Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

Visit LSJ’s website at www.forestnet.com!

February 2016

WHITE RIVER’S SAWMILL LINES are white hot thanks to $15M investment

REMOTE OPERATED BULLDOZER winch assist system takes on the steep slopes of the B.C. Coast

FOCUS ON STEEP SLOPE LOGGING! Climbing steep slopes in the B.C. Interior with the ClimbMAX

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FEATURES February 2016 Volume 47 • No. 1 Editor Paul MacDonald Contributing Editors Jim Stirling Tony Kryzanowski George Fullerton Tech Update Editor Tony Kryzanowski

Publisher Rob Stanhope E-mail: stanhope@forestnet.com Phone: (604) 990-9970 Fax: (604) 990-9971 Sales Associates James Booth (604) 990-9970 E-mail: jbooth@forestnet.com Perry Rosehill (604) 613-3001 E-mail: rosehill@forestnet.com

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ISSN 0226-7572. Indexed in the Canadian Magazine Index by Micromedia Ltd. Back copies from 1996 onward are available through our website www.forestnet.com and in microform from Micromedia Ltd., 416-362-5211.

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We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal is a member/associate member of the following industry organizations:

On the Cover:

The world’s leading steep slope innovators from New Zealand and North America will be at the Steep Slope Logging Conference and Field Demo being held March 2-3. Further information on the conference which is being presented

by Logging & Sawmilling is available at www.steepslopelogging.events. (Photo of a Tigercat LS855C configured for steep slope logging courtesy of Frank Chandler, Technical Forest Solutions, LLC.)

4 Spotlight – Campbell

River’s goal: reviving the forest industry

36 Remote Operated

Bulldozer system tackles B.C.’s steep slopes

The city of Campbell River, B.C. has set up a Forestry Task Force—chaired by a forest industry veteran—to revive the forest industry in the Vancouver Island community.

Island Pacific Logging has been using the steep slope Remote Operated Bulldozer (ROB) winch assist system—developed in New Zealand—on Vancouver Island since last summer, and it’s working so well that the company has agreed to be the North American distributor for the system.

8

42 Getting the most out of

COFI convention— Where to from here for lumber markets?

With softening lumber markets in China, and a still slowly recovering U.S. housing market, the industry has definitely got some challenges ahead of it, all of which will be discussed at the Council of Forest Industries annual convention and trade show, coming up in Kelowna, B.C. April 6-8.

16 White River’s sawmill

lines are white hot

Ontario’s White River Forest Products sawmill is intent on being one of Canada’s most efficient sawmills, and that effort recently received a $15 million capital investment that will significantly boost production.

24 Steep Slopes Logging

Conference

The upcoming Steep Slope Logging Conference, being held March 2-3 in Richmond, B.C., is a must-attend event to see what the leading steep slope logging experts are doing, and to learn how to access valuable fibre in difficult terrain.

28 Climbing steep

slopes—with the ClimbMAX

B.C.’s Tolko Industries was the first operation in North America to use a winch-assist forestry machine—the ClimbMAX steep slope harvester from New Zealand—and their experience so far has been positive.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

every scrap of wood

Producing everything from solid wood products to shavings, the Lewis Mouldings and Wood Specialties mill operation in Nova Scotia is known for its high wood utilization.

48

Log handler ably handles east coast weather

Groupe Savoie tried out a number of log loading machines for the millyard at their sawmill in Quentin, New Brunswick, and decided on a Sennebogen 830 M-T, a log handler that is able to handle the cold— and wet weather—that hits the region.

53 The Edge

Included in this edition of The Edge, Canada’s leading publication on research in the forest industry, are stories from the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre and Alberta Innovates - Bio Solutions.

66 The Last Word

Whatever happens in the forest industry in 2016, it sure as heck isn’t going to be boring, says Jim Stirling.

DEPARTMENTS

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spotlight

Campbell River’s goal:

reviving the forest industry

Campbell River Mayor Andy Adams sees a potential to match available fibre supply types to specialty niche markets.

The city of Campbell River, B.C. has set up a Forestry Task Force—chaired by a forest industry veteran—to revive the forest industry in the Vancouver Island community.

By Jim Stirling he city of Campbell River is out to re-polish one of its traditional economic gems. The forest industry—sustained by thousands of hectares of forestlands surrounding Campbell River— along with mining, tourism and fishing comprise the historic industrial roots of the city on the east side of Vancouver Island off British Columbia’s coast.

“We have neglected this sector for the past three years and it’s my intention to work to revive this industry in Campbell River,” vowed Mayor Andy Adams after his recent successful election to the mayoralty. True to his pledge, the mayor and council have taken their first step to create a Forestry Task Force.

The task force is to adopt an inclusive and co-operative approach it hopes will help facilitate and open the door for

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

T

renewed forest industry investment and diversification in Campbell River. The task force’s stated purposes are to include: 1. “In cooperation and consultation with the forest industry, governments, First Nations and the public, provide city council with recommendations, advice

to page 6

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spotlight from page 4 and guidance on relevant forest issues and initiatives to enhance the sustainability of the forest sector for the benefit of the city of Campbell River.”

2.” To enhance and retain existing business and attract new forest investment, capital creating jobs and economic growth for Campbell River.”

3. “To secure a community forest licence for the city of Campbell River that will generate revenue, create employment, protect our watershed and wildlife habitats, enhance tourism and recreation and promote non-timber forest resource business opportunities.”

Preliminary reaction to Campbell River’s initiative has been positive, reports Adams.”We’ve heard nothing but encouragement and offers to help and the ministry (of lands, forests and natural resource operations) and staff have been very supportive.”

Adams has been careful not to secondguess the nascent committee’s work and direction, but he notes a cluster model of forest industry endeavours might be an appropriate fit with Campbell River. He

says such an arrangement could reap the advantage of economies of scale while boosting the forest industry’s valued added sectors. Adams sees a potential to match available fibre supply types to specialty niche markets. “It would also complement the log export presently underway along the coast.” Making better use of residuals and wood biomass helps create employment and maximizes fibre utilization, he adds.

Adams believes Campbell River’s timing with the creation of its forestry task force could prove to be spot-on.

“The future is now for the coastal forest industry in B.C.,” he claims.

The mayor bases his confidence that the pendulum has swung coastwards on a variety of factors. After several years in the doldrums in a wood pricing climate saturated by pine beetle killed timber from the B.C. Interior, the coastal industry is now entering a period of timber availability, improving markets and workers returning home from a depressed oil patch, he explains. At the same time, the interior forest sector faces a difficult time because of a beetle-constrained timber supply for commodity lumber production.

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Campbell River’s Forestry Task Force is chaired by Councillor Charlie Cornfield.

He contributes a combination of municipal experience—including terms as the major of Campbell River—with resource industry experience in both forestry and non-government land use organizations.

Cornfield’s career in the forest industry began in 1968 at the Victoria Plywood plant. During the mid to late-1970s, he worked with the provincial forest service in Williams Lake where he was involved with setting up the regional timber supply area.

He also worked in the interior with Ducks Unlimited and the BC Wildlife Federation.

As mayor six years ago, Cornfield was part of Campbell River’s Future of Forestry

spotlight

Task Force. One of its achievements—before qualifying criteria was changed by government—was being shortlisted for what would have been Vancouver Island’s first wood ‘waste’ fired green energy power plant, he says. “I think that idea still has potential. The basic elements are in place.

This task force can look at it along with other types of wood waste utilization.”

Cornfield is also anxious to further Campbell River’s aspirations for a community forest licence, something he hopes will be accomplished during the task force’s first two years of operation.”A community forest can provide lots of benefits, from revenue generation to habitat protection, but it’s also important to

research and education at the local level through job specific, practical forest worker training programs through the North Island Regional College,” he points out.

Campbell River’s Forestry Task Force will be guided by city council and comprise seven members. “I’m non-voting (as chair) and it’s my job to keep the task force on track and provide the resources for it to do its job.” The committee as a whole is kept to the manageable seven members but it will involve additional community expertise through appointments to specific goal task force sub-committees.

“Our focus will be to get things done and produce results,” declares Cornfield.

“The whole idea is to build relationships.”

And that involves pulling everyone together. If there are barriers to forest industry investment and expansion, they want to hear about them so they do what they can as a council to remove them, explains Cornfield. He welcomes feedback on Campbell River’s Forestry Task Force and its objectives. Cornfield can be reached through Campbell River city hall (www. campbellriver.ca) or home at ccornfield@ shaw.ca

CALENDAR March 2-3 Steep Slope Logging Conference, Richmond, BC 604-990-9970 www.steepslopelogging.events March 8-10 Wildland Urban Interface 2016, Reno, NV 703-273-9654, www.iafc.org/wui March 22-24 Montréal Wood Convention 2016, Montreal QC 418 650-6385 montrealwoodconvention.com March 22-24 Mass Timber Conference, Portland, OR 406-540-2430 www.masstimberconference.com April 6-8 Council of Forest Industries Annual Convention, Kelowna, BC 250-860-9663 www.cofi.org

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2016-02-02 1:16 PM7

COFI convention to cover the challenges—and opportunities —ahead for B.C.’s forest industry There are challenges and new opportunities ahead for the B.C. forest industry, and both will be covered off at the Council of Forest Industries’ annual convention, being held in Kelowna, B.C. April 6-8.

By Jim Stirling hina is changing and as it does so shifts are occurring in the market demands for British Columbia’s wood products. This presents both challenges and new opportunities, observes

C

Susan Yurkovich, the new president and chief executive officer the Council of Forest Industries (COFI).

That message, along with other topics focused on the theme of industry competitiveness, will be expanded upon and developed during COFI’s annual

8

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

convention, being held in Kelowna, B.C. April 6-8.

Late in 2015, Yurkovich participated in a trade mission to China and Japan led by Steve Thomson, B.C.’s Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.

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took the opportunity to accompany the minister for a first-hand look at what’s happening in China today and to solidify contacts and co-operation with their Chinese counterparts.

“China has been a big success story and the result of concerted hard work by a partnership of senior levels of government and the forest industry,” outlines Yurkovich by way of background.

Much of China’s demand for B.C. wood products came in the form of lower grades of product. But it was the timing that proved so serendipitous. The Chinese appetite for lower grades of wood coincided with the recession and collapse of the United States lumber market while at the same time the B.C. Interior was awash in salvaged mountain pine beetle-ravaged wood. The Chinese demand for product kept more than one B.C. Interior sawmill to page 10

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

9

compared with other building materials, she notes. And India—looking to join Japan and China as a market for B.C. wood products—offers intriguing potential. “The logistics are different,” she concedes.

The challenge is to identify specific wood products that could be successfully exported to India in the future.

The COFI annual convention routinely attracts up to 500 delegates, including forest industry executives from around North America as well as offshore. Trade—in one form or another—will be front and centre on the minds of many attendees at Kelowna’s Delta Grand Okanagan Resort.

Canada and B.C. are in the standstill period guaranteeing no trade action after the expiry last October of the latest Softwood Lumber Agreement with the U.S. The standstill period is set to expire

from page 9 from permanent closure and thwarted all the accompanying negative social ramifications.

Yurkovich had the opportunity to listen to customers, builders, architects and designers while in China. One of the conclusions she came away with: “There’s an opportunity (for B.C. producers) to move up the value chain.” She cited the example of furniture manufactured in China, demand for which has been steady or increasing while demand for lower grades of wood has recently declined, as B.C. sawmills can attest. B.C. and Canada’s most promising opportunity might prove to be increasing wood use in mid-rise buildings, multi-family dwellings, institutional buildings, schools and universities, suggests Yurkovich.

Elsewhere, multi-storey wood buildings in Japan have the advantage of being able to withstand significant seismic activity,

Susan Yurkovich, the new president and chief executive officer of the Council of Forest Industries (COFI).

10

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

to page 12

from page 10 October 13 and no formal talks between the two countries have been announced at the time of writing.

The Canadian position has been clearly stated. “While free trade would be preferable, managed trade has benefited both countries by providing reliable, affordable, high quality lumber supply from Canada to the United States, and maintaining certainty of market access for Canadian producers,” summarizes Yurkovich, who is also president of the B.C. Lumber Trade Council.

Both parties have learned from past experience that any litigation launched surrounding the bilateral lumber trade is hugely costly and time consuming. Then there’s the uncertainty factor, not knowing how the issue will be resolved. “Capital doesn’t like uncertainty and that’s true for any business, anywhere,” states Yurkovich.

“Uncertainty is not great for investment

in the sector on either side of the border and there are about 145,000 direct and indirect forest industry jobs in B.C.” The impacts of fewer and more expensive sawlogs as a result of the mountain pine beetle epidemic will be discussed at

12

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

sessions on competitiveness during COFI’s convention. “Our allowable annual cut in B.C. is going to be lower and we’re going to have to adjust to a new normal,” predicts Yurkovich. “We have to deal with capacity issues. It’s going to be a different

sector, probably slightly smaller.” But the outcome of the process will, she believes, be a sustainable industry that can compete in a global context.

The competitiveness umbrella at the COFI convention also encompasses First Nations and business partnerships. “Our industry has worked hard to develop partnerships with First Nations,” says Yurkovich. First Nations have been granted tenures in B.C. and native-owned companies are bidding on and winning contracts.

She notes the forest industry/First Nations relationship is in transition regarding legal frameworks and expectations surrounding

land access. What the industry wants is to continue to make quality wood products and keep the communities in which it operates going and healthy, she adds.

A feature of recent COFI annual conventions has been building the opportunity for good old face to face communication and networking into the event’s formal program. The 2016 convention includes a networking reception and generous time around the business sessions for delegates to intermingle and visit the

to page 14

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from page 13 booths of more than 40 exhibitors of forest industry goods and service providers at the convention’s trade show.

COFI annual conference organizers have always made the effort to be inclusive with their invitees to the event. This

includes local politicians and others drawn from B.C. communities with an economic reliance on the forest industry. Taking that initiative a step further, an interesting exercise in role reversal is scheduled to be part of this April’s event in Kelowna. The forest industry executives and experts will vacate the stage and leave the speakers’

podium to others, including four elected mayors—chosen from communities between Prince George and Cranbrook— who will address the delegates from their perspectives.

For further information about this year’s COFI convention, guest speakers and full program detail check cofi.org

2016 COFI Convention Exhibitors

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

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White River’s sawmill lines are white hot Ontario’s White River Forest Products sawmill is intent on being one of Canada’s most efficient sawmills, and that effort recently received a $15 million capital investment that will significantly boost production.

By Tony Kryzanowski

T

he quest to make White River Forest Products in north central Ontario one of Canada’s most efficient sawmills continues, with the owners recently investing $15 million at the sawmill infeed, in a new Comact saw line, and trimmer line modifications that will improve lumber production by nearly 50 percent.

Production is expected to increase from 110 million board feet to between 160 to 175 million board feet annually, with the Comact line replacing two existing lines.

This is without increasing the amount of wood fibre processed through the sawmill, about 630,000 cubic metres annually.

The number of lines at the sawmill will decrease from three to two, but production will increase significantly owing in part to increased recovery and increased staffing. Production ramped up from one

to page 18

The new Comact line at White River Forest Products replaces two older lines, and achieved the same production as those two older lines within two weeks of operation.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

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Ontariosawmilling

The goal at White River Forest Products is to become one of the most efficient sawmills in Canada, capable of operating and making money even when lumber prices tank. from page 16 to two shifts in October 2014, which was planned when the sawmill reopened.

Located four hours north of Sault Ste.

Marie, the sawmill was brought back to life in 2013 by forestry veteran and Tembec founder Frank Dottori and a group of investors that includes the Pic Mobert First Nation and Township of White River. The

18

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

mill had been mothballed for six years The First Nation and Township fought hard to keep the facility intact during the time it was idled, and convinced Dottori to become part of the investment group that restarted the mill—and he has been closely involved with management of the operation.

“We replaced our two random length lines with a high speed, random length Comact line equipped with the latest technology,” says Dottori, of the upgrades.

“It has a production capacity of 40,000 board feet per hour, which is double what the old lines had.”

He says that within two weeks of when it started operations in October, the new line was already running at the same output as the two old lines.

Dottori, who also recently purchased the Chaleurs sawmill located near Bathurst, New Brunswick, with a group of investors, says he believes the White River sawmill has a great future. His goal is to use the Chaleurs sawmill, which is noted for being one of the most efficient sawmills in Canada, as a model for the White River sawmill as White River makes improvements to its lumber manufacturing processes. He says that even during the downturn in the lumber market as a result of the housing crash in the U.S., the Chaleurs mill continued to produce lumber and make money. The goal is to put the White River sawmill on the same solid business footing, which has the added benefit of providing more certainty in the community, so that no matter what

Ontariosawmilling happens to lumber prices, mill jobs are more secure.

The White River sawmill has a lot going for it, says Dottori, including an excellent wood resource in both quality and proximity to the mill. The wood fibre is located within 100 to 120 kilometres of the mill.

To put the amount of recovery gain expected due to the new investment into perspective, Dottori says a typical eastern sawmill will produce about .9 tonnes of chips per thousand board feet produced.

With the new line, they expect that to go down to below half a tonne per thousand board feet. Essentially, the sawmill will consume 30 per cent less wood per 1,000 board feet of lumber, and a lot of that is being accomplished through the use of new technology. For example, Dottori says there are 14 scanners on the Comact line aimed at optimizing recovery. But there is a trade-off. While they may be producing fewer chips, they are producing more side boards in the 1 X 4 to 2 X 3 range.

“There’s a break point there so you have to be careful,” Dottori says. “You get twice as much for lumber as you do

for chips, but the question is, can you sell all that small lumber? We have a bit of a market demand issue here.”

The sawmill is the largest industry in White River. As a resource town, it is common for both a husband and wife to work at the facility. At present, they employ 146 workers, many who come from the Pic Mobert First Nation.

“The quality of the lumber coming off this line so far is amazing.

It almost looks like we don’t have to plane it.”

In addition to owning part of the sawmill, White River Forest Products has helped the Pic Mobert First Nation start a logging company called Magwayyawk Forestry Services (MFS), which is responsible for supplying the sawmill with 300,000 cubic metres of softwood annually. The company is a joint venture with the sawmill but is majority-owned by the Pic Mobert First Nation.

“It’s working very well and is currently supplying about 40 per cent of our wood,” says Dottori.

As part of the transition to the new, more efficient Comact line, White River Forest Products kept its HewSaw line for smaller diameter logs, which had only operated for about five years prior to the sawmill closure. At the time of the sawmill purchase in 2013, it was improved to what Dottori called 2013 standards, with the ability to process logs from a 4” to 8” diameter at twice the speed. This has also helped to improve recovery, with more lumber and less chip production.

Overall, the current capital expenditure at the sawmill begins at the infeed.

“We’ve made improvements to the infeed to be able to supply the extra capacity that this new line requires,” says Dottori. This consists of modifying the infeed conveyors, installing two new Nicholson A5 debarkers, new feed bins, and a new conveyance system involving a Comact push log and step feeder.

The Comact processing line consists of

to page 20

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

16/02/2016 10:05

19

Ontariosawmilling

Installation of a new Comact line, along with two Nicholson A5 debarkers and some tweaking on the production line infeed, will allow the White River Forest Products sawmill to increase production by 50 per cent.

a canter/quad and then a TPL3 profiler, leading to a discharge table. The TPL3 is a single-pass cant sawing and profiling device. Its purpose is to provide greater cant control throughout both the curved and straight sawing process, while minimizing the space between cants and eliminating returns to an edger.

The lumber accumulates on a new landing table and then proceeds through the existing trimmer line and bins. White River Forest Products is spending about $500,000 to modify this area so that its capacity will increase by about 20 per cent, to avoid a bottleneck from the increased production from the Comact line.

An additional $2.5 million will be spent over the next year to install a new dry kiln, again to take into account the extra production from the sawmill, and to upgrade the planer mill, such as installing an unstacker and improving the final product grading and packaging system. The company has already invested in a new VAB Solutions automated lumber grading system in the planer mill as well as a new machine stress rating (MSR) grader.

While Comact provided a lot of the installation on a turnkey basis, Quebecbased DWB Consulting Services also provided engineering and installation services on some of the capital project.

JAMEC Inc. provided some mechanical installation work and EDI Electrique did the electrical work, both of Quebec.

The product output from the sawmill is not expected to change, as the mill continues to process primarily black spruce and jackpine logs in the 8” to 20” diameter range. About 70 per cent of production consists of 2 X 4 and 2 X 6 in 16’ lengths. However, they do expect a value uplift from the investment made at the sawmill.

“We expect that our lines will provide us with about a 10 per cent improvement in #2 and better,” says Dottori. “The quality of the lumber coming off this line so far is amazing. It almost looks like we don’t have to plane it.”

One of the challenges that White River Forest Products faces is finding enough employees. Dottori says resource communities like White River are still trying to bounce back from the severe downturn in the forest industry in 2008 when many

20

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

from page 19

sawmills, pulp mills and paper mills were shut down. White River was no exception, considering that the sawmill was closed for six years. The challenge now is to attract workers back to the community.

“We’re short of employees, and the problem is that because we are in a small community, there is no infrastructure,” says Dottori. “You can’t find a house or an apartment within 20 to 30 kilometres of White River to live. The sawmill is now bigger than the town, so to speak.”

The sawmill plans to approach the provincial government to see what can be done to assist the community to provide some sort of housing, so that they can operate with a full complement of employees.

The hope is that with the investments made in the sawmill, and its improved ability to survive a wood products downturn in future because of its efficiency, that financial institutions will make it easier for individuals wanting to move and build in the community, and construct homes on the lots that the town has available.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

Executive Airport Plaza Hotel, 7311 Westminster Hwy, Richmond, BC

Tuesday, March 1, Pre-conference Icebreaker Wednesday March 2, Richmond, BC Thursday, March 3, FPInnovations Field Demo (now fully booked) *subject to snow conditions Register today at www.steepslopelogging.events Find out what the world's leading steep slope logging experts are doing

Learn how to access valuable fibre productively in difficult terrain

Safely fell and bunch on slopes up to 100% without hand felling

24 24

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016 Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

Principal sponsors:

JOHN DEERE John Deere is committed to providing comprehensive solutions to meet the demands of nearly any logging application—including steep slopes. The M-Series tracked feller bunchers and harvesters offer longer, wider undercarriages for better stability and traction.

Similarly, John Deere wheeled-harvesters provide superior tractive effort and stability on steep slopes, particularly the 8-wheeled option. Both tracked and wheeled machines offer optional auto-tilt and leveling cabs to help maximize operator comfort and productivity in challenging terrain.

As demand for access to steeper applications increases, so does John Deere’s commitment to developing solutions to make harvesting of those sites safer and more productive. www.deere.com

CATERPILLAR Caterpillar offers two leveling machines for harvesting timber in steep terrain, the Cat 552 Series 2 and the Cat 522B, which are both available in feller buncher or harvester configurations. These platforms help improve safety and operator comfort while delivering production on steep slopes. The machines provide an industry-leading combination of ground clearance, lift capacity, tractive effort, and swing torque, enabling efficient, productive logging. When combined with proven SATCO felling grapples, distributed by Caterpillar, these machines can fell, bunch, shovel log, and load trucks. www.cat.com.

Presented by: Field Demo by: Field Demo Supported by: Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016 Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

25 25

Tuesday, March1st, 2016, EVENING ICEBREAKER: 6 pm to 7 pm Registrations, Refreshments + Meet the Speakers

Wednesday March 2nd 7.00 am

Registration

8:00 am

A Paradigm Shift in Forest Contracting: Mechanization Down Under Welcome & Introduction – John Stulen, Owner, Innovatek Ltd, NEW ZEALAND & Rob Stanhope, Owner, Logging & Sawmilling Journal & TimberWest Magazine, CANADA

8:15 am

The Falcon Forestry Story: Recent Advances and Future Plans Dale Ewers, Owner, Moutere Logging & DC Equipment, Brightwater, NEW ZEALAND

9:00 am

When the Logger is also the Manufacturer: The Climbmax Approach to Safe Steep Slope Harvesting Ryan Potter, Tolko Industries + Q&A Session with Nigel Kelly (via video-link), Kelly Logging, NEW ZEALAND

9:35 am

Building and Operating a Dual Purpose System Steep Slope Machine Eric Krume, Owner, Krume Logging & Summit Equipment, Kelso, Washington, USA

10:00 am

Coffee Break and Networking

Session 1: INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS IN STEEP SLOPE LOGGING

Session 2: KIWI CONTRACTOR INNOVATIONS IN STEEP SLOPE MECHANIZATION 10:30 am

A World First: Remote Controlled Mechanical Tree Felling on Steep Terrain – Early Trial Results Dr Paul Milliken, Director, Cutover Systems Ltd, Rotorua, NEW ZEALAND & Ross Wood (via video-link), Director, Wood Contracting, Nelson, NEW ZEALAND

11:15 am

An Engineering Approach to Tethered Harvesting: Development of the EMS tethering System Chris Hancock, Managing Director, EMS - Electrical and Machinery Services, Rotorua, NEW ZEALAND

11:45 am

A Contracting Approach to Mechanical Harvesting Systems on Slopes: Experiences and Learnings Iain May, North Island Mechanical Services and Rosewarne Cable Loggers, Whangarei, NEW ZEALAND

12:15 pm

LUNCH and Networking

Session 3: GAINING WIDER INSIGHTS INTO EMERGING TECHNICAL ISSUES 1:30 pm

Winch Assist Clam Bunk Harvesting/Forwarding in BC – Early Indications of Costs & Performance Mathieu Lavoie, HSM / INOV Forestry Equipment, Rouyn-Noranada, Quebec, CANADA

2:20 pm

Equipment Suppliers: Technical Views on Steep Slope Harvesting Mechanization Developments ̽ &DWHUSLOODU – Kolin Kirschenmann, Product Manager, Cat Forest Products ̽ -RKQ 'HHUH – Richard Lawler, Director, Engineering Forestry Equipment ̽ 7LJHUFDW – Gary MacDonald, Product Support, Tigercat

3:00 pm

Coffee Break and Networking

3:30 pm

.H\ ,QGXVWU\ ,GHQWLͤHG 5LVN 0DQDJHPHQW ,VVXHV IRU Mechanized Harvesting Operations Reynold Hert, CEO, BC Forest Safety Council, CANADA

3:50 pm

Practical Outcomes from FPInnovations’ Steep Slope Initiative Jim Hunt, Research Leader + Brian Boswell, Researcher, Harvesting Operations, FP Innovations, CANADA PANEL SESSION: Can the Kiwi Paradigm Shift Successfully 7UDQVODWH WR WKH 3DFLͤF 1RUWKZHVW" Panel members: Dale Ewers, Chris Hancock, Nigel Kelly, Eric Krume, Iain May, Ryan Potter

4:10 pm

5:00 pm

26

Conference concludes with Refreshments and Networking (Courtesy of CONFERENCE SPONSORS)

www.steepslopelogging.events

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

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steepslopelogging

CLIMBING STEEP —with the ClimbMAX B.C.’s Tolko Industries was the first operation in North America to use a winch-assist forestry machine—the ClimbMAX steep slope harvester from New Zealand—and their experience so far has been positive.

By Paul MacDonald

I

t’s interesting how a bit of chance can play a role in equipment developments for the Canadian forest industry. It might involve trying something new or, in the case of Tolko Industries Ltd. forester Ryan Potter, picking up a logging magazine while on holiday in New Zealand.

Potter, an avid rugby fan, was in New Zealand in 2011 for the Rugby World Cup, when he happened to pick up a logging magazine—and read about the ClimbMAX steep slope harvester, manufactured by NZ-based ClimbMAX Equipment.

This bit of chance led, eventually, to the first winch-assist harvesting machine being brought to North America. Tolko took delivery of only the third ClimbMAX produced, in September 2013.

So what is this piece of Kiwi-manufactured equipment all about?

The ClimbMAX steep slope harvester is an excavator-based machine equipped with a felling head and a winch and is capable of felling trees on extremely steep slopes. It essentially allows a logging outfit to remove workers, such as fallers, from the hill face and replaces them with one machine operator who is protected by a

cab. In addition to being able to fell trees, the ClimbMAX is also able to hoe chuck wood or bunch logs for more efficient extraction via a yarder or skidder. All the way around, it’s a win on the safety side.

Since 2013, Tolko has been working with ClimbMAX #3 on steep slopes in the B.C. Interior—and ClimbMAX #5 is also now in use on Vancouver Island, with several more machines ordered for use on the Coast.

Tolko stepped up in an effort to support their logging contractors in making the move to new equipment, and to encourage innovation.

“But the real driving force was safety,” says Potter, who is now area supervisor steep slopes specialist for Tolko.

“It was primarily safety driven, the concept of getting guys off the hills, and reducing exposure for hand fallers.”

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

So far, the ClimbMAX machine is showing it has good application on steep slopes—notably where Tolko needs it, in the B.C. Interior. And there is also high interest in the equipment on the B.C. Coast.

Tolko is doing increasingly more logging on steep slopes in the Interior—and there is more to come in the future, says Potter.

In fighting the mountain pine beetle, Tolko has been focused on logging lower elevation woodlands in the B.C Interior.

“A lot of the flatter, easier slopes have pine, so they were salvage-logged. Now, we are going back into more of our traditional areas, that have lots of different

to page 30

steepslopelogging

SLOPES Tolko’s ClimbMAX steep slope harvester at work in the B.C. Interior.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

29

steepslopelogging from page 28 species—and significantly more challenging slopes,” explains Potter.

Over the past half-dozen years, they have been logging on gentle slopes, with only about five per cent of the volume coming from steep slope operations. “Going forward, we’re looking at doing probably closer to 30 per cent of our volume on steep slopes. It’s a significant shift.

“We’re looking at contractors retooling, and we’ve hired some new contractors with cable and a couple of other systems, to try and help us address the steep slopes.”

With the ClimbMAX and other equipment such as yarders, they are looking to go beyond the ground that is handled by leveling bunchers. The self-leveling bunchers can operate on steep slopes up to around 50 per cent. But Tolko has significant amounts of ground on slopes up to 80 per cent—perfect ground for the ClimbMAX. The ClimbMAX is not alone in this equipment niche. There are a number of winch-assist logging machines in the market now. “But the ClimbMAX looks to be the only large static line system out there

30

Purchasing a ClimbMAX machine was part of an effort by Tolko to support their logging contractors in making the move to new equipment, and to encourage innovation. But the real driving force for the company was to improve safety in the woods. at the moment,” says Potter.

There are static line machines at work and available from Europe, but they are usually smaller machines, and are

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

designed for much smaller wood than is standard in B.C. “The ClimbMAX is definitely unique in the piece size that it can deal with.”

Although one ClimbMAX machine has been built on a Hyundai 270 carrier, the machines have mostly been built on Hitachi carriers. The first machines were built on Hitachi 400 carriers, and more recently, on 330 carriers.

Though their machine was built on a 400 carrier, the 330 carrier would have worked fine with Tolko, too, says Potter.

“The 330 is a little bit lighter, with about 2,000 kgs less weight. But the 400 works fine for us. There is very little wood that we have that the machine would have any issue with.”

ClimbMAX essentially takes a Hitachi machine, and strips it down, building a wide undercarriage, and re-positioning components to get as much weight as low as possible, to achieve a lower centre of gravity. Among the items they keep, though, are the engine, the pumps and some track gear—pretty much everything else is custom. There are custom hydraulics, a custom boom and arm (which are longer) and a custom cab, all manufactured by Trinder Engineers, which produces the ClimbMAX. The machine comes with its own Trinder directional felling head.

“The only difference between the Trinder head and a Waratah or Southstar head is that the Trinder has a retractable sawbox,” says Potter. “It can be retracted

steepslopelogging out of the way, so you can have the full grapple width for hoe chucking.

“It makes the ClimbMAX way more productive as a hoe chucker—it has a very large (60”) grapple when the sawbox is back and out of the way.”

Some customizing work was done to Tolko’s ClimbMAX before it left New Zealand. “They put in an additional escape hatch, which was a WorkSafeBC requirement, and they installed a cab heater and a hydraulic heater—that was about it,” says Potter.

As ClimbMAX notes, and Potter emphasized, the machine is cable assisted— the cable does not hold the machine in place.

“It’s just a winch assist—it’s not holding the machine on the hill,” explains Potter.

“Pretty much everyone you talk to about the machine thinks the winch is holding the machine—until they see it in action.”

Potter notes that in demos of the machine, they have slacked the winch cable completely, to drive home the point. The machine does not need the winch to work—it just helps it get around on the slope, and gives it additional traction.

There is little, if any, weight on the cable when the machine is working. More often than not, the winch is in auto mode, which allows it to take in or let out cable, as required, as the machine moves up and down a slope.

“With a feller buncher, in the right conditions you can run to a fairly steep slope. However, at a point, the machine’s tractive effort is overcome by gravity. Even with very large track grousers and with its mass, a buncher has a hard time getting up steep slopes.

“With the winch on the ClimbMAX, you add 15 tonnes of pull and you assist the machine. The going is much easier.

The machine does not sit there and chew and dig trenches—the winch, which is secured to an anchor at the top of the slope, helps to walk the machine up.”

The ClimbMAX machine working for Tolko was equipped with 380 m of 23 mm (7/8”) swaged cable. The winch is designed by Trinder.

As a safety measure, the ClimbMAX is equipped with a rear blade that can be activated by the operator to self-arrest the machine should something fail.

Working with the machine’s manufacturer, and Trinder Engineers, Tolko developed an in-depth work procedure for the ClimbMAX before a B.C. operator ever stepped into the cab.

“The operator works on slopes less than 40 per cent for a set amount of time,

then does 40 to 60 per cent, then goes to 60 to 80, and can go up to 80 to 100 per cent,” says Potter. “I think we’ve only had two blocks where we have had slopes over 80 per cent so far.”

To say that B.C. workplace safety regulator WorkSafeBC was involved with the new equipment would be an understatement.

“They were very involved because this was the first winch-assist forestry machine to show up in North America at that

point,” says Potter.

There were a number of regulations, and education, that Tolko went through with WorkSafeBC. “We had to get WorkSafe on side, but now we have really good relationships with WorkSafe officers at the local level.

They are well beyond coming out specifically to see the ClimbMAX—now, they do

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

31

to page 32

steepslopelogging from page 31

Tolko’s ClimbMAX machine has been built on a Hitachi 400 carrier. ClimbMAX essentially takes a Hitachi machine, and strips it down, building a wide undercarriage, and re-positioning components to get as much weight as low as possible, to achieve a lower centre of gravity.

general inspections on operations where the ClimbMAX happens to be used.”

Service-wise, Potter says the ClimbMAX people have gone over and above to keep the machine working and productive.

“They’ve definitely bent over backwards to keep us operating. Back then, it was a prototype, and when we bought the machine, it was only one of three in the world. We did run into a few issues, as you would with any new machine.”

Potter says that getting parts was initially challenging, but they have been working closely with the Wajax branch in Kamloops, B.C., who is the B.C. dealer for Hitachi equipment, on which their machine is based.

“They have been working with ClimbMAX, and Wajax is a good service provider—they now know the machine inside and out. If we phone Wajax up and have an issue, they can help us out.”

And how is the machine delivering, in terms of production?

“We’re able to eliminate a good amount of hand falling on the steep slopes,” says Potter. Over the course of a year the machine is replacing the falling production of 2 hand fallers.”

The directional felling head is also an especially good fit for wind blowdown.

“The directional head gives a lot of flexibility in blowdown—it’s able to retrieve the stems a lot easier and with a lot less breakage than other machines. It has quite a long reach, 10 metres, and with that reach and the full 360 degree wrist, the directional felling head can grab a log and thread it through the standing trees in one piece.”

The six-cylinder Isuzu engine on the ClimbMAX delivers good fuel economy, he added. “Considering that it is a 400size machine, and is working quite hard on steep slopes, it really does not consume that much fuel when you look at the job that it is doing.”

There were some interesting surprises with the machine over the last two years, says Potter.

“As far as ground conditions, the machine’s ability to work in rock was somewhat surprising because track machines traditionally don’t do well on rock. But as long as it wasn’t solid bedrock, the winch assist can help the machine get around rock and continue to operate.

to page 34 32

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

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from page 32 “Another surprise was that machine does not do well on soft ground. The weight of the machine isn’t conducive to success on soft and wet soils . We found that out with the first high elevation block. But that’s not a big deal—that’s more of a planning issue that we can deal with.”

In terms of log size, the ClimbMAX can pretty much take it all on. The machine was originally designed to harvest 1.5 cubic metre radiata pine in New Zealand. That said, since it has a directional head, Tolko has found it best to avoid large rotten timber. “The bar saw is 43 inches, and if the tree is larger than that, and rotten, the tree can start to come down as the head is being repositioned for the second cut. We quickly figured that out, and designed a procedure to deal with that situation.”

The machine is oversized when it comes to dealing with immature trees.

“In New Zealand, they don’t really have any immature stems, because it is plantation wood—the trees are all a similar size. But in a typical B.C. Interior natural stand, we have everything from trees that are a metre in diameter down to 10 centimetres in diameter.

“Directional felling heads don’t deal well with smaller diameter stems—they need to be removed to facilitate subsequent phases, but they don’t really add any volume. However, it still involves a movement that would otherwise be falling a larger tree. Its not like with a feller buncher, where you have a hot saw and you can brush out the small trees.”

At this point, Tolko is pleased with the ClimbMAX results.

“It’s a new piece of equipment, and with that comes some uncertainty,” says Potter. “But in applications where you have a lot of steep slopes and you’re wanting to either bunch wood for a yarder or not use a yarder at all, it definitely has application.

“With winch-assist machines, you can remove the hand falling, and that gives you options on what you might want to do with the stems while the machine is there, like orient them better for a yarding phase or chuck them down to somewhere you can get them with a skidder or chuck them right to a road.

It gives you way more options than you’d have with a guy out there with a chainsaw.”

And, Potter reports, people are excited about working with a new logging concept—which some are calling a game-changer for the industry.

“In our mind, it has revolutionized steep slope logging for us. It’s given us a window into the future and although it has not always been rosy, it’s the way to go forward, as far as we’re concerned.”

And paramount to all these other considerations, using the ClimbMAX means fewer people on the ground—and as a result, safer logging.

“The ClimbMAX may not be necessarily less costly in every application, but it is so much safer,” says Potter.

Potter notes that in the 3,200 hours they have on the machine, they have had zero safety incidents. “No operator concerns, no near misses—nothing,” he says.

“It’s hard to do a direct correlation between that and with hand falling, but if you look at the risk factors with steep slopes, you’re definitely going to have a higher chance of something happening in that many hours of hand falling.”

It’s pretty straightforward, safety-wise, says Potter. “Anytime you can put a guy in a steel box on a machine vs. under a plastic hard hat, you’ve got to do it. It’s the way to go.”

34

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

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steepslopelogging

Island Pacific Logging Ltd. is the North American distributor for the Remote Operated Bulldozer (ROB) system, and was recently putting the finishing touches on two more machines mounted with the winch assist systems. The systems are on John Deere 850 C and J dozers, equipped with hydrostatic drive, which assists with feeding of cable through the twin-winch systems.

Remote Operated Bulldozer system tackles B.C.’s steep slopes

Island Pacific Logging has been using the steep slope Remote Operated Bulldozer (ROB) winch assist system—developed in New Zealand—on Vancouver Island since last summer, and it’s working so well that the company has agreed to be the North American distributor for the system.

By Paul MacDonald ust how effective is the steep slope Remote Operated Bulldozer (ROB) winch assist system developed by New Zealand-based logging contractors Rosewarne and May? So effective, says B.C. logger Lyle Newton of Island Pacific Logging Ltd., that he agreed to become the North American distributor for the system.

Newton has been using the New

Zealand-developed ROB system in his own logging operations on Vancouver Island since last summer, and has found the dozer-based winch assist approach delivers huge safety, environmental and production benefits.

“There will always be a need for hand fallers on the B.C. Coast,” says Newton.

“But we can now log steeper ground, safer, with mechanical systems.”

Newton came across the ROB system when Lars Rosewarne was visiting B.C.,

36

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

J

to check out a used Madill 124 grapple yarder he was purchasing—and sending home to New Zealand. Rosewarne left behind a DVD showing his ROB system.

“I watched that DVD once, and I could see that we needed this equipment here in B.C. for our operation,” said Newton.

“I phoned Lars up in New Zealand and told him I wanted one, and he shipped it over. We put it together and put it to work—and it was everything we thought it would be,” added Newton.

steepslopelogging

Getting help from the Kiwi’s on steep slope logging

A

Newton approached Rosewarne about selling it for them in Canada, and they struck a deal to be the distributor for the ROB system for all of North America.

Since last summer, Island Pacific Logging has been doing steep slope harvesting on Vancouver Island with a Cat TK 752 feller buncher and a Cat 552 buncher, both with Southstar FD750 directional felling heads, with the ROB mounted on a John Deere dozer. At the end of 2015, Newton was putting the finishing touches on two more machines mounted with the winch assist systems. The three machines are John Deere 850 C and J dozers, equipped with hydrostatic drive, which assists with feeding of cable through the twin-winch systems. The cable is fed through fairleads that are welded to the top of the semi u blade of the dozers.

Newton emphasized that the ROB system is not a prototype. “It’s proven equipment technology. Lars is a logging contractor like we are, but he’s also an entrepreneur. to page 38

ll along the process of introducing the Remote Operated Bulldozer (ROB) steep slope winch assist system equipment to B.C., Island Pacific Logging has received great help and support from the New Zealand developers of the system.

Most recently, Iain May, who was involved with developing the first ROB winch assist system with logging contractor Lars Rosewarne in New Zealand four years ago, was in the shop at Chemainus, helping the crew with machines #2 and #3 in B.C. The system certainly works well in New Zealand, he says, and it looks to be working well, in B.C. “We were having situations in New Zealand where logging operations might get into steep areas, and they would get into trouble—and the next minute, you have a machine on its side,” said May, explaining the steep slope challenges they were dealing with—and are now successfully tackling.

May said one of the challenges they initially faced with their ROB system was using radio and remote control equipment in remote and hilly country—an issue B.C. loggers can certainly relate to.

“We had some signal problems, but we changed to a different brand of radio built to our specs, and there have been no problems since.”

Reflecting where the equipment is used, it is built rugged, and to operate in tough conditions. “We overspec and overbuild everything,” May says.

“Everything on those winches has a large safety margin.” There are both solidly engineered and solidly built, he said.

Both May and Lyle Newton of Island Pacific Logging said one of the attractions of the ROB system is the flexibility and multi-use capability of the equipment.

“If you dedicate a winch set to a machine, you are limited to that machine,” says May. “If that machine breaks down, you are out of action. But with the ROB system, if a steep hill harvester breaks down, you just put the dozer with the winches on another machine—and away you go.”

He noted that in New Zealand, a single winch assist dozer works three different hillsides.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

With the Remote Operated Bulldozer (ROB) system, operators use hand-held remote systems in their cab to control the winch assist systems on the dozers.

Newton notes that unlike purposebuilt winch assist systems, the dozers with the ROB system can be used for other purposes. They have used their dozer to ballast road and push snow on Vancouver Island. “We’ve used them for pretty much anything you’d use a dozer for,” he says.

Similar to other logging equipment, there are daily checks with the ROB system and dozer.

When it comes to maintenance, May says they have worked hard to keep it straightforward. “We want to keep it simple to operate and work on—when you build a machine, you want people to be able to work on it easily, when they need to.”

And when the machine is out there, it performs, and does not require any tinkering, he says. “To me, the sign of a good machine is when you turn it on in the morning, and shut it off at the end of the day—and in between, you don’t have to touch it,” says May. With equipment developments such as the ROB system, says May, New Zealand loggers, like their Canadian cousins, have proven to be resourceful and creative. “I think New Zealand is pretty good in that area,” he says. “We tend to step outside the box and try different things.”

He noted New Zealand has been the home to other significant logging equipment developments, such as the Waratah and Southstar processing heads.

37

steepslopelogging from page 37 He’s one of those guys who can build logging equipment and make it work—and he’s done all that with this system. ”Rosewarne’s approach with the ROB system would be close to any logger’s heart—he keeps it simple.

“That way, it can be easily run in any logging operation,” says Newton. “And I don’t know what you could do differently to make it any better. At Island Pacific Logging, we rebuild a lot of equipment, and we can’t pick anything apart on the ROB system—Lars has done it all.”

To get Island Pacific Logging going with its own ROB system, operator Scott Ringrose came over from New Zealand, to bring them up to speed on how to work the equipment. Ringrose has thousands of hours of operating experience on the ROB system at Rosewarne and May Logging. The company has well developed Standard Operating Procedures for the ROB system—and the machine itself is well engineered.

“It’s all certified and ready to go,” says Newton. No changes or tweaking were required for B.C. or Canadian conditions.

They run the same size wire rope and the same size rigging, with the system.

They’ve trained several operators on the equipment, and it’s so far, so good.

There is some adjustment to working on steeper sidehills. “But once the operator is used to being in a tethered machine, he always wants to be tethered,” says Newton. “Our first operator’s training went really well. He is one of our processor operators, and he caught on pretty quick.”

Operators use hand-held remote systems in their cab to control the winch assist systems on the dozers, which are located on road, at the top of a hillside.

With training on the ROB, the operators start out doing low elevation right of way logging, and gradually move into steeper ground. “It’s a process, to get them comfortable with the system. We wanted to make sure we introduced the system at the right pace, so our people were comfortable with it.”

Ringrose was helpful in doing that, Newton says. “Having someone who was very experienced helped with training, and built the operator’s confidence,” he says. “They were taught to do it safely and to assess each situation.”

And once the training is completed, operators can—and do—ask questions about the equipment from Ringrose or other ROB operators in New Zealand, often in real time, by text messaging.

Though the response is not always immediate, because of the time difference between B.C. and New Zealand, operators often get back a quick reply to any question via text.

Newton said it is important to select the right people to operate the system.

“It’s like any logging operation. There are some operators who can cut in steep ground, and some operators who can’t.

There are logging truck drivers who can work in really steep ground, and those that can’t. It’s our job to manage that, and put the right people in the right situation.”

Although it has already achieved Canadian certification, they had a one-day session with the B.C. safety authority, WorkSafe BC, to get them up to speed on what the ROB system is all about.

Iain May, who handles the engineering side of operations for the New Zealand company, has also visited B.C. to assist Island Pacific Logging in setting things up on the equipment and in the shop. May notes that they are consistently working in very steep ground in New Zealand, and they need reliable, safe—and efficient— logging equipment. In fact, the ground there tends to be more slippery, and steeper, than the B.C. Coast, he says, and the ROB system has proven its stuff over there, day-in, day-out.

Island Pacific has been using the equipment in second growth, so there are old growth stumps to work with, and benches, making logging on steep slopes here perhaps a bit easier for operators vs. their New Zealand counterparts.

Like all coastal loggers, Island Pacific is working in steeper ground these days on the B.C. Coast. “The flat valley bottoms are gone—we are working up the slopes now, and the bunchers and hoe chuckers are at their maximum capability,” says Newton. “We felt it was time to look at other systems.”

Tethered systems such as the ROB are the next evolution in equipment for the B.C. coast, he feels. “The more we work with it, the more applications we find we can use it to minimize hazards, and it helps with the environment and productivity.” In terms of benefits, number one is safety, number two is environmental, and number three is productivity, he says. to page 40

38

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

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steepslopelogging

Lyle Newton of Island Pacific Logging (right) and Iain May (left) at the Island Pacific Logging shop in Chemainus. May was involved with developing the first ROB winch assist system with New Zealand logging contractor Lars Rosewarne.

“Anytime you can put a person in a machine vs. having them on the ground, you’ve made the job safer,” he says.

“There will be areas where the steep hill assist is not safe to use, so we will still need to have hand fallers, but if we can get guys off the ground and into equipment, it minimizes the hazards. It’s the right thing to do.”

The environmental benefits are easy to see.

“On steep ground, without being tethered, there can be site degradation, as you’re trying to get around on the hill in a tracked machine. But being tethered, if you want to move forward an inch, you move forward an inch. If you want to go down a foot, you go down a foot. Any site degradation is very minimal.”

Newton emphasizes that the system is winch-assist—the wire rope does not hold the equipment in place at any time.

Use of the ROB system is, of course, site specific. At Island Pacific Logging, they are working the equipment in a variety of sites, though. “As we move into it, we’ll get more comfortable with it,” says Newton. The company harvests a

million cubic metres a year, and Newton figures they will be able to do about 60 per cent of that mechanically, between bunchers and the ROB system with steep hill harvesters.

Island Pacific introduced the first machine harvesting on private land for Island Timberlands. “They have been great to work with—Island Timberlands have given us lots of flexibility to try the new equipment.

“The next step for us is to work with Island Timberlands on the way we engineer for steep hill assist logging.”

Newton notes that in terms of sales and service support for the ROB system, Island Pacific Logging is well set-up. The company has a shop in Chemainus, on Vancouver Island, with very experienced crews.

They are routinely doing repairs and rebuilds on grapple yarders, log loaders and trucks—they know logging equipment, inside and out.

“Our shop crews are a big part of this—they do the fabrication on the equipment to make the systems work— and they are very excited about the new equipment.”

Island Pacific is also pumped about

40

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

from page 38

being the North American distributor for the equipment. “We’re very excited about this,” says Newton.

And it’s appropriate that the company is introducing a new system to the B.C. Coast, says Newton, since they have been pioneers with other equipment. “We’ve been in business for 30 years, and we were one of the first companies to work processors with top saws, and we were the first to do hoe chucking in Haida Gwaii back in the mid-1980s.”

Newton notes that marketing the ROB system represents a business opportunity— but importantly, it is also a way for the industry to operate more safely.

“Our number one goal with the system is the safety aspect. Going to tethered steep slope systems is a big change for the industry.”

Newton noted that it might be difficult to quantify exactly how much tethered systems improve safety in the bush. ‘We strive for zero incidences in our operations. We find that in the past, whenever we can take a man off the ground and put him in a machine, we have just improved safety by 95 per cent because the hazards are a lot less. Anytime, you can improve safety, it’s the right thing to do.”

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valueadded

Getting the most out of every scrap of wood Producing everything from solid wood products to shavings, the Lewis Mouldings and Wood Specialties mill operation in Nova Scotia is known for its high wood utilization.

At Lewis Mouldings and Wood Specialties, they work to use all parts of the log.

Fibre (above) is formed into domestic wood heating briquettes and pre-glued finger jointed sections (top photo) are compressed into lumber blanks.

42

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

By George Fullerton

L

ewis Mouldings and Wood Specialties faced a bit of a dilemma after the Bowater pulp mill in Liverpool, Nova Scotia closed in 2012. The closure meant that Lewis Mouldings lost the primary market for the pulp wood chips produced by their moulding and finger joint manufacturing plant in Weymouth, Nova Scotia.

Jamie Lewis explained that their business had the opportunity to deliver chips to the Northern Pulp mill in Pictou, in northern Nova Scotia. But the increased distance was such that chip trucks could make only one delivery per day compared to two deliveries to the Bowater mill at Liverpool, and that made the proposition less profitable.

“The increased trucking cost made deliveries to Northern Pulp less attractive and we were looking for an alternative use for a good portion of our residue,” says Jamie. The answer was at hand. “Our solution was to ramp up our fuel briquette

to page 44

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valueadded from page 42 processing. We added a dryer and a second RUF briquette machine. There is a solid market for wood fibre briquettes for home heating, and we are well positioned to serve that market opportunity.”

The Lewis family has a long sawmilling history in Weymouth. Jamie’s grandfather, Harry Lewis, established a softwood sawmill in the village in 1947. The Lewis family entered a joint venture with the Irving Family in the late 1980s and the mill was rebuilt after a fire in the early 1990s. The new mill is currently mothballed.

The creation of the Lewis Mouldings operation was led by Harry’s son, Stewart, who grew up in the family’s milling operation.

As Jamie (Stewart’s son) explains, the inspiration for the moulding operation came from a combination of entrepreneurial spirit, solid business opportunity, a passion for sawmilling, and an opportunity to create quality employment in his home town.

“Once sawdust gets in your blood, it seems the only cure is death,” he says, good humouredly.

Jamie currently shares management of the family-owned business with his sister, Laurie, and her husband, Mark Wheatley.

His sister, Tammy Lewis, also works in the business. Stewart, who has served as a Pastor in Prince Edward Island in recent years, will soon retire back to Weymouth. He has maintained a strong interest in the management of the Lewis Mouldings operation.

Stewart selected a spectacular spot for the manufacturing plant. It is in fact a

former sardine processing plant, in Weymouth Harbour, at the confluence of the Sissiboo River and the Bay of Fundy.

Jamie explained that while eastern white pine makes up a sizeable proportion of the forest growing stock in western Nova Scotia, the quality of the logs is not nearly as good as the white pine in New Brunswick or Maine. Rather than try to saw for clear product, Stewart decided to utilize the white pine to manufacture finger jointed stock and mouldings for the eastern North American market.

“We do get some seven and eight foot clears from our operation, but typically our pine has a lot of defect, so finger jointing is a practical way to utilize the resource,” explained Jamie.

Jamie went on to add that in the

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

The initial log breakdown at the mill is done with a Heartwood double cut, six inch band mill. Smaller diameter logs are split through the heart, and the large diameter logs are opened on two faces, with the sawyer selecting the faces which will produce the best quality lumber.

North American housing market, the current fashion is a strong focus on painted mouldings for interior trim—and finger jointed product is a durable, attractive and cost effective product to fit that market. Finger jointed lumber also fits the demand for window and door components.

Their log supply is predominately from private woodlot producers, and industrial operators who do not utilize white pine in their milling operations. Lewis Mouldings does have a Crown allocation, but they do not always use the allocation because they generally get an adequate supply delivered through the mill gate.

Lewis Moulding’s product lines include solid lumber, finger jointed lumber and edge glued products. Interior and exterior door jambs, baseboards, casings, brick mouldings and other profiled products are shipped from the plant by truck to customers, primarily in Quebec and Ontario.

The log yard has about a 600,000 board foot capacity, and annual log demand is around six million board feet.

The Lewis Moulding milling and manufacturing operation is recognized for its high quality products, a skilled workforce and it also enjoys a reputation for high wood utilization. Lewis Moulding management has calculated that for every sixteen loads of logs delivered into the mill yard (the average per week), fourteen loads of product in the form of moulding products, shavings, bricks, and/or sawmill waste are shipped out.

Long logs are individually stick scaled, and eight foot logs are scaled as stacked.

The logs are piled down in the yard, and delivered to the mill infeed with a Volvo 170G wheel loader.

The processing begins with slashing logs to reduce defect, and it’s then on

valueadded to a rosserhead debarker. The initial log breakdown is with a Heartwood, double cut, six inch band mill. Smaller diameter logs are split through the heart, and the large diameter is opened on two faces, with the sawyer selecting the faces which will produce the best quality lumber. The sawed pieces are then moved on to a Brewco 1600 Run-Around thin kerf resaw, for further breakdown.

Jamie explained that the Brewco system is efficient and fast. The Brewco resaw has the added advantage of using two-inch blades, which can be filed in house, while the six inch blades for the Heartwood have to be shipped off-site for filing and maintenance.

The log breakdown side of the operation operates five day shifts per week, while the value add finger jointing side operates as two shifts; five day shifts and four night shifts.

Following edging with a PHL edger, boards are manually sorted by width, then stacked and strapped for kiln drying. Seven Nyle kilns provide 350,000 board feet of drying capacity, and it takes about 20 days to bring a charge to a uniform 10 per cent moisture. Steam energy is generated with

a Volcano (biomass) Boiler, with oil burner back up.

Lewis Mouldings has only a limited amount of dry lumber storage, simply because the finger jointing and moulding manufacturing operation utilizes lumber on a continual basis, as the drying process is completed.

The first step in finger joint processing is planing boards with a Leadermac planer. Each piece is then scanned with a Woodeye scanner, which passes on the decisions for chop and rip processes, to generate clear lumber sections.

The short, clear lumber sections are sorted by size and held in steel bins until they are ready to batch feed into a finger jointing machine. Seven and eight foot lengths of clear lumber are sorted out, and segregated from the finger jointing stream.

The short clear sections are processed with a Western Pneumatics Finger Jointer and move through the gluing process.

Human eyes, hands and decisions are required to orient sections to gain a very high level of utilization of every piece to page 46

Jamie Lewis (above) explains that the inspiration for the moulding operation came from a combination of entrepreneurial spirit, solid business opportunity, a passion for sawmilling, and an opportunity to create quality employment in his home town. “Once sawdust gets in your blood, it seems the only cure is death,” he says, good humouredly.

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valueadded from page 45 of lumber that goes into a finger jointed blank.

Following the gluing process, blanks are processed by either a Watkins or a Weinig moulder. Two moulders allows two separate production streams, while certain products require two moulder passes to complete the production process.

Baseboards are manufactured to a sixteen foot length, while blanks for door casings are manufactured to seven and fourteen foot lengths. Lewis Mouldings is roughly split 50/50 between window and door components and mouldings/millwork.

Some product moves through a paint station, where it gets a coat of primer.

Certain products get additional manufacturing for specific customers, such as mortising door casing for hinge placement.

Lewis Mouldings produces some items to customer specific requirements, but the bulk of their production is manufactured to basic industry standards. About 50 per cent of their total production is marketed through distribution centres, and the balance is marketed directly to manufacturers.

There are three mill residue streams, in addition to bagged dry shavings for livestock bedding. Bark and edging from green logs is directed to the Volcano boiler for kiln energy or directed to a Jackson Lumber Harvester drying system for the briquetting system. Dry residue is transferred either directly to RUF briquette machines, or to a stream for hogging to reduce particle size.

Lewis Mouldings employs a contractor to hog the material using a Rotochopper MC 266 horizontal grinder.

They installed their first RUF 400 wood fibre briquetting machine in 2008, to utilize kiln dried residue from the manufacturing process. The second RUF 400 was commissioned in 2014, along with the Jackson Lumber Harvester drying system, which delivers two dry tonnes of fibre per hour.

RUF briquette machines use hydraulic compression to form a dense briquette.

The RUF machines come with a relatively low cost, starting at about $200,000. They are fairly simple to install and start up, and require little operator supervision.

The wood fibre material is delivered from a surge tank by augers, to a precharge chamber. A hydraulic cylinder

compresses material to selected and preset density levels.

RUF says briquetting systems offer a number of advantages over pellet manufacturing systems, which are increasingly being seen as a profitable means to market milling and manufacturing residue. The RUF system can utilize a coarser particle size of wood fibre than pellet systems. Hydraulic compression is simpler to set up, maintain, service and repair compared to pellet dye systems.

Briquettes can be burned in conventional wood burning stoves, while pellets burn in a pellet stove.

Briquettes offer consumers a number of advantages over split firewood; uniform low moisture content fuel means more BTU’s delivered per pound of fuel. The briquettes’ low moisture content results in less creosote deposit and safer stove operation. Briquettes are delivered to customers very clean, and they store compactly.

Lewis Mouldings supplies their briquettes directly to a network of retailers throughout the three Maritime Provinces.

A Rotochopper MC 266 horizontal grinder (above) being fed by a Volvo loader. Lewis Mouldings employs a contractor to hog material. Hogged material is dried before it is formed into wood fibre briquettes.

46

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

equipmentprofile

Strongco’s Territory Manager Allan Lindsay (centre) congratulates Vincent Caron on delivery of the Sennebogen 830 M-T to the Quentin, N.B. mill, joined by Caron’s Groupe Savoie team: service manager Tobby Leclair (far left) and, to the right, yard manager Tommy Lefebvre and operator Mario Levesque.

Log handler ably handles east coast weather Groupe Savoie tried out a number of log loading machines for the millyard at their sawmill in Quentin, New Brunswick, and decided on a Sennebogen 830 M-T, a log handler that is able to handle the cold—and wet weather—that hits the region.

W

hen it came time to add to the mobile equipment in one of their millyards, Groupe Savoie made a solid choice.

“We made a good choice,” reports Vincent Caron, production vice-president for Groupe Savoie in Quentin, a forestry town in northern New Brunswick. “I needed a new machine that could handle the cold,” he explains.

Established in 1978, Groupe Savoie is a successful family-owned producer of hardwood lumber and value-added products, situated high in the northeastern limits of the Appalachian Mountains.

48

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

Winters here can be bitter cold, and the region is famous for the severe storms that pass through from the Atlantic.

The Groupe Savoie mill was already equipped with a log-loading material handler and with some older knuckle-boom loaders. But the firm has grown through a commitment to utilizing modern technologies to maximize productivity. So Caron and company president Alain Bossé were searching for a machine to upgrade the

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equipmentprofile from page 48 reliability of their log-loading capability.

In March 2015, Caron took delivery of a new Sennebogen 830 M-T, a purposebuilt 90,000 lb. log handler featuring an undercarriage specially engineered for trailer pulling.

Caron and Bossé tried out several log loading machines before choosing the Sennebogen. “We visited a sawmill operating a Sennebogen 825 model, and our technician was quite satisfied with it and we were very impressed with Sennebogen’s response time to issues,” said Caron. “We saw good service support at this site, and got very good feedback from some other Sennebogen customers in Nova Scotia.”

In the end, Caron says, he and Bossé were pleased with the machine’s fuel economy, traction, service accessibility, speed and strength. Its productivity in moving wood from the yard to the mill sealed the decision.

“In effect, the efficiency of its loading cycles increased our capacity at the mill,” Caron says.

The 830 M-T is equipped with a 1.25 cord grapple. The Groupe Savoie yard in Quentin sometimes utilizes the machine to unload trucks, but its primary role is to load and pull a 36 ft. three-axle trailer.

It picks stock from inventory and fills the trailer with up to 40 tons, then completes the cycle by offloading to a stockpile bunk at the mill.

With the machine’s delivery in the winter months, operators told Caron that they were impressed with its reliable starts on the coldest days. The new unit also met management’s goal of reducing downtime. Operators say they appreciate the stability of the 830, even with its hydraulic cab fully elevated. But the 830 really showed its mettle when the cold weather abated, and the spring thaw began.

“The yard is compacted earth,” Caron explains. “And it’s not a flat yard—we have some grades to climb to and from the mill.

When the frost comes out in spring, the yard can turn into 12” to 18” of mud. Last year was very wet, and we had spots with up to two feet of mud. But the 830 M-T just carried on. It’s a good tractor!”

To date, Groupe Savoie is confident that they found the reliability they needed for the mill’s operation. The mill’s own technicians service the 830 M-T but, according to Caron, “our team gets good support for technical service. The Sennebogen dealer, Strongco, came here to train our guys.”

Through its three sawmills in the region, Groupe Savoie is producing 90 million board feet of hardwood annually. With the addition of the 830 M-T, the company looks forward to continued growth and success through its investment in reliability and productivity.

50

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

At Groupe Savoie’s Quentin, New Brunswick mill, the Sennebogen 830 M-T quickly fills a 36 ft. trailer with 40 tons of hardwood then pulls the load to the mill, powered by a purpose-built undercarriage driven with transmissions on each axle.

___________________________________ This story was supplied to Logging and Sawmilling Journal by Sennebogen LLC www.sennebogen-na.com

The Edge

February 2016

Alberta database to provide investment-grade data on biomass resources

BY TONY KRYZANOWSKI

A

lberta has reached the final stage in its quest to provide comprehensive public data on the quality, quantity and availability of forest and other biomass resources. Among other things, this will help potential investors in the bioeconomy make informed decisions about their ability to access these raw materials.

The province is preparing to launch its online and state-of-the-art Bio-Resource Information Management System (BRIMS) in early 2017, developed with funding provided by Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions (AI Bio).

The overall vision of BRIMS is to create a world-class, publicly available, data and information management system where buyers and sellers collaborate and develop opportunities, using online tools to support investment, guide policy development, and foster further analysis to advance the bioeconomy in Alberta.

The decision was made to start with an inventory of Alberta biomass due to the demand for the information, and immediate opportunities for new bioindustrial sector and business development. BRIMS has made it possible to map the locations and different types of biomass available across the province.

“The data will be updated regularly to ensure it is valid and remains current,” says Carol Bettac, AI Bio’s executive director of emerging opportunities and strategic alliances.

AI Bio partnered with Silvacom—a company that provides geospatial software and consulting services—to research other systems, test the concepts, integrate and align data sources, and build the online platform on which BRIMS will operate. The complex project has required a multi-phase approach.

“Over the past few years, there has

been a shift in the market toward green products,” said Jordan Hayes, a resource analyst at Silvacom. “The interest and demand for green products has led to increased interest in the supply of (biomass), but we need better information.”

Phase 3 of BRIMS development, currently underway, is refining the pools of data. These include: forestry harvest and processing residue; crop residue; livestock manure and processing waste; organic and other useable biomass received at landfills, and potential resources from other biomass feedstocks and sources.

To improve the quality of forest biomass data, Silvacom partnered with seven Alberta forest companies to develop a comprehensive automated land inventory program called CALI, using some of today’s best high-resolution imagery and data-processing technology. It provides a more refined analysis of wood fibre attributes in a particular area, down to the individual tree level.

In its final form, BRIMS will represent much more than a clearinghouse for information about the quantity and location of biomass resources in the province.

It will be unique in that it will give the online user the ability to break down and calculate the amount of useable biomass constituents from a biomass source. For example, it will have the ability to break down the availability of lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose from a wood resource.

This knowledge is critical for individuals interested in the production of biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol.

AI Bio made the development of BRIMS a priority as identified in its Ecosystem Services Roadmap in 2012. The roadmap’s goal is to bring Alberta to the forefront of innovation by using an “ecosystem services market approach.” with environmental excellence. It identified the need for a data and information management system like Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

BRIMS as an important step forward, Bettac says.

The term “ecosystem services” is defined as “benefits society enjoys from a range of resources and processes supplied by nature.” This concept has been a guiding principle behind BRIMS’ development. Biomass is considered an ecosystem service. Other examples include clean water, food and wildlife habitat.

A market approach puts an economic value (dollar amount) on natural resources and processes. This helps industry and government understand the relative value and benefits of these “ecosystem services,” and gauge how they will be affected by human activities.

The plan is to eventually add several more layers of ecosystems services to the BRIMS application beyond biomass, such as carbon, biodiversity, range and forest production, terrestrial water and human impact on the environment. This will create a one-stop-shop for a variety of ecosystem-services needs. It will also assist with land use and conservation planning, environmental monitoring, economic development, and research and development in the future.

For more information about AI Bio’s Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity programs, go to http://bio. albertainnovates.ca/stratthemes/ ecosystem-services-and-biodiversity/ For more information about BRIMS, contact Jordan Hayes at Silvacom Ltd. (jordan.hayes@silvacom.com) 53

The Edge

CWFC to study current managed regeneration systems and their potential impact on mid-term fibre supply

BY TONY KRYZANOWSKI

T

he Canadian Wood Fibre Centre (CWFC) plans to evaluate over 40 years of intensive forest management practices applied in the Canadian commercial forest to assess how those practices have impacted the forest resource and a sustainable timber supply.

This is to ensure that future forest management practices maintain healthy forests, a sustainable wood supply, and a diverse wood basket to meet the needs of Canada’s future forest industry.

Canadian forest management has evolved through several stages over the past four decades. It started with little or natural reforestation taking place, to a recognition in the 1970s of the liability this represented and the adoption of government-mandated, managed forest management practices, including reforestation, aimed at sustainability.

Forest harvesting ramped up significantly in the 1980s to about 850,000 hectares harvested per year with companies developing more diverse wood product lines. This resulted in greater regulation due to concerns about replenishing and sustaining forest resources, with advances in such silviculture techniques as tree planting, site preparation, and scarification for natural regeneration or seeding.

In the early 1990s, governments launched a massive backlog reforestation program to accelerate reforestation to sustain, advance, and enhance forest

54

stewardship and sustainability, based on the escalating harvest of Canadian forest resources, which had reached over one million hectares annually by the early 2000’s.

“As forest management evolved, more intensive and advanced forest management activities started to take place,” says Derek Sidders, CWFC Regional Coordinator and Program Manager at the Northern Forestry Centre in Edmonton. “A change

has been imposed on the forest in terms of species mix, densities, growth, productivity and vigor.

“Today, we have about 40 years of intensive forest management under our belts and an average of about 800,000 hectares per year harvested during that time period,” Sidders added. “Now, CWFC is evaluating the impact of our management and potential increases or risks to the future timber supply.”

As part of CWFC’s core research program built around sustainable forest

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

resource production practices and fibre characterization, it will evaluate whether the Canadian wood fibre resource is sustainable based on management practices that have evolved and been applied over the past 40 years, is the resource at risk due to a changing climate, and has enough follow up been done on these intensively managed forests to sustain, advance and enhance the future forest, while at the same time, maintaining Canada’s international leadership and competitiveness on its forest management, product development, and ecosystem management practices.

CWFC will ask important questions such as: is there is a need for greater, mid-term stand intervention in some cases to maintain healthy forests, to enhance forest productivity in some instances, and to produce wood fibre with the types of attributes needed by the future forest industry?

“We’re focusing heavily now on wood fibre characterization, which is quantifying and classifying the forest across Canada as it exists today, and production systems that will deliver forest fibre with known characteristics that can assist with transforming the industry while sustaining the forest resource,” says Sidders.

For more information about this CWFC initiative, contact Derek Sidders at Derek.Sidders@canada.ca.

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TECHUPDATE

By Tony Kryzanowski

Primary Breakdown Equipment USNR - Soderhamn Eriksson

Vision Tilt from USNR-Soderhamn Eriksson improves lumber sizes as well as saw blade service life, according to the company.

The patent-pending system controls saw blades by actively tilting the band wheels, and it can easily be installed on new or existing band saws.

and manufacturing. The Linck profiling lines have reached a new level of optimum lumber quality combined with significantly lower production costs, says the company.

When using profiling technology, the traditional edging installations are no longer needed, so customers can use capital for other purposes instead of buying spares. Companies can earn more, says Linck, by running a single operator Linck profiling line with high achievement and availability.

Linck profiling technology produces optimized sideboards on the fly, directly at the cant with high speed and without any bottlenecks. Linck technology also offers no optimization limits, as the state-of-the-art Linck VPM profiling unit is able to work with the curve or to perform diagonal profiling along the cant. www.linck.com

TS Manufacturing

The equipment includes a camera placed on the return side of the saw blade, level with the upper band wheel’s centre.

The camera monitors saw tooth position in relation to the band wheel’s front edge. Incorrectly aligned saw blades generate cracks in the tooth base over time and wear on the band wheels and saw guides. Vision Tilt actively corrects the saw’s position on the band wheel, which minimizes wear and improves sawing accuracy.

Vision Tilt also includes a PLC with software for monitoring and adjustment. The intelligent control system alerts operators to faults such as saws showing signs of imminent rupture. www.se-saws.com

Linck

Linck says it can help turn client sawmills into revenue generating machines due to its decades of experience in both conception

Sawmills around the world are using TS Manufacturing systems for primary breakdown because of their inherent ruggedness, reliability and optimized precision, says the company.

Once installed, TS carriages, c-frames and bandsaws don’t quit, according to the company, as the low maintenance equipment designs and optimized scanning and software systems will manage the high precision that customer mills demand for increased volume and profits.

TS Manufacturing makes a comprehensive line of primary breakdown and log merchandising systems. It makes the step feeders, kickers, slasher saws, debarkers and sharp chains customers need to get logs into the mill. Once inside, the company’s optimized carriages, headrigs and c-frame systems accurately assess and orient logs for perfect cuts, ensuring that downstream resaws and edgers get maximum volume, says the company.

TS Manufacturing’s original designs are backed by its Intercross Support Staff (ISS), consisting of in-house engineers, installers and now, an in-house PLC/electronic controls team. www.tsman.com

Optimil

Optimil’s recent focus has been to address chip and dust containment on its chipping and sawing machines.

56

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

techupdate The new chipping sections have increased the head diameters and the size of the chip chutes. Optimil has also reconfigured the chip chutes to create a better chip flow, having less transitions and thereby less places for the chips to hit and to break up, creating dust. Optimil has several of the new designed machines out in the field

In fact, the company says that it has delivered various mill projects where profiling heads have been integrated into the twin canter at the primary breakdown to profile sideboards, and thus limit handling, not to mention relieve existing edgers.

Profiling allows for reduced cutting height of the twin since logs have already been profiled. Due to the fact that saws have less material to cut through, it’s possible to increase edging speed by up to 25 per cent, says Comact. For a sawmill

seeking to increase its throughput, this is a sizable advantage, besides getting rid of typical edger bottlenecks. Thanks to the integration of profiling heads both at primary and secondary breakdown, Comact has managed to offer productive, profitable solutions specifically adapted to the needs of its clients, says the company. www.comact.com

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

57

to page 58

and the results have been very favorable, says the company. The new guards help to promote safety by preventing debris from exiting into the workplace area.

This focus includes dust containment on saw boxes and bandmills, while not compromising the maintenance process or safety. www.optimil.com

Comact

For well over a decade, profiling heads such as the DDM have been an integral component of Comact primary breakdown systems, as well as profiling heads such as the TBL3 for secondary breakdown systems.

To meet the needs of its clients aiming to operate ever more productive and profitable sawmills, Comact has improved its product offerings over the last few years.

techupdate from page 57

HewSaw

HewSaw has been producing primary breakdown equipment for over half-a-century and today the Finland-based company manufactures and supplies equipment capable of processing logs from 3.5” up to 21.5” in diameter.

Sophisticated scanning, optimization and automation packages ensure HewSaw customers achieve maximum yield from each log, all while operating safely and efficiently with an emphasis on minimizing operational staff.

Today’s HewSaws are custom-built with top quality materials and to precise tolerances, says the company. From single pass machines to multiple unit sawlines, HewSaw says that it can provide solutions for all of its customers’ primary breakdown requirements. The company’s multi-unit sawlines can deliver up

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58

to eight edged sideboards from each log, eliminating the need for downstream edgers.

Over 400 HewSaws have been delivered worldwide and the company currently has HewSaws operating in over 30 countries on five continents. www.hewsaw.com

INOTECH

Inotech describes its Canadian-made one pass sawing line as the most affordable one pass canter on the market, with over a decade of development and testing.

It can produce square blocks from 2 X 2 to 6 X 6, from logs from 2.5” to 10” diameter.

It is designed with full scan and set operation, with a choice of scanners, and has an integrated saw box with up to three saws.

This sawmill can be installed in the tightest spaces, and its 2-D scanner can be easily configured for a variety of production, says the company. An optional 3-D scanner with log rotation is available. It offers high speed production of up to 600 ft/min. www.inotechfabrication.com

Lico Machinery

Lico offers a wide range of ripping solutions for mid-range production, meeting the most demanding requirements, says the company. Its ripping systems will help customers maximize yield and productivity at the sawmill. A single system can be designed to produce from 20,000 board feet to 90,000 board feet (4/4) per shift with ripping yields up to 93 per cent.

Lico Machinery’s ripping systems can be used by manufacturers producing flooring, molding, components, windows and more.

Standard features include ripsaw feed speed up to 525 fpm, thin kerf moving blades, with every board having its own unique sawing pattern Options include single or dual scanning; a range of scanning solutions, from single point width measurement to complete 3D scanning; automatic edging removal; automatic board flipping; text printing or color marking; bow busting; curve sawing; and very high rip width accuracy. www.licoinc.net

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

ARE YOUR PROJECT COSTS GOING THROUGH THE ROOF?

PUT AN END TO THAT with Autolog’s NEW MODULAR SCANNER FRAME for its line of transverse optimizers.

Due to its convenient modular design, this frame can be assembled on site at mills with even the most difficult access.

Autolog offers you an easy and cost efficient way to replace your obsolete optimizer with a new state-of-the-art one.

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SUPPLIERNEWSLINE

Norcan Fluid Power is now Rexroth’s authorized distributor in Western Canada

Canada Corp., and Bill Dix, President and CEO of Norcan Fluid Power, said they are excited about the opportunities for the two companies. The strong quality and brand recognition of Rexroth Hydraulics with best in class application features and benefits, together with representation from a strong technical fluid power distributor sales and service organization like Norcan Fluid Power, certainly reinforces their commitment to serve customers in the region, said the executives. www.boschrexroth.ca www.norcanfluidpower.com

New Sellick Equipment forklift designed for rough terrain

Bosch Rexroth Canada Corp. has announced the appointment of Norcan Fluid Power Limited as the authorized distributor for industrial and mobile hydraulics products in Western Canada, including British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, effective March 1.

The agreement between the companies is intended to provide Western Canadian customers with greater access and choice for Bosch Rexroth’s industryrecognized quality hydraulic products and innovative solutions to achieve their specific application requirements and at the same time, expand service, technical support, application expertise and local inventory, says Bosch Rexroth.

Customers and industries will benefit from Norcan Fluid Power’s multi-branch footprint, and their extensive industry experience and Western Canada presence, the company added. Bosch Rexroth Canada, with sales, engineering and service support locations in all major business centres across Canada, together with head office, manufacturing and logistics centre in Welland, Ontario, will maintain a direct market strategy while supporting future growth via the new Norcan Fluid Power Agreement.

Norcan, founded in 1974 in Vancouver and owned by BCB Corporate Services Ltd, is a major Canadian distributor in the areas of industrial, mobile and marine hydraulic components, and provides a wide array of services and technical expertise.

The company has seven strategic branch locations across Western Canada including Langley, Prince George, Kamloops, Calgary, Red Deer, Leduc, and Saskatoon, with 120 employees with 22 outside sales reps.

Tom Light, President of Bosch Rexroth

The engine is coupled to a fully automatic power shift, four-speed transmission and when equipped with the 4X4 option, allows for on-the-go engagement of the steerable drive axle.

The S150 features a fully isolated operator platform that reduces noise and vibration, and the overhead guard structure is both ROPS and FOPS certified. Load sense steering and power assisted brakes reduce operator fatigue and increase productivity, says the company.

Operators can monitor the machine’s systems through a multi-function digital LCD screen that also provides on board diagnostics that reduces downtime.

The S150 is designed for heavy industrial applications such as engineered

60

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

The new S150 Sellick Equipment forklift is now in full production.

The new machine, which has 15,000 lb capacity at 24” load centre, is powered by a 74 horsepower, four-cylinder, intercooled Tier 4 final electronic engine that produces 295 lb-ft of torque. The clean burning diesel does not require exhaust after-treatment, diesel exhaust fluid, nor regeneration cycles.

By Tony Kryzanowski wood products and various other applications in the forest industry. www.sellickequipment.com

Autolog has a leading edge in optimizing

Autolog continuously invests in stateof-the-art technology to provide the wood processing industry with high-tech products, keeping in mind the user’s concerns for performance, system modernization, simplicity and cost of ownership.

The company’s transverse optimizers (edger, gang and trimmer) are no exception to the rule with key elements including: • Autolog offers a modular frame for its scanners. This concept allows systems to be moved and installed effortlessly in locations with even the most difficult access, without having to open the roof.

It is also possible to position the frame through existing transfer chains.

• The board scanner sensors can be installed on the frame at 45 degrees from the wood flow. The angle of the sensors increases the reading accuracy while reducing the cleaning intervals.

• Autolog recently redesigned all of the software for their transverse optimizers and offers, among other things, a high definition user interface, personalized user profiles, an alarm center, and a real time distribution of products and production graphics. www.autolog.com

SEC merges into COMACT line of products

B.C.-based SEC, a subsidiary of the BID Group of Companies, has announced that its line of products will be merging into the COMACT line of products.

This strategic decision is part of a plan to offer a completely integrated world class solution for its sawmill and planer mill customers, said the company. COMACT, as part of its line of products, will offer and support the SEC fence, sawmill and planer mill stackers and stick systems, and tilt hoist and pivoting hook sorters.

While the engineering will be done out of the Quebec-based engineering group, the manufacturing will be done as close as possible to the market in one of seven facilities across North America. The Salmon Arm, B.C. facility will continue to manufacture equipment and parts for the

suppliernewsline

BID Group product lines of Comact, Deltech, PHL, Miller Planers and the recent addition of Ron McGehee. The company continues to be committed to the Salmon Arm area and the company’s exceptional people, manufacturing capabilities, and its industry leading Serviplus Group, it said. www.bidgroup.ca

Resolute Forest Products calls on provinces to show leadership on FSC issues

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) International says it is convening a mediation process to bring together stakeholders in a spirit of collaboration to address issues raised recently in Canada, particularly in Quebec and in Ontario, about FSC certification.

It says over the last two years, significant areas of FSC certified forests were suspended in Canada mainly because of lack of consent from First Nations, and also because of inadequate forest management plans for species at risk, namely woodlands caribou in the Canadian boreal forest. Most of these suspended or terminated FSC certificates are held by Resolute Forest Products.

Based on a continued lack of dialogue between Resolute FP and its stakeholders, FSC says it believes that this mediation will lead to constructive solutions and restore trust between First Nations, unions, communities, environmental groups and Resolute FP. In response, Resolute FP says that it firmly believes that any mediation process concerning forest management in Quebec or Ontario must be led by the respective provincial governments, as they are clearly responsible for issues related to forest management planning.

“Beyond the leadership of the provincial governments, it is critical that all of the parties impacted by forestry activities in the boreal forest be involved in any discussion concerning certification,” says Richard Garneau, president and chief executive officer of Resolute. “This includes First Nations, local communities and unions. Of course, we believe that environmental groups should have a voice in the process. Greenpeace, the only ENGO mentioned in FSC’s proposal, has been engaged in a campaign of misinformation targeting Resolute. We believe it would be more appropriate to engage with responsible organizations with a track record of constructive engagement in the public policy discourse, to ensure that the process is neutral and fair.”

Resolute notes that a growing number of Canadian companies have seen their FSC certificates suspended or terminated in recent months, including Arbec, Eacom and, recently, Domtar, for a tenure in Ontario. It adds that in October 2015, the Coast Forest Conservation Initiative (CFCI) voluntarily terminated its FSC certificate for the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia, an area totaling nearly 850,000 hectares. www.resolutefp.com

Millar Western completes sawmill sale to Northland

Millar Western Forest Products has sold its Boyle, Alberta operations to Northland Forest Products Ltd for $30.69 million plus working capital.

“Since purchasing and reopening this facility in 1994, Millar Western has appreciated the strong support of our employees, to page 62

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suppliernewsline from page 61 families, contractors and neighbors in Boyle. We are pleased the operation will be transferred to a well-run, family-owned organization,” said Millar Western President and CEO Craig Armstrong.

“The Boyle operation is a good strategic fit for Northland Forest Products,” said Northland President Howard Ewashko.

“We are very pleased to have this opportunity to grow our business and enhance our fibre security.” www.millarwestern.com

Gater offers high lead logging solution

Kamloops, B.C.-area inventor, Gordon Randall, has worked hard to provide solutions for many challenges faced by the forest industry. One product his company, Gater Grapples, offers is the model 17 “Jaws” high lead grapple, powered

impact and also improving its environment performance. The OHSAS 18001 certification shows that the company has a clearly defined management system and it wants to minimize risks to its workforce, visitors, sub-suppliers and contractors on its premises.

Bosch Rexroth Canada has locations throughout eastern and western Canada. www.boschrexroth.com

Komatsu Forestry launches new 855.1 forwarder

Komatsu America Corp recently launched its new 855.1 forwarder, which the company says offers many updated features.

The new 855.1 has an eight per cent increase in payload, a 17 per cent larger load space area, and an 11 per cent increase in tractive effort, compared to the previous Komatsu 855 model. The 855.1 matches the previous model 860.4 in payload and load space, plus has 4.5 per cent greater tractive effort. The 855.1 also features the ‘Comfort-Ride’ hydraulically

dampened cab suspension system as an option.

It is powered by an Agco Power Diesel 6.6 litre, 204 hp EPA Tier 4 Interim emissions certified engine. While producing the same horsepower as the 860.4, the 855.1 engine has 13 per cent higher torque and five per cent lower fuel consumption. The cooling system features a larger radiator and variable speed fan to increase cooling capacity by 23 percent. www.komatsuforest.us

# FEBRUARY 2016

NAME:________________________________ TITLE/POSITION:__________________ COMPANY NAME:_______________________________________________________

by a Kubota diesel engine with a load sensing piston pump. It has continuous rotation and only weighs about 1500 lbs.

It opens to 10’ and closes to 4”, and is radio controlled by the operator. www.gatergrapples.com

ADDRESS:____________________________________________________________

Bosch Rexroth Canada Corp achieves ISO and OHSAS certification

WEBSITE:____________________________________________________________

PHONE: ______________________________

EMAIL:______________________________________________________________

Bosch Rexroth Canada Corp says it is committed to providing the forest industry with superior products and services. To ensure that these reach its customers in the fastest and most reliable way, it constantly verifies and reviews all systems, thus ensuring consistency and best practices. Bosch Rexroth Canada’s ISO 9001 certification indicates that the company will meet not only its stated requirements, it will also meet more of their implied requirements.

ISO 14001 certification by Bureau Veritas verifies that it is committed to identifying and controlling its environmental

#

62

FAX:___________________________

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

INDEX

classified

ADVERTISER PAGE Andritz Iggesund Tools...................................5 Autolog.......................................................59 BC Saw Filer's Assoc. Conference.................58 Bosch Rexroth Group..............................7, 55 Brandt Tractor.............................................21 Brewco.......................................................45 Brunner-Hildebrand....................................31 Caterpillar...................................................27 ClimbMAX...................................................32 Comact.......................................................15 ContiTech...................................................39 DK Spec......................................................47 DLA Piper (Canada) LLP...............................14 Gilbert........................................................12 Inland Group..............................................33 IPG - Intertape Polymer...............................61 Jackson Lumber Harvester...........................45 JoeScan.......................................................46 John Deere.................................................35 Lico Machinery...........................................57 LINCK.........................................................11 Linden Fab..................................................44 Morbark......................................................43 Murray Latta Progressive Machine................12 Nicholson...................................................18 Olofsfors.....................................................49 Peterson......................................................52 Port of Prince Rupert...................................10 Quadco / Southstar Equipment.............. 22-23 Rawlings Mfg.................................................6 SM-Cyclo......................................................6 Southstar Equipment / Quadco.............. 22-23 Springer Microtec..........................................9 Stihl Ltd........................................................2 Terex Fuchs.................................................19 Tigercat.......................................................68 Tsubaki.......................................................17 Vets Group..................................................10 Wajax Equipment........................................41 Waratah......................................................67 Westerra Equipment....................................34 Wood-Mizer................................................38 Woodland Equipment..................................51 WPT Power.................................................30 Z-Tech Automation Systems.........................13

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

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REMAN EQUIPMENT (3) RESAWS (4) TRIMMERS (1) GMR TRAY SORTER (2) STACKERS BANDER (2) PLANERS (2) STICKER RECOVERY SYSTEMS MOULDER (4) TILT HOISTS (2) HULA SAWS (4) HOGS CHIP SCREEN (3) BAGHOUSES BOILER (3) HIGH PRESSURE BLOWERS (3) LOW PRESSURE BLOWERS (3) CHIP FEEDERS WALKING FLOOR (4) COMPRESSORS (4) AIR RECEIVERS KILN DOORS, CONTROLS, KILN CARTS, STICKERS, LUMBER FILING & GRINDING EQUIPMENT & STORES

ITEMS LOCATED IN

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LOG STACKERS 1998 LETOURNEAU 4594 LOG STACKER 1996 LETOURNEAU 4594SS LOG STACKER 1984 LETOURNEAU 2594SS LOG STACKER 1976 LETOURNEAU 2594S LOG STACKER LOG LOADERS 2001 JOHN DEERE 450LC HEEL BOOM 1996 KOMATSU PC300LC-3 HEEL BOOM KOMATSU PC300HD3 HEEL BOOM WHEEL LOADERS CAT 930 WHEEL LOADER JOHN DEERE 210C 4X4 SKIP LOADER BOBCAT 553 SKID STEER LOADER BOBCAT S175 SKID STEER LOADER BOBCAT MT55 MINI TRACK LOADER BACKHOE CASE 580C BACKHOE FORKLIFTS TAYLOR T360L FORKLIFT (4) TAYLOR TE330L FORKLIFTS TAYLOR THD-300M FORKLIFT TAYLOR GT-300 FORKLIFT (2) TAYLOR GT-280 FORKLIFTS (2) TAYLOR TE-250M FORKLIFTS TAYLOR TE-200S FORKLIFT TAYLOR TE-180M FORKLIFT (2) HYSTER H360HD FORKLIFTS HYSTER H230HD2 FORKLIFT (3) HYSTER H230XL FORKLIFTS HYSTER H190HD FORKLIFT HYSTER H170M FORKLIFT HYSTER H50FT FORKLIFT MITSUBISHI FG25B FORKLIFT P&H OMEGA 18-TON HYDRAULIC CRANE 1994 GROVE M6BB MAN LIFT (4) LUMBER TRAILERS ASSORTMENT OF HEAVY TRUCKS, PICKUP TRUCKS & SUVS QUANTITY OF SUPPORT PARTS, TIRES AND OFFICE FURNITURE

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MURPHYAUCTION.COM - 1.800.426.3008 Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

65

thelastword

The year ahead for the forest industry: it sure ain't going to be boring

By Jim Stirling

I

t’s just as well that the Canadian forest industry has learned to be durable and adaptable. Those attributes look to be in demand as 2016 progresses.

Predictions are fragile confections at best, influenced as they are in unexpected ways by outside forces. The forest industry needs to muster its resilience and reactions as those forces unfold. And the economic soothsayers need to keep their excuses close to hand.

Take a glance, for instance, at Canada’s non-domestic lumber markets. It really wasn’t long ago that market category primarily meant the United States’ demand for dimension lumber. That dependence has waned to more sensible levels, but the U.S. lumber market remains vital to Canadian lumber producers, as well as providing a useful barometer to economic health on a global scale. The much anticipated recovery from the depths of the last recession has been slower and more uneven than many pundits predicted.

But it is happening. The U.S. economy has been consistently recording quarterly growth in excess of two per cent for more than a year. The U.S. registered an annualized increase of 2.1 per cent in 2015’s third quarter gross domestic product figures. Canada’s growth averages around half that, attributable to our reliance on export commodities like oil and gas and minerals. U.S. housing starts—the key statistic to many Canadian lumber producers—are increasing like the overall economy, but oh so gradually.

Events elsewhere are sending their ripple effects into the U.S. demand equation.

Quebec’s forest industry, for instance, has long developed traditional markets in Europe for wood products. But recent European currency value declines against the U.S. dollar erodes some of Quebec lumber manufacturers’ price advantages.

Partly as a result of that, the province looks to increase shipments into the U.S.

Europe is not the only market experiencing slowdowns in lumber demand. It’s a similar situation throughout the troubled Middle East and Asia.

Forest consultant and analyst Russ Taylor neatly summarized the U.S. market realities. “All the suppliers are trying to increase production two, three, five per cent and consumption is growing at about one to two per cent.” One interpretation from that is that it’s going to be tough to hang on to the U.S. market share under the present circumstances—let alone increase it.

Then, of course, there’s China: the market that kept many sawmills operating during the gloom of the recession, especially in British Columbia. But everyone knew—didn’t they?—that annual levels of demand for lumber in China during its heady days of double digit growth were unsustainable.

Taylor says homebuilding has declined by about 17 per cent during 2015. B.C.’s lumber shipments to China were 4.9 million cubic metres to the end of the third quarter of 2015. That represents a 14 per cent drop from the same period of 2014.

“Flat” is the word Taylor used to describe the overall China lumber market prediction for 2016. Japan and other Asian markets aren’t yet in ascendancy and appear unlikely to register the sustained growth in economic activity that stimulates new lumber demand.

At the time of writing, there’s little measurable progress on re-negotiating a softwood lumber agreement with the U.S. The grace period for a new agreement expires at the end of October. The inaction contributes to further uncertainty for Canadian lumber producers and by extension the whole forest sector. Not knowing if there’s going to be a new deal or what shape it might take effects investment decisions for logging contractors and forest companies and negatively reverberates

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - February 2016

through small forestry town Canada.

In B.C. the uncertainty is further skewed by timber supply. The mountain pine beetle epidemic’s bite is destined to get deeper unequally through many pockets of the interior. Saw logs and their prices will be at a premium. More sawmilling capacity is likely to be lost as a result.

Aboriginal title and its impacts on resource extraction are lowering their own clouds of uncertainty. The Supreme Court of Canada’s 2014 ruling granting the Tsilhqot’in title to specified lands in their traditional territory captured everyone’s attention. The potential impacts were much analyzed but the on-the-ground ramifications for the forest industry have so far been relatively benign. One possible reason is the forest industry in B.C. at least has long had business relationships with aboriginal groups which, by and large, have worked harmoniously.

But another Supreme Court of Canada decision rendered last October represents a new element of uncertainty. Not to mention a potentially toxic can of worms.

The Supreme Court in its decision effectively recognizes aboriginal title and allowed two First Nations the right to file a class action suit against a private company. The Saik’uz and Stellat’en First Nations took on Rio Tinto Alcan and the impacts of the company’s Kenney Dam on the Nechako River and their aboriginal rights.

Aboriginal groups, which claim more than 100 per cent of the provincial area, in light of this latest Supreme Court decision, now have the right to sue private companies for damages, not just governments.

Resource development is now even more firmly in lawyers’ hands, which is not a productive development for anyone else involved.

There is one prediction, however, that isn’t clouded with uncertainty: 2016 ain’t going to be boring.

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