Staying Busy and out of trouble, 2020-21?.

Ljohnsaw · May 15, 2021, 09:42:56 AM

Quote from: btulloh on May 15, 2021, 08:25:44 AMTom, too bad you're not closer.

Just haul it to the Pig Roast and he can pick it up there ;);D

Old Greenhorn · May 15, 2021, 06:37:22 PM

OK, short reply here because my legs feel like lead right now and dinner is almost ready (I hope).
Zippski, those are very nice trailers and boy I would love to be the proud owner on one someday, but right now they don't fit the work I am doing. These are very challenging roads around here and where I am harvesting I get 12 miles to the gallon going up, and 76 miles to the gallon coming down because the trailer pushes me the whole way. ;D A 12,000# trailer on these roads is too much for my truck, just a 1500. All I need for this work is a 7,00# trailer, low sides or flatbed and 14-16' long. No more than that until the day I wind up with a 350 or 450 for work. Mighty pretty trailers. DO they have a US distributor?
Btulloh, that is a sweet offer and I would make a little adventure out of the drive, it's only 7 hours and it has been too long since I have enjoyed the hospitality of the state of Virginia, which is always welcoming. My problem is timing, I am so full of work right now that taking a couple days out to make the run is something I can't manage. I appreciate the offer more than you might guess. Also, it sounds to me like you may have generated soem 'other interest' here you may wish to pursue?

Bringing it to the pig roast would work, but again, the timing is not right and I expect I will be in a new one by then. I am waiting to pull the trigger until I get through a couple of cycles of bringing logs home and getting them sold. I just want to be sure I have chosen the right trailer size, but not too big. SO I will tough it out for a bit with my small trailer and see how it goes. When I finish the first few weeks, I think I have a little breathing room before I start in again and should have plenty of cash on hand to make that happen. Then the next rounds will be easier. I am also looking at other purchases that might make this work easier/faster/more efficient such as handling tools and such. Adding a swing boom on the trailer that can grab up a load of logs from the mule bed with cargo straps would make loading and unloading go a lot faster and save all kinds of calories on my part. ;D
So lots of stuff going on in my head with this stuff. But I have to say I really appreciate all the suggestions and offers of help because they help me think this stuff through a LOT. This is certainly not like normal logging or sugaring or any of those long standing traditional woods work things. There seems to be nobody I can find that has done 'larger scale' mushroom log harvesting unless they have done it on their own land for their own growing operation. Well, there is one guy I have talked to on the phone, but I have yet to pick his brain. That time is coming soon, when I have my first load for him.

VB-Milling · May 15, 2021, 08:22:57 PM

Quote from: btulloh on May 15, 2021, 09:09:40 AM
Yep. I really need a 20ft but haven't gotten around to selling this one. Just another task to fit into my schedule. I find that buyers sometimes can be as difficult as Tom's sellers ;D But that wouldn't be the case with a ff member.

Of course if you want it I'd give the FF the usual 5%.

Might have someone interested if you could PM me and provide more details and pics.

btulloh · May 15, 2021, 09:43:11 PM

Tom, your schedule and the distance makes this trailer a bit problematic for you. there's bound to be a good deal waiting for you a lot closer. You've got a lot of balls to juggle and more than one thing needed, but I have no doubt you'll get it all wrangled.

VB - I'll get you some pics and some details, but it'll probably be next week sometime. Selling this trailer is a low priority for me right now, but it's not going anywhere. I haven't bothered to list or anything. Thermostat went out on the tractor while bushogging today. Gotta get that straight and finish the mowing some fields and roads which I'm a couple weeks late on anyway. Shrubs need pruning, mulching needs to get done - way behind on everything and it's hard to even find someone to come in and do it. There's such a big market for yard maintenance and such around here that people are charging ridiculous prices if you can even get them to come. Long gone are the days when a kid in the neighborhood wanted to earn some pocket money. >:(

:( :

:-\ :'(

WV Sawmiller · May 15, 2021, 11:09:54 PM

Tom,

I'm misreading something. I thought you were looking for something to tow with your mule and now it seems the trailers that will haul the weight of the logs is too heavy for your truck so must be way too big for the mule. Sounds to me like you need one trailer in the woods to tow behind the mule in tight spaces and sketchy roads/trails to a landing then a bigger trailer and maybe even a bigger truck to haul the logs home. Good luck and keep us posted.

Old Greenhorn · May 16, 2021, 08:05:46 AM

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on May 15, 2021, 11:09:54 PM
Tom,

I'm misreading something. I thought you were looking for something to tow with your mule and now it seems the trailers that will haul the weight of the logs is too heavy for your truck so must be way too big for the mule. Sounds to me like you need one trailer in the woods to tow behind the mule in tight spaces and sketchy roads/trails to a landing then a bigger trailer and maybe even a bigger truck to haul the logs home. Good luck and keep us posted.

Yeah, my mind tracks in strange ways and it's probably confusing to follow as I jump tracks from one thought stream to the other. Perhaps a little more clarity on my part will help make it straight, but you have to keep in mind I am trying to invent a new process here, I have no models to follow, so I am looking at every aspect and I jump around a bit as new ideas come into my head.
There are several small challenges. The first is all this stuff is green and heavy and I have to transport it from around an hour away after loading at roadside, and then unload at home, and repeat. What I have is a 10' single axle trailer that the mule just fits on, the mule, and me to work with. I think I can do 150-200 logs per trip.
The second challenge is getting the logs from where I cut them to the road. This is 'hostile territory' in that it is very difficult to get a 4 wheeler through most of this ground, let alone a UTV with a dump bed. Pulling a trailer through the woods is pretty much out of the question in most cases, however, the mule should take around 30 logs in the bed where the weight will max out. Then I drive them to the trailer and hand load from the mule to the trailer until the trailer is maxed out (I watch the springs). Then I bind 'em down and drive 'em home and unload, again, by hand. Then repeat the cycle.
SO goal one is a trailer that can carry more weight, but not overtax my truck and truck brakes on the steep mountain roads. This is why I settled on 14-16' and 7,000# (plus that is much better sized for bringing home logs for other work).
Goal TWO (and this is new) is a way to at least unload from the Mule into the trailer, and from the trailer to the pile at home, with some kind of mechanical assist. Loading the mule in the woods will always have to be done by hand, one log at a time, the trick being to get as close to where I am cutting as possible, not always easy or even possible. But if I can figure a way to get the logs onto and off of the trailer in 'bundles' of say 10 logs (350#) and do it fairly quickly, then it will take quite a load off my back and make the work go faster. After a long day and a long drive home, unloading the trailer at night can be a real bear.
Goal three (only where applicable) is to make a trailer (or buy one) that I can pull behind the Mule to reduce the number of trips from the woods to roadside. For now I see this as a rare, if ever, possibility because of the aforementioned conditions and the very low likely hood that I will have room to maneuver a trailer in the woods on those hills. If I had that kind of terrain, I would try to get the whole truck and trailer in there and load directly.
So I need to get out there and start doing the work to teach myself what is really needed. Likely I will tough out these first few months learning the hard way, then have some money for materials of steel to build a swing boom crane on the trailer or something like that during the early winter.
As I said, there is no model for this process, the ones I have seen are highly tailored to a specific set of circumstances and usually includes something I don't have, like a tractor.
This is heavy work on broken ground an all done by hand. Back in March I did 50 logs down the road and timed myself. It took 3 hours working on a side hill, cutting each tree, measuring, bucking, and carrying one log at a time to the truck. It's a benchmark for me to use as I make improvements. I can tell you my legs were like jello at the end of that session. Slipping and sliding and snow blowing. Great fun. SO I need to improve this system if I expect to keep at it.
SO Howard I don't know if that cleared up my wandering thoughts, but its the best I can do for now until I get that pile started in the yard.
Btulloh, since I may have just taken a pass on the prefect trailer, when you get around to taking some photos could you copy me on them so I can see what I missed out on? :D
By the way, fair warning, this thread ends tomorrow and I will start a new one. It's too many pages now and I have been ending it on Norwegian constitution day and starting a new one for the last year or two. Not sure what I will call it yet. ;D

Al_Smith · May 16, 2021, 08:36:59 AM

I'm in the process of laying down another 50-60 square feet of sandstone as an extension of one of my three patios .One of those "Honey do " things . I've got another 5-700 pounds to move and hope I have enough .
I have a pair of Makita concrete /rail saws I refurbished last fall early winter to try out .Ordered a blade and water connection which should be here by mid week .I dislike cutting stone using a dry blade .I never run out of things to do it seems .If it isn't some project something needs repaired .More times than not something needs repaired before I can do the project .I may burn out but I'll never rust up .

Nebraska · May 16, 2021, 04:32:39 PM

;)

Thanks for taking us along...

WV Sawmiller · May 16, 2021, 05:21:59 PM

Now that my mind is fried I wonder if you could make a miniature pulp wood or log trailer (Pup?) to pull behind the mule that will break down and can be strapped down and hauled in the dump bed of the mule. I'm thinking a short axle to hook to the hitch and a rear axle about 3' long and 3-4 ft wide made of angle iron or pipe and hitch pin connection or such and with stanchions to hold the logs in place. Maybe even lay a chain or choker down first then tighten it around the logs when loaded and help keep them in a tight bundle and maybe even be used to lift the whole load and swing it into/on to the bed of your prime mover but I still don't see you hauling all this in/on a 1500 series p/u. Maybe a one - 2 ton or bigger flatbed truck with stanchions to load and haul the logs at the same time you haul your existing 5.5X10 trailer with the mule and pulp wood dolly/trailer in the bed if the load limits allow.

At home load the mule on the 5.5X10 trailer with the pup in the bed/cargo area, go to the site, assemble the pup and tow it to the logs in the woods, load the pup and the cargo bed of the mule, haul them to the landing and unload on to the truck, load the pup in the mule and drive it back up on to the trailer and drive it all home.

Remember - free advice is worth what you paid for it. :D

Old Greenhorn · May 16, 2021, 06:08:17 PM

Well Howard all ideas are welcome because they sometimes lead to a better solution, either directly or indirectly. I just realized there is a piece I must have left out. I will be hauling the mule up and leaving it there for the duration until the job is done. I will not be hauling it each day, I guess I neglected to mention that. Hauling the mule each day would be a waste and cut production to unworkable numbers as you observed, unless I had a much bigger rig and that ain't happening unless something busts out over time. I don't know how long this will last. I am certainly not ruling it out, but it could happen this year anyway and I am find the physical work is really taking it out of me. I had zero energy today. I unloaded the trailer of firewood and that wiped me out after bucking a few logs. So I don't know how much of this I can do.
Again, that trailer in the woods deal is going to be a very limited opportunity thing because of the terrain in these parts. But if it turned out through practical application that it was a do-able thing, I would look into modifying one of those walking beam UTV log haulers pretty much as you say and add bunks so I can get 2 sets of logs (40" ea) in the front and back halves. If I add a swinging boom crane on the trailer I could lift off 10 or 15 logs bundles and drop them in the trailer as a package. Unloading at home would go the same way. Get some of those cheap 1" ratchet straps and put 2 on a bundle. Put a meat hook on the crane and lift. But again, down the road, I have to see what is really needed first.
I hope your flea market turned out well today. I'll go read the other thread and find out. ;D