First steps into forestry with no experience-FMO aspirations.

[drinksloe]

1 thing that stuck in my mind an old cutter told me, fairly relevant to the operators/companies i know but may not be the norm elsewhere.

 

If ur SE which is quite normal, if ur on the saws u can choose to have a day off or work elsewhere for a few days within reason (as long as not holding jobs up) but if ur on a machine u may be SE but u can't really take days off or even finish early if u want. The boss has a machine worths loads so it needs to be working  'x' hours a week+ so u don't quite have the same control over ur work. Most of the machine boys i know will be doing 12-15 hr days and live up the woods in a midge infested caravan.

I mind my old nieghbour swearing a few years back as he had to work between christmas and new year even thou he had booked it off. Boss needed timber forwarded out

 

Also if machies are wot u want ur cutting tickets will still come in handy, i jnow a few harvester drivers who will knock down trees if needed with a saw, dunno if that is normal or not but they are old skool and cut their teeth doing 1st thinnings on a saw

[Ruaraidhfc89]

23 minutes ago, drinksloe said:

Most of the machine boys i know will be doing 12-15 hr days and live up the woods in a midge infested caravan.

Living the dream so they are!  ?

 There's a pub in the highlands that sell a midge burger...surprisingly tasty too! anyway.... 

 So the saw tickets can be a good stepping stone as well as a handy skill even if progressing onto the big boy tickets by the sounds of it, with added flexibility. 

 I suppose that's the price you pay to keep the timber on the move huh? Long days and quotas to meet. 

 

Edited September 13, 2018 by Ruaraidhfc89
Typo

[Acerforestry]

2 hours ago, Rough Hewn said:

Cardio is the key to be able to finish a day in forestry.
Try walking in full ppe and rain gear, with a saw,combi can,belt+tape,felling lever and a rucksack with filing kit,lunch,2-3litres of water,bog roll etc
Up and down muddy slopes all day, dragging large logs and brash.
Bench?
I put my saws on a bench?
Tickets,
Very useful unless you want to work for cowboys.
I've met quite a few in forestry.
Get experience with saws and trees before upgrading to big toy tickets.
Doing your tickets in cross cutting and felling will in NO WAY prepare you for the real world of forestry.
It's just a key to the door.
Forestry is HARSH!
But you get the most amazing office in the world and a physique like a Greek statue.
Good luck

I'll second that..it's knackering when you are 25, but when near double that age you don't feel like doing  much when you get home, aside from a beer and sleeping

[briquette_seller]

Jim Wilmer and Sons were taking on guys to train

[drinksloe]

Just to say getting out the cab to cut trees is not the norm and i'm sure some bosses would moan at u parking the machie up to use a saw.

Just the way he was if holding him upand short of cutters  he'd just do it.

[htb]

Also handy to have saw tickets so you can cut your way to the harvester/forwarder after a storm

[Khriss]

20 hours ago, Rough Hewn said:

Get down the gym.
Weights and cardio.

.....he said Towards a Forwarder ticket !! Get thee to thine specsavers my liege ! K

[Ruaraidhfc89]

19 minutes ago, Khriss said:

he said Towards a Forwarder ticket !! Get thee to thine specsavers my liege

The funny thing is that's actually who I work for just now! I'm the lab manager for the Stirling store!? I can get y'all a discount if you like and the quality of the work my lab produces is second to none! 

 

  So I gave Jim Wilmer a call this morning but unfortunately he's just taken on a few lads locally. Thankfully he said he will hang on to my number if anything pops up in the future.

 

Does anyone know of any other companies I could get in contact with? 

[Frett]

Good for you for wanting to get into forestry. Its a great industry, sometimes abused by forces outwith its control, but huge in scope in terms of different roles within it.

 

From what you've written so far, I would recommend emergency first aid at work + forestry (EFAW+F) as the first thing you invest in. This'll allow you to start working almost immediately when you get a chance.

 

After this, I think it's a bit more complex. Forest machine operating is made up of two halves - operating the machine and understanding the forest. People who jump onto a machine without a forestry background usually have a good background in operating construction machinery, allowing them to focus on the forestry side of things. Similarly, people who understand forest operations - often hand cutters - can focus on learning the machine handling part. Both are required for a quality operator, and it shows in the end product if one half is lacking. Taking on both from the off is a huge challenge, to be blunt.

 

To this end, I'd recommend looking to learn the forestry side of things first. Contact the estates near where you live and explain your situation. They often engage in a multitude of different operations due to various uses for their forests - game, firewood, timber, amenity and such. This would enable you experience a few different types of work and see what you like. You can pick up the relevant tickets as you go, and hopefully get some paid for. After first aid, your basic chainsaw one would be the next, but you'll want to follow it up with a lot of work to consolidate what you've learnt and see how it actually works in the real world.

 

Just my two cents, and I'm sure others will have a different view. All the best!

 

[Rough Hewn]

.....he said Towards a Forwarder ticket !! Get thee to thine specsavers my liege ! K

Good sir I behest though doth reread my posteth.
Th th th th thrrrrrrr
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You been reading Chaucer?
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