BURTONS CARRYING ON TRADITION OF LOGGING WITH TEAMS

Pay a visit to just about any place where the logging of a stand of timber is taking place, and in addition to the shrill whine of chain saws, you'll hear the hearty roar of skidders and loaders well in advance of ever seeing them.
But, visit the site where brothers Phillip and Larry Burton are harvesting a stand of timber, and if the chain saws are silent, so are the woods. If you're close by and silent, you might hear a soft "Giddup," "Gee," "Haw," or "Whoa" as they direct their teams of draft horses or mules through the woods, pulling logs they have cut to a stack pile.
The brothers, who along with their father, Joseph, operate Burton Logging, and they are continuing a family tradition of logging with teams started many years ago by their great grandfather. (Age prevents Joseph from helping in the woods now.) And, they have no intention of ever switching to the newer methods of timber harvesting.
"Our great grandfather, Noah Burton, had a sawmill and logged with teams," Phillip Burton said recently while he and Larry logged a stand of timber in southern Adair County. "Grandpa didn't do much work in timber, but Dad (Joseph) has done it all his life, and we (he and Larry) have too. I've been making a living at it since I was 20."
Younger brother Larry said he made his first trip into the logwoods when he was seven years old, "when I was just big enough to be in the way," and has made it his life-long work.
While the Burton brothers may not be able to harvest timber as quickly as crews who use skidders and loaders, they can still get a lot accomplished with their teams, and they say their way of work has several advantages.
"On a good day, we can snake 5,000 or more board feet out, and we'll do between 500,000 and 750,000 board feet a year," Phillip noted.
"One big advantage is the cost," Larry explained. "A skidder costs several, several thousand dollars, and it takes quite a bit of money to keep one running and repaired. Our horses and mules cost a whole lot less, and their upkeep is feed and hay."
Another advantage of team logging is it is far less destructive to the land.
"You don't have to cut big roads all over the place, and our teams do hardly any damage to the land and woods," Phillip said. "We've gotten several jobs because of that."
On the day this reporter accompanied the Burtons to the woods, Phillip was using a pair of Belgian draft horses, while Larry was working a team of large mules. When asked which were better to log with - horses or mules -the brothers said that both have their advantages.
"The horses are bigger (weighing in at 2,000 pounds each, compared to around 1,700 each for the mules), so they can pull more," Larry noted. "But, mules are more sure-footed, and do better on steeper ground."
The Burtons sell their timber on the farm, having the buyer come in and haul it out, and this also saves them money. "We make more money this way than if we had to buy a loader and truck to haul them to the mill," Phillip said.
Because of the economy and the fact there wasn't too much building going on, the Burtons said that 2008 wasn't a good year for loggers, but demand has been on the upswing.
"Demand for logs is back," Larry said. "The timber business is really picking up."
It goes without saying that the Burtons have a great affection for their teams of horses and mules that they use in the work, but snaking logs isn't all they use their teams for.
The Burtons travel far and wide to compete in team pulling contests, which remains a popular attraction at county fairs, state fairs and other farm-related events.
"Using the teams in the log woods is a great way to get them in shape for the pulling competitions," Phillip noted. "If they can't do any good in the woods, they're not going to do much pulling a weighted sled down a track." PHOTO:TEAM POWER. Larry Burton guided his team of mules through the woods as they snaked a log to the stack pile while harvesting a tract of timber recently. Larry and his brother Phillip are continuing a family tradition of logging with teams that was started by their great grandfather, Noah Burton. (Photo by Paul B. Hayes)