Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

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May 2015

l a i c fi f O

Show Guide

Back to the future with phase logging in the B.C. Interior Recipe for recovery: major planer upgrade at Tolko Soda Creek Division

Wood-fired district energy system in the B.C. Interior Contractor profile Log Commander Enterprises goes big with major equipment expansion

With this issue…

The Edge!

THE DELO TRUCK IS BRINGING A LOAD OF KNOWLEDGE. ®

DATE: May 29 & 30, 2015 TIME: 9:00am - 5:00pm LOCATION: Canadian North Resources Expo CN Centre Prince George, BC

See us at the CNRE Exhibit D-36

Step inside this interactive experience and see some of the proof of performance engine parts that Delo helps protect, and learn how Chevron Delo lubricants can help businesses go further.

FEATURES On the Cover: May 2015 Volume 46 • No. 3 Editor Paul MacDonald Contributing Editors Jim Stirling Tony Kryzanowski George Fullerton Tech Update Editor Tony Kryzanowski

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B.C.’s Valley Pulp & Sawdust Carriers Ltd has hauled a lot of different materials in its decades of operation—but the company has now expanded its operations to hauling logs in the B.C. Interior, and it is working for several forest companies operating in the region. Watch for the story on Valley Pulp & Sawdust Carriers in the next issue of Logging and Sawmilling Journal (Photo courtesy of Valley Pulp & Sawdust Carriers).

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37 Official Show Guide – Canada North Resources Expo

Logging and Sawmilling Journal has all the information you need for the Canada North Resources Expo being held in Prince George, B.C. May 29 and 30, from what’s going on at the show to a list of the show exhibitors.

It’s all right here!

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4

Spotlight Prince George: a century of sawmilling

The City of Prince George—home to the Canada North Resources Expo—is celebrating its 100th birthday in 2015, and it has a rich sawmilling heritage over that century.

8

Seizing the moment —in logging

Log Commander Enterprises, owned by the Webster Brothers—Ryan and Curtis—of Quesnel, B.C. has chosen to seize the moment in the logging upturn, expanding their fleet of logging equipment by a factor of four in the last 18 months.

14 Back to the future—

with phase logging

Forest company Tolko Industries is revisiting the past with its Innovative Phase Logging program in the B.C. Interior, and it is delivering detailed—and valuable—information on logging equipment performance and production.

16 Recipe for recovery

A major planer upgrade at Tolko’s Soda Creek Division stud mill operation in Williams Lake, B.C. is going to help expand its range of products and improve grades and recovery at the mill, a solid recipe for improved competitiveness.

22 The latest in

logging tools

Northeastern B.C. logging company HiSky Enterprises has introduced some new Komatsu machines into its logging equipment line-up to provide their employees with the latest in logging tools.

26 Going full tilt

New logging operation Full Tilt Contracting is looking forward to doing exactly that—going full tilt—in the not too distant future, helped along by solid logging equipment and an experienced crew.

64

Cranking the lumber out at Idaho Forest Group

Attendees at the recent Small Log Conference got a first-hand look at Idaho Forest Group’s new Lewiston, Idaho upgrade and its focus on a HewSaw SL250 3.4 installation that is already cranking out six million board feet a week—with room for more production.

81 The Edge

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

DEPARTMENTS

Calendar.........................................................................................................7 Tech Update: Skidders..................................................................................84 Suppliernewsline..........................................................................................88 Classifieds / Employment Opportunities.......................................................92 Ad Index / Subscriptions...............................................................................93 Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

3

spotlight

Prince George: a century of sawmilling

The City of Prince George—home to the Canada North Resources Expo—is celebrating its 100th birthday in 2015, and it has a rich sawmilling heritage over that century.

Photo courtesy of Exploration Place Museum, Prince George, B.C.

The City of Prince George has come a long way from the days of wooden sidewalks, and unpaved streets that changed from dust and mud to ice with the seasons. Among the features of 2015’s Prince George is the Wood Innovation and Design Centre (above, right) which features inventive use of wood solutions to solve every-day design and construction challenges, while demonstrating the beauty and diversity of value-added B.C. wood products.

By Jim Stirling

T

he City of Prince George is celebrating its 100th birthday in 2015.

Everything changed for the community about a century ago, in 1914, when train whistles started echoing from the cutbanks where the Fraser and Nechako rivers meet.

The railway changed the fortunes of many communities across Canada. Few benefitted like Prince George, sitting strategically near the centre of British Columbia.

The loggers and sawmillers saw the future and it was in the surrounding forests.

Spruce was king. Ubiquitous and magnificent, mature spruce forests filled the valleys and cloaked the hills in all directions. On and on, the forests seemed limitless. Prince George companies began a century of re-defining the art of timber harvesting and the science of processing logs into lumber.

But when the trains first came, Prince 4

George was just a scattered little trading community between the rivers which had been used by the Carrier Sekani people for centuries. The new settlers put up wooden sidewalks in front of their buildings. The unpaved streets changed from dust and mud to ice with the seasons.

About 2500 people lived in and around Prince George. But they tended to come and go—a lot.

In March 1915, the new railway town was incorporated as Prince George, named for Britain’s former Duke of Kent.

Williams G. Gillett was its inaugural mayor.

People started staying longer in Prince George. Gradually, roots were sunk. Some scions persist. The Northern Hardware was opened for business by A.B. Moffat in 1919 with a store on George Street. The Moffat family still runs “The Northern” though it’s been on Third Avenue these many years. Nowadays, locals ignore “Googling”—if they need an obscure part or oddball size for some household item, Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

it is likely squirreled away somewhere in the Northern’s bowels.

When the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway inched toward Prince George, the adjacent forests were like a store themselves for building the ties, bridges and occasional buildings needed to promote its progress. And within 10 years of the railway’s arrival, at least 30 permanent mills were operational along the east line between Prince George and Tete Jaune Cache. Together, they produced about 106 million board feet of rough lumber a year. A modest amount today, but it supported a lifestyle then.

Fast forward to 1956 and the Northern Interior Lumberman’s Association area (including Prince George) supported a staggering 1200 sawmills producing 380 million board feet of lumber annually. But big changes were looming. The age of to page 6

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spotlight from page 4 consolidation was less than a decade from starting.

In 1946, the I.W.A. union had signed a contract on behalf of its members with the sawmill owners. It called for 77 cents an hour and a 44 hour work week. But discontent simmered. A union-busting three month strike in 1953 failed. Union members only got an extra 5.5 cents an hour for their troubles.

In the early 1960s, an offhand conversation about improved forest utilization changed regional history and triggered the development of Prince George at the epicentre of British Columbia’s softwood forest industry. Ray Williston, the B.C. government of the day’s Resources Minister, was told that only 25 per cent of the wood volume growing on an acre of forest land approved for harvesting found its way into a boxcar.

The other 75 per cent was wasted.

The revelation blew Williston away— and changing that equation became his driving motivation.

“My approach was simple. I argued that we should take all of the firm spruce wood residue from the sawmills—together with the small and low grade logs left in the

forest—and convert them into pulp,” Williston recalled more than 20 years later.

By then, Prince George had three highly efficient operating pulp mills. The land base had been re-designated to meet the chip demand. Even in 1966, the Prince George Forest District boasted 144 debarkers and 161 operating chippers.

The implications proved profound.

Economies of scale in the sawmilling sector kicked in with a vengeance, with ever larger fish swallowing the small. Sawmills made more efficient use of machines, requiring less people in the process.

The machines themselves became more sophisticated, precise and fast operating.

The word “waste” in a sawmill context started becoming obsolete. Competing in world markets became keener. It still is, with the emergence of China, Korea and other Asian countries joining Japan as diversified destinations for Prince George wood products.

Changes in the bush were no less profound. Smaller diameter wood was harvested, including previously ignored species like lodgepole pine.

All phases of log harvesting and handling changed accordingly. Smash and grab attitudes quickly vanished. Prince

George became a hot spot for development of new logging systems and equipment like mechanical cutting heads.

Harvesting systems that looked at the land base holistically to respect other values were similarly pioneered and matured in the Prince George region. Safety of forest workers on the job began receiving more than lip service. Pollution control measures were initiated.

The physical town evolved through a similar fast-paced sea change. Prince George was a wild, work hard/play hard place during and after the pulp mill construction years. Growth was everywhere.

New buildings sprouted like summer weeds.

Then the place began to shake itself off a bit. It grew up. Young families settled in and the subdivisions and services spread out from where the two rivers meet.

The University of Northern British Columbia was created in 1990 by an act of the provincial legislature, after a groundswell of home grown support (16,000 people paid $5 and signed a petition demanding its creation).

UNBC, 25 years on, calls itself Canada’s green university and justifiably. It has a wood fired energy system—sourced in

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6

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

spotlight Prince George—that is being extended to the students’ residences and daycare. The system reduces the university’s dependence on natural gas as a heating method while serving as a platform for education and research into wood’s multi-dimensional potential.

University engineering staff are occupying the new Wood Innovation and Design Centre downtown. At six storeys, the WIDC is Canada’s tallest all-wood constructed building. It’s a showcase for new wood building potential.

As part of its birthday celebrations, UNBC’s Prince George campus hosted the closing ceremonies for the 2015 Canada Winter Games held in the city.

Around the time UNBC was taking shape, a cataclysmic event was percolating in interior forests. Vast mature forests, successive mild winters and inattention triggered the mountain pine beetle epidemic. It is the worst natural forest land disaster in Canadian history.

Countless millions of trees were killed by the beetle. Salvage efforts continue today.

The forest industry and the industry-reliant interior communities are enduring the effects of a changed land base along with fibre shortages and jobs in commodity lumber production. But the beetle epidemic has highlighted other uses for low quality wood such as wood pellets for heating.

Wood products are beginning to diversify like wood markets. The trend has renewed interest in the development of products like bio fuels and they will continue into Prince George’s second century.

Early in 2012, two B.C. Interior sawmills were destroyed by explosions and fires, including one in Prince George. The explosions killed four workers and injured scores more. The events galvanized the forest industry to contain and remove sawdust from its mills, after investigations named the material a primary cause for the incidents.

A 2014 landmark decision by the Supreme Court of Canada re-affirmed aboriginal rights in B.C. It means First Nations consent for work on the land base is a necessity.

The city has gained a new namesake.

He is Prince George of Cambridge, son of the U.K.’s Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. He will be two years old later in 2015. When his parents bring him to visit, they should travel from the east by train.

That way, the young Prince George can also hear the train whistles echo from the city’s cutbanks as he crosses the Fraser River into town.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

7

BCcontractorprofile

Seizing the moment

—in logging

Log Commander Enterprises, owned by the Webster Brothers—Ryan and Curtis—of Quesnel, B.C. has chosen to seize the moment in the logging upturn, expanding their fleet of logging equipment by a factor of four in the last 18 months.

By Jim Stirling

T

iming is everything.

It’s a well worn cliché for a reason. Look back at the growth and development of any business and at

least a couple of occasions will stand out when taking a decisive action changed the fortune and direction of that business.

Sometimes dramatically for the better but not always. Lessons need to be learned along the way. It’s one reason why making

the right decisions at the right time can be key to business success.

The young captains of Log Commander Enterprises seized their opportunity. to page 10

Curtis Webster (left) and brother Ryan of Log Commander Enterprises go over some maps during a busy day in the woods.

Curtis and Ryan aren’t newcomers to the bush and logging—the forest industry is in their genes. Their father, Joe, has carved a career in the forest industry, and the two brothers grew up around harvesting equipment.

8

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

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BCcontractorprofile

from page 8 They boldly expanded their fleet of log harvesting equipment by a factor of four during an 18 month period. Acquiring four major pieces of forest harvesting

10

equipment in relatively short order is one thing, but successfully accommodating the responsibilities accompanying that decision represents a challenge for any logging contractor.

Ryan and Curtis Webster were relative

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

newcomers to the log contracting ranks.

They had just two machines—a John Deere 690 loader and a Cat D6—before re-writing their business prospects with the acquisition of two late model feller bunchers and two skidders.

BCcontractorprofile But Ryan, 31, and Curtis, 23, had a couple of factors in their favour. They aren’t newcomers to the bush and logging. In fact, the forest industry is in their genes. Their father, Joe, has carved a career in the forest industry. He’s currently manager of phase logging operations for Tolko Industries Ltd’s Cariboo woodlands based at Williams Lake in the B.C. Interior.

Ryan and Curtis were both regular bush rats growing up in the forest and being around harvesting equipment. They began doing the often tedious fetch and carry chores before earning their respective opportunities to learn how to correctly operate logging equipment under real conditions. The long, long hours, the glories of Cariboo weather and the plain hard work didn’t deter either of them from looking to logging for their future.

“I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” says Curtis Webster, matter-of-factly.

Log Commander Enterprises is currently working west of Quesnel and is a participant in Tolko’s Innovative Phase Logging program. The program is a way to attract new entrants to log contracting and providing an opportunity for them to acquire quality log harvesting equipment with which to work.

The first new addition to Log Commander Enterprises’ equipment fleet was a Tigercat 635 six wheel drive skidder with about 100 hours on the clock, recalls Ryan Webster. It was followed by a Tigercat 845 feller buncher and a Deere 903J feller buncher. The fourth piece of new logging equipment in the approximately 18 month time span was a Cat 535C skidder. “It was more of a spur of the moment thing,” concedes Webster, “But the price was too good a deal to turn down.” The skidder had about 40 hours on it and had been used as a demo machine.

Webster’s assessment seems justified. The Cat has been purring along productively for Log Commander since its acquisition.

The company’s new equipment brings with it significant responsibility.

“At the end of the month, there’s a big number to be covered. If we’re behind, me and Curtis have to put in the hours to make it up,” says Webster. “We’re fortunate because we have control over bunching and skidding phases. But the processing contractor follows us and he has to make his numbers at the end of the month, too. It’s about cooperating and understanding the other guys’ issues.”

Perhaps the biggest problem for Log Commander has been finding the right

people for the right seats to operate the recently acquired equipment. “There’s a big difference between running equipment and operating it,” observes Curtis Webster wryly. They’ve had their issues but now have a good crew working together cooperatively, agree the Websters, with a mix of ages and experience. Little things can contribute to improved efficiency. Curtis Webster cites informal crew meetings around shift change time. Apart

from keeping everyone up to date with what’s going on, the sessions provide the opportunity to defuse any misunderstandings or issues. “We all get along pretty well.”

Ryan Webster has learned his own lessons along the way about improving relations amongst a work crew. “I know what it’s like to be screamed at,” he recalls. “I told myself I wouldn’t treat people that way if I was running an operation,” he

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

11

BCcontractorprofile Perhaps the biggest challenge for Log Commander has been finding the right people for the right seats to operate their equipment. “There’s a big difference between running equipment and operating it,” observes Curtis Webster wryly. They’ve had their issues but now have a good crew working together cooperatively, with a mix of ages and experience.

from page 11 added. His experience running a range of equipment comes in handy with Log Commander’s harvesting operation. He refers to the time he was operating a large mechanical shovel at an Alberta mining operation when the machine quit on him.

“The heat’s on you,” he states. He says the operation was losing $20,000 an hour because of the downed machine and about a dozen other guys were standing around unable to do their jobs without the shovel. Maybe that’s a further reason why preventative maintenance on the company’s logging equipment rates highly, to try and avoid such eventualities.”These machines are our bread and butter.”

The operators are responsible for routine end of shift refueling, greasing and a machine overlook. The brothers go over the equipment “from one end to the other” to help troubleshoot any looming issues. “It’s not foolproof but it helps,” he says. “But at the risk of repeating myself, it all comes down to who’s in the operator seat, if they’re operating the machine in the right way and looking after it.”

When Logging & Sawmilling Journal visited recently, the weather was a good month ahead of seasonal norms. Controlling run-off and sub grade melt while trying to maintain and preserve a running surface for logging traffic was a time consuming challenge. Fortunately, Log Commander’s operation was subsequently switched to a more conducive site in another part of the upper Deserter’s Creek drainage, about 45 kilometres west of Quesnel. The brothers hoped that would give them some additional valuable time to work prior to break up.

With the new equipment settling in to regular production mode, the task now for Log Commander Enterprises is more one of accommodation and consolidation than any immediate further growth.

“We want to concentrate on building our company and its reputation,” summarizes Curtis, the younger Webster brother.

12

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

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loggingequipment

Back to the future —with phase logging Forest company Tolko Industries is revisiting the past with its Innovative Phase Logging program in the B.C. Interior, and it is delivering detailed—and valuable—information on logging equipment performance and production.

By Jim Stirling

F

orest company Tolko Industries is revisiting the past to help improve the future through the creation of its Innovative Phase Logging program (IPL).

The concept involves Tolko’s acquisition of new and innovative log harvesting equipment. And as each piece is put to work within its specific log harvesting stage in British Columbia’s Cariboo region, a detailed examination of its productive performance is launched.

After an evaluation of the machine, it’s made available to interested logging contractors to operate on a production basis.

The detailed examination and associated costs of each logging phase—rather than on a stump to dump assessment basis —harkens back to the days when logging phase contractors were the norm in B.C. Think of it as an exercise in new logging machine micro management.

Discovering some of a feller buncher’s, skidder’s or processor’s production capabilities and benefits upfront takes some of the inherent risks away from the contractor, explained Joe Webster, manager of Tolko’s phase logging operations. The IPL initiative is entering year two of its four year growth plan. “It’s early days for the program and there are lots of unanswered questions,” he added.

As the IPL continues making the transition into productive phases, the questions along with different answers to assumptions will continue and are, in their way, a measure of progress. “It’s not a quick turnover process,” he summarized. “But we think we can gain some efficiencies by 14

looking closely at the logging phases, and create some opportunities.”

Those opportunities include training operators. That continues as a major motivation behind the IPL concept, continued Webster. “With our mentorship we can indicate what it takes to run that business.

The person we’re seeking is a younger but experienced equipment operator, someone who wants to be an owner-operator.”

Tolko can help them take that next step with the latest equipment.

The IPL program is expected to produce about 300,000 cubic metres a year when up to full operating capacity by year four. “We would like to see (the program offering) more opportunities so we might split the volume to have 150,000 cubic metres and two different skidder contractors, two different processing contractors and so on. With the equipment we have it looks like it would fly.”

Tolko’s IPL program is presently running a Tigercat 845C feller buncher, a Tigercat 615 six wheel drive skidder and a Link-Belt 290X2 with a Southstar QS600 processing head. Timber Service, a Quesnel-based loading specialist, is Tolko’s regular contractor for that phase using a Madill 3800.

The latest piece of innovative harvesting equipment to join Tolko’s IPL fleet for evaluation was a Pierce GP head. The grapple processing head promises a new definition of versatility. Pierce, an Oregonbased manufacturer, says the machine can sort, shovel, load like a grapple and delimbs, measures and cuts like a processor.

“It’s very early days and time will tell, but the Pierce is doing what the manufacturers said it would do,” commented Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

loggingequipment Webster. “It’s looking promising. It can load and process at the same time and handle trees from a four inch bottom diameter and has a 50 inch opening.

It measures well and handles our small diameter pine.”

The possibility of assessing the latest developments in different logging equipment engines is on IPL’s agenda for 2015.

“There has been a lot of focus on the capabilities of on-board computer programs and that will continue into 2015,” Webster added. “I don’t think the industry has been taking full advantage of what’s available.”

He suggested a better understanding of on-board computer operating systems can help define the working utilization of a given logging machine and its productivity per machine hour. Taking full advantage of the feller buncher, skidder and processor’s computer programs can, when monitored and analyzed, help build

the operator’s business acumen side, he added. It augments the overall efficiency of the logging machine and the harvesting phase in which it’s involved.

Webster noted the contractors involved with the project also keep work diaries to provide a hard data back-up of daily activities that’s easily revisited. “It can become valuable information.”

He added that logging contractors hire new equipment operators from time to time and a machine’s on-board computer system can help monitor and improve productivity. It becomes another tool available for use, similar to the GPS systems incorporated into the program’s feller bunchers and skidders. “The operators can see exactly where they are in real time.”

The capability can prove handy for a buncher operator, for example, to use the machine’s GPS to correctly position the felled wood in the direction of a road

when it’s snowing heavily or fog obscures the visual landscape The software used in a logging machine’s on-board computer also comes under close scrutiny. “The simpler the better,” Webster believes. “A touch screen with as few prompts as possible. That’s how we try to set it up.”

Another challenge is how best to handle to handle, edit and use the growing amount of data generated by each machine working within the IPL program.

While it’s premature to draw firm conclusions of where the IPL program will lead, Webster did allow some modest conjecture. “At the end of the day, it could become a situation of mix and match between contractors and equipment and wood types and conditions. And within that context the machine operator is a key element,” he said.

The equipment being run in Tolko’s Innovative Phase Logging program includes a Link-Belt 290X2 with a Southstar QS600 processing head.

The detailed examination and associated costs of each logging phase—rather than on a stump to dump assessment basis—harkens back to the days when logging phase contractors were the norm in B.C.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

15

planerupgrade

Recipe for recovery A major planer upgrade at Tolko’s Soda Creek Division stud mill operation in Williams Lake, B.C. is going to help expand its range of products and improve grades and recovery at the mill, a solid recipe for improved competitiveness.

“We’ve done a tremendous amount of work with this project and I’m extremely pleased, especially considering its scope and magnitude,” says Mike Yonkman (above), finishing end superintendent at the Soda Creek planer. “It’s always a challenge building something from the ground up.”

16

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

planerupgrade

GradExpert™

By Jim Stirling

M

uch has changed, from the new building overhead to the robot wrapping finished lumber packages underneath.

Tolko Industries Ltd., has crafted a major transformation of the planer operation at its Soda Creek Division stud mill in Williams Lake, British Columbia. The investment is paying early dividends through a faster and more efficient operation beginning at the planer outfeed and slow down table. The improvements also help deliver the ability to expand the range of products and improve grades and recovery, a heady cocktail for improved competitiveness.

“We had three main objectives for proceeding with the upgrade,” explains Mike Yonkman, finishing end superintendent at the Soda Creek planer. “We can now improve fibre and grade recovery with a new automated grading system, and we now have the sorting capacity to pull out requested product and grade items.”

The third major reason for the upgrades was the mill’s old lumber stacking system. It had a hard time keeping up, and was very labour intensive. “We had two stackers and also handpiled on a dry chain.”

Under the new system there’s a single stacker, a bander and an autowrapper.

The target production through the revitalized planing system is around a million board feet a day. That production was already being achieved on a regular basis, as long as the mill wasn’t heavily into running 2 x 3s. By outrunning the sawmill (about 850,000 board feet a day), the additional capacity is available for specialty products with higher grades and values, explains Yonkman.

The principal equipment suppliers contributing to the planers’ new efficiencies include Comact with its GradExpert autograder system and Carbotech International for the new trimmer, sorter, stacker and all the other lumber handling functions.

Wolftek Industries, as the Western Canadian distributor for Carbotech, supplied the Carbotech equipment, mechanically installed all components and completed the new sorter building erection. Wolftek worked as a liaison between Carbotech and Tolko to keep the project on schedule and budget.

Samuel supplied the mill’s new bander and D02 the autowrapping robot.

Known unofficially around the mill’s finishing end as Thomas, the robot can wrap and staple a 392 piece package every 90 seconds. It could maintain that pace without stopping if there was the wood to keep up with Thomas and enough wraps and staples for the robot to work with. D02—Dolbeau Oxygene—is a company based in Dolbeau-Mistassini, in north central Quebec.

Major sawmill improvement projects like Soda Creek require the co-operation and co-ordination of all involved to create a successful venture. Having good contractors and consultants— along with the equipment—is a major part of that success.

The Soda Creek project also benefitted with help from the

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to page 18 Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

17

planerupgrade from page 17 local community. “Doug Fraser Contracting from Williams Lake was the primary mechanical installation contractor and he and his crews did an excellent job keeping costs in line and the mechanical install on schedule,” credits Yonkman.

Most of the Soda Creek stud mill’s raw material is in the form of beetle killed lodgepole pine. About 85 per cent of that volume ends up in 2 x 4s, 10 per cent in 2 x 6 and the balance in 2 x 3s.

Principal markets for the finished lumber are in China—especially with the 10 foot lengths—and in the U.S. and domestic sales. “Our 36 bin sorter can now pull 25 different products, up from seven, which gives us a big improvement in what we can do and get from our fibre,” points out Yonkman.

Physical construction work for the planer upgrade project began late in 2013.

“We thought we were going to excavate to four feet for our extended building,” recalls Yonkman. But there were pockets of material requiring excavation to 11 feet before further work on the

11,000 square foot extension could proceed. But after that, most of the rest of the project proceeded well without any major surprises.

The high level of automation introduced into the mill’s production process did lead to a reduction in the numbers of

staff required, concedes Yonkman. “But Tolko has been successful in accommodating them elsewhere,” he added. “The whole project represents a significant

to page 20

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

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planerupgrade from page 18 capital investment and show’s Tolko’s commitment to Williams Lake.”

When the Logging & Sawmilling Journal visited, the operation was performing very well but remained a work in progress.

“There are lots of bugs to be worked out still. You’re always troubleshooting for the first little while and maintenance and operating staff have to learn about the new equipment,” he says. “The start-up curve is about training—that’s what you do.”

Yonkman reckons a factor that’s really helped the new style operation gather momentum as well as it has is thanks to the people working in the planer.

“They’re good people to get along with here at the planer and top notch for attitude,” he adds.

“We’ve done a tremendous amount of work with this project and I’m extremely pleased with just about everything, especially considering its scope and magnitude. It’s always a challenge building something from the ground up,” concludes Yonkman.

20

The improvements at Tolko Soda Creek help deliver the ability to expand the range of products and improve grades and recovery, a heady cocktail for improved competitiveness. One of the principal equipment suppliers contributing to the efficiencies was Comact, with its GradExpert autograder system.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

contractorprofile

Logging operation Hi-Sky Enterprises starts the day before sunrise and finishes after sunset, harvesting trees in northeastern British Columbia with its Komatsu equipment, from dealer SMS Equipment. Above, a Komatsu machine equipped with a Quadco 22” B- series hot saw.

The latest in logging Northeastern B.C. logging company Hi-Sky Enterprises has introduced some new Komatsu machines into its logging equipment line-up to provide their employees with the latest in logging tools, and make sure they are able to keep moving wood efficiently to meet the needs of their customer, lumber giant Canfor.

M

ost industries have undergone some serious changes over the past three decades, largely due to technological advancements. Few, however, have undergone as radical a transformation as the logging industry.

Hi-Sky Enterprises, a northeastern British Columbia logging company, has seen considerable changes since it was

22

started by Lorne Waldie in 1980. His son, Shayne, joined the company in 1991 and is now operations manager.

“When I started, we used all handfallers, line-skidders and hand-buckers— everything was power-saw work,” Shayne Waldie recalls. “Today, we have no power-saws in the bush. In fact, it’s all mechanical and there is little to no manLogging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

ual labour. At Hi-Sky, we’ve adapted well to the changes, and we’re continuing to look at new processes to further improve our productivity and profitability.”

There’s no question about whether mechanization has boosted Hi-Sky’s productivity.

Shayne says in the power-saw days, the company logged maybe 80,000 to

contractorprofile

Shayne Waldie, operations manager for Hi-Sky Enterprises.

g tools 100,000 metres per year. Now, it logs 400,000 to 600,000 metres per year.

“Of course, producing more and producing more profitably aren’t necessarily the same thing. For us to get a good price, the mills have to be making money, and due to a slow world economy, they’ve been down for a number of years.” That has changed in the last several years, though, with a significant improvement in the lumber and wood products markets.

Shayne said they are hopeful that the cycle has turned back up, and they’ll reap the benefits of the upturn.

Based in Chetwynd, British Columbia, Hi-Sky logs exclusively for lumber giant, Canfor. Depending on the year and the time of year, Hi-Sky employs anywhere from 30 to 60 people, including truck

drivers. The company runs a northern operation and a southern operation, although both support Canfor’s two northernmost mills, in Fort St. John (north) and in Chetwynd (south).

In addition to Shayne, founder Lorne Waldie remains active and serves as president of the company. Shayne’s wife, Christy, and sister Lorna manage office duties for Hi-Sky. “We’re very much a family business,” said Shayne. “My dad brought me into the woods at an early age, and I worked here over school breaks before joining full time.

It’s something I grew up with, and I never gave much thought to doing anything else.

This is what we know and what we do. It’s part of our life and always has been.

“Of course, we can’t do it alone,” he added. “We have a number of very good and highly valued long-term employees who are crucial to our success, such as Ray Picard and his son, Wayne. They’re two of the best operators in the whole country, and they’ve essentially worked here their entire lives. Without people like that, we would not go very far. We understand this can be a tough life—long hours and spending a lot of time away from family while living in camps. There are certainly easier ways to make a living.

We really appreciate our employees.”

Shayne says finding new employees is a challenge for Hi-Sky and for the entire logging industry.

“We used to work five days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day, for about nine months of the year. Today, we basically work seven days a week, 14 or more hours Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

a day, for 11 months of the year. That’s what you’ve got to do now to make a living at logging.

“Compounding the problem, there’s a lot of competition from other industries for employees in our area, especially for equipment operators. So attracting and retaining employees is an issue, and it will become even more so as our oldhands begin to retire, which is already happening.”

Hi-Sky’s southern operations log primarily softwood such as spruce/pine and balsam fir. In the north, it logs some spruce/pine, but it mostly logs hardwood, such as aspen, poplar and cottonwood.

“Unfortunately, a fairly large percentage of our harvest is dead pine from an infestation of the mountain pine beetle more than a decade ago,” said Shayne.

“That means a lot of waste. Mills are looking for top-quality wood, and much of the dead pine has defects that fall short of their standards, so we end up burning it just to get rid of it. We probably have a few more years to clean all that out, then we’ll start harvesting green wood again.”

Generally speaking, the conifer trees that Hi-Sky harvests are processed into lumber while the deciduous trees are made into oriented strand board (OSB).

Hi-Sky is a conventional, roadside logger; they’re felling the tree, transporting or skidding it to a roadside staging area, processing it and, finally, loading it for delivery to the mill. to page 24 23

contractorprofile from page 23 “That’s the way we’ve traditionally done it,” said Shayne. “We’re able to produce a lot, but is it the most cost-effective way to get the job done? We’re looking into that.

We’re handling each tree multiple times with multiple pieces of equipment.

“I’ve been to Scandinavia to see their techniques, which are different than ours, to see if we can incorporate some of what they’re doing. Soon, I’m going to Oregon to see if I can learn anything from their logging operations.

“We’ve got to be open to new things and be willing to try something different,” Shayne noted. “If there’s a better way, we’ve got to embrace it, or we’ll be left behind. We want to learn how to be as efficient as we can be. That’s the key.

Learn how to do more, do it faster and do it for less.”

To improve efficiency, Hi-Sky has recently turned to Komatsu machines from dealer, SMS Equipment Company. Hi-Sky has two XT450L tilter feller bunchers, one XT430 flat-bottom feller buncher, a PC200LL-8 processor and a D65EX dozer.

“Komatsu has always built a great

24

product,” said Shayne. “They got their feller bunchers from Valmet, which got them from Timbco. It’s a good line. Lots of power. Good balance. Excellent reliability.

One of the best things about our Komatsu feller bunchers is that they’re compact, so they’re much easier to manoeuvre when we’re out there in the trees and stumps.

We also really like the PC200LL-8 as a carrier for our Southstar 500 processing head,

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

and the D65EX has been an excellent road building dozer.”

Operator Raymond Picard had this to say about the Komatsu XT450L: “I’ve been doing this for 52 years. I started with a horse, so I’ve seen a few changes.

I really like the Komatsu feller buncher. It handles nicely, has good power and visibility. It can fall a lot of trees.”

His son, Wayne Picard, also runs the

contractorprofile

To improve efficiency, Hi-Sky has turned to Komatsu machines for its logging operations in the tough B.C. terrain. Hi-Sky has two XT450L tilter feller bunchers, one XT430 flat-bottom feller buncher, a PC200LL-8 processor and a D65EX dozer. what we do. In our case, that means moving wood faster and more efficiently than the other guy. As long as we’re able to maintain that work ethic for ourselves and throughout our work force, I’m confident Hi-Sky will be around and will be successful for many years to come.”

This story was supplied to Logging and Sawmilling Journal by SMS Equipment (www.smsequip.com). It was originally published in the company’s Solutions Magazine.

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XT450L. “The compact upper turntable is nice because it allows me to get into places where I couldn’t with the traditional big tail-swing machines. I also like that Komatsu put extra weight on the machine to give it better stability on hills.

Another nice feature is the ability to finetune many machine functions to my own personal operating preferences.”

“We really just started purchasing Komatsu equipment last year, and we’ve found it to be an outstanding product,” said Shayne. “Another plus is Komatsu Financial, which has good rates and is great to work with. With a branch in Chetwynd, SMS and our sales rep Kyle Patterson provide us with excellent parts and service support. It’s really the whole package, so I can see us increasing the amount of business we do with them in the years to come.”

Looking to the future, Shayne anticipates better days ahead for Hi-Sky Enterprises.

“I don’t think it’s a big surprise to anybody—the last six years have been pretty tough for the logging industry, at least up here. Many mills shut their doors for good and others closed temporarily.

Many logging firms didn’t make it through the downturn. We did, but we had to cut back and do more with less. Now that things are picking up again, we’re optimistic that the improvement will filter through the mills down to the loggers.

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BCInteriorlogging

Going full tilt

New logging operation Full Tilt Contracting is looking forward to doing exactly that—going full tilt—in the not too distant future, helped along by solid logging equipment and an experienced crew.

By Jim Stirling

T

here’s no passport control at the top of Sheep Creek Hill. But once travelers cross the Fraser River west of Williams Lake and switchback up the hill to the plateau’s lip, they’re entering a different world.

It’s called the Chilcotin and it’s like no other in British Columbia.

The Chilcotin is a blend of open range and grasslands scored by deep river

26

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

Machine operators are a key ingredient to a productive logging operation and Full Tilt owner Dustin Chevigny (left) credits his crew with consistently getting the job-at-hand done well. On the right is processor operator Greg Charleyboy.

valleys. The plateau is cloaked with forests and bordered in the west by deep lakes and the Coast Mountains. The region is synonymous with small diameter pine, long distances and opportunities for loggers.

The high plateau is frigid in winter and fiery in summer, but offers loggers valuable seasonal harvesting options.

The Chilcotin people are different, too: proudly independent and protective of traditional and family values.

When Dustin Chevigny drives up the Sheep Creek Hill in the early morning darkness on his way to work, he represents his own heritage as a fourth generation log harvesting contractor. His dad, David Chevigny, runs Pioneer Logging which has been active for many years in and around Williams Lake and in the Chilcotin.

The younger Chevigny has recently started his own company, the expressively named Full Tilt Contracting. Dustin works as a sub-contractor for Pioneer and actively seeks other opportunities to keep his four main production machines logging and profitable.

“It was time to jump,” explains the 24-year-old for his entrepreneurial gumption. “It’s been tough but good. I work harder now than when I was an hourly employee and it’s not as simple—what with the worries about log quality, machine upkeep and all the logging phases,” he continues. “But I always wanted to get into more than one logging phase. I have a lot of drive.” And his dad’s assessment?

to page 28 Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

27

BCInteriorlogging

Pioneer Logging’s six wheel drive Tigercat 635 skidder can almost double the payload per turn of a four-wheeled machine and go where the smaller machine can’t, while using only slightly more fuel, points out Full Tilt’s Dustin Chevigny. “It pays off big time.” from page 27 “He’s a good businessman as well as a hard worker.”

Full Tilt Contracting operates a John Deere 2454 loader and an 848 skidder, a Tigercat 822 feller buncher and a Hitachi 210 with a Waratah 622B processing head. “You have to be able to jump at

28

opportunities,” says Chevigny regarding log harvesting equipment acquisitions.

“Sometimes they can just float away from you.” He’s unabashedly enthusiastic about Tigercat feller bunchers “In my opinion, there’s nothing better than a Tigercat cutter. They’re the cream of the cream and they’re Canadian-built. You can’t beat that.” Part of his endorsement

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

undoubtedly comes from the stalwart performance of his 822.

“We’ve got 18,000 hours on the buncher with double shifting it day in, day out.” He credits an additional factor for that. “The Tigercats are purpose built to page 30

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BCInteriorlogging from page 28 for logging. They’re not construction machines.”

Not to be underestimated in the performance evaluation is the maintenance regime. Chevigny says his buncher receives a full hour of service after each nine-hour production shift. “Those machines go through a lot of torture every day.” Chevigny adds that Tigercat machines have made a big difference to both his company and Pioneer Logging through their uptime and delivery of the best return per cubic metre produced.

Regional equipment dealers play their role keeping Full Tilt’s equipment team performing. They include Inland Kenworth–Parker Pacific in Williams Lake, the local Tigercat dealer; Wajax Equipment in Prince George for the Hitachi processor and he credits Great West Equipment in Williams Lake for maintaining a good inventory of standard machine parts.

Machine operators are the other key ingredient to a productive logging operation and Chevigny credits his whole crew with consistently getting the job-at-hand done well.

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Whatever the job, Full Tilt’s Dustin Chevigny says producing quality wood is paramount, with 95 per cent to 100 per cent meeting specifications. “We try to keep the mills happy. They are our customers and we want them to be permanent customers, and make a reputation for producing quality wood.”

Controlling the costs that a logging contractor can influence is elemental to success. But sometimes it can be problematic to implement. “I like being able to try new things. If you can save a dollar and get the

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

job done that has to be a good thing,” he says. “I run lean in the good times.”

Full Tilt Contracting and Pioneer Logging have declared war on traditionally rising fuel costs and strive to reduce fuel consumption wherever practical.

Chevigny and Pioneer have switched from heavier duty vehicles to Ford 150 halftons, with Tidy Tanks where needed, as company pick-up trucks. “They save fuel and they’ve been an awesome pick-up.”

Pioneer’s six wheel drive Tigercat 635 skidder can almost double the payload per turn of a four-wheeled machine and go where the smaller machine can’t, while using only slightly more fuel, points out Chevigny. “It pays off big time.”

Pioneer also runs Link-Belt carriers with Southstar processing heads that deliver further significant fuel savings thanks to the Link-Belt’s 177 hp Isuzu engine. “We try to run as fuel efficient operations as we can,” he summarizes. “Payments and fuel are two big expenses.”

Apart from Full Tilt’s role as a subcontractor for Pioneer Logging, Chevigny has accepted other challenges. His crew has taken on projects logging privately owned land and bidding on B.C. Timber Sales. One of those was for about 25,000 cubic metres, further west in the Chilcotin, near Tatla Lake during the summer of 2014. Chevigny says his right hand men, processor operator Greg Charleyboy and buncherman Larry Cahoose, “were willing to work the hours to get the job to page 32

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BCInteriorlogging

Full Tilt owner Dustin Chevigny hopes he and Full Tilt’s crews can live up to the company name right out of the gate after break up. The optimism is based on what’s been going on this year, helping create a regional appetite for logs. from page 30 done.” Whatever the job, Chevigny says producing quality wood is paramount, with 95 per cent to 100 per cent meeting specifications. “We try to keep the mills happy. They are our customers and we want them to be permanent customers, and make a reputation for producing quality wood.”

When the Logging & Sawmilling Journal caught up with Chevigny near the end of the 2014-15 logging season, he was working at a Pioneer Logging show in the Gaspard Creek drainage of the Chilcotin.

Most of the efforts were on completing

32

harvesting targets, delivering wood to roadside and processing the logs. In this case it was in four classification lengths from approximately eight to 18 feet for delivery to Tolko Industries. Pioneer has five company-owned logging trucks and employs another five on contract.

Chevigny says he’s optimistic about the future. “I think there are a lot of opportunities in the forest industry for people to get their feet on the ground,” he says. His feet seem firmly planted. He and his wife, Kaylyn, have a new daughter, Aayron, and share a positive outlook.

“Full Tilt logged about 40,000 cubic metres this year. Eighty thousand would

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

be a real nice number for me.” He reckons that translates to about eight loads a day for 10 months a year.

Chevigny hopes he and Full Tilt’s crews can live up to the company name right out of the gate after break up. The optimism is based on what’s been going on this year, helping create a regional appetite for logs. Tolko has upgraded its mills in Williams Lake, as has West Fraser in 100 Mile House and the small Sigurdson Bros., operation lost production through weather issues, he explains. Declares Chevigny with a smile: “I’m looking forward to next season.”

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Welcome to the Show!

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n behalf of the steering committee and the Resources Expo Society, I would like to welcome all exhibitors and visitors to the second edition of the Canada North Resources Expo—it’s back, and it’s bigger and better!

Northern B.C. is bustling with activity in regards to forestry, mining, pipelines, energy generation, transportation, oil and gas and, of course, the service and supply side. This event will showcase the leaders and rising stars in all of those growing industries!

The Canada North Resources Expo is committed to showcasing and educating the exciting new developments related to the northern resource sector. This year the new Northern B.C. Safety Conference will be running in conjunction with the show with

a special focus on the next generation through the “Future of the Industry Day”. From exploring Health, Wellness and Safety for industry employees, to seeing equipment Live in Action in the DEMO Zone and providing up-close and personal information for potential employee recruits, this year’s Expo is sure to have something for everybody.

Our sincere and heartfelt thanks go out to our many corporate sponsors, and our hardworking steering committee, without whom the show would not be possible! A huge thank you to each and every member of the steering committee, who have been so committed to the event, and have poured the time and energy into the show to make it a success!

I hope everyone who attends or participates in the Canada North Resources Expo will find the experience educational and enjoyable, and hopefully profitable.

See you there!

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

Welcome to Canada North Resources Expo—and Prince George!

O

n behalf of the entire show management team at Master Promotions Ltd., I would like to welcome you to the second edition of the Canada North Resources Expo in beautiful Prince George, British Columbia.

Prince George is widely known as the capital of northern British Columbia. It’s an ideal location for a major industry event of this nature—it is easily accessible by air, as well as points north via rail. The city of Prince George serves as an inland port, and complements the coastal port of Prince Rupert to the west, with the two cities connected by rail.

Congratulations to the citizens of Prince George on a banner year. Along with recently hosting the Canada Winter Games, the city marks its 100th anniversary this year. There’s no better time to pay tribute to the many sectors that are a part of the region’s economy, including mining, oil and gas, forestry, bioenergy, education, health care, transportation, and professional services. The Canada North Resources Expo showcases the leaders and rising stars of each of these industries.

This year’s show will feature tons of big iron, filling the CN Centre to the rafters, PLUS massive outdoor exhibits. You’ll find all the products, equipment and services needed to get jobs done on time and on budget—no small feat considering the billions of dollars in major projects planned for the region.

Enjoy the Demo Zone; the Health, Wellness & Safety Zone; and the Northern B.C. Safety Conference, as well as all the other features the Canada North Resources Expo has to offer.

We would like to thank our media sponsor: the Logging & Sawmilling Journal; our community partner: the Resources Expo Society; and the Canada North Resources Expo steering committee for their invaluable assistance, input and support of this fantastic event.

These are exciting times in the region—let’s get building!

Mark Cusack National Show Manager Master Promotions Ltd.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

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Resources Expo show spirit Although the Central Interior Logging Association is no longer part of the picture for the Canada North Resources Expo, its spirit remains strong through a local show committee.

By Jim Stirling

L

og harvesting contractors and log haulers are independent breeds by nature and preference. They operate, however, in an increasingly complex business environment influenced by licencees, government regulations and groups concerned about the use of British Columbia’s forest lands.

Logging associations have long represented their constituents with these groups and the public on a wide range of issues affecting them.

The Central Interior Logging Association (CILA) was the regional voice of the log harvesting industry. It was silenced in 2014 primarily through financial debt and a declining membership.

The Canada North Resources Expo (CNRE) in Prince George May 29-30 will

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be the first forestry related show in the city without the CILA in its background.

Technically, that is. The spirit remains and influences this year’s CNRE, as it has through its many predecessors, through a local show committee, made up of exCILA volunteers.

“They continue to do an outstanding job,” credits Mark Cusack, national show manager for the CNRE’s presenter, Master Promotions Ltd. The CILA traces its origins back to 1966, which means it would have celebrated 50 years of service to area loggers in 2016.

Back in 1966 when the city was booming with the pulp mill era, the association was called the Prince George and District Truck Loggers Association. Through time and various re-organizations, the group emerged as the CILA and became a unifying voice and influence for regional loggers.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

The CILA earned the respect of governments, non-government agencies, First Nations and others by presenting a well researched approach and stance on issues. The groundwork made it easier for all parties to reach consensus. It was the trades division of the CILA that saw an opportunity in the early 1980s to provide a showcase for the forest industry, a forum for business and an educational eyeopener for the public. The Prince George Regional Forest Exhibition morphed into Forest Expo, Canada’s premier forest industry show.

But the CILA’s expansion of services and the fallout after the collapse of the U.S. housing market and recession of 2008 took a fatal toll.

Many regional logging contractors and truckers regretted the loss and felt the void the CILA’s death created. One of them was Tim Menning, owner of Hytest Timber Ltd., of Williams Lake, a long time CILA member and ex-chairman of the association. Menning took out membership in the Interior Logging Association.

“There is no chance of recovery for the CILA and after looking at all options, I’ve decided to take out a membership in the ILA based in Vernon,” wrote Menning at the time. “I believe we need a strong logging association across the interior of B.C. because many of our issues are different than those shared by loggers and truckers on the coast.”

Menning was not alone. “We’re still working on contacting CILA members and probably about 25 of them have signed up with the ILA,” reports Wayne Lintott, the ILA’s general manager. “We’re hoping to capture about 95 per cent of them. I’m finding out we share the same problems.”

The ILA will be represented at the CNRE this May with its forest education display and Lintott plans on attending.

Mining, energy industries to be well-represented at Resources Expo The mining and energy industries are currently weathering some challenges, but they will still be well-represented at the Canada North Resources Expo in Prince George.

By Jim Stirling

M

uch has changed since 2013 when the Canada North Resources Expo (CNRE) was last held in Prince George.

The oil and gas industry was in good shape in 2013. Strong Asian demand for commodities was keeping the mining sector buoyant. The British Columbia Liberals were still in full hype mode about how a liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry in B.C. was imminent and would deliver wealth and prosperity for all.

But now, in 2015, oil prices have plummeted. Asia’s appetite for commodi-

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ties has slackened with the result being declining metal prices.

And the B.C. Liberals have been forced to backpedal from their fanciful LNG forecasts. But despite that, the troubled resources will all be well represented at the CNRE along with a resurgent regional forest industry.

“We haven’t had any cutbacks or downsizing from the oil and mining industries,” reports Mark Cusack, national show manager for Master Promotions Ltd., the event’s presenter. The show is scheduled for Prince George’s CN Centre May 29-30.

Both the oil and gas and mining sectors

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

are traditionally used to weathering cycles of activity. Geopolitical maneuvering is a core reason for that. But what’s happened does represent something of a perfect storm.

With much of the western and producing world awash in oil, production, exploration and service capacity has been markedly reduced in Alberta and northeastern B.C. BC Hydro’s 344 kilometre Northwest Transmission power line was electrified in 2014. It cost $736 million, up from the originally forecast $404 million, and was promoted to be the catalyst for mining development in the northwest. The

line’s first official customer was AltaGas’ independent power producing plant.

Imperial Mine’s $500 million Red Chris copper/gold mine near Iskut, north of the Northwest Transmission line’s terminus, is beginning to ship ore and is scheduled to connect with Hydro’s transmission line.

But the present metal prices impinge on the project’s viability.

The whole mining industry is also examining the catastrophic implications of the tailings dam failure and subsequent widespread pollution at Imperial’s Mount Polley mine near Likely in the Cariboo. All such existing and planned structures are under intense scrutiny.

It was around the time the 2013 CNRE was held in Prince George that Thompson Creek Metals Co., officially opened a $650 million expansion of its molybdenum mine near Fraser Lake, about 160 kilometres west of Prince George. But the subsequent fall in metal prices has forced the operator to suspend full mine production and lay-off workers. Making matters worse for regional mines are increasing cheaper metal supplies from operations in other parts of the world.

These types of events are not new for the mining industry. “They’ve seen this a million times. They will weather this and prepare for the next upswing and when (it) comes, I think the general view is that it is going to be pretty significant,” forecast Pierre Gratton, president of the Mining Association of Canada, in a recent interview.

The liquefied natural gas industry, however, has no historical strength to draw from in B.C. The province does have some potentially attractive attributes to attract LNG development, especially after both federal and provincial governments favourably tweaked the proposed tax rates for investors. The consortiums proposing multi-billion dollar long term LNG projects are players in a complex high stakes, competitive venture and will locate only where their overall investments and interests are best catered. Industry experts are now predicting given today’s circumstances, that if there is to be any LNG development in B.C., it’s unlikely before 2020.

B.C. has always had a predilection for grand scale public sector projects and at $8.7 billion, BC Hydro’s Site C is the

undisputed granddaddy. The provincial government has given the go-ahead for construction of a third hydroelectric dam on the Peace River near Fort St. John in northeastern B.C. with an operational target of 2024. The construction start,

however, has already been delayed until this summer. The project faces strong opposition and a string of court challenges, including those from First Nations groups.

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Features Meet ‘Swamp Loggers’ Bobby Goodson

Don’t miss Bobby and Lori Goodson from the Discovery Channel’s “Swamp Loggers” at the Canada North Resources Expo. Look for them in the Inland Group’s booth (OS-82). Get autographs and photos with Bobby and have a chance to ask those burning questions—hey, he can probably provide some pointers for those in the forestry and logging industries!

Goodson’s All Terrain Logging, Inc. (ATL) is a family-owned and operated business located in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Fourth-generation logger Bobby Goodson has been a timber supplier for more than 20 years, providing hardwood and pulpwood for Corbett Timber Company. Approximately 15 years ago, he began using the shovel method of logging and realized he’d found his niche.

The highly-skilled, hard working men who make up the ATL crew are happy to tackle the daily challenges that come with the dirty job of “swamp logging”. Despite the seemingly impassable terrain, their heavy-duty equipment allows them to collect, load and distribute the massive trees found in these desolate areas. On average, they are able to yield 92 truckloads of wood per week to the nearby paper mills.

Although the work is demanding and often dangerous, the crew still enjoys what they do. Their day-to-day efforts were featured on the Discovery Channel’s hit reality show, “Swamp Loggers.”

Presented & Sponsored By:

First Annual Northern B.C. Safety Conference Saturday, May 30, 2015 9am – 3:45 pm Sign-in begins at 8 am CN Centre – Kin Lounge

Driving Safety Home

Join us for an exciting conference that will give you practical information and tools to help you manage safety challenges at work. Presentations will provide the latest information on high risk activities such as distraction in the workplace and effective supervision of new and young workers. Lunch will be provided to conference delegates.

This conference is suitable for all workers, supervisors and owners working in the forest industry in Northern B.C. Conference highlights will include presentations by: • Grant Aune – Advantage Fleet Services • Karen Bowman & Tim Baillie – Drop It and Drive • Gary Anaka - Your Brain on the Job • Michael Sestito, Bennett Jones - Incident Investigation • Mary Lu Spagrud – Canadian Mental Health Association The conference organizing committee is made up of people from across the industry including licensee, contractor, supplier, WorkSafeBC and BC Forest Safety representatives.

Please visit http://www.bcforestsafe. org/NBCSC for more information or to register.

_____________________________

Health, Wellness & Safety Zone

Swing by the Health, Wellness & Safety Zone and check out the interactive booths.

Learn about a range of topics including: road safety at work, workplace impairment, distracted driving, physical and mental health, forest industry safety, trucking safety and much more! Get your passport filled in for a chance to win prizes.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

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Features Live Equipment Demo Zone This outdoor venue featuring actual working machinery is a huge draw and promises to be a crowd pleaser! Visitors are able to dig, drill, lift, carry, chip, break, bore, push and cut with the equipment; just like being on an actual worksite! The big iron will be on display and working outside the CN Centre.

The Live Equipment Demos will provide a platform for suppliers, manufacturers and distributors to showcase how their equipment works. It will enable users to familiarize themselves with the advanced features and amazing capabilities of the different brands of forestry, mining, heavy construction and oil and gas equipment available today.

With these live and interactive demonstrations, visitors will be able to get up

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close and personal to this machinery and will be able to make informed hands-on purchasing decisions.

The Demo Zone will host the Pre-Trip

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

Trucking Competition and the Roll-over Simulator display presented by the Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement (CVSE).

Features Recruiting Here

Exhibitors who are looking to grow their ranks and hire new employees will display ‘Recruiting Here’ signage indicating they are on the hunt for new talent! Visitors should come with resumes in hand to meet prospective new employers in the forestry, mining, oil and gas and heavy equipment industries.

Future of the Industry Day…. SATURDAY! This is a great opportunity to introduce and educate our next generation— they are the future of our thriving resource industries. Get up close and personal with the equipment and the services it takes to get the job

done… and watch the heavy iron live, in action in the Demo Zone!

Anyone who purchases a regular admission on Saturday, or has pre-registered, will receive free entry for their family!!* *offer applies Saturday, May 30th only.

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Companies participating to date: Company Name Booth# Skeans................................................... 336 Inland Group.....................................OS-82 Parker Pacific.....................................OS-82 Groeneveld/CPL Systems....................... 408 *Royal Canadian Mounted Police........ 320 GMI Wheels/Global Mining Products..... 714 *Resume’s not accepted at Booth.

_____________________________

Pre-Trip Skills Competition

Sponsored by Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement and The Inland Group. Think you are a trucking pro? Join the Pre-Trip challenge from 10 am to 3 pm, Friday May, 29th and Saturday, May 30th at the CN Centre Live Equipment Demo Zone. Test your trucking abilities for a chance to win prizes! Pre-register by contacting Kathleen at katmeise@shaw. ca or by cell 250.617.5724 or register on site. Let’s get Trucking!

____________________________

Pancake Breakfast

Join the exhibitors and show committee Friday May, 29th & Saturday, May 30th at 7:30 am for a Pancake Breakfast outside the main entrance of the CN Centre in the parking lot. Minimum donation of $5.00 proceeds goes to the Big Brothers and Sisters. Big Brothers and Sisters is a non-profit organization committed to Canada’s young people, providing them with the highest quality, volunteer-based mentoring programs.

Join us for great food, for an even greater cause!

thanK You to our sponsors!

Canada north resourCes expo steering Committee members: ace Coustol - Leavitt Machinery Corey timms - The Inland Group Kathleen meise - Community Partner Linda self - Resources Expo Society neil o’Farrell - Initiatives Prince George rachel derrick - BC Forest Safety Council rick pattie - Wajax Industries rob stanhope - Logging and Sawmilling Journal scott hamilton - Resources Expo Society stan mitchell - KPMG

Exhibitor List ABC Recycling Booth # 334 www.abcrecycling.com

Ammann Booth # OS-84 www.ammann-group.com

Barko Booth # OS-32 www.barko.com

Accurate Gauge Ltd. Booth # OS-39 www.accuratetruckbodies.com

Arctic Manufacturing Booth # OS-42 www.arcticmfg.com

BC Doctors of Optometry Occupational Vision Plan Booth # 422 www.ovp.bc.ca

Advantage Fleet Services Inc. Booth # 417 www.advantagefleetservices.com

Armtec Ltd. Booth # 522 www.armtec.com

Alliance Industrial Booth # 398 www.alianceis.ca

ATCO Stuctrures & Logistics Booth # OS-16 www.atcosl.com

BC Hydro Booth # 723 www.siteproject.com

Alliance Tire Group Booth # OS-20 www.atgtire.com

Atlantic Industries Limited Booth # 312 www.ail.ca

BC Roadway Supplies Booth # 402 www.bcroadwaysupplies.com

All-West Glass Booth # 338 www.all-westglass.com

Axis Forestry Inc. Booth # 614 www.axisforestry.com

AMI Attachments Booth # OS-80 www.amiattachments.com

Babine Truck and Equipment Booth # OS-02 www.babinetruck.com

BCCA-Skilled Trades Employment Program Booth # 333 www.stepbc.ca

BC Forest Safety Council Booth # 418 www.bcforestsafe.org

Big Bear Service Booth # D-20 www.bigbearservicescanada.com Bobcat Booth # OS-84 www.bobcat.com Britespan Building Systems Booth # 330 www.britespanbuildings.com Brutus Truck Bodies Booth # OS-26 www.brutusbodies.com BWS Trailers Booth # OS-36 www.bwstrailers.com Canada Culvert Booth # 708 www.candadculvert.com Canadian Dewatering Ltd. Booth # 700 www.canadiandewatering.com Canadian Diabetes Association Booth # 432 www.diabetes.ca Canadian Forest Industries Booth # 324 www.woodbusiness.ca Canadian Mental Health Association Booth # 430 www.cmha.ca Canadian Western Bank —Prince George Booth # OS-44 www.cwbank.com

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

to page 54

Exhibitor List from page 52

CARBONBITE Mulching Attachments Booth # OS-15 www.carbonbite.ca CASE Booth # OS-82 www.casece.com Cleanfix North America Ltd. Booth # 706 www.cleanfix.org Connexus Industries Inc. Booth # 520 www.cnxsind.com Container West Manufacturing Ltd. Booth # 337 www.containerwest.com Cool-It Booth # 410 www.cool-it.ca Cover Star Structures Ltd. Booth # 719 www.coverstar.ca

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Custom Controls Inc. Booth # 617 www.customcontrolsinc.com

Drive Products Booth # 702 www.driveproducts.com

D & L Timber Technologies Booth # D-30 www.dltimbertech.com

Drop It and Drive Booth # 414 www.dropitanddrive.com

DAGR Industrial Lighting Booth # 618 www.dagrlighting.com

Duz Cho Logging Booth # OS-68 www.duzchologging.com

DeLoupe Booth # OS-38 www.deloupe.com

DWB Consulting Services Ltd. Booth # 525 www.dwbconsulting.ca

DE-ON Supply Booth # 405 www.deonsupply.com

Easy Build Structures Booth # 305 www.easybuildstructures.ca

Diamond International Booth # OS-24 www.dit.ca

Endaga Inc. Booth # 316 www.endaga.com

Diece Telehandlers Booth # OS-06 www.dieci-telehandlers.co.uk

Expertec Booth # 505 www.expertec.ca

Doosan Booth # OS-84 www.doosan.com

Factors Western Inc. Booth # 404 www.factorswestern.com

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

Exhibitor List Falcon Camp Services Inc. Booth # 600 www.falconcampservices.com

Frontier Power Products Ltd. Booth # 523 www.frontierpower.com

Groeneveld CPL Systems Booth # 408 www.groeneveld-group.com

Falcon Equipment Ltd. Booth # OS-06 www.falconequip.com

Frontline Machinery Booth # 513 www.frontline-machinery.com

The Groundworx Co. Booth # D-23 www.groundworx.ca

The Filter Shop Booth # 613 www.thefiltershop.com

Fuel Right (Canada) Limited Booth # 615 www.fuelright.ca

Fleetman Consulting Inc. Booth # 299 www.fleetmanconsulting.com

Galardy Technical Services Ltd. Booth # 321 www.galardy.com

Group Health North Benefits & Pensions Booth # 303 www.cbiggroup.ca

Flexxaire Inc Booth # 604 www.flexaire.com

Gem Chain Bar Inc. Booth # 328 www.gemchainbar.com

Flexxifinger Booth # 329 www.flexifinger.com

Gilbert Products Booth # OS-102 www.gilbert-tech.com

Foreman Equipment Ltd. Booth # D-31 www.foremanequipment.com

Global Mining Products Inc. (GMI Wheels) Booth # 714 www.globalminingproducts.net

FPInnovations Booth # 620 www.Fpinnovations.ca

Heartland Steel Doors Ltd. Booth # 718 www.heartlandsteel.ca Heavy Equipment Guide Booth # 518 www.heg.baumpub.com Hird Equipment Booth # OS-92 www.hirdequipment.com Hitachi Booth # OS-50 www.hitachiconstruction.com to page 56

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

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Exhibitor List from page 55

Innovative Trading Company (DBA) Phantom Machinery Booth # D-24 www.phantomloaders.com

Hiway Refrigeration Ltd. Booth # 631 www.hiwayrefrigeration.com

Insurance Corporation of British Columbia Booth # 415 www.icbc.com

Hyundai Booth # OS-32 www.hceamericas.com

Interior Off Road Equipment Limited Booth # D-34 www.IOR.ca

ICBA Benefit Services Ltd. Booth # 309 www.icba.bc.ca ILA - Interior Logging Association Booth # OS-95 www.interiorlogging.org Initiatives Prince George Booth # 510 www.initiativespg.com

IRL Supplies Booth # 413 www.irlsupplies.com IUOE Local 115 Training Association Booth # 637 www.iuoe115.com

The Inland Group Booth # OS-82 www.inland-group.com

James Western Star Truck & Trailer Ltd. Booth # OS-54 www.jamesws.com

Innovative Mining Services Inc. Booth # 503 www.ims-group.ca

Jepson Petroleum Ltd. Booth # 406 www.jepsonpetro.com

KMC-KOOTRAC/Kootney Tractor Booth # 307 www.kmc-kootrac.com The Langley Concrete Group Booth # 746 www.langleyconcretegroup.com Lantrax North America Logistics Booth # 607 www.lantraxlogistics.com Lease Link Canada Booth # 704 www.leaselink.ca Leavitt Machinery Booth # OS-58 www.leavittmachinery.com LeTourneau Technologies America, Inc. Booth # 306 www.letourneau-inc.com Liebherr Canada Booth # OS-22 www.liebherr.com Link Belt Booth # OS-82 www.linkbelt.com Log Max Forestry Service Inc. Booth # OS-62 www.logmax.com Logging & Sawmilling Journal Booth # 310 www.forestnet.com Lubri-Lab BC Booth # 710 www.lubrilabbc.com Magnum Trailer & Equipment Booth # OS-08 www.magnumtrailer.com

Hercules H-302

Hercules H-301 Hercules H-402

Hercules H-307

Hercules logging tires work as hard as you do.

Manac Inc. Booth # OS-64 www.manac.ca Marlim Ecological Consulting Ltd. Booth # 436 www.marlimecological.com Masonlift Ltd. Booth # OS-100 www.masonlift.com McCann Equipment Ltd. Booth # 602 www.torquetools.com

Products and service available at select stores:

tirecraft.com

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signaturetire.com

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

MNP LLP Booth # 411 www.mnp.ca to page 58

Exhibitor List from page 56

Morfco Supplies Ltd. Booth # 401 www.morfcosupply.ca Mullen Trucking LP Booth # 304 www.mullentrucking.com Murray Latta Progressive Machine/ Brunette Machinery Booth # D-32 www.mlpmachine.com Northern Metalic Sales Ltd. Booth # D-36 www.northernmetalicsales.com Northland Chrysler Jeep Dodge Booth # OS-86 www.northlanddodge.ca Northlands Water and Sewer Supplies Ltd. Booth # 519 www.northlandswater.ca

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Norwood Industries Inc. Booth # D-22 www.norwoodindustries.com

Peerless Engineering Sales Ltd. Booth # 621 www.peerlessengineering.com

NR Motors Ltd. Booth # OS-30 www.nrmotors.ca

Peerless Limited Booth # OS-64 www.peerless.ca

O'Brien Training Booth # 322 www.obrientraining.com

Peterbilt Pacific Inc. Booth # OS-18 www.peterbilt.bc.ca

Ocean Trailer Booth # 500 www.oceantrailer.com

Peterson Corp.

Booth # OS-32 www.petersoncorp.com

Olofsfors Inc. Booth # OS-34 www.olofsfors.com

Phantom Machinery Booth # D-24 www.phantomloaders.com

OtterBox Products Booth # 712 www.otterbox.com

Pierce Pacific Manufacturing, Inc. Booth # OS-72 www.piercepacific.com

P & H Supplies Booth # OS-94 www.phsupplies.ca

Pioneer Parts Rebuilding Ltd. Booth # 400 www.pioneerparts.com

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

Exhibitor List Planar Marine and Truck Air Heater Ltd. Booth # 325 www.planarheaters.com Powerscreen Canada Booth # D-31 www.powerscreencanada.com

Shaw Business Booth # 314 www.shaw.ca

Shelter Modular Booth # 721 www.sheltermodular.com

Shearforce Equipment Booth # OS-87 www.shearforce.ca

Shilo Enterprises Booth # OS-90 to page 60

Praxair Canada Inc. Booth # 313 www.praxair.ca Precision Husky Booth # OS-82 www.precisionhusky.com Premium Truck & Trailer Inc. Booth # OS-10 www.premiumtruck.ca PrimeTech Shredding Equipment Ltd. Booth # OS-28 www.prime-tech.com Prince George Motors Booth # OS-74 www.pgmotors.ca Prince George Truck & Equipment (Diamond International) Booth # OS-24 www.pgtruck.com Prolenc Manufacturing Inc. Booth # OS-40 www.prolenc.com Quadco Equipment Inc. Booth # OS-70 www.quadco.com R.L. Rurka Sales & Service Inc. Booth # 327 www.loadritescales.com RBC- Royal Bank Canada Booth # 605 www.rbcroyalbank.com Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Booth # 527 www.rbauction.com Road Safety At Work Booth # 412 www.roadsafetyatwork.ca Rolling Mix Concrete Booth # 302 www.rollingmix.ca Rotobec Inc. Booth # OS-93 www.rotobec.com Royal Canadian Mounted Police Booth # 320 www.rcmp.ca

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

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Exhibitor List from page 59

Summit Trailer Ltd. Booth # OS-36 www.summittrailer.ca

Trailtech Booth # OS-84 www.trailtech.com

The Supply Post West Booth # 517 www.supplypost.com

Trim-Line Sign Crafters Booth # 606 www.trimlinebc.ca

Synergy Health & Wellness Booth # 419 www.synergyhealthprofessionals.ca

Triton Transport Ltd. Booth # 311 www.tritontransport.com

SMS Equipment Booth # OS-60 www.smsequip.com

Tabor Mountain Recreation Society Booth # 428 www.tmrs.ca

Tufport Industries Ltd. Booth # OS-48 www.tufport.com

Southstar Equipment Ltd. Booth # OS-98 www.kalequipment.com

Terex Booth # OS-82 www.terex.com

TYCROP Manufacturing Booth # OS-12 www.tycrop.com

SpanMaster Structures Ltd. Booth # 330 www.spanmaster.ca

Tigercat Booth # OS-82 www.tigercat.com

Van Ed Equipment Booth # OS-104 www.vanedequipment.com

Spectra Power Sports Booth # OS-88 www.spectrapowersports.com

Timberspan Wood Products Inc. Booth # 332 www.timberspan.ca

Vanderhoof & Districts Co-op Booth # 619 www.vhfcoop.com

Summit Insurance Brokers Inc. Booth # 300 www.summitins.ca

TIREBOSS Tire Pressure Control Booth # 323 www.tirepressurecontrol.com

SIMS Group Booth # OS-46 www.simsgroup.ca Skeans Pneumatic & Automation Solutions Booth # 336 www.skeans.com

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to page 62

CUTTING EDGE PERFORMANCE.

BY YOUR DESIGN. The Barko® 260 Harvester/Feller Buncher delivers everything forestry professionals look for.

In fact, we specifically designed it using expert input from end users, so we could give you the best-performing machine possible. More ground clearance. More stability. Exceptional drawbar pull (1.13:1 ratio). Larger attachments. From top to bottom, the 260 is built to get your job done.

Cut through the forest with maximum efficiency.

Perform to a higher standard with Barko.

WOODLAND EQUIPMENT INC. www.woodlandequip.com

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

www.barko.com 61

Exhibitor List from page 60

Vanway International Booth # 399 www.vanwaycrushers.com Vermeer Booth # OS-84 www.vermeercanada.com VitalAire Booth # 424 www.vitalaire.com VPG Onboard Weighing Booth # 326 www.vishaypg.com Vulcan On-Board Scales Booth # 501 www.vulcanscales.com W.G. Davis & Sons Trucking Booth # OS-96 www.wgdavistrucking.ca Wainbee Ltd./Filtramax Booth # 521 www.wainbee.com Wajax Equipment Booth # OS-50 www.wajax.com

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Wallingford's Inc. Booth # 601 www.wallingfords.com

Williams Machinery Ltd. Booth # 516/OS-84 www.williamsmachinery.com

Waratah Forestry Canada Booth # OS-04 www.waratah.net

Williams Petroleum Booth # OS-67 www.williamspetroleum.ca

Weldco-Beales Mfg Booth # OS-14 www.weldco-beales.com

Woodland Equipment Inc. Booth # OS-32 www.woodlandequip.com

West Manufacturing - EnviroSlip Booth # 426 www.enviroslip.ca

Woodland Supplies Ltd. Booth # 612 www.woodlandsupplies.ca

Western Canada Fire Protection Booth # 301 www.westerncanadafireprotection.ca

Wood-Mizer Canada Booth # D-28 www.woodmizer.ca

Western Equipment Ltd. Booth # 509 www.westernequipmentltd.com

Work Truck West Booth # OS-87 www.worktruckwest.com

Westerra Equipment Booth # OS-84 www.westerraequipment.com

WorkSafeBC Booth # 425 www.worksafebc.com

Williams Engineering Canada Inc. Booth # 331 www.williamsengineering.com

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

YOUR BUSINESS IS AT A CROSSROADS.

Where do you go from here?

As a business owner, the important decisions you make today can significantly impact where your business will be tomorrow. Do you downsize or expand? Diversify or specialize? Re-invest in new equipment and technology or prepare your business for succession or sale? That’s where MNP’s Forestry professionals can help. By delivering industry insights and solutions that go beyond traditional accounting, we look at your business from all angles so you can plan strategically and create the future you envision.

Contact: James Byrne, CPA, CA Regional Leader, Forestry & Forest Products T: 250.338.5464 E: james.byrne@mnp.ca Blair Traxler, CPA, CA Business Advisor, Forestry & Forest Products T: 250.596.4900 E: blair.traxler@mnp.ca

Connect with MNP’s Forestry & Forest Products team at the Canada North Resources Expo in Prince George, May 29-30, 2015.

millprofile

Cranking out the lumber at

Idaho Forest Group Attendees at the recent Small Log Conference got a first-hand look at Idaho Forest Group’s new Lewiston, Idaho upgrade and its focus on a HewSaw SL250 3.4 installation that is already cranking out six million board feet a week—with room for more production.

By Barbara Coyner

I

t was the forest industry’s version of the kid in the candy store as Idaho Forest Group (IFG) recently unveiled its new Lewiston, Idaho HewSaw SL250 3.4 installation to over 100 attendees of this year’s Small Log Conference. Billed as

the largest HewSaw installation in North America, the high tech wonder has been the talk of the Pacific Northwest forest industry for months.

In operation for close to a year during the pre-conference tour in March, IFG had run its first log through in April 2014.

The new set-up is already cranking out six

The Idaho Forest Group is counting on new equipment and the new production process to pay off in increased productivity and reduced production costs at its Lewiston, Idaho sawmill.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

million board feet per week, with room for expanded production. Mill manager Jesse Short is clearly impressed with the new Finnish line so far.

“It’s a wood-eating machine,” Short said of the HewSaw. The saw, laid out in a well-lit football field-length building, can handle logs from 4 inches to 16 ½ inches,

millprofile

top end, to a maximum log diameter of 21 ½ inches. It can process log lengths from eight feet to 20 feet, and has a line speed of 200 to 650 feet per minute.

The production line includes a Login system, four-sided cant chipping, a cant saw, ripsaw and cross saw, along with two board separators for edged sideboards,

and a cant turner. The cant height specs are 3 inches to 15 3/8 inches; width in the chipper canter, 3 inches to 15 3/8 inches; the cant height in the rip saw, 2 ½ inches to 10 ½ inches; and the cant width in the rip saw, 3 inches to 15 3/8 inches.

The Lewiston line uses board separators to move edged sideboards on to conveyors running parallel to the HewSaw. Lumber from the center cant and the side board production all meet back up at the end of the line. Overall, the HewSaw can process multiple products, manufacturing up to eight edged sideboards from each log. The efficient system is monitored from a spacious perch up above the mill, where the operator has a wide-angle view of the mill’s activities. Here, the operator handles the infeed, watching several screens that give real time views of each machine centre.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

The key companion equipment to the HewSaw, a Springer-Microtec CT log scanner, is no small part of the new mill set-up, scanning each log at a blazing three rotations per second. The scanner conveyor speed of 525 feet per minute makes the log scanner 100 times faster than your regular medical scanner. Calling the CT unit nothing more than a huge medical scanner, Springer-Microtec representative Norvin Laudon explained that the goal is to see all the defects in each log, evaluating knots, cracks and wane, which can affect total log quality.

“The goal is to unlock the shape of the log,” said Laudon. “Usually bucking and debarking come first, but they don’t debark at the IFG mill until later in the process. With the bark on, there is less checking and bluing. You get to see the real shape of the wood with the scanner.

There are some logs you never want to reach your sawmill because maybe they are rotten, twisted or off-species.”

Right now, the scanner is only used for sorting and bucking, with future plans for optimization in sawing. As it creates a total three-dimensional profile for each log, the scanner focuses on features and properties of wood species common to the Intermountain West.

“One of the owners told me it’s always been his dream to saw from the inside out,” said Laudon, acknowledging that the first cut is critical, although sometimes it’s not worth cutting at all. “Some of this is pretty visionary and you get to know what to page 66

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millprofile from page 65 you’re doing before you cut. Right now we are the only ones making the CT log scanner so we feel like we are 10 years ahead of the competition.”

In the current configuration, logs come into the mill and are first run through the CT scanner before heading to the chop saw and merchandizer, and then on to separate lines for the HewSaw, large logs, rejects and flare reduction. In the near future, a Springer-Microtec Logeye 306 will be operational to X-ray logs further before sending them to the sorting bins. Currently IFG has thirty sorts, with each having four sub-sorts, creating 120 destination sorts. Further plans call for a second Logeye 306 to be installed before the saw to further determine cutting options. The Logeye technology is used for scaling, sorting and grading timber, as well as for bucking and primary and secondary cutting optimizations “The CT scan determines how the log is bucked and sorted,” said Laudon, explaining that Springer-Microtec optimization software calculates the cutting pattern with the highest yield, quality and value. Once both Logeyes are running,

Equipped with what is said to be the largest HewSaw installation in North America, the high tech wonder IFG Lewiston sawmill ran its first log through in April 2014.

The new set-up is already cranking out six million board feet per week, with room for expanded production.

IFG’s production line should be running at up to a brisk 360 million board feet a year. Last year’s performance was already at 220 million board feet.

Tyler Levy is a technical advisor with HewSaw, and he has worked with Jesse Short and others to fine tune the new

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mill. HewSaw’s Levy came on board with the project soon after IFG bought the old sawmill from Potlatch Corporation in November 2011. At that point, IFG just ran the old mill, before clearing 14 acres and investing over $25 million into the new installation, which also boasts a

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state-of-the-art hydraulic power unit by Bosch Rexroth Canada, new conveyors and a Nicholson A8 high-speed debarker.

Rawlings Industrial of Spokane was in charge of equipment installation.

Next in line will be a new planer, new shavings bins, and ultimately a remodel of the old large log mill. The planer will come in late summer, because as Short said, “we are wanting more knife marks per inch and reduced operating hours.

This planer does both for us.”

Additionally, IFG is just about ready

to move into its 6,600 square foot office/ planning building.

Interestingly enough, the Lewiston mill site is no stranger to innovation. The old sawmill purchased by IFG was originally built by Weyerhaeuser in the 1920s as a spin-off from the largest white pine mill in the world, built at Potlatch, Idaho in 1906.

Potlatch Forest Industries engineer Robert Bowling invented the revolutionary Presto-Logs at the Lewiston facility in 1929, and from there, Pres-to-Log machines went worldwide. Ironically, the Small Log

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

millprofile Conference tour kicked off its bus tour at the Purcell Premium Pellet mill, which still operates several Pres-to-Log machines at its Moyie Springs, Idaho location.

As industry visionaries of the 1920s watched the last log drive on the Clearwater River (adjacent to the new IFG mill) in the 1970s, probably none could imagine the high tech sawmill that IFG would operate at the same location. And certainly none could imagine a mill running with less than a dozen people.

“It just blows your mind, even if you come from a sawmill background,” Russ Vaagen said of the IFG mill. Vaagen, vicepresident of Vaagen Brothers Lumber in Colville, Washington, knows HewSaw equipment and small log milling firsthand, as the family-owned company has operated the Finnish-built saws for years.

As for mill manager Jesse Short, he’s counting on the new equipment to pay off for a number of reasons. “The main advantage to our new process is productivity and production costs,” he said. “The new lines allow for a quarter of labour costs with nearly 40 per cent to page 68

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millprofile from page 67 more throughput vs. a traditional line. By presorting logs, you can maximize feed speed through saw design vs. running to the worst case saw design. Smaller gaps combined with higher feed speeds equals lower per unit costs.”

Short noted that major challenges were related to controls and optimization. “We had never controlled a line with so many axes of motion and this level of sophistication,” he explained, adding that there were challenges optimizing fibre yields, as well as production costs between the different modes of operation. Other tweaks to the system included the tuning of multiple control systems and hydraulic systems.

Short and other mill employees did their training at a similar mill at Fort William, Scotland, and the comprehensive hands-on training was yet one more reason IFG chose to go with HewSaw. “Part of it was that they were the right people,” Short said. “They fit in with my team. The guys were in it forever and their company is like our company. They like getting into new technology ahead of others.”

With plenty of wood fibre out there, IFG will nevertheless have to compete for logs, especially with so much of the

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The recent IFG Lewiston upgrade included the installation of a Nicholson A8 highspeed debarker (above). Next in line in terms of mill improvements will be a new planer, new shavings bins, and ultimately a remodel of the old large log mill. surrounding area locked up in national forest. “I think Potlatch Corporation has a good plan on their lands,” Short assessed.

“The State of Idaho does a good job, and their volumes could likely improve. We’ve seen some improvement on the federal side of things and expect that has the most upside potential.

“For us to reach our potential, supply will have to increase, or usage within the wood basket would have to change. I think there is more private wood available and if the market helps the landowners, it

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

will also come to market.

“There’s definitely fibre out there, but you have to pay the most for it,” Short added. “But we’re competitive and in the next 24 months, we should hit our sweet spot.”

As Georgia sawmill owner Jack Jordan opened this year’s Small Log Conference, he echoed the thoughts of many who attended the SLC pre-conference tour.

“They’re [IFG] going to set the standard.”

Energy Bioenergy

—but with a green footprint

A new wood-fired district energy system in the B.C. Interior is delivering multiple benefits, including solving the issue of residue disposal from a local sawmill using a Bandit 1390 XP 15 inch drum chipper, and in the process delivering energy that has a greener footprint.

By Jim Stirling

T

he installation of a wood-fired district energy system in the Village of Telkwa, British Columbia, has created widespread benefits.

A local custom cut sawmill solved a residue disposal issue and generated a new market. The village’s elementary school, a rebuilt municipal building, local businesses and some nearby private homes also have a new efficient heating system that leaves a greener footprint. A cleaner airshed is important to most Telkwa residents and their neighbours throughout the Bulkley River Valley of west central British Columbia.

The wood-fired district energy system is also attracting the interest of other small communities and is proving to be a catalyst for commercial investment opportunities in the village.

All of which represents a considerable achievement for the community of about 1,500 people straddling two rivers—the Bulkley and the Telkwa—upstream from the town of Smithers, which is about half way between Prince Rupert and Prince George.

The biomass energy system initiative

The Village of Telkwa’s wood-fired energy system is not new technology. “It’s a tried and true system in Europe,” says Scott Beck (left), engineering technologist with the village. The wood slabs (above, facing page) from which the chips are created to feed Telkwa’s energy system come from the Triantha Enterprises custom cut sawmill in Telkwa.

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Bioenergy evolved when the village council faced the necessity of replacing its old municipal building, recalled Scott Beck, engineering technologist with the Village of Telkwa.

The council opted to rejuvenate a vacant commercial building downtown instead of building a new structure. Renovating the 10,000 square foot building delivered the opportunity to create additional space for lease, thereby generating cash flow for the village.

A biomass district energy system came into focus as a clean alternative energy solution to heat Telkwa’s downtown core.

“Through financial support from the Omineca Beetle Action committee and expertise from the Green Heat Initiative program (or Wood Waste to Rural Heat), Telkwa hired Wunderlin Consulting to write our feasibility study proving the business case for the now installed district heating system,” explained Beck.

As a result of that study, the village formerly applied to the federal Gas Tax Innovation Fund for an exterior retrofit of the building, and the installation of a biomass district heating system. The application was successful and the village was awarded $644,320 to complete the two phases.

The village again sought the services of Wunderlin Consulting, a Smithers firm specializing in bioenergy solutions, to create a request for proposal to supply and install the biomass energy system.

The process resulted in Telkwa installing an Austrian-made Herz Firematic 80-301 300 Kw boiler supplied by Western Bioheat Corp., of Fort Langley, B.C., chalking up a first for B.C. municipalities.

Installation of the district heating system began in 2013, with the village acting as its own general contractor. Connections were made to participating buildings up to 200 metres from the new village office where the boiler and heating system is located.

“Our system is not new technology,” continued Beck. “It’s a tried and true system in Europe.”

The steepest part of the local learning curve with the wood-fired energy system has been with the chip supply chain, he said. Essentially that includes the source, supply, delivery/handling and storage of the chips. The wood slabs from which the chips are created to feed Telkwa’s energy system come from the Triantha Enterprises custom cut sawmill in Telkwa (see accompanying story). to page 72 Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

71

Bioenergy from page 71 Converting the approximately 500 cubic metres of reject slabs annually—most of which had ended up being burned in the past—is presently contracted out for chipping to ProTech Forest Products of Telkwa. The company leases the village’s Bandit 1390 XP 15 inch drum chipper with a Kubota 142 hp diesel engine to reduce the slabs to more uniform sized chips for use in the bioenergy system. “We’ve learned how to operate the system properly,” said Beck. “Now, as we go forward, we can implement the knowledge learned into the working process.”

In the aftermath of the mountain pine beetle epidemic in the B.C. Interior, large quantities of wood fibre exist that are unsuited to commodity lumber production. Wood biomass heating systems like Telkwa’s provide a primer for what’s possible. It joins just a few other commercial operating systems in the region. The University of Northern B.C. has been a trailblazer in the field, integrating the use of wood energy into its campus infrastructure and using it as a teaching and research tool. The university has launched a $2.2 million expansion to its existing bioenergy system. On completion, the university’s student residences, enhanced forestry lab and daycare facility will all be heated by wood pellets supplied by Pacific Bioenergy in Prince George and sawmill residues. Financial contributions to the expanded system include TransCanada, a power generator, the BC Bioenergy Network and the Omineca Beetle Action Coalition.

John Van Den Berg of Triantha Enterprises operating the Bell 6000 firewood cutting machine, and (below) with his all electric Wood-Mizer LT70 sawmill.

Diversification the key

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hatting with John Van Den Berg about his custom cutting sawmilling operation is an object lesson in wood utilization on one hand and providing its customers the products they want on the other.

Van Den Berg’s Triantha Enterprises mill operation on the outskirts of Telkwa in west central British Columbia resembles the region’s large commodity lumber mills only in the pervading smell of fresh sawdust.

Triantha’s emphasis is on wood product diversification.

But small mills also need regular customers for some of their products and Triantha has theirs.

Regionally sourced white spruce, for example, is earmarked for furniture component manufacture and companies like Palliser and La-Z-Boy. Mines and drilling companies are other regular customers for Triantha’s wood products.

Six by six timbers and 2 X 8s, for instance, are “our stock in

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

for Triantha Enterprises sawmill cornflakes”, and sell well for use as drilling pads. “But in between there’s all manner of customers and requirements,” said Van Den Berg.

Latterly that includes the Village of Telkwa, which now takes slabs generated

by Triantha’s custom milling for chipping as feedstock for the village’s district energy system (see accompanying story).

Elsewhere around the wood yard, various species and lengths of log await conversion to multiple products or a one-off.

Van Den Berg says Triantha typically logs between 80,000 and 100,000 cubic metres annually. The wood access opportunities come through the Wetzin’kwa

Community Forest—operated for the Town of Smithers, Village of Telkwa and the office of the Wetsuwet’en—the Lake Babine Nation and through BC Timber Sales, within an approximate 80 kilometre radius. They hand pick their requirements in the bush, figure out what’s in a sale that will make products for their regular customers, including dry wood timbers, and harvest the rest for conversion into other products.

Under part of a modified aircraft hangar, Triantha has installed a Wood-Mizer LT70 all electric sawmill unit. It’s quiet, clean and requires only one operator, explained Van Den Berg “It also came with all the grinding equipment in a package deal.” The previous owner used it for furniture parts manufacturing, but Triantha has extended it to handle timbers up to 26 foot long.

The mill set-up also includes a Bell 6000 firewood cutting machine.

Firewood is far from a homogenous product either, pointed out Van Den Berg.

Customers require specific lengths and sizes to match varied uses and combustion units. And they often require them in job lots. The firewood cutting machine recently produced the equivalent of some 30 logging truck loads in about four months. The firewood making capability is a further illustration of a custom sawmill’s function and versatility.

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Ontariosawmilling

Taking charge on the marketing side

Having had success manufacturing and marketing red pine product, Ontario’s Heideman sawmill recently made some acquisitions, and has now taken charge of marketing its finished white pine product.

By Tony Kryzanowski

G

iven its solid success manufacturing and marketing red pine products, Ontario’s Lavern Heideman & Sons Limited is now in the driver’s seat as a manufacturer and direct supplier of finished white pine products with their recent purchase of International Lumber and the Pembroke Lumber Company.

Previously, Heideman sold its green, rough, white pine lumber to these remanufacturers and distributors located in Pembroke—but with these recent acquisitions, they will also directly control the lumber’s finishing, drying and marketing.

White pine lumber is traditionally used in appearance applications.

A common thread among forest product businesses located in the Ottawa Valley is history; the businesses Heideman recently purchased in Pembroke trace back their roots to 1891. Lavern Heideman & Sons celebrated its 40th year in business in 2014. It was launched in 1974 with Lavern Heideman and four of his sons at the helm. Today, one of the sons, Eddie, is the owner of the company along with his son, Kris.

The Heideman operation in the town of Eganville is one of a number of small to medium size, family-run sawmill businesses located in the Ottawa Valley region, and like the Heideman family, many specialize in specialty wood products.

“International Lumber was one of our bigger white pine customers and the opportunity came up to purchase them,” says Kris. “It was a natural progression for A Cat M322D log loader for the yard is one of the newest purchases at the Heideman sawmill, located near Eganville, Ontario.

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our company to vertically integrate and it was important for our mills to have an outlet for that white pine lumber. This purchase assured us of that.”

He anticipates that the purchase will increase sales for the company by about 25 per cent. It also adds about 25 employees, bringing their full complement in both Eganville and Pembroke to 110 employees. As the company re-orients itself, Kris says that employees have been very supportive with their mobility, filling production positions wherever they are needed.

Lavern Heideman & Sons is a member of several Sustainable Forest License (SFL) groups located around their sawmill, including the Ottawa Valley SFL. Experience and adaptability working in the area’s Great Lakes-St. Lawrence forest environment are critical to maximize use of this very diverse forest resource, which includes white pine, red pine, spruce, oak, maple, poplar, basswood, ash, white birch and yellow birch.

“There’s a large diversity of wood species in our area and that is both good and bad,” says Kris. “It was good through the downturn in that usually you had some

Kris Heideman (above) has joined his father, Eddie, at the family-owned Lavern Heideman & Sons sawmill. The company celebrated its 40th year in business in 2014 species that you could fall back on and saw because there was a little bit of demand for them. But it also leads to some of the highest wood costs anywhere.”

One of the challenges they experienced during the downturn was that they were competing against cheap American wood imported into Ontario; but now

with more housing starts in the U.S., Ontario lumber producers can once again depend more on local markets for sales.

The company’s higher grade hardwood products either become flooring or are

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

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to page 76

Ontariosawmilling from page 75 used in appearance applications both in domestic and export markets. Lower grades are sold primarily for industrial applications such as pallet stock.

Lavern Heideman & Sons operates two sawmills at their location south of Eganville. The first was established in 1976 and then re-built in 2005, featuring a new state-of-the-art band resaw and other plant upgrades provided by TS Manufacturing.

The second scragg mill was established in 1997. Their products consist primarily of boards, squares and timbers, with current annual production in the 28 to 30 million board foot range while consuming about 125,000 cubic metres of fibre. The sawmills are organized so that the band resaw mill processes logs measuring 10” diameter and over, while the scragg mill processes logs under 10” diameter.

On the large log line, logs first encounter the original circular headrig and carriage, which essentially creates cants that are then processed through the band resaw. After the resaw, boards are conveyed through a board trimming and Autolog grading and tally system. It scans and measures each board for thickness and length, while a grader visually inspects each board and manually inputs the grade on a computer screen. Based on the system’s measurements and input from the grader, a number is printed on each board. The lumber is manually stacked based on these numbers. Boards can be redirected through a resaw channel prior

A Valmet 911 harvester/processor (above) is an important tool in the Heideman sawmill business as it allows the company to harvest red pine in plantations without damaging surrounding wood fibre that can be harvested in future. to the trimming and grading station.

“The number of sorts varies from species to species, but we usually have a minimum of 20 different sorts,” says Kris.

He says that when the mill investment was made in 2005, their lumber grades and yield increased significantly, and it also increased their flexibility to manufacture a wider range of products to meet customer requirements.

Most recently, they have upgraded their mobile equipment in the mill yard with the purchase of two Cat 950K loaders and a Cat M322D log loader.

In addition to growing the company through acquisition, another local opportunity the Heideman family recognized back in 1992 was capitalizing on the many red pine plantations established in the area by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). Initially, the purpose of the program, started in the late 1960s was to put abandoned and vacant farmland back into production. Over one million red pine stems per year were planted in to page 78

A numbering system generated by an Autolog measuring and tally system helps manual sorters place lumber in the proper stack.

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Ontariosawmilling from page 76 the Renfrew County area alone over a 10 year period. Red pine is a native species that grew naturally on many of these land parcels prior to them being cleared by settlers. MNR discontinued the plantation program for a time, but resumed it about five years ago. Lavern Heideman & Sons noticed that the plantations weren’t being particularly well maintained due to a lack of a viable commercial market.

“When the plantations were reaching about 30 years of age, there really wasn’t a market at that time,” says Kris, “and at the start, MNR was just going in and falling every second or third row and leaving the trees to rot.”

So in 1992, the company developed a program and started bidding on contracts offered by local governments that owned the red pine plantations to harvest first thinnings. This not only resulted in a new fibre source and business opportunity for the company, but also healthier pine plantations.

“We are one of the largest producers of red pine timbers in Ontario and that is still a key part of our business,” says Kris. “Red pine treats very well and it makes a very nice product for the 4” X 4” and 6” X 6” timber landscaping market. That business has grown significantly since we started.”

The company produces 12 to 14 million board feet of this product annually.

They use a careful, select logging approach in the red pine plantations, consisting of two mechanical harvesting teams working with a Valmet 911 harvester/ processor and Puma forwarder. They have also hired two contractors to harvest and

deliver wood from the red pine plantations. Each tree is completely processed at the stump, with the forwarder transporting the logs to roadside. By using this logging method, the harvester is able to reach in several rows into the plantation and capture logs without damaging other trees around them. An added benefit of working within these plantations is that after eight to ten years, the company can return for a second thinning. In addition to its Crown allocation through its SFLs and sourcing wood from logging in Algonquin Provincial Park, the Heideman sawmill also manages over 100 private properties. Its scragg mill was built specifically to focus on processing smaller diameter red pine in high volumes in dimensions favored by the landscape and pressure treated wood market. Once the red pine is processed at the sawmill, much of it is sold to Pastway Planing in nearby Comb-

A Hood slasher prepares logs in the Heideman millyard for processing through one of their two sawmills.

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ermere, which specializes in preserved wood products and millwork.

The company aims for 100 per cent fibre use from their sawmills. High quality chips are sold to the pulp market. Wood residues are sold into the landscaping and animal bedding markets, with a portion currently finding a home with Ensyn Corp., a bio-oil producer located in nearby Renfrew.

However, against this backdrop of opportunity are regulations like the new Endangered Species Act, which is an attempt by the province of Ontario to preserve species deemed at risk from such activities as logging in this shade-tolerant forest environment.

“It’s placed a lot of restrictions on harvesting and taken away a lot of the available land base,” says Kris. “It’s turned us into a very seasonal industry with regard to harvesting and that is one of our main concerns as far as maintaining contractors going forward.”

New restrictions—particularly on where and when logging can occur— sometimes leave only a four to five month season to harvest logs on Crown land. This has had a noticeable impact, particularly on the number of available local loggers and log haul contractors. Not knowing when and where they will be permitted to log and with the recent industry downturn, many have packed it in because it’s hard to make payments on existing equipment or finance the purchase of new equipment in such an unpredictable business environment.

Kris says that given this situation, they are having to increase their relationships with key contractors to better maintain fibre flow to the sawmills.

The Edge

May 2015

Survey reveals expanding use of A-LiDAR and Enhanced Forest Inventory technologies

By Steve D’Eon, Canadian Wood Fibre Centre; Matt Meade, Canadian Institute of Forestry; Matt Kurowski, FPInnovations

A

irborne-LiDAR (A-LiDAR) can provide forest managers with detailed information about their land. Combined with forest sample plots, an Enhanced Forest Inventory (EFI) can be generated to predict numerous forest attributes. Interest in the technology has been accelerating as the forest sector realizes the benefits the system provides.

To facilitate knowledge exchange about this technology, the Canadian Institute of Forestry (CIF), in collaboration with the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre (CWFC), held 14 workshops across Canada between November 2012 and March of 2014. Topics presented at the workshops ranged from A-LiDAR and EFI basics to detailed hands-on training using real data examples. Informal comments at the workshops indicated the forest sector was realizing the benefits in terms of improved forest management planning and operations as well as more reliable data that can be used to better inform business decisions. We decided to confirm client needs through a post-workshop survey.

In the spring of 2014, a survey was sent to over 1,000 workshop attendees with a response rate of around 13 per cent. The survey was split into two streams: one for those currently using A-LiDAR and one for those not currently using A-LiDAR. Respondents worked predominantly for provincial governments (43 per cent), forest industry (24 per cent), and consultants (11 per cent). There was a fairly even split between forest managers (28 per cent) and forest operations staff (21 per cent)

as well as researchers (15 per cent) and those working in geomatics (13 per cent).

Those currently using A-LiDAR/EFI were overwhelmingly (97 per cent) satisfied with their investment in the technology. Indicative of a very high satisfaction rate, 62 per cent responded they would “absolutely” use the technology again. Their original use of the technology was prominently road planning (60 per cent) and common secondary uses were wet area mapping, cut-block location and layout, and identifying inoperable areas. On average, users reported using the technology in five different themes. As well, users envisioned five future uses for the technology with the most popular being identifying habitat for wildlife, conservation areas or other reserves, and log piece size such as diameter.

Those not currently using A-LiDAR/ EFI mirrored the user group in terms of expected application of the technology.

The most common expected uses were forest management planning, road planning, and cut block location and layout.

Surprisingly, identifying understory trees and shrubs was the fourth most popular expected use amongst non-users.

The non-user group reported their main impediment to adopting the technology was cost. Issues such as internal skills and capacity were not seen as hurdles. In contrast, the non-user group admitted to inadequate knowledge about the cost of acquiring the data, with 73 per cent reporting their knowledge as out of date, just ball park figures, or self described as “poor”. A 2010 survey of non-users in B.C. showed a similar misconception about the cost of the technology paralleled by a self-admitted lack of knowledge around the costs (McMorland and Strimbu 2010).

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

This dichotomy—thinking the technology is expensive without knowing the cost— can be solved through better provision of information on costs, alternatives, and risks (51 per cent responded this information would be “most useful”) as well as costbenefit analyses (46 per cent responded as “most useful”). Information on research projects in the works but not yet completed was reported as “least useful”.

FPInnovations is attempting to remedy the cost misconception by profiling the true costs of acquiring A-LiDAR and EFI, as well as expanding the number of case studies demonstrating costs-benefits. The CWFC, in collaboration with industry, academia, and the provinces, is expanding the problems the technology can be used to address providing users with even more applications. Users can look forward to more precise information upon which to base their decision to adopt the technology.

This is an exciting field for the Canadian forest sector and the CWFC, FPInnovations, and the CIF will continue to cooperatively deliver knowledge exchange products on the technology. ___________________________________ Steve D’Eon is a Knowledge Exchange Specialist with the CWFC. Matt Meades is the Executive Director of the Canadian Institute of Forestry.

Matt Kurowski is a Researcher, Resource Roads, with FPInnovations in Vancouver.

References: McMorland, B. and V. Strimbu. 2010.

LiDAR – an opportunity to advance the efficiency of forest operations. FPInnovations, Internal Report, 20p.

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The Edge

Applications open for equipment utilization under new Alberta Bio Future program

By Tony Kryzanowski

Alberta companies focused on new ideas to use sustainlberta Innovates Bio ably produced biomass for the Solutions (AI Bio) is now development of new industrial accepting funding apbioproducts. plications for the ‘equipment All three program areas have utilization’ component of its a strong partnership component new Alberta Bio Future (ABF) to them. For example, Equipment program. It will consider new Utilization opens the door to requests on a continuing intake partnerships between companies basis throughout the four years and academic, research or govof the program. ernment institutions in Alberta, to Alberta Bio Future, launched help companies achieve scale-up in March 2015, is co-funded by or pilot development of their bioThe Equipment Utilization component of AI Bio's new AI Bio and the Ministry of Alindustrial products or technoloAlberta Bio Future program aims to give companies help berta Innovation and Advanced gies. There is a great deal of fibre with a final "push" to commercialize a bioproduct.

Education, with AI Bio leading processing equipment and experand managing. tise available on a fee-for-service D organizations and companies in Alberta The ABF program is aimed at helping basis, at Alberta Innovates Technology to move these projects forward.” to accelerate growth in Alberta’s bioinFutures (AITF) or public educational instituWith a total of $20 million in funding dustrial sector—from companies with tions in various parts of the province. until 2019, Alberta Bio Future is a followgreat ideas requiring technical support “This (Equipment Utilization) program up to other initiatives offered through the and access to equipment, to companies will pay for development work that is Alberta government over the past decade. on the cusp of commercializing a new moving forward,” says Murray. “It is not It is targeted to areas that have shown bioproduct and needing that last “push” an R & D program. It’s for companies that growth potential. The program also reinto the market. have maybe already done some lab bench sponds to feedback from industry, where Alberta anticipates great growth powork, and they are now ready to move it it identified a need to fill technological or tential and business opportunity in the to a larger scale.” marketing gaps to take a product or techbioeconomy globally and wants local The total request for financial support nology to the next level. companies to actively participate in its under this program area cannot exceed The ABF program consists of three pridevelopment. The province believes $100,000. It does not support the purority areas: Equipment Utilization; Prodgreater support of the bioindustrial sector chase of equipment, and applicants must uct and Technology Commercialization; will also contribute to increased provincontribute at least 50 per cent of a first and Research and Innovation. cial diversification by adding value to the project’s cost, with a minimum of half AI Bio is accepting applications under forest and agriculture sectors. of that contribution being in cash. Once the Equipment Utilization program area The goals of ABF are to make better approved for funding, projects must be now. It will begin accepting applications commercial use of the province’s substancompleted within 12 months. for funding under the other two areas tial forest, farm and municipal solid waste later this year. biomass resources in the development of “For projects funded under the ProdFor more information about AI Bio’s new bioproducts such as bioplastics, biouct and Technology Commercialization new Alberta Bio Future (ABF) program, chemical, biocomposites and biofuels, and program area, we will be looking at comvisit http://bio.albertainnovates.ca/ to develop new technology that can be funding/abf/ or call (780) 427-1956. used in the manufacture of these products. panies that have done a lot of advanced work on a product and are engaged in For information on equipment “Our primary purpose in the ABF prothe last steps to bring it to market,” says eligible for funding, visit http://www. gram is to add value to Alberta’s biomass, Murray. “It is building on our experience albertatechfutures.ca/RDSupport/ and to encourage companies and rewith our (former) Advanced Materials and BioandIndustrialTechnologies/Biosearchers to view it as a resource that can Chemicals program.”

IndustrialTechnologiesandServices. be used in a variety of ways,” says ChrisThe Research and Innovation program aspx and http://www1.agric.gov. tine Murray, AI Bio Lead Director responsiarea will provide funding support to ab.ca/$Department/deptdocs.nsf/all/ ble for ABF program implementation. “We Alberta researchers, their partners, and bt15028. value the strong partnerships between R &

A

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

The Edge

Advancing woody biomass inventory precision for forest residues in Canada

By Tony Kryzanowski

T

he Biomass Inventory Mapping and Analysis Tool (BIMAT) is an online tool that allows users to estimate available forestry and agriculture biomass sources in Canada. It is currently undergoing a significant upgrade.

BIMAT was developed several years ago by the Canadian Forest Service (CFS) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, through the Program of Energy, Research and Development (PERD), administered by Natural Resources Canada, to identify and evaluate sustainable sources of biomass on a national scale. It is currently undergoing a significant upgrade that will update supporting databases and models, increase its precision and allow for updates to be performed more frequently.

On the forestry side, databases and models have been updated.

Using an inventory of mills annually consuming greater than 100,000 cubic metres, analysts estimate that the gross amount of sustainable mill and roadside harvest residues is nearly 51 million oven dried tonnes (ODT) based on data collected from 2013-14, representing just over one billion gigajoules of energy. At $4 per gigajoule, that represents a value exceeding $4 billion.

“We are updating and revising our modeling strategies and frameworks to increase the precision of our forest residue estimates across Canada,” says Brent Joss, Fibre Bio-Geomatics Analyst with the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre (CWFC).

“We’ve tapped into multiple resources to update and improve the precision of our estimates, and we are taking steps to ensure updates can be performed efficiently going forward.”

The incorporation of new data into the models is allowing for greater precision to be achieved.

“Many mills now provide information

related to their feedstock requirements, such as the species they consume. This allows us to achieve another level of detail when calculating residues,” says Joss. For example, by knowing what species a mill is consuming, a more accurate estimate of oven dried tonnes can be calculated.

In addition to calculating more precise feedstock and harvest volume estimates, the updated residue models can also fractionate mill biomass into its various residual elements, such as peeler cores, chips, sawdust and bark. This information can then be combined with species-specific wood fibre attributes such as wood and bark density, moisture content, shrinkage, and calorific values, to assess secondary product options at various points along the supply chain.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

“We intend to explore more than just the bioenergy options,” explained Joss.

“We have incorporated spatially-explicit wood fibre attribute information that allows us to assess the economics of different product options for wood residues across Canada.”

Eventually, the updated databases and models will be incorporated into BIMAT. When complete, BIMAT will also be able to estimate potential available biomass volume from urban wood residues as well as juvenile, non-merchantable stands. Designers hope to have the tool completely updated within two years.

To access the BIMAT tool, visit www. agr.gc.ca/atlas/bimat.

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TECHUPDATE

By Tony Kryzanowski

Skidders John Deere

The new John Deere L-Series skidder has entered the forest with features that promise to increase uptime and productivity, while lowering daily operating costs for loggers.

Described as a ‘game-changing’ machine and John Deere’s most reliable and productive skidders ever, the company says that the L-Series skidder redefines expectations of what a skidder can accomplish for any logging operation.

The L-Series skidder is the first John Deere forestry machine to launch with Final Tier 4 engines.

The transition to a Final Tier 4 engine also means the introduction of an innovative new John Deere-designed Continuous Variable Transmission (CVT) and drive train. What this means for loggers is that there is no need to shift gears.

All L-Series skidders feature more robust heavy-duty axles, including a rugged new Outboard-Extreme axle, which is standard on the 848L and 948L, and optional on the 748L.

shovel logging, cable yarding systems or conventional rubbertired ground skidding equipment.

The KMC has the ability to skid logs on up to a 40 per cent adverse gradient, favorable slopes to 50 per cent, and up to 55 per cent with site-specific risk assessment of the operation.

The KMC can also skid in areas of environmental concern with less soil compaction or site disturbance than any other ground skidding equipment, says equipment dealer, KMC-KOOTRAC/ Kootenay Tractor.

The KMC tracked skidder is not designed to replace other ground-based, skidding equipment. It is designed to be more effective when integrated with existing equipment. It will increase production while reducing the operating cost of existing equipment by working the areas where those machines are not designed for, thus reducing the wear and tear on the equipment. www.kmc-kootrac.com ______________________________________________________

Tigercat

Tigercat has launched the 610E skidder—its latest Tier 4 engine-equipped offering. The 610E is designed for the North American small skidder size class.

Tigercat’s Tier 4 solution can be packaged into a physically smaller engine enclosure. This provided the 610E design team with some flexibility to develop a machine layout that optimizes operator sightlines, while factoring in access to service points, L-Series skidders boast significantly more horsepower, stability and grapple options for superb responsiveness and steady multifunction performance. New larger grapples—up to a massive 22.3 sq. ft. on the 948L—give loggers more flexibility to configure a skidder to best match their application.

A newly designed arch and boom configuration also provides a better view to the grapple for easier and more efficient operation. www.JohnDeere.com ______________________________________________________

KMC

One of the best all-terrain, all-weather vehicles on the market is the KMC track skidder with its three unique features—balanced weight distribution, torsion bar spring suspension, and high speed steel track, says the company.

The KMC track skidder can skid logs on steep slopes, sensitive soils or wet areas where it is not feasible to operate expensive

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

to page 86

Rule the Forest

Forest King TRS 2

The new Nokian Forest King TRS 2’s Super Shovel lug improves traction and the shoulder design is optimized for lateral grip. The straight sidewalls improve puncture resistance.

Forest King F2

The new Nokian Forest King F2 is designed especially for use with tracks. The tire features an increased straight section of the tread and a new shoulder shape to improve track fit and support.

Forest King Skidder

Nokian’s skidder tire features a wide lug for excellent traction and a strong shoulder to prevent punctures and optimize lateral grip. Extra wide breakers and steel fortification extend the life of the tire.

Find out more about Nokian Heavy Tyres and find a dealer near you Logging & Sawmillingor Journal May 2015 800-565-2525 at nokianheavytyres.com by -calling

85

techupdate from page 84 machine balance, overall size and weight.

The 610E comes standard equipped with Tigercat’s exclusive EHS drive system. EHS is capable of providing exceptional tractive effort as well as high top speed, says the company. This is accomplished with advanced computer logic and the ability to take one of the drive motors offline when high tractive effort is not required. In this case, all pump flow is directed to one hydraulic motor, increasing both travel speed and motor efficiency.

The compact 610E skidder is agile and durable, making it ideal in tight spaces, soft soil conditions and selective logging applications. The ergonomic ‘Turnaround’ equipped cab provides the operator with comfort and clear sightlines. www.tigercat.com ______________________________________________________

Caterpillar

The Cat D Series wheel skidder has great pulling power and increases productivity while reducing operating costs, says Caterpillar.

The operator can steer, back up and activate arch, boom and grapple functions simultaneously. It is more stable and agile and gives a smoother ride, says Caterpillar. Gears in the six-speed transmission are more evenly distributed in the working zone to maximize efficiency on any terrain. The torque converter allows the machine to ease smoothly into a start when the skidder has

a heavy load in the grapple, and then the proven lock-up clutch automatically engages and the transmission goes into direct drive for high efficiency hauling and up to 15 per cent faster travel speeds in the same gear. The cross-flow configuration and compartmentalization of the engine and cooling system with reversing fan maximize efficiency and reduce debris collection.

The cab tilts for easy servicing. Equipped with the 275 hp Cat C7.1 ACERT engine, the 555D is the largest, most powerful skidder in the Cat line. www.cat.com ______________________________________________________

Awassos

Débusqueuses Awassos Inc. manufactures compact skidders for low impact. Because of the way they are manufactured, they can easily be equipped with many options, resulting in a finished product built in an optimal way for any kind of operation.

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It is also possible to speak with the tech department in make special requests, which are reviewed with the customer prior to production, so customers receive what they need.

The skidder is built on a robust frame, driven by a hydrostatic transmission, with the best hydraulic components available. Powered with an 80 hp diesel engine, weighing from 10,000 lbs to 11,000 lbs and seven feet wide, the Awassos skidder is said to be easy to move, gentle on the soil, but ready for work in demanding forest conditions, says the company. www.awassos.com ______________________________________________________

Tanguay

The Tanguay TG88 track skidder is available in a clambunk or “L Boom” grapple configuration with a huge payload capacity of 35 tons.

Powered by a 400 hp engine, the eight-wheel drive TG88E comes with a choice of track width up to 60” wide for low ground pressure. The 100 per cent hydrostatic drive provides incredible manoeuvrability and perfect traction for minimum ground disturbance.

The TG88 clambunk and its powerful loader with a swing planetary is the machine of choice to economically load and skid tree length logs to roadside over long distances.

The “L Boom” grapple skidder version is also very productive over shorter distances.

This track skidder is an effective and safe alternative to challenging steep slopes, and wet and deep snow logging conditions where conventional ground base skidding was not even possible to consider.

Designed and manufactured in Canada, the TG88E is by far the world’s largest skidder and may open the door to year round operations. www.tanguay.cc

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

INTRODUCING THE NEW CAT® 555D WHEEL SKIDDER

The CAT 555D Wheel Skidders deliver more power, better stability and increased hydraulic performance with a more comfortable ride – all while burning less fuel with the CAT 7.1 Tier 4 ACERT™ Engine.

WHEN PRODUCTIVITY MATTERS

ONLY THE POWER AND DURABILITY OF A CAT® FORESTRY MACHINE CAN DELIVER MORE PROFIT FOR YOUR BUSINESS. Finning offers a complete line of purpose-built forestry equipment, from core machines that help with road building, log transport and material handling, to machines that harvest, extract, and load.

© 2014 Caterpillar. All Rights Reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, BUILT FOR IT, their respective logos, “Caterpillar Yellow”, the “Power Edge” trade dress as well as corporate and product identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission.

SUPPLIERNEWSLINE Herzog Alpine Synchrowinch gives PONSSE forwarders extra purpose

The Alpine Synchrowinch turns PONSSE forwarders into a steep slope machine. The winch is mounted on the forwarder’s rear frame with either 280 metres or 340 metres of cable, depending on the cable width. Both 14 millimetre and 15 millimetre cable are available.

It has a hydrostatic winch drive with an additional embedded planetary gear unit equipped with an integrated, spring-loaded, fail-safe brake.

The continual measuring system shows the actual tensile force of the winch, and the camera display in the forwarder cab shows images from the back and/or the drum. The winch is radio remote controlled with continuous variable speed and force adjustment. wws.herzog-forsttechnik.ch

National accounting firm MNP expands into Prince George

One of Canada’s largest national accounting, tax and business consulting firms has opened an office in Prince George, B.C. MNP LLP has merged in the accounting practice of Neil Fowlie, and also brought in key local accounting professionals Andrew Adams, Rod Quiring, Frankie Albano and Blair Traxler to establish a strong local presence in the community.

“What appealed to us most about joining MNP is that even though we are a large firm with more than 80 offices across

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By Tony Kryzanowski

Canada, we have a small-firm culture,” says Adams. “It’s a great fit for the Prince George market.”

“We can now offer a lot more opportunity for our clients through MNP’s specialty services and expertise,” Quiring added.

In addition to tax and accounting expertise, MNP delivers a diverse range of consulting and advisory services. MNP also has extensive experience serving clients and markets that are very important to the Prince George economy, including forestry and forest products, First Nations, professionals and private enterprise.

MNP is located at the RBC building at #400, 550 Victoria Street in Prince George. Contact Andrew Adams, CPA, CA or Rod Quiring, CPA, CA at 250.596.4900. www.MNP.ca

Wood-Mizer Blades releases new blade maintenance equipment line

Wood-Mizer Products has launched of a new line of blade sharpeners and setters, along with new blades for high production sawing and better performance with highly abrasive wood species.

The BM5500 blade sharpener is designed to handle up to 3” blades with the performance to sharpen hundreds of blades per week. Its auto-run mode saves time, improves efficiency, and the 8” CBN wheel is powered by a one hp motor for consistent, accurate full-profile grinds. The BMS500 can be adjusted for different blade sizes and lengths used in various operations.

For lower blade volume needs, the new BMS200 and BMS250 blade sharpener models offer minimal downtime and easy set-up.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

suppliernewsline All Wood-Mizer sharpeners are based on CBN wheel technology with sharpening wheels manufactured by Wood-Mizer to meet precise specifications.

The new BMT250 tooth setter has been upgraded and sets the bar for accurate and consistent sets on band blades up to 3”. This machine is designed with an automatic feed system that ensures blades will be in top shape for maximum performance. The BMT200 tooth setter is an economical alternative to set both sides of blades with a hand crank. www.woodmizer.com

John Deere GoFell mobile app now available for M-Series feller bunchers John Deere Forestry has created the GoFell mobile application for M-Series tracked feller buncher customers.

The app was designed to assist operators in understanding machine controls, settings and diagnostics to help users get the most out of their machine.

The free-of-charge GoFell mobile appli-

Woodland Equipment picks up Hyundai 2014 Pinnacle Award

Woodland Equipment Inc, with five locations in B.C., has been named a 2014 winner of the Hyundai Pinnacle Award, an honor presented to Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas Inc.’s leading construction equipment dealers in North America.

cation is available for iPhone and Android devices and acts as an operator’s quick reference guide, providing loggers with instant access to information about their M-Series tracked feller buncher. The application boasts a number of features, including a guide to better understanding unique John Deere M-Series equipment features

to page 90

TRELLEBORG WHEEL SYSTEMS

Twin Forestry

Upgrade to pure quality For over a century, Trelleborg has met the challenges of professional forestry. Our passion is to build top performing quality tires for the most demanding environments.

The original Twin Forestry range is handcrafted for durability and comfort, inspired by the endurance and timeless performance of another brilliant investment.

Pure quality is always hard to resist.

Upgrade to Trelleborg Twin Forestry today. www.trelleborg.com/wheelsystems

“Thanks in large part to the outstanding performance and industry-leading service of these Hyundai Pinnacle Award winners, we are confident that the Hyundai brand will continue to be a major player in the North American market,” says Curtis Goettel, North American marketing and dealer development manager, Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas. “As true ambassadors of the Hyundai brand, our dealer partners are excited about the direction Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas is headed, and we are very appreciative of their continued support and loyalty.”

The Hyundai Pinnacle Award program recognizes dealers based on such performance criteria as sales, wholesale gross and market share. By continuing to lead by example, the company says that Hyundai Pinnacle Award winners raise the bar for its rapidly growing dealer network in North America. www.hceamericas.com Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

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suppliernewsline from page 89 and tips to customize the operating experience to maximize productivity during regular operations or extreme conditions.

The GoFell application is available for free download in the iTunes Store and Google Play. www.JohnDeere.com

Komatsu Forestry offers new XT-3 track feller bunchers and harvesters

Komatsu America Corp now offers its next generation XT-3 series track feller bunchers and harvesters which it says provide significant improvements in operator comfort, ease of operation, productivity and reliability.

Komatsu’s purpose-built XT-3 series machines carry a lineage of superior maneuverability, multi-function capability and high-production in demanding forest environments, says the company. Models include the non-leveling XT430-3, XT430L-3, XT445L-3 and the larger new XT460L-3 ranging in operating weight from 61,300 lbs. to 72,000 lbs. Each model features a powerful 300 peak hp Cummins 8.3 litre engine and 58,400 lb-ft of swing torque.

The XT-3 has a totally new cab that was designed with an “attention to the details” focus.

The XT-3 series features the new IQAN-MD4 programmable digital control system which Komatsu Forestry says is one of the most advanced systems on the market. All former analog gauges and warning lights are now prominently displayed on the highly visible and durable 7” LED color touchscreen monitor. The system

accommodates individual preference settings for multiple operators, records harvest data and provides advanced diagnostic reports. www.komatsuforest.us

FHX Defender forestry mulcher features high performance Quadco teeth

The FHX Defender forestry mulcher is the result of years of high-performance brush cutter engineering, says Valley Tool Manufacturing.

It allows standard flow skid steers and track loaders to become powerful fuel reduction and land clearing tools. With its efficient cutter design, it is suited for right-of-way clearing and creation or maintenance of defensible space in areas where wildfires are a threat. It is durable, dependable and easy to maintain, says the company. The two models, FHX66 and FHX76, come with 42 and 36 sharp Quadco teeth respectively, designed for better cutting. The FHX76 cuts a 76” width and the FHX66 cuts a 66” width. They both feature dual replaceable recutter bars, for extra fine mulch, a Hardox shield, adjustable/removable recutter door and an adjustable brush bumper. www.valleytoolmfg.com

THE ART OF GREEN

Green at MET is more than just VOC-free, FSC, Carbon Neutral, or Sustainability; that’s just who we are. It’s our nature.

Our Green is more than collecting logos, it’s about making beautiful Print: the Art of Green.

METprinters.com | 1.866.254.4201 hello@metprinters.com | @METPrinters

GREEN BY NATURE

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

suppliernewsline Rotochopper expanding this year

Rotochopper, a manufacturer of horizontal grinders and wood chip processors, has recently completed an 8400 square foot expansion at its facility in St. Martin, Minnesota.

This includes a new shipping and receiving area, paint preparation bay, and parts warehouse. In addition to the completed factory addition, Rotochopper has also acquired land to accommodate future expansion.

“Rotochopper has a mission and a vision: our mission is to design, manufacture, distribute and service the highest quality and most reliable material processing heavy equipment in the world,” says John Babcock, Rotochopper president. “Our vision is to double in our size within five years.” www.rotochopper.com

Vallée joins forces with pmp Solutions to optimize handling operations

Lift truck designer Vallée, has partnered with pmp Solutions, a forest industry software solutions provider to launch a system that tracks and analyzes lift truck operating and movement data for enhancing operational productivity.

While applications currently on the market provide lift truck location and maintenance related information, Vallée’s solution makes it possible to link with sawmill production in order to track and analyze lift truck routes and handling operations so needs may be anticipated and co-ordinated. It taps into a wide range of services tasked with improving handling productivity.

Users can receive sets of statistics in real time for each piece of equipment. The solution also suggests alternative routes to help

draft more productive configurations.

Vallée can also assist with managing order books so customers can plan the movement of material in advance. And ultimately, the productivity gains are directly culled from the equipment: Vallée uses the findings to modify the lift trucks’ parameters, optimize performance, and generate maintenance and fuel consumption savings. www.vallee.ca

Nyle launches Camden series small and medium kilns

Nyle has created a set of easy to assemble, Camden series kiln packages. They include a chamber with either a dehumidifier that is sized to meet customer lumber drying needs, or a gas heating package for safe, indirect gas fired, drying and heat treating. The chambers are all rugged, aluminum and well insulated.

Matched with Nyle’s L series dehumidifiers, they can handle fast drying softwoods to slow drying hardwoods.

Outfitted with Nyle’s indirect fired gas heating packages, the chamber can be used for drying as well as heat treating. www.nyle.com

Correction

An article in The Edge in the March/April issue of Logging and Sawmilling Journal titled‚ “Keeping Canada competitive: the genomics advantage‚” identified the Laval University research team leader as Dr. John Bousquet. It should have read Dr. Jean Bousquet.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

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classified Complete Saw Shop equipment Formerly Spruce Saw Service Equipment includes bandsaw bench c/w #4 Armstrong stretcher rolls & 4’ & 5’levelling slabs, #2 RH Armstrong bandsaw sharpeners, swages, shapers Hanchett welding clamp, Bernhardt wheel grinder c/w remote traverse, Armstrong post grinder, Hanchett automatic round saw sharpener, circle saw bench – capacity up to 60” dia. 3hp dust collector, hammers & hand tools.

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25,000

for the complete package 13000 Code Rd. Ladysmith, BC V9G 1H6

250-245-7297 ekuusisto@shaw.ca

Check out Logging & Sawmilling Journal at www.forestnet.com

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

classified

INDEX Ac# Advertiser

# May 2015

NAME:________________________________ TITLE/POSITION:__________________ COMPANY NAME:_______________________________________________________ ADDRESS:____________________________________________________________ PHONE: ______________________________

FAX:___________________________

EMAIL:______________________________________________________________ WEBSITE:____________________________________________________________

#

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

Page

Alliance Tire.................................... 11 Axis Forestry.................................... 71 Barko/Woodland Equipment............ 61 Bell's Machining.............................. 28 BK Two Way Radio.......................... 32 Brandt Tractor................................... 9 Canadian Western Bank.................... 7 Caterpillar....................................... 13 Cleanfix NA..................................... 38 Comact........................................... 17 D & L Timber Technologies.............. 44 DAGR Industrial Lighting................. 55 DK-Spec.......................................... 80 DO2 Industriel................................ 18 Finning............................................ 87 Gem Chain Bars.............................. 38 Globalstar......................................... 5 Hangzhou Qirui.............................. 12 HewSaw......................................... 75 Inland ............................................. 36 John Deere..................................... 31 KMC - Kootrac................................ 47 LeTourneau..................................... 46 Liebherr Canada.............................. 59 Linck ............................................. 19 Linden Fabricating........................... 67 Log Max.......................................... 45 Louisiana Pacific GP......................... 91 Ludwig Choker................................ 88 MET Fine Printers............................. 90 Metal Detectors Inc......................... 65 MNP LLP......................................... 63 MPM Engineering............................ 66 National Tire Distributors................ 56 Nokian Tyres................................... 85 Northern Metalic Lubricants.............. 2 Northland Dodge............................ 57 Northlands Water & Sewer Supplies.54 Ocean Trailer.................................. 10 Olofsfors......................................... 41 Peerless Ltd..................................... 52 Peterson.......................................... 79 Pierce Pacific Mfg............................ 43 Port of Prince Rupert......................... 6 Prolenc Manufacturing..................... 73 Quadco.......................................... 58 Risley ............................................. 68 RWF Bron....................................... 24 Safer Council................................. 27 Sennebogen.................................... 29 Shiloh Enterprises............................ 28 SMS Equipment.......................... 34-35 Southstar........................................ 51 Stihl ............................................. 33 Stolberg Engineering........................ 66 Tigercat........................................... 96 Trelleborg Wheel............................. 89 Tsubaki........................................... 77 USNR ............................................. 21 Vanway Crushers............................. 46 Versatile Fab & Machine.................. 69 Vulcan On Board Scales................... 25 Waratah.......................................... 95 Western Equipment......................... 62 Westerra Equipment........................ 60 Williams Engineering....................... 72 Williams Machinery......................... 39 Wolftek / Carbotech........................ 20 Wood-Mizer.................................... 30 Woodland Equipment...................... 53 Woodland Supplies......................... 90 WorkSafe BC..................................... 6 93

thelastword

The clock is ticking on the sawlog supply crunch in the B.C. Interior

By Jim Stirling

T

hat sound you hear is the clock ticking on the sawlog timber supply crunch in the interior of British Columbia.

The shortage is no surprise and long predicted, but the time is now to develop creative harvesting systems for better use of what remains. B.C.’s Ministry of Forests estimates 730 million cubic metres of timber have been impacted by the mountain pine beetle epidemic in the interior of the province.

The constraints and opportunities surrounding fibre supply in the B.C. Interior was the focus of a panel discussion at the recent Council of Forest Industries (COFI) annual convention in Prince George.

COFI does an admirable job of tackling head-on the pertinent and troubling issues facing the forest industry and this particular session was nothing if not sobering. It appears there’s more bloodletting in the works despite the rounds of sawmill closures and consolidations that have already occurred in the region.

“There will be more contraction, with mills shutting or slowing down (shorter production hours each week),” predicted Murray Hall, principal of Murray Hall Consulting, a participant on the threeman panel. Pressed as to where mill closures were most probable in the next 10 years, Hall responded by anticipating two or three more sawmills are likely to close. The most probable locations for those closures are in the Prince George and Cariboo regions, followed by the Kootenays.

The other panelists, Mark Feldinger, senior vice-president energy, environment, transportation and sourcing with Canfor, and Dave Peterson, assistant deputy minister and chief forester with the landlord Ministry of Forests, recognized regional differences in the impacts emanating from the beetle infestation. “One size does not fit all,” emphasized Feldinger. “The Timber Supply Areas are different and we

94

need to be sensitive to that.”

Hall told the forestry executives and suppliers at the COFI conference about efforts to ascertain what fibre remains at roadside now after logging the AAC. COFI canvassed 19 interior forest companies to get their best professional opinions about what’s currently happening in the bush.

Estimates of residuals left after logging varied from 12 per cent of the harvest to 30 per cent. “We need that fibre,” declared Hall. To extract it requires a re-definition of forest land management, suggested Peterson, including an integrated planning and harvest regime. The objective there includes removing the different types of fibre including harvest residuals and nonsawlog fibre in as few passes as possible.

“We need a suite of policy improvements, each can help...including removing policy impediments,” he added.

As forest companies, the ministry and consultants wrestle with how best to structure this new world, they would be wise not to do so in isolation. They should resist privately developing their strategy and then presenting it to other interested parties for rubber stamping.

Instead it would pay dividends to involve from an early date logging contractors, who will end up investing in a harvesting system and trying to make it work; with logging equipment manufacturers, which will probably have to develop or modify a new range of equipment to effectively deal with the different fibre types and of course with First Nations, which control access to and use of their traditional territories. In the meantime, that clock won’t stop ticking.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty out there,” pointed out Dan Jepson. “How do we move forward with some certainty?” he questioned. The chairman and CEO of C3 Alliance Corp. might well have been referring to the saw log fibre crunch. But his comments were made prefacing a separate COFI panel focusing on the changing Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2015

landscape for dealing with First Nations.

One of the participants, Dallas Smith, patiently outlined some of the most recent skirmishes surrounding aboriginal rights and title in B.C.: ‘the war in the woods’ in the late 1990s through court decisions like Delgamuukw and those affecting the Haida and Taku, and last year the Ts’ilhqot’in. “They bring us victories but not justice,” said Smith, president and CEO of Nanwakolas Business Corp., and Council. The council represents seven nations with aboriginal title on northern Vancouver Island and the north coast. The process to date has been neither easy nor fast, he noted drily. But the fact remains: “We have authority over our land and resources and each nation needs to be recognized.”

On a business level, Smith said dealing with Crown land referrals would benefit from streamlining. “Land referrals need to be processed faster,” he recommended, with a single point of contact.

“We’re being transparent with industry and we’re looking to a 30 day turnaround that would work in the best interest of all parties.”

Another panel participant was Derek Orr, chief of the McLeod Lake Indian Band and president of Duz Cho Logging.

Duz Cho, owned by the McLeod Lake Indian Band, grew into a major log harvest contracting company in the Mackenzie area of north central B.C. Then came the recession of 2008 which hit Mackenzie and Duz Cho right between the financial eyes. It was dire straits for both for a while. But Duz Cho clawed its way out of the mire by developing partnerships to reenergize a closed pulp mill and providing the fibre flow necessary to sustain it.

“We have had a history of working together and being an equitable partner,” said Orr, neatly summarizing the essential simplicity of the First Nation “issue”.

HARVEST MORE, BURN LESS

With exclusive ER technology and efficient Tigercat FPT power, the 845D series carriers achieve excellent performance and reduced fuel consumption in high cycle felling and harvesting applications.

ER decreases boom cycle times, reduces operator fatigue and improves hydraulic efficiency.

The Tigercat FPT Tier 4 solution is the industry’s simplest and most reliable. Best of all, the engines are fully supported by Tigercat and the Tigercat dealer network.

Visit www.tigercat.com or contact your Tigercat dealer to learn how the 845D series feller bunchers and harvesters can reduce your cost per tonne.

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