Well more depressing news!

Woodhauler · June 25, 2016, 04:38:43 PM

Sappi shut off on hw, Catalyist down for 2 weeks, verso buying nothing other then company wood, Guess I will get some more time in fishing! :(

grassfed · June 25, 2016, 04:56:51 PM

My trucker mentioned, Friday, that HW pulp was done for the time being. Sappi hasn't been paying much, here, since February. It was a good winter for cutting here but not for burning firewood. Low grade HW is piled up everywhere. Softwood sawlogs are ok but since it is very dry and everybody that can cut softwood is cutting softwood, I think that the mills will be filled soon. I'm working firm dry ground that is usually wet and boggy in the summer; it would be great but the deer flies are vicious. :

danbuendgen · June 25, 2016, 06:02:05 PM

Quote from: grassfed on June 25, 2016, 04:56:51 PM
the deer flies are vicious.

Tell me about it! I am all bit up, BIG TIME! The only way for me to avoid them is to keep moving...

The wood markets are a bit depressing, I am on a job with lots of lower grade logs and a ton of firewood, its proving very hard to move firewood now. Cersosimo just shut off on pine logs, thankfully I am cutting 90% hardwood!

Ed_K · June 25, 2016, 06:19:54 PM

Try a dryer sheet under your hardhat,seems to keep the bugs at bay.
My letter from Cersosimo states I have a 0 quota on pine pulp :D :D :D, it was a BIG zero

.

danbuendgen · June 25, 2016, 07:07:03 PM

Quote from: Ed_K on June 25, 2016, 06:19:54 PM
Try a dryer sheet under your hardhat,seems to keep the bugs at bay.
My letter from Cersosimo states I have a 0 quota on pine pulp :D :D :D, it was a BIG zero .

Just pulp not saw logs too?

Plankton · June 25, 2016, 09:12:17 PM

I got a big zero pine logs and letter said no pulp from anyone

I was happy when they finally started buying pulp again but it didn't last very long.

I hope they start buying before late fall my next few jobs lined up are all pine

Ed_K · June 26, 2016, 11:48:20 AM

I looked at it again, logs also.

whitepine2 · June 26, 2016, 09:19:08 PM

Quote from: danbuendgen on June 25, 2016, 06:02:05 PM
Quote from: grassfed on June 25, 2016, 04:56:51 PM
the deer flies are vicious.

Tell me about it! I am all bit up, BIG TIME! The only way for me to avoid them is to keep moving...

This might seem dumb but it works. Find something blue like a blue coffee can or a blue drink cup.Buy a can of what they call tanglefoot and paint on blue cup or whatever.Cup can be taped to hat or on the machine.Those little Buggers will land and stick very seldom if ever will they land on you,try it it works I have been doing it for years,it looks stupid but better than getting bit. Tanglefoot is what some put on trees to stop bugs from crawling up the trunk guess anything that sticks them will work it's the blue that draws them in.

Ed_K · June 26, 2016, 09:23:52 PM

My retired chopper put bar&chain on his hardhat.

Maine logger88 · June 27, 2016, 05:31:53 PM

How long is sappi shut down on hw for?

Woodhauler · June 27, 2016, 06:14:42 PM

Looks like sappi is open for now, shut zones 3 and 4 hw off. Big crane is down , major wait time on unloading

John Mc · June 27, 2016, 06:23:26 PM

Quote from: danbuendgen on June 25, 2016, 06:02:05 PM
Quote from: grassfed on June 25, 2016, 04:56:51 PM
the deer flies are vicious.

Tell me about it! I am all bit up, BIG TIME! The only way for me to avoid them is to keep moving...

They are attracted to motion and to the color blue (New Holland tractor blue is pretty close to their favorite color color). I put away any hats or shirts with blue on them for deer fly season. It doesn't keep them away completely, but I'm not swarmed as badly.

grassfed · June 28, 2016, 07:54:51 AM

During summer I only wear white, light gray, or beige. Most bugs go for darker colors. It may sound gross but not showering much helps a lot (you can do sponge baths but shampoo and even simple soap like ivory draws bugs like crazy). I live alone far from town so it is not a problem for me. One thing I have been thinking about this summer is that I would rather have a white helmet. I don't know if the orange attracts bugs but I think that white would be much cooler when working in sunnier more open areas.

John Mc · June 28, 2016, 09:18:25 AM

The study on blue attracting Deer Flies was done by a professor at the University of Florida. Here's an article about trolling for deer flies and the trap they came up with as a result of the study.

I had a friend try taping the blue plastic cup to his hat coated with sticky goo. It worked. The flies attached the cup, and not him. He has also put one on his riding mower and trolls for deer flies as he mows. He does not have any scientific measurements, but he says he does notice a significant reduction in Deer Fly activity. Eventually, new flies move in to take the place of the ones he caught during mowing, but he claims to have a much nicer deer fly season overall if he uses his trap whenever he mows.

One of these days, I'm going to try the blue cup on a hat trick when working in the woods. Our local grocery store sells the blue plastic cups. I just need to pick up the sticky goo to trap the flies when they land on it

Ox · June 28, 2016, 09:36:34 AM

It's interesting that the darn things are attracted to a color that hardly ever occurs in nature, and certainly not on any mammal that I can think of. Fascinating.

Woodhauler · June 28, 2016, 09:41:18 AM

If deer flies was all we had to worry about in this business things would be good! A lot of the full time loggers will be non existant after this summer. Got 4 whopping loads into verso next month. 2 softwood, 2 hardwood!!!!!!!!! Already have 4 loads of pine/hemlock on ground and 1 load of hw!!!I think I will make my cutters put there name in a hat and watch me draw out the 2 lucky softwood ticket winners!!

John Mc · June 28, 2016, 11:00:20 AM

Quote from: Woodhauler on June 28, 2016, 09:41:18 AM
If deer flies was all we had to worry about in this business things would be good! A lot of the full time loggers will be non existant after this summer. Got 4 whopping loads into verso next month. 2 softwood, 2 hardwood!!!!!!!!! Already have 4 loads of pine/hemlock on ground and 1 load of hw!!!I think I will make my cutters put there name in a hat and watch me draw out the 2 lucky softwood ticket winners!!

It's tough out there. I feel for the guys who are doing this for a living. It seems there are fewer and fewer good operators every time I turn around. On top of that, as the older guys are retiring or moving on to something else, not many younger folks are getting in to it. I can't blame them, given the uncertain economics of the profession. I do have to wonder who is going to be doing this a generation from now.

Plankton · June 28, 2016, 11:40:52 AM

Quote from: Woodhauler on June 28, 2016, 09:41:18 AM
If deer flies was all we had to worry about in this business things would be good! A lot of the full time loggers will be non existant after this summer. Got 4 whopping loads into verso next month. 2 softwood, 2 hardwood!!!!!!!!! Already have 4 loads of pine/hemlock on ground and 1 load of hw!!!I think I will make my cutters put there name in a hat and watch me draw out the 2 lucky softwood ticket winners!!

Is it only pulp with all the qoutas up there or is it sawlogs as well?

Hard enough to make a living in this business already nevermind not having an outlet for the wood...

Seems similar to dairy farming in a way, lots of guys selling the cows because of no help/younger generation moved off the farm and low prices, almost no new dairy being started and lots going under.

the sight of cows grazing and the sounds of chainsaws in the woods will be things of the past in new england if things don't change for the better