Today....

27RMT0N said:
I've been gone for a while, was feeling pretty burned out in December but back in action after a nice few weeks off over the holidays. My one employee leaves in a month, so working on recalibrating.

Had some good rain, finally got my firewood split, floated an alder over a shed, found a classic Homelite in a customers tree, did some lift work and the other day bought a dump trailer like I asked about a while back here. Ended up with a Lamar 6.5'x12', 10k GVW. Haven't had a chance to use it yet, but seems like a well built unit with a lot of good features, was $11,300 all said and done.

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I've been looking at the Lamar 6.5x12'... only 6.5' I've been seeing.

Looking to hear more as you use it.

I got busy with family stuff, so didn't pull the trigger last year.





We had good weather for Thursday afternoon. My employee got a back strain at the start of project on Thursday. With her help to disconnect, I self- lowered about (15) 25' limbs right into a crash pad over the water line. Dropped some wood down to about 60'.

Went back for the rest, solo, yesterday.


20260109_155949.webp20260109_155518.webp20260109_153824.webp





Had something new happen, inconsequentially, but made me think. 13-14 years ago I bought a modded, logger's's 460. Lots of dependable grunt to the point my 461 is still low- hours.
Mid-cut it made a noise and lost all compression. Glad it wasn't a timing-sensitive release cut.

Without issue, I bounced a lot of chunks off the edge of the existing, 5 years softened stump that the pad was built against. Hard to clear the stump once I chunks were lower and heavier.


Once my 460 blew up, I finished with a 28" on my 461... didn't feel like digging out a 32" or 36" b/c to change into my 661 that has a 42" on it. A bit beavery at the end. Sore, tired, and up against hedge with an underside b/c.
 
southsoundtree said:
I've been looking at the Lamar 6.5x12'... only 6.5' I've been seeing.

Looking to hear more as you use it.

I got busy with family stuff, so didn't pull the trigger last year.





We had good weather for Thursday afternoon. My employee got a back strain at the start of project on Thursday. With her help to disconnect, I self- lowered about (15) 25' limbs right into a crash pad over the water line. Dropped some wood down to about 60'.

Went back for the rest, solo, yesterday.


View attachment 100692View attachment 100693View attachment 100694





Had something new happen, inconsequentially, but made me think. 13-14 years ago I bought a modded, logger's's 460. Lots of dependable grunt to the point my 461 is still low- hours.
Mid-cut it made a noise and lost all compression. Glad it wasn't a timing-sensitive release cut.

Without issue, I bounced a lot of chunks off the edge of the existing, 5 years softened stump that the pad was built against. Hard to clear the stump once I chunks were lower and heavier.


Once my 460 blew up, I finished with a 28" on my 461... didn't feel like digging out a 32" or 36" b/c to change into my 661 that has a 42" on it. A bit beavery at the end. Sore, tired, and up against hedge with an underside b/c.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear about the 460. That's a good long run though, for a saw that I bet saw plenty of use.
 
southsoundtree said:
I've been looking at the Lamar 6.5x12'... only 6.5' I've been seeing.

Looking to hear more as you use it.
Click to expand...

After a bunch of internet research on brands and who has them, since every dealer seems to stock different brands, I was comparing the Lamar 6.5x12 10k to the Load Trail 6x12 10k both sold at olympictrailer.com down in Olympia. Very good experience there by the way. The LT was a bit cheaper but still looked to be well built, what made the decision for me was the Lamar being the apparently higher quality unit, slightly wider, and most importantly that it has smooth/flat sidewalls to make dumping much easier. The Load Trail does not have flat sides, so material can potentially catch.

Honestly right now I don't expect to use it a lot. I don't usually need to haul wood and I don't have my own machine to load logs anyways, so for now it will be for the rare occasions where someone else can load me with their machine, where I'd be willing to suck it up and load wood by hand/log cart, or if there is just un-chipable debris I need to haul for some odd reason.

Of course it has built-in equipment ramps, so I could some day get a ~6,500 pound excavator and use this. Also, I'll absolutely be using it for hauling gravel to maintain my road and driveways, top soil, construction debris, and other odd jobs. Right now it's more a new tool to give myself new options, than for a current urgent need.
 
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rico said:
Don't recall ever seeing or working with Eastern Red cedar. Does it make good lumber?

And I know all about the kid in the candy shop feeling,. I have been milling for a long time and I still get all giddy and warm and fuzzy inside every time I get into a really nice log..
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Same here. Eastern Red Cedar is hit or miss around here. If you make larger cants or beams, it will hold together better, but smaller dimensional lumber is tough with all the deep, included sinuses they tend to form. I’d be very hard pressed to find a Cedar cross section that didn’t look like dense flower petals packed together.

That said, its properties are excellent being stiff, stable, and very rot resistant. I’d say it cuts as well as it smells…great.
 
27RMT0N said:
After a bunch of internet research on brands and who has them, since every dealer seems to stock different brands, I was comparing the Lamar 6.5x12 10k to the Load Trail 6x12 10k both sold at olympictrailer.com down in Olympia. Very good experience there by the way. The LT was a bit cheaper but still looked to be well built, what made the decision for me was the Lamar being the apparently higher quality unit, slightly wider, and most importantly that it has smooth/flat sidewalls to make dumping much easier. The Load Trail does not have flat sides, so material can potentially catch.

Honestly right now I don't expect to use it a lot. I don't usually need to haul wood and I don't have my own machine to load logs anyways, so for now it will be for the rare occasions where someone else can load me with their machine, where I'd be willing to suck it up and load wood by hand/log cart, or if there is just un-chipable debris I need to haul for some odd reason.

Of course it has built-in equipment ramps, so I could some day get a ~6,500 pound excavator and use this. Also, I'll absolutely be using it for hauling gravel to maintain my road and driveways, top soil, construction debris, and other odd jobs. Right now it's more a new tool to give myself new options, than for a current urgent need.
Click to expand...
You might get an excavator one day, and it might be the same day that you could feel it’s the one thing you’d want to keep and sell everything else. I love tree work and all, but an excavator is exceptionally versatile and capable.

“I wish I didn’t have this mini excavator.”…said no man, EVER!
 
southsoundtree said:
I've been looking at the Lamar 6.5x12'... only 6.5' I've been seeing.

Looking to hear more as you use it.

I got busy with family stuff, so didn't pull the trigger last year.





We had good weather for Thursday afternoon. My employee got a back strain at the start of project on Thursday. With her help to disconnect, I self- lowered about (15) 25' limbs right into a crash pad over the water line. Dropped some wood down to about 60'.

Went back for the rest, solo, yesterday.


View attachment 100692View attachment 100693View attachment 100694





Had something new happen, inconsequentially, but made me think. 13-14 years ago I bought a modded, logger's's 460. Lots of dependable grunt to the point my 461 is still low- hours.
Mid-cut it made a noise and lost all compression. Glad it wasn't a timing-sensitive release cut.

Without issue, I bounced a lot of chunks off the edge of the existing, 5 years softened stump that the pad was built against. Hard to clear the stump once I chunks were lower and heavier.


Once my 460 blew up, I finished with a 28" on my 461... didn't feel like digging out a 32" or 36" b/c to change into my 661 that has a 42" on it. A bit beavery at the end. Sore, tired, and up against hedge with an underside b/c.
Click to expand...
I’ve had a few Stihl saws die like that and it turned out to be part of the retaining clip that holds the piston on. The little ear that sticks out would get sheared off by a port and then it scores the piston and cylinder. It might be fixable with a new jug kit.
 
I've thankfully got a new guy starting soon. Hopefully this week. About 40 with his own climbing gear and such... has his own upstart company getting established outside Oly at a snow-affected altitude..



Miriam was going to be off work until Thursday, as she is going to NYC tonight for a music training.

Tomorrow, just some machine work to load about 8 feet of butt-rounds and BMG scoop up the crash pad to finish that tree.

After that, a fully failed tree for an HOA, and a large 36"+ standing fir with root disease that is backleaning bit.

Hopefully catch up on some bids. Maybe knock down a root-diseased fir into a greenbelt this afternoon when the rain let's up.

It's super nice to have various flexible jobs to fit in when I feel like working on a weekend when family is busy/ gone.
 
southsoundtree said:
I've thankfully got a new guy starting soon. Hopefully this week. About 40 with his own climbing gear and such... has his own upstart company getting established outside Oly at a snow-affected altitude..



Miriam was going to be off work until Thursday, as she is going to NYC tonight for a music training.

Tomorrow, just some machine work to load about 8 feet of butt-rounds and BMG scoop up the crash pad to finish that tree.

After that, a fully failed tree for an HOA, and a large 36"+ standing fir with root disease that is backleaning bit.

Hopefully catch up on some bids. Maybe knock down a root-diseased fir into a greenbelt this afternoon when the rain let's up.

It's super nice to have various flexible jobs to fit in when I feel like working on a weekend when family is busy/ gone.
Click to expand...
Stoked to hear about the new guy. Sounds like a strong place to start from, so hopefully it works out really great.
 
southsoundtree said:
I've thankfully got a new guy starting soon. Hopefully this week. About 40 with his own climbing gear and such... has his own upstart company getting established outside Oly at a snow-affected altitude..



Miriam was going to be off work until Thursday, as she is going to NYC tonight for a music training.

Tomorrow, just some machine work to load about 8 feet of butt-rounds and BMG scoop up the crash pad to finish that tree.

After that, a fully failed tree for an HOA, and a large 36"+ standing fir with root disease that is backleaning bit.

Hopefully catch up on some bids. Maybe knock down a root-diseased fir into a greenbelt this afternoon when the rain let's up.

It's super nice to have various flexible jobs to fit in when I feel like working on a weekend when family is busy/ gone.
Click to expand...
flexible schedule is so important to me.
i rather make less but have the freedom.
 
Declining Oak tree removal with just 2 guys. I ran the ground, miniskid, grapple truck and climbed, and hired in the crane operator who unhooked some slings as well as operating the crane. While I was climbing was really the only time a 3rd person could have been used, to finish loading the grapple truck as the logs came down.

This is the first time I've climbed with a knuckleboom and the first time he has had a climber in the tree with this crane, we've worked together many times before with his 50t stick crane. It all went pretty good, we should have set the crane up closer for the trunk wood as he ran out of the main boom before reaching the log for the first couple of picks. I feel like my tie in on the crane could have been better as well.

The first log was 90% of his chart and the rest were 70-80%VideoCapture_20260112-074542.webpVideoCapture_20260112-081741.webpVideoCapture_20260112-080752.webpVideoCapture_20260112-080825.webpVideoCapture_20260112-081024.webpVideoCapture_20260112-081237.webpVideoCapture_20260112-081305.webpVideoCapture_20260112-081409.webpVideoCapture_20260112-081419.webp
 
Jehinten said:
Declining Oak tree removal with just 2 guys. I ran the ground, miniskid, grapple truck and climbed, and hired in the crane operator who unhooked some slings as well as operating the crane. While I was climbing was really the only time a 3rd person could have been used, to finish loading the grapple truck as the logs came down.

This is the first time I've climbed with a knuckleboom and the first time he has had a climber in the tree with this crane, we've worked together many times before with his 50t stick crane. It all went pretty good, we should have set the crane up closer for the trunk wood as he ran out of the main boom before reaching the log for the first couple of picks. I feel like my tie in on the crane could have been better as well.

The first log was 90% of his chart and the rest were 70-80%View attachment 100703View attachment 100710View attachment 100711View attachment 100712View attachment 100713View attachment 100714View attachment 100715View attachment 100716View attachment 100717
Click to expand...
Awesome post that seems really efficient 90% of the job besides when you stated.

Also cool to see that truck hope it’s been a good purchase for your buddy.
 
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Jehinten said:
Declining Oak tree removal with just 2 guys. I ran the ground, miniskid, grapple truck and climbed, and hired in the crane operator who unhooked some slings as well as operating the crane. While I was climbing was really the only time a 3rd person could have been used, to finish loading the grapple truck as the logs came down.

This is the first time I've climbed with a knuckleboom and the first time he has had a climber in the tree with this crane, we've worked together many times before with his 50t stick crane. It all went pretty good, we should have set the crane up closer for the trunk wood as he ran out of the main boom before reaching the log for the first couple of picks. I feel like my tie in on the crane could have been better as well.

The first log was 90% of his chart and the rest were 70-80%View attachment 100703View attachment 100710View attachment 100711View attachment 100712View attachment 100713View attachment 100714View attachment 100715View attachment 100716View attachment 100717
Click to expand...
Yow!!! Look at that goose pen. Glad you got it down before it fell down. Looks like a good day to me!
 
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