Building a logging road

[Tractors4u]

A friend of mine owns a timber company. Recently he got a job to cut 500 acres of timber. This isn't going to be a clear cutting operation, just select hardwoods and the trees that get in the way of getting to the hardwood get sold for pulp wood. He called last week and asked how much vacation time I had built up. He needed a dozer operator to build a logging trail. Of course I said yes before I asked all the pertinent questions like pay and what kind of terrain. The pay was fine but when I got there I saw the terrain. There was already a trail going up the side of the mountain that I am guess was used by deer hunters in 4 wheel drive trucks and ATVs. There are huge boulders, I think they are granite. Driving up the road didn't seem to bad at first, that was until I drove over a patch of granite and one track on the dozer spun and the dozer turned 90 degrees in about a second. The pucker factor people speak of on TBN can not hold a candle to what I felt at that moment. I am still picking pieces of seat cover from my butt crack! Anyway, what kind of TBNer would I be without pictures. The first are a few before shots of the trail. As usual, the picture does not do the incline justice. I did try to hold the camera straight and level.

 

[Tractors4u]

Another before

 

[Tractors4u]

The biggest problem other that possibly falling of the side of a mountain were the boulders everywhere, including in the road.

 

[Tractors4u]

Sometimes I got lucky and could actually get them to pop out of the ground with the John Deere 650 dozer. How is this for a pebble?

 

[Tractors4u]

Here is a smaller one I pushed up. It was smooth on the top but the bottom looked as though it had been poured over swiss cheese. You could see where this rock looked like it had at one time been molten lava and had filled in holes below it.

 

[Tractors4u]

Another "before" shot.

 

[Tractors4u]

There was a guy with a chainsaw cutting trees from the side of the trail and another with a Skidder hauling them away. Here is the skidder taking a stump away from a tree I pushed over.

 

[Tractors4u]

Half way up the road there is a 90 degree turn. I just realized that I forgot to mention. This road is for 18 wheelers to haul the timber out!!! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif So anyway, I had to widen this turn to allow the truck and trailer plenty of room to make the turn. You can't tell a lot from the picture but here is that corner.

 

[Tractors4u]

And now some "after" shots.

 

[Tractors4u]

Everything is nice. I have widened the road enough for the trucks to make it up with the exception of a couple of tight places where we will need to get an excavator in to dig out the rocks.