Planting or brushing?

[Casper]

I have the choice between planting trees from May to August, or to plant only in May and do some brushing until mid-late August. I never brushed before, so I have a hard time to pick up an option. Do we have some people here willing to make a little pros and cons of the brushing art? The only thing I know for now is it's paying the same amount per day, whatever happens, and we gain level (moner per day) if we achieve some productivity goals. Thanks

[forestwhore]

oh that's a good question. do you like the smell of two strokes? do you like planting trees in july? you'll make the same money either way? is it for the same company? do you have to buy a saw? or maybe it's schwacky schwacky hand brushing? chainsaw? .yeah yeah. so some differences but really the same if you wanna work in the mini forest. some times its good to mix it up. maybe this is the end of forestry and the last year to do either. or maybe the first year to do both. life,s a gamble. let blood be the stakes.

[landhammerer]

trees, lots of trees in the ground

[Casper]

oh that's a good question. do you like the smell of two strokes? do you like planting trees in july? you'll make the same money either way? is it for the same company? do you have to buy a saw? or maybe it's schwacky schwacky hand brushing? chainsaw? .yeah yeah. so some differences but really the same if you wanna work in the mini forest. some times its good to mix it up. maybe this is the end of forestry and the last year to do either. or maybe the first year to do both. life,s a gamble. let blood be the stakes.

Thanks for the reply. For the two strokes, I don't really mind. It keeps the bugs away, I suppose ! Planting trees in July isn't so bad, yes there is some really bad pieces but you keep plantin' and hope for a better piece next time, I can live with it. I don't have to buy the saw, it will be rent or just lend, depend if they will be new or not. For the money, that's the most important part : on the brushing, I would start at a minimum (absolute minimum, that's the worst scenario) of 125$ per day, with a reasonnable hope to get to 175$ pretty quickly. After that, it depends of me, if I can do good or not. That seems to be less than planting trees, but it's a steady pace rather than having 250$ days and then 120$ days when thingd are going bad or for the end of contracts or whatever.

[Scooter]

I don't want to give you advice that you might hate me for later, but in a theoretical sense, diversification is good. More options when it comes to "preference" about what you'd rather do, and more options when it comes to the fact that you can brush later in the year than plant. But you'll still have that same learning curve that you did when planting.

[Nate]

I don't want to give you advice that you might hate me for later, but in a theoretical sense, diversification is good. More options when it comes to "preference" about what you'd rather do, and more options when it comes to the fact that you can brush later in the year than plant. But you'll still have that same learning curve that you did when planting.

I agree. Brushing is nice to add to the resume, plus it puts you in contact with a slightly different sector of the industry, opening up options you'd never hear about if you stayed planting. If you're thinking of working bush jobs for more than just a season or two (check that, if you think it's possible) then it might be a good idea.

That said, I'd never choose to brush over planting, but that's because of the 2-stroke thing.

[kingjames_2nd]

AVOID HAND BRUSHING AT ALL COSTS!

Imagine the greenest block in the most humid hot time of the summer and there you are climbing through waist - chest deep grass and shrubs trying to find stunted 3 y/o trees. Once you find one you gotta whack the grass down 1 metre around it with a stupid hockey stick shaped sickle thing that always breaks. You cant get enough speed to break the grass down because the grass is all around slowing the stupid hockey stick sickle thing. Then there always seems to be large quantities of very healthy three year old rhododendron, devils club, dog wood, and other fun-to-whack-at bushes. The grass is wet from dew, so you are soaked immediately from the waist down. All the bugs like to sleep in the dewy grass you are whacking so now you have a cloud of mosquitoes crawling and buzzing up your nose and in your ears. You get heat stroke because the work is far harder than planting, you pull all your muscles, you get dehydrated, you get dizzy, start worrying about sun stroke and hopelessly imagine how easy it would be to slag 2G's into this green shit where no checker would ever figure out the density or quality.

If you're using a brush saw then have at it. Brushing is fun! Just make sure you bring extra blades and know how to sharpen them by hand... simple maintenance goes a long way. Also watch out for hornets.

[newforest]

I like brushing. It's like solving a jigsaw puzzle kinda backwards ... take out all of the bad pieces, then take out all of the pieces that don't fit - presuming you're not just releasing a line-planted block. It's a lot of snap decisions all day long, makes the time go right by for me. But that is kinda like planting too - where exactly should I spot that next seedling in all this mess?


One thing I hate in planting is planting through heavy natural regeneration of the same species you are planting. Just laziness on the part of the forestry management. Blocks like that just need to sit for five years and then put in a brushing crew, rather than be planted. Seems like where I work, very few foresters understand this option, nor can they predict when it will be a good strategy. Hint: when the loggers are cutting while the cones are open, you will probably get some thick naturals coming back on their own. It's so much easier to just put each and every cut block into the next batch of tracts to be planted, rather than walk around on one and make a decision.

[jdtesluk]

Many brushing contracts work shorter hours than planting jobs. This should also be considered. If your company expects you to run saw for more than 8 hours per day, that is an awful lot. Most brushers I meet are done around 2 or 3 pm and have more usable evening time than when planting. Both jobs exact a physical toll, but they differ in the nature of that toll. Brushing can be much harder on the body in terms of vibration induced repetitive stress injuries, but less gruelling in terms of sheer flat-out running across the trenches. If you go brushing, don't cheat on your PPE. I've met many saw-jockeys with missing fingers and gnarly facial scars. Whichever way you go, good luck!

[krahn]

for myself, especially if i was just starting out, quitting early to learn another new job when you're just getting into the swing of planting, that doesn't sound like the best option.

[bush]

missing digits and facial scars are cool. chainsaws can be dangerous, pay attention and you still might fuck up. if you cut yourself with a brush saw, you're a fucking reeetard. remember.... one trick ponies.

[MarkDoyle]

Ok so I might go brushing this year.... Are the brush cutters really that dangerous? missing digits and facial scars? Are you kidding me?

[Scooter]

Completely serious. Some people are morons. I've seen brushers cleaning out their saw blades with bare fingers WHILE THE SAW WAS RUNNING.

[Scooter]

Actually, I've done the same thing myself.

[thatguy]

brushing casper do it i hear the contracts are sweet for the company you work with (apex right?) i am considering brushing over planting as well.... well i am pretty sure i am brushing unless i really really get the urge to plant again this year but i doubt it but you never know till the end
guerilla warfare!!!!

[MarkDoyle]

Yeah but if you aren't completely retarded and turn the thing off like you are supposed to it's a pretty safe tool to use right?

[thatguy]

yes brushing tools are safe unless you do retarded things
common sense if you have any usually keeps your fingers attached

[MarkDoyle]

Alright then, thank you.. I'm new to this whole industry and am going out to BC to brush... Any vets have some handy advice or things I should be sure to bring... anything info would be appreciated! cheers

[thatguy]

a couple half inch and 3/4 inch spanners
who are you brushing for?

[SwampDonkey]

I'm a clearing saw operator (thinner) with a preference for the Stihl FS550. I rebuilt one of my saws this spring, what do you want to know? :)