DIY logging

kvmapr · Oct 2, 2007

Another source of great information you might want to try on this subject would be over the the Forestry Forum - http://www.forestryforum.com/

My two favorite forums are TBN and FF. Because they're both populated with the same kind of great people who bend over backward to share a wealth of knowledge with anyone who asks.

Regrettably, the Forestry Forum suffered a hard disk crash a few weeks ago. End result, YEARS of incredibly valuable insight, pointers, tips, tricks, knowledge, good stories and photographs are gone FOREVER. While the FF users will slowly rebuild a new forum as the days and years pass, much of what was once available, will never be recovered. It's a real shame.

Which begs the question, is TBN's data repository regularly backed up? I sure hope so!

kvmapr

D7E · Oct 3, 2007

I am clearing 300 acres of my own land and selling up to 200cords a year split and delivered as a side to my 1400 acre farm with just 2 men ,4 saws(stihl 026 and ms 260's and 1 husky ),1 tractor and loader and a dozer the only reason we bought the dozer was we want the stumps out and will be crop land we split with a regular home built splitter on a tractor and stack nothing all goes in big piles off an elevator piles of 50-60 cords and never have a quality issue ,We only tend to do wood when farm work has finished (november to march) so 50% of the work is done in -10,-40 conditions ,I will get shot if i don't mention that the wife does a lot of the delivering with a dump box ...Just a comparison?
The wood is mainly oak , ash, maple,poplar and birch .I charge for seasoned wood..Maple and poplar $130 a cord,Hardwood $160 a cord and deliver with a home made dump trailer converted frpm a 3-ton truck towed behind a tractor?
If you are going to make a business of it you need more acres ,We can clear and pile 3-4 acres a day and land soon runs out so sometimes we buy swamp land for cheap take the tamaracks and poplars and sell it again and move on ,Alternativeley some farmers have swamp land that is treed and is useless to them and i pay $5 a cord to take trees off but you have to include the cost of running a big truck in that because it can mean running 20 miles ,Too many people will tell you firewood don't pay..It does if you are enthusiastic enough and don't like too many hours sleep ,Start cheap,Get the customers and put the price up once they now you are reliable ,Most people stick to a trusted supplier regardless of price ,But don't go crazy..Ha.Ha ?

D7E · Oct 3, 2007

whoops pressed send twice

kvmapr · Oct 3, 2007

D7E said:
if you are enthusiastic enough and don't like too many hours sleep ,Start cheap,Get the customers and put the price up once they now you are reliable ,Most people stick to a trusted supplier

Sage advice indeed! You can take these words and apply them to just about any business out there, and be a success. I know it certainly applies in the high tech services field I work in.

Do your homework, start early, and work late. It works.

kvmapr

scott_vt · Oct 3, 2007

Bobvt said:
I log with a Mahindra 6500 and Norse (10,400 lb) winch. I have a root grapple on the loader (also have the front weights on). All four wheels have chains. I can pull a pretty impressive load if the traction is good. (Front end wants to come up.) In the middle of February last year, we got nearly 2' of light snow. It never warmed up enough to settle and allow the packed snow in the logging road to freeze up. This limited my hitchs to about two thirds of normal.

Bob

Afternoon Bob,
That sounds like a nice combination there, tractor/winch !

Im awfully spoiled over here, drop most of my trees into the field and either cut them there or drag them to the house. I just lost another couple ash trees to the beetle. Are you having the same problem over your way ? Really seems ashame but its great firewood. Im just hoping that the ash trees dont go into extinction !

D7E · Oct 5, 2007

kvmapr said:
Sage advice indeed! You can take these words and apply them to just about any business out there, and be a success. I know it certainly applies in the high tech services field I work in.

Do your homework, start early, and work late. It works.

kvmapr

sorry my point was,Firewood can be profitable .If done right ,You dont need much machinery and customers are "ALWAYS" available and like me can be started as a weekend or winter thing ,But "NEVER" pay for raw material ,It is cheaper to buy land take trees and sell land ? As you said the mentality applies to any job ,But it helps ,I turned a weekend job into a $30'000 winter job in 2 years , I've seen many hard working (welders,Builders,Truckers) come to the country buy a place ,sell a little wood ,Get the bug and quit their job ,Buy a new tractor processor and saws and right away employees and spend $100'000 and who would believe it they go broke in the first year ,The only reason i have equipment is because i am a farmer ,Before i farmed with my family i did firewood for 10 years as a full time job (as a 20 year old who cannot work in the city and had business issues with father) with 1 chainsaw 1 pick-up and an axe $300 a day ,And a very satisfying tiredness at night ,And a body like a boxer...No more....**** tractors ?

Youare · Oct 5, 2007

hayden said:
Or you could get a 20" bar. Keep in mind that the actual working length is around 2" shorter than the nameplate length.

You are right about that.

The first thing I do when I get a new chainsaw is take off the "dog teeth". They take away at least an inch and a half of bar length. I find that I don't miss them at all even on my larger saw when bucking, a good sharpe chain will pull itself into the wood just fine.

Randy