rain

[David-L]

Misery loves Company, Never seen it this wet, paychecks are scarce. I sold my hay business to a younger guy in town and I swear he's aged considerably this year. I threw in the towel on the dry hay thing after many years of haying as my summer income. Now with weather like this I am questioning working the bush also. Like mom always said, if theres a will theres a way. I keep moving ahead.

[submarinesailor]

The other day I heard on the radio that Washington National Airport has had a record year.  The normal rain fall in this area is about 36-42".  They stated the airport has had 67 INCHES!!!!! And that was before yesterday's rain.  And more coming tomorrow.

At my place down in Syria, VA, I used to be able to drive into my place using a ford to cross the Rose River.  Back in the second week of June, we had 7.3" in 6 days, that's including 2 big down-pours.  My ford is now somewhere between Fredricksburg and the Chesapeake Bay.   In 15+ years, this is the first time we haven't been able to cross with just making minor repairs.  Because of the amount of high water continuously flowing, it will be June, July or August before I can rebuild my crossing.  That's if this mess slows down. : : : :

Right now, I am just happy this ISN'T SNOW!!!!!!!!!

Also I wish we could send some of this out to you guys in the western states.

Bruce

[nativewolf]

so I'm not the only one with water standing on the landing...misery loves company but I sure hope you get the cold you need and it freezes long and hard so you can get to work.

Anyway to ditch the area? We are always battling water here lots of ditches and cat work quite often even along main trails.

@skeans1 Really appreciate all the suggestions and I think this is one that we'll have to think more about.  It will fall into the general realm of planning and prep but doing more excavator work on trails might be in the works.  Might have to think about buying a small one, that blade runner is looking better and better.  

[Old Greenhorn]

My gosh, we have had SO much rain since mid-july that I think kids are going to start being born with webbed feet. I have spent almost as much time fixing roads, putting in waterbars, or dropping gravel (to watch it was away a week later) as I have been doing actual work. The upside is, when we come through this, our little plot will have a much more resilient drainage system than it ever did before. My empathy goes out to those depending on better weather for their paycheck. This has to be a very lean year.

[BargeMonkey]

Went to the woods today, its BAD. Not making alot of mud just so much standing water. So close to being done theres no stopping now. 

[nativewolf]

I am chomping at the bit to get back to the woods, sold 6 walnuts today for 2500 each but need to get them down and of course, landowner needs to get paid quite a bit.  Still...so *DanG wet not sure how to skid em out.

[Kwill]

100 percent chance of rain here for overnight and most of tommorow. It's delaying me getting started on my sawmill shed :(

[BargeMonkey]

I've been doing my best to avoid bombing this job out, landowners very good about it. Ground just wont freeze, so much water I'm just fighting it. 


 
Cant get the water off the trails, edges of ruts are frozen, just ride the rail all the way out. 


 

[nativewolf]

@BargeMonkey believe it or not that looks better than some of our sites.  I've just given up on 1 trail and we'll have to dump loads of top soil to fix it.

[BargeMonkey]

@BargeMonkey believe it or not that looks better than some of our sites.  I've just given up on 1 trail and we'll have to dump loads of top soil to fix it.

I've got a couple trails I can barely get thru empty, normally I would have packed up and went to a other job and came back good weather, just not enough wood left to do it. I hate beating on iron, every time I think I'm close I throw another 3-400 on the ground 🤣

[Skeans1]

so I'm not the only one with water standing on the landing...misery loves company but I sure hope you get the cold you need and it freezes long and hard so you can get to work.

Anyway to ditch the area? We are always battling water here lots of ditches and cat work quite often even along main trails.

@skeans1 Really appreciate all the suggestions and I think this is one that we'll have to think more about.  It will fall into the general realm of planning and prep but doing more excavator work on trails might be in the works.  Might have to think about buying a small one, that blade runner is looking better and better.  

Honestly most of the time I use our d4 grapple cat tilt the blade and angle it cut a ditch then a water bar.

[ehp]

cut yesterday, sat and till about noon today as its pouring out again

[mike_belben]

Its been half to 1" of rain every other day for about as long as i can recall at this point.  Hard to be in the seasoned dry wood business when its 63 and pouring all the time. 

[nativewolf]

Big rain records from wunderground reporting.

Mt Mitchell NC set all time high rainfall for any location east of pacific coast  with about 140".  Wilmington NC had broken all time high record rainfall....even if you take out Florence all told over 102".  Most of the rest of us are between 55-75" from Iowa to Deleware and from SC to Maine.  What a year.  Towns and cities breaking rainfall records were too numerous to count. 

Us northern VA folks had a pedestrian 65-70".  Another .36 today to help matters and formally close out wettest year in VAs history.

Mt Mitchell is a treat if you have never been, wonderful remnant spruce fir ecosystem in the south, highest point east of rockies. 

[Kwill]

We got a little over 1\2 overnight. More expected Thursday and friday :

[moodnacreek]

Southern New York has not had a drought since hurricane Floyd, 22 years ago. [ Northern N.Y. had a dry summer this year]  The walnut logs that came in this year have 3" sap ring. Powder post beetles have established in the drying piles. The tomato plants put out once and die. Brush grows faster than I have ever seen. It has been wet since mid summer, the water table is constantly at ground level.  Will log prices go up? There has to be something positive.

[stavebuyer]

Southern New York has not had a drought since hurricane Floyd, 22 years ago. [ Northern N.Y. had a dry summer this year]  The walnut logs that came in this year have 3" sap ring. Powder post beetles have established in the drying piles. The tomato plants put out once and die. Brush grows faster than I have ever seen. It has been wet since mid summer, the water table is constantly at ground level.  Will log prices go up? There has to be something positive.

The air filters on most of my equipment look like new lol

[Old Greenhorn]

We got another couple of inches overnight here in the central Catskills, now high wind warnings for the day and I am watching 70' x 22DBH maples swing back and forth like blades of grass in a summer breeze (I find if you flavor your misery with poetry, it goes down easier). I have been shut in sick now for 5 days and was determined to get out in the woods for a walk today. It looks like doing that by itself may require PPE. There are calling for 45 MPH gusts, and I think we already hit that. Happy New Year.  ;D

[ehp]

ya we got 1 1/2 to 2 inches last night a wind , I waited till lunch and went cutting . Its wet but I still got a truck load out today so Im hoping to see a log truck or 2 or maybe 3 show up tomorrow morning , Can only hope so

[Wudman]

I've been playing this game for 30 years.  Last week was the worst ground conditions I have ever seen in the Piedmont of Virginia.  On the upside, I learned a new trick.  I had a crew working about a mile off the highway down an old CCC Road.  They were spotting trailers about 1/4 mile off the highway and we had the road rocked fairly well to that point.  This Piedmont red clay sticks to everything.  It will track down the highway for a mile.  Check out this trick to keep mud from building up between the duals on the trailer wheels.  They had stretched a log chain between the tires to keep mud from building up.









It was doing a great job of keeping mud from building up between the tires.

VDOT and the Virginia State Police don't care much for mud in the highway.  We had a full time man sitting at the highway to keep things clean.





The road had been rocked.  Small stone was placed on top of 3" material as there were two houses down the road.  Passenger cars don't like the big stuff much.





This is a shot of the state highway.  We take a lot of precautions to keep the highway clean.  It's good stewardship and good business.  I have built pretty good relationships through the years with the neighbors by taking good care of common roads.  A load of rock is the cheapest good will you can buy.......and the men in grey drive on by.

[Southside]

I don't think I have seen anyone keep it that clean Wudman, great job.

I spent today fixing and grading my internal roads, as best could be done with partial mud, hoping they will dry more today and tomorrow so I can re grade them just in time for this weekends mess to arrive. 

[Wudman]

One of my logging crews and my main road crew is running a vibratory roller on their job.  It is one of the best pieces of equipment in the woods.  If you can get it to start drying you can pack it.  It stretches the rock budget too.

Wudman

[mike_belben]

What i really hate is how well the clay on a tire will pick the fines off my driveway then throw em at my back windows later on. 

Its been a dry and sunny week with a good bit of wind and you can really tell thats helped dry things.  Over a dozen pulp trucks came off the mountain while i climbed it yesterday.  Just as many today. 

[nativewolf]

Great tips and thanks to wudman for the pictures.  That's better than us for sure but we haul on county gravel roads for a mile or so before pavement.  I've been wondering how to keep paved roads clean when we do an entrance onto pavement.  

Our county roads don't look 1/2 as nice as the roads you are showing.  In fact, some of them are treacherous with improper ditching causing road washouts.  

What's the costs to you from doing the rock?  In my area it seems that it would be a very decent 5 figure amount.    

[Wudman]

What's the costs to you from doing the rock?  In my area it seems that it would be a very decent 5 figure amount.    

Yes it is.  My rock cost has gone up significantly in recent years.  Several of the big companies have bought the small private pits I was pulling from and literally doubled the price.  My stone price for #3 is $15.50 to $19.50 / ton for material only.  The freight is on top of that.  I spend just north of $800,000 per year for road maintenance across about 80,000 acres of dirt.  That's in the neighborhood of 10% of timber sale revenue.  I'll spend about $7500 / mile for road stabilization (dozer, rock, seed, lime, fertilizer, mulch) following a timber sale close out.  The benefit to that......I don't have to touch one until I'm ready to thin in 15 years.  The money spent on the front end carries through the rotation.  As an added benefit, my customers know that they have a good road system to access sales.  I'll cover (or sometimes a 50/50 split) rock cost during operations to keep a crew from top cutting a road.  My larger crews have their own dump, so they cover the freight.  With my normal customers, they can reallocate the rock cost back into my stumpage......so it is a wash for my clients, but a benefit to the environment, aesthetics, and public relations.  In addition, if there is a problem, I have developed exceptional relationships with DOF.  I get the phone call instead of the paperwork.  That impacts my personal compensation.
Wudman