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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Rural Voice, 2000-05, Page 57Andrew Gindlay size until they're eight years old.... A five year old gelding is mentally mature enough to accommodate learning; any younger and the prospect is immature and unpredictable" Chad Miano of Duffield, Virginia, cautions against hiring an inexperienced horse logger. "Horse loggers who haven't been trained in ecologically sound harvesting practices can do more damage than a logger who uses machinery in a sensitive manner", he says. "Training teaches horse loggers to snake logs along tracks barely wider than a game trail and to repair the tracks before they leave the boundary." An invesment of less than $20,000 can fully equip a small horselogging outfit, including team, harness, saws, chokers, hand tools and a trailer. And whereas the cost of skidding with horses might be as much as 50% above skidding with machinery, other costs such as for landing construction, site preparation and replanting, add to the costs of conventional harvesting. There is no horse loggers association in Ontario but there is one called The Horse Logging Association of British Columbia based in Quesnel, British Columbia, and one called the North American Horse and Mule Loggers Association Inc. located in the state of Washington. Sir Sandford Fleming College in Lindsay, Ontario, offers a course in horse logging, the next one starting in September. It is four weeks in length and is held at the Frost Centre at Minden. The cost, which includes tuition, room and board, is $2995 and covers the safe use of a chainsaw, how to fell a tree, how to cut it into logs to maximize return, how to estimate volume of wood in a standing tree the care and training of horses and skidding logs with horses. Registration is limited to 12 students. Further information can be obtained from Chris Reher at 1-888-269- 6929.0 Andrew Grindlay farms 100 acres of trees in Huron County . ,,!til`;, BERNIE rCGLYNN LUMBER LTD. Si BUYER OF HARDWOOD BUSHLOTS 14 Wholesaler - Hardwood Lumber Box 385 R R 2. Wingham, Ont. NOG 2W0 N BERNIE McGLYNN Ph/Fax (519) 357-1430 • �• SAWMILL - Ph/Fax (519) 357-3777 :� (519) 367-5789 OUTDOOR WOOD FURNACES • Safe • Economical • Convenient • Insurable 97.2% EFFICIENCY 3'to4' wood • Wood fired hot water furnaces • Unique round design fire box Gerald Saunders Russell Sales & Service RR tt5. Woods:ocK Owen Sound (519)467.5441 (519)376.7907 y\N L. SPP Z 74, `roourm seg. cf Marvin L. Smith B.Sc.F. (Forestry). R.P.F. Farm Woodland Specialist 570 Riverview Dr. Listowel, Ontario N4W 3T7 Telephone: (519) 291-2236 Providing advice and assistance with: • impartial advice/assistance in selling timber, including selection of trees and marking • reforestation of erodible or idle land • follow-up tending of young plantations • windbreak planning and establishment • woodlot management planning • diagnosis of insect and disease problems • conducting educational programs in woodlot management • any other woodland or tree concerns Woodlot Improvement & Restoration Serving Grey and Bruce Counties 905-767-1881 Fax: 905-649-2447 Bill Lotton Darin Chapman "we see the forest for the trees" MAY 2000 53