Throwing Wood Up The Hill Out Of A Draw Away From The Buffer : Logging In The Pacific Northwest

[@jakobhanson8360]

I’m a subcontractor for a company and I’m getting a little seat time in our new 822D. I’m a firm believer in the best way to learn is to do it. That being said its cool watching other guys out their doing things different than we do. Cool videos! I also think that being in a buncher is definitely the best position in the woods!

[@thedailylogger]

Right on. I agree with you, the only way I'm going to get it right is to do it a few times. Like you're saying, I also get a lot of ideas from watching how others do things, be it logging or mechanicking or anything else. Particularly with things I don't know how to do, to see how it's done or how something comes apart is invaluable, I think it's the best thing on the internet! Is the 822 a non leveler? Where are you working at? Any how, have fun with it and thanks for the comments! Be safe.

[@glengorman1]

Wow amazing piece of equipment, it’s great looking at someone that knows what there doing and love the way you talk over your videos explaining everything, great work and hope you keep up all the great videos, you have a new fan of your videos from Ireland 👍

[@thedailylogger]

Right on. Glad you enjoy them. The LX870D is an amazing machine for sure. So well designed it's a pleasure to run and maintain too. I took a quick look at your channel, looks like your equipment is set up to deal with wet conditions. What services do you contract for, harvesting or farming? Thanks for the comment and for watching, we appreciate it.

[@toddthetimbcoguy9648]

Great video as always! I’m not going to lie it’s amazing to to me how you cut your units, I have to cut and pack to trails for skidders. For instance I had a hill with the same exact boundaries in place that I was cutting two weeks ago, I backed down and packed every thing up to a bench for the skidders.

[@thedailylogger]

Copy. It's always interesting for me too, seeing how different logging systems work in different parts of the world. Are you doing partial cuts/thinning or variable retention with restrictions on machine travel? As you can see, we work freestyle, not tethering yet, but we regularly push the definition of shovel ground. That being said, if you can clearcut it and hold onto the hill with the machines, shovel logging is a helluva good system for moving a lot of wood in a hurry, cheap. That 50' boom covers a lot of ground with every swing! Thanks for the comment and for watching, we appreciate it! Good cutting to ya!

[@bryans5339]

It’s dry here in North Alabama right now. If it were a typical February, i wouldn’t have been able to walk our rubber tired feller buncher on the steep hill I did yesterday. Gravity really worked against me too. I was double cutting small hickories that I normally would have hit one time.

[@thedailylogger]

I had to laugh reading your comment cause I saw myself in it. I think the best thing about getting older is not having to make the same dumb mistakes twice, right? The trick for me is remembering in time. A few weeks back I was able to get the Buncher back to the shop it was up for a 250 hour, the starter needed to get pulled and rebuilt and I had an output shaft seal on a tilt motor to replace. As I was pulling the 8 tilt motor mounting bolts, I struck them all first with a big drift and 5 of them zipped right out. So I struck the 3 again and hit them with PB Blaster and 2 of them came right out. I've been here before I thought to myself, frozen Allen Head fasteners. So instead of reaching for the 6 foot cheater pipe and either rounding the bolt, breaking the socket or snapping the head off the bolt I struck it again, sprayed more Blaster and found something else to do for a little bit. Came back and hit it with the impact and it zipped right out. The 60 year old guy is getting it figured out! Thanks for the comment.

[@raymondadams7341]

Where can I get teeth for my buncher we just bought the machine our first one learning how to operate it appreciate the good videos

[@thedailylogger]

Right on! Glad the videos are interesting to you. What part of the world are you working in? We get our teeth through Marc Yengle - I don't think I'm spelling his last name right, at Pape in Longview Washington. He's a great guy, knows a lot about teeth, and bunchers for that matter. He also carries all three major brands, Gators, Quadcos and Ballantines. I liked the Ballantines but their cost went through the roof last time we ordered. We have a video on changing teeth that you might want to check out if you haven't already, I talk some about different teeth and how they have worked for me. There are a lot of comments on that video from other operators talking about what they do for teeth that might help you out too. The thing with teeth is they are heavy so if you're not close to a good supplier the freight would be spendy. I do remember seeing in the Baileys catalog a while back a pretty good price on Quadcos but can't remember what the shipping was. What did you get for a Buncher? Good cutting to ya, thanks for the question and for watching, we appreciate it. Be safe.

[@raymondadams7341]

northern part of Kentucky hardwood mostly

[@thedailylogger]

@@raymondadams7341 Been a busy week, haven't been able to get back to you. Couple of things I'd suggest to you if you want. I'd shop around for your teeth as the prices can vary a lot and they aren't cheap under the best of circumstances. The other thing I would suggest as you get going is to not skimp on teeth. You'll probably ding a set or two up getting dialed in, but especially in hardwood it's really hard to have things go well unless you have a sharp edge working for you. I think it's worth a little extra to give yourself good performance so you can get the hang of how the machine performs. Good cutting to ya, and be safe!

[@bryans5339]

I was throwing Hickory uphill yesterday to keep them off some bigger timber that’s going to have to be cut with a 24” bar. The 20 year old me would have thrown those trees down hill and made widow makers. The 41 year old me has learned better.

[@thedailylogger]

Sounds like you are on a tough unit. Have you ever run chains on your cutter? Back when I had my own company we ran skidders and ran chains on all of them, all four wheels year around. One time I remember with one of them, we had a new set on order and it was taking a while to show up so I thought that rather than keep mending the old set I'd just pull them off and see how it got around. It was a 640D, this was a long time ago. That thing was as helpless as a baby. But when the new set came in and I got them mounted up it would just about climb a wall. I sold out about the time tracks were coming on but they also seem like a good tool, add a little flotation too. Just thought I'd ask, seems like it would make quite a difference for the cutter in particular. Good luck to you on that unit, hope you get it wrapped up,before it starts raining again. It's dry here right now too, good thing cause I'm cutting a yarder unit and I couldn't even think about it if it was wet. Be safe!

[@bryans5339]

@@thedailylogger we’ve run chains before on our skidders when we were working in Giles County Tennessee just north of where I live. We were cutting big timber with chainsaws with 24” bar and chain. I know there is a logging company northwest of us in Tennessee that just bought a JD 768L bogie skidder with the tracks on both sides of the bogie axles. I’ve heard that skidder will go anywhere the self leveling track cutter would go.

[@bryans5339]

My Dad bought one of those 640D’s back in the late 80’s from our local dealer here in Athens Al. He said it was the best piece of machinery he ever owned. They had chains on all 4 tires with 150 feet of cable. It had 5000 hours on it when he traded it for a JD grapple skidder, and he said they had never so much as changed a hose on it. Only scheduled maintenance.

[@thedailylogger]

@@bryans5339 Seems like chains would help you quite a bit in the cutter on tough ground. I saw a video on that John Deere bogie, they are running hard to keep up with Tigercats 6 wheel series skidders.

[@thedailylogger]

@@bryans5339 I agree, my partner and I bought the one we had as a cable machine with a full cab in 84 I think. We later put an Esco single arch grapple on it. We ended up keeping it and trading others off as we upgraded. I set it up with a quick hitch for a state plow and used it to plow our haul roads in the winter. When we ended up selling the company off I think it had over 15000 hours on it and I hadn't touched anything in it other than regular maintenance and a water pump. Strong, simple machine. Have a good weekend.

[@1979kw]

you watch the blue line land works channel at all? they got some interesting tethering equipment. what's your thoughts on tethering?

[@thedailylogger]

You bet. That's a good channel. Great camera work too. As far as tethering goes, I'm all for it. It's proven technology, about 12 years old now. There are some drawbacks too, it's a fairly spendy system even in logging terms. It adds another machine in to move to every unit. One big component for it is good, consistent, appropriate units for it so the setup is working steady. I really like the idea of working productively on tough ground without the stress of falling of the hill, and knowing I'll be able to get back up. It seems like with thoughtful operation it would reduce soil disturbance, create more consistent production on tough ground and reduce wear and tear on the Buncher. As much as I hate to say it, it could reduce the need for handfalling. With the way labor is today that is pretty important. The videos I think you are referring to with Blue Line of Chiltons Climbmax are pretty interesting. I have to admit, not knowing much from personal experience tethering yet, that Im pretty attached to a hotsaw for most of the wood I run into these days. You do run into some conflicts on steep ground given the size of the disc, or with with stands with a lot of oversized, but I would lean towards an LX870D with a hot saw and quick switch setup felling head on a heelrack and a more conventional line machine. It seems like they get a lot of wood with that machine though. How about you? Are you tethering or have thoughts on it? Thanks for the question! Be safe.

[@1979kw]

@@thedailylogger no it is all just really interesting to me. i have always been on the ground drooling of running something lol. my best days on the rigging were when I got to walk a machine in or run processor for a day. hard to beet hand felling with a machine on steep rocky ground. that tethering with falling head looks like there going darn there straight up and down. even shovel log to

[@thedailylogger]

@@1979kw Copy. I'm the same way, it's interesting to see how others operators are getting it done. I saw another Blue Line video this morning, it came up on the screen, a bunch of different Summit gear including their swing Yoder. Another one you might like if you haven't seen it is MVR Cutting , they have a couple of well done vids. Who are you working for now? Well, I guess I'm going to have to do something today, been lazing around drinking coffee all morning. Good talking with you.

[@1979kw]

@@thedailylogger I bought a midi excavator started my own thing 2 years ago. but with all the crazy stuff going on in the world, wife works i stay home with kids. and now with schools political gender nonsense looking like ill be homeschooling. my oldest is 4 but I bet she wants to be my cutting partner lol

[@thedailylogger]

@@1979kw Copy. Been a busy week, haven't had a chance to get back to you. Sounds like you are doing the most important job you could do. Good for you. Maybe down the road if things free up and you get an itch to get back in the brush keep us in mind!

[@aaronrichardson9168]

Who plays the music

[@thedailylogger]

My wife does all the production on these videos. She's the reason that they are worth watching, the footage I collect is just raw time from me turning the iPad or GoPro on and working. So she edits it down and sets it to music she finds. Hope you like it, you're not going to find any head banging riffs, something more along the lines of what's happening in the video. Thanks for the question, and for watching, we appreciate it.

[@aaronrichardson9168]

I like it nice to drink coffee to in the morning and watch and listen to and you have a relaxing voice

[@thedailylogger]

@@aaronrichardson9168 Copy that, we were doing the same thing this morning, drinking coffee and - being lazy. Have a good weekend!

[@EvanThompsonn]

Been watching your videos and love the depth you share. Are you an owner operator or just running machine for someone else? Love your work quality

[@thedailylogger]

Thanks! Glad you like the videos. In the past I've owned my own company, worked for an outfit in a management role, and am currently enjoying being an employee. I think running Buncher is the best seat in the woods, especially in the Tigercat. I appreciate your comments, I guess to a certain extent I'm trying to reach some younger people who might be interested in running Buncher or have just started. So I try to fill in some of the blanks that I can remember running into when I first got going, a long time ago! I believe firmly that as far as logging goes it definitely starts at the stump so I do all I can to save out the wood, make it easy on the guy following me and in general get it off to a good start. Thanks for the comment and for watching, we appreciate it. Be safe.

[@EvanThompsonn]

Man you’re doing a great job of showing a a prideful job and taking care of the next man in line. I’m 29 and own a outfit in Arkansas so I know the value of an employee that takes pride and care of his stuff like you do. Great job, and keep the content coming. 👍🏻👍🏻

[@thedailylogger]

@@EvanThompsonn Right on. Are you in pine mostly? I drove down though that Texarkana country a long time ago and saw a lot of pine timber. You guys move a lot of pieces! Having been on both sides of the sharp point of equipment payments I'm glad to take good care of a machine that pays my salary and costs close to twice the average price of a house these days! I got into logging when I was 19, once that sawdust gets in your blood it doesn't let go evidently. We appreciate your comment and for watching! Be safe.

[@chiefmoe7422]

Have you ever cut leave strips?

[@thedailylogger]

Not completely sure what you are asking. I leave buffer strips regularly, they vary in width depending on the size and classification of the waterway. And I cut around freestanding leave areas regularly too, those are wetlands, leave tree areas, riparian zones, special feature areas, etc etc. At one point buffer strips were popular to leave along highways, but that has pretty much fallen out of favor, mostly I think because it creates a hazard to powerlines and highways. Sometimes on industrial lands I will be cutting what is called a greenup area. That is a block adjoining a recently harvested area that has to wait 4 or 4 (4 years or until the planted trees are 4 feet tall), before it can be cut to ensure adequate separation between age classes. So those are some prescriptions I implement regularly. Cutting a designated leave strip on the lands we work on would be something a Buncher operator would do once, and then be looking for another career! Harvest plans in Oregon and Washington are pretty carefully put together in order to comply with harvest regulations, and there is considerable oversight prior, during and after a harvest. Many of the companies we work for go beyond the requirements as well, and as a professional I am expected to carry out these plans correctly. Hope that answers your question, thanks for asking

[@chiefmoe7422]

I bought an old 445b timbco and was doing some cutting on private land, never used one before probably should have gone to scrap but have been fixing it up, was cutting selective leaving spacing between trees about 25 feet but land owner wanted more valume so started a three tree wide strip through first section moving over three trees and started another strip , when I complete this then he wants to do the same thing going sideways which will not leave a very nice looking stand. I am not very good but I am having fun learning, sure enjoy watching your cutting.

[@thedailylogger]

@@chiefmoe7422 Right on. I have cut in a lot of different Timbcos and Timbco style machines. Sounds like you have good project going on the private patch. It seems like you could thin the remaining three tree strips, leaving the better stems, and end up with a better stand. Good luck on the Buncher project, thanks for the comment. Good cuttin to ya!