Cut Above the Rest

Over the years when I meet up with old friends or make new friends there seems to be a real interest in Brian's occupation. I think when I say he is a logger many things come to peoples mind. Some may think he is a flannel wearing, bearded man with suspenders. Other picture a forest ranger riding a horse through the woods. Well the only truth in either of those descriptions is flannel wearing. The boy loves flannel and will sometimes go as far as layering his flannel....ugh!

Log Pile

So to clear up any confusion on what Brian does and what a logger is...I thought I would
tell you all a little about the business we run...Generations Timber. In the logging industry the logger provides a service to landowners with valuable timber. The service includes Brian walking the land with the landowner and explaining what he sees and what he would recommend, based on what they explain as their goals (at no
cost to them). If the landowner chooses to employ him to cut their timber he does a 100% cruise (measurement) and marks the timber to be cut. He then writes a contract, which includes the trees to be harvested (cut), dollar value of the trees, and general written needs of the owner. Upon conclusion of the job he conducts grading and seeding of the harvest area, and then finally he will conduct a final walk through with the landowner. We are a unique business in the sense that we pay the potential customer to provide a service. We do no require any out of pocket expenses to the landowner, they will only benefit from our service both monetarily and in terms of preserving their land. So when they say money grows on trees they are not kidding...

Working in the forestry industry has been in Brian's family for over 50 years. He has gained additional knowledge and skills by obtaining a forest science degree from Penn State University. This is what he loves to do and has a true passion for doing it. I often say he has saw dust in his blood. He stands out in the industry as one of the best and he wants to use that to his benefit and grow and manage individual’s timberland the way it should be managed. This is a competitive field in Northeastern PA. Our goal is to stand
out above the rest and be the company that landowners call on when they want their land
harvest properly and professionally.

Knuckleboom

This is a grueling job that requires a lot of physical strength, strong knowlege of forestry, dedication, long hours, and a strong business sense. Being that our business is based in Northeastern PA...Brian worst "enemy" is often Mother Nature. Often it is not realized that weather greatly affects the logging industry. If it rains it makes the ground wet which then makes the equipment sink into the ground. If it is to dry then the dust will gag you have to death as you drag the trees out the woods with the skidder. Deep snow is hard to work in as you have to shovel the snow away from the base of all the trees you cut. Also with the snow you eventually have a time where it melts and that in turn makes the ground wet as well. The best weather to cut in is when it is below freezing. These are the mornings Brian gets up when it is still dark and gets out in the woods to cut when the ground is frozen solid. I used to complain about having to walk out to my car to warm it up and he is out cutting in it all day long...and the thing is he loves it.

Log Truck

Logging is an extremely dangerous job. Loggers deaths per 100,000 workers is approximately 82. Logging has fluctuated with fishers throughout the years as the most dangerous job. Why is it so dangerous? Because loggers are susceptible to high winds, falling branches and hidden roots or vines that present great risks around chain saws and other heavy equipment. We had a major scare several years back when Brian cut his
knee with a chain saw. He cut it the bone but needing to get this particular job done he continued out his work day. At the end of the day he decided to go to the ER. It was grueling what they had to do to his knee and I rather not go into detail about that but lets just say he has a nasty scar to prove he got in a "fight" with a chainsaw....and it defintely looks like the chainsaw won.

In order to have a successful business in logging you have to have the right equipment. The right equipment being a skidder (machine that pulls the trees out the woods), a knuckle boom (machine that helps trim the logs and loads the trucks), harvester (a small machine that can be manuevered through the woods and will cut small trees without the logger having to do it by hand), log truck and trailer (way to haul own logs and get them to a yard in order to sell the logs to a veneer buyer), work truck (typically a pick-up truck that holds a fuel tank in which you can fill the equipment while out in the woods), and of course chainsaws. A logger must know how to competently run all of this equipment. And just like anything else man made they don't run forever...they are apt to break down. So Brian then has to find the time in his schedule to do regular maintenace on the equipment and fix the problems in order to get it up and running again.

I believe I have touched on just a little bit of what Brian does. I know some of it was a bit technical but hopefully you have a clearer picture of the job that he does everyday. People often wonder why he is never around....well now I think you know that answer. It is because he is either buying timber, cutting timber, selling timber, hauling timber, or fixing equipment. It is a lot for one person to do and I appreciate his hard work and dedication to his job everyday. It is his "bread and butter" and it what he knows best and
loves doing.

Behind every good logger is a loggers wife....I will have more information on that job in
a past post entitled the Loggers Wife!!