this weather sucks

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tlandrum

dealer,saw builder
Joined
Feb 3, 2009
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Location
east,tn
i am so sick of this wet weather. if it snows and rains much more i am going to have to become a swamp logger. and the funny thing is, i live in the mountains. go figure.....the ground here is so rotten that one pass over new terrain and youll drag the belly pan on a skidder with 30.5-32 tires. i cant get wood to the landing and then when i do i have to drag my log truck in and out to the road. give me some of that global warming al gore ............:deadhorse:
 
The soaking rain here has turned to tiny ice balls. Would not even make it out of the woods now with anything that didn't have tracks.
 
We are having great weather here in Washington state.
The year before last and the begining of last year we had 3 feet of snow in the driveway and had to 4 wheel just to get to the main road.
 
We're also up to our hiney in mud, it's so hard to get around. I'm sick of it as well. Hell, your freezing your azz off for a few days, then it's in the high forties for a few, everyone has had issues with colds,sinus infections.
We hadn't had a hard deep freeze here for several years, this year the bottom has fell out. It's going to take four or five dump truck loads of gravel just to get the area cleaned up behind my shop. Everything is coated with mud, thank God for four wheel drive tractors and trucks. It's been a pain, rained all day yesterday only making it worse. We had to split under the shed for the first time this year to keep up with customer orders.
 
in the last 16 months , where i live is around 20 inches above normal for rainfall. it has put many people out of business. just too wet to make a living in the woods. i think i will buy a dump truck, becouse gravel will be a hot seller for a long time around here.
 
Last week here in Ohio I was wading knee deep in snow cutting my production way down. This week it's been raining so far, but more snow is supposedly on its way.:(
 
. Ya , when it's ground based loggin , wet weather really sucks ........... Shot rock is the stuff for keeping a road under you in real rain ........ In some ways it is funny to me as I,ve lived in and spent years working in 150" to 180" per year rain ........................Thats right 12 to 17 FEET OF RAIN ............But . no one skidder logs there ...............
 
. Ya , when it's ground based loggin , wet weather really sucks ........... Shot rock is the stuff for keeping a road under you in real rain ........ In some ways it is funny to me as I,ve lived in and spent years working in 150" to 180" per year rain ........................Thats right 12 to 17 FEET OF RAIN ............But . no one skidder logs there ...............

Yeah, we've been in a draught for the last 8 or 9 years so everyone got a little lax in their planning. This year we're getting almost what we used to get in snow (over 5' in the last 5 weeks alone). About all the skidder is good for right now is keeping the driveway plowed. Too much snow to skid logs right now, in a few weeks it'll be too much mud. I'm thinking seriously about investing in a little Koller yarder.

Andy
 
About all the skidder is good for right now is keeping the driveway plowed. Too much snow to skid logs right now

Never heard of too much snow to skid logs. We chain em up and skid on through the snow. Winter is great logging season, get as much wood out before spring comes and load restrictions get put on for the highways.
 
its quite different when you throw some mountains into the picture . .
I have had friends come up to get blocks in the winter on my wood lot.
- (1) 99 Ford 4x4 chains on all 4,- (1)2008 Dodge dually diesel 4x4 chains on all 4. (Both were rolled and totaled)
I put a cable in this year across the 30 ft drop.
If you come up the wrong way to load in the winter when i am not here your truck is history.(not many wood thieves)
Mark
 
its quite different when you throw some mountains into the picture . .

If your truly logging mountains when why are you using a skidder at all?

Our JD 548 at work will climb the same hills in a few feet of snow as it will in the summer.
 
:laugh:

Ummmmmm, welllll, because we cannotfigure out how to attach winches to our flying carpets yet.

What would you suggest we do to log in the mountains? I really wanna know cause you are starting to sound alittle green:yoyo:


& since when did the Mitten get mountains?
 
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What would you suggest we do to log in the mountains? I really wanna know cause you are starting to sound alittle green:yoyo:

Yarder......

Like i said our skidder climbs the same slopes dry or snow covered. So I can't see the issues with skidder logging in the snow.

Edit: your right I am pretty green, I've only been logging in 18-20 feet of snow for ~13 years with a skidder.
 
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Yarder......

Like i said our skidder climbs the same slopes dry or snow covered. So I can't see the issues with skidder logging in the snow.

Edit: your right I am pretty green, I've only been logging in 18-20 feet of snow for ~13 years with a skidder.

Yarders have their place, that is not on a select cut govt job that ridge lines close to 400 acres. you arent gonna pull a main line every 7 or 8 turns...

you must consider that the blue ridges are small they still get steep. now I dint care what your setup is shor of a 6 with a winch. Backing a skidder over a 30 degree slope & trying to pull a big oak up a 55 degree slope spells "skidder sliding down the hill" We cut roads that are about 1 to 5 feet wider than a skidder. In many cases of you loose a wheel over the bank, you are most likely going over unless you winch youdself back up.

So in 20 feet of snow, how do you get to the bottom of the tree? dig a tunnel? sounds even more far fetched now. . . . .
 
Never heard of too much snow to skid logs. We chain em up and skid on through the snow. Winter is great logging season, get as much wood out before spring comes and load restrictions get put on for the highways.

If I'm on the right ground it's no problem. The job I'm on now has some steep ground on it (up to about 45% slopes) so it ain't happening right now. As far as why I'm using a skidder at all...............Well, I guess poor folks have poor way's. For the last several years (with the draught) the skidder has done fine, but it looks like the weather may be getting back to normal. That's why I said I was seriously considering investing in a koller yarder.
Logging is done a little different wherever you go.

Andy
 
So in 20 feet of snow, how do you get to the bottom of the tree? dig a tunnel? sounds even more far fetched now. . . . .

20+ feet is seasonal. If you think its far fetched look it up. But to get through the 3-5 feet of ground snow you take your snowshoe and dig at the base until you hit the root flare. Cut/limb/top then drive the skidder on the roads that you previously froze in, and haul them out.

Anywho I'm starting to remember why I avoid this forum... Too many 22 year old kids who think they have seen and know it all...
 
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