truck logs yourself or hire it out

[MICKEY108]

i log by myself part-time cut about 3 tanem loads a week

[Woodhauler]

Every logger should buy his own truck! Its a great learning experience!

[smwwoody]

I truck my own logs plus contract haul for other loggers.  I make more money contract hauling

[Maine372]

theres not enough profit in three loads a week to cover owning a truck.

and you say you already log part time. so now youre going to log part time, truck part time and do whatever else part time too? i think youre spreading yourself a little thin.

in your shoes i would hire out trucking and focus on putting the wood on the landing.

[Tramp Bushler]

I don't know . How much is on a tandem ? If all you have to pay for is stumpage . Then having a truck does open more opportunities . I like to get every cost effective penny out of a tree that I can .
But on the other hand if I could find someone around here to do my trucking I would have them do it . At least until I could afford a good self loading log truck .

[thecfarm]

There are pro and cons of both side. I had more than one guy tell me I need a truck. Claim I can make more money trying to get $20 a 1000 more by driving all over the place.  : But my argument was,who cutting wood while I'm running around with the truck trying to make $100 more? But I had a real nice trucker too. Was not too many times the load would sit there 3 days waiting for him.

[acl2]

I agree with maine372 the truck may be spreading you pretty thin. Its hard to cut and haul at the same time, and not to mention the constant tinkering a truck always needs. I dont believe the extra cost of the truck would be practical for a couple loads a week.   

[Okrafarmer]

Probably shouldn't get it unless you are trying to make a full-time career out of it. Then you could focus on trucking, picking up for other people, and cut wood only when you run out of things to do. Or, if you have a second person available to either cut wood or drive the truck, and are looking to expand that way. It depends on your local markets, too. Where do you live?

[Dale1948]

Please stay away from the truck. The insurance, fuel, license, and dealing with rhe D.OT. will drive you nuts. Stay in the woods and hire out your trucking. A lot less stress.

[Okrafarmer]

Please stay away from the truck. The insurance, fuel, license, and dealing with rhe D.OT. will drive you nuts. Stay in the woods and hire out your trucking. A lot less stress.

Dale is right about that. The DOT is a big problem. [note, I edited myself].


If you are on the fence and can't decide, I would go with not doing it. But if you have a good plan that involves keeping your truck daily up to ALL govt regulations-- some of which are just and right, and some of which are downright silly-- you could look into it. I would suggest seeing if there's a trucker you could ride around with for a week. You would learn a lot and get a better perspective for the problems involved. Of course most of us don't have the luxury of taking a week off to do that kind of thing, but you might lose that much time in a month trying to keep your truck on the road.

[bill m]

There are other things to consider when buying a truck. How close are the mills that you sell to and will they buy everything you cut. I have a small single axle truck for delivering log length firewood and loading trailer trucks. There are not enough mills near me to take everything I cut.