I just use a 50 foot regular tape, but I color code the tape with lengths of various logs using finger nail polish. For 8' logs I use black and paint it at 8'-6"/17'/25'6'/34'/42'-6" For 14' logs I use gold paint at 14'-6"/29'/43.6" For 12' logs I use blue paint at 12'6"/25'/37'-6"/ 50' For 16 foot logs I use red finger nail polish marked at 16'-6"/33'/49'-6" But then the combinations start. Most of the time the butt logs are the longer logs then they start shortening up, so my logging tape has additional markings. For instance if a tree looks like it will make a 16 foot log, a 12 foot log and then an 8 foot log to get the most out of it, I run out my tape and look for the color coded markings... The 16 foot log will be marked at the 16'-6" mark with red paint, then a spot with red and white paint at the 29' mark and then a spot with red, white and black at the 37.5 mark. (red, white and black=16/12/8 a very common combination). Others include a 16/14/8, or a 12/12/8. I do not do every combination, but it saves a lot of time when I am out in the woods marking logs. Another tip, while I mark my logs where they fell, if I am twitching them tree length, I do not buck them up there, instead I just "ring" them. I take my saw and make a shallow cut as far around the tree as I can. This way as I come out of the woods and into my landing, I can stop at my pulpwood or firewood pile and cut off the top where it was last "ringed", then move forward to my log pile with the log portion of my tree. Once pushed up I can then buck my logs up having already been measured in the woods. Ringed like they are, it is easy to see where the marks are. You can see a photo of me marking out a Hard Maple log here. If you look close, about a third of the way from the edge of the picture you can see where I "ringed" the log to mark off the butt cut veneer log. The cut is very shallow, and while it does not look like it in the photo, had it been bucked fully, the two ends would have been sitting on the ground.
