i want to be logger

ryguy777 · March 13, 2013, 12:45:30 AM

thanks for everything guys! im gonna try to get a job in the woods this summer, hopefully i'll find something

cutter88 · March 15, 2013, 06:49:10 PM

Quote from: ArborJake on March 11, 2013, 09:05:22 PM
First go by a mule. If you can get it to do what you want him to, the logging part will be easy.

ive been laughing at this comment for an hour so true

cutter88 · March 15, 2013, 06:57:32 PM

as a young guy my self all i can say is go for it! but one thing is for sure its not a job its a life style im only 25 my self and have been on my own logging for 3 years... and as outhers have said prepare to be broke some times mills can be sickining slow at paying

and also school is important i wanted to start logging the day i walked outa high school but my dad made me go to trade school and im glad i did becuase logging machines tend to be broke ALL THE TIME lol...

Andrew Lawrence · March 15, 2013, 09:43:42 PM

there is a school in ny, trade school or college I'm not sure. I've heard great things about it from successful people.Can't think of the name.

Corley5 · March 15, 2013, 09:47:28 PM

You need to be absolutely sure because once you're in it there's little chance of turning back.

log cutter · March 16, 2013, 01:28:45 AM

Also take a business class if you can. I took accounting in high school and use it a lot. Why did i take it? Because that is where the girls were.

CX3 · March 22, 2013, 05:12:35 AM

I went to college and have a bachelors degree in agriculture. But I knew I wanted to be my own boss and loved outdoors so a logger I am. I love machinery and saws too.

Its a tough job but extremely rewarding.

I started with a farm tractor which I don't recommend. Get you a small skidder. Forget those mules. They'd tire out before you could make enough to get back home.

Find a good woman cuz you'll need her to rub your back. You'll get tired and sore.

Make friends with the guys at the mill. You'll need them for a check.

Get you a good Bible and read it.

That and stihl saws and you should be good. Have fun.

cutter88 · March 22, 2013, 07:44:16 AM

Quote from: CX3 on March 22, 2013, 05:12:35 AM
I went to college and have a bachelors degree in agriculture. But I knew I wanted to be my own boss and loved outdoors so a logger I am. I love machinery and saws too.

Its a tough job but extremely rewarding.

I started with a farm tractor which I don't recommend. Get you a small skidder. Forget those mules. They'd tire out before you could make enough to get back home.

Find a good woman cuz you'll need her to rub your back. You'll get tired and sore.

Make friends with the guys at the mill. You'll need them for a check.

Get you a good Bible and read it.

That and stihl saws and you should be good. Have fun.

very good advice right to the last word

Corley5 · March 22, 2013, 08:52:05 AM

Find a good woman with a well paying job with benefits. She'll need to be understanding too. You'll need her ;D

Ed_K · March 22, 2013, 07:03:11 PM

Amen to that.

GDinMaine · March 22, 2013, 11:12:04 PM

I admire your goals, but I too would suggest to stay in school until you get good at welding or diesel work or the like. I'm no logger but I can weld pretty good and I lost count how many times I fixed farm and logging equipment for my neighbor. Granted I do that for free because I love the fact that the guy has a real farm next door and want to help him keep going. Have something you can fall back on, in case things take an unexpected turn. I like the woods as much as the next guy but only so many can earn a living from that.

GDinMaine · March 22, 2013, 11:18:11 PM

Quote from: Corley5 on March 22, 2013, 08:52:05 AM
Find a good woman with a well paying job with benefits. She'll need to be understanding too. You'll need her ;D

smiley_clapping
Take that and put it in the bank!!!

captain_crunch · March 23, 2013, 01:35:47 AM

stay in school and get an education Started logging at 25 worked as a pump tech now at 59 falling trees again. Love logging but lots of better jobs out there for a young man. things are busy out west now beings logs are 700.00 per thousand on truck but bet bottom will soon fall out. But if you are bound to try it find an old established company where safety comes first newbe outfits tend to be HI BALL and green horns get smashed Just me 2bits worth

NH Forester · March 23, 2013, 08:18:35 AM

I worked in the woods until I was 25 and then went and got a forestry degree after getting hurt and not being able to work in the woods for a year. Right after graduation I bought my first cable skidder (on #5 now...). I know I recommend that my boys (6 and 2, yeah, I know, they'll probably want to be punk rockers or whatever else they have out that's worse when they are college age...I know I did) get at least an AAS in forestry or another ag related degree and work in the woods during breaks and summers. Taking this approach has opened up many more opportunities for me that I would never even have known about had I not gone to school. I get to choose which jobs I cut and which I just mark. I don't take all the gravy and I mark my jobs the same as any that I put out to bid. All of the guys that work for me are happy and say they have never worked for a forester that can cut his own hitches. I prefer cutting and yarding with a cable skidder but it is nice to get a little time on snowshoes marking timber with my German Shepherd. I worked for two huge management companies for a few years. Just long enough to know that wasn't the type of forestry I was interested in (industrial forestry). I hope this helps, I know that I would have appreciated a little push in the right direction back in the day. It would have saved me YEARS of sweat equity and spinning my wheels in this business. You'll still need to pay your dues and don't let yourself get that arrogance that most brand new forestry grads get. There's no faster way to lose a logger's respect than to think you are better than them because you went to college while they went to the school of hard knocks for their advanced degree.

Your retirement plan can be consulting as a forester until you drop. It looks like we'll all be late for our funeral because we're at work after Obama gets finished with us.

My $0.02 but it has worked for me....so far.

Good luck.

NH Forester · March 23, 2013, 08:22:24 AM

Quote from: GDinMaine on March 22, 2013, 11:18:11 PM
Quote from: Corley5 on March 22, 2013, 08:52:05 AM
Find a good woman with a well paying job with benefits. She'll need to be understanding too. You'll need her ;D

smiley_clapping
Take that and put it in the bank!!!

Amen Brother!!

I met mine in college. She was an Animal Science major (vet tech) and is now an RN. A big help if you work in the woods.... She can take care of the dogs and/or me when we get banged up. And yes, we are on her insurance now. When I started out I could buy my own health insurance at $125/month. Not anymore.

thecfarm · March 23, 2013, 10:03:47 AM

Start saving for retirement too. 401k were it 25 years ago,I have no idea what's out there now,3% is nothing a week to put away. ;D

gwilson · March 23, 2013, 11:10:46 AM

Everyone on here has some good advice and has experience to back them up. I'm glad to see so many people with a bright outlook on the future of the forest industry and helping people get into it instead of discouraging them! I am just a couple steps ahead of some of these guys in that I am in school working on a Forestry Degree and log in the summer. I recently upgraded from a farm tractor skidding to a timberjack grapple skidder

which also makes you a better mechanic. Every break i get I go home and fix something on it. I knew in highschool that I wanted to do something Farming/Timber related and wanted to have options so a four year forestry degree and some logging experience in college are building the base so I will know where I am headed after graduation.

OH logger · March 25, 2013, 08:56:08 PM

i am also young (32) so i have been there. no one in my family has ever logged or even thought about it as there arent many loggers around here at all. just farm fields. i did grow up on a farm though which was a great experiance. i went to hocking college for timber harvesting (why i did is a long story) and im sure people thought Why are you going to school to cut trees. but i have no regrets cause i learned a lot bout business anf how to cut and skid lay trails out, etc. i had maybe ran a saw for 10 minutes beforew going to college (i told you it is all feilds around here). then i interned with a sawmill /logging crew and worked for them for 3 years and worked for a land clearing crew for 4 years before going out on my own. then i contract cut and skidded to learn off of others and bought my own timber. now i do my own timber almost exclusively and am very happy. thats what worked for me.

ClarkF66 · March 26, 2013, 06:37:49 AM

You know if you want to be a logger. When I was 16 all I wanted to do was to run a skidder. Between the lights on my Timberjack 215 and the moonlight I saw enough to get the trees on the ground and most of the limbs off at night after highschool was out. Both my parents where academics and wanted me to go to college, but I had to log. After 15 years the 'bug' wore off enough I went to college and got an MBA.
If you really want to go logging you should. I know I would do it all over. Good luck!

ryguy777 · May 14, 2013, 11:59:46 PM

thank you everyone! i forgot to check back on this, i dought anyones still reading it now but oh well.... yeah i think id like to start working on a forestry degree in the somewhat near future.... i really like what cx3 said, i happen to own a fancy mossy oak bible, and pray every night, and my girlfriend wants to be an orthodontist (sssssccore! yeah shes a keeper) i want to be doing about what NH forester is doing, id like to be able to do marking jobs, and be able to cut and maybe do some sort of timberlot management plans/timberstand improvement for people.... i also want to make maple syrup like my grandpa, and great grandpa

beenthere · May 15, 2013, 12:54:59 AM

Oh yes, we are still reading. Once you pull up a stump here, you are not sittin alone. 8)

Lay out your plans and start by visiting a forestry school, or two. Talk to some people in the department and let them know your interests.

ryguy777 · May 15, 2013, 10:49:19 PM

thank you sir'

ryguy777 · May 15, 2013, 11:54:52 PM

so what do you guys think, a 2 year forestry degree or 4 year? and would it be worth it keep a team of mules around so i can pick up a few more jobs here and there where the land owner doesnt want his land torn up by skidders? it just seems like theres alot of people with good timber they'd sell, but just dont want the land torn up by skidders and bull dozers

Corley5 · May 16, 2013, 07:06:52 AM

Mules eat whether they are working and earning their keep or just hanging out in the barn. A small 4wd tractor with a skidding winch is just as low impact as draft animals and it doesn't require food and water when it's idle.

celliott · May 16, 2013, 07:32:14 AM

I just finished up a 2 year AAS Forest Technology degree at Paul Smiths College in upstate NY. As for a 2 year or 4 year degree, I think the general consensus is your gonna need a 4 year. I am probably looking at going back to school in a few years to complete a bachelors degree. Whether that degree is in forestry, or something else, we'll see. I can go to a local state school for alot less $$$ than out of state forestry school.

Take a look at UNH, Definitely Umaine Orono, and Paul Smiths college as well. I know a few people from New Hampshire that went to\are going to PSC.
You can't park a hayburner when you go to college and just leave it alone. Diesel engine doesn't eat or get sick when you're away either. JMO on mules and horses ;)