can I make a living starting out with this equipment?

[thecfarm]

Sounds good. And I bet it will work out. Not many one skidder,one chainsaw,one guy around here. There is one right down the road from me now. The big guys don't want to bother with the small jobs.

[bigblue12v]

Sounds good. And I bet it will work out. Not many one skidder,one chainsaw,one guy around here. There is one right down the road from me now. The big guys don't want to bother with the small jobs.

Exactly! My future brother in law is small time but he is now buying his second skidder, has a log truck and equipment trailer and a older front end loader to load with... He's probably not the smallest guy around really, but he's only a few years into it. He's doing good it seems and I don't think he's much behind the average company in terms of equipment. He always has jobs lined up but he contract cuts for a timber buyer. Supposedly the foresters here take a really big chunk and leave the property owner with little. I'm not sure on that but that's what I'm hearing.

[starmac]

I do not know how things work in your area, but it might be possible to do driveways and homesite clearing, plus general thinning and get paid for the logging.
Working on a small scale like you are, it is possible that it could be right up your alley, and folks generally pay contractors good money for these type of work in many areas.

[longtime lurker]

Best money I ever made out the logging side was when I had a regular job - in my case it was a regular 3 days a week operating heavy equipment for a guy as relief for his permanent crew.

It gave me some smoothing on cash flow, meant that what I made working for myself could be largely reinvested into the business rather then going out the door for food and shoes. It also gave me the option of saying "no", rather then having to take marginal jobs or having to work in bad weather to meet payments and eat.

I'd go for it. Keep doing what you're doing but start looking for a good skidder and start talking with veneer buyers etc. A good run of veneer logs at the start can put a dint in the price of a decent machine. Set yourself up with better equipment from the start, iron out the wrinkles, and build it to the point it can stand on its own feet before you toss the security of a regular check.

Good luck with it!

[brianJ]

Just read this whole thread.   Congratulations to you.   8)  Seems like you have two main strengths that make you successful.
    First is good business sense.   Starting small, keeping stuff paid for, and working that factory job until you had a foot in the door with a couple people.   Second some good to great mechanical skill.   That kind of stuff is constant.

Actually I should mention that good business sense again as you have avoided the full-time firewood trap and identified a niche in area.  I've seen plenty of guys that could work hard and skillful too not make it because of bad decision making.   

Anyways like I said I read the whole post this morning and on the first page I was thinking like many here advocating you should work your way into bigger equipment as you get the money for it.    I think that is a wrong priority with your niche of small woodlots.   Rather I suggest it is vital to place your first investments into financial security.   That would your business set up as an LLC with good liability and life  insurance.   Follow that with  six months of living expenses in a savings account.  Then the home paid off and four or five hundred every month in investment accounts.   

[killamplanes]

In reality, I believe we do are best when there's no choice but to starve. Meaning if your hungry you can make it self-employed. I have been since 24. One mistake I see alot is ounce a person gets a grand in there pocket they ease up then hit it hard again when there out. And alot of careers like logging can make a great deal of money one week and nothing for several. Managing money is as important as making it. Back in college they said the 5 year mark was the tuff one after  that it wasn't bad. Well I completely agree. But I didn't have a safety net like a regular job at the time other than 3 states away. I never thought of failing, bumps in road maybe. I now have 4 businesses and several employees (ie: all u can eat buffet of headaches). Like the skidder, u go full time you'll upgrade.

[OH logger]

In reality, I believe we do are best when there's no choice but to starve. Meaning if your hungry you can make it self-employed. I have been since 24. One mistake I see alot is ounce a person gets a grand in there pocket they ease up then hit it hard again when there out. And alot of careers like logging can make a great deal of money one week and nothing for several. Managing money is as important as making it. Back in college they said the 5 year mark was the tuff one after  that it wasn't bad. Well I completely agree. But I didn't have a safety net like a regular job at the time other than 3 states away. I never thought of failing, bumps in road maybe. I now have 4 businesses and several employees (ie: all u can eat buffet of headaches). Like the skidder, u go full time you'll upgrade.

AMEN!! I couldn't agree more!! it is like marriage. takes a lot of work and it failing is not an option....unless your skidder cheats on you ;D but seriously  when you make money put it in the bank and keep your foot on the gas. if you think that your not working hard enough then your not even close to working hard enough. I have been full time self employed since 2005 ( I was 24 also). the recession of 2008 was tough but we made it luckily. I'm not bragging but a lot of people said it cant be done but I'm not " a lot" of people. I don't love every day but pretty close and nobody likes everyday. even superman has crappy days  :D push, push, push more and youll be ok ;)

[bigblue12v]

Thanks for all the great replies guys! I'm pretty diverse, I'll do some repair and fabrication work here and there when I'm slow as well. Also have a couple of tree services that sometimes call me to pickup residential tree removals. They pay me to come pickup the big stuff saves them renting skid steer and dump trailer they don't own. I make money using my log trailer/loader and get firewood. Hardwood is all I can sell here but I burn soft wood in my outside boiler. So I have some other things to do to make money. I'll still sell firewood as I can. I'll be cashing out some of my retirement and putting it in savings for rainy day fund. Now to get my Indiana timber buyer's license...