plasticweld
ArboristSite Member
I debated about making a post or at least one along these lines but I figured that many of us face the same problems no matter what part of the world you live in. The logging and lumber industry seems to have lot of obstacles in the way when it comes to making a living in the woods.
I have been in a dilemma the last few months when it comes to work. The company I worked for last year supplied me with timber to cut and a landing loader to load with. I had a years worth of work and due to the slow down in the economy I was not sure if I was going to be offered the same deal this summer or not. After toughing it out this spring and doing some private sales of my own; the opportunity to work with the same company looked like it was not happen. The problem I have like every other logger in this area is trucking. I can get a mill to haul saw logs that I cut but there are almost no private truckers that I can count on to move more than a few loads of wood a week of the other stuff. I needed a way to move my pallet wood and my firewood and the soft wood logs. There is not enough profit in this business to let even a small percentage of it lose money. I was left with the only other option of buying a truck, something I did everything possible to avoid.
I don’t know who else does this and to each his own, but I still pray about what I do and how I do it, somehow in the modern world the old ways of prayer and running a business make me seem pretty out dated on the other hand there is something about logging that makes it impossible for me to deny God; it might just be the working conditions or just working with mother nature.
Anyway I was not sure what to do, so I prayed about it and started looking for a truck. I looked at everything for sale within 500 miles of New York, there are a lot of expensive trucks out there and there is a lot of used up junk, it was disappointing to see what I had to chose from. I did hear about a old guy that was selling his truck. I got his name from the old Timberjack equipment dealer in Pa. I called the guy up a few months ago and we spoke he is 75 and getting out of logging. I finally got down too look at the truck this past weekend. When I got there I noticed the scripture on the door. He had been praying for a buyer. At his age the concept of internet sales was something he knew nothing about and while we may take it for granted how we buy and sell now a days; Skip was having no luck with anyone to even look at his truck. I spent three hours with him on Saturday, it turns out that as loggers and men of faith we shared many common view points and experiences. When I left I told Skip I would take his name off and add mine but leave the scripture, somehow it seemed only right. He gave me a great deal on the truck $25000 and it came with tires and chains and tons of spare parts. After driving the truck home last night I was really surprised at how well the truck had been maintained and in what good shape it was in. There are times in this business when I feel like I am the only fighting ths fight this past weekend it was great to share a day and a piece of another mans life and the passion that we both share in our faith and in logging..Bob
The truck is a 98 Pay Star 5000 with a 460 Cummins and a Serco 8500 loader
Mark 8:36
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Matthew 7:20
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
I have been in a dilemma the last few months when it comes to work. The company I worked for last year supplied me with timber to cut and a landing loader to load with. I had a years worth of work and due to the slow down in the economy I was not sure if I was going to be offered the same deal this summer or not. After toughing it out this spring and doing some private sales of my own; the opportunity to work with the same company looked like it was not happen. The problem I have like every other logger in this area is trucking. I can get a mill to haul saw logs that I cut but there are almost no private truckers that I can count on to move more than a few loads of wood a week of the other stuff. I needed a way to move my pallet wood and my firewood and the soft wood logs. There is not enough profit in this business to let even a small percentage of it lose money. I was left with the only other option of buying a truck, something I did everything possible to avoid.
I don’t know who else does this and to each his own, but I still pray about what I do and how I do it, somehow in the modern world the old ways of prayer and running a business make me seem pretty out dated on the other hand there is something about logging that makes it impossible for me to deny God; it might just be the working conditions or just working with mother nature.
Anyway I was not sure what to do, so I prayed about it and started looking for a truck. I looked at everything for sale within 500 miles of New York, there are a lot of expensive trucks out there and there is a lot of used up junk, it was disappointing to see what I had to chose from. I did hear about a old guy that was selling his truck. I got his name from the old Timberjack equipment dealer in Pa. I called the guy up a few months ago and we spoke he is 75 and getting out of logging. I finally got down too look at the truck this past weekend. When I got there I noticed the scripture on the door. He had been praying for a buyer. At his age the concept of internet sales was something he knew nothing about and while we may take it for granted how we buy and sell now a days; Skip was having no luck with anyone to even look at his truck. I spent three hours with him on Saturday, it turns out that as loggers and men of faith we shared many common view points and experiences. When I left I told Skip I would take his name off and add mine but leave the scripture, somehow it seemed only right. He gave me a great deal on the truck $25000 and it came with tires and chains and tons of spare parts. After driving the truck home last night I was really surprised at how well the truck had been maintained and in what good shape it was in. There are times in this business when I feel like I am the only fighting ths fight this past weekend it was great to share a day and a piece of another mans life and the passion that we both share in our faith and in logging..Bob
The truck is a 98 Pay Star 5000 with a 460 Cummins and a Serco 8500 loader
Mark 8:36
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Matthew 7:20
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
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