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Carl Russell
ModeratorThanks so much for including me in this year’s LIF. I had a blast, and learned a lot about myself as a draft animal logging educator. I really appreciate the open, honest, and real environment.
I was incredibly inspired the first time I visited LIF in 2003, which led me to help define the network of draft animal people in the NE… which led to NEAPFD and DAP. It is a real pleasure to revisit every once in a while as the network grows and matures.
It was awesome coming out of the woods yesterday among a string of people, logging equipment, and horses. John, Peter, Jason, Jim, and all the others have done, and are doing, a wonderful thing.
After a long drive home, I have been mulling over a few of the thing I learned about my approach to draft animals, forestry, and education, and how I would like to improve my delivery.
I am feeling inspired to put together a paper, or perhaps a pamphlet, dissecting modern cultural assumptions about forestry and timber harvest as they pertain to stumpage versus logging costs, forest improvement, and ecology. I feel like there needs to be something in print, where numbers can be compared, so that people can begin to understand how different methods, such as non-commercial thinning, biomass retention, crop tree release, and low impact harvest with draft animals, can facilitate a different economic and ecological product.
I am going to start by trying to put together a few articles 300-500 words, dealing with distinct areas, then hopefully be able to combine them into a pamphlet that could potentially become a manual of sorts.
I was great to see and talk with a you all this weekend.
Carl
ModeratorToday, I way standing on my log cart in Central Maine, mentoring novice teamsters while they drove my team through an obstacle course, dragging a log, while speaking on my cell phone with English horselogger Simon Lenihan.
Carl
ModeratorWe brought the shovels and rakes and implements of destruction, but you know…. I don’t want a pickle, just want to ride my motorcicle……
Carl
ModeratorTrailer is all loaded, and we are ready to leave here at 4am. See you there, or be square, Carl
ModeratorHi Piper, sounds like a great opportunity for somebody out there….
Is that New England? or Nebraska?
Thanks, and good luck, Carl
ModeratorI wrote a business plan, but within a year I was operating under a different set of economics parameters, bringing value to my livelihood in ways that didn’t add up in the straight line formulas I had used to create the plan. I did however stick with the basic plan for services and operations, just found a different way to support it.
Carl
ModeratorJean we use Macs, but currently I have the database in Filemaker Pro, which can operate on both, or it is at least exportable to Excel. I found that Filemaker Pro offers much more than Excel, more than I have been able to figure out, but it isn’t so expensive, nor that difficult to use, that DAPNet couldn’t afford to buy another license for you to install it on your computer.
Whatever works for you without a whole new learning curve, Carl
ModeratorRick makes a good point. I have always the most valuable aspects to having horses is their versatility and low cost. This has led me to use them in my personal as well as business endeavors. Which is the reverse of what Rick suggests. I do have other uses for my horses, and other sources of income, precisely because much of the logging work that is commercially available is not cost effective….. (Truthfully, even for machinery, but they handle a lot more cash, although if you ask them to sharpen their pencil very few are actually taking home any more than we are).
Personally, I never felt comfortable being a full-time anything, and having animal-power as my motive power has given me the freedom from debt and maintenance encumbrance to move around the market, even just working for myself at home on non-paying projects, to find those opportunities to make ends meet.
This is not to say that I haven’t worked on logging jobs that provided me less than $35/hr. This summer 4 of us worked together on a job cutting spruce, some pine, and hardwoods. It turned out that the lion’s share of what we cut was spruce, which was somewhat depressed, so after a reasonable stumpage we were only able to support $20/hr for chopper, and $25/hr for teamster… although we did cover $70/hr for the forwarder…. which is another part of the equation which seems much less flexible than the production costs of using horses. However, the remainder of the job is closer and closer to the landing, and there is a large section of hardwoods as of yet un-cut, and some good quality and sizable white pines, so the jury is still out as to the final average cost.
Carl
ModeratorThere is a great thread already on here with a lot of good discussion.
http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?t=93&highlight=logging+economics
Carl
ModeratorGood work Geoff. Thanx, Carl
ModeratorScott G;22041 wrote:I am not going to say anything about the long range, but in case you’re interested…Bringing rain gear, and shod horses!!! I’m getting kind of sick of this sunny, warm, clear weather here anyway.
Carl
ModeratorI don’t think there would be a problem having an ad that laid out the relationship between DAPNet, DAP.com, and NEAPFD. Even if the NEAPFD isn’t held it would be worth having people think about it anyway.
Carl
ModeratorThe shortest setting should be just clipping the heal, then have 6-10 links to extend further.
Carl
ModeratorI was told the same story as Mitch. Old timers around here would feed salt-petre on the grain and bran mash on Sundays to help keep the blood cool and clean. Logging horses were especially prone, fed lots of grain 6 days a week and worked hard, then left in the hovel for a day.
Carl
ModeratorMine are out almost all of the time I am not working them. I only use the tie stalls for before and after work, or in lousy weather, or when the fields are too wet to have them out.
If I am working them regularly I don’t get too concerned about their exercise, but I try to turn them out every night anyway, and bring them back in the morning.
If field are wet I usually try to catch a good afternoon, and turn them out for a short period…. Or I put harnesses on and find some work.
Carl
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