A few pics from the wood yard.......

[Hammack_Welding]

We are gonna be down at the paper mill this week at the wood yard working on the loaders and such. Here are a few pics we took today. Most of these are just random shots, but I will get some sequenced with the work tomorrow, and the rest of the week. As well as some of the actual welds. Hope you enjoy.

This is a Log Skidder that I had to replate the inside of the grapples. Took a little 1/2 inch plate and formed it to fit the inside of the grapple and welded away. Welding was done with a Ranger GXT powering a Miller 12VS feeder using .035 solid wire with 75/25. I believe I was running in the area of 19 volts and 280 wire speed vertical up.

[Hammack_Welding]

Then we start on the "spare" loader. This thing has been beaten to death, but we are gonna put it back together once more. The frame was broken in four places as well as several other odds and ends it needed.










I'll get some better pics tomorrow, and some detaling the work. Looks like we are gonna be down there awhile. ~Jackson

[tanglediver]

That's a lot of lumber, and some nice beads, too! Look at that frame.
But...how did you go about forming the 1/2" plate, if you don't mind my asking?

[Sandy]

Question, that I beam in post 2 pic 2, wouldn't end capping those things help prevent that type pf splitting??

[STwelder]

Nice looking weld beads there Hammack. Looking forward to your posts on the wood yard.

[olddad]

Looking forward to it Jackson !!

[Hammack_Welding]

Tanglediver, I have bent some in a press, but I normally take a flat plat and weld it on one end to the grapple. Then I take a short section of log and squeeze it and let the grapple bend the plate. It saves time, and for the most part will fit it pretty tight.

Sandy, you nailed it. That piece has already been capped. Not sure why they weren't done like that from the factory. The second crack was the main frame under one of the out riggers.

Olddad, where you been hiding at? Good to see ya around. I'll try to get some more pics today while we are working. ~Jackson

[duaneb55]

...well that pretty much covers the last part of your signature. Love the part about using a section of log in the crapple to form the plate.

[Hammack_Welding]

Here's some pics that should be nominated for worlds ugliest repair. Just something else that we have to fix while we are there the next couple weeks. I'll be posting some actual repair pics soon. I just thought these were worth interest.

[Burnit]

Woa, that is nasty, Im not even sure I know what they tried to do there.

[Sandy]

Here's some pics that should be nominated for worlds ugliest repair.

Ugly repair, or some kind of talent contest?? Or maybe a way of sending your scrap pile down the road on some body's loggin dolly.

[Jolly Roger]

Man, they got that same SOB I'm following around down here doing repairs up there, lmao. The skidder brings back memories of the knuckleboom from hell. The guy that owned it wanted to know what it would take to fix 'er up. I told him make sure the insurance was paid up and roll it out in the middle of the parking lot and I was pretty sure I could accidentally fix all of it's problems. He didn't find that near as funny as I did. I wound up turning it into a debris loader by cutting two 4' X 18" panels out of a piece of 3/4" wall 4' diameter pipe and welding it in the grapple. Worked great though. It could load the cotton module hauler I converted into a debris hauler (110 cubic yards per load) in less than 30 minutes if the skidsteer could keep the stuff pushed to him. I wish I had gotten some pics of all that stuff I worked over. Especially the tarping system they paid 2 grand to have installed. Drove it from Shreveport to New Orleans and every single weld on it had broken. The tarp had never been raised.

Those loggers can just about keep a good welder in business (kinda like scrap iron haulers, lol).

[smithboy]

Those "ugly repairs" are why I try to stay faaaaaaaar away from log trucks...they scare me almost as much as politicians.

That's some nice work, Jackson.

Is it just me, or in pic # 3 above is there a giant cutting torch pointing right at you!!!

[Nomand]

Just a childish "green" question:
It seems like all that machinery leaves a desert behind.. Are they replanting or somehow recultivating?

[smithboy]

In south GA, those pine trees are cultivated...they are planted, harvested and replanted on a regular schedule. 10 years from now, there will be a new stand of trees where the older one were. It's not a bad question...If you go in the week after a tract is harvested, you'd think a volcano exploded...but, the land has to support the next crop, so the damage is only temporary....just like harvesting other crops.

[Nomand]

Originally Posted by smithboy

In south GA, those pine trees are cultivated...they are planted, harvested and replanted on a regular schedule. 10 years from now, there will be a new stand of trees where the older one were. It's not a bad question...If you go in the week after a tract is harvested, you'd think a volcano exploded...but, the land has to support the next crop, so the damage is only temporary....just like harvesting other crops.

This is truly comforting thought. No jockes. And I'll tell you why:

Just recently I entertained myself by calculations based on solar panel I bought in CanadianTire. Approx. 1 sq.ft. - yields 12V, 1mA, which makes 12 milli Watts. per sq ft. on average day light. Per argument sake - 10 milli watts.

This energy would normally be absorbed by some vegetations - trees for example. Vegetation would convert this energy into more vegetation. But if this energy is not absorbed where would it go? - so far on melting ice. So how much energy?

Consider hwy 401. 1000km long on average at least 20m wide - the surface 20 millions square meters or 200 millions sq ft.

So total unabsorbed power 10 mW/sqft x 200 Mil sqft = 2,000,000 W.
So only one hwy produces 2,000,000 Jouls per second. To compare 1 kg of coal produces 20,000,000 Jouls. That means that every 10secs hwy 401 burns 1 kg of coal - 6 kg/min - 360kg/hour - let say 10 hours of day light - 3600kg /day. Therefore, only hwy 401 means that we are bringing huge truck of coal dumping it and starting the fire...

So, now list all infrastructure that do not accomodate the heat (solar energy). We will get caravans of coal trucks burnt as an open fire every day without any use...

When people say we do not affect climate - they never bought a solar panel from CanadianTire....

And when they say about carbon emissions - it is a joke (it is only part of the problem and may be not the biggest).
This planet simply is not designed to support in comfort so many people.... Vigorously consuming people...

[Hammack_Welding]

Nomand, there is actually more acres of trees being planted in this area every year. As Smithboy said Pine trees in this part of the US are a crop just like corn, cotton, etc... After they are planted in 10 to 15 years they will thin them. (take out about half the trees in an area) Then a few year later they will come back in and clear them. Within a year they will replant and start the cycle again.

[Nomand]

Originally Posted by smithboy

In south GA, those pine trees are cultivated...they are planted, harvested and replanted on a regular schedule. 10 years from now, there will be a new stand of trees where the older one were. It's not a bad question...If you go in the week after a tract is harvested, you'd think a volcano exploded...but, the land has to support the next crop, so the damage is only temporary....just like harvesting other crops.

Originally Posted by Hammack_Welding

Nomand, there is actually more acres of trees being planted in this area every year. As Smithboy said Pine trees in this part of the US are a crop just like corn, cotton, etc... After they are planted in 10 to 15 years they will thin them. (take out about half the trees in an area) Then a few year later they will come back in and clear them. Within a year they will replant and start the cycle again.

Thank you very much guys for being so informed about the replanting and even expanding...

I just envy the smell in this place... Must be felt like Christmass all year long...