Better logging in the winter????

[CX3]

Stumphugger, Im headed out to cut for you.  I want to fall some tall timber someday.  I know the show ax men is a joke but it shows the size timber you guys get to cut.  I would just love to tip some of those monsters. 

[Birchwood Logging]

I've got the winter blues here in eastern ky it a muddy mess my road and landing hasn't been dry for 2 months have to push the trucks up the hill every trip my loading hole just keeps getting deeper and deeper where I have to blade mud off the top every day finishing up on the tract I'm on and not much left but low grade stuff it's been hard to make it this month. This morning woke up to 1/4 inch of ice the roads so slick you barley can even stand up now it snowing so looks like no work tomorrow to. Can't wait till hard freez it's coming next week

[Dave Shepard]

How do you dress for the heat? I can dress for the cold, but the only way I can think to dress for the heat is to wear my house with AC turned on.  :D

[Kodiakmac]

welcome to logging on federal or state land in the wonderful PNW...  largely why I haven't even seriously considered working fed/state ground, private land is just easier

Aye.  Getting that way here too.  Haven't touched Crown Land in several years.  Don't need/want the BS. 

Now, as per the topic, give me winter anytime.  I went to the bush this morning when it was -17 F.  Didn't start the skidder, and I didn't bust my butt, but I put on my snowshoes and I went falling (felling) and topping/limbing for a few hours. 

Now I'm back in the house having a shot of Alberta Springs Rye Whisky. My wife figures the only reason I went out was so I would have an excuse to have a shot when I got in...I'm not saying she's wrong.  ;)

[cutter88]

You know lumberjack48 always talked about better logging in the winter. Well I beg to differ! It's cold equipment doesn't like to start.i don't like to start. It's cold. Then it melts then it rains then it snows. It's cold. Then there's mud then there's ice . Your digging the snow off the stumps. You start to sweat then you stop to sharpen a chain then your freezing.then your hands get wet from sweeping snow away from stumps. And there cold.then your sweating again.         How about you guys?

not to mention wading in snow up to your u no whats lol

[Ken]

Although cold is good there is a limit.  Today was -34 C @ 8 this morning at the jobsite according to the thermometer on my truck.  That is the coldest temperature we have had here in several years.  Good thing there was no wind.   Harvester did not want to start so I didn't argue.  Float truck also could not get started which meant the forwarder wasn't getting moved.  Paperwork day.  Sounds like another one tomorrow.

[SwampDonkey]

2008 was very cold winter up here. We even had a couple -50 F mornings.

[jwilly3879]

The lot we are cutting now has white pine, hemlock and mixed hardwood but the majority is white pine. The forester wants to try and regenerate white pine so now that things are frozen and the snow is on the ground we will be cutting hemlock and hardwood. The pine will regenerate much better in the disturbed soil. We disturbed a lot of it this fall but it wasn't a great cone year. We may be dragging a homemade scarifier around next year.

[barbender]

-36°F here this morning, it's really just too cold for mechanical harvesting equipment. I understand why you southern fellows hate winter, I think I get colder on a day where it is 35° and wet. But really, if the weather is around highs of 10-15° things work quite well. -36°, not so much :

[KyLogger]

A muddy mess here, started out as rain this morning, turned to snow mid-day and got cold as $#!^ here and snowing like crazy. Supposed to be 12 tonight and -3 Monday night with a high of 3........Awesome! (Please note the sarcasm) I would like to see a freeze cause it is a god awful mud hole here too, but it is supposed to be in the 40s mid week next week. And................Back to mud! Yay! A few months of wet weather like this will make you consider a change in vocations

Tom

[treeslayer2003]

lol, 33 and an east wind off the atlantic is dang cold. I rather have 10 and no wind. oh, and its a muddy mess here to boys, I don't like the heat and humidity but it will dry.
freeze? not in years here. I seen pics of the bay froze n cars drivin under the bridge but not lately.

[ehp]

She was dam cold here today and brutal wind chill and is to be colder tomorrow , fun fun fun

[Maine logger88]

ehp what was the temp up there today? My 562 started hard and wouldn't idle for a good minute is that typical with those when its around -10

[1270d]

I guess its supposed to be -30f here on Monday.  Hope not, but I think there's enough #1 in the tank to get running

[SwampDonkey]

Suppose to rain here and mid 40's by Monday. Our ordinary January thaw. ;D

[KyLogger]

It was freakin 6 here this morning, and it is supposed to be possibly -10 Monday night! That's right, I said -10!!! It never gets that cold in KY!!!!! I used to think yankees were wimps.........looks like the shoe is on the other foot now ;) I want to move south, say north Florida and log pine for a living!

Tom

[ga jones]

-4 here I will not start my equipment in this. Way to cold for me.not ideal logging weather in my opinion

[Maine logger88]

-8 with a -31 windchill here today brrr we only worked a short day about 4hr and even then we were about froze I'd rather have it -20 with no wind than 0 and windy

[kensfarm]

We had wind advisory w/ the snow & single digit temps.. 20-30mph w/ gusts to 50.  Mother nature would really put a beating on you.. if you had to stay out in that stuff..  I worked on keeping the house warm.. then took a nap.

Even w/ dark polarized lenses.. the glare/brightness from the snow.. really does a number on my eyes.. I get headaches my eyes hurt so bad.  I rigged a pair of sunglasses w/ double polarized lenses.. I test them out tomorrow.. suppose to be warmer. 

[David-L]

KyLogger, Think of the fuel savings you will be getting when those big old logs are skidding out of the hollow on frozen ground. -14 here and keeping wood furnace and kitchen wood stove cranked. 65 degrees in the 200 year old farm house. Good luck.

[treeslayer2003]

hello there kensfarm, we sure are having a wet cold winter here. I bet you on the western shore so prolly not as wet.

[barbender]

It's a different game when you are operating in cold temps. If some of you guys dealt with it all the time, you'd find once you are set up for dealing with the cold, things go way better at 10° than 35°. It's not really optional for us anyways, we have around 4 months of those temps (plus or minus a month), and probably 70% of our wood is "winter access", the ground has to freeze to get to it. There is a lot of swamps bogs marshes and other varieties of wet ground up here.

[1270d]

The cold came early for us this year, and its been a blessing.   Our job site has quite a few deep,narrow drainages that we need to skid through.  They are really wet, and the foot and a half of snow over the top keeps them from freezing.  However with the consistent sub zero temps they stiffen up overnight or within a day to allow skidding with almost no ruts.

Like barbender says, quite a bit of ground is winter access only.  Swamps, clay, super rocky terrain, etc.

[ga jones]

Well I guess I lied. Started the skidder about 11am it was about 8F had to use ether. Skidded some firewood for a family member. Cold in the skidder. by 2pm my toes were numb my face was wind burnt.had some lunch went back out cut and skidded a big red oak and was sweating.by then it was 21f good skidding though its stiffening up.38 and rain tomorrow and the low tonight is 5. It should be interesting.

[kensfarm]

hello there kensfarm, we sure are having a wet cold winter here. I bet you on the western shore so prolly not as wet.

Hi Treeslayer..  I'm in northern MD by the Catoctin Mtns..  not far from the PA line.  The weather is def. acting up..  they say it hasn't been this cold in over 50 years..  and the Polar Vortex is headed our way.  I live in an old log cabin farm house built in 1790.. you have to work to keep the house warm when it gets this cold.