Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

Visit LSJ’s website at www.forestnet.com

May/June 2023

BACKWOODS FORESTRY SOLUTIONS SWITCHES GEARS

to focus solely on forest industry Small Sawmilling

STRAIT TIMBER:

Have mill, will travel

B.C.’S SAN GROUP

makes mill acquisition, plans upgrades WITH THIS ISSUE...

ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF INDUSTRY INNOVATION

LANDRICH 2.0 HARVESTER GETS TWO THUMBS-UP

in New Brunswick

May/June 2023 Volume 54 • No. 3 Editor Paul MacDonald Contributing Editors Jim Stirling, Tony Kryzanowski George Fullerton Tech Update Editor Tony Kryzanowski Publisher/CEO Anthony Robinson • (778) 991-3500 E-Mail: arobinson@forestnet.com Associate Publisher Hannah Rayment • (778) 688-9127 E-mail: hannah@forestnet.com Social Media: Kaitlin Davidson Digital Marketing: Hannah Rayment Email: hannah@forestnet.com Subscription Enquiries (604) 990-9970 Fax: (705) 434-9052 E-mail: SubscribeLSJ@forestnet.com Design & Art Production Manager Sheila Ringdahl E-mail: artwork@forestnet.com Accounting Manager Shelina Jessa • (604) 731-1535 E-mail: accounting@forestnet.com Office P.O. Box 86670 North Vancouver, BC V7L 4L2 Phone: (604) 990-9970 Website: www.forestnet.com Subscriptions: Canada $58 a year; two years $70; three years, $85. Group accounts, six or more subscriptions, $25 per subscription per year. Outside Canada, $95 per year.

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FEATURES On the Cover: Despite the current industry downturn—following the lumber market going on a tear through the pandemic—the B.C.-based San Group is continuing on a strategy that involves acquisitions and equipment upgrades. The purchase of the Acorn sawmill is part of that strategy, and the company now plans a number of upgrades at the facility.

In a year when the B.C. forest industry has been marked by permanent sawmill closures, Kamal Sanghera, the San Group’s CEO, notes that the company is working hard to make investments—and create jobs—in the province. Read all about the developments at the San Group beginning on page 12 of this issue. (Cover photo courtesy of the San Group).

4 Spotlight: Have mill/ will travel …

Wood-Mizer’s LT40 portable sawmill is a solid fit for the Have Sawmill, Will Travel, custom sawmilling/customer-focused approach of B.C.’s Strait Timber.

8

Switching gears in Alberta … to forestry

Alberta contractor Backwoods Forestry Solutions is switching gears, going from logging solely for the oil patch to logging for the forest industry.

12 San Group keeping

18 Shortage of logging

truck drivers moving along autonomous trucks

A severe shortage of logging truck drivers is among the drivers for an initiative to customize autonomous truck driving technology on Canadian resource roads by 2026.

22 Landrich 2.0 gets two

thumbs up

The equipment operators at L.E. Spencer—including 78-year-old Lloyd Spencer—are finding the outfit’s new Landrich 2.0 harvester to be a very good fit for their New Brunswick logging.

busy with acquisition, upgrades

30

DEPARTMENTS

38 The Last Word

B.C. forest company the San Group has been busy lately, with the company working on completing a new small log line, and purchasing the Acorn sawmill, with plans for upgrades.

Calendar...........................................6 Tech Update....................................26 Suppliernewsline............................32 Ad Index/Subscriptions..................37 Classifieds......................................37 Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

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 (CWFC) and FPInnovations.

The B.C. Interior town of Houston is waiting for a Canfor sawmill decision to come this summer, but also planning for beyond that decision, notes Jim Stirling.

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spotlight Strait Timber Inc.’s Wood-Mizer LT40 at work on a recent job on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast.

Have mill/

will travel…

Wood-Mizer’s LT40 portable sawmill is a solid fit for the Have Sawmill, Will Travel, custom sawmilling/ customer-focused approach of B.C.’s Strait Timber.

By Jim Stirling haul to the mill. Folklore has it there were

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mall, movable sawmills have played a time-honoured role in the development of British Columbia’s pioneer forest industry. Strait Timber Inc., on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, is following the historical lead—and writing a new footnote to the old style portable mill’s story.

The company has acquired a sophisticated portable sawmill unit and is taking it wherever customers have work for it along B.C.’s rugged coastline. The Have Mill/Will Travel business plan—with apologies to the similarly named old radio and TV shows of the 1950s and 1960s— represents an intriguing sawmilling niche with a promising future.

The old style portable mills also served a practical purpose. They were typically set up close to the forest stand they were to harvest, and moved on when felled timber became too far away to profitably

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

more than 600 portable sawmills of varying description and efficiency scattered through the bush surrounding Prince George in the 1950s and early-1960s.

Hard data is scant to verify the accurate numbers, but there were many small mills from one- and two-man operations on up that were regularly moving on and occasionally burning down.

The arrival of the pulp mill era changed all that. The forest industry was ushered into a great transformation. Something similar is happening today, but for very different reasons. The effects of the warming climate is behind much of today’s changes. It influenced the severity of the B.C. Interior’s mountain pine beetle epidemic, and the subsequent surge in destructive wild fires. The resulting fibre shortages have contributed to the industry’s rising operating costs.

But today’s realities are presenting new

spotlight

The Robinson Airbnb.

Logging and Sawmilling Journal Publisher Anthony Robinson (above) gave the Strait Timber crew a solid two-thumbs-up.

opportunities for portable sawmilling to come full circle. Greg Kelley, Jake Stanley and Danny Byers are the principals behind Strait Timber’s initiatives. The three 30-something friends based around the Gibsons area of southwestern B.C. were exploring business opportunities they might pursue. That was around the time when the Covid-19 epidemic clamped down on most aspects of day to day normalcy.

In hindsight, some of the effects of the epidemic were not an altogether bad thing for Strait Timber. People were confined to their homes. They spent more time looking around more closely at their surroundings. Many landowners among the confined began examining their properties in a different light. They began to reassess the opportunities offered.

“That was happening when lumber prices were skyrocketing,” recalled Jake Stanley, Strait Timber’s head operator and on-the-job point man. “We looked around on the coast and we saw some of the highest quality trees in the world.”

Strait Timber’s partners began putting together a business plan that could capitalize on the geographic realities of the region against the background of a changing pandemic. The concept of taking custom sawmilling and urban forestry services on the road—direct to the customer—began crystallizing.

A central early decision for Strait Timber was what was the best type of portable sawmill to invest in, that would test their business premise, said Stanley. Their extensive market research steered the three entrepreneurs toward Wood-Mizer’s LT40 wide portable sawmill model. The mill combined most of the features Strait

to page 6

Strait Timber delivers the straight goods— for LSJ Publisher

By Anthony Robinson

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criteria, and how we could get the most out of each piece. I really enjoyed working alongside the crew—it felt like I was back in the sawmill. While studying at university, my summer job and best way to “refill the tuition fee coffers” was planting trees in the winter and working at my local sawmill in the summer (Australian summer, mind you), and this was in part the reason why I got so interested in forestry.

Shortly after the crew from Strait Timber left, Hannah and I got working on our latest project, which was to be our first exploration into Airbnb hosting. We purchased a tiny home and then set about building a cedar deck adjoining the home.

The cedar that Jake and his team cut was beautiful, clear, high quality stuff, a pleasure to work with. Hannah said: “It’s pretty neat that the trees that we felled and milled have now built a beautiful deck. In fact, some of them didn’t move more than 30 feet!” We don’t imagine any of this lumber will leave the property as we have a long list of projects to complete.

And along the way, it saved us thousands of dollars we would have had to spend for the wood deck materials—and it makes for a great story, for our guests.

Also, in today’s need for being aware of our impact, this only adds to the story of carbon consciousness for our tiny home guests.

To date the endeavour has proven successful and we were happy to welcome our first guest into the space in late-March and we see a busy calendar of bookings for the foreseeable summer months.

ince moving to B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, my soon-to-be-wife Hannah has been hearing the words, “I really want to buy a sawmill”, from me on a regular basis.

“Han, we should really get a sawmill, think of all the logs we can get from some of our amazing trees.” She’s likely getting slightly tired of the rhetoric!

After having Melie de Jonge and Richard Butler come onto our property and drop a number of large beautiful trees (see recent story here: https:// forestnet.com/LSJissues/2022-november-december/filling.php), no pun intended, but I had my work cut out for me, bucking, and piling the logs. And the thought of the time and logistics of publishing 12 magazines a year (Logging and Sawmilling Journal and sister magazine, TimberWest), an impending wedding—plus milling all these logs ourselves—just seemed a bit much.

That’s where we reached out to Strait Timber and found Jake Stanley extremely responsive and easy to deal with; Jake and his crew came out here for a week, they cut our wood for 2.5 days and then moved to our neighbour’s property, milling there for another three days.

We were astonished with their efficiency, and the sheer amount of lumber they produced in a week.

We worked with Jake to develop a cutting list and every log was careYou can check out fully assessed to meet our

our Airbnb here!

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

5

spotlight from page 5 Timber was seeking. “It’s an efficient, high production machine,” summarized Stanley. “The mill runs automatically, with hydraulic log handling. It’s user friendly and produces nice lumber.”

Wood-Mizer says its LT40 mill is designed to produce industrial quality lumber and cant production. The company adds that the portable can deal with logs up to 36 inches in diameter, and log lengths of 21 feet is standard, and longer lengths with bed extensions. Wood-Mizer cites a production capability of up to 550 board feet an hour. It’s a level of performance that bears little resemblance to many of the cantankerous old portable mills held together by baling wire and wishful thinking which echoed through the forests back in the day, The Wood-Mizer LT40 has lived up to its billing so far, reported Stanley, and proven versatile and dependable. The mill comes with its own trailer that is easily towed by a pick-up truck. Stanley said the mill has proven straightforward to set up for work on customers’ property. “Getting it into a driveway has often been more of a problem,” he noted.

A more serious issue for Strait Timber is an all too familiar one: good help. As the young company strives to create continuity in its work order books, keeping a full work force busy is a challenge, explained Stanley. “We have about five casual workers we can call on,” he said.

An understanding of the best ways to use social media outlets was second nature to Strait Timber’s partners. “Social media has really helped us get the word out about our business,” reported Stanley. All three of the company’s partners are locals, so word-of-mouth contacts also helped promote their new sawmill-for-hire business.

But the low tech approach to business

development wasn’t neglected. “We also posted some notices around town.”

Even so, establishing and sustaining the business has been challenging and remains so, continued Stanley. “We want to become the go-to guys for portable milling services along the coast and Gulf Islands up to Powell River.” Strait Timber is wary about jumping the gun but expansion is part of the company business plan.

“We have big plans once we have the business progressing and can see future growth,” he outlined.

Strait Timber would like to establish a stationary sawmill, like Wood-Mizer’s LT70 model. They would use it to help remanufacture their lumber to meet market requirements (typically Strait Timber negotiates a 50-50 split with the land owner for the lumber produced on site). But there’s one link between the company’s

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

On a recent job on the Robinson Property on the Sunshine Coast are (above, left to right) Danny Byers, Logging and Sawmilling Journal Publisher Anthony Robinson, Jimmy Allcock and Jake Stanley. The dog on-site supervisor is Anthony’s pooch, Duke.

present and future business plans. “We’ll be keeping the portable mill side going,” confirmed Stanley.

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contractorprofile Backwoods Forestry Solutions has purchased two John Deere 803M feller bunchers for use in its new endeavor logging for forestry companies, after years logging rights of way for the oil and gas sector.

SWITCHING GEARS SWITCHING GEARS in Alberta …to forestry

Alberta contractor Backwoods Forestry Solutions is switching gears, going from logging solely for the oil patch to logging for the forest industry.

By Tony Kryzanowski ackwoods Forestry Solutions is a big wheel that is just starting to turn.”

That is how Slade Becker, Project Manager at Backwoods Forestry Solutions, characterizes the Alberta company’s recent decision to change directions from logging solely for the oil and gas sector to logging primarily for forest companies.

Backwoods Forestry Solutions has taken on a logging contract with an Alberta forest company to supply 100,000 cubic metres of wood each year for five years, with the potential for another 50,000 cubic metres. According to Becker, the company is also in discussions with several other forest companies.

Headquartered in Edmonton, this business endeavor is only one division of several operating under the Backwoods

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

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“

umbrella, and owned 100 per cent by the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation situated near Gunn, Alberta, about 60 kilometres northwest of Edmonton. For nearly two decades, Backwoods was a partnership between the Alexis Nation and a private investor, but in 2021 they bought out their partner.

What’s noteworthy about this logging contract is that Backwoods Forestry Solutions will be logging on lands that have

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contractorprofile been occupied and used by the Nakota Sioux for hundreds of years. Their first logging assignment is within Treaty 6 territory at Chip Lake near Edson.

“Our goal is to have a self-sufficient indigenous company working directly for the mills,” says Becker.

He adds that both Backwoods and the forest company are very pleased with this business relationship and there is excitement within the community for the steady work available in their own backyard.

That is a primary reason why Backwoods has pivoted toward logging for the forest industry. Compared with the unpredictability of right-of-way (ROW) logging contracts for the oil and gas sector, forestry logging provides stable and predictable employment for workers, as well as predictable cash flow for the company.

They have the added benefit of being able to provide experienced equipment operators from their oilfield work to their forestry operations, and have also hired a forestry superintendent with 35 years’ experience.

Backwoods Forestry Solutions has two fully-equipped logging lines and is purchasing equipment for a third. They are also field training new equipment operators and truck drivers to man this third line. They are a stump-to-mill contractor, with not only the ability to log, but also transport wood fibre to their client’s mill.

The fact that Backwoods Forestry Solutions can also provide the trucking is valuable to both their client and to Backwoods, given the current shortage of available, qualified log truck drivers. It provides employment for local indigenous workers who will be trained in how to transport logs, and reduces stress for their client, knowing that their logs will be delivered from a reliable source.

The seven divisions within Backwoods are logging, manufacture and supply of resource mats, security, civil, mechanical, logistics and reclamation and remediation.

For the nearly two decades of their existence, they have logged entirely for the oil and gas sector on a number of major pipeline projects. They have also conducted mine remediation and reclamation for major mining companies. All told, there are 800 employees working within the seven Backwoods divisions, reaching as high as 1,200 at certain times of the year.

Another primary goal of this indigenous-owned endeavor is to increase employment opportunities for First Nations.

One of their partners is the Alexander First Nation located north of Edmonton near Morinville. At present, about 15 per

One skill that Backwoods Forestry Solutions learned from its nearly two decades logging for the oil and gas industry was how to deal with a variety of wood species and fibre sizes, as all of the wood is removed from a right of way (ROW), with the goal of salvaging as much as possible.

cent of the Backwoods workforce is indigenous. The goal is to reach 30 per cent by 2030. Growing their logging activities for forest companies is a big part of their overall growth and employment plan.

“The philosophy at Backwoods is to give members of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation opportunities to build careers and lifelong employment,” says Becker, providing members with life skills which they can develop either within Backwoods or in any other endeavor that they may decide to pursue down the road.

Becker knows all about the importance

of developing marketable job skills and the value that companies put in those skills. He grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan, and for nearly two decades worked primarily as an equipment operator for various companies. He joined Backwoods eight years ago and has risen steadily through the ranks, starting as an equipment operator, learning how to operate forestry equipment like feller bunchers.

The company then promoted him to

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

9

to page 10

contractorprofile from page 9 foreman, supervisor, and now, project manager, responsible for the entire logging division.

There are notable differences in right-of-way logging vs. logging for forest companies. One of the main differences, says Becker, is that there is much more management for wood fibre quality on forestry cutblocks. When logging ROWs, all the wood fibre is removed, regardless of its quality, within a defined space to make way for a pipeline.

Backwoods recently cleared the way for part of a major pipeline project in Alberta and B.C. They were responsible for logging a 75-kilometre section from the community of Nojack, east of Edson, to about halfway between Edson and Hinton. The ROW was mostly 60 metres wide. It involved logging, cutting stumps down to ground level, delivering salvaged logs to area forestry companies, creating and burning bush piles, and finally, mulching the entire area. It had a significant softwood and hardwood mix.

Fortunately, there were facilities close by where merchantable fibre could be used

both as sawlogs and as pulpwood. Becker estimates that about 75 per cent of the wood fibre was merchantable.

He adds that Backwoods Forestry Solutions encountered just about every obstacle imaginable on this project, such as slopes, soft ground conditions, fish-bearing and non-fish-bearing creek crossings, navigating safely across other pipelines and dealing with private landowners. And then there was the environmental scrutiny.

They were regularly being observed by members of the environmental activist community, so extra care and attention was given to the potential environmental impact of their logging activities. This involved their usual practice of placing spill and drip trays under equipment overnight, as well as complete equipment inspections at the beginning and after each shift. They also conducted full walkthroughs of each area slated for logging, with the entire crew, before any trees were removed, which often revealed areas of concern, such as pieces of metal left in the bush that they had to avoid, and sensitive creek crossings. A good part of their safety meetings was spent addressing these concerns.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

“We had a whole checklist of things that we’d look for during the walkthrough,” says Becker. “It was slower going because of that. But we ensured that we didn’t run into any issues that would cause us to have a shutdown.”

They were under observation every day, and Backwoods Forestry Solutions finished the assignment with a good track record.

Given their experience dealing with a variety of ground conditions on this pipeline project and others over the years, this has definitely influenced their purchasing decisions on what equipment works best to suit their needs. For example, they recently bought a couple of John Deere 803M feller bunchers to work in their forestry logging operations to replace a much heavier and older unit they worked with in their ROW logging operations.

Supporting the feller bunchers are two John Deere 648G skidders, and two John Deere 2154 roadside processors with Waratah 622B processing heads. Their log loader is a Tigercat 870 machine. For transporting logs, they have six Kenworth T800 trucks in their fleet.

For their third line, they plan to split

contractorprofile the equipment complement half and half between John Deere and Tigercat, while also adding another log loader and three more logging trucks.The Brandt Group is the Alberta dealer for John Deere equipment, and Wajax is the Tigercat dealer for Alberta.

One challenge they encountered regularly while working on the pipeline project was soft ground conditions. That’s why they are pleased with the performance their newer John Deere 803M feller bunchers have delivered so far.

“They are unreal machines,” says Becker. “They are light and their weight is well-distributed with long tracks. They also have tons of power, speed, and zero tail swing cabs for working in tight areas.”

Like other contractors, Backwoods Forestry Solutions is experiencing significant lead time for the delivery of parts and new equipment from equipment suppliers, which is why they are planning now for what they may need a year from now.

They are in discussions with equipment suppliers regarding product availability and delivery time.

One benefit of having several divisions is that Backwoods can move support

Backwoods Forestry Solutions, owned by the Alexis Nakota Sioux First Nation, has two experienced logging crews and is training a third. Right now, about 15 per cent of their employees are Indigenous. They hope to reach 30 per cent by 2030. equipment, such as excavators, dozers and low beds, from one division to another as needed. They can also reassign truck drivers to support one division or another, depending on demand.

Backwoods is going further than diversifying into logging into the forest industry.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

They are also in discussions with a major wood pellet producer about making better use of wood residuals generated from their resource mat construction operations. The future, as the company sees it, is in the forest.

11

BCsawmilling

KEEPING BUSY

with acquisitions, upgrades

B.C. forest company the San Group has been busy lately, with the company working on completing a new small log line, and purchasing the Acorn sawmill, with plans for upgrades.

By Paul MacDonald he San Group’s motto says it all, in terms of value-added wood remanufacturing, says Kamal Sanghera, the San Group’s CEO. The motto? From Harvest to Home.

The company uses the timber harvested in B.C. forests and manufactures added-value products that will see the end product going to the home.

The pieces to do that are all there, at the company. The San Group’s vertically and horizontally integrated business units include harvesting, primary manufacturing, remanufacturing, value-added manufacturing, retail sales and global distribution. Their end goal: maximize the utilization of each log harvested. In short, it’s all about recovery—and doing manufacturing in Canada.

“We want to create manufacturing and value-added jobs right here, in B.C.,” says Sanghera.

Despite the current industry downturn—following the lumber market going on a tear through the pandemic—they are continuing to pursue that strategy, with acquisitions and equipment upgrades.

The last year has been especially busy for the Langley, B.C.-based San Group, with the company working on completing a new small log line, adding to its reman operations, and purchasing the Acorn sawmill on the B.C. Coast from one of North America’s largest lumber producers, Interfor.

In a year when the B.C. forest industry has been marked by permanent sawmill closures, Sanghera notes that the company is working hard to make investments— and create jobs—in the province.

The purchase of the Acorn operation is part of that strategy, says Sanghera, and the company now plans a number of upgrades at the facility, located in Delta, a suburb of Vancouver.

The acquisition builds on San Group’s

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fully integrated value-added wood products processing methodology and positions the company’s Innovative Lumber Manufacturing Systems (ILMS) with the mill’s production capabilities.

“The Acorn mill is a good fit because we need shorter lengths for our reman facilities in Langley and Port Alberni, and Acorn is perfect for that,” said Sanghera.

“Acorn is a very good mill, but it needs more investment to make it even better,” Sanghera added. The acquisition will integrate Acorn’s production into San Group’s value-added manufacturing model which uses downstream processes to create wood products ready for distribution, he says.

The acquisition also expands San Group’s business by increasing its global customer base and providing access to new regions. San will inherit the Acorn mill’s long-standing position as a specialty wood products provider for the Japanese market. San Group manufactures and

BCsawmilling

The still-to-come expansion at San Group’s newly acquired Acorn sawmill will focus on installing a new auto grader and dry kilns to modernize the sawmill’s efficiency.

exports Canadian-made wood products to over 27 countries It is emerging as an even larger player in the B.C. forest industry.

Following the Acorn acquisition, San Group’s production capacity now exceeds 500 million board feet, making it the second largest sawmilling company on the B.C. Coast—and one of the largest privately held forestry companies in Western Canada.

“Acorn’s complementary sawmilling technology, customer base, and geographic footprint make it an excellent fit with our value-added business model, and the transaction strengthens our global wood products export base,” said Sanghera.

“The acquisition is also consistent with our go-forward strategy to diversify and accelerate investment in high-growth areas.”

Added Suki Sanghera, San Group’s, Co-Owner, and Kamal’s brother: “We have invested a great deal into the B.C. forestry sector, including the construction of a new mill and world leading 300,000 sq. ft. value-added plant in Port Alberni, and Acorn will seamlessly integrate within our ecosystem creating at scale one of Canada’s most efficient and largest valueadded wood products companies.” to page 14

Acorn sawmill deal a bit of deja-vu for San Group

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he acquisition of the Acorn sawmill from forest company Interfor has a bit of a deja-vu feeling for the San Group.

One of the San Group’s first major deals in the lumber industry was with Interfor CEO Lawrence Sauder in the early 1990’s, to acquire a remanufacturing plant in B.C. “We are humbled to now have the opportunity to purchase Acorn, one of the premier sawmilling facilities on the B.C. Coast,” says Kamal Sanghera, the San Group’s CEO. “We will strive to live up to the Sauder Family’s name and their contribution to the B.C. forest industry by emulating Lawrence Sauder’s entrepreneurial spirit.”

Founded by the Sauder Family and now with annual revenue of more than

$4.5 billion, Interfor had humble beginnings. It started life as a single sawmill in Whonnock, in B.C.’s Fraser Valley, and is now one of the largest lumber producers in North America, with production capacity of over five billion board feet.

The Acorn mill is located on a 30acre leased site on the Fraser River in Delta, B.C. It was built in 1963 and was acquired by Interfor in 2001 from Primex Forest Products.

The mill specializes in producing lumber squares for the traditional Japanese home market and most of the production is exported to Asia. It has a two-shift rated capacity of approximately 140 million board feet per year, but has been operating on a one-shift basis for many years.

Acorn produced 56 million board feet of lumber in 2021.

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BCsawmilling “Kamal and Suki have been involved in the reman business for 40 years, where supply of raw materials was always difficult,” said Bob Bortolin, vice-president of business development at the San Group.

“What that means is they have to be creative, and take bits and pieces and turn them into wood products. These two guys know markets.”

Along with that comes a strong entrepreneurial drive. That same drive may have existed with the large major forest companies at some point, but as they have grown, decisions take longer to make.

“The majors can’t move the way we move—we make decisions quickly, and can make changes quickly,” says Kamal.

And that includes making decisions on equipment purchases, new and new-to-San. San picked up the Anthon equipment for Port Alberni from an equipment auction at the now shut down Greenwood Forest Products mill in Penticton, B.C. The German-based Anthon equipment’s North American dealer is North Carolina-based European Woodworking Machinery Co. The still-to-come Acorn Forest Products expansion will focus on installing a new auto grader and dry kilns to modernize the sawmill’s efficiency.

After purchasing the mill, San Group’s leadership team identified these projects to help enhance the mill’s output capacity while reducing waste. They are also looking at moving from the fixed edger now in place at the mill, to a shifting edger to achieve better recovery. “We want to get more recovery in one pass, and not waste going back and forth with the wood,” says Sanghera.

In the last year, the San Group purchased the Acorn sawmill from forest company, Interfor. The Acorn mill is located on a 30-acre leased site on the Fraser River in Delta, B.C., a suburb of Vancouver. advanced manufacturing process will not only help improve San Group’s product portfolio, but also increase the company’s push to create downstream high value products for global export.

The company’s approach is to, as much as possible, manufacture wood products that customers are looking for, rather than manufacturing wood products, and then finding a market for them. It may seem like a subtle difference, but it’s significant in that it helps the company get away from commodity wood products.

For example, over 50 per cent of their production is pre-sold.

And there is, again, a strong focus on recovery.

from page 13 As it has in the past, the San Group continues to take a different path from the major forest companies in B.C.—who have a focus on commodity products— with its focus on value added products.

“The San product is more of a finished product and that is where we have been investing a lot of our capital for the last four or five years,” says Kamal. And going forward, for the next several years, too.

The San Group’s value-added expansion includes installing an Anthon line, a fully automated system designed to develop edge glued panels extending to eight feet, in Port Alberni. The Anthon line’s

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BCsawmilling Explained John Langstroth, San Group’s Senior Vice President: “We are highly integrated and these advancements allow us to add efficiencies and realize economies of scale. The two projects create further synergistic effects on sales integration, allowing us to expand our product base.

Additionally, we will need to focus on hiring more skilled workers to handle the increased capacity.”

Sanghera says that due to the drop in lumber markets, they are pacing some of the changes to mill operations, with a focus on projects that will deliver quicker returns on investments. They have also carried out some improvements to the back end of the Acorn mill, to better handle residual materials. He noted they will also be working on improving the scanning equipment at the mill. “We are working with the designers and the equipment companies to help us make the right decisions on what to install.”

They also may be tapping into funding the provincial government has made available for value added operations.

In January, the B.C. Government announced it will invest as much as $90 million over three years through the new BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund. The fund will support high-value industrial and manufacturing projects to drive clean and inclusive growth in rural, remote and Indigenous communities.

The upgrades will be building on an existing base of high tech equipment already in place at the company’s operations, including: • At the centre of the San Group’s small log operation in Port Alberni is a refurbished and upgraded HewSaw R200 A.1 single pass sawing machine, which provides added benefits, such as improved recovery and a substantial increase in throughput compared to traditional sawmilling techniques. The equipment is designed to process small logs, from 3” to 14” in diameter.

The R200 A.1 at San Group was originally at Northlands Forest Products in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Northlands purchased the machine new in 1996 and then sold it to San Group when they purchased a brand new HewSaw, which was installed in 2017. The older machine was shipped to HewSaw’s Abbotsford, B.C. workshop where it was stripped down, the frame was checked and re-painted, and then the machine was rebuilt before being sent to San Group’s Port Alberni site where it was installed in 2020. to page 16

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This 1997 HewSaw R200 A.1 machine was refurbished and upgraded for San Group.

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BCsawmilling The R200 A. 1 is one of HewSaw’s highly productive single pass machines.

Logs 8 to 20 ft in length are scanned on a HewSaw v-flight scanning conveyor and then positioned for the primary breakdown process based on the scan information with a HewSaw rotary log positioner.

The logs are then chipped on all four sides prior to the resulting cant being further processed by a vertical double arbour ripsaw (horizontal saws). Following the ripsaw, the lumber heads downstream for further processing.

HewSaw has been manufacturing sawing machines and lines in Finland for almost 60 years and has delivered more than 400 lines worldwide including over 70 installations in North America. The company offers a full range of products that can process logs from 3 inches to over 22 inches in diameter and in most cases they handle the edging process, eliminating the need for downstream edging equipment.

• Also at Port Alberni, wood is run through a MiCROTEC Goldeneye 502 scanner, which features next-generation

X-ray technology sensors and state-ofthe-art cameras and components. The scanner allows the San Group mill to recognize wood defects reliably and accurately in order to automate, streamline and optimize its production.

Among the equipment suppliers for the Port Alberni project was MPM Engineering, which supplied sawmill optimization software. Arrow Speed Controls provided Variable Frequency Drives for the project.

At the front end, the mill has a custombuilt merchandizer that was built by the San Group on site, and a VK Brunette, MK V-17 G debarker. Towards the back, the mill has a Newnes 60 bin sorter that came out of the Tolko operation in Williams Lake, B.C., and an Acme lumber packaging unit. The remanufacturing operation has six dry kilns, two specialty Porta Kilns from Innovated Control Systems, and four larger Track Loaded Kilns from Brunner Hildebrand. The Brunner Hildebrand dry kilns each have a holding capacity of 100,000 board feet, and are equipped with the state-of-the-art B-Vector control system.

Unlike most mill operations on the B.C. coast, the new Port Alberni sawmill is specifically set up to handle smaller,

16

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

from page 15

second growth timber. The mill is designed to produce 120 million board feet a year, from logs as small as three-inches in diameter.

But setting all this equipment up—and building the first sawmill to be built on the B.C. coast in 15 years—came with special challenges. They built all this in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But San CEO Kamal Sanghera seems to welcome a challenge.

Going forward, San expects one of the major challenges for the company—like the rest of the industry—will lie in getting workers. “Shortage of people is a problem, but we’re hiring more every day,” says Sanghera. They have a regular presence at job fairs where they operate.

They are also working with local First Nations groups around Port Alberni, and now have about 25 First Nations employees.

And they are focusing on training their employees, in areas from grading to technology, for a value-added human approach.

As for future acquisitions, Kamal said there is still more growth to come. “Stay tuned,” he offered.

transportation

SHORTAGE OF LOGGING TRUCK DRIVERS

A severe shortage of logging truck drivers is among the drivers for an initiative to customize autonomous truck driving technology on Canadian resource roads by 2026.

By Tony Kryzanowski

MOVING ALONG A AUTONOMOUS TRUCKS

A national initiative to develop safe, autonomous, log truck platooning technology for application initially on Canadian resource roads is gaining momentum.

national initiative that is being led by Canada’s forest products research institute, FPInnovations, to develop safe, autonomous, log truck platooning technology for application initially on Canadian resource roads is gaining momentum.

Truck platooning is a convoy of trucks which, for example, could be empty or loaded logging trucks that are electronically linked together. An experienced driver operates the lead truck and the following trucks respond to the lead truck’s movements through a drive-by-wire and autonomy system.

What is driving this initiative is a severe shortage of qualified log truck drivers, with many forest companies experiencing disruptions in log delivery as a result. So there is great motivation to find solutions to overcome this transportation challenge.

A consistent, year-round log supply is critical for forest companies to avoid mill shutdowns.

The goal of the Canadian forestry autonomous driving initiative is not to replace qualified and experienced log truck drivers, but to provide companies with options in the face of the current shortage to maintain delivery flow. Part of the challenge is the competition for qualified truck drivers among different resource sectors— particularly in remote areas.

“The mills are located in rural communities and there is a lot of effort on the part of the forest companies to have enough qualified and experienced drivers,” says Jonathan Lethbridge, Manager of Business Analysis and Business Development at FPInnovations.

“This kind of driving is difficult work and takes a lot of skill,” he adds. “Those drivers are hard to find. There are a lot of resources that go into finding and retaining these types of folks. This technology will help the mills because there is a big to page 20

18

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

transportation from page 18 gap right now. This technology will help them fill that gap.”

The shortage of qualified truck drivers is not a short-term issue. It is chronic, existing even before the COVID-19 pandemic, and is a key contributor to the current problems being experienced in many industries related to disruptions and costs associated with the supply chain.

The application of the technology is aimed at long distance transportation of goods, initially on resource roads where there is an immediate need. While development of autonomous driving and platooning technology is being developed and applied within many transportation sectors, there is nothing really focused on resource road transportation, which presents its own unique challenges for this technology to work safely and consistently.

FPInnovations has partnered with autonomous vehicle technology provider, Robotic Research, to deliver an affordable and safe system by 2026. Several Canadian forest companies have partnered with the institute in this initiative.

“Our main driving force is safety,” says Aisha Manderson, senior engineer and project manager on the FPInnovations autonomous driving initiative. “We are taking a very incremental, graduated approach to testing to achieve a safe product.”

FPInnovations itself is bringing considerable experience to the project, having already conducted extensive research into the viability of truck platooning within the Canadian forest sector. Choosing to work with Robotic Research was a good fit since they had an existing system.

“The previous work that we have done with other technology partners has proven that the concept of platooning is viable on resource roads but we have to pay close attention that the system can operate in our environment,” says Manderson.

“In remote areas, we do have instances where we lose GPS. So we cannot rely on GPS and we cannot rely on the ability of the follower vehicle to see the lead vehicle, due to loss of visibility when taking tight turns, driving through dust in summer or whiteouts in winter.”

Right now, the institute is assessing the Robotic Research system and its perception capabilities on resource roads. The company has already developed autonomous driving technology used in other applica-

tions. In addition to development of unmanned commercial shuttles and autonomous transit buses, they have also supplied the U.S. Army with autonomous convoys of military vehicles capable of operating on rugged terrain in GPS-denied areas.

“The benefit of going with Robotic Research and their technology is that their operating system is quite similar to what you’d expect to see in a resource environment where there are no lane markings and where there is rough terrain and foliage,” says Manderson. “But we have to make sure that it can be adapted to the Canadian environment.”

goods on public roadways. For example, because of the shortage of qualified truck drivers, it may be possible to deploy platoons rather than single wood chip trucks from one forest product facility location to another using this autonomous driving technology. This is typically managed on public roadways. Wood chips are a valuable byproduct produced from the sawmilling process that many sawmills depend on for income.

However, FPInnovations is aware of public perception. Imagine passing a loaded log truck on a public highway with no driver at the wheel because the truck is being controlled by the trained and experienced driver in the lead vehicle. The institute is aware that educating the public about the safety of this transportation method will be part of the advancement and acceptance of this technology down the road.

This autonomous platooning technology is not being developed exclusively for forestry use. The focus generally is on long distance travel on resource roads by any resource sector. Although the initiative’s primary mandate is to find solutions to support the forest industry, FPInnovations says that the development of this technology will greatly benefit other sectors as well, including mining operations and the transportation of products to northern communities.

The institute has a number of other resource-sector partners in this initiative outside of forestry. All told, the project has five industry partners and is open to working with more.

Other Canadian organizations have also launched initiatives to investigate and develop this technology. For example, Logging and Sawmilling Journal wrote about a separate initiative in the province of Ontario to evaluate and introduce autonomous log trucks on resource roads in the isolated northern region of the province where it is difficult to keep and attract qualified log truck drivers. Autonomous vehicle driving tests on resource roads using half-ton trucks travelling in tandem were conducted last summer to prove the viability of this technology.

Carmelo Notarbartolo, General Manager for Ontario’s Nawiinginokiima Forest Management Corporation (NFMC), which co-ordinated the project in co-operation with the Centre for Research & Innovation in the Bio-Economy (CRIBE), says despite some delays, they hoped to receive final results from that study this fall.

FPInnovations has partnered with autonomous vehicle technology provider, Robotic Research, to deliver an affordable and safe system by 2026.

20

The next step expected to begin in 2023 is actual on-road testing. Robotic Research will equip four Mack Granitebrand, Class 8, heavy-duty trucks with their technology. These trucks will be used for the duration of the project, but one of the goals is to ensure that the autonomous system can be adapted to other truck configurations used in the resource sector.

Assessing the safety of the system will be paramount throughout and safety drivers will be in the following vehicles as a precaution as research progresses.

“We’re not going to be testing fully loaded log trucks in snow conditions right off the bat,” says Manderson. “We are going to take a gradual approach, where we start with empty trailers, and then loaded, as well as testing them in summer conditions, followed by more challenging winter conditions.”

A rigorous test program will subject the Robotics Research system to various temperature ranges as well as heavy snow, hail and rainfall conditions, which is what a typical Canadian log truck driver would experience. The system will also be tested in other common road conditions, such as steep road grades, tight turns, vibrations caused by washboarding, and GPS signal loss in remote areas. How the system reacts when it encounters common obstacles, such as wildlife and vehicle cut-ins, will also be assessed.

The focus of using this technology on resource roads is only the start. Eventually, FPInnovations is interested in applying this technology with transportation of Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

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contractorprofile

LANDRICH 2.0 gets two thumbs up …

Out in the woods, the Spencer Clan: Roy, Lloyd, Joey and Colin.

The equipment operators at L.E. Spencer—including 78-year-old Lloyd Spencer— are finding the outfit’s new Landrich 2.0 harvester to be a very good fit for their New Brunswick logging.

By George Fullerton t 78-years of age, Lloyd Spencer continues to take his regular shifts on his mechanized harvesting operation. Lloyd is in good company, working alongside his son Joey, and grandson Colin.

“I could stay home and sit in the living room, but what would be the fun in that?” quipped Lloyd.

In June 2022, L. E. Spencer Limited made a deal on a new Landrich 2.0 harvester, and the Landrich machine has found good favour with the second and third generation Spencers, and Lloyd agrees that the new harvester is meeting expectations.

“When it came time to buy a new harvester, I let Joey make the decision. Some day, I might retire, and he is the one who is going to pay for it, so he should have the machine that works best for him,” says Lloyd.

The Landrich 2.0 is the second generation Landrich manufactured by A. Landry Fabrication in Balmoral, New Brunswick.

The Landrich is sold and serviced by their sister company, A.L.P.A. Equipment Limited, which has five dealerships across the Maritime provinces. A.L.P.A. is also a dealer for Ponsse forestry equipment, and the Spencers have a long business relationship with the dealer, having bought a couple of Ponsse H8 heads and worked with three Ponsse Buffalo King forwarders.

Lloyd Spencer began his contracting career in 1969 when he bought a new Timberjack cable skidder and went to work for J. D. Irving in their Chipman district. In 1998, Lloyd moved to mechanized harvesting with a used Timbco buncher. After a few challenging years with a couple of Timbcos, Lloyd bought a new Tigercat 870 buncher in 2002.

Another Spencer son, Chris, employed as a forest technician with the Southern

22

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

A

New Brunswick Forest Products Marketing Board, would operate the Tigercat buncher on weekends. His son, Colin, showed an interest in operating equipment, and spent time with Lloyd.

“Colin had a pair of work gloves and he followed me around a lot as a youngster, watching and learning, and eventually found himself in the Tigercat seat,” shared Lloyd.

In 2007, after a major rate cut at Irving, Lloyd went to work for Twin Rivers (formerly Fraser Papers). In 2007, he added an excavator conversion with a Hornet head, followed by a second excavator conversion/Hornet and a Ponsse forwarder in 2012.

The Spencers realized excavator conversions and Hornets and big crew were not as productive as they needed, and in 2013, traded their Tigercat 870 for a Tigercat 845 machine, moving on from the conversion/Hornets and a Rottne

contractorprofile forwarder. In 2014, they hung a Ponsse H8 on the 845, going forward as a twomachine harvest operation with a Ponsse Buffalo forwarder.

After a year with Twin Rivers, the Spencers began contracting for AV Group (Nackawic) for six years, and for the past seven years have worked for Arauco. Arauco operates a High Density Fibreboard mill (HDF) in St. Stephen which operated as Flakeboard for nearly 60 years, and continues to be a Crown lands sublicensee, sourcing wood from licenses 7 (Irving), 8 (AV Group) and 9 (Acadian Timber).

The Arauco mill utilizes 110,000 cubic metres of wood in chip form, from residuals and roundwood. The Spencer log production is trucked to Arauco wood yards and then chipped in the spring when in-woods chipping operations are down for spring road closure.

The HDF product is unique and finds uses as engineered products for furniture, interior fittings and other residential and commercial applications.

“The Spencers run a very good operation,” said Kirby Lusk, harvest supervisor to page 24

The new Landrich 2.0 harvester has found good favour with the several generations of Spencers, with a view that the new harvester is meeting expectations.

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23

contractorprofile

The Landrich 2.0 is equipped with a Ponsse H8 harvester head, with a topsaw that is able to handle gnarly maple limbs. from page 23 with Arauco. “Lloyd brings a great depth of experience and Joey and Colin are excellent operators. We are very happy to have them as contractors.

“Companies and contractors face a lot of challenges in these times,” Lusk noted.

“In higher quality stands, the Spencers do excellent partial harvest treatments. They are a very good team.”

The Spencers’ current production goal is 25 loads per week, for forty weeks per year for Flakeboard. Trucking is handled

by D. Gillespie and Sons Trucking, who are based in southwest N.B., who truck softwood to Irving mills in Sussex and Chipman, then reload Spencer production to deliver to the Arauco yard.

In 2020, they installed a new Ponsse H8 harvest head on their Tigercat 845.

When the new Landrich was getting ready

24

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

to be delivered in 2022, the H8 head was installed on the new machine.

Joey admires the H8 for its capacity to handle large and small diameter stems.

“The top saw provides a huge advantage for processing hardwoods, since they are limby and often crotched. With the top saw, we can often hang on to the stem as the top saw handles a crotch or big tough limbs, which would be difficult for the delimbing knives to handle.

“You can get away with a single saw if you were only working in softwood, but hardwoods present lot of challenges including weight and tree conformity,” Joey explained.

“We have had a great relationship with A.L.P.A. through the years,” said Lloyd.

“The sales people are good to deal with, they keep a great parts inventory, and they have great service. We can call mechanics and they will provide good help over the phone. And their Fredericton shop is close to us.”

The recent equipment changes the Spencers have made have been beneficial.

“Over the years we had great service with Tigercat machines, but I never thought the saw power in the H8 Ponsse head was what it should be,” said Joey.

“We had techs set up the pressures to the head, but it was still slow sawing. When we got the head on the new Landrich, the first time I hit the saw button, I had the power that I always thought it should have had.”

Joey and Colin share their appreciation for the new Landrich harvester. One of the highlights is having a larger cab set further forward on the upper body, providing better operator visibility than either their old Tigercat or the first version of the Landrich.

“We recognize the better visibility, and how it translates into less operator fatigue,” says Joey.

“The Landrich 2.0 front window is nice and tall, and wide enough that the operator can easily see both tracks. Additionally, the front window is tilted and the cab roof forms an eave over the front window, reducing debris and rain/snow accumulating, which would reduce the operator’s view of the work area.”

The Landrich 2.0 cab is substantially larger, providing more operator comfort and room for personal gear. The new Landrich came with palm grip controls, which Joey appreciates a great deal.

“We’ve had Sure Grip controls which I found to be a bit big and clumsy, and where you mainly use your thumb and

One of the Landrich 2.0 features that gets a thumbs up from the Spencer operators is the harvester’s larger cab, set further forward on the upper body, providing better operator visibility. forefinger—it was causing repetitive use pain issues for me. I find the palm grips in the Landrich much more comfortable to use.”

Both Colin and Joey commented on the high quality LED lights for night operating.

Joey also assigns high marks to the Mercedes engine. “If our experience with the Mercedes engines we had in our Buffalo forwarders is an indication, we expect to get 30,000 hours of engine life, compared to the 12,000 to 18,000 hours we saw with our previous engines. We find that the Mercedes engine is much quieter, which is another bonus for operator comfort.

Fuel economy with the Mercedes engine is 19.5 litres per hour compared to 22.6 litres per hour in the Tigercat, but we have to use DEF for the Tier 4 Mercedes.”

The Spencers operate two 10- to 12-hour shifts per day. Day shift generally stops at 4 p.m., and the night shift is underway by 6 p.m. The operators work two weeks’ dayshift, and the next two weeks on night shift.

The service truck is a tandem, which allows it to comfortably weight scale on the highway with the enclosed diesel tank full.

The truck has the necessary generator, welder, hose assembly parts and tools, along with necessary hand tools and popular replacement parts.

“Lloyd forwards on the same shift with Colin, and if we have lots of wood on the ground, Roy Saulnier forwards on my shift,” says Joey, outlining their staffing.

“Roy has worked with us for over 15 years. He is in his late70s and he does not want to work full time, so he does not mind missing a shift if wood is caught up well.

“Lloyd, on the other hand, likes to work pretty steady. Roy is simply a great operator, takes great care of the Buffalo King doing service and making repairs as needed. Roy fits in our operation extremely well.”

About 75 per cent of their harvest prescriptions are partial cuts where they typically remove about 30 per cent of the standing volume, retaining the highest quality sugar maple and yellow birch. Typical trail width is six metres, with side thinning in the eighteen-metre wide leave strip.

“We are very happy working with the Landrich,” summarizes Joey. “It matches with the Ponsse H8 head extremely well. It has power, comfort and visibility features which make it a superior harvester.”

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25

TECHUPDATE

By Tony Kryzanowski

Log Scanners and Optimizers

MPM Engineering

MPM Engineering supplies cutting edge scanning and optimization systems. Its customizable design strategy incorporates the latest scanning technology from leading manufacturers, to continually enhance its optimization features to meet individualized specifications.

MPM Engineering’s scope includes stem merchandizing, log sorting, log rotation, active turn control, cant breakdown, and board edging, trimming and sorting.

Using 3D scan data, the company’s optimizers detect and measure log characteristics including diameter, taper, sweep, crook, flare, pistol grip, nodal swells, catface and kinks.

Its bucking optimizer grades and solves for the highest value logs in each stem, which can be later re-identified at the saw line by its log grading system.

Its edger and trimmer systems utilize scanner technologies including colour, laser intensity and scatter to detect features for more accurate optimal solutions.

Currently, MPM is working with x-ray scanning suppliers to incorporate their data into its optimization. X-ray scanners can sense characteristics that are unidentifiable using conventional surface scanning, including knot structure and heartwood boundary. MPM says that it is constantly pushing technology further to give its customers a competitive edge. www.mpmeng.com

BID Group

With its advanced automation capabilities, the BID Group’s Primary Breakdown Closed Loop system allows users to ensure each log is broken down right, capturing the full value from each log while increasing production value and ensuring optimal recovery. The Closed Loop system makes necessary adjustments

automatically in real time, taking the pressure off team members and allowing them to focus on other tasks, says the company.

One of the key features of the system is the use of the scanner data, which provides complete information about the log’s shape, offering unsurpassed accuracy, says the company. Additionally, the innovative Multi-Offset Adjustment function speeds up the execution of adjustments and the correction of offsets, while the Pattern Deduction function provides the fastest closed loop reaction on the market, according to BID Group, for the definition of cutting patterns.

The Primary Breakdown Closed Loop system also automatically corrects offsets to cutting tools and infeed modules, and problems or mechanical breakdowns are identified and displayed on a dashboard in real time with alerts sent as needed.

Overall, the BID Group says that this system is a must-have for any company looking to streamline and optimize their primary breakdown operations. www.bidgroup.ca

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

techupdate

LINCK

An accurate log rotation before the first processing step is decisive to achieve high value recovery. With its optimization software, LINCK uses 3D-scanning data to generate a valueoptimized cutting pattern and then determines the required angle for log rotation.

With Log Motion Control, LINCK presents a further step in the development of this technology. In addition to determining the log rotation angle, a MiCROTEC Truespin scanner will be used where a camera records a characteristic pattern on the log surface. The log position is transmitted to the LINCK Log Motion Control during the whole rotating process. The software determines the true log rotating position to be compared with the theoretical one. Any deviations will be compensated for by immediately adjusting the position of the rotating rollers.

The log rotation process is therefore under the full control of the LINCK Log Motion Control software. www.linck.com

HALCO Software Systems

Like most forest companies, you may have invested significantly in machine centre optimizers throughout the mill. But does that mean your operations are truly optimal? In most cases the answer is no, says HALCO Software Systems.

Machine centre optimizers give you the power to control production mix, and also mill flow. But to do so, they must be configured with appropriate parameters, primarily “decision values” and processing “penalty costs”.

Until now, mills have, at best, generated these key parameters on an ad hoc basis. The result is that most mills operate at a substantially sub-optimal level, says HALCO. To address this issue, HALCO has developed the WSO Production Planning Optimization system. WSO determines the optimum production mix based on current market prices, minimum/maximum sales mix constraints, and process flow bottlenecks, and then the machine centre optimizer parameters to produce this mix. www.halcosoftware.com to page 28

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

27

techupdate from page 27

ProLogic+

The log geometric profile generated by the ProLogScanner from ProLogic+ is sent to an optimizer software that calculates, through advanced algorithms, the optimal log orientation and sawing patterns while respecting the machine’s mechanical constraints in addition to the production parameters.

gree scan of a log as it’s rolling into the carriage, headrig, end dogger, or from a transverse to lineal conveyor. Designed for easy operation on the bandsaw or carriage, the Logeye Stereo increases yield and cutting performance. This leads to higher throughput speed and improved recovery as the entire surface of the log is imaged without occlusions.

Powered by AI, the CT Log provides complete reconstruction of a log’s internal features, allowing the logs to be graded and sorted by quality to optimize the cutting solution with the highest value in real-time. MiCROTEC says that its CT Log is the most effective solution for value and resource optimization, providing mills with a virtual logyard. www.microtec.eu

USNR

USNR’s log scanning and optimization systems are renowned for capturing the absolute maximum value from every log and are consequently found on more types of machinery than any other system, according to the company. By utilizing Lasar or Bioluma lineal sensors, any type of log breakdown system can be optimized.

Features include: 3-D or true shape profiles; an available xray module (by Finnos); optimization with breakdown patterns; many alignment modes for the breakdown pattern; and, curve sawing and “S” sawing.

Options include log orientation with O ​ RO+ (Optimized Log Orientation)​, log orientation with RCS+ (Rotation Correction System), and online and offline simulations with web reports. www.prologicplus.com

MiCROTEC

Logyards across North America are optimizing scanning with MiCROTEC’s CT Log and patented Logeye Stereo solutions.

Revolutionizing transverse stereoscopic scanning, the Logeye Stereo is said to be the only scanner that provides a full 360-deThe Lasar2 sensor is a unique and rugged, full-coverage, high-resolution 3D scanner ideal for carriages, end dogs, closecoupled sawing systems, and transverse deck bucking systems.

USNR says that its Lasar2 system rapidly scans logs and stems with unparalleled resolution and data density. It adds that its BioLuma 3900L sensor delivers the highest speed UHD laser profiling for the most demanding lineal applications, describing it as perfect for lineal bucking, log lines, shape sawing gangs, and lineal edgers.

USNR suggests that potential customers investigate its other unique solutions like Precision Geometric Log Rotation (PGLR) that significantly improves cutting accuracy during the log optimization process, further increasing uplift and recovery. www.usnr.com

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

www.linck.com

LOG MOTION CONTROL

ExaCT LOG ROTaTION? WE HaNdLE THaT!

Canadian Representative | Damien Meyer | LINCK GmbH Montreal - CANADA +1 450 449 9173 | d.meyer@linck.com

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I

Leveraging open-source LiDAR in British Columbia to prioritize legacy road terrain stability assessments

n B.C., many forestry roads were built legacy road hazard assessment opens determining whether a higher digital in past decades on steep slopes using many possibilities that will need improveelevation model resolution may be useful, poor construction practices, and were ment and validation of the approach. For and considering the benefits of landslide then often inadequately deactivated afexample, testing of other ways of using mapping and how this could help caliterwards. These locations may now pose slope, SCA, and possibly even simple brate interpretation of SCA values. landslide hazards which could lead to soil information layer to identify points Once improved upon and optimized, damage to people and surrounding areas. (or areas) of concern may produce better the resulting method for assessing legacy Their chance of occurrence will likely results. Other fundamental work is also road hazards should be able to rapidly increase in the future due to projected needed, such as increasing the number assess large regions with LiDAR coverage. increases in the frequency and severity of of legacy roads analyzed, looking for adThis or similar modelling approaches to extreme rainfall events. ditional visual indicators on the ground identifying landslide hazards may prove Today, there are over 36,000 kilometres of unstable terrain as part of field work, useful for land managers needing to of these “legacy” roads in B.C. on prioritize detailed terrain stability steep terrain, and classifying their assessments within areas with hazards and risks requires terrain legacy roads, and could provide Accumulation of water along legacy roads results in stability assessments that involve additional insight to geoscientist high specific drainage area along flow paths.

Black significant resources and experand engineering professionals circles denote points of concern for terrain instability. tise. To help address the chaldoing the assessments. lenge of completing assessments The Open LiDAR Data Portal in a reasonable time on these is an initiative from the B.C. govlegacy roads, a team of FPInernment to make its LiDAR and novations researchers designed a associated datasets available to study to test a modelling-based the public. The province’s recent approach to preliminary landslide commitment to continue expandhazard assessment. ing high-density LiDAR coverage The study involved developing via the portal could allow prelimia simple and approachable methnary terrain stability assessments od that focused on hydrological for the regions or the entire provrather than landslide modelling. ince as part of prioritizing treatThis is an important simplification ments of the most problematic for the study, given that no adoplegacy roads. tion of modelling exists within terrain stability assessments done in B.C. (and North America) but some adoption does exist elseA report on this subject is where in the world. available to the public. For more The researchers used a 2 minformation, contact any of the resolution digital elevation model report’s authors: Matt Kurowski, from the B.C. government’s Open Mihai Pavel, or Allan Bradley—at LiDAR Data Portal to calculate matt.kurowski@fpinnovations.ca, hillslope, as well as a surface mihai.pavel@fpinnovations.ca and hydrology variable called specific allan.bradley@fpinnovations.ca catchment area (SCA). Points of The report can be read here: concern were identified based on https://library.fpinnovations.ca/ where high SCA values resulted en/permalink/fpipub10539 from diversion and concentration of road drainage on steep terrain.

The promising preliminary results of a hydrologically based

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

Short rotation afforestation in Canada comes full circle with findings and best practices highlighted in three Canadian Wood Fibre Centre reports

BY TONY KRYZANOWSKI

T

wenty years ago, the practice of afforestation of short rotation woody crops such as hybrid poplar was a novel concept in Canada.

It spurred considerable discussion and interest, particularly in forestry, energy and other bio-economy circles.

Many saw this technology’s potential to enhance the forest resource over a relatively short time frame while mitigating the impact of a changing climate through the development of natural carbon sinks providing new feedstocks for renewable energy and bioproduct development, enhancing wildlife habitat, helping to mitigate the occurrences of wildfires by diversifying the age and species mix of trees and the forest, providing a new potential income to landowners, and contributing to the overall well being of society by providing new cover, biofilters, and recreational environments that mimic the natural forest.

Recognizing the level of interest in this technology, the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre/Canadian Forest Service launched an initiative with a national network of partners to establish technical development sites to develop, evaluate and validate afforestation values of high yield short rotation woody crops, with the goal of establishing best practices and validating growth potential, GHG emission reduction and encouraging the development of new business endeavors.

After decades of applied research, that goal has been met and the research has come full circle, with short rotation technical development sites now having experienced their full lifecycle. The major findings and best practice suggestions of this initiative have been summarized in three publicly-available reports. These publications are:

• “A Compendium of Operational Research - Ellerslie Short-Rotation Woody Crops Technical Development Site - Edmonton, Alberta” - authors Tim Keddy, Derek Sidders and Carmela Arevalo.

This is a Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Canadian Forest Service/ Canadian Wood Fibre Centre publication available upon request. Information Report FI-X-024 2023.

• “Predicting aboveground biomass carbon sequestration potential in hybrid poplar clones after afforestation plantation management in southern Ontario, Canada” - authors Amir Behzad Bazrgar, Derek Sidders and Naresh Thevathasan.

This article was published in the Forestry Chronicle, 2002, VOL.98, No 1 - The Forestry Chronicle.

• “Economic impacts of short rotation crops in Canada” - authors Torben Jensen, Tim Keddy, and Derek Sidders.

This article was also published in the Forestry Chronicle, 2021, VOL. 97, No 3, The Forestry Chronicle.

The data and findings within these reports were gathered from research conducted on three primary technical development sites: in the Ellerslie area of Edmonton, Guelph, Ontario, and north of Edmonton, near St. Albert.

Research plantations within these sites fell within three categories: high yield afforestation featuring a variety of fast-growing, Canadian-bred, hybrid poplar and aspen clones; concentrated biomass featuring a variety of fast-growing willow and hybrid poplar clones; and, mixedwood afforestation, which combined high yield afforestation with a sunlight-tolerant softwood component planted in the understorey of either white spruce or white pine.

About the Edmonton Ellerslie Short Rotation Woody Crop Technical Development Site - This 18-hectare site was

established in 2002 and was the primary site from which all other applied research related to this initiative across Canada evolved. It was used to develop the best practice protocols for clonal selection, species identification, plantation design, site preparation, planting, and vegetation management practices. The hardwood components having completed their lifecycle in 2018, it also served as a test case for the study of recovery operations. All told, there were 101 applied R & D focused technical development studies conducted during the full lifecycle of this site.

About the University of Guelph, Ontario Technical Development Site Located 75 kms from Toronto and on 25 hectares at the University of Guelph, this technical development site, established in 2005 and expanded in 2009, featured clonal testing, fast growing hardwood production designs as well as mixedwood designs with white pine and spruce planted in the understorey. The site was harvested in 2019/2020, which included completion of mass and carbon analyses.

About the St. Albert, Alberta Technical Development Site - This site was established in 2009 on University of Alberta property north of Edmonton as a ‘second generation’ technical development site on agriculture/forest interface lands, representing an excellent bio-geoclimatic zone for the establishment of high yield afforestation plantations. New clones and high production poplar clones from the Ellerslie site were established and studied further on this site. The above ground biomass was recovered and measured in 2019/2020, when the trees were full-tree chipped onsite and sold to a pulp mill for the production of electricity.

For more information about these reports and sites, contact Derek Sidders at derek.sidders@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca or Tim Keddy at tim.keddy@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

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SUPPLIERNEWSLINE

By Tony Kryzanowski

HAIX boots gets workout from LSJ Publisher fall some very big trees on our property— and you read about that in our November/ December issue of LSJ here: (https://forestnet.com/digital_pub/ LSJ/2022/lsj-november-december-2022/).

But for the most part, your friendly Logging and Sawmilling Journal CEO/ Publisher has been filling the role of a part-time tree care professional.

That’s where the HAIX Protector Prime Orange Boots have come into play. I was able to get a pair as part of a long term “wear test” from the manufacturer (www. haixca.com).

Straight out of the box the boots were super light and comfortable. I wear a Size 11 U.S. in the wide configuration, and have always found the width of boots to be an issue. But the sizing was perfect, and the width was also spot-on.

Given that the HAIX boots have a full steel toe and full leather construction, I was very surprised how light they are.

I was expecting something much more heavy and cumbersome.

I wore the boots in all conditions, snow, heavy rain and during the heat of summer—and they have performed well in all conditions.

They support my feet and ankles well, provide great protection against scrapes

and abrasions while bushwhacking, and of course while operating a chainsaw.

They offer high ankle support (flexible, but not too much) and I love the waterproofness of the boots (pretty incredible, actually!).

Our steep coastal property requires me to hike and work in all weather conditions throughout the year, while carrying saws and numerous other things.

I worked with the Strait Timber crew (see the story on Strait Timber in this issue of LSJ) for the better part of a week and felt great the entire time.

Helping to operate a portable sawmill requires not only stacking of lumber and offcuts, but occasionally picking up the chainsaw to buck or trim a log or board. Situational awareness and safety while cutting is always at the forefront of anyone’s mind, but having these boots on makes it even nicer.

These boots definitely get a thumbsup from me!

Check out the Protector Prime boots I am using here: https://www.haixca. com/haix-protector-prime-orange

result in the creation of multiple new jobs, primarily for industrial mechanics and machinists. www.bidgroup.ca

BID Group has announced a strategic capital investment of $4.7 million towards the modernization of its equipment to increase production capacity in its SaintGeorges and Saint-Éphrem-de-Beauce facilities in Quebec.

In Saint-Georges, preparations are underway to introduce state-of-the-art equipment, including a new large band saw, a plasma cutting table, two CNC machine tools and a CNC Multi-task Mazak Integrex to increase its machining capacity. These changes represent a cumulative investment of $2.4 million.

Similarly, BID’s Saint-Éphrem-deBeauce facility is actively being prepared to accommodate new equipment, namely an Automated Part Storage System, a CNC boring machine and a grinder with

a robotic feeding system to increase production for Comact BLADE cutting tools.

The collective investment for this equipment amounts to $2.3 million.

Through the incorporation of this new equipment, BID Group aims to increase its ability to deliver an extensive range of innovative technologies to its highly valued customers while enhancing operational efficiency, says the company.

“We are grateful and privileged to receive the ongoing trust of our customers, whose achievements are propelling the demand for such investments. We are enthusiastic about our efforts to modernize our presence in Quebec’s Beauce region and to contribute additional employment opportunities to our current workforce.” said Simon Potvin, President of Wood Processing, for the BID Group.

Start-up and installation of the new equipment began in April 2023 and will be carried out until June 2024. The equipment modernization initiative will

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

Editor’s Note: From time to time, Logging and Sawmilling Journal Publisher Anthony Robinson will be sharing his reviews of forest industryrelated products in the magazine, and on our website.

As those who work with Anthony can attest, he does personally put anything he uses through a very grueling workout!

Anthony comes by giving products a hard time honestly—before working in publishing, he worked as a treeplanter, an operational forester and at a sawmill, in Australia. So a thumbs-up rating from Anthony is well-earned!

Since purchasing our 2.4-acre property on the B.C. Coast, we have had a huge amount of work to do in clearing brush, removing potential fire ladders and taking down over 30+ trees, including western red cedar, fir and hemlock.

For the large trees, we had a hand faller in training, Melie de Jonge, come in and

BID Group to invest $4.7 million in modernizing equipment at Quebec facilities

Until next time—stay safe out there!

Anthony

Husqvarna introduces new generation chainsaws Husqvarna has recently introduced two new chainsaws, the 560 XP Mark II and 562 XP Mark II. The new generation is developed on a completely new platform where one of the key objectives has been to keep and further enhance maneuverability, with an eye set on increasing productivity.

Both new chainsaws are designed for superior movement. A key aspect for increased maneuverability is the narrow chainsaw body that brings the front handle closer to the centre of gravity of the saw, meaning it is easier to move the saw

to page 34

suppliernewsline from page 32 from side to side. With their slim design, and excellent power-to-weight ratios, the new saws deliver exceptional maneuverability, says the company. Husqvarna says that forestry professionals will find these chainsaws easy to handle in various working positions throughout the day.

The Mark II is developed on a new platform where one of the key aspects is to further refine the maneuverability from previous generations.

One of the most impressive features of the new chainsaws is said to be their trustworthy endurance. Improved cooling and filtration ensure that these chainsaws can tackle even the toughest jobs without breaking a sweat, says the company. www.husqvarnagroup.com

LSJ contributing editor Tony Kryzanowski publishes first novel

Long time Logging and Sawmilling Journal contributing editor Tony Kryzanowski has just published his first novel called ‘Flycatcher’.

A Canadian-based action thriller with a romantic backdrop, the story is built around the controversial and ongoing issue of Quebec separatism.

Readers so far have described the novel as non-stop action and tough to put down.

Flycatcher is the first of an intended threebook series, but this first book stands alone as a complete story.

Tony has been working as a contributing editor and journalist for over 40 years and says that adding to his skills as a

novelist was both a challenge and deeply gratifying.

“I’ve had an idea for this novel for some time, but I wasn’t going to publish it unless I felt that readers would get value for the time they spent reading it,” he says. “Spare time is so tough to find these days, so I wanted to make sure that reading this novel was very entertaining and worthwhile.”

Tony adds that while the novel was exciting to work on, he will continue to work full time as a contributing editor for his primary clients, and enjoys the work he does for them.

Books are available at www.tonykryzanowski-writer.com.

New Tigercat skidder specially designed for today’s logging needs

The new Tigercat 612 dual winch skidder is specially designed to operate in selective harvesting applications, extracting high value timber in steep or sensitive terrain conditions.

Its platform was created to manage the extraction function in challenging terrain selective felling applications, while preserving the value and quality of

Obituary: Forest industry pioneer David Cochrane

avid Cochrane, 77, founder of the Waratah Group, passed away in April, in New Zealand.

A true visionary, Dave started Waratah General Engineering Ltd. in Tokoroa, New Zealand, in 1973 with the development of a mechanized processing head designed to withstand New Zealand and North American logging conditions. He was recognized world-wide as an industry-leading forestry equipment innovator who created the foundation of what Waratah is today.

Dave’s legacy lives on through Waratah’s reputation, through its motto: Built To Work—supporting its customers, so

they can outsmart and outperform the others, says the company.

The entire Waratah team expresses its deepest condolences to his family, friends and loved ones, as does Logging and Sawmilling Journal.

Dave and the equipment he developed continue to have a significant ripple effect on the forest industry on both sides of the Pacific.

This year, Waratah Forestry Equipment is celebrating 50 years of innovation within the forestry industry and thanking its customers for decades of trust and loyalty to the brand.

Waratah customers are a testament to the company’s reliability and legacy, says the company. While the industry has changed over the last 50 years since Dave founded the company, its dedication to innovation and customer service has remained steadfast.

Back in the 1970s in New Zealand, Dave oversaw the manufacturing of a delimber-feller-buncher with a four-roller fixed head to meet local loggers’ heavyduty delimbing needs.

Following that innovation, a red grapple

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

D

processor manufactured for the Canadian markets marked the start of the 600 Series line. It cemented Waratah’s place as the original red head in the industry.

The company’s products entered Canada in 1990 when the first Waratah harvester heads were imported from Waratah General Engineering.

The proven success of the product in Canada led to Dave being instrumental in setting up Waratah Canada in the late 1990s.

John Deere purchased both Timberjack and Waratah in 2000.

suppliernewsline Eltec Equipment: a leader in sustainable forestry equipment with biodegradable fluid options

the residual stand. The machine can be equipped with a dual winch, a movable back shield and fairlead system, as well as a crane and front blade tongs.

The 612 is equipped with the Tigercat FPT N67 Stage V engine, delivering 208 hp. Combined with Tigercat’s efficient drive system, the 612 handles adverse terrain while minimizing wheel spin.

A narrow stance allows for easy navigation through tight trails and rough ground conditions. The movable shield can be used as an anchor while winching. The dual winch and moving fairlead system allow the operator independent control over two separate cables when operating in tight stand conditions. The optional heavy-duty crane and blade tongs offer even more versatility for extracting, maneuvering and sorting logs. www.tigercat.com

Southstar New Zealand

(2007 – 2010) The sale of Waratah included a noncompete period during which Dave occupied himself by building his new home at Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand. If that wasn’t enough, at the same time he also built his new boat, a 52-foot Wave Crusher and—with his favourite bottle of Scotch whiskey in mind—he called it "Gentle Spirit".

Dave had a bigger plan: he wanted to get back into the forestry industry, taking a group of his trusted friends with him.

In July 2007, Dave and five shareholders launched Southstar Equipment and

Eltec Forestry Equipment, a leading manufacturer of state-of-the-art forestry machinery, has taken a bold step towards sustainability by introducing a groundbreaking solution that will redefine the industry, it says.

In collaboration with Interlube, which specializes in the production and distribution of biodegradable fluids for heavy equipment, Eltec now offers a range of certified biodegradable fluids, including hydraulic fluids, greases, antifreeze, gear oil, and more, as factory-direct options for their customers.

By incorporating these biodegradable fluids into their equipment, Eltec says it has eliminated the environmental impact that can arise from fluid spills in the field.

This innovation not only safeguards the surrounding ecosystems but also promotes sustainable forestry regrowth by eradicating the toxic footprint associated with traditional equipment that utilizes petrochemical-based products.

released the first two processors in March 2008, the Quadstar 450 and the Tristar 585, at the AUSTimber Show in Mt. Gambier Australia.

Southstar Canada

(2011 – 2016) In late 2011, Southstar was acquired by a small group of Canadian investors, with the vision to develop the product in the Western Canadian market.

Although no longer a shareholder, Dave remained an integral part of the business, working closely with the engineering team and assisting the newly formed Canadian business with his many years of experience in the Western North American market.

Southstar set up a head office and assembly plant in Kamloops, British Columbia in the heart of Western Canada’s lumber producing region. In May 2012, Southstar sold its first TS585 processing head into British Columbia through Woodlands Equipment, to Randy Spence, a local Vernon-based contractor.

Because the company was still operating on a relatively small scale, Southstar and its team were able to make innovative changes at an accelerated pace.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2023

“We are incredibly proud to be the first forestry equipment manufacturer in the world to offer biodegradable fluid options to our customers,” said Patrick Element, President of Technologies Element Inc. “At Eltec, we are committed to leading the industry in environmental stewardship, and this partnership with Interlube allows us to provide a sustainable solution that benefits both our customers and the planet.”

Eltec’s factory-direct biodegradable fluid options are now available to their extensive dealership network. This not only empowers their partners to offer environmentally conscious alternatives to their client base but also ensures a stable supply chain for these high-performance fluids. The partnership with Interlube guarantees that the biodegradable fluids provided by Eltec are rigorously tested and certified for heavy equipment in mining, construction, and now the forestry sector, says the company.

The introduction of biodegradable fluids by Eltec demonstrates the company’s to page 36

Something that Dave believed was fundamental to the success of Southstar was listening and taking loggers’ concerns into consideration, making changes that reflect real-time needs, and based on customer feedback from the field.

Working with this philosophy, Dave was exceptionally proud to have been part of a team that worked to take its attachment product line to the next level, focusing on innovation and improvement above all else.

Southstar’s growth soon began to accelerate with expansion into the Western U.S., South America, and back into Australasian markets. This exponential growth saw Southstar acquired by Quadco Inc in April 2016 before being acquired shortly after by its current owner, Komatsu Forest in 2018.

Today, we only need to visit a logging site or forestry show to see the influence Dave had across the globe. “Dave Cochrane will be remembered as a true visionary of the industry, the godfather of forestry mechanization,” says Jeremy Disher, of Southstar Engineering. And it all started with Dave in a small logging town, in New Zealand.

35

suppliernewsline from page 35 dedication to sustainable practices, setting a new standard in the forestry equipment manufacturing industry, says the company.

By using these fluids, customers can now actively participate in environmental conservation without compromising performance or productivity. https://eltec.tech/our-products/ eltec-bio/

Bridging the Gap project aims to understand labour shortages in forestry Industries across Canada are seeing a large portion of their workforce retire without the ability to replace them, and the forestry sector is no exception.

To address this issue, Forests Ontario, the province’s leading non-profit dedicated to the creation, preservation, and

maintenance of forest and grassland habitats, and the Ontario Forest Industries Association (OFIA), with support from an advisory committee, collaborated on, ‘Bridging the Gap Between Ontario’s Youth & the Provincial Forest Sector’, an Employment Ontario research project known simply as Bridging the Gap. It is funded in part by the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario.

The objectives of the Bridging the Gap

Innovative steep-slope logging equipment manufacturer DC Equipment acquires B.C.’s renowned Madill brand As part of a mission of creating a safer and more productive steep-slope logging industry, New Zealand-based logging equipment manufacturer DC Equipment has acquired the renowned Madill brand from B.C.-based Nicholson Group, who have held the brand for the last 12 years.

With a rich, impactful history dating back to 1911, Madill will now have a new lease on life after being acquired by DC Equipment, says the company. Ownership of the Madill brand, which is synonymous with cable logging across the globe—and is known to loggers across North America—has changed hands through a range of multiple ownership structures, from competing manufacturing equipment companies through to international investment groups over the last several decades.

Former owners Nicholson Group had owned Madill since 2011 and incorporated its equipment line-up into their current operation, including the manufacturing of their own debarker equipment range.

“On behalf of Nicholson, we are delighted to announce the sale of the Madill brand of forestry equipment manufacturing rights to DC Equipment,” said John Jennings, Director of Capital Sales for Nicholson Manufacturing.

“After a successful and fruitful relationship with our agents and distributors, including Modern Machinery, Great West Equipment, Matdil Parts and Service, and Porter Equipment in New Zealand and Australia, we would like to express our deepest gratitude for their unwavering support over the past decade,” said Jennings.

“Their dedication to sales, parts, and service has been instrumental in reinforcing the Madill brand’s reputation for reliability and performance in the forestry industry. We have the utmost confidence that DC Equipment and agents will continue to provide customers with outstanding products and services. We look forward to the future growth and success of

the Madill brand under DC Equipment’s stewardship.”

The owner and founder of DC Equipment, Dale Ewers, who is also a logger in New Zealand, has had a connection with the Madill brand dating back 40 years. “It was a childhood dream to own a Madill tower yarder,” says Dale. “Madill is known for its durability, ability to perform and longevity, which is important in this industry—and those strong equipment features align with our current brand, Falcon.”

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Ewers believes adding the Madill brand and intellectual property under the DC Equipment manufacturing umbrella provides an opportunity to achieve the company’s mission of “creating a safer and more productive steep-slope logging industry throughout the world,” and also opens up additional benefits to other industries.

Ewers sees this as a stepping stone to not only helping the forest industry progress but also providing customers with the solutions they need. “We’re not here to be the biggest manufacturer; we’re here to provide the best solution for our customers,” he says.

While more will be disclosed soon, Ewers was quick to mention that Madill will always be Madill: “There’s history, heritage and a heck of a lot of customer loyalty there that needs to be recognized.”

“We don’t plan to reinvent Madill products—we believe there’s tremendous heritage, and the Madill machines work exceptionally well in steep slope ground.

However, we do see an opportunity to integrate some of DC Equipment’s current and future technology and innovation.”

Madill by the numbers—an impressive track record • Over 3,000 Madill yarders have been produced • The Madill brand has been in operation for over 100 years.

• Madill currently has machines across the world, with prominent coverage in North America and New Zealand With a mission to create a safer and more productive steep-slope logging industry after a series of incidents affected the forest industry, Dale Ewers started DC Equipment to mechanize and de-risk the environment of steep-slope logging operations. Since 2010, DC Equipment has been a manufacturer of a range of steep-slope logging equipment, under their Falcon brand. The range, including motorized grapple carriages, winch assist machines, yarders, and camera systems, has been a popular option for logging contractors working in steep-slope terrain.

With over 1,000,000 operational hours across the product lines and zero harm, DC Equipment says it is now looking to provide logging contractors across the world with a more integrated solution by including automation, data capture, and a transition into lower-emission machinery—and, now, with the addition of the world-renowned Madill brand.

Need to know: • Current Madill customers can still receive parts and servicing through their current channels.

• Updates on the Madill acquisition will be posted on DC Equipment’s and Madill’s website and social media.

If you’re interested in information on how to become a Madill stockist or distributor, please contact DC Equipment via the DC Equipment website. www.dcforestryequipment.com

classified research project were twofold. First, the project generated a detailed understanding of job vacancies and the associated training and educational requirements needed to fill these openings. Secondly,

the project provided critical insight into the perceptions of youth and Indigenous youth, teachers, and parents with respect to forestry and the forestry sector as a potential area of employment.

According to Bridging the Gap research, to effectively compete with other industries and attract and retain a workforce that can sustain continuous growth, the forestry sector will need to build better awareness and engagement with youth, so they consider forestry as a viable, enticing option when choosing their career paths. www.forestsontario.ca/en/resource/ bridging-the-gap

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thelastword

Houston, B.C. waiting for Canfor sawmill decision, and planning for beyond that decision

By Jim Stirling

B

y the end of June this year, the district of forestry-dependent Houston should officially know the extent and depth of the economic crisis it faces. By that deadline, Canfor Corp has pledged to make public its determination on the future of its once mighty sawmilling complex at Houston, in west central British Columbia. Some forest industry experts claimed the Houston sawmill was at one stage the largest in the world, in terms of lumber throughput.

The best news scenario from the community’s perspective is if Canfor opts to rebuild its sawmill in town. Canfor’s shareholders must first be satisfied a return on investment in a new mill is justified. Any new mill design must be closely aligned to a radically changed fibre base in the Houston region. Any replacement operation will surely be on a more modest scale, and require fewer mill workers and those in bush operations.

The worst case scenario for Houston is Canfor walks away, and pursues its corporate ambitions elsewhere. The implications from a permanent mill closure in Houston will ricochet through the local and regional economies.

Houston’s Canfor future has been in the balance for months. But it wasn’t confirmed until January 2023 when Canfor announced the permanent closure of its sawmill and adjacent wood pellet manufacturing plant in Chetwynd, in northeast B.C. Houston operations were next on the list.

“The impact on our community will be significant, and it will create some incredibly challenging circumstances for many local and regional residents,” anticipates the Houston mayor and council in an open letter expressing displeasure with Canfor’s decision.

By April 2023, Mayor Shane Brienen and his six councillors had announced an unusual response for a municipality to take. It planned on launching a campaign of support and action from similarly afflicted forest industry dependent communities around the province.

“Houston believes in standing up for our residents, our businesses and an industry that has provided so much to so many,” declared the council. “That’s why we believe the time is now for forestry communities throughout B.C. to join together, work collaboratively on solutions and ideas, strengthen our community goals and deliver these important messages to the governments of B.C. and Canada.”

Bonding with other communities facing similar predicaments can do little harm. A collective voice might prove more persuasive in extracting some levels of remedial assistance to forestry-dependent communities in the short term. Trying to shift the focus of an entire regional economy, however, is a very different matter.

Houston is in a potentially helpful position though if it sticks more closely to doing what its residents understand and are good at. And that’s the woods industry.

Houston has a long logging and sawmilling history. It also has a community forest.

The Dungate Community Forest lies east of the town of Houston. It is no replacement for a sophisticated primary forest industry provider like Canfor, but it could provide a catalyst for hope. The community forest, jointly owned by the District of Houston and Canfor, has an Annual Allowable Cut of 29,000 cubic metres. For some time, the district has been looking to expand the size of its community forest from its present 14,212 hectares. The district says the percentage

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of cut in the Morice Timber Supply Area (TSA) allocated to the community forest is below that of neighbouring TSA’s in the region.

The community forest proponents are suggesting an area to the west of Houston and adjacent to the Morice Mountain Recreation Area be added to the community forest. The addition would also allow an enhancement to Houston’s wildfire protection system. A larger community forest would enhance the advantages Houston already possesses. For example, it is home to a core of experienced log harvesters, truckers and their pools of equipment.

Dedicating a section of the community forest as a locally managed zone for more intense forest management practices could help keep some skilled forest workers and their families in the community.

Houston is already home to experienced secondary wood product manufacturers.

Companies like Pleasant Valley Remanufacturing have the equipment and knowledge to produce and market a range of non-commodity lumber wood products.

Most B.C. community forests are managed for a range of community benefits, with fibre production and harvesting down the list. But times have changed. There are more communities like Houston. Creating an area within the forest for log harvesting activity using small scale techniques remains within the spirit of community forests. It’s the type of forestry that employs more people per cubic metre of timber harvested.

There are likely to be many forks in the road but forestry dependent communities like Houston will ultimately have to rely on their own resources to sustain themselves and succeed.

E H T D N O BEY

E N I H C MA

uld o c y e h t t a h t d I’m amaze t s a f t a h t s u o t ] get [the part

sheared the sawhead on r to ta ro e th GEN, and they pin for ternoon. The t to SENNEBO lb part! I’m af ou e d th he in ac 0 re 0 It was 5: and they as a 500 ence. lled my dealer the next morning! That w a good experi right off! I ca 0 en :3 8 be ’s by It . us st to fa rt had the pa t it to us that RI they could ge ce, Coventry, amazed that ick Tree Servi w ar W o, p ep Derek On tanley, NC arehouse in S w t. .f sq 0 0 ,0 N’s 100 rate for any SENNEBOGE est order-fill h ig h ’s ry st . e indu ithin 24 hours maintains th ce machine w vi er -s in y an part for

Carolina tanley, North S • ts ar P N E SENNEBOG

SENNEBOGEN is committed to leading the industry in aftersale support throughout the life of its equipment.

We’re thinking “beyond the machine” to deliver dependable uptime and lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for every customer.

Parts • Service • Training • Application Specialists • Flexible Financing • Attachments Learn more about our commitment to our customers

sennebogen-na.com/beyond-the-machine

+1-704-347-4910

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