Tractor logging 5.5A

I have to agree with Creekbend and the others about selling timber... it doesn't seem to bring much return for all the hassle you go through. What few loggers there are want large diameter, healthy timber while much of what is on our place (Triad area) is the junk stuff... live and deadfall pine, small hardwood saplings, etc., that they won't bother with. Don't know if your place is like that also, but you'd either dispose of it on your own, as we are, or pay to have it hauled to a landfill.

If you have a defined area, say, an acre or so, that needs to be cleared to bare ground, you may find your best option is to just hire a track loader and operator, and a hauler to remove the spoils. These days there should be people hungry for that kind of work. If you plan ahead for it, you might be able to get all 6 acres cleared in stages as your budget allows. Clear-cutting all 6 acres yourself will be a really huge job and take a long time; hiring it done would be much faster.

At our place, we want to keep the healthy larger hardwoods, so clear-cutting is out. Like others, we're using a logging winch that greatly improves the ability to get down trees out of the woods safely. We have a 46hp compact that handles the winch and the logs easily, but in all honesty, any larger-framed compact with more than 30hp would readily do the job. My sense is the smaller compacts, even if they have similar horsepower, don't have the size and weight for such work.

Best of luck with your plans.

I'd first determine if your trees are worth anything, 5 acres of 2'+ diameter straight poles with 50' to the first branch Red Oaks are always good.
Do some surfing and asking on the forestryforum.com if you are unsure and your state or county forester. It would be a shame to sell a couple truck loads of veneer for near nothing, or have you think your wood is worth more than it is.

I'm no logger, but have some experience with tractors and firewood/logs. I have 37hp 4x4, and from my experience you can drag about anything, but lifting with the FEL is a different story. I had a poplar get struck by lightening last summer. I cut two 12 ft logs out of it and wanted to load them on the trailer to take to the mill. The smaller one was 14 in and it would lift that OK, but it just couldn't lift the bigger 17in log - I had to get creative to get that loaded. I can do firewood and drag trees and logs around all day, but the 37hp just doesn't have the hydraulics to lift heavy logs.

Interesting that you guys in NC say it's hard to sell timber there - we can still can get pretty good money for it here in KY. Even worth it to sell the logs out of trees that come down instead of cutting for firewood.

A cord of wood here goes for about $200 if it's been drying for a year. But cord wood usually needs to be at least 4 inches in diameter to turn into split logs; anything smaller is chipper feed, i.e. wood mulch.

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Originally Posted by jshwhite

I'm no logger, but have some experience with tractors and firewood/logs. I have 37hp 4x4, and from my experience you can drag about anything, but lifting with the FEL is a different story. I had a poplar get struck by lightening last summer. I cut two 12 ft logs out of it and wanted to load them on the trailer to take to the mill. The smaller one was 14 in and it would lift that OK, but it just couldn't lift the bigger 17in log - I had to get creative to get that loaded. I can do firewood and drag trees and logs around all day, but the 37hp just doesn't have the hydraulics to lift heavy logs.

Interesting that you guys in NC say it's hard to sell timber there - we can still can get pretty good money for it here in KY. Even worth it to sell the logs out of trees that come down instead of cutting for firewood.

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Lumber prices started falling 2-3 years ago here. A large mill in Mebane shut down around 3 years ago. There are hundreds of apartments now on that former mill site. Logging is still going on, but in a lesser degree. Most of the logging companies are only taking the really large plots. The N.C. Game Lands here in Caswell County sold a selective cutting contract last year that encompassed 3 thousand acres. The yellow popular lumber is being shipped to Red China and being processed for "Chop Sticks". Seriously.

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Originally Posted by Dr_Zinj

A cord of wood here goes for about $200 if it's been drying for a year. But cord wood usually needs to be at least 4 inches in diameter to turn into split logs; anything smaller is chipper feed, i.e. wood mulch.

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A full cord of firewood sells for $65.00 to $90.00 here and that is for split wood. And that is for a Full cord-4 foot wide, 4 foot tall, 8 foot long. It's hard to make a profit at those prices.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dr_Zinj

A cord of wood here goes for about $200 if it's been drying for a year. But cord wood usually needs to be at least 4 inches in diameter to turn into split logs; anything smaller is chipper feed, i.e. wood mulch.

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WOW! That's amazing. Around here it's like $50-60/cord, split - if you can even sell it. Saw one person selling full truckloads, split, delivered, and stacked, for $50. Wood is just so common here. Good ol' law of supply and demand I guess - or climate :)

I logged a portion of my 10acre home lot with a 15HP 1952 vintage Case VAC and milled the logs with my portable log mill. My old Case tricycle was able to skid diameters in excess of 24". If traction became an issue,I had to buck some of the logs into shorter lengths,but ,nothing under 8'.

If you have the time and desire, your Massey Ferg,will get the job done. Can you use the lumber? Consider contracting for portable log mill that will come to your site. Good luck.