How to find better clients?

[ratlifflowimpac]

I offer timber management and Low impact options to land owner but seems I end up with clients who think low impact means no impact. Horses do damage and thats life. I just once want a client who understands horses will do damage and sometimes equipment is a very good option. Email me if you are a better client or know how to make my horses leave less mess?!!!LOL
[email protected]

 

[Ryan Willock]

If my clients have never had any personal experiance with logging on their property then I make them come and look at three boundries that I have completed and then the one that I am working on that way they have KNOW what to expect. That solves a lot of problems up front!

 

[JimL]

anythings going to tear up the woods.

we have been places where we have put in dirt roads ontop of ridges 5 miles back into the woods to haul logs out..

 

[Pacific]

Tell them if they don't want to have any ground disturbance have it Heli logged you have minimal ground disturbance. If they want to have it heli logged they are looking at 1000 dollars per hour for the helicopter and 400-500 per day for the faller.

If you want a property selective logged you are gonna get ground disturbance the best way is get a road built into the site where you can get the logs skidded to the road and a self loading truck picks them up.

The thing that you want to avoid is knicking the the other trees a bunch of scared up trees doesn't look that great. What the contractors here use to selective log wood is use a excavator (trackhoe) its fast and gentle. You can get the wood skidded out and coldecked on the side of the road for a logging truck to come and get it. A excavator can move a log anywhere you need it if its binding on another tree you can reach out and shift it over.

A excavator is also need to bail the brush into a slash pile to be burned if your selective logging you are gonna have alot of branches. A few trees can net you a couple 40 yard container fulls that has to be hauled out or burn't on site it is mostly burn't.

A slash pile can be stacked as high as the the excavator will reach I have seen piles stacked 20-30 feet tall but that is with the bigger excavators like a 300 or 400 Hitachi.

No offence but Horse logging is a joke you will not make any money doing it a good days work from a excavtion contractor can get 25-30 tons of wood out and on the road side. All it takes is a good faller and the excavator operator in a 8 hr day. If the timber has some value to it your looking at 1000-5000 dollars per truck load if its good cedar higher the value.

If you are not going to get a full truck load (25 ton) off the lot its not worth even doing.

 

[Ryan Willock]

Thats $1000-5,000 CDN right? Its the rare truck that brings $5,000 per load around here.

 

[Pacific]

If the logs are premo saw wood like good quality fir or cedar you are looking at the 5000 up to 10,000 dollars. You have to keep in mind a logging truck load here is 8 feet wide 8-9 feet tall and the logs are 40-60' long. Each logging truck carrys 30 cu metres worth of wood I don't know what that converts into board feet.

There is no such thing as short wood around here it hauled in long lengths the short wood is carried in a dump truck the bandsaw mills buy the wood that is upto 20' long.

 

[Keener]

Pacific,

Any idea what the band millers will pay for the chunk truck wood?

 

[Chainsaw_Maniac]

I'd recommend having some flyers printed up. Most citys have a few places where they will print flyers for you. Either that or print up a small information package on your computer. Hand a copy out to every costomer that has never had work dome by you.

The flyer should explain the adavantage of having work done by you and ofer other information like prices, efficaincy, names ond comment of people who will vouch that you do an excellent job and most importantly say that low inpact logging does leave some ipact on the wood lot (and maybe show some pictures).

 

[Chainsaw_Maniac]

Originally posted by Pacific

No offence but Horse logging is a joke......

You and I will chose a skidder or a 4 wheel drive tractor, but sometimes under the right circumstances (for some people) horse logging is better. For example if the wood lot owner insists that there will be no heavy machinery allowed in his wood lot, or the guy logging doesn't want to invest a lot in machery.

Horses can go in where small skidders would get stuck (and a huge skidder isd not always available or cost effective). I'm talking about very swampy ground where there aren't a lot of logs and it isn't worth having a lot of heavy equipment trucked in.

And the guy doing the logging can still make good money at it when you consider that he has very low investment to get started and he's not burning fuel or wearing out a skidder.

 

[Jumper]

Not burning fuel? Last time I checked hay and oats were not exactly cheap, plus there is cleaning all that "merde" out of the barn, plus the cost of tack, plus you have to be around to look after the critters. The vet bills, what happens when your horse gets sick etc. We used horses to sugar ONE year, and made a switch to a tractor with excellent chains the next year; the hassle
with horses was not worth it. My uncle actually had to light a fire under one mare's ass to get her to move.

 

[John Ellison]

Ratliff, I would do as Ryan said and go over the site beforehand with the landowner. Point out whatever damage you will have to do ,however slight. You should be able to fall the timber wherever it needs to go to do the least damage and layout skid trails where the logs wont be barking or rubbing the leave trees.

After a lot of rain I can usually still skid logs in the woods, but if it is a yard job it makes a mess if you dont let it dry out a little.

I love to do select cuts on a small property around a house. A good job will really stand out and get you a lot of work.

John

 

[Chainsaw_Maniac]

Originally posted by Jumper
Not burning fuel? Last time I checked hay and oats were not exactly cheap, plus there is cleaning all that "merde" out of the barn, plus the cost of tack, plus you have to be around to look after the critters. The vet bills, what happens when your horse gets sick etc. We used horses to sugar ONE year, and made a switch to a tractor with excellent chains the next year; the hassle
with horses was not worth it. My uncle actually had to light a fire under one mare's ass to get her to move.

Hahha. I guess you're right. I've never used them so i dunno. It just seemed like it might be something that might be practicale for some people.

 

[Ryan Willock]

He may not be burning fuel but at least when I cut my skidder off for the day it stops eating.

 

[caryr]