Work on the west coast

[Haskell.7]

I'm 18 from central MI and graduating high school this week and would like to move out to the west coast and find work with a chainsaw. Nobody in my family has done any forestry work so I don't really know where to start any help and insight would be appreciated. I plan on staying around home over the summer to get a bit more money saved up but would like to get on a logging crew or something fire related but I don't know where to start. I know I have to get out west before I can get a start on any career but if anybody could recommend how or where I should start that would help me a lot. I'm a farm boy and have operated equipment and I'm not afraid to work hard but I don't have any certifications or idea of what I need to do to get a start working out west. Thank you for the read and any feedback helps me.

 

[northmanlogging]

look up west coast logging classifieds on Facebook, or any west coast logging related facebook stuff.

Loads of crews are hiring.

but I'll tell ya now, its hard dangerous unforgiving work.

Have a drivers license and a clean drug test and you might stand a chance.

As for getting on a fire crew, there are a number of hoops to jump through, but lots of them folks are hiring too.

 

[Haskell.7]

thanks sounds good I'll check that out. One question I've got is how much logging is done during the winter months?

 

[snobdds]

I think in February, The forest service here in Wyoming starts their hiring for the summer fire crews.

Get on a forest service crew. They will train you up proper.

 

[northmanlogging]

thanks sounds good I'll check that out. One question I've got is how much logging is done during the winter months?

its pretty much year round, we just move lower, not much snow in the valleys but anything over about 1000' elevation gets snowed out, so most crews have things set up to stay busy. Though some crews do shut down for a few months every year.

Fire danger and wet roads are more of a problem, if fire danger gets bad enough they shut the woods down completely, and if the roads get saturated and start to pump they'll shut down trucking for a few days until they dry out a little.

 

[northmanlogging]

Despite the "history" channels insistence on "timber season" there really isn't a "season"

 

[catbuster]

thanks sounds good I'll check that out. One question I've got is how much logging is done during the winter months?

A lot. It just sucks more.

Jobs aren’t hard to find anywhere in any industry. Apply, have a clear drug test, drivers license and be ready to work, and listen. Logging, like other heavy industries, is dangerous. It sucks sometimes. Okay, a lot of the time. It’s also very fulfilling when you look back at a finished project and remember the stuff you had to overcome to finish.

Fire is a different ball of wax. The feds have a set hiring period, of which seasonal hiring has passed, and there’s a standard set of training for everybody. It doesn’t pay very well, but it’s also very fulfilling.

 

[wowzers]

There is a severe shortage of folks that want to work in the rigging in ID. We also typically work through February then start back sometime in April. My first job in the woods was shoveling out the snow around trees for the faller.

 

[madhatte]

its pretty much year round, we just move lower, not much snow in the valleys but anything over about 1000' elevation gets snowed out, so most crews have things set up to stay busy. Though some crews do shut down for a few months every year.

Fire danger and wet roads are more of a problem, if fire danger gets bad enough they shut the woods down completely, and if the roads get saturated and start to pump they'll shut down trucking for a few days until they dry out a little.

Exactly right. Contracts will specify seasonal restrictions and requirements. We don't have a hard freeze season here so just put that out of mind. We have a dry season, where there's less mud (some years way less), and a warm season where there's less snow (some years way less), and other than that it's just sort of variations of soggy that depend on local geology and current weather. Oh, and fire season will shut you down some depending on that same weather.

 

[slowp]

Exactly right. Contracts will specify seasonal restrictions and requirements. We don't have a hard freeze season here so just put that out of mind. We have a dry season, where there's less mud (some years way less), and a warm season where there's less snow (some years way less), and other than that it's just sort of variations of soggy that depend on local geology and current weather. Oh, and fire season will shut you down some depending on that same weather.

Been south of Chehalis lately? The last time I was, B&M had Help Wanted on their readerboard along the west side of I-5.

 

[slowp]

Here is their website. I am out of the loop now, but they were considered to be good to work for.
https://bmlog.org/

Scroll down for a job application.

 

[Gologit]

https://www.facebook.com/J.W.Bamford530/
If they hire you you'll be learning from some of the best. Also, if they hire you and you like it and you make a career out of it don't blame me.