This seasons logging of and running

[Quebecnewf]

Winter has been slow coming in our area . Still very little snow and not very cold until the last few days .

We have been at our winter logging camp for the past week . We have 200 logs cut and piled in the woods .


 

 

 not a big run of logs but will be ok as we mostly saw 2x4 and 2x6 anyway .

The ice bridge was thick enough to cross by snowmobile for the first time yesterday . Only 4 1/2” yet so not going to be hauling logs right away .

Hoping , if the ice holds to haul home at least 100 of these . Depending on the conditions the majority may get piled by the shoreline and we will tow them with the boat in the spring . 

Hoping to get back to cutting after the weekend is over . Some snow in the forecast so that should help .

Winter logging , love it 

Quebecnewf 

[thecfarm]

Going to be cold here too. It will make ice.   But only for a couple days, then above freezing for a week.

[cutterboy]

Thanks for the pictures. Good luck on your winter logging and hope you can find some bigger trees. Hope the ice thickens up for you.

[Magicman]

It's so good to see you back and being able to bunch some logs. 

[Stephen Alford]

   Glad to see your up and running . Temps here are supposed to be in the -40s the next couple days . Just wondering what you use to clean the resin off your gear. Was reading in Atlantic Forestry of a gal from Newfoundland who uses butter, here baby oil has been the go to. Thanks for taking the time to post some pics.  

[Quebecnewf]

I use a product ( just recently tried ) called Super Clean from Canadian Tire . Comes in a purple spray bottle and you can by 4 four litre refills .

This seems to work real well for chain saw clean up . Spray on leave for a bit and wipe of . Does a real good job . Sap from balsam fir is not to bad when it’s cold but when it’s mild weather that stuff will stick to everything and everywhere .

A lot of people don’t realize how it can gum up the cooling fins on your saw over time resulting in a hotter running saw . Not good for the saw .

Give it a try . It impressed me ,


Quebecnewf 

[Stephen Alford]

   Merci beaucoup ... I will certainly check it out. Pine and fir did not do well dancing with Fiona and have had to deal with a lot of them in the cleanup phase . 

[Quebecnewf]

 

 
I know it don’t show much but we are getting a few logs home to the mill . Good hauling conditions on the ice now .

Quebecnewf 

[Andries]

Looks like the wind and snow are trying to bury your haul!
The days are getting longer, by two minutes per day. Each day gives you a bit of extra light and time to pick your way along the ice bridge.
Well done, and good luck Quebecnewf!

[Southside]

Always enjoy seeing your pictures.  How long does it take for Fir to get to that size there? 

[Quebecnewf]

Always enjoy seeing your pictures.  How long does it take for Fir to get to that size there?

Funny you should ask that.. a few days ago I cut a fair sized fir. This would be considered a ( pasture tree) in that it was in a clearing pretty much where years ago trees had been cut . It measured 14 inches at the butt and I counted the rings . I gave it an age of 45 years . This is not to say that all the fir that size are only 45 years old .. In our area in the regular woods I would say a fir is about 50 years old when it will be big enough to give 2x6 lumber . I don’t think many live longer in this area than say 125 years .now remember I’m a not a forester . 
On the snow this year we have very little so . If you look closely at the last pic there are bare rock sections with just a dusting of snow on top .


 in the woods we have not had to use our snowshoes at all this year . 
Using the winch to load the sleighs from the piles . Slower but easier on the older bodies .
Quebecnewf 

[Quebecnewf]

 

 
Logs are starting to pile up . Taking advantage of the good hauling conditions . We have 250 logs home to the mill now . 

Sadly it looks like some very bad weather coming in on Sun and Mon. Will make sure to place our snowmobiles ashore on the mainland before this strikes . Just in case we lose the ice bridge . Calls for rain, snow and high wind. Sadly we don’t have enough snow to tolerate any rain . Outlook not good .

Quebecnewf 

[beenthere]

Wish you well during and after this storm. Look forward to hearing back how you fair too. 

[bushmechanic]

Hello Quebecnewf, glad to see you are getting a few logs home to the harbour. We have had more snow here on the east coast than usual this year but no real cold weather, nothing froze. I only yesterday got the old VK out of the shed. Stay safe!

[Quebecnewf]

Well the storm went through on Mon. High winds and a high tide . We lost some of the ice bridge but very little .

The storm did not last long so that helped .we got very little snow out of it . Which we needed . The high tides made travel on the Route Blanc ( our snowmobile trail) very tricky in some areas . It closed completely now . People are still travelling and it’s all marked but still not officially open . May not open at all if we don’t get some snow . 


 
We are still cutting . It’s actually perfect for cutting . 
Cut a few bigger one this week . Snowmobile hauling conditions are good so we have over 300 home to the mill now . Extreme cold weather here for the next week at least . I’m not complaining .

Quebecnewf 

[Magicman]

Thank You for the update. 

[Quebecnewf]

 

 
Moving the logs now that we cut ,stacked and covered last fall . Pile them here at the landing and splash them sometime this coming spring. 

Going good 

Quebecnewf 

[thecfarm]

Sounds good!!

[Quebecnewf]

 

 


Well our winter looks to be over . Hard to believe this is March at the mill yesterday . We had very little snow all winter . We have now had a stretch of warmer weather and what little snow we had had melted . The ice is still ok to travel on but traveling over the land is just about finished . Anyone who thinks global warming is not real should come live in the North . 

We have started sawing now . Can’t do any more logging this season . 

Quebecnewf 

[beenthere]

Good to see your log yard. Let the sawing begin.

I've no doubt that there is a trend to winters that are not as cold as we experienced in the 50's and 60's. That was back when the hype was that the glaciers were moving south again and the alarm that it would mean colder and colder winters.
Now the trend has reversed somewhat. The fallacy for me is the thought that we were controlling the trend, or somehow could control it.
We are just along for the ride and will have to adapt to the global trend, IMO.