Forum Replies Created
- AuthorPosts
Scott G
ParticipantThought I would attach these pics of different models. Majaco, Payeur, and SJM are represented in that order. Eye candy, but if the volume justifies it and your body isn’t up to sorting, decking and loading. Just maybe…. Open the attached files to view.
Take care,
ScottParticipantJust thought I’d give everyone an update before I forget. He is moving out fine, focused. A little edgy but not beyond what you would expect from a young punk that had a bad day. I have a rededicated focus on him when we’re working and he seems to appreciate that,….. as well as the 5′ stock whip he can see in my back pocket. Haven’t pulled it out but he knows that it is there….. 😉
Thanks everyone for some great discussion on this.
Take care,
ScottParticipantAhhh trucking, the bain of every logger’s existence. I think all of us have been to the point of considering our own hauling to provide consistency but have always wisened up to the realities (and inevitable headaches). I have had many truckers in the past but was fortunate to run across a couple that turned out as decent as one can expect for a truckers “time schedule” (or lack thereof) and have one now that I deal with exclusively.
Taylor’s story of his tried and true trucking friend brings memories of one of the most colorful characters I’ve ever dealt with. “Crazy Jim” was in his late seventies, drove an extremely old “freight shaker” (Freightliner) that pulled an old converted WWII vintage trailer built to haul tanks that he used for shortwood. He was prompt, would haul out of this God forsaken hole that no other truckers would touch, inexpensive, and an affable chap. He would show up at he landing, if he wasn’t sleeping there overnight, open the door upon which time a good amount of Old Mil cans would hit the ground and announce his presence. Often at this time one of his current “companions” would emerge from the sleeper cab…
During our time together he: 1)almost ran over me on a blind corner on a Forest Service road, 2) caused me to extinguish a wildland blaze that he started by “blowing out” a flat with ether, and 3) almost managed to pickle an entire 16 cord load on a tight corner that had the road blocked for two hours much to the local residents dismay.
You ask why did I hang on to him? Answer, because he was the only one crazy enough to haul out of this hole, and he was a very affable chap. One of those sincere types of people you just can’t stay mad at for long…
He didn’t have a CDL and ran under the cover of being agricultural. I use to have to write “invoices” for the product he hauled so that if he ever got stopped by CDOT, which thank God he never did, that he could claim he wasn’t hauling for hire. Several other gyppo loggers used him as well. Unfortunately we lost him to cancer a couple of years ago.
Ahhh, the memories (and gastric distress) 😀
-Scott
ParticipantTaylor,
Great to hear from you and nice pics. I’ll still be giving you a call one of these days. Nice job on the little Nokka forwarding trailer. A fairly common constant I have noticed for folks doing well is combining a forwarder, either a real one or a horse-drawn version, with ground skidding. It is a great take off on a motor/manual CTL harvesting system and can really increase your payloads for the long haul, especially with small roundwood. Another great thing I like about forwarders is the ability to load directly on to setout trailers. Landing is minimal size and you take out one motion of handling wood. One of the best pieces of advice I got from an old sage logger who was one of my mentors years ago was “everytime you handle wood you lose money” it is very true and unless it involves value adding or cutting for grade you try to minimalize it as much as possible. Integrating forwarders into your operation allows you to do that. I believe Simon is a recent convert to forwarders as well. Although I have come full circle back to horses I still honestly believe hydraulics are a gift from God….
I had a little NorHydro forwarding trailer for awhile when I started scaling back and it did pretty good for its size. A Majaco or Payeur horse drawn fifth wheel are definitely in my future once the funds and volume justify it. “Modern horse logging” is modern by several measures; chainsaws and hydraulics are two of those. Same superior result is achieved just with more effiency and less wear & tear on the operator.Take care,
ScottParticipantSorry to hear it, Justin. Ran across your web site a while back and it looked like you had a good thing going. Good luck to you in the future.
Take care,
ScottParticipantJoel,
He has always went single. Came from an Amish outfit in NE Ohio. To reiterate, I have skidded light loads with him since I got him after he just came 3. Other than what you would expect from a horse that age and lack of experience he has been fine.As far as expecting blowups, I’ve experienced those regardless of age and experience for the myriad of reasons mentioned in this thread and more. I think Carl was right on once I stepped back and thought about it, my mind was entirely focused that morning on getting this particular cutting unit done and moving on down the road to the next job. I am beginning to get a significant backlog of contracts. This was the first time I was concentrating exclusively on the job and not my young horse. I was wound up to get the job done and he sensed it. I wasn’t pushing him, just preoccupied trying to get the production and not accounting for the young horse I now work with. Coming off a mechanical operation for the past several years; I still need to fine tune my mindset back to the day when I first started out using horses for skidding.
As far as correction & training, my origins were definitely influenced by the roughrider “break” your horse rather than train it. My methods have since changed although I have to admit it is sometimes hard not to revert to old ways when things aren’t going well. I, like Carl, find that it is a much more productive and enjoyable day when you work with your horse as a willing partner rather than getting the desired output strictly motivated by fear. I was not an easy convert but could recognize even back then that there must be a better way to achieve the results and relationship I wanted with my horses.
Great thread, thanks for everyone’s thoughts. Cool thing about horses and life, you never stop learning and there is always a new “gee whiz” around the corner…
Take care,
ScottParticipantCarl,
Thanks for your thoughts. They are extremely insightful, well articulated, and true. We all know that horses pick up our moods faster then we do; if we are tense they are more tense than we are. I was/am very focused on the horse due to his young age and the potential he holds. Every move I make with him has a distinct purpose with a positive experience and training as the end goals. That said……
I had the mindset when I left that morning that I had to finish skidding out this cutblock I had down that day so I could move on to the next job. Being as driven as I am that was foremost on my mind that day. My number one priority that day was skidding, not working with my young horse and putting his mind in the front of mine, realizing his limitations, and helping him work through them at his young age.
We all know these situations and I have been there many times before. Sometimes we just have to step outside of ourselves and look at the big picture.
I think you hit the nail on the head, my friend. Thank you.
ParticipantJason was kind enough to send me an e-mail earlier addressing this and another topic. So I’ll just paste my response here. BTW Jason the road to home that I ponied him up at a pretty good clip is a 500′ elevation gain over only 3/4 mile distance at 8000′ elevation. He was breathing too hard and sweating too much to care about much of anything. He then spent a couple of quality hours tied to the hitch rail to ponder the consequences of life…
“The horse (Ben) has been worked by himself before with no issues other than being young & dumb. He is usually great when leaving everyone else behind and didn’t exhibit the behaviour I associate with separation anxiety from the others. Matter of fact, he is usually pretty indifferent to the others as he is the current dominant and has bonded to me well. The fact that the attitude was continuous throughout the day at different locations for no apparent reason is what puzzles me. I’ve had many blowups in my over 30 years of working with horses in the backcountry but usually there is an easy to spot cause or a rank mood that is easy to recognize.”
Thx & take care,
ScottParticipantSimon,
It wasn’t the killer bush or spooky stump. His attitude was cocked from when I first put the halter on him, all through the trailer ride, at the site, and on the way home. He only settled a bit after he was lathered by the brisk trip up the hill to the home corral. It truly was an all day attitude.Hope all is well on your side of the big water….
Take care,
ScottParticipantAll,
It sounds as though there is a desire to hold off until more members have had a chance to weigh in, a point I can certainly appreciate. Let me know when everyone is ready to move forward. Sometimes to my fault when I get a hold of something I like to throw a lot of energy at it and run with it. I’m like a puppy with a sock, I just can’t let go……As an aside, I had one of the most counterproductive clusters I’ve had in a long time yeterday with my single. It started out with him being wound up for unknown reasons as we loaded up to head to job. Upon arrival, he spent some quality time tied to the trailer as I did some felling and slashing. Once I harnessed him up we were off and proceeded to go ballistic, pile driving himself into the largest nearby tree which required me extricating him from “nature’s squeeze chute”. My first thought was that I screwed up with the lines being wrapped/tangled and/or headstall/harness but everything checked out. Flies weren’t an issue; doused him down enough that they wouldn’t get within three feet of him Drove to the cut unit more sideways than forward. Went to choke the first log and he went sunny side up in a nearby slash pile. Again, checked everything out. He would not step up and refused to pull. Managed to keep my cool during the whole episode which amazed my daughter. I decided to call it at that time and end it on a plus note by driving him to the point of going straight and loaded him up. As always when these things happen the landowners were watching….
Still no idea of what abnormal was going on. Even though he has just come 4yo, I have driven and skidded with him with great sucess. Put the best color a horse can have on him, sweat, as I ponied him behind the truck for a 500′ elevation gain the 3/4 mile up the hill to the corral at home.
Been a while since I’ve had a good wreck like that packing, riding, or driving. Those are the type of days that test your commitment ( but I remain steadfast 🙂 ). Will give it another go in the next couple of days. Horses, like us, can really have a terrible, awful, very bad, no good day…..
Take care,
ScottParticipantA.M, feed grass hay as soon as I get up. That gives them at least an hour to eat before we head down the road for whatever reason. I usually don’t grain (whole oats) unless they are really putting out. If you left them in the morning with a good amount of hay to get them through lunch I wouldn’t feed until after you’re done in the evening. Horse’s guts are meant to be constantly moving. I’ll always favor grass hay spread through the day and if they’re working hard (all day) or its really cold I’ll give them some whole oats and/or beet pulp at night. Whatever you do, don’t change diet abruptly. A horse’s digestive system is one of the most ill conceived things in nature. If you even look at them wrong they can colic… My rule of thumb is to be tuned into your horses condition. Getting fat, back off. Losing condition, bump it up….
Take care,
ScottParticipantAll,
Great input so far but I’d like to see a few more responses. I’ll give it till Monday then compile the responses for a vote. Sooo…. get your ideas in now.BTW, County fair excursion is done for the year. My oldest daughter cleaned up. Took overall champion in horse, both english & western, grand champion horse showmanship, reserve champion class I market steer, champion beef showmanship, and grand champion dog. Everybody is tired but happy. Proud Pa! Round 2 at State fair in three weeks………
Take care,
ScottParticipantMatt,
The FIA database probably has them. Never been to the site but that is what they get money to do. You’re probably going to have to get a bit more specific with your forest cover types/region though.
Take care,
ScottParticipantSounds like a good show, John. Just curious, how were you paid for the job since they were using the lumber; day,hourly, area, or volume?
Nothing like a quick, profitable, and sucessful project to make you feel good. Bet you get requests for more work in the Boston ‘burbs.
ParticipantThanks everyone. Great input all the way around. First, let’s address a few questions/comments. Tim, I believe everyone can contribute via word processing files sent to a central organizer. I would be happy to do that. As I said, a good chunk of my time is spent at the computer anyway and my current situation allows me some freedom and time to pitch in on this effort. Jason, luckily my dial-up is at home and I have the benefit of having high speed at my office, so connection speed and file sharing is not an issue. A good part of my gov job deals with working on forestry & woody biomass issues on a regional & national basis and this certainly falls in line with that. I am blessed that I am given the flexibility and freedom to work for the betterment of forestry as a whole.
It sounds as though the consensus is that networking via an international communication effort is primary with the end goal being the formation of an international association based on input from contributors & subscribers.
Carl, I whole-heartedly agree that eventually outsourcing production and distribution of the newsletter is optimal. In order to be sustainable and take it to the next level that type of support will be key. During our start up, however, the ability to put together a file in the form of a newsletter and send it out to everyone via-email is something that is very much within the scope of what I can pull off from my ‘puter. Of course in order for this to work, it will require that I/we receive material/files that are pretty much ready to go with a minimum of editing. Printing that and sticking it in the mail is something that can be done as requests/monies are received for a hard copy. I believe that the hardcopy is the only initial aspect that justifies collection of funds. The in-house layout, editing and distribution is something we can accomplish with our collective efforts for at least the initial start up. No expensive software, just use what most of of us already have loaded on our computers.
So, all of that said lets get down to details. I will outline several point by point below. Please respond to them in the same fashion for ease of organization.
1) What is the consensus and/or discussion on what I’ve mentioned so far?
2) Throw out some names for the effort. Ideally ones that could carry over into the eventual association. Key words could/would be; draft, forestry, logging, powered, animal, international, etc..
3) Mission statement. This should be 1-3 sentences at most.
4) Goals. List five goals, in order of priority, for this effort. Clear, concise, and limited to one complete sentence.
I will collect all of these, post them in one message, and we will vote for the top three. From those results we will vote again for the top one, realizing we might do some editing to the final for brevity and clarity.
Once we have that accomplished I will start a seperate thread requesting input regarding specific tasks to accomplish each goal.
Ready, set, go…….
- AuthorPosts