Starting out in forestry

[htb]

Give it a try, if after 1st day does not look like it will work out, don't go back after all he is not paying you, just bear in mind that he may put out a bad word about you.

[Big J]

On 17/01/2019 at 20:24, Rough Hewn said:

Forestry is hit and miss.
Some great crews out there, and some proper cowboys too.

Now then. You can be a professional outfit and still be a cowboy. Like on Monday when climbing a very steep slope with a tractor that's a little bit too small for the winch it's carrying and you need someone to saddle up and ride the bonnet for nose weight! Thankfully, the we get the (heavier) alpine back tomorrow so no more forestry bucking bronco! ?

[Rough Hewn]

Now then. You can be a professional outfit and still be a cowboy. Like on Monday when climbing a very steep slope with a tractor that's a little bit too small for the winch it's carrying and you need someone to saddle up and ride the bonnet for nose weight! Thankfully, the we get the (heavier) alpine back tomorrow so no more forestry bucking bronco! [emoji16]

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji108]
My very first coppice job with a drunken Breton farmer, he would pull an overloaded trailer up steep green lanes with only the back two wheels of the tractor(held together with barbed wire) on the ground and me on the stacked trailer bricking it.
Everyday for three months.
[emoji51][emoji51][emoji51]

[drinksloe]

On 18/01/2019 at 20:28, Jack.P said:

I spoken to the geezer in charge again this afternoon.explained I dont want to spend that long just stacking there wood for free but more intrested in actual hands on learning aswell as stacking if I'm too offer my weeks labour for nothing.he doesn't sound that intrested by the sounds of things and reluctant to let me start cutting the wood explaining I won't cut to spec therefore will actually loose them money which is a bit unfair to say considering hasn't seen me working or given me a chance yet.it sounded like I would be stacking for most the week I wonder if I'm just wasting my time with these people 

 

 

It sounds like ur about to fail the 1st attitude test, to be fair the boy should be paying u but not surprising ur not cutting.

 

I know nothing about chestnut coppicing but can see where the boy can be coming from,,

If u can't judge every stem and access which type of pieces u should be cutting out of it he could be losing money.

If ur constantly cutting strainer sized wood to posts or long stuf that should be rails (guessing strainers/rails will be the money pieces?) he could very well be losing money. Or if ur cutting to wrong specs and putting them in the stacks he could have loads refused where he sells them.

I've been cutting for years and admit i wouldn't have a clue about chestnut coppicing, would imagine i'd end up stacking for a few days too (althou noy for free)

 

Its the same in forestry for hrvester drivers need to know the prices for each piece, demand for different products/how big the pile is at roadside and assess each stem althou the harvester will help but to be quick u need to be doing it by eye

 

Ps I'd buy a loggers tape so if they ask u to try cutting u have the gear, not much good without a logging tape. And used for other hand cutting work so not wasted money if u don't get on with this job

Edited January 20, 2019 by drinksloe

[struie]

go alomg and watch the cutters for a while, ask about the cuts, etc, at tea breaks,its what i did back in the day of hand cutting.no such thing as a stupid question, just daft answers....sometimes. lol.

[openspaceman]

54 minutes ago, drinksloe said:

I know nothing about chestnut coppicing but can see where the boy can be coming from,,

If u can't judge every stem and access which type of pieces u should be cutting out of it he could be losing money.

If ur constantly cutting strainer sized wood to posts or long stuf that should be rails (guessing strainers/rails will be the money pieces?) he could very well be losing money. Or if ur cutting to wrong specs and putting them in the stacks he could have loads refused where he sells them.

This is spot on imo, if you're paying for the standing timber it's knowing how to maximise the return on each stem that makes the profit,

[Alex O]

We all had to start somewhere. Just depends on how serious you are about starting a new career

[spuddog0507]

Forestry is not a job you just walk in to and be on the ball from day one, cutting to spec takes some getting used to, when the tree hits the ground you need to vissualy assces that tree and work out in your head (quickly) what you can get out of it to max out cost at road side, there is a cross over point from one product to another and as some products are more money roadside than others you dont want some thing cut at 1.8mtr when it could of been cut at 2.2mtr and that log worth a couple of quid more, We do not cut 1.7 or 1.8 fence posts any more that timber goes in the chip stack at 3mtr less cutting time, less arsing about with calipers, less forwarding time all for about £5 a tonne less, the numbers just dont add up on fencing posts for us, Drinksloe said buy a logging tape and while you are there buy your self a set of tree calipers as well, the only thing i can say about spec is that we cut several product lengths out of each tree and some are listed below,

450 and above would go at 2.5 mtr over size

500 - 350 4.9mtr saw log 

500- 180 3.7mtr saw log

250 - 150 2.2 or 2.5 strainers

220 - 150 1.9 bars 

these are just a few as there is so many different specs to cut to it takes a bit of sorting, on a recent job we did there was 7 different specs 2.5 o/s 4.3mtr saw log 3,7mtr saw log 2.2mtr strainers 1.9 bars 4.9 mtr jump poles and 2.5 mtr chip,

[Khriss]

On 18/01/2019 at 20:36, htb said:

Give it a try, if after 1st day does not look like it will work out, don't go back after all he is not paying you, just bear in mind that he may put out a bad word about you.

Which would problys say more abt the bloke than our guy. It's not like yr cutting bat willow here. Often is dependent on sawmill that buys it- some look fr any excuse to reject a load ( tho bio mass seen that off ) k

[Jack.P]

Today went ok on the job -bit cold to start with but warmed up around midday 

It wasn't very hard work but I'm not sure if it's for me so haven't decided if I'm going back in tomorrow but I'm allowed to go straight into processing tomorrow .

It was surprising how much good useable wood with enough length goes into chip pile I guess it all comes down to buyers spec but a waste of money anyway.

Main talk with the boys all day is footy so pretty boring work bunch really