[TaylorJohnson]

I have read about him , it is good to hear he is still traveling. Taylor Johnson

[TaylorJohnson]

Guys I tried posting something on this a while back and hit a button and lost it …. you could say I was a little mad . I carry 2 small wedges , a medium , and 2 large ones . Most of the time there are 3 ways you can fall a tree with all points in-between as possibilities. Sometimes you have to pound wedges like crazy but most of the time if you plan your trails and strip right there is no need. I do carry a small maul style hammer in a standard size hammer holder to pound with its handle is no longer than a regular hammer. I have a maul in the trailer that is an eight pound splitting head on a short handle. With horses it is a head ache to hang big trees . I have gotten them down with come a longs and high lift jacks being used like a wench ( with cleveses and chains hooked on ) . I hook a little high on an anchor point and crank one till it wont then the other , then one then the other ……… you can get a big tree down like this. I have also twisted them out of the hang . You bore into the tree that is hung make a good size hole then cut as long a pole as you need to and use it like a lever to twist it out of the tree. Be mind full of were you bore your hole , think of your twist and give your self enough room to get as long a rotation as possible.
I would never cut a tree that had one hanging in it . When I was little boy my Dad did this and got a broken neck for his trouble, he had to crawl around for almost a year just to go to the bathroom . They said he would never walk again but hell he is still walking and that was 30 some years ago. Sometimes I slap a hanger with another tree to get it out .. man any thing but cutting the one it is in. Carl you knock that off and so should the rest of ya doing it. Carl if I did not like ya I would not say anything but man it would make me sick if your boys had to go though watching their Dad crawl around for a year. This game is more likely to get you than not but man that is like asking for it. There has never been one I could not get down but if there was and my option was cutting the one it was in it would rot there and if the land owner did not like it he could cut it .
Ben I looked at a short hydraulic jack and thought of doing the same thing you did , now I will for sure . Taylor Johnson

[TaylorJohnson]

I really like that four door international . I wonder how hard it would be to build a small barn and living quarters on the back that could be taken down and used on job site at times , then you could haul some wood with the truck.
I also could see my self with that other international or that type of rig. Taylor Johnson

[TaylorJohnson]

I told my Nephews that we were the Hill-Billy A Team wile we were in that van of mine 🙂 . Taylor Johnson

[TaylorJohnson]

I have a lot of ideas on what I would like . One would be a box truck or a big flat bed truck and run the horses up in . Have a small living quarters on the truck . The tents are nice but I do like the quick set up time of a hard house of some kind. The less you have to pull , load , unload …. the better. Also one trip is nice. A man does not need a lot to stay in wile he is working . Warm and dry is important … some were to dry boots and clothes are also very important in the winter, spring , and fall . I have looked at some old uhaul trucks , some of them would make a dandy . Taylor Johnson

[TaylorJohnson]

This is my rig . It is a one ton dodge van with a 360 motor. I bought the trailer for $900.00 some years ago . I have put lots of tires and a couple of new floors in it. . The Van i got from a buddy of mine in a series of trades and swaps along with some cash. It is a cheap rig and the van has less that 90,000 miles on it. Before this I was using a Dodge Dakota 4×4 with a v 6 .
In that set up below I got some funny looks going though town .. it must have looked like quit a train lol. In this pic I just got home from log a load for kids .

[TaylorJohnson]

Very cool , great job. Taylor JOhnson

[TaylorJohnson]

Phil my Dad and I went though down town Rochester MN at noon with 2 mules just riding in the back of the truck tied to a row bar . Now I can tell you we got some looks lol . All of out mules would ride in the back of the truck most of them with dogs if need be.
My Dad and Uncles use to haul their work horses to the woods in a big bow truck sometimes.They would back it in and out of the ditch to load and unload them. I have though many times to get some kind of rig like this to haul with there would be a lot of good ways to set it up. Some of these old uhaul trucks and the likes go for a good fair price. Taylor Johnson

[TaylorJohnson]

Right now I am going about 25 miles or so. With the ice on the roads up here now I will be keeping the horses there on site most of the time. I have worked six or seven hours away from home and that takes some planing. It seems like anything over 40 or so miles gets into a different realm of planning . I hate being away from my horses … it just makes me uneasy but at times it has to be done. Taylor Johnson

[TaylorJohnson]

Sometimes I cut a little above the notch . It seems like the pull is off of the stump and not our of the log this way. Taylor Johnson

[TaylorJohnson]

I have had a lot of 372 and they are great saws good power to weight . Get the heated handle bar it is nice when it is bellow zero out side . Taylor Johnson

[TaylorJohnson]

Well being like a mule will sure not hurt lol .. love it . Taylor Johnson

[TaylorJohnson]

There is just a heck of a lot of things that are hard to plan for. I use to have an idea of what I had to have to operate … now I know I can operate on much less lol. It can work it all depends on how much you want it . Like Scott said it is all logging . One way or the other the name of the game is takem down and takem to town. Figure out what you are going to get paid after trucking and stumpag if you have any. Each job will vary as to what you can put out but that will determine what you make. One thing about horse logging is mistakes cost you in terms of volume so a little mistake can cost you a lot. Figure out what your wood is worth to you were ever you are going to sell it and figure you stumpage , these things are easy to figure . The hard part to figure is how much time is it going to take me to put the logs were you can sell them. All loggers , all horses, all jobs , all-weather , all land owners …… are not created equal . You can have a good idea of what it takes but just plan on working hard enough to make it work one way of the other and then when you get a job that pays better for the work that you do and the hours that you put in it all evens out. I am not saying to work for nothing but there will be days that it happens just try to learn from what cost you . Right now after trucking and stumpage I am making about $50.00 per cord some of the wood I do a little better on but not much. I have a few jobs I can do better on that are hard wood logs but I will finish this one first . I can do this but I would not advise every one to try it . I have managed to acquire a few pieces of equipment that help me with my volume a bit and I am a good pincher of pennies. I will make this work because I am committed to doing so, one way or the other I make it work . If you decide to make it work it will it will . You will do the work and find out what you can do for the money , how far you can skid , how much you can pile , what the earth of the job will allow you . Find your rhythm and work like the devil is coming to get you and keep your stumpag as low as you can give your costumers a reason to have you do the job . With the horses there is always something you can do that a machine can not use that to make you costumers happy. One thing I do is chop my tops up very small and work very hard to do minimal damage while I fall trees and skid them out. It is hard without knowing you , your horses, or the jobs you are going to do or your markets to tell you how much to charge. If I can help in any other way give me a call 715 416 1078 .. I will be hard to reach this week because I am hunting but you can sure try if you would like . It is do- able but at times it can be hard but I can not think of any thing else I would rather do … well unless I could get paid to hunt and fish and as of yet I have not figured a way to do this with out guiding the public . Take care and good luck . Taylor Johnson

[TaylorJohnson]

Scott ,
That sound like a good way to set them up. Even the ones I made were able to make my job just a little easier and there for help me get more done and that is the name of the game in logging as we all know.
I heard talk of the stretch rope . I used this concept with a chain and a small tire to pull my one ton out of a hole a time or two. It made it much easier on the team . The little tire would stretch and not jerk the team and they had to hit it hard to get me out.
And man I would love to come out there to the east and meet a bunch of you guys and gals. It sounds like it would be a great time. Taylor Johnson

[TaylorJohnson]

You know a few years ago I was working a red pine thinning with about a .5 acre clear-cut. It was about a 6” to 10 ” dbh with some trees running bigger. I made up some rope chokers to use that varied in length . this was not special rope .. in fact I have no idea what the breaking strength of it was . It had a loop in one end and a series of knots tied in it so I could hook my single tree or double on it. I could carry a few in my pocket and hook mutules if the load allowed . They were light and easy to work with and they lasted me the last part of the job . I would guess I skidded about 40 some odd cord with this riggens and some of them good-sized logs . It was strong rope but nothing special I think I got it at the local Ace hardware. It was nice for the small diameter hooks because I could did not have to carry all of those chains. The least resistance is crustal in horse logging and I like the idea of some of this tough rope… all thow I do like to see a shiny chain at the end of the week, that tell me I at least tried to get something done lol . Taylor Johnson

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