forestry

[elfinwood saws]

if i want to i can still knock out 100 to 150 a day cutting but it takes its toll on the body as we all know , i think for the risks and days you cant work ie rain snow bad winds etc a cutter with skill should get a grand a week ,what with fuel tax running costs 4x4 etc but it will never happen . the logburner epidemic should be good for us but the customer seems to want wood for nothing at the moment , in 10 years when us older cutters are burnt out there will be a lack of good men for sure all my work is local 15 mile radius . i used to do up to 140 miles a day regular to cut wood but will never do it again , but still like the thud of a big tree going down

 

100/150 tons a day:thumbup: You must be half man, half harvester, we would need a bigger forwarder to keep up with you!

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

if i want to i can still knock out 100 to 150 a day

 

100-150 what? Don't say m3 !!!

[codlasher]

I used to think I was doing well when I had hauled 7 loads out with my County and trailer. With a new Botex fitted on the roof it was a little quicker as it became a 'two lever' machine and the crane had a bit more reach. So I hauled 35 ton in the day if it was a good 'un!.

As to the cutting, yes I've done some but I am a better machine person and always have respect for good hardwood cutters where skill is king and they make a difficult job easier with just that, their skill.

I was lucky enough to work with the late Jim Crawford whom some will remember as the oldest pole climber not that long ago. We spent ten years working together in the Chilterns. A man rich in experience, and a pleasure to work alongside.

As to planting, in my opinion it is all down to site preparation. I started planting at 15 and this was way before those wonderful and powerful mulching machines. I remember struggling over ruts, brash and general horrors! My last planting job went extra well as I put a tracked mulcher onto both sites piror to the arrival of the young trees. Presto a lovely clear run, Happy planters and well planted young stock, easily paid for as there will be little or no beating up!

I struggle now to walk far with knackered knees so the days of carefree saw swinging are long gone! Oh for a new body. Shame about the crap money!

Finally I think there is room for hand cutters but only within a good team as you are then part of a whole. Thats where the money can be earned. Putting a team together is not so easy as this takes time. All but two of my old mates are now dead.

codlasher

[Logrover]

This is my concern........im 30 but i feel older, i go through stages of working flat out for a few weeks then i crash and have to slow down and so it goes on! I need to slow down hence career redirection since flat out is the only way to earn as a cutter. Also it worries me i have no pension etc and no spare cash for one and thats not good!

All the other cutters i know are young, live at home. A few older ones also live with parents.......says it all really!

saw will be a year old in a month, need a new one....cant afford it.....

[Blackbriarwoods]

This is my concern........im 30 but i feel older, i go through stages of working flat out for a few weeks then i crash and have to slow down and so it goes on! I need to slow down hence career redirection since flat out is the only way to earn as a cutter. Also it worries me i have no pension etc and no spare cash for one and thats not good!

All the other cutters i know are young, live at home. A few older ones also live with parents.......says it all really!

saw will be a year old in a month, need a new one....cant afford it.....

 

I'm in exactly the same boat, love my job but just feel like I'm treading water all the time, however hard I work I never seem to get anywhere, body certainly can't keep going how it has been for the last 20 years.

[Stubby]

This is my concern........im 30 but i feel older, i go through stages of working flat out for a few weeks then i crash and have to slow down and so it goes on! I need to slow down hence career redirection since flat out is the only way to earn as a cutter. Also it worries me i have no pension etc and no spare cash for one and thats not good!

All the other cutters i know are young, live at home. A few older ones also live with parents.......says it all really!

saw will be a year old in a month, need a new one....cant afford it.....

 

What you say here is about the top and bottom of it in a nut shell . I am 60 and love " being " in the woods but I have had enough by 2.00pm and its hard enough to make money even if you work till 4.30 or so . It a young mans game and at the same time a mugs game if you want to at least eat every day . The rates are toooo low to be fair to the amount of back ache and fatigue involved . The only thing you get out of working in the woods is sleep !

[dent]

there are youngsters that would love to do it i myself am 20 and would love to be out in the woods cutting and working but i cannot afford to do it i would be paying out for the pleasure of working. couple this with having a bad back already partly from hurting it when younger and partly from being a tall lad expected to do unrealistic tasks from a young age im on the floor by lunch time and when i can earn the same money sitting in an air conditioned cab why bother yes my back still hurts but i couldnt bear sitting in an office but atleast i take a bit of money home with me and am not mugged off by flash executives in 4x4s telling us what to do who dont have a clue

[Chris Sheppard]

100-150 what? Don't say m3 !!!

 

Stems I'm reckoning

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

Stems I'm reckoning

 

[elfinwood saws]

Stems I'm reckoning

 

I think he ment pounds stirling.