normally at least 15. I have seen them with ~25-30 once or twice.

They have 3 loaders, maybe 15 skidders, and 6 big cutters with 4 or 5 of those little Bell cutters mixed in there. It is like fricking Jerry Springer listening to all of them talk on the CB. It is the only set that I have felt uncomfortable being around. Just too much shite going on to watch, plus they wouldn't ever let me come even close to the equipment on the landing

quote:
y'all ever use cameras? Our landowners love them

Never used cameras because 9 times out of 10 there is a need for someone to open/close a gate or stop traffic to let trucks out. Just pay them a little extra to count #'s of trucks. It aint hard to find someone to sit around and smoke cigarettes all day looking at trucks.

quote:
we deal with very little hardwood these days. Between what we've cut, and hurricanes Rita and Ike, ours have been hit very hard.

You work in TX? One of my teachers worked for Crown and Temple Inland for probably 20 years. It is slim pickings out there.

We were the largest hardwood supplier in LA, MS, AR, and TN, so we were in no shortage of places to cut. We cut damn near every management area with 100 miles East or West of the river and had many open contracts with Homochitto. Hardwoods is very challenging and I hate being in piney woods with a passion. The only times we went into pine trees was for poles, really easy clearcuts, or doing the state foresters favors. Never thinning.

shite, the first day I showed up in a collared shirt and jeans for an interview and the owner told me to jump in his truck and we needed to go flag lines. He almost stepped on a rattler an hour later and beat it to death with a stick

I was thinking, "This guy cant be the boss"

I wish every day that I could have continued doing it full-time, but the pay is horseshite and I couldn't keep up with my ballaholic lifestyle. Now I am in school again for ME and hating every day of it

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Posted by bodean45

Lafayette

Member since Oct 2007

1102 posts

Posted on 6/22/12 at 8:56 am to Hammertime

quote:
Hammertime

Wow, that's a lot of info.

Guess I should have told y'all it's all pines. The land drains very well as we are on the bank of the Calcasieu River. The flags are red along the boundaries and trails up until the bottoms where the flags turn to blue. No specific trees are marked yet. The reason I think they will clear cut is because these pines are ~ 15 yrs. old and are about 15-20 yds. apart from each other.

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Posted by Hammertime

Will trade dowsing rod for titties

Member since Jan 2012

43031 posts

Posted on 6/22/12 at 11:05 am to bodean45

The shortest rotation for planned pines that I know of is Weyerhauser, and they sometimes cut from 17-21 years. That sounds like it would be on a second thinning to me. The foresters might have established a zone a certain distance from the water that the loggers shouldn't cut because it will mess with the creek or it destabilizes the area around the water body. If they hire a decent logger, he will know what spacing to thin it to in terms density.The flags could mark where they want the loggers to make skid trails or designate areas that are off limits. Pines are really only marked when you are trying to take poles out of the tract, but even then, a good logger will be able to pick the straight ones out

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Posted by bodean45

Lafayette

Member since Oct 2007

1102 posts

Posted on 6/22/12 at 11:08 am to Hammertime

quote:
Weyerhauser,

That's the new land owner. I couldn't remember the name.

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Posted by Hammertime

Will trade dowsing rod for titties

Member since Jan 2012

43031 posts

Posted on 6/22/12 at 11:13 am to bodean45

They might be thinning if it is in good shape, but they will typically clear cut when they buy property because their seedlings and management schedules are very good

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Posted by LoneStarTiger