great news

[timberjack240]

i finally got some good news i talked to the guys at sfi. there gonna give me my last core course so i can cut that 860 thousand feet of timber..  8) . the guy i have workin for me i worked w before and we cut 15 load (triaxle) a week w no problem  i hope this goes good my skidder will be paid off by the end of the job. ive been thinkin about lookin for a cheap triaxle .. who knows finaly things mite turn around a little. i told my boss 3 weeks ago that this was my last job w them and told him what i had and he was kinda slobberin. the biggest job ive cut w them since last september was maybe 60 thousand feet .. timber around here is hard to come by. cant wait to get started  ;D . im hopn to get my skidder finished cause i know wehre theres a 225 A one owner and 89 international triaxle comes w an old international u could scrap  tires chains tools and chainsaws and a skidder tire for 30 k and the truck was gone over real good. for now i think im jsut gonna worry about gettin started on this job and finishin the payments on mine    

[thecfarm]

Sounds like a big job.How long will it last. Both logs and pulp? What is sfi,by the way.

[mad murdock]

SFI = Sustainable Forestry Initiative, and industry led, self imposed forest practices rules board that sets standards for Sustainable Forestry Practices, most big timber holding REIT's (Real Estate Investment Trusts), like Plum Creek, Weyerhauser, Hanckock Assoc, Forest Capital Partners, Campbell Group, etc, etc, follow these standards to ensure "green" products to big box customers like Home Depot and Lowes, to name a few.  This was an industry led initiative, so that the industry would not be hampered by some beaurocratic led initiatives which would have surely come by government if the industry did not do something proactive first.  For the most part SFI is a good thing, but I believe it definately has its shortcomings.  Most of the stuff is good common sense, but it does take time and energy for contractors and small businesses doing jobs for these big outfits, to continually remain in compliance.  We have to have yearly training in SFI as a company, and we are subject to audits on the job by SFI auditors, to assure that we are conducting forest operations within compliance of SFI rules.
In short, it is a self imposed attempt by the industry to regulate itself on common sense, which in itself is near impossible, IMHO.  BTW Timberjack240 congratulations on the good news, I hope that the job goes well, with minimal breakdowns, and no accidents.  Good luck, and happy logging!

[timberjack240]

thanks gusy.. im not sure how long its gonna last  to be honest  i was doin some quick figuring. 860000 ft / 3000ft per tiaxle load =  287 loads 287 / 15 load a week.(im hopin) is 19.1 so well say 20 weeks . cut that into months is 5 months. so figure in days w bad weather breakdowns things jsut plain out not goin rite a few holidays anywhere from 5 to 7 mebe 8 months either way if it last s a year it wont bother me  ;D im jsut glad to have it its only 45 min drive the mill is 3 mintues from my house and my partner employee w/e you wanna call him is an amish and he lieves about 5 mintues away so i wont have much expense in gettin everybody rounded together.. 45 min seems far but when you used to an hr and a half one way not to bad ..  actually jsut got better news was gonna ahfta to pay more than what heyre gonna charge me since the guys gonna be int he area im not payin or his time  8) things are turnin around  ;D unfortuneately things always get worse before they get better  :-\ so well see   

[240b]

and my partner employee w/e you wanna call him is an amish   

I wouldn't be talkin' too much about that, who knows who's lurkin' round here (insurance-osha) just sayin'.  Sounds like a good gig. Hope it works out well for you!

[nhlogga]

congrats and best of luck.

[chevytaHOE5674]

45 min seems far

I wish our logs only went 45 minutes, some of ours go 3-6+ hours one way.

[DanG]

That sounds great TJ240!  Just don't count the chickens till you've set the eggs.  IOW, don't spend that money until you have it.  There's a Murphy hiding behind every tree, ya know!  Go for it, deal honest, and keep up with your paperwork! ;D 8) 8) 8)

[timberjack240]

im not worried about osha he s consdered a subcontractor  ;D thats how everybody does it around here. either the guy w the skidder is a sub and his cutter or whoever else is a sub w there own saw that clears you from any accicdents . theres that or liek father and son parntership deals . my guys isnt rele a parnter or employee hes my subcontracotr.. sorry poor miswording there on my part 
45 inutes for us is close. weve went 3 hours but 6! wow thats a haul
i plan on keepin my paper work up i hate it so i  dont wanna do it all at once. i plan on dealin honest i dont want a bad name liek some of the guys around here. my family is well known fr bein strate and doin nice work and sitll producin high numbers.
first thing im worried about is fixin the water pump and the manifold gasket on the skidder and movin it there when we get started and i pay the rest of it off then ill worry about more stuff  ;D figure ill get it now then nobody can say no in the later years  :D
one thing i need to ask. i have a 225 E in the middle the carrier bearings have a little check plus i put a grease fitting and filled them w grease .. that wont hurt anything will it? the 240 has grease fittings  i dont think it will hurt short term will it?

[240b]

Some of the carrier bearings at the rear of the front driveshaft are roller bearings some are sealed bearings and some are a bronze bushing deal. grease probably isn't ging to hurt any of the above.  Except the sealed one because none of the grease is goig to get where it would be needed.  Hopfully this job will allow you to get ahead of things.  Do you guys buy your own timber sales  or cut by the mbf. for a mill.  I was wondering if you just pull the sawtimber or whole tree and what kind of markets  are there for low grade wood in your part of PA.  What are you responsible for on a job as far as road building and close outs of landings and roads?  I just find it interesting how things work in different parts of country.

[Mark K]

Sounds like a big job, good luck with it. I had a contract job I did last Feb. where I had to bring in another contractor. I was afraid we weren't going to finish before spring break-up so I brought in another contractor. My forester told me that I had to have proof of comp. and liability before I started the job and I had to sign a piece of paper that cleared the lumber company in case me or anyone else got hurt or killed on the job. When I brought my sub-contractor in I required the same to cover my rear. I have my one employee on my comp. policy because it actually helps with my rate in the long run. Everybody says they will never sue ya until there hurt and cant work. Good luck

[timberjack240]

well ive done a little of each .. we bought our own and we usually do it by percentage. where u pay the trucking and then split the rest w the landowner in acodance w the agreed percentage rate i only do that when my dads involved. i prefer sub contract work cause i do what i gotta do no people and less paperwork.  we pull the whole tree out i cut one job that it was hauled tree length the rest we saw them apart .  ive been paid by the ton (not a big fan), the load, and by the foot. personally i prefer the foot especially if your pushing for length. this big job ill be paid by the triaxle load but ill still do ok. as far as markets logs are logs. most of the scragg goes for pallet or firewood. we rarley ship it for pulp. as far as places to go there a scragg mill about 12 minutes from my house and another about 30 min. theres a place that i worked for i hope to go back to they have a firewood mill besdie the main sawmills so wverything goes there but if you have some to sell they buy it in . we coutned up one time there rffly 30 sawmills jsut in this countywithin a 45 min raidus of here we couldnt count theem all so we have no trouble sellin logs. there is a rail tie plant abou 3 mintues from here pallet shops out the rear. 15 mintues radius from here there has to be 15 pallet shops about 20 min form here is a place that takes chips and sawdust to for wood pellets and in the same yard is one of several veneer buyes and there are countless truck drivers to haul. best way to get rid of low grade is saw it into firewood and have a little t tag dump truck we sold 10 triaxle load outta the back yard that way in approx 2 21/2 months all within 10 miles.. pretty much around here we have a place for everthing to go except the leaves  ;D
with the raod building im not responsible to biuld any roads. all ive ever had to do was get the brush off and backdrag the best you could. scrape the landing off and move out . the mills take care of the reseeding and all that
ps thanks for the bearing info 

[PAFaller]

Sounds like you live in Big Valley?

[timberjack240]

no i dont live in big valley but there s a lotta logs that go past my house on the way to big valley and bellville area. i live.. well you would take 322 east from belleville. . i actually forgot about all those mills up through there.. i heard a few of em went outta busniess or stopped sain or sumthin.. did they ever start back up ?.. pafaller are you from around big valley ? and i jsut thought of another thing.. there sa couple dry kilns around here if you have lumber to sell

[PAFaller]

I used to live in Bellefonte when my girlfriend was attending Penn State. Girlfriend is now my wife, and we have since moved up north to Tioga County. Both of our families are from the northeast, Connecticut and New Hampshire to be exact, so a move north got us a little closer to home. I still work down around Centre and Clinton counties, and use a truck driver from the Mifflintown area. He also hauls a lot of my hemlock logs and some of my pulpwood down that way. How far south and east are you? I didnt know there were that many sawmills down in that area.

[timberjack240]

south and east? well let me put it this way i most likely know the log truck driver from mifflintown cause i can be there in 10 min. who is your driver?   ;D and yes there is jsut around mifflintown you have burd forest products, yoder lumber, shady hill lumber, cherry hill hardwoods (dry kilns), renno bros., energex (chips and sawdust), L&R lumber, r.j. hoffman and sons, .. hoffman bros., 3 little sawmills on the same road cant remeber there names., junk's, cluxgston's, crown hardwood(veneer buyer) another amish mill way back in. the petershiem boys have a mill   tuscorora hardwoords is sorta close kuhn bros is 45 min from here locust run pallet takes scragg. tangent rail is the tie place.. thats jsut to get started theres more i jsut can think of em all .theres a lot of amish mills that dont really advertise . theres a ltoa mills around here all the ones up thru big valley and bellefonte we have no trouble gettin rid of logs haha where do you take your hemolck to Kuhns bros ? renno"s is takin stuff for shaivings now hemlock pays 28/ton and pine poplar and quaken ash or aspen as they call it pays 30/ton thats right outside of mifflintown

[faster1]

sounds like you guys in southern pa are doing better than us up here in northern pa,lol. sfi= just another way for someone to line their pockets,imho.

[timberjack240]

i wouldnt say that i jsut got lucky haha actually i jsut talked to the guy im gonan be cuttin for told me today he mite have 50 k ft to cut quick before the big state peice starts. thats gonna be down in york county around red lion  thats a hike for me haha as far as sfi i dont say much these fella are helpin me out so a cpl 60 dollar courses arent much when your facin 860 thousand feet. the days comin when your gonna need it so i found its better to face the facts and get it now befroe you have to have it and the price goes up

[timberjack240]

got the last sfi... and were off haha  8)