forestry

[shavey]

i was wondering what the felling rates were nowadays as i finished peicework back in 1998 went to work on a private estate but somedays i miss it like hell the only reason i finished was money and a very wet year and i was feeling down and couldnt shake myself out of it

we only had lots of 1st and 2nd thinnings and a little 3rd thinning and any clearfell was like a roof of a house we had to stack everything 8 foot posts 12 foot rails all the pulp' there were 10 rows of trees between each rack so we would throw the wood 5 rows each way.

but looking down each finished rack was a pleasure to see all the stacked wood ready for the tractor and trailer

 

we got paid as follows

 

1st thinnings fencing £12.50 mtr pulp £7.50 mtr

 

2nd thinnings fencing £12.00 mtr pulp £6.50 mtr

 

3rd thinnings fencing £ 10.50 mtr pulp £6.00 mtr

 

clearfell timber £5.50 mtr if you burnt your brash

clearfell timber £4.50 mtr if the tractor burnt your brash

 

clearfell pulp £4.50 mtr

 

but looking back if the sun had shone:biggrin: and a nice stand of douglas had come along:thumbup: it would have been happy happy happy

 

there is nothing like sitting in a stand of douglas having a cuppa watching and listening to life

 

if the work was close enough i would take my two wheel drive international tractor with a linkbox to work and bring home firewood in lengths every night which was a good bonus if not the car and walk in

 

low stumps tidy brash good stacks everybody happy

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

i was wondering what the felling rates were nowadays as i finished peicework back in 1998 went to work on a private estate but somedays i miss it like hell the only reason i finished was money and a very wet year and i was feeling down and couldnt shake myself out of it

we only had lots of 1st and 2nd thinnings and a little 3rd thinning and any clearfell was like a roof of a house we had to stack everything 8 foot posts 12 foot rails all the pulp' there were 10 rows of trees between each rack so we would throw the wood 5 rows each way.

but looking down each finished rack was a pleasure to see all the stacked wood ready for the tractor and trailer

 

we got paid as follows

 

1st thinnings fencing £12.50 mtr pulp £7.50 mtr

 

2nd thinnings fencing £12.00 mtr pulp £6.50 mtr

 

3rd thinnings fencing £ 10.50 mtr pulp £6.00 mtr

 

clearfell timber £5.50 mtr if you burnt your brash

clearfell timber £4.50 mtr if the tractor burnt your brash

 

clearfell pulp £4.50 mtr

 

but looking back if the sun had shone:biggrin: and a nice stand of douglas had come along:thumbup: it would have been happy happy happy

 

there is nothing like sitting in a stand of douglas having a cuppa watching and listening to life

 

if the work was close enough i would take my two wheel drive international tractor with a linkbox to work and bring home firewood in lengths every night which was a good bonus if not the car and walk in

 

low stumps tidy brash good stacks everybody happy

 

Ditto; last did piecework at Haldon Hill in 1998 and was getting £2 for a sawlog and a £1 for a bar or rail; stupendous money relative to now, 15 years later.

 

10 rows between racks - crikey!

[shavey]

nice one what saw were you running back then did you do much of the windblown on haldon hill

at the same time we went down to otterton hill and ladram bay cutting corsican pine and jap larch one or two lengths of timber and loads of pulp everything winched up the hill

i had a dolmar 115i and a jonsereds 49 sp

 

''if the sun had shone'' and a stand of douglas had come along i would have been happy happy

[openspaceman]

 

low stumps tidy brash good stacks everybody happy

 

Yeah, I wouldn't have swapped and don't regret my days but there's no going back.

 

We were doing hardwood about that time for 25p/Hft cut and extract and keep the cordwood in exchange for clearing the site, often burn up with grab.

 

I could do with a load of cord at Black Dog if you know of any?

[LeeWill]

Thing is, you need to fund CS30,31,32,34,35. (Not digging out the new equivalents), first aid training and PPE to get 1 new person started. 4 weeks to provide that? £2-2.5k per person.

What college is going to provide that as part of a curriculum? Most initial forestry courses take a year, lucky if the students see CS30 and maybe 31 in that first year, get disillusioned and give up. I've seen this already. They don't want to sit in a classroom, and classroom hours are barely 3 days per week in some cases. Colleges want to bulk out courses to ensure trainers get paid for an entire year, not just 4 weeks.

Bear in mind that the above produces cutters, not planting, forwarder skills, tree ident and management, chippers, etc.

 

Plus you are looking for young lads and lasses that want to work on the land, not earn Ferrari owning wages. Most kids at that level won't be able to afford their own PPE, saws etc. and cutters wages won't help towards that much, will they?

 

So risk that expense, motivate the youngster so that he/she stays the course and doesn't run to MaccyD's for a physically easier job.

 

Solve the above and you'll maybe get more kids into forestry. Or all the military lads that have been hit with redundancy?

 

Company in Scotland is providing 6month training courses, run through the commission and is all outdoor experience. They get trained in everything from maintenance to multiple windblow and leave with all their own PPE at the end of it with links to other jobs in the industry.

[LeeWill]

Oh, companies name is Living Solutions, check them out