Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[Jstpssng]

Hey thanks for posting that, I love small innovative machines that make bigger jobs easier. I love RG Letourneau and his machines, but I like seeing what big jobs can be done with smaller machines. Anyone can big ginormous equipment that is priced beyond people's reach, but smaller equipment...I love that.

I see some deficiencies in the design (they got stuck while moving a log on a lawn for instance and had to push it), but I can see how a BSC tractor could easily be modified to do the same work but would be much more robust in doing so.

...

I was hoping to do a forestry event this year with the State Regional Forester putting together a micro-forestry equipment show at my farm this summer. The guy knows a ton of people in Maine who have small forestry equipment.

That would be interesting to go to. There are still a few guys around who log with horses; I even know a couple of people who have cut loads of softwood pulp using their ATV.

 

[BrokenTrack]

To be honest I would be more concerned with quality and tree species than moisture content. I can let it dry, but there's a lot more heat in a cord of oak, rock maple, or beech than of white birch. Most places that are buying by weight are mills of some sort, not firewood retailers.

I got an email from a cousin a couple of years ago; he had bought a truck load of 8' hardwood which all turned out to be 7'6". I'm not sure how he handled it but I suggested that he talk to the supplier, and consider another source the following year.

Typically when a logger cuts "8 foot wood", we cut it 7'-6 inches because the paper mills do not care how long the wood is, just as long as it is not OVER 8 feet. Since they are paying by weight, what does it matter...7'-6" or 8'-0", but if it is 8"-1" it jams up the machinery, and they hate that. So the slashers, cut to length machines, etc, all are set to cut it 7'-6".

Did your cousin get screwed? No, you said so yourself when you said he "bought a truck load of wood". As firewood he lost quite a bit of wood if it had been bought by x amount of cord, but it was probably a load of hardwood going to a paper mill and got sold for firewood instead. Considering the lower cost he paid for it, it probably was still a good deal. He would be hard pressed to find a load of 8 foot wood that was actually 8 foot in length, if it was, it would be called firewood and would have been charged $20 more per cord. That is because when I cut tree length firewood I get $90 a cord; when I sell hardwood to a paper mill I get $70 a cord which is typical of most loggers here.

Why?

Because dealing with firewooders is such a pain. I can't just shove anything into the pile. No basswood, only a small amount of white birch and ash, but naturally they want beech, rock maple, and yellow birch. It also has to be a certain size. Not too big so it is a pain to handle, and not all small stuff either. Then there is no real assurance you will get your money unless it is paid for before the wood is unloaded. It is 10 times easier just to ship it to the paper mill on Friday morning and have cash in your hand that afternoon.

 

[bcp]

Hitch ball on vertical splitter wedge. Handy for towing with splitter on tractor.

Bruce

 

[BrokenTrack]

There is a lot of ways for loggers to shaft a buyer on firewood. When cutting tree length wood, cutting the limbs off against the bole of the tree will generate a LOT of holes in the pile as the wood is placed on the truck without anyone really noticing until the wood is cut, split and stacked. Another way is to cut the wood just a few feet shorter, say 22 feet instead of 24 feet. That two feet is hard to notice but makes for a cord of wood when its all said and done.

Last year I cut 80 cord for a firewood customer and he was shocked how much more wood he had left over this spring. Part of it was wood species as he got a lot of beech. But I also cut limbs along the bole and not against it so when I haul 1o cord loads, they are 10 cord loads! Then I typically cut my trees 26 feet instead of 24 just to be sure anyone gets the right amount of wood.

I have plenty of wood, the last thing I want to do is screw someone over $70. But I learned these tricks from the opposite end. Sometimes I was only getting 8.30 cord loads until I started really paying attention to how I cut my limbs off and making sure each tree was as straight as possible. Cutting them a bit longer angered my trucker, but it sure got my cords higher per load too!

 

[Jstpssng]

Typically when a logger cuts "8 foot wood", we cut it 7'-6 inches because the paper mills do not care how long the wood is, just as long as it is not OVER 8 feet. Since they are paying by weight, what does it matter...7'-6" or 8'-0", but if it is 8"-1" it jams up the machinery, and they hate that. So the slashers, cut to length machines, etc, all are set to cut it 7'-6".

Did your cousin get screwed? No, you said so yourself when you said he "bought a truck load of wood". As firewood he lost quite a bit of wood if it had been bought by x amount of cord, but it was probably a load of hardwood going to a paper mill and got sold for firewood instead. Considering the lower cost he paid for it, it probably was still a good deal. He would be hard pressed to find a load of 8 foot wood that was actually 8 foot in length, if it was, it would be called firewood and would have been charged $20 more per cord. That is because when I cut tree length firewood I get $90 a cord; when I sell hardwood to a paper mill I get $70 a cord which is typical of most loggers here.

Why?

Because dealing with firewooders is such a pain. I can't just shove anything into the pile. No basswood, only a small amount of white birch and ash, but naturally they want beech, rock maple, and yellow birch. It also has to be a certain size. Not too big so it is a pain to handle, and not all small stuff either. Then there is no real assurance you will get your money unless it is paid for before the wood is unloaded. It is 10 times easier just to ship it to the paper mill on Friday morning and have cash in your hand that afternoon.

Actually, he did buy it by the cord as firewood. Yet I understand exactly what you mean about firewooders. As I mentioned in a previous post, I took a log scaling course years ago. One of the first things they said was that firewood is the lowest value product, yet generates the most complaints. Unless you have repeat customers who know you and you know them it really isn't worth it.

Personally if I was going to buy heat it would go into the 275 gallon drum beside the building, but that's just me.

 

[BrokenTrack]

Actually, he did buy it by the cord as firewood. Yet I understand exactly what you mean about firewooders. As I mentioned in a previous post, I took a log scaling course years ago. One of the first things they said was that firewood is the lowest value product, yet generates the most complaints. Unless you have repeat customers who know you and you know them it really isn't worth it.

Personally if I was going to buy heat it would go into the 275 gallon drum beside the building, but that's just me.

I used to cut firewood tree length, sell it and buy propane, but soon stopped that foolishness. Now I cut tree length firewood/hardwood pulp and buy COAL! All my stoves can burn both coal and wood so that I always have options. Wood...coal...propane...:drink:

 

[mykleh]

BrokenTrack how do you ever get anything accomplished with a lovely distraction like that?? She didn't shovel much coal in that outfit..

 

[Jstpssng]

BrokenTrack how do you ever get anything accomplished with a lovely distraction like that?? She didn't shovel much coal in that outfit..

She helps him keep the spring in his step. :cool2:

 

[BrokenTrack]

BrokenTrack how do you ever get anything accomplished with a lovely distraction like that?? She didn't shovel much coal in that outfit..

No, she puts on her black outfit for that so that the dust does not show as much!

That picture was unique because some guys on another forum helped me install the boiler and so knowing Katie is cute, asked me for a picture of my boiler and her together "so they could determine which one was better looking." I told Katie and she smiled, put on her little red dress and posed for some photos which even surprised me; she knew I was posting them online. I like tractors too, but I figure for a little fun (and knowing she is up for it), will post some of her now and then so that people on here get a grin. Out on the town, it can get funny. I watched a guy walk headfirst into a lumber rack of 2x4's at Home Depot, I am not sure what he was looking at but it was not where he was going.

 

[eyi]

Timber Talon 130

Thanks