How to get into the forestry industry?

[Stu]

Hi there

 

Ive recently been doing my cs31 and have been really enjoying it, and just wanted to know any information on how i would go around trying to get more into the commercial forestry side of things?

 

 

Cheers

[Stephen Blair]

There is no exact way, i believe it is all about seeking out the oppertunity. There was no forestery work in my area when i was in your position, so i got my hands on a local paper 120 miles away in Argyll, on the back page there was an advert for fellers, i called the guy up and got a weeks trial, i took a week off work and found somewhere to stay. I got offered a job, peace work as i was rubbish and came home and chucked my full time greenkeeping job, i packed my life into an old bmw 316 and headed off, i lasted 5 weeks, hated it and returned back to my home town homeless and un emplyed and skint:laugh1:

So dont do that:lol:

[Andy Collins]

Felling work on piece rate is hard graft, day in, day out slog. Regardless of the conditions (weather), pushing yourself to meet your targets. Its tough on the body, back in particular, as the pace is relentless. BUT it is a fulfilling job, and enjoyable if you are of the right mindset. I'm not going to dress it up fancy for you, if yu want to do it go in with your eyes wide open.

PS, what area are you in?

[Frankie Lawrence]

What Andy says is right its not easy but it can be swings and roundabouts one site you could be cutting and making some serious monney because of various reasons but then some sites it maybe awlful pay and your cutting all day for close to no monney.

 

If you want a job I would try ringing some local companies asking to work for free for a week to show you can work then they may offer you some full time work.

 

good luck

[Brushcutter]

Getting into forestry can be hard but once your in it can be fantasic or an uphill struggle. Cutting all day every day is hard work. Your back will hurt your hands will hurt.

 

You have to fell quick limb out quick and get the stems cut really flush and cross cut with great acuracy. Stacks have to be neat for the forwarder and you can have to stack up some big bits of wood. Pay can be poor but if you get a nice clearfell money can be great.

 

Thats the doom and gloom but it is fantastic work. Once you work your way upto doing medium/large trees its even better. Obviously the cutter isn't only rung in the forestry ladder. There's the forwarder drivers, harvesters and skidders too. Again all hard work but i do love forwarding.

 

Ring local companies see if any work is going and don't be afraid to go anywhere in the country to have a go. You might want to consider CS32 to make you more employable on the forestry side

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

What Andy says is right. I first did piece work on larch thinnings in the early 90s at £2 a sawlog and £1 per bar and rail, so £6 per tree max (no - that can't be right; that money seems way too high because my memory fails me - what I do recall is that you needed to cut 100 trees a day, cut to exact (loggers tape - an inch out and you were in trouble) length and stack for the forwarder to make a decent wage, so more like a £1 per tree; can't flippin remember. Likewise, some years later in hardwoods (self-select) it wasn't piece rate but £6.50/hour self-employed basis BUT if you didn't cut 20 ton a day you didn't get paid - that was the target! The pace was indeed relentless; the site supervisor was forever f'ing and blinding at the younguns for taking too long to refuel; he used to scream "get on get on you want to get on"..! Softwood felling by hand is pretty much a thing of the past since the almighty harvester has stepped into this position; steep slopes or ground conditions excepted. What aint bad if you can get it is buttressing or "toe-nailing" on the bigger sticks i.e 32s where you cut the buttress off for the harvester coming up behind you. Double dogs on an MS460 with 18" bar and it's not bad, kick the moss down, round you go clockwise nice and tight and at £13/hour the last time I was on it; a hell of a lot easier than thinnings on the body...

[Stephen Blair]

best thing i did was brashing, 15 years ago i got 10p a tree, i was doing about 80 a tankfull and 2 tanks an hour. If you got a line of outsiders it was a diferent story lol

[Stu]

Cheers for the comment guys.

 

Yh i Know its gunna be hard work, ive done small bits of felling in the past when i went to college but it was an eye opener when i did the training for cs31, the instructor was really good but really critical and getting the tree hung up and getting it down was a pain lol and like you said everything has to be cut to the right size etc but from them four days i knew thats the job for me id be willing travel round the country i think it would be really good to get the experiance.

 

yh brushcutter i want to do my cs32 hopefully soon i also want to do wind blown trees.

 

I was also told to try and do harvester and forwader training to but i wouldnt know where to get the trainer for that?

 

To answer you question andy i live in berkshire down south which is a pain cause i dont know if there alot goin on down here forestry wise.

 

Does anybody know of any directory where you can find contractors?

[Andy Collins]

Look on the Forestry Contractors Association website, there several listed there, dont know abut your area

[billyjohn]

Hi

We used to get about £20 per ton on average split between 3 man crew and equal share to boss for equipment.We made a living out of it but is hard graft.Now tend to do mainly domestic trees and thats what i would suggest.Try for groundsman job and learn saws and cutting to perfection before going into forest then you might have a chance.

Billyjohn