Big Timber

[Welder Dave]

Does anyone watch Big Timber on Netflix? The guy doesn't seem like someone you'd want to work for. Say's he can't afford new equipment and then complains when the old stuff breaks down. A lot of it is lack of maintainence. When you see a hyd. hose that's showing the steel braid is a pretty good sign you should replace it before it blows and who wouldn't keep spare fan belts for their old yarder that's their main machine to get logs?

 

[56wrench]

I suspect like all reality shows it is embellished for tv. If it wasn’t, nobody would watch it. Drama, breakdowns and disasters equals viewers which equals more money for the producers

 

[92U 3406]

Yeah its entertainment, not much more.

Guy runs some pretty old stuff in rough shape to try and run a business with.

 

[mitch504]

I have never seen the show, but what you are describing is exactly the way the unsuccessful loggers (which is most of them) around here operate.

 

[Tugger2]

Being laid up right now ,i watch that nonsense every morning . Its entertainment i guess. The way he loves old junk im getting ready to send him a personal invitation to my yard to load up on some more,as im not far from where they operate.
I sold my 49 KB5 International to a friend a while back .Somehow he became involved with the wreck recovery show .They came and filmed us dragging the old truck off my property. The first thing we told them was we dont want to be doing anything stupid on film ,last i heard was they had canceled the episode we were filmed for. So much for my acting career.

 

[Welder Dave]

He apparently runs the last independent mill on Vancouver Island. The way he does things doesn't look very efficient at all. Using an excavator with a thumb for loading logs? There's a reason they make specific log loaders. Logs continually getting stuck on a stump, you've got a chainsaw, cut the stump and problem solved.
It doesn't seem to matter if it's Highway thru Hell, Goldrush. Mud Mountain Haulers or this show, they all claim there is no added drama and it's all 100% real. HtH is probably closest to how things actually go but was just watching an episode where the mechanic is pulling a stuck semi and is struggling. Notices a highway patrol is running alongside the truck, because the trailer brakes are on, to tell the driver. He keeps driving until the highway patrol runs up to tell him. Wouldn't anyone sensible stop when you see someone running alongside the vehicle you're towing? I'd say Goldrush is the worst by a longshot for fake reality.

 

[92U 3406]

Being laid up right now ,i watch that nonsense every morning . Its entertainment i guess. The way he loves old junk im getting ready to send him a personal invitation to my yard to load up on some more,as im not far from where they operate.
I sold my 49 KB5 International to a friend a while back .Somehow he became involved with the wreck recovery show .They came and filmed us dragging the old truck off my property. The first thing we told them was we dont want to be doing anything stupid on film ,last i heard was they had canceled the episode we were filmed for. So much for my acting career.

If a TV crew ever approached me first thing would be you can record but I'm not doing re-shoots or drama. Take it or leave it.

 

[Welder Dave]

From what I've looked into, the people on these shows can get up to $10K each per episode in the US. Even half of that in Canada could explain why they allow all the BS.

 

[92U 3406]

My dignity is worth more than $10k.

 

[Welder Dave]

If your business and finances were suffering a bit the extra money would be tempting.

 

[56wrench]

Sometimes ya gotta run old junk stuff to survive. Thats how i was able to farm for 40years. I worked off-farm and patched my old worn out equipment as needed on a shoestring budget. Eventually i was able to afford better equipment in time to retire with no debt. Nice equipment is great but sometimes not feasible for the size of operation. Hey, as long as it gets the job done and is relatively easy to repair and get parts for, it doesn’t have to look pretty. I have never tried to keep up with my neighbours equipment-wise. I farmed for myself-not the bank

 

[mitch504]

Sometimes ya gotta run old junk stuff to survive. Thats how i was able to farm for 40years. I worked off-farm and patched my old worn out equipment as needed on a shoestring budget. Eventually i was able to afford better equipment in time to retire with no debt. Nice equipment is great but sometimes not feasible for the size of operation. Hey, as long as it gets the job done and is relatively easy to repair and get parts for, it doesn’t have to look pretty. I have never tried to keep up with my neighbours equipment-wise. I farmed for myself-not the bank

If you have seen any of my posts, you would see my mainline equipment dates from 1984-1999. I use some stuff which is much older.
But, if you are going to do that, you have to expect to repair it, and, if you don't maintain it, the repairs are going to be much more extensive.
The ones I am talking about, when they see a wheel seal leaking, they say, "I've got to get my loads this week, I'll worry about that later". Then when the bearings burn up and the bearing siezes to the spindle and destroys that, and the hub, too-"I need you to work all night on it, why do I have such terrible luck!, etc., etc.

 

[Welder Dave]

If you rely on old equipment like a yarder, you should have a good stock of spare parts and do even more preventative maintainence. With all the money he has tied up in old junk, maybe it would have been better getting some newer equipment. Not brand new but maybe under 10K hours with maintainence records that isn't 25+ years old.

 

[Tugger2]

I agree with you guys on running old junk 86 Kenworth ,1972 Lima, 1972 American speaks for my fleet. It pays the bills and actually its not that hard to keep running.
In the Big Timber line up his logging gear is pretty good for a Gypo ,the grapple yarder looks decent the steel spar for its age seems good to. Loading with the excavator works ok when you have the room in the landing. The lack of proper whistles when they are yarding sucks .The hooker and the rigging slinger need bugs to run the whistles from thier end radios dont cut it when your setting chokers . A little more manpower would help ,no chaser in the landing slows things down big time . On the grapple yarding side i had to wonder when they skin the grapple back ,drop it beside the log and tag a choker to the log beside the grapple ,thats reserved for stuff thats out of reach. Taking one of the hoes and rigging it as a backspar would double thier grapple yarding production.
Theres my 2 cents worth from the arm chair.

 

[Tugger2]

Well gotta run ,Big Timber is on !

 

[Truck Shop]

Highway Through Hell-----is a dramatized joke.

 

[stinky64]

All reality TV makes me want to puke, I'm going back to antennae TV, at least I can puke for free.

 

[Welder Dave]

Highway Through Hell-----is a dramatized joke.

Anything in particular that bothers you? At least the wrecks are real, the ones on the highway anyways. Some of the off road recovery might be staged. I wonder why they pull sideways when it looks like they could pull stuff out the opposite way it went in. Someone on another forum said you shouldn't tow with the boom winches but when they're pulling trucks up the icy hill they always pull directly on the boom winch lines. I like when they are pulling heavy equipment out with the D9 winch Cats.

 

[92U 3406]

I like watching Quiring's recoveries. They're a little more interesting than watching a truck being dragged out of a ditch anyways.

Wish Quiring would update their youtube channel.

 

[Truck Shop]

Anything in particular that bothers you?

Yeah-the entire show. Dribble not worth air time. Like watching golf. Does anyone really know what hell is
like? No one has returned to tell us.