couple pics... post what your currently cutting

[mike_belben]

they all say that but theyll fold. 

[mudfarmer]

Barge (or anyone else) I have been wondering, how do you guys buck for grade from a loader cab with a slasher? ??? That looks like maybe small heart maple on the slasher, do you just run it to specs without worrying, can you see better than I think, or only slash low grade or?? You don't have to give away trade secrets if ya don't want to but if it's something obvious I'm missing someone call it out please

[doc henderson]

@BargeMonkey what info do you have on the "vaccine death".  I just want to follow up on that.  What county?  feel free to respond in private if you prefer.  thanks.  Doc.

[BargeMonkey]

Honestly I haven't cut 100 trees with a saw in 10yrs without the saw, guys make it out to be more than it is. Grab them with the loader, roll them around and cut for the best. Here 9-10' is best, 8 works, 12' if its select-#1 or lower. No issues cutting GOOD wood behind a slasher. 


 
2nd bunk to the back is 8'6, 3rd is 10'6, 4th is 12'6, single post is 14'6", end of the tongue is 16'6", my other saw has bunks out to 20'. Only time I have an issue is cutting 8' on the nose for white pine pulp, maybe 1-2" either way. 


 

 only reason I plan to go circle saw is because of volume, delimber pounds wood to a barsaw. 
One of my guys got some nice Deere pictures today. 😆
 

 The funny part is we own 55 ? Pieces of iron, 32 are Deere ? And Nortrax wont give us the time of day. 

[stavebuyer]

Barge (or anyone else) I have been wondering, how do you guys buck for grade from a loader cab with a slasher? ??? That looks like maybe small heart maple on the slasher, do you just run it to specs without worrying, can you see better than I think, or only slash low grade or?? You don't have to give away trade secrets if ya don't want to but if it's something obvious I'm missing someone call it out please

I used to buy for a veneer mill and bought a lot of it standing.  I spent a considerable amount of time marking the veneer trees before the harvest as well as where they needed to be blocked up on the landing.
A third of the value(minimum) is in how the tree is cut up.
I have watched in horror as a loader man with a slasher pulled a large tree length white oak past the cut mark and slash it past the cut mark ruining the value of the second log because of its size it they couldn't move it backwards.
One thing I have seen work out fairly well is cutting the veneer logs just past the first visible knot. Wastes some of the second cut but saves whatever veneer is there and keeps it from splitting.
Generally not near as much of an issue with saw logs but you are correct. The greatly increased production has a cost in recovery and yield. Middle of the road timber probably favors production. High dollar trees it very much pays to put a tape, calculator, and chainsaw to work.
I made a lot of money pulling 16' prime saw logs out of the pile cutting them back to 10'6"  because who ever blocked them found it expedient to cut the tree in half and toss it on the truck

[nativewolf]

@stavebuyer Very good advice.  We had come to the same place, but have learned that not only is it better to cut that veneer log off but that it is sometimes possible to make just as much money on a 9' log as a 10' log due to high taper in logs like WO.  Just pick up 1 inch in diameter.  Then you have a chance of getting a second log or maybe 2 or 3 upper logs.  Our issue is accurately measuring the diameter on logs on the ground.  Oh well, we're getting better but still have some improvements to make.  I suppose it also matters what veneers are being bought, WO is pretty flexible YP seems less so.  

Our WO quartersaw buyer will take 7' logs or even 6' if really large so the the math gets a bit complex.  However we don't touch barge's production.  

[mudfarmer]

Thanks all!

[nativewolf]

Honestly I haven't cut 100 trees with a saw in 10yrs without the saw, guys make it out to be more than it is. Grab them with the loader, roll them around and cut for the best. Here 9-10' is best, 8 works, 12' if its select-#1 or lower. No issues cutting GOOD wood behind a slasher.


 
2nd bunk to the back is 8'6, 3rd is 10'6, 4th is 12'6, single post is 14'6", end of the tongue is 16'6", my other saw has bunks out to 20'. Only time I have an issue is cutting 8' on the nose for white pine pulp, maybe 1-2" either way.


 

 only reason I plan to go circle saw is because of volume, delimber pounds wood to a barsaw.
One of my guys got some nice Deere pictures today. 😆
 

 The funny part is we own 55 ? Pieces of iron, 32 are Deere ? And Nortrax wont give us the time of day.

See...32 JD machines and not the time of day.  Same thing here in VA.  JD sold me on Ponsse.

[Skeans1]

@stavebuyer Very good advice.  We had come to the same place, but have learned that not only is it better to cut that veneer log off but that it is sometimes possible to make just as much money on a 9' log as a 10' log due to high taper in logs like WO.  Just pick up 1 inch in diameter.  Then you have a chance of getting a second log or maybe 2 or 3 upper logs.  Our issue is accurately measuring the diameter on logs on the ground.  Oh well, we're getting better but still have some improvements to make.  I suppose it also matters what veneers are being bought, WO is pretty flexible YP seems less so.  

Our WO quartersaw buyer will take 7' logs or even 6' if really large so the the math gets a bit complex.  However we don't touch barge's production.  

You need a diameter tape, a 75 foot log tape has the option to have a diameter tape on the backside of the roll. If I'm cutting poles or something and really need the accuracy I'll carry an actual diameter tape with me vs using 75' tape.

[mike_belben]

A third of the value(minimum) is in how the tree is cut up.

bam.  like x10.  read that sentence over and over wannabe lurker loggers.  over and over.


i have never been on a logging crew.  but i have had just enough fuel to get my load to the mill and then need the convenience store next to it to "cash" the mills check for a fee to fuel my way back.  the south is well arranged for poor people logging themselves to death.

if you wanna learn how to buck logs, throw away all your money and cut a few of your best sticks wrong.  stick that saw 6 inches into the wrong spot and watch the money you really really need, fall through your fingers. youll never forget it.

yeah, johnny logger can tell you all the years he's been a cutter and how many mbf he lays up and all that. the guy who has always been hired and paid hourly is not gonna have the same thoughts as a guy who is paid by the grade of timber he delivers. when you look at johnny's work with a tape measure, or talk to the scaler right after johnny drops a load of his bosses wood off and the scaler says 'that guy leaves $150 on the table in every single load and hes been doing it for years'  ... well  ...

johnny is more a man than i am but "fast" and "been doin this forever" does NOT automatically mean particularly good at it in every sense that 'good' can cover.  sometimes slow pays a lot more.

i will measure a whole tree 3x with hatchet marks and probably make 2 phone calls before i cut it, if its anything special at all because i found out i cant afford to log.  i especially cant afford to log wrong. i might as well just stay home and mail money to strangers because its an easier way to arrive at the same destination.

[Skeans1]

 

 This little saw followed me home the shop the other day it's light and smooth a lot like my 562's have been. Now to what I really think of this thing it seems low on power to put it nicely compared to a 372 I've been running a 28 with full comp on it and it's not a high winder or a grunt machine. Time will tell if this one stays or takes a hike but I'll keep it for a little longer to give it a fair shake down but for much more then limbing and light bucking I'm not seeing a good place for this girl.

[barbender]

I've never ran a slasher, but I've spent a fair amount of time in CTL processors and I can't see how you could buck really high grade veneer or saw logs from the cab. You just can't see enough, and you can't roll it- I guess if you were really going to screw around and delimb and top the whole stem and then roll it around. Like Stavebuyer said, for medium grade production, absolutely. Our operators only know production, I'm always heartbroken when we get into really nice hardwood because we just don't do it justice.

[Plankton]

Running veneer through a slasher seems like a waste to me. Production is one thing but when your messing up high dollar logs just to get them on the truck faster your losing money. 

We are all about production but when we get into high grade we get out hand chop and buck. Not worth the possibility of ruining veneer in the harvester or the buncher. Usually cut around them then go back and get them at the end.

[burdman_22]

Been cutting a lot (for me) lately, but haven't had time to post. This red oak was cut down in a local yard....they saved me the bottom 36 feet. The butt of the log was 38 inches in diameter.



 

Bucked this bad boy into four sections. One 14 ft long and the rest about 7.5 ft long. (I dont normally buck with my big saw...but my little one was too small this time)



 

Used the 14 ft section to cut countertops 2.25" thick.



 


 

The wood was so nice I decided I wanted some 4/4 lumber, but the log was so large and also in someone's back yard that my only option was to cut into cants and haul out to be milled later. Ended up with 18 cants, each 6.25 inches thick and varying widths. Will turn them on end and mill them into 1x6's on a bandsaw mill tomorrow.



 



 



 



 



 

 

(Also ended up with some cookies, and no, I am not sitting down in any of the pictures...though I am starting to wish I had a larger bar on my chainsaw...)



 

 

 

 

[Dan_Shade]

Very nice, did you cut out the cants with a chainsaw? 

[Firewoodjoe]

When I was on a slasher crew I marked out the cuts and X the butt when I trimmed the trees. Then the skidder would drag it up to the slasher he could just cut on my marks. Even then the cuts would get missed by inches some times feet. But I do believe they didn't loose that much money in it. My theory was the mill didn't treat the logger right in veneer anyways. The logger has to sort that out and sell it themselves to get the good money. Well when the mill will give you straight pay down to 10" and you can slash 60-100 cord a day or more sometimes it wasn't worth the loss in production. Not only wood production but trucks are waiting, land owners/next job is waiting, weather is coming, bank wants there money on and on. Those guys just want volume! 

[chevytaHOE5674]

All my CTL processor time was contract cutting for a veneer mill and I did 99% of my bucking from the cab without getting out. Know your grading rules and many trees its very obvious where to buck. Others I would knock the top and obvious pulp wood out then grab the log and pick it up and spin it around and buck accordingly.

The other 1% of the time was a Birdseye tree or something and I would get out and mark it up with a can of paint and then hope back in and cut it up.

Our forester was always happy that our actual veneer and #1 log volumes came out better than their estimates. 

[teakwood]

 This little saw followed me home the shop the other day it's light and smooth a lot like my 562's have been. Now to what I really think of this thing it seems low on power to put it nicely compared to a 372 I've been running a 28 with full comp on it and it's not a high winder or a grunt machine. Time will tell if this one stays or takes a hike but I'll keep it for a little longer to give it a fair shake down but for much more then limbing and light bucking I'm not seeing a good place for this girl.

What's the model of the saw? 661?  The saw in the back is a 500i, known by their futuristic looking filter cover

[Skeans1]

@teakwood 
That's a 462 mtronic saw, the 500 is a completely different animal wanting a lot of aggressive chain with a lot of cutters. If I'm sharpening chains I adjust my grind to be about like my 395 would use on a 32 or 36 to run on the 500. As far as the 661 no thank you I'll stick to the 395's that'll out run the 66's any day of the week and still pull long bar nicely.

[mike_belben]

Are your 395s stock or ported?

[mike_belben]

When i first saw this pic i thought oh man, heres a youtube logger with a fat credit card and a new toy.  But im glad to see youre actually a guy with a use for the CCs and willing to bust your butt for the wood.  Thats hard work right there.  Nice job.

[Skeans1]

Are your 395s stock or ported?

This one is just ported the last one had a lot more work done to it besides porting.

[Firewoodjoe]

All my CTL processor time was contract cutting for a veneer mill and I did 99% of my bucking from the cab without getting out. Know your grading rules and many trees its very obvious where to buck. Others I would knock the top and obvious pulp wood out then grab the log and pick it up and spin it around and buck accordingly.

The other 1% of the time was a Birdseye tree or something and I would get out and mark it up with a can of paint and then hope back in and cut it up.

Our forester was always happy that our actual veneer and #1 log volumes came out better than their estimates.

Yeah a harvester has much better view than a slasher with trailer mount saw. Almost everyone around here uses ctl now a days. They work slick. Just big coin. But most mills don't want the good trees cut by anything but a hand cutter. I got another offer to fell a big hardwood sale. I just don't have the time. I think I could stay busy just contract felling. 

[dustintheblood]

Well folks, it's been a h*ll of a year and a heck of a view.

Things are okay, but not what they could be.  Things are stuck in neutral and when I try to get it in gear, the shifter just grinds.

No worries though as I know I'm in this for the long haul and nothing will compromise my integrity, commitment to my forest, or the clients I serve.

Filling my time doing arborist stuff (loving the heights and calculated risk), managing a land clearing job (ripping and shipping), and still maintaining the project management of the big sawmill up north (short construction seasons suck).

Training hard, working harder, beating my body up, and repeating.

Five generations precede me on this land, and although I didn't have kids, I'll find a way to leave a legacy of stewardship and good neighbouring

[Southside]

@Skeans1 Who does your porting / work up?