LOGISTICS¦
Transport Truths Proper strategies and equipment simplify biomass feedstock procurement BY LUKE GEIVER
W
hen Mark Standley Jr. and his crew at Biomass Harvesting LLC began hauling woody biomass off Northwest Oregon job sites in 2007, they could handle roughly three or four loads every day. They were professional loggers, employed by Bighorn Logging out of Banks, Ore. Today, Standley’s team hauls 10 to 15 loads per day, and has a $2.5 million capital investment in a Peterson 5710C horizontal grinder, a 210 Kobelco excavator and log loader, a Z200F Hitachi log loader, a TF820 Timberpro slash forwarder, six Kenworth tractors and another six 48-foot Western chip trailers. The crews haul all their woody biomass to one of two places: Longview, Wash., which is two hours away, or Wauna, Ore., which is 1.5 hours away. Of all people in the biomass industry, Standley and his team know that the business of biomass transport is a heavy one. But, with the right planning, transport strategy and equipment, moving biomass from the field to the facility can become easier, and lighter on the pocketbooks that pay to get it done.
Field Tested Standley talked about his company’s operations from an Oregon logging convention while preparing for a presentation about the nuts and bolts of biomass harvesting. Standley knows firsthand what the right equipment and transport features can do to a harvesting operation and why it makes more sense to harvest slash instead of taking the traditional approach of piling and burning it. APRIL 2012 | BIOMASS POWER & THERMAL 47