[Baystatetom]

Talked to a local mill owner today, he says all hardwood is dropping. Maple, birch, oak, all fell this week. According to this guy he said he wouldn’t recommend to any landowners to do large harvests for a while.
Not the news any of us wanted!
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

It is normal for pine to drop in the summer months. I have been hearing that pine markets are good though. Going to a mill in NH.
I just sold some oak on the stump to a cable skidder operator for $450. And I have had a few calls from guys looking for ash.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

Thanks everybody. I started fencing today, I actually got 5 or six post in before I hit a rock! Down right amazing for these parts, it was even 2′ of thick dark soil before the next layer. I have lived within 1/4 mile of this field my whole life and have never seen it tilled but somebody must have at some point. I am planning a cross country road trip with my family in July so the rotational grazing will have to wait until next year. For now its getting 4 strands of barbed wire and in they go. It shouldn’t be hard though to use step in post and solar electric to divide it up in future years. It seams my little Normandy beef calf eats a lot of weeds. Glad to have noticed the poison ivy is gone from my other pasture. My big team wouldn’t touch the stuff.
Tom

[Baystatetom]

Very well said Tim!

[Baystatetom]

5+5=10. But so does 6+4. I am a licensed consulting forester and I only went to school for 2 years, many in my field have masters degrees. There is more then one road to where you are going, take the best one for you.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

I had always heard doing it before 6 months can cause bladder stones. Maybe just a old myth but I always wait anyway. My current team I let go over a year as I hoped they would build more muscle as bulls. I bet 4 months would be fine.
Tom

[Baystatetom]

If he is harvesting low grade and poor quality trees then he is paying you too much and will not make a living. Or he could be cutting all your veneer and leaving you a residual stand with reduce value and vigor. I would say 50% is a good deal for you as long as he is practicing good forestry.
As a forester I have seen very good loggers make very poor choices when it comes to tree selection. Just my two cents worth, plenty of loggers would tell you a forester is a waist of money.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

So far so good Brad. I have a few months work all lined up already. I think I was getting a little board with what I was doing and wasn’t as dedicated as I should have been. This change seams to have invigorated me and I am hitting the woods with passion again. Days like yesterday when the wind was howling and it was 10 degrees out I would have quit after a few hours but knowing I had to get it done to get paid I stayed out there 8 hours cruising timber on snowshoes. It seams my new boss is tougher on me then the last one.
Now I just have to turn all those projects into a pay check!

[Baystatetom]

That seed roller does look cool. I don’t think the fluff we have will pack much. The wooden V plow I made worked well, plowed off a foot quick and easy. On additional passes the ends came up and made the trail deeper in the middle more like digging a ditch then plowing. But it most definitely helped a ton. I just did the main trail into the lot and started skidding on the smaller trails unplowed. This snow and cold slows things down so much I am second guessing this logging thing until warmer weather melts it down a little.

[Baystatetom]

I nailed together a big wooden V today. I’ll try it out tomorrow. The snow doesn’t seem to bother them but I have to stay beside them until they know the trail or else when I talk to them they just turn around and look at me. I could use snowshoes if I could keep up but my team is exceptionally fast for oxen and I have to run my tail off half the day until they slow down. Teaching them to drive from behind is becoming more of a priority everyday.

[Baystatetom]

Thanks for the ideas everybody.

[Baystatetom]

It was a great weekend indeed. The weather couldn’t have been better and now I have a few faces to go with the names I have seen on here. Thanks everybody who took part!
I think my favorite part was the music, great musicians and that girl can sing!
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

Indeed things are looking up. Hemlock appears to be the only soft spot from my vantage point. red oak is way up, so is ash, and both hard and soft maple, birches. I sold a load of black birch to Green Crow in Andover NH and averaged over $500/mbf. Lets hope the trend continues.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

About the production thing, I know I cannot make a living based on production. I have to be paid by the hour or day not the MBF, however the more I can produce in that time the more the landowner has to gain. Hence opening the door to more jobs. I have only been doing this ox logging thing for 3 winters now and suddenly I have more work then I can handle, however not all of those request are for jobs I can do efficiently, long skids, uphill skids, extremely poor timber etc. I really do think a hybrid system is the happy medium. A forwarder or small cable skidder along with the animals will drastically improve production and make more sites feasible for draft logging.
I am planning a job for this winter that I am really excited about. Selective cutting a excellent quality hardwood stand with a long uphill skid. The solution: Getting help from an experienced horse logger, and a conscientious cable skidder operator. The horses and oxen will bunch logs along one or two main trails and the skidder will haul them out. The skidder operator will also help with felling if he can get ahead of us. I can’t wait to have the chance to learn from these other guys.
~Tom

[Baystatetom]

I would love to participate in your NE woodsmen week, let me know how I can help. Give me a specific job and I’ll get it done.
~Tom

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