loading pulp

[David-L]

About to start a pine job with lots of pulp wood. Wondering if someone can tell me that has loaded alot of trailers if I will be able to load trailers with my grapple trailer setup. this will be small dia pulp in 8' pieces. My grapple is a 60/50 vreten, reaches well over 13' in height and has a 21'reach and if i have a pile on one side and then a truck and trailer on the other side I could do it I think. Grapple pics in my gallery. What do you all think. I get about $12 a ton from my trucker and wondering if it's worth it to market it myself on trailers north.
                          David l

[Kemper]

I don't know your setup, but I sure wouldn't be touching pulp for $12 a ton. I don't know what you pay your land owner, but I'm taking double that home after paying stumpage.

[jwilly3879]

You may be able to do it if you can get the boom to go between the stakes but it will take awhile. The shavings mill locally is paying $26/ton, our trucker is paying $13/ton on the header and loads himself from a decked pile. Not any money to be made handcutting pine pulp, the really big hairy pulpers get girdled. Our pulp is mostly from the tops of log trees or the trees with red rot.

[Stephen Alford]

    Have loaded a lot of wood with the nokka loaders. The one thing I do not do is  "tap"  with it.  The shaft running to the grapple has two vertical holes inside that carry the oil allowing it to turn 360.  Using a tapping block in the clam would probably have the same result.  I used to trim with the saw rather than bend the shaft  a second time.  Maybe your loader shaft has more "girth" , I don't know, just saying.   Used to load one time with an ol drott 671 detroit. The clam would hold over a cord, man that rascal would tap wood clean off a truck.   :D

[David-L]

Stephen, not sure what tapping means. please explain further. I pay fair market value on the stump to landowners and always get the pulp for free instead of leaving it in the woods. Most cuts for me are between 50 to 100 M/bf. I know there is really no money in hand cutting pulp but it's attached to the saw logs so i might as well pull it out and make use of it. My trucker pays me $12 on the landing and he does the handling. I think the mills around here are paying $22 to $26 a ton for softwood pulp. I was just wondering about the possibility's of loading it and shipping it somewhere else and making a little more on it or maybe its' not worth it. Would 1 m/bd weigh around 2 ton or so for pine pulp.

                                                        David l

[logman81]

I think you could do it no problem!

[FFLM]

David,
Don't know if Cersosimos in Brattleboro VT, is taking pine pulp at this time, I would check on them. They take tree length or as long as you can get trucked usually around 22' or so and up  to 22" or 24" in diameter if I remember correctly. When I cleared my house lot I sent 3-4 loads.  I split with my trucker and they were paying 24 a ton. It saves a bunch of time not bucking 8' pulp with a saw.  They have scales pay by the ton not stick scale.
Good luck

[jwilly3879]

IP figures 2.2 ton/cord, we used to figure roughly 2 cord equals 1000bf.

[Stephen Alford]

   Not sure how you haul your wood. Wood here used to be hauled cross ways on the trailer. To line up the ends of the sticks ,we used to swing the boom with the clam closed and "tap" the ends sticking out. Generally just go down each side of the load and tap the ends in.  With the bigger prentice loaders a block was made. Just a piece of pipe with a plate on each end, it would be held in the clam when you tapped speeding up the process.   The sticks longer than 104 were a real pain especially at night.  A perch set up keeps you above the load,making it easier and reducing risk of wood slipping off and hitting you when you are standing on the trailer frame looking up.   

[Maine logger88]

I am getting 38 per ton selling to verso in jay for pine pulp then paying 15 to get it trucked and 2 or 3 for stumpage. I guess it would all come down to what trucking would cost you

[David-L]

Will most likely give a call up to bratteboro and send it there. Cutting eight foot pulp is no fun and the problem is finding a trucker who will do it for $300 at 40 plus miles away. there is a good jag of nice pine that I did not have to pay much for so it will work out in the end. Stephen, now I understand tapping.

                                            David l

[Maine logger88]

Yeh I agree long length is better when you have the option

[David-L]

The mill is 52 miles and can't justify paying over $300.00 to get it there. i know thats what the trucker gets but if I cut it to 8 footers the local guy takes it out of the pile and pays me $ 12/ton. Looked at loading trailers but the money is just the same as selling it to the local guy with less handling. pretty sure this grapple has enough reach, theres 3 feet left on the extension in the pic. guess I am cutting, all in a days work.  no problem.

                                                         David l