuff, run lots of cool equipment and do things that most can not. If all we are is tired and sore then we are still ahead of the rest of the world, at least in my demented little mind

I do powerlifting in the winter and play rugby all summer on top of logging. It's pretty tough to get out of bed most days but in a sadistic kind of way I enjoy the pain. You're right about the sleep though. Usually takes me all of 30 seconds to be lights out when my head hits the pillow.

[M_S_S]

Autocar I know what you are talking about lol. I am 68, be 69 this summer. I am a real cowboy and a firewood cutter. In the spring and summer I take care of about 800 mother cows and their calves, I am horseback every day. When the cattle are shipped in the fall I cut firewood. I am in partners with a young fellow(34). He works a full time job and only cuts on his time off. Lol I am there everyday, but when he is there he does 75% of the work, he takes care of the old man. Getting old is not for imps lol. ED

[dustyjay]

I am only 30 and think about how my body will be in another 20 or so years.  I love what I do, I try to be smart about the moves I make, when to make them, etc.   I have no ambition to get any bigger then a one man show with a cable machine, maybe diversify, sell firewood or something.  I hope doing a good job, taking pride in what  I do keeps me busy.  Some days are frustrating with breakdowns and just general bad days, everyone has them.  At the end of the day  I love what I do and I wouldnt change it, especially with mechanized equipment!

I've spent days working with a farmi winch, days working with cable skidder operators, and days working cutting and skidding with my horses. At the end of the horse days I'm feeling much healthier and not just dead form the pace. Volume's another topic- I can't move nearly as much, but the pacing is different, and healthier I think. All the big volume jobs around here go to "machine operators," as  240b said, anyway.

[plasticweld]

Quote from:Ryan D on February 12, 2014, 05:35:51 pm
I do powerlifting in the winter and play rugby all summer on top of logging. It's pretty tough to get out of bed most days but in a sadistic kind of way I enjoy the pain. You're right about the sleep though. Usually takes me all of 30 seconds to be lights out when my head hits the pillow.
[/quote]

I also spend my off time in a quiet safe environment with no challenges

My son and I at Summit Point race track

 

[Black_Bear]

living the good life sometimes I wish My dad and I could go fully mechanical. But its not in our budget and it aint our style. I havent seen a delimber that could delimb a hard wood tree successfully.

If you ever get to northern New England I can show you one or two successful hardwood delimbers; Cat or JD carriers, with the Propac forestry package being a popular stroke delimbing head up here. 300-400 cord per week of hardwood, mostly beech/birch/maple, delimbed within mill specs - well, most of it anyway.

Ed

[SwampDonkey]

That works in northern New England because of piece size. You drive up to a 40 inch rock maple or yellow birch with limbs as big as most trees that machine is limbing and the maple/birch will win. I was just thinning beside a harvest block that was on going this past fall, and those big old bruisers were left to stand. And it wasn't because they was thinking of the owls. Those big ones look smaller out by the road looking in, then they do when your standing beside them. :D

[Black_Bear]

That works in northern New England because of piece size. You drive up to a 40 inch rock maple or yellow birch with limbs as big as most trees that machine is limbing and the maple/birch will win. I was just thinning beside a harvest block that was on going this past fall, and those big old bruisers were left to stand. And it wasn't because they was thinking of the owls. Those big ones look smaller out by the road looking in, then they do when your standing beside them. :D

Certification standards require us to leave wildlife trees throughout a final harvest. Most of the oversized trees, such as the maple and birch you're writing about, are left standing. The yellow birch with the expanded crowns are the worst, but the operator can take his time and keep rolling the tree to get it clean. The majority of the stems require 1 or 2 stroke lengths and a topping - it goes pretty quick and the trees are clean.

[SwampDonkey]

I'll tell ya exactly what I've experienced about wildlife trees because I've been involved in way more strict environmental practices than most with BC's Forest Practices codes in the 1990's. When wildlife tree were left they were the poorest growth of woods left in patches where all the best timber was removed around them, so you had islands of crap timber left in a clear cut. That was your wildlife trees. ;)

[stoneeaglefarm]

If ya hand chop and pull cable like us old bucks, I am 55, and you can get more than 6 hard hours in during a winter like this than you should be on the cover of a magazine. Three things keep us old farts going, Luck, more luck and we just love what we do. Take some glucosomine, drink alot of water during the day and do not slow down to much. If your uncle is over 50 and still hand chopping decent amounts of wood all the power to him.