a curious question

[filtaff]

I am a new member here, and don't know whether I'd really qualify to post here. Me and my two brothers, we started a firm 11 years back, selling irrigation equipment and power tools. We sold STIHL chainsaws, brushcutters, mist blowers, etc. My eldest brother does all the repairs and service himself. We have sold and serviced STIHL 038 Magnum, 046 (now MS 460), O66, 026, 023, 029 and 039. The popular model is the 046, which we introduced locally. Due to some problems with our local distributor regarding prices of saw spare parts, we have been forced to switch to Husky, and have decided on the 372XP and 365, which we have now procured and are going to introduce very soon.

We are in a tiny state called Kerala, in INDIA. Our main customers are small time individuals who do job work, felling and bucking Hevea rubber trees. Actually our market is just beginning to grow, because till we introduced power saws, felling and sawing was and still is manual. An average power saw operator fells and cuts between 40 to 70 trees a day, weighing between 30 to 50 tonnes of logs.

I am curious to know whether this is counts as professional logging with you folks. If so, maybe I could post some info on our experiences, or to be more true, my brother's experiences.

Hevea rubber is a major source of income for us here, and we have more than a million acres of land with hevea trees. These trees are tapped for latex, felled and the land replanted with new rubber plants. This is an ongoing process, with areas being replanted every year.

 

[Lawn Masters]

Welcome, I'm sure there are many of us here who'd like to hear about the experiences you've had, and what you can do.

I dont know about in India, but here in the USA, the Husky 365, and 372 have been replaced by the 570, and 575.

 

[filtaff]

We are aware of the replacements, and my brother decided, that we better go for the 372, because he feels that would be a better option. We were offered the 575.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Welcome to Arborisite, dood!

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

Harvesting rubber trees, and then replanting them to harvest them again...sounds like logging to me. We just do it for timber and pulp. We'd love to hear/see what you're doing over there.

Welcome to the site!

Jeff

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

I am a new member here, and don't know whether I'd really qualify to post here.

I'd say that your work selling saws, and involvment in timber harvest makes you plenty qualified to post here.

Post away!

Jeff

 

[R Schra]

I just read an article about illegal loggers in India. When forestrangers wants to get the illegal cutters their woman and other females ran out and will ripp there own clothes of so the rangers get the hell away to avoid more problems.

 

[NWCS]

females ripping their own clothes off? hmm.. are they decent looking women? if so.. why do the rangers leave at all? wouldnt that just attract more attention?

 

[ontario026]

Anything related to the harvest/production of Latex is great in my books!! Nothing like latex for worry-free fun!!!!!! LOL

With Latex there is no sowing seed by night and hoping for crop failure in the morning!!!! LOL

 

[MasterBlaster]

Hahahaha. Yup. God bless em!

 

[NevadaWalrus]

I hope our brand of humor is understood by our friends in India and not taken in the wrong way.
I for one would be interested in hearing more from folks in other countries and learn from their experiences. There's so much I've picked up on just from other parts of our country, products not used locally, methods of repair, quick fixes etc. World wide info sharing, instantly, is what is so great about the internet.

 

[NWCS]

im actually rather curious about this.. if the story is true, i just dont get it.. doing that here in the states would get much unwanted attention.. when their goal is to make people go away.. seems odd to me!

 

[TimberMcPherson]

Welcome to the site filtaff, good to see more additions to the international flavour of arboristsite.

 

[paz]

welcome filtaff..would love to see some pics of the country side over there....anything to do with industry and the way it is done in another country gets me intrigued...

 

[rmihalek]

What do they do with the rubber trees once they're felled? Are they used for saw logs, pulp, ties, etc.?

 

[filtaff]

Thank you all for the replies. I'll try and post a few pictures for Paz. rmihalek, once they are felled, the trunks are mainly taken for plywood peeling, and for sawing into planks for packing cases. In Malaysia, which is the real rubber producing country, lunber is processed for furniture. The wood is much less dense than teak, rosewood, etc. Not even as hard as mahogany, and without treatment, it will spoil. Here in India too, there are many treatment plants. But the major felled wood goes into mills. Then a large portion also goes for firewood to adobe brick kilns. I'll try and share bits of info on the rubber wood's journey from the field to the factory in small snippets, sos you won't get bored with long paragraphs.

Thanks for the interest.

 

[Vernon Tull]

Welcome, FILTAFF. I'm no pro woodcutter (you and your brother have far more experience than I), but I look forward to reading your posts.