Lets talk skidders...

[markbuilt]

skidders

have the deere john 440 model and yes with the cable , the engine was rebuilt a few years back dealer said was almost up to the 100horsepower range . the biggest issue with the john deere is the clutches in the wench they can burn out . its a great machine not overly big good on fuel which is a plus these days , anyways thats my 2 cents

 

[Metals406]

have the deere john 440 model and yes with the cable , the engine was rebuilt a few years back dealer said was almost up to the 100horsepower range . the biggest issue with the john deere is the clutches in the wench they can burn out . its a great machine not overly big good on fuel which is a plus these days , anyways thats my 2 cents

All input and opinions are welcome!

 

[redprospector]

LOL...Andy, you weren't whining. You were, uh, describing a situation. Yeah, that's it...describing a situation. That's what I call it when I do that, anyway.

I Know what you mean though. We're on our last day falling for a damn cheapskate that wants to cut our rate. He kept telling us he could get somebody cheaper and yesterday my partner and I had enough...we told him to just go ahead and get them. Rates have gone down here but there's a point beyond which it just doesn't pay to go to work.

And I'm not whining either...just describing the situation. :greenchainsaw:

Bob

Hahaha. You can call it what you want Bob. But I was whining, and it felt Goooood!

I got my track back on this morning, fixed the quick attach after noon, and went off the hill to get the grinder. Evidently my fix on the quick attach was a little tiny bit off. I got the grinder on top though, I'll re-repair the mount in the morning.
The guy I'm doing this for was there, and I told him I was done. He asked me if I could at least do the piles up on top, I told him NO. He helped me all day, so I was in a little better mood by 6:30, so I told him I'd try the stuff on top, but I was history at the first sign of trouble.
It's hell being financially embarrassed.

Andy

 

[redprospector]

Do many people bid on stewardships there? We either get no bidders or one bidder. The specialists put so many "projects" in the package and not enough timber, and then with only one bid, there isn't enough timber money to pay for all the projects. But the enviros like it--they seem to like anything that is not very economically sound, so we plan the sales that way.

Be sure the landowner knows about the stumps under the piles. That is not a good thing. We hired a new fire guy who was burning right behind the handpilers! It was a nice change. Very few of the handpilers spoke English, but I can't do anything about that. They drove up here from 4 hours away--one way, but they beat out the local people for the job.

Bullbuck probably knows more about it than I do, but I'm pretty sure that the "stewardship" deals are pretty new to this area (within the last few years anyway). Should have been done that way when there was actually a market for the timber. Those stinkin' enviros could mess up a train wreck.

I talked to the land owner today. I explained the stumps to him, he said he was wondering why when he burned the piles around his house for several days after little fires would pop up here & there. Dam root's.

I quit bidding on FS projects, because I had to work legal's, and provide them with workmans comp, insurance, gov. mandated pay, etc. etc. etc. Then these "big shots" come in from another area and bid a job at less than what it would cost me to do it. But there's nothing anyone can do about it, unless it's me doing it.
Oh well, that's life. I do ok working private land, and state stuff.

Andy

 

[bullbuck]

hey red,good to hear you are up and running,you are not working out at jims are you?:monkey:

 

[Gologit]

So, do you have another job lined up?

Yup. I'm not having much luck being semi retired. The phone keeps ringing.

And I keep answering it.

 

[redprospector]

hey red,good to hear you are up and running,you are not working out at jims are you?:monkey:

I don't know what the owners name is. It's out 244 across from the pay by the inch fishing place (Raspberry hill), way up on top.

Andy

 

[bullbuck]

okay different place,sounded alot like where i did some skidsteer grapple last summer with a pile on every stump,apparently some handpilers were misinformed those stumps can last for months on fire and when they decide to blow up it is always the worst possible time,i used to torch commercial piles for george i liked it!huge smoke plumes! nowadays i just stress out...

 

[redprospector]

Huge smoke plumes right now would be bad news, even with the little dab of rain we got.

Andy

 

[bullbuck]

no doubt!lucky there has been little wind this year,but i have heard of localized two inch rainstorms at different locations,not bad for this time of year!

 

[Metals406]

Yup. I'm not having much luck being semi retired. The phone keeps ringing.

And I keep answering it.

I'll be retarded along with you! Errr... Retired!

Tomorrow's the big day... I meet with the bank to see if I get some capital to do this FS stuff.

 

[Mike Cantolina]

I really liked the clarks also.

I haven't logged since '03. Still have an old 79 450 Tj though.

Oh wait, I guess I did log some in 06 for another guy while between tree jobs.

 

[Metals406]

Okay... After a lot of work, a lot of figuring, and a lot of time in general to figure this job... NADA.

The bank told me they wouldn't help me out, so I called my buddy this afternoon, and asked him to finance the bid for me. He agreed, and I rushed to the FS office. The bidding started @ 2pm, and I got there right at 2pm. The forester was nice enough to give me 10 extra minutes to get my envelope stuffed with the bid and 100 bucks.

There were 3 people bidding including me. The sealed envelopes were opened, and then the oral bidding began. The bidding started at $1.00 per CCF (1 CCF= 100 cu. ft.)... I had enough dough to stop bidding somewhere around $3.00 a CCF... The other two didn't stop until $6.34 per CCF... That's $2,425.00 total bid price.

So, now I keep looking...

I'm not bitter, I just put a lot of time into this sale.

Onward and upward!

 

[slowp]

I'd rather see somebody lose after doing a lot of study, than somebody overbid and then be stuck with it. The latter means for a lot of prodding on my part to get the work done to contract standards. It means attempts to cut corners, and in the worst case, the purchaser walks away and leaves a mess. Yeah, there's financial deposits that can be used to clean it up, but it takes a lot of extra paperwork.

Better get there earlier next time!

 

[Metals406]

I'd rather see somebody lose after doing a lot of study, than somebody overbid and then be stuck with it. The latter means for a lot of prodding on my part to get the work done to contract standards. It means attempts to cut corners, and in the worst case, the purchaser walks away and leaves a mess. Yeah, there's financial deposits that can be used to clean it up, but it takes a lot of extra paperwork.

Better get there earlier next time!

Hopefully it goes good for the guy who bid it... He was there with his wife. He didn't look like a logger, but maybe he was?

The head forester I had been in contact with, and who ran the auction told me that I was the only one who had had a bunch of contact with him--to make sure my ducks were in a row.

The financial deposits wouldn't cover much... The bidders premium and bond doesn't make 500 bucks on this one.

I would have been early for the sale, but I got financing the last minute! About 1:30pm... That's why it was so close.

 

[redprospector]

I know how you feel. I don't know how many times I've put in a kajillion hours figuring a bid, walking the whole place on thinning projects to eliminate as many surprises as possible, figuring out a way to finance the operation untill money started rolling in, etc. etc. etc.
Only to be outbid by someone.
My favorite's are the guy's who drive up to to a thinning project up for bid, look at it out the window of the truck and say "yeah, I can do this job for $XXX and acre. There have been times I stayed buisy finishing up after these guy's (but that cost extra ).

Andy

 

[Metals406]

I know how you feel. I don't know how many times I've put in a kajillion hours figuring a bid, walking the whole place on thinning projects to eliminate as many surprises as possible, figuring out a way to finance the operation untill money started rolling in, etc. etc. etc.
Only to be outbid by someone.
My favorite's are the guy's who drive up to to a thinning project up for bid, look at it out the window of the truck and say "yeah, I can do this job for $XXX and acre. There have been times I stayed buisy finishing up after these guy's (but that cost extra ).

Andy

I don't want to sound like a jerk... But I'm kind of hoping that guy is one of the ones I heard about, that intended to do the job with his pickup truck. Then I might get a call to go do the job?

I've done bidding (commercial and residential building) for the last five years, and it seems the timber industry is the same... Lot's of footwork for a "maybe" on getting the job.

I did enjoy the process of learning about FS procedure, and how a cash sale bid works... At least I got something with that. I was just on the phone with another Forester today, and learning about other types of sales... They are doing a lot more with 'Stewardship Sales' up here I guess. There's one I'd really like to bid, but it won't go-off until 2011.

The Forester I spoke with today said they had about 30 sales ready to go for this summer, guess I'll keep my eye out... The biggest PIA is the stinking startup costs to start these sales.

 

[redprospector]

I prefer doing private land, and state forestry funded stuff. I'm actually dealing with people, rather than a bureaucracy. Way less paper work.
I haven't done anything with the FS in years, but I may have to change my ways soon. State forestry said today that they wouldn't have any money to fund the job's they have ready to bid until hopefully July. This money is usually available in Feb.
Of course the FS dosen't have much of anything on the table here right now either.
By July I'll be broke enough that I won't be able to hire a crew. I'll just have to do it my self.

Andy

 

[redprospector]

I don't want to sound like a jerk... But I'm kind of hoping that guy is one of the ones I heard about, that intended to do the job with his pickup truck. Then I might get a call to go do the job?

I've done bidding (commercial and residential building) for the last five years, and it seems the timber industry is the same... Lot's of footwork for a "maybe" on getting the job.

I did enjoy the process of learning about FS procedure, and how a cash sale bid works... At least I got something with that. I was just on the phone with another Forester today, and learning about other types of sales... They are doing a lot more with 'Stewardship Sales' up here I guess. There's one I'd really like to bid, but it won't go-off until 2011.

The Forester I spoke with today said they had about 30 sales ready to go for this summer, guess I'll keep my eye out... The biggest PIA is the stinking startup costs to start these sales.

Yeah, I love those "pickup truck loggers".
I had a guy bid a thinning project at 1/2 of what I had bid, and I bid pretty tight to keep my guy's buisy. This guy owned a chainsaw and a 1/2 ton 2 wd pickup. When he realized he couldn't do the job with what he had he called me. He couldn't figure out why I wouldn't clean up his mess for less than he had bid.
He wound up walking off the job, and I got it but for more than my origional bid, since he had it so jack-strawed. The land owner had paid him 1/2 up front. I felt for him, but all I could tell him was that you don't alway's get what you pay for, but you'll always pay for what you get.

Andy

 

[Metals406]

Yeah, I love those "pickup truck loggers".
I had a guy bid a thinning project at 1/2 of what I had bid, and I bid pretty tight to keep my guy's buisy. This guy owned a chainsaw and a 1/2 ton 2 wd pickup. When he realized he couldn't do the job with what he had he called me. He couldn't figure out why I wouldn't clean up his mess for less than he had bid.
He wound up walking off the job, and I got it but for more than my origional bid, since he had it so jack-strawed. The land owner had paid him 1/2 up front. I felt for him, but all I could tell him was that you don't alway's get what you pay for, but you'll always pay for what you get.

Andy

I don't know what would happen if the guy walked away being an FS job... They'd probably put it out for bid again.

I'd like to get some private sales... Most homeowners aren't logging their property right now. I could probably do a thin, and give them a share of the tonnage.

The most I could offer to pay them for their timber and slash would be 4 bucks a ton. Won't have a lot of people knocking my door down for that I reckon.

What would you pay a homeowner right now for hogfuel and pulp? I'm talking good sawlogs and veneer too... But sold at pulp and hogfuel prices.