I thought of that but even with his somewhat limited space I don't think it would work. Yeah he was saying how he's had to dip into his savings for equipment and repairs etc. Ill take a $10 pull starter repair over $1500 in parts to fix a skid steer any day.
Interesting situation. Trying to imagine what it would take to get me to do what you’re doing. Surely wouldn’t want to use my own equipment/fuel/oil.
Sounds like a really great arrangement, at least to keep in touch with every now and again. Well done!
Heck yeah! I would jump at that opportunity too! Just straight bucking for hours on end. Now, I wouldn't want to make a career of it but it would be satisfying to do it for a day. Did you learn any tricks to keep production up?
Now you’re getting paid to take Black Locust? I give up LMAO I’d sit next to the burn barrel and watch ya
Nice but some problems always seem to crop up with these situations. Metal in logs perhaps is the worst. Poor working conditions too but there always seem to be new problems daily. It is nothing like working for yourself.
Have to agree with you. I see problems but maybe I am thinking too much. Saws of his run on a poor mix and fried a couple. Broken machine (bobcat) with a couple grand + to fix. Running your own saws on your fuel and oil. Metal in there that was cut with your chain. Sure it is fun and you get a load of BL from it as well as a few bucks but I don't know if it would be worth it to me. I hate wrecking my equipment when I cut my own wood let alone anyone else's that he is making a profit from.
Have multiple chains and/or chain saws. No trick but my MO as I've been self employed my whole life is to keep working. If I was waiting for him to bring logs (he was moving just oak from the other side of the yard for me to cut) I'd organize the rounds I cut. I honestly should've left them to save my back. Later in the day he had moving the conveyor for the other two guys to load a dump truck with splits so I jumped in. Later the second day when I was cutting the ash delivery that came in I had to move rounds to continue and navigate my way over logs to cut.
Good for you Brad Looks like a typical woodyard this time of year MUD!! those look like sawmill rejects sometimes cutting those quartered logs is a pain the splinters bind the saw . I am guessing the processor is just a big splitter with a conveyor because you are bucking the logs into length . 1500-2000 repair on loader is not that big of a deal for the amount of back breaking work they save I know I would not be able to do wood anymore without my bobcat . Most of those type operations rely on high production to make money and quality usually suffers . Glad it worked out for you and by your couple of blurry pictures I can believe you were like a kid at disney you could not stand still long enough to tack a steady picture JB
Cool setup Brad! Keep us posted. Sounds like a really interesting operation and really neat you are getting to see the inner workings. There’s a somewhat local (CT) firewood operation that has a YouTube channel and it’s always interesting to see the inner workings of the operation.
Yes not a conventional processer. He had mentioned coming close to buying one and wishes he did. Most of those pics were snapped late on the first day in a hurry obviously. I met a competitor wood seller. Nice guy and we chatted about the wood market. He had a bigger operation too and was struggling to turn a profit. He was buying dump truck fulls of splits.
I don't think he is a full time operation and uses his dump trucks and dumpster for other "side" work. Being there to work we didn't chat much about work or his operation there. It was in Milford so a bit farther than I'd normally go.
The one guy who has evidently worked for him for a while had face tattoos, cap on crooked, pants partway down and seemed like everytime I looked his way he had a cigarette lit or was vaping. Owner told me he was slacking that day and is usually hungover. The other guy it was his first day and a friend of the other from what I understood. Dressed in a bright red get up including the sneakers. They had food delivered whereas I pretty much worked thru lunch with quick breaks every now and then. Thankfully I didn't have to work with them. I'm pretty much a one man operation.
Sounds like one was an ex-con and the other a want to be rapper. Sneakers; safety first. Wonder if someone gets hurt how good the insurance is?
My thoughts exactly. Apparently someone did loose a finger on the splitter based on what the "con" was telling me.
