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TaylorJohnson
ParticipantIf they are any distance or out of the way they are coming home if I am not working or if I go there to do choirs I am going to work. i do bring them home most of the time but some jobs it is just to far to haul every day . I wont drive that far just to feed and water ether , I use to but like ya said it gets old quick. I am also trying to take more time off , I found my self working many many days in a row just so I did not wast fuel on a job. Almost died last year from that type of practice so no more of that. Ideally it would be a one trip and every thing is there and I am drooping wood before dark .
My thought is a like Carl’s in that I would build a sturdy structure appealing to the eye to some extent but very practical. I will try and use aspen polls or pine of some kind to do this as apposed to 4x4s. . I think 4x4s would be cleaner and easier to work with but right now I have aspen and pine but no 4x4s so it is going to be aspen , pine , and some wood butchering 🙂 . Taylor JohnsonParticipantCarl that is just the type of thing I am thinking about . Efficients is the key but like you said not corner cutting efficient like a good watch is what I am talking. I know pretty much what I ultimately want for a mobile operation but what I want and what I can afford are to different things right now. Work with what you got . It is looking up in the log markets up here so it might not be far off with what I want to get for a mobile riggens in the future . Taylor Johnson
ParticipantI do use an electric fence plastic polls , it is powered by a car battery ( I have found this style fencer better than the solar, just tougher ) . We have flies up here that draw blood when they bite a horse or man and they need some place to get away from them. They seem to stay away from a structure with ever three sides . Those flies can give ya some pain I tell ya.
The name of the game logging is efficiency and that goes for every thing you do and every move you make. I am always looking to improve on what I do and be efficient at it,,,, some days I may as well be trying to break the moon with a sling shoot 🙂 but some days I can put on one hell of a log show,, or at least me and the boys think so 🙂 ( boys being Mark and Dan ) .
I want to get to were I can be set up to stay a couple of weeks in one half of a day ,, well I can now I just want to improve on it . The problem I have with the tarp set ups is snow load in the winter and the horse jacking with them when they can get to them. I just think I could improve my rhythm when it comes to setting up for the horses in the bush. Taylor JohnsonParticipantWell I have done like Rick and Ira and made a rough shelter out of tarps and what I could find as far a polls go. I have thought of some type of barn or should I say barn design that you could make with a set plan and the hardware ( bolts, nuts, washers or large leg bolts) taken from job to job. With some wood butchering and a few sheets of ply wood you would have a pretty nice barn on site. There is such a fine line to be efficient though , It all has to come together very fast in order to get to work. I can do a little wood butchering but am not a carpenter . Every thing would have to fit in the bed of a truck as to not have to make a special trip. The ply wood would last more than one job but would have to be replaced eventually.
I have used a trailer but with our night to day temp changes up here they sweat to bad having the metal roof plus they always end up knocking stuff around a lot.
I have no set thing in my mind just some scatted thoughts but would like to come up with something easy . One more thing to consider is who will see the horse set up people are not always understanding of animals and what they need . If it does not look like Martha Stewart designed it it is not good enough . The main time my horses want a shelter is in the heat not rain or snow. Taylor JohnsonParticipantThanks boys , I always said I have a face that was made for raidio . 😀 Taylor Johnson
ParticipantI see the use of machines with horses as a way to do business for me personally . It may be different for someone else but for me it is what works. The reason I don’t use a small tractor is because I don’t want the break downs , they cost to much , they will not hold up in heavy timber or under heavy loads , fuel is expensive , ……….. and on top of all of that the horses can get more done in most circumstances. ( I am talking 45 hp tractor and down ) . I know some guys that ran small tractors in the bush , they tor them to pieces out there. In the same timber I have never had a day I could not work because of my horse.
I happen to love working with horses and mule I was born into a family that gave me that hunger but that is not the total reason I work horses. In a true select cut , small acreage, rough rough terrain horses are a better choice for the job for what they can do and for the way it pencils out. To use a machine to help out in what I do is not a problem, I am not really trying to be a traditionalist just trying to stay a logger ( not a factory worker who is on a moving dissembling line on tracks in the bush aka processor LOL ) .
I do like my forwarder but I do not try to make every job a forwarder job . There are times when I don’t need it and to use it would just add another step into the process that does not need to be there but were it is needed it is a great help to me and the horse.
Bottom line is it has to make you money or it is not worth doing . Don’t not use traditional things just because you think they are old and don’t get to caught up in machines because they are a little easier . If a machine is not a hole hell of a lot easier than it probably wont pencil out and if it is to expensive to buy or fun it will not pencil out . We need these odd little skills and old tools along with some specialized new equipment to get those niche markets and jobs out there and to beat the big guys out of some of it.
My Grandpa was a very good boxer and he use to tell us boys something , he would say ” To have a better chance to win a fight there are three things to keep in mind 1. Don’t box a boxer 2. Don’t wrestle a wrestler and the most important and final one number 3 . Don’t jack with your Grandpa ! ” LOL. He was right about those things and he would say them to us in a joking manner ( me my brother and cousins ) but what he meant by it was don’t play someone else’s game use a different plan and use your own set of rules to get it done. He meant bare knuckle fighting but it applies to logging to . Do what makes you a living , do what can get you jobs and give you happy costumers , don’t worry about being pure to tradition and don’t get to wound up in machines go out and make a living any way you can with animals and don’t fault one another for what we do just try to learn from one another . Taylor JohnsonParticipantThanks Carl , I just got to this post and seen your answer. I am not even sure when I asked the quetion but it has been a long time. Taylor Johnson
ParticipantKevin ,
This is some tough stuff to make a living in for sure I hope these log prices come back and come back soon.
Scott I need to talk to you so about CO , I will be giving you a call today or maybe tomorrow ( it is suppose to rain here so I will have a little time ) .
If we can all survive this economy I think we will do well as loggers, there are not a lot left that have the know how to do this . There are not a lot of young guys getting into it , not just horse logging but logging in general. I would sure like to see them loosen up some of the regulations as far as trucking goes , it would be easier for me to haul some of my own wood but around here it is tough to make the DOT happy. ( jokes don’t help with there happiness ) Taylor JohnsonParticipantHere are some pics of my one of my teams and a job I am doing . Like I said right now I am working Jack Pine and am looking forward to getting out of it. There are also some pic of this last winter. Taylor Johnson
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3992683&id=184456638284ParticipantThe roads are still posted here to but this job is on a road that they leave open because there is a saw mill on it. Rick I can sell jack pine pulp and bolts right now , there is a scale shake and a rail yard about 12 miles from the job stick scaled to not by weight so that is good. Were I am working it is all sand and dries quick.These trees are limbs from the ground up but like I said it is something to do in break up .
I know of 4 things that could survive a nuclear blast cock roaches, my Dad, these scrub oaks we have , and Jack Pine . Taylor JohnsonParticipantI know that animals can smell dominance in another animal I bet they can smell sickness and other things as well. I have seen seasoned bear dogs that hit just the right bear and acted a whole lot more un easy , those bear are more aggressive and more of a dominate creature ,not big just bad new and the dogs know it. My horses know these animals two. All wolves come across like this to dogs , horses , and mules only some bears do. Keep in mind if you horse has never been exposed to these things they all will probably be a little intimidating to them . I wish we knew half as much as are horses about other animal , if I did I would be a great hunter for sure .
One more thing I really thought that was clever to put that dog leash on those lines , now that is thinking out side of the box . Taylor JohnsonParticipantIt all depends on the
day and the horse what I do . Some days they are different acting than
others for various reasons. I most generally drive them in to where I am
going to hook my load head first. I do this so if I am hooking they are
watching me and if they want to go they have to turn or go over me,this
would give me time to grab them. I then turn them and hook my drag. If I
have cutting to do or extended work I do tie them. Some days up here I
don’t get far because of the critters and what they are doing in the
area. Coyotes do not bother my horses at all but if there are wolves in
the area they are on high alert at all time and behave in way that you
better be on your toes or you will have head aches . Bears most of the
time do not bother them to bad ,I have had bears walk right up to the
fence in front of are house and my gelding just stand there and look at
them , we have a lot of bears and they are used to them for the most
part. All bears are not created equal some are very dominate in the scent
and dogs, horses, and mules will behave waaayyy different with these type of bears . They
know they are bad news.One job I was on they
were acting all squirrelly and I knew their were no wolves in the area
because their were coyotes their in the pre dawn howling all the time if
there are coyotes there are no wolves . The horse were acting very
strange for about a week . Then one day I seen a big pile in the road
that looked like horse crap I drove up to it and it was from a bear. The
bear that made this pile was a big boy with a 6 inch back pad. I knew
right away why the boys were nerves
. I talked to some guys that hunt that area and they said they had been
hunting a big bear in that area that was as mean as a snake , those
types of bears should make a glass of water nerves . Wolves and bears
but mostly wolves are what I have to watch for the most on the job . Not
that there going to necessarily attack the horses but there scent makes
there modes swing a great deal. Taylor JohnsonParticipantGod Bless him and his family and may he rest in peace . Taylor Johnson
ParticipantTim Carrol has a pair or mares that should be breed . The black mare is about as smart as a horse can be and is stocky to boot . She can flat-out pull when need be also , her name is Rose. Sugar is a good mare also but Rose is just what a person would want looking for an old style percherons . I like the old style percherons a lot , you see less and less of them though. Taylor Johnson
ParticipantThe least favorite part of my job is running the loader ( as far as my logging goes ) . I do love seeing those horses tie into a load . Taylor Johnson
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