Another cracker.
Its been a while since i have done a diary 
so here,s another one of my weeks in pictures.
A wet week at the beginning of April.
Another year and a change of motor,the old TGA has been replaced with new tgx 
.
Still a tag though.
Monday-
A 4.30 am start , and due to the change of the clocks , we are back to the pitch black.
A 5 min drive from the house gets me to the forest, my trailer is safely locked behind this gate .
The new truck has an abundance of work lights , 4 on the top and another 2 mounted on the side of the unit.
This can be put down to the remote area we work in and the total lack of light , but nearer the truth would
be the well known fact that i don’t like the dark .
I am quickly hooked up and do my walk round checks (led head torches are a must ).
This mornings load is 3m pulp wood for the paper mill at Irvine.
The roads are very quiet and it takes me just over 2 hours to get to the mill.
Surprisingly this morning there are no other motors at the mill, I’m straight onto the weighbridge and into the wood yard.
The wood yard is well stocked and my load will go straight into the mill.
One grab to a bolster , means its a quick tip ( stuff your RDC,s ).
Once i weigh out i call the office and am told to head to a nearby quarry to load bulk bags of sand.
The yard is spotless and the guys are very helpful .
As i chat to the foreman , i suddenly realise the truck is loaded.
Then forklift driver has even moved my sheet , top marks guys .
As i finish tying the load down the rain starts and it steadily gets heavier.
This load is for a builders merchants in Oban, and luckily my house is on the way there .
I manage a break at home , and as i leave i call the yard man in oban ( a regular drop and giving him a call usually helps).
The rain has got heavier and the roads are starting to flood in places.
I arrive in Oban and get the load untied ( full oil skins now).
To help the forklift driver i climb on the trailer and sot out the lugs on the bags ( helps get you tipped).
I get one side tipped , this allows me to get to the timber pins in the headboard.
As each bag is lifted off , i manage to get the pins back in their sockets ( when the last bag is off i am ready to load
timber again).
Having already spoken to the office , i know i am loading logs for Fort William.
This load is from Raera forest , a total pig of a place .
The timber job is about 40 mins from the main tar road and the road surface is very badly rutted due to the weather.
In parts the water is running down the road like a stream.
A call from the loader driver lets me know i am not going all the way into the forest (he has been stock piling nearer
the main road).
On my way in i pass a lot of plastic bags , this is not a case of fly tipping , its actually bags of baby trees.
My load is stacked at the side off the road ,opposite it we have a standing trailer ( helps if anyone is there when the
loader is at another job ).
I am hardly turned and the loader arrives ( a load of 4.9m logs this time).
An hour and a half later i am sitting in the sawmill , waiting to tip.
The mill has a large stock of wood , but they are still taking as much as they can get ( good for the hauliers).
I pull next to the log deck to get tipped , it,s running 3.7m logs so my load is going into stock.
The volvo tips me in 4 grabs ( around 7 ton,s per grab ).
I get weighed out and check my time , around an hour left.
I make it to an old forest loading area , before the village of Benderloch and finally park up.
I am ready for my bed tonight .
Tuesday-
Raera again today .
This time i have to bounce my ■■■■ all the way into the job.
I arrive before Colin in his loader , this means i can get turned and the wooden crossers all set out.
The weather is rubbish again today , low lying mist and rain.
When Colin arrives it is a short reverse to where the logs are lying.
They have been stacked high on a bank , just about the full reach of the loader.
With a full grab the loaders wheels start to lift:( .
And lift !!
And lift .
Plan B … smaller grabs.
Finally i am loaded and as i move away i get a phone call telling me to drop this trailer and lift the standing trailer.
Now i am off to the chipboard mill at Cowie…OH Deep joy …another hole .
On the way out i meet another of our trucks , a quick chat with Sinclair and i am on my way again.
The entrance to cowie says enough…pot holes !!!
I get tipped onto the stock pile (chipper has not been working in weeks).
I am sent back to a new job at Glen Shira on Loch Fyne ( about 4 miles from my house ).
Another load of chip for Cowie .
The road is very narrow and Colin has to angle the loader to allow me alongside.
The back is out over the timber and the front is sticking out over the ditch.
This gives me enough space to get alongside and get my front bolster on.
The turning area is also a joke , usually you can stick the back of the trailer off the road !.
But someone in their wisdom has put a fence there …
I get the rest of my load and head for home .
Wednesday-
Cowie…Least the guys loading boards get under cover .
I join the end of the Que and wait my turn.
Around 15 Min’s to a truck , so it does not take too long till its my turn.
I have to reverse out into a bog !!!
The constant rain is making everyone’s life a misery.
With this load off i head back to a job above Dunoon.
The new landslip warning signs are flashing as i go over the Rest and Be thankful ( A 83 )…think i would rather not
know if the hill was going to land on top of me .
I climb into the clouds as i head for the job, usually this is a stunning view lol.
Another short turning area !! why cant the forestry measure an artic .
I manage to hang the back axle off the side and get round.
Somewhere out there is a forest .
I get a load to got to the marina at sandbank , we are loading a boat there today.
Its only a short hop and i wait till norrie tips.
Then its back to the same job , along with Nick in one of our new premium tag axle units.
We wait our turn and then head to get loaded.
I follow Nick into the job and give him a guide over the cb as he turns.
He also has to stick the trailer off the road !!.
I am loading 3m pulp for Irvine now , so have to put the trailer at an angle to get the front on.
The joys of working with a smaller loader .
I make it to Irvine tonight and park up (with an empty tank as a lot of fuel is being stolen around here ).
Thursday-
First in to tip today , could have had a bit more time in bed if i had known it was as quiet.
Its back to Dunoon Again , different job this time.
Its not a lot better though .
I get half a bolster of 4.9m logs on the front, this gives me enough traction to get turned.
Another bad turning area !!
A blind side , with forwarder fuel tanks …Testing me today .
Its very slippy reversing between the bings of timber.
You can see where i have had a wee slid to one side , not good for the heart.
I leave the belts off till i get to a cleaner bit of road (the logs wont go anywhere unless you do something stupid !).
Somewhere under there are silver wheels lol.
When i arrive at Troon i have a wait to get onto the weigh bridge ( Stobarts are a common sight now and they even have
a logging motor now ).
By the time i get out there is even more of a Que !!.
I have to head home now , drop my empty trailer and park up.
Friday-
Fridays job seemed like a good idea at the time , but as the day went on the novelty wore off .
I had a late start ( 12 noon).
I picked up a loaded trailer (left where i keep mine).
This load of fish food was taken to our yard at Lochgilphead.
I dropped this and picked up a load of logs and took this to our yard at Struchur , near Dunoon.
I then dropped this ( getting fed up winding legs up and down ).
Then picked up a curtain sider and went to Portavadie to load bins of fish.
This load was going to Stornaway , i had to load it and take it to Fort William to change over with another lad.
To get the time,s right i had to have the later start.
I had a load of empty fish bins on the trailer and they were tipped and made ready for the nights harvest.
The boat carrying the live fish arrived on time , it has 2 big tanks on board and the fish are pumped onshore to be killed.
Soon after this my mate James arrived with his own truck and was also tipped.
They started harvesting (posh way of saying killing the fish) and soon we were both loaded and headed off.
Helped to have someone to talk to on the cb .
Glen Coe was very misty and somewhere out there , large deer are hiding .
I arrive in Fort William and change over with Andy.
Another owner driver that works along with us.
I get another curtain sider with another load of empty bins.
Its then full speed for home, Leaving the trailer at the fish farm for someone to load on Sunday.
I am the only thing on the road , not often you can be on full beam for nearly an hour .
With the trailer dropped i head home with the unit, finished and in bed by 2am.
Its been a very busy week and i am glad to get done .
Thanks again for looking, NIall
very good diary seems like a very interesting and different job day by day
Good read and pictures, would love to get into this type of work one day, thanks.
Good pictures and a good read 
Cracking read again Dingo, long time no see!
Nice to read about you daily routine , bet the scenery is stunning when the weather holds out 
Great read as per dingo 
Enjoyed it Dingo thanks for sharing, when its wet like that it can get you down my last 14yrs before retireing were spent running in and out of Lochar Moss landfill site at Dumfries slipping and slideing in deep s–t day in and day out NO NICE. PS Like the new motor. Eddie.
top diary mate. that’s the trouble with getting off the black stuff… if it ay mud it’s dust!
Wicked enjoyed that.
great read as always dingo! always look forward to one of your reads!
cracking read and pics ! is that parky’s volvo parked in irvine waiting to tip ?
Superb diary and great pics…thanks for finding time to share with us
Al
The ship at Sandbank is called the Red Duchess, I was skipper of her for two years or so until January this year.
I saw the stobart logger tonight on the road to hawick. R500 Scanny parked up for the night.
Imp:
Cracking read again Dingo, long time no see!
Hi Martin havent spotted you for a while , You still on the Dundee run ?
OTS:
Nice to read about you daily routine , bet the scenery is stunning when the weather holds out
Was stunning about 2 weeks ago , but has poured with rain for the last week , not nice
j-mac:
cracking read and pics ! is that parky’s volvo parked in irvine waiting to tip ?
Yep one of Parky motors , Rory had been running behind me most of the day.
Needs to get out his bed earlier Lol.
raymundo:
The ship at Sandbank is called the Red Duchess, I was skipper of her for two years or so until January this year.
I have probably seen you then !.
We have loaded her and the Baroness lots of times
Steve-o:
I saw the stobart logger tonight on the road to hawick. R500 Scanny parked up for the night.
Word has it they have another 10 going on the road .
Would not have thought it was their scene 
Thanks for the comments guy,s
Will try to do another when we get better weather ( Hope that the 2 good weeks were not our summer ).
That was excellent Dingo 
Thankyou very much, can’t wait for the next one !
Good pics - thanks mate. Gotta be heartbreaking to drive your clean motor into that lot - nice bit of kit tho’
All good interesting stuff,great pics.
Cheers Dave.