Gettin Out

[Bobus2003]

Well, This weekend will be my last weekend of fulltime logging. Took a job running excavator for a construction company. gonna do this till the logging industry rebounds.. gonna be weird seeing my equipment sit idle in a field till who knows when.. Just gonna be nice too be makin money again  :D

May still do a little on the weekends but we'll see with what sounds like 6 day work weeks

[Woodhauler]

Good luck with the new job!!!! Only thing that would bother me after 25-30 years of being self employed would be punching a time clock! But one good thing you have is all you got invested in your new job is a lunch pail!  ;D

[Magicman]

Sometimes we all have to bite the bullet and make tough decisions.  Good luck with yours.  It'll be different, but at least $$$.

[Mark K]

Good luck on your new job. At least it will be a steady paycheck. How bad are markets out there? Around here things aren't great but we still can move wood and put food on the table. You will probably be back in before ya know it. Hope it all works out.

[aksawyer]

good luck with the new profession.I also have taken differant jobs from time to time,it is sometimes required to keep the food on the table.But once it gets in your blood the woods are imposible to leave.As a fourth generation logger/sawmiller I have always came back and with more excitment about what it is that we all do out there.Again good luck and I think well see back here soon.Aksawyer

[aksawyer]

By the way keep us posted and let us know when that skidder comes up for sale,I need some spare parts.Aksawyer

[J_T]

Me too :'( Sold my 225 last week traded the loader a while back .
Been doing re sawing got a few thousand 2x4's trying to figure what to do with  :

[Oldforester]

How bad are things out there?  We came through Rapid City Last Saturday and saw several truckloads of logs moving down I-90 to the mills (two mills along the highway)
so I thought things were not the worst there.
Course we had just come from Yellowstone NP and looking at all the fire killed timber for miles inside the East entrance set our tone.  Darned little reproduction for miles! and the fire was 22 years ago!
It looks as though the NPS has done a job of spinning things.
So given when we got to Rapid City and finally saw some forestry activity we thought things were looking up but apparently not!

[Bobus2003]

Theirs still a market for timber out here, Its just not that great.. With the 500,000+ Acres of Bug Affected Wood in the Hills the sawmills (3 Large, 2 Small) are being over loaded by USFS Emergency Sales. And on top of taht they arn't moving the Finished product as fast as they would like too see it go, so the mills are running at 75%. So for the last Year they have been jerkin the little guy around. I've had more contracts given and cancelled in the last year than i ever thought possible.. Many of the big Mechanized Companies are making a killing, gettin in on these USFS sales.. But the mills not paying enough for the small guy to make any money logging the small private tracts.. So i Figure i'll get out until it turns around.. Cause sitting on Piles of loads in the woods doesn't pay the bills..

[Chuck White]

Back in the 70-early 80's, I was stationed at Ellsworth AFB and spent most of my off-duty time exploring the Black Hills.

Sure is some beautiful country.

Wish you the best of luck changing careers, even though hopefully it'll only be temporary.

[barbender]

Hey Bobus- sorry to hear that but running an excavator is not to bad of a gig, I know you'd rather be in the woods. It gets old always having to worry if you can get rid of your wood, I think you made a wise choice, especially if you can sit on your equipment til things turn around.

[ErikC]

 I have ran heavy equipment, including excavator, for construction companies a few times when everything else was slow. I always enjoyed it but never stuck with it over a few months time at a stretch. Probably what you'll end up doing I bet. 8)