If you are considering conducting your own timber harvest or perhaps assessing the feasibility of becoming energy independent and producing your own firewood, productivity is a key factor to consider. How many cords of wood can a single man fell in a day with a chainsaw? The question can vary considerably based on the conditions…
Hung up trees: They are undoubtedly the most frustrating part of tree felling. Nothing can put more of a damper on your time in the woods than having to push, yank and tug on a half-fallen tree stubbornly wedged in the limbs of another. But don’t get too bent out of shape. There are several…
Tree felling is extremely dangerous work that can easily turn deadly with even small errors. Within the dangerous art of tree felling, there is one task with a danger that shines above the rest: felling a dead or rotten tree. Trees are non-uniform, and their behavior when falling can be unpredictable. It is the task…
Whether you are buying logs or selling them, it is likely you could find yourself transacting in a not-so-standard unit of measurement known as the “truck load.” Thus, it is helpful to know exactly how much a truck load of logs is worth. Generally, one can expect to pay (or get paid) between $1,000-$2,500 for…
Transportation is the backbone of the forest industry, and it is possible all thanks to logging trucks. Logging trucks are real behemoths of machines designed to carry freshly-felled trees along America’s roads and highways to be sawn into boards or made into all sorts of products at the sawmill. Because transportation of roundwood can be…
To many in the modern world, “logging” is a dirty word. It conjures up imagery of men with chainsaws deforesting a landscape and destroying the environment. Nothing can be farther from the truth. While both chainsaws and clearcuts are still tools used in modern forestry, in reality, foresters, loggers, and landowners use a large toolbox…
In small-scale logging, logs are often hauled out of the woods with small and under-powered equipment, such as ATVs, snowmobiles, and small tractors. Thus, reducing the friction and resistance of logs moving across the ground is the key to enhancing operational ability. This is where skidding cones come in handy. Skidding cones are cones that…
Feller Bunchers and Harvesters (also known as processors) are some of the most important pieces of equipment used in modern forestry. A far cry from the classic chainsaw, these mechanical behemoths make short work of timber with high tech and complex machinery. While both machines cut timber, that is where the similarities end. Both have…
Loggers are some of the hardest working people in the country. Not only is it consistently the most dangerous job, but loggers work out exposed in the elements, rain or shine. What about snow? Do loggers work in the winter? Yes! In many cases, winter is the best time of year to harvest timber due…
We all know the scene: a burly bearded man swings his double-bit axe at a large pine, hacking away at the trunk until it begins to crack. Slowly, the tree begins to lean. The satisfied lumberjack lays his axe down, cups his hands around his mouth and yells as loud as he can: TIMBER! The…