Skidder Training Courses
Professional Skidding in Missouri
"The Environmental Protection Agency Region 7, through the Missouri
Department of Natural Resources has provided partial funding for this
project under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act.
There are no classes scheduled at this time.
Day One
Introductions:
Who am I and who are you? Discussion of what these two days of training
involve and what we can accomplish during the training.
Job Preplanning on Training Site:
Discussion of the advantages of preplanning which will make the loggers
more efficient and ultimately reduce costs. What parts of the logging
jobs are easy to preplan and what parts are the most difficult?
Information used for the preplan include maps and forester supplied information.
Logging aesthetics, professionalism and interaction with the landowner
are covered throughout the two days.
Landing Setup:
Discussion of the landing setup as it relates to the efficient flow of
wood from the skidder to the truck. Advantages and disadvantages
of different landing setups and using these setups on your job.
Best Management Practices (BMP’s):
Discussion of BMP definitions and which ones will be needed on this job.
A skidder can be used to construct BMPs on a logging job in a safe and
efficient manner as long as common sense prevails.
OSHA:
Discussion of OSHA rules concerning operator safety while skidding including
other workers and other areas of the logging job. Discussion will
include the skidder itself and its operation and maintenance.
Skidder Assisted Felling:
Discussion and demonstration of using the skidder to assist in felling
a tree by pushing it with the blade or log arch, or pulling it with the
cable.
Obstacle Course:
Operators will discuss a safety checklist before they are allowed to go
through the course. Operators will run the skidder through an obstacle
course in order to evaluate their use of learned techniques. The
course requires excellent machine control during blade usage. Also,
constant awareness of tire, blade and log arch location is needed to avoid
hitting any course obtacle.
Walk Through Pre-Cut Strip:
Discussion of how the pre-cut strip of trees will be skidded out during
next class. The preplan and the flagging of the strip will also
be discussed.
Day Two
Skidding Costs:
Discussion of how much a skidder with an operator actually costs.
Roughly figure this cost for a certain skidder and operator and divide
this cost all the way down to a cost per minute.
Skidding Profits and Losses:
Discussion of how to use the per minute cost to calculate how much the
logger is making or losing. An income rate must also be established
in order to figure profit or loss. How can different methods of
cutting and skidding increase or decrease profit?
Demo Skid:
The instructor will open the strip trying to get all the way to the opposite
end to begin dragging the first log. Hooking the end choker will
be demonstrated first. The choker slider and the little stick will
be demonstrated along with side pulling a tree to the skid road.
Skidding the Strip:
Operators will singly or in teams pull out the remaining skids.
Footage Estimate per Skid:
After each skid is hooked up the operator will stop and estimate the footage
of the skid. The skid will be measured and the estimates compared.
Results will be tallied and combined with the previous day’s obstacle
course scores to determine an overall winner for the two-day course.
Time Study of Skidder Operation:
During skidding, the operators will be taught how to conduct a time study
on the operator and the skidder. At least one time study will be
performed on one or more skids.
Water Bar Demo:
Discussion of location and the proper number of water bars that are needed
on the primary skid trail. The instructor will demonstrate the construction
of at least one water bar using the skidder.
Hands-On Preplan and Flagging:
Operators will preplan and flag a skid strip using their knowledge from
two days.
Wrap-Up:
Discussion of any questions and comments from the operators.
Cost is $100 member & $125 non member
Register below:
or click here to print a brochure/registration
form
FULL
Missouri Forest Products Association
505 East State Street, Jefferson
City, Missouri 65101
For more information, call
Brandon O'Neal at (573) 634-3252 or email brandon@moforest.org
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