Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

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October 2017

CANADIAN RAILWAYS:

Keeping lumber deliveries on track

CLUSKO GROUP moves to steep slope logging in B.C. Interior

MAXING OUT log value at Skeena Sawmills

WITH THIS ISSUE… The Edge!

NEW PLANER MILL TECHNOLOGY delivers at IdaPine

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FEATURES October 2017 Volume 48 • No. 6 Editor Paul MacDonald Contributing Editors Jim Stirling Tony Kryzanowski George Fullerton Tech Update Editor Tony Kryzanowski

Publisher Rob Stanhope • (604) 990-9970 E-mail: stanhope@forestnet.com

On the Cover:

Producing wood chips for manufacturing pulp is an important part of the forest industry in Canada, but producing forestry biomass for energy facilities is also of growing importance. Industry research organization FPInnovations has some solid tips on achieving the standards expected of biomass in a story on page 45 of this issue of Logging and Sawmilling Journal (Photo of B.C. Interior chipping operation by Paul MacDonald)

Associate Publisher Anthony Robinson • (604) 990-9970 E-Mail: robinson@forestnet.com Sales Associates James Booth • (604) 990-9970 E-mail: jbooth@forestnet.com Perry Rosehill • (604) 613-3001 E-mail: rosehill@forestnet.com

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4 Spotlight

26 Rolling uphill with

The rail system is an essential link in the supply chain for Canadian lumber producers, and industry associations are stressing that the system needs to be maintained and reviewed to get the best service—especially as the industry seeks to develop overseas markets, and get lumber to ports.

The B.C.-based Clusko Group is used to adapting to new environments and making changes, and the latest is a move to higher ground and steep slope equipment, with the Remote Operated Bulldozer (ROB) winch assist system.

10 Maxing out value

sawmilling

Keeping lumber on track

from logs

B.C.’s Skeena Sawmills has launched a broad-based effort to improve log utilization, and that effort includes the installation of a new small log canter line—and it’s also looking at a new log scanner, to maximize the value from each log.

14 New planer mill technology delivers

A new planer mill at IdaPine in Idaho is helping Evergreen Forest Products meet growing market needs—and standards for the company’s appearance grade products have been greatly enhanced by innovative Finnish scanning technology created by FinScan.

20 The right stuff—all the way ‘round

Nova Scotia logger Peter Archibald understands full well that he needs the right gear to deliver the right wood to the right mill, and he now has some new equipment—and some newly-trained operators—to deliver that wood.

logging changes

32 Resourceful Vancouver Island sawmiller Lawrence Wheatley has weathered two decades of the ups and downs of the sometimes unpredictable wood products market by being extremely resourceful, and having a strong focus on local customers.

45 The Edge

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

54 The Last Word

The forest industry must lead on developing a national carbon credit trading system, says Tony Kryzanowski.

DEPARTMENTS

Calendar............................................ 8 Tech Update.................................... 38 Suppliernewsline............................. 51 Classifieds....................................... 52 Ad Index / Subscriptions.................. 53

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

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spotlight

Keeping lumber on track

The rail system is an essential link in the supply chain for Canadian lumber producers, and industry associations are stressing that the system needs to be maintained and reviewed to get the best service—especially as the industry seeks to develop overseas markets, and get lumber to ports.

By S. J Trotton

A

s one of Canada’s heaviest users of the country’s transportation links, operating in hundreds of rural and

northern communities, the $67 billion a year forest products industry is inextricably linked to the country’s railways.

Reports in recent years show the forest industry is the third most important user

of rail service in Canada, transporting more than 55 million tonnes of product per year, and accounts for 12 per cent of Canada’s manufacturing Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Looking at where the country’s forest operations are located—and how many of those products are exported—clearly shows why the dependency on access to efficient transportation routes and carriers is so apparent. Firstly, forest mills are typically located in rural and remote communities that rely on access to dependable transport. Secondly, reports show the sector’s national export market accounts for approximately $30 billion in manufactured goods that get distributed to more than 180 countries, and that does not account for the push to expand and diversify to page 6

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

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spotlight from page 4 the sector’s overseas market potential. As well, Canada’s rail system is frequently the only transportation choice for the industry as trucking is often not a viable alternative due to the volumes of loads, distances and nature of the products the industry is shipping.

The forest industry is further challenged by the fact few competitive forces within the rail sector exist and railways tend to capitalize on this, using differential pricing and transfer costs when working with industries that may have less negotiating power than others.

As a result, and for several years, industry associations have banded together to ensure the country’s transportation system is maintained and reviewed so that challenges can be addressed. They have been particularly vocal about the rail system when it doesn’t always have the shipping capacity the industry needs, which often results in goods not getting to their

intended markets and sales being dramatically impacted as a consequence.

The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) has led the charge when it comes to ensuring the federal government recognizes the importance of keeping the country’s transportation system running smoothly. In the spring of this year, the association was particularly enthusiastic about new federal rail legislation that

captive shippers across all sectors and Canadian regions with access to a more competitive railway system.

“Our sector’s relationship with our supply chain partners in rail, marine and trucking are very important to us,” said FPAC CEO Derek Nighbor, following the legislation announcement. “Transportation costs represent one third of total costs for the average forest products company.

When we presented our industry’s recommendations, we emphasized the need for more reliable service and competitive rates in rail, marine and trucking. Most of our mills are in rural and northern communities and have few options on how to get products to market.”

Other forestry associations are echoing their support of FPAC’s position.

Alberta Forest Products Association President and CEO Paul Whittaker describes Canada’s transportation system as a “critical component” of the industry’s global competitiveness position, and esti-

Canada’s rail system is frequently the only transportation choice for the industry as trucking is often not a viable alternative due to the volumes of loads, distances and nature of the products the industry is shipping. had been put forward. Transport Minister Marc Garneau tabled legislation that puts emphasis on new data reporting requirements for railways on rates, service and performance and timely remedies for shippers on service and rates in support of fair negotiations. In addition, the legislation incorporates long haul inter-switching which is a new mechanism for providing

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

mates 30 to 35 per cent of the industry’s total production costs are connected to the industry’s reliance on transportation.

“We could be the world’s most environmentally responsible industry in the world. But at the end of the day, if we can’t get our products to market, we can’t function,” says Whittaker.

Over the coming months, he explains improvements to Canada’s transportation system should be grouped into three priorities.

The first of those priorities, he explains, would be maintaining ongoing investment into the system. The commitment to strengthening Canada’s transportation infrastructure from the federal government as of late was promising, adds Whittaker.

“It has been somewhat better in the past few years in terms of getting rail cars but at the end of the day, our portage structure and road network depend heavily on the timeliness and cost-effectiveness of delivery.”

Next, says Whittaker, would be the federal government ensuring they provide appropriate oversight on issues that may be regulatory or physical in nature.

Finally, he adds, the federal government,

with support from all of the provinces, needs to ensure they are responsive to any transportation issues that arise and are “ready to address all users equally.”

“In the past, government response has been sometimes exclusive to things like agriculture,” he adds.

In Ontario, Ministry of Transportation spokesperson Bob Nichols says the provincial government “understands the critical role that transportation plays with our forest industry and the challenges that can sometimes be faced in transporting wood products to market.”

He elaborates further to say he hears from the industry about its struggle with establishing new supply chain logistic systems when venturing into new markets.

Nichols adds his ministry also hears about the industry’s need for more storage facilities to be established near major ports to facilitate the anticipation of volumes more efficiently, as well as more rail cars and services to get the products to market.

Susan Yurkovich, President and CEO of B.C.’s Council of Forest Industries, notes that the B.C. forest industry has long been the cornerstone of the provincial economy and one of the largest employers in province, with about 145,000 jobs depending on the industry. “Transportation routes are the lifeline that connect our high-quality forest products to our customers here in North America and abroad,” said Yurkovich.

The associations’ explanations of how government and industry need to work together for further system improvements are aligned with the 2016 final report on the review of Canada’s Transportation Act. Submitted to the current Minister of Transport for review and recommendations, the report defines Canada’s international trade performance as having an “inseparable relationship” with the nation’s transportation and logistics systems. “As a small geographically dispersed trading economy, access to a globally competitive transportation system is vital to the prosperity of the country, the competitiveness of industry, the sustainability of communities and the ease with which Canadians can travel,” the report outlines.

Many of the recommendations outlined in the report are aimed at less legislative restrictions and regulatory frameworks in general. The report states: “Governments must also adapt policy and regulatory approaches to secure the competitive position of the country.”

Among those report recommendations to page 8 Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

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spotlight from page 7 is the Government of Canada taking action to increase the competitiveness of Canadian shipping and competition by “phasing out operating restrictions” and beginning that process with container services.

In the second half of the transportation act review, numerous recommendations for improvements to Canada’s railway system are outlined. Among them is the identification that weaknesses in the rail transportation system have less to do with railway service delivery problems and more to do with supply chain weaknesses, congestion due to high demand for rail services and a lack of railway infrastructure. Another recommendation in the report is the elimination of special rail freight concessions “for certain agricultural products that puts a cap on rail company revenue in that sector.”

The federal government has started to take action, though it is on transportation on a broad front, rather than being focused on rail. This past July, Minister of Transport Marc Garneau announced $2.1 billion for the Trade and Transporta-

tion Corridors Initiative (TTCI) to build stronger, more efficient transportation corridors to international markets. The core element of the TTCI is the meritbased National Trade Corridors Fund (NTCF), which will provide $2 billion over 11 years to strengthen Canada’s trade infrastructure, including ports, waterways, airports, roads, bridges, border crossings, rail networks and the interconnectivity between them.

“Investments through the Trade and Transportation Corridors Initiative will make a big difference for Canadian businesses,” said Garneau.” It will allow them to get better access to international markets by addressing critical bottlenecks and ensuring that Canada’s transportation networks remain cost competitive and efficient.”

CALENDAR November 6-8

108th Pacific Logging Congress Convention, Scottsdale, Arizona 503-383-6474 www.pacificloggingcongress.org January 17-19

75th Annual Truck Loggers Association Convention, Victoria, BC 604-684-4291, www.tla.ca January 15-19

Assoc. of Equip. Distributors (AED) Summit & Condex, Las Vegas, NV 800-388-0650, www.aednet.org January 16-18

15th Annual BC Natural Resource Forum, Prince George, BC 250-640-7469 bcnaturalresourcesforum.com January 24-25

Forest Products Association of Nova Scotia 84th AGM, Halifax, NS, 902-895-1179, www.fpans.ca February 5-7

Western Forestry Contactors' Assoc. Conference & Trade Show, Kelowna, BC 604-736-8660, https://wfca.ca

8

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

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BCsawmilling

MAXING OUT VAL from logs

B.C.’s Skeena Sawmills has launched a broadbased effort to improve log utilization, and that effort includes the installation of a new small log canter line—and it’s also looking at a new log scanner, to maximize the value from each log.

By Jim Stirling

I

t’s wryly dubbed the ‘hemlock surprise’.

What appears to be a perfectly sound log externally too often turns out on the inside to be riddled with pockets of rot and other fibre-damaging and value-reducing defects. In the bush, best guesses surrounding internal wood quality are typically made by probing the log and

the buckerman’s experience in assessing what he sees and finds.

Skeena Sawmills is trying to turn the odds more in its favour by investigating the application of emerging technology to reduce the element and numbers of nasty surprises in the hemlock and other species occupying its wood basket in northwestern British Columbia. The particular technology undergoing analysis could result in

The lumber recovery process for Skeena Sawmills doesn’t begin when loaders deliver logs to the mill’s infeed decks (top photo). It starts much earlier back in the bush, with the harvesting including log analysis and sorting processes, says Greg DeMille (left), Skeena Sawmills woodlands manager.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

BCsawmilling

LUE

Lumber recovery starts in the bush for Skeena Sawmills

T

installation of a new log scanner at Skeena Sawmills’ Terrace operation.

The scanning system would provide a three dimensional re-construction of all the inner features in each log. The information provided would be used to indicate the optimum cutting patterns for the sawmill’s log breakdown machines, with the objective of maximizing the value of all boards cut from each log.

The scanning system is part of a broadbased analysis of the mill’s operation and stem utilization designed to get the most from the unco-operative and challenging characteristics inherent with Skeena’s wood supply. Up to 50 per cent of the company’s standing wood volume under licence is comprised of grade 4 pulp quality logs. That’s an astonishing statistic.

Most sawmills processing a diet of interior B.C. spruce-pine-fir fibre, for example, experience a single digit percentage of that classification of pulp quality logs.

Other factors impact sawmill operation in the Terrace region. There is no longer

he lumber recovery process for Skeena Sawmills doesn’t begin when loaders deliver logs to the mill’s infeed decks. It starts much earlier back in the bush. Harvesting includes the log analysis and sorting processes. Greg DeMille, Skeena Sawmills woodlands manager, knows only too well the wood quality issues at ground zero.

Skeena Sawmills operates on three forest licences. They have their Tree Farm Licence to the south of Terrace with an AAC of 128,000 cubic metres where probably 35 per cent to 45 per cent of the fibre is pulp quality wood, explains DeMille. Skeena Sawmills has an additional 26,000 cubic metre forest licence in the Kalum district and a 162,000 cubic metre a year forest licence in the Nass region to the north.

“It’s coastal logging to the south with cable yarding and expensive road building,” summarizes DeMille.

“The Nass licence contains a higher pulp wood percentage—45 to 50 per cent—with more ground based logging systems, but the sites are also further away from the Terrace sawmill.”

Logging and Sawmilling Journal visited a ‘typical’ log harvesting site in Skeena’s Tree Farm Licence area south of Terrace and closer to the ocean.

A Madill 124 yarder was working the draws and slopes while a Madill 3800L was assigned the roadside hoe chucking duties and loading the incoming highway logging trucks. The Madill machines were working for Terrace Timber, a division of Main

Logging Ltd, a long time Terrace area log harvesting and transportation contractor.

Also on site were crews representing D&J Mackay, a local road building and blasting sub-contractor.

DeMille said the wood quality coming to roadside appeared to be better than had been anticipated. But he and the logging crews know only too well that appearances can be deceptive with Skeena’s mercurial wood supply. The moment of truth can occur much later in the process when those apparently sound stems fall apart in the debarkers.

to page 12 Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

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BCsawmilling from page 11

Skeena Sawmills is investigating the application of emerging technology to reduce the element and numbers of nasty surprises, such as rot, in the hemlock and other species occupying its wood basket in northwestern British Columbia.

a pulp mill within economic transportation distance of Terrace. Logging and road building costs are high in the region partly because of the mountainous terrain and the fact that the easier accessed and quality valley bottom forest land has long since been creamed. The good news, as a longer term aside, is commercial thinning in so-called second growth stands in the region is showing promise.

In the meantime, Skeena Sawmills must face the realities of sawmilling in the region. “The traditional sawmilling model hasn’t worked here,” understates Roger Keery, vice-president of operations for Skeena Sawmills. “We’re looking at technology advances as the tools to help with our issues here.”

Under the closest scrutiny is a CT log scanner manufactured by SpringerMicrotec Inc. It’s designed to help identify knots, cracks and rot pocket locations in lower quality hemlock and balsam stems.

FPInnovations are also partners in the project, providing assistance in scanning and sawing the logs. In turn, Springer Microtec have been adapting their software algorithms to detect the unique internal

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

BCsawmilling defect present in Skeena’s logs, and meticulously analyzing the optimized data to determine the potential benefits.

“You can’t just scan the geometry. The problems with our wood aren’t external.

They’re internal,” points out Keery.

Skeena and its partners believe the scanner looks promising. “If there’s an opportunity for better utilization of our fibre, it could be a game changer in this area,” adds Keery.

Skeena has also been busy on other fronts examining options to improve the utilization of and value from its wood fibre: innovations that work on an industrial scale. For example, notes Keery, exporting wood chips might produce a significantly higher payback than domestic opportunities. “We must have a home for and a value from our residuals,” he continues.

It’s why Skeena Sawmills is following up on a feasibility study from CWA Engineers Inc., to install a small wood pellet manufacturing plant using the sawmill’s sawdust, shavings and bark as furnish. “We have not made a final decision on the pelletizing equipment. There are two potential suppliers that have quoted the project and Skeena will select one of those,” explains Keery “Prodesa has been selected to supply the critical element of the dryer system.”

The pellet plant will have a capacity output of about 80,000 tonnes/year and it will be constructed adjacent to the existing sawmill.

The decisions have been made for the first major improvement project at Skeena Sawmills. Work is expected to begin this fall/winter with the approximately $10 million installation of an Optimil small log canter line with a quad re-saw capability and in-line gang. Keery says the line will be capable of operating at speeds up to 450 FPM and be able to process logs from 16 inches in diameter down to four-inch diameters.

The ability to accurately process small diameter wood will mark new ground and a significant ‘first’ for Skeena Sawmills. The company’s sawmill is a solidly constructed structure, but it’s old and designed to process a much different log profile. In its original incarnation, it was rarely asked to process logs less than 10 inches in diameter. Now that’s all changed. The latest regional timber supply analysis is expected to confirm the smaller diameter trend as increasing volumes of ‘second’ growth stands become available for harvest. The new small log line installation will poise Skeena Sawmills to better process its complete timber supply spectrum.

Computed tomography for logs

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Look inside logs. For the first time, size and position of wood defects can be accurately described in all three dimensions. Using the internal defects, CT Log evaluates appearance, quality and strength before the breakdown of the log. Sawing and bucking is continuously optimized based on the highest quality and resale value.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

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sawmilling

New planer mill technology delivers A new planer mill at IdaPine in Idaho is helping Evergreen Forest Products meet growing market needs—and standards for the company’s appearance grade products have been greatly enhanced by innovative Finnish scanning technology created by FinScan.

By Barbara Coyner hen IdaPine located its new planer mill in Meridian, Idaho, it was by design. And when the company chose Don Bodewig as project manager, then recruited Kimwood Corporation, FinScan, PLCUSA and Inotech for equipment development, engineering and installation chores, well, that was all by design too. But the pathway to IdaPine’s coveted Boise area markets was not without its blips.

“Boise was where we wanted to be, but then the recession hit back in ‘08,” says Rodney Krogh, CEO of the company he co-owns with his brothers Mark and Jeff. “We just bagged our plans for the short term. But then when the markets

came back, we started looking back towards the Boise area and our timing was right for the purchase of the old Plum Creek site in Meridian (a Boise suburb).

We have a good market in the Boise area for our Douglas fir, a large site with multiple buildings, and a strong truck and railcar situation.”

Nearly 40 per cent of IdaPine’s lumber is sold in Idaho, mostly supplying retail outlets around Boise, while much of the pine board inventory goes to the Midwest.

Primarily focused on pine, the planer operation at Meridian is the final step for products milled at the affiliate Evergreen Forest Products sawmill, two hours north at Tamarack. That mill, owned by Rodney’s father, Bob Krogh, cuts and dries the stock, then bundles it for the final leg of

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

W

production at the new planer.

With the new planer mill gearing up last November, boards now zip through the freshly engineered processing line with barely a human hand touching the products. For Rodney Krogh, who started his mill career doing clean-up and green chain as a teen at the family-owned sawmill at Kooskia, Idaho, the new technology is a wondrous thing, but they still have a ways to go.

“We’re not up to where we want to be, and we have some bugs to work out,” Krogh says, noting that the new planer runs about 2,300 board feet per minute, while the 1970-vintage Stetson-Ross planer still operating at Kooskia runs about 1,000 board feet per minute.

IdaPine was fortunate in having an

sawmilling

experienced team onboard through its development, with Bodewig supervising the mechanical installation and Kurtis Boller taking charge of the electrical installation.

Krogh likes the fact that the new Meridian location boasts ample storage, enabling him to put the runs together for the planer, basing runs on market demand.

Company standards for appearance grade products have been greatly enhanced by the innovative Finnish scanning technology created by FinScan. “IdaPine was the first to go with our BoardMaster Nova,” says Jocelin (Josh) Payeur of FinScan. “They liked the service and the performance. It’s a very good set-up for

them, with lots of room, and additional room for expansion. This is moving into twenty-second century technology, really replacing the human eye.”

The FinScan non-turning grading optimizer features a scan of 100 per cent to page 16

The Planer – Before and After: Rodney Krogh, CEO of IdaPine, was after pull-through capabilities for the planer, rather than push-through—and Stetson-Ross dealer Kimwood Corporation in Cottage Grove, Oregon was able to deliver on that. A fabricated Stetson-Ross K model suitable for reconditioning first had to be cut in half to develop Krogh’s goal of pullthrough capability, with the profile section removed to outfit the transformation. Krogh is very happy with the results. “It’s working phenomenally well and I am totally impressed.”

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

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sawmilling from page 15 of the board (four sides) with no chain obstruction, decreasing the human error factor as well as increasing productivity and profitability. FinScan also installed an EndSpy end board analyzer, which scans either green or dry lumber for pith and other end defects. A MoistSpy further enhances scanning capabilities, analyzing the moisture profile of each board.

Another key element of the planer story is the development of the planer itself. Because the Krogh family had long run StetsonRoss equipment, Krogh contacted Stetson-Ross dealer Kimwood Corporation in Cottage Grove, Oregon. “I knew what worked and what didn’t,” Krogh notes. “When I contacted Kimwood, they were a bit nervous, but once they saw what I was after, they jumped right on it. It took many months, but they got it right.”

What Krogh was after was pull-through capabilities for the planer, rather than push-through. He’d traveled around Canada, looking at planers there, preferring a system that would provide a gap between boards with no overlap. Because the company can sometimes run a wide variety of species, manufacturing vast amounts of boards in a run, he wanted durability, as well. Kimwood went to work, searching for an existing planer that could provide the platform for the new mill. A fabricated Stetson-Ross K model suitable for reconditioning turned up in Lincoln, California.

As the planer was delivered to Kim-

wood, company owner Kris Woodard remembers looking at the piece, wondering, “What in the hell did we do here anyway?” The 50,000-pound planer first had to be cut in half to develop Krogh’s goal of pull-through capability, with the profile section removed to outfit the transformation. “Rodney laid out what he wanted. He wanted it totally electronically operated. The safety part is huge, so he wanted it operated from a booth.”

cutting solution to Inotech’s optimized trimmer, PLCUSA’s Pascal Raymond explains, noting that Cut-in-2 and PET are integrated within the trimmer and seamlessly managed by the tray sorter. “The ingenious design provides an efficiency that previous generations could only dream about,” Raymond adds.

“It’s a two-sorter situation with one tray on each side of the sorter, so we can put 8-footers on the near end and the far end of the sorter tray,” Krogh explains, noting that a 16-foot board can come through the trimmer and be cut in half with each eight-footer going to a distinct sorter tray on a single level, based on grade and market needs. “The beauty of it is that we don’t slow down the trimmer, we essentially have two zero lumber lines on the backside of the trimmer before the sorter. Usually it’s skip-a-lug. We can cut eight-footers all day and never slow down. We can make whatever adjustments we need to, based on price and market demand managed by Finscan.”

With business constantly improving in the Boise metropolitan area, the Meridian planer is still processing backlog from the companion mill at Evergreen Forest Products. Happily, many of the employees who had previously worked for the Plum Creek reman plant came back to work for IdaPine, and eventually the planer will have work for about 12 people as it comes up to speed and shifts increase.

Krogh has been involved in the lumber industry all his life, with grandfather Maurice Hitchcock first acquiring a mill in Sisters, Oregon, then moving over to the White Swan mill near Yakima, Washington, and eventually adding mills at Wallowa, Oregon, and Juliaetta, Idaho. Later Hitchcock bought the mill at Kooskia, and Evergreen Forest Products at Tamarack, meanwhile, bringing son-inlaw Bob Krogh into the business. In turn, Krogh brought son Rodney along, with younger sons Jeff and Mark also following suit. Maurice’s life is detailed in the book Maurice Hitchcock: Flying Lumberjack, which also recounts that Hitchcock’s wife was the first woman of that era to get a pilot’s license.

With that rich history in the sawmill business, Krogh is doing what any thirdgeneration industry descendant does.

He’s peering into the crystal ball to help grow the company. Because the Kooskia,

Company standards for appearance grade products have been greatly enhanced by the innovative Finnish scanning technology created by FinScan.

Although planers can run as fast as 4,000 board feet per minute, Krogh wanted to begin with a mid-range pace, that still offered expansion potential.

Kimwood took months in the development of the new planer, but Krogh couldn’t be happier with the results.

“It’s completely automated, with infinite speeds, and it only takes five people to run the entire planer. It’s working phenomenally well and I am totally impressed,” he says, noting that he’s further pleased

by Inotech’s trimmers, sorting trays and processing layout, which were procured, engineered and installed by Inotech partner Francis Fournier of PLCUSA. Boards are scanned and optimized in real time by FinScan, which provides a

to page 18 16

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

sawmilling

from page 16 Tamarack and Meridian properties are all interlinked through separate family ownerships, there’s new consideration of how to upgrade the product line at Kooskia, perhaps adding products such as pattern. The sawmill at Tamarack barely survived the 2008 financial debacles, but was saved by a $2.5 million stimulus grant that added new kilns to the facility, saving the sawmill and 60 jobs in Idaho’s rural Adams County, which saw unemployment

ratchet up to 16 per cent. Today, Evergreen Forest Products is back in business and its co-gen plant is entering year number 33 of a 35-year contract with Idaho Power. The company’s main wood basket is the Payette National Forest, and the pine market is generally stable in terms of supply, with less than a half dozen other area timber companies vying for market share. Douglas fir, lodgepole and spruce are also manufactured as part of the product line, and again Krogh sees the timber supply as competitive, yet also meeting

18

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

company needs for now.

With the new planer and the Tamarack sawmill currently becoming more synchronized, IdaPine’s presence in the Boise area promises a bright future. Housing sales are steadily rebounding and pine remains a popular building material. Such developments were part of the Krogh family’s initial strategy, which took a little longer to come to fruition. But thanks to new technology and market planning, the company seems positioned to enjoy a strong future.

eastcoastlogging

The right stuff—

Peter Archibald’s John Deere 1510 E forwarder.

all the way ‘round

Nova Scotia logger Peter Archibald understands full well that he needs the right gear to deliver the right wood to the right mill, and he now has some new equipment—and some newly-trained operators—to deliver that wood.

By George Fullerton

P

eter Archibald understands very well the challenges of operating a successful forestry contracting business. Securing a wood supply, selecting the right gear, building a highly talented crew and producing quality timber for customer mills all go toward making his operation competitive and sustainable.

Archibald’s business is based in the small community of Glenelg in Guysborough County, in the eastern end of

A good deal of Peter Archibald’s life has centered on working in the woods—at the age of 12, he was already operating a chainsaw, working alongside family members in their woodlots.

20

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

eastcoastlogging mainland Nova Scotia, and he has recently acquired harvester head technology which is relatively new in the Canadian market. Archibald has also participated in a new harvester operator training program, and hired three graduates—and sees them becoming productive and committed operators.

Guysborough County is distinctly rural, and forestry is one of the main economic drivers. Archibald’s operation focuses on providing forest management services to private woodlot owners, delivering wood products to mills in eastern Nova Scotia, including the Port Hawkesbury Paper pulp mill, just across the Canso causeway on Cape Breton Island.

A good deal of Archibald’s life has centered on working in the woods. At age twelve, he was operating a chainsaw, working alongside family members on their woodlots.

In 1996, Archibald established himself as a forestry contractor, hiring himself out with a forwarder and chainsaw. After about four years as a solo act, he established a crew of four chainsaw operators.

The contracting also expanded to include pre-commercial and commercial thinning,

and for a year he also managed a 20-person planting crew.

His move into mechanized harvesting began in 2004, with a six tonne Kubota excavator equipped with an Arbo 400 stroke harvester head. Later, the Arbo head went on a Doosan carrier. Archibald then made the step to a roller head with an AFM 50 head.

“I have had a great business relationship with M-C Power Equipment, in Truro, first with the Arbo head, and later with AFM heads,” he says. “When I decided to make the move to a roller head, and they were stocking the AFM line, I decided to try out an AFM 50 head and it has worked quite well. We installed the head on a Cat 501 carrier, and it seems to be a good fit. I continue to have great service with M-C Power.”

The AFM 50 head features three feed rollers and four delimbing knives. The head is designed for commercial thinning and clearcutting applications. The AFM 50 is designed for 12-18 tonne forestry machines, or excavators up to 18 tonnes.

AFM itself is headquartered in Jyvaskyla, Finland, and manufactures a line of high-quality single-grip harvester heads,

Ashley Hooper (above) went to work full time for Peter Archibald once he graduated from a new and innovative machine operator training program. processor heads, combi heads and energy wood harvesting heads.

In 2016, Archibald was looking for a more robust head to handle hardwoods to page 22

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

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eastcoastlogging from page 21 and, again, M-C Power had the solution on their floor: an AFM 75 head with top saw. The 75 is a very robust head and he matched it to a John Deere 2054 carrier.

The AFM 75 is said to be a strong, reliable and highly productive harvester head, and is suited well to 20-30 tonne excavators and heavy forestry carriers. It features four movable, and one stationary, delimbing knives and has the power to provide efficient delimbing, even on big hardwoods. The AFM 75 keeps the stem centered with three feeding rollers and has accurate diameter and length measuring. The delimbing knife geometry allows the head to work well as a harvester, as well as from buncher piles. The head has 65 centimetre cross cutting capacity and weighs in at over 1900 kilograms.

“If I have a problem, M-C Power provides excellent technical support over the phone, and we figure out the problem—and get back to work quickly,” commented Archibald.

M-C Power also has mobile service for more complicated issues. Archibald shared that M-C is also well stocked with

AFM parts as well as hose supplies, bars, chains and other common needs for forestry contractors.

The increase in harvester capacity for Archibald’s operation has, in turn, required more capacity on the forwarding side. In September 2016, Archibald made a deal on a new John Deere 1510 forwarder. It’s been a good fit, he says.

“I’m well satisfied with the forwarder’s performance. It works well, and we need it to handle a good payload on long hauls.”

Archibald recognizes the necessity of making his operation as productive as possible and in particular he wants to get maximum production from his harvesters.

To that end, he employs two chainsaw operators to work ahead of the harvesters in certain stand types, to cut low grade and brushy trees blocking the harvester operators’ view of the trees to be harvested.

“I need my harvesters to be as productive as possible,” he explains. “With the tree competition cut down, the operators can concentrate on harvesting crop trees and not waste time clearing. Using a harvester to clear away the low grade and non-commercial growth is non-productive for the harvester, and costly in bent bars,

broken chains and the downtime required to fix them.”

The chainsaw operators work ahead of the harvesters only in certain stand types.

If they are not required to work ahead, there are oversize trees to drop and sometimes they will harvest a small pocket.

Wood markets include pulpwood to Port Hawkesbury Paper (formerly Stora) and low grade and off-spec species to the Great Northern Timber chipping operation at Sheet Harbour. Their studwood is delivered to the Scotsburn Mill near Pictou, and sawlogs move to Taylor Lumber in Middle Musquidobit.

Archibald’s trucking requirements are handled by Russell McLaughlin, a lifelong neighbour and friend.

Archibald owns a Volvo tractor and float, and has considered getting a log trailer, but at present the unpredictability of wood markets has left that plan on hold.

His wood supply continues to come from private woodlots, primarily in Guysborough County, with the occasional venture to neighbouring Antigonish and Pictou counties. to page 24

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

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23

eastcoastlogging

The operation’s Cat 501 equipped with an AFM 50 harvesting head (above, right). The AFM 50 head features three feed rollers and four delimbing knives, and is designed for commercial thinning and clearcutting applications. To the left is Peter Archibald’s John Deere 2054 with AFM 75 head.

“We still have lots of woodlots to harvest, but the world and the industry has changed,” he commented. “Some woodlot owners look for stumpage prices we witnessed a couple decades ago, but the world has changed—there is not the same money in the industry.”

Archibald was one of a handful of Nova Scotia harvest contractors who were participants in a new and innovative machine operator training program devised and managed by the Canadian Woodlands Forum, Bio Applied Innovation Pathways, Forest Nova Scotia, Forest Liaison, and the Nova Scotia Forest Safety Society.

The training program featured an intensive pre-assessment of trainee candidates, in-class and in-machine training, and an extended coaching period.

Archibald—like his fellow contractors involved in the training program—agreed to hire the trainees and put them to work in their harvest equipment for the coaching period. He initially agreed to hire two trainees, and ended up hiring a third.

The trainees, as well as the participating contractors, made financial commitments to the machine operator training program.

“I initially found out about the program and the opportunity to hire trainee operators through Port Hawkesbury Paper,” said Archibald. He added that it has been challenging to find quality operators in the past. “I’m very happy with the program

and the quality of the trainees I’ve hired.

“The pre-assessments were a very helpful element in the program. I reviewed the assessments, which provided a good picture of the candidate, their personality and their skillset. I followed up with a personal interview before I agreed to invite the first two candidates to hire on.”

Archibald hired trainees Ashley Hooper and Adam Haliday, and later on Brandon MacLeod came on board, after the contractor who originally hired him ceased his operation.

“Each of the trainees came with a good basic operator skillset,” he says, noting the training program was essential. “I would have never been able to hire them if they had applied without having had the training course. I would not have been able to afford to train them from scratch. They would have had such low productivity as they learned to operate the machines that I could not have afforded to keep them.”

Archibald pointed out that the preassessment which qualified the trainees to get into the training program was—and continues to be—a valuable management tool.

He noted that he received the preassessments prior to selecting candidates to interview. The assessments reflected the skill and knowledge level of the candidates, and qualified them to even enter the training program. The pre-assessments provided information that allowed Archibald to select interviewees he figured would fit his particular operation.

“I continue to refer to those assessments,

24

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

from page 22

whenever concerns or issues arise on the job,” he says. “The assessments provide me with very good insight into their thinking and it gives me a much clearer understanding of where they are coming from, and how they see and deal with the challenges they encounter day to day. It has really made a big difference for managing my operation.”

Ashley Hooper went to work full time for Archibald once his coaching period was complete. “After two months in the seat, operating has become second nature,” says Hooper. He added that the instructors from NB Community College had excellent teaching skills, but their training machines did have a lot of downtime, which meant trainees where often gaining insight on repairing, rather than operating, equipment. Hooper said that the coaching was excellent, and certainly directed his skill development.

Archibald also realizes that the professional coaching the trainees received was significant in refining the trainees’ skill levels, and operating knowledge.

“The coaching targeted the right stuff,” he explained, pointing out that the coaches dealt individually with each trainee, working on specific elements which progressively developed their operating skills—and increased their productivity.

“I also had good interaction with the coaches. We discussed in detail the trainees’ progress and any concerns I had about how they were operating. The coaches were very responsive to my input.”

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steepslopelogging

The B.C.-based Clusko Group is used to adapting to new environments and making changes, and the latest is a move to higher ground and steep slope equipment, with the Remote Operated Bulldozer (ROB) winch assist system.

John Deere harvesting equipment at work using the Remote Operated Bulldozer (ROB) winch assist system, at the Demo 2016 show.

By Heather Hudson

T

Rolling uphill with logging changes

he Clusko Group, a Clearwater, B.C.-based logging operation, is no stranger to adapting to their environment. The company, founded by Arnold and Imke Bremner as a trucking firm in 1979, has been reinvented many times over the years.

Just five years ago, Clusko was based in Prince George, with secondary operations in Williams Lake and Kelowna. It boasted a 160-man workforce, a huge fleet of equipment and was harvesting 1.4 million cubic metres a year.

Today, its patriarch and matriarch want to slow down, so sons Jared, Ryan and Troy run more of the business. They’ve downsized their employees and equipment by half, closed up their Prince George operations and are heading to higher ground.

It’s a natural evolution. With the flat valley bottoms gone in B.C. and widespread damage caused by the mountain pine beetle, the real bounty is on high, rugged terrain.

“Even with our conventional logging operation, the ground-based skidding systems and roadside operations have been pushed into steeper ground. We have to do a lot more trailing with excavators and hoe chucking the ground for those machines where it’s too steep to stay within allowable limits,” said operations manager Jared Bremner.

With these limitations, it made business sense to invest in steep slope specialty machines. “We started looking at this type of equipment to get a head start on other to page 28

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

steepslopelogging from page 26 contractors, learn the system and be a leader in the field,” said Bremner.

In 2016, Clusko started working with Doug Hanson, Brandt Tractor’s major accounts manager for B.C. forestry, to find solutions to tackling a new frontier. “Everybody’s going to the slopes and scratching their heads to figure out how to get in there. Clusko has made some smart equipment choices to be leaders,” says Hanson.

The Remote Operated Bulldozer (ROB) winch assist system—an import from New Zealand—was a logical choice. It’s made its way to other areas of B.C. with great safety and production results. Hanson, and Island Pacific Equipment, the dealer for the ROB Dozer, helped Clusko create The move to higher ground is a natural evolution in many areas of the B.C. a steep slope system that reaches where Interior. With the flat valley bottoms harvested and widespread damage caused by little other machinery can go—and that the mountain pine beetle, the real bounty is now often on high. In the Clearwater keeps operators safely off the ground and area, Clusko Logging is dealing with a lot of steep terrain, rock and broken ground. in a ROPS cab.

“The two-machine system requires only winches are powered by the 850J’s hydrostatic drive motors. one operator who sits in the cab of the harvester and runs the Both winches have 400 metres of 7/8” cable that run through ROB by remote control. The harvester, tethered to an anchor two fairleads attached to the top of the dozer blade, and onto a machine, can work safely on steep slopes in places where a hitch on the harvester. conventional system cannot,” said Hanson.

“The machine has a 21-ton safe working load, at a safety Hanson and Island Pacific Equipment outfitted Clusko with a ratio of 5:1, with ProPac rope. The winches are spring apply, oil John Deere 850J ROB with a two-winch system attached. The release, as are the tracks, so in the event of a failure, everything is locked,” said Hanson.

The ROB’s low centre of gravity makes it an ideal anchor.

The system is equipped with tension monitors and detection systems that will shut the machine down in the event of a cable jumping off a winch, an overheat, a blown hose or any anchor machine movement. The cable can also run up to 45 degrees off the blade fairleads on each side of the dozer, offering a wide cutting swath without moving the ROB. Clusko also invested in a John Deere 909MH harvester/ Southstar 750 directional faller. The 909MH is equipped with a 330 hp JD 9 litre engine.

“There are many features that make this harvester best in class. The harvesting front has 34 feet of reach which is very important when working on a slope,” said Hanson. “A factory-designed hitch was installed on the harvester, so that guys working on a slope where normally you wouldn’t want to take a machine are perfectly safe because they’re held by two 7/8” cables.

“It’s a one-man system because it’s controlled remotely. If the operator wants to go back up the hill, he tells the machine to spool cable in. If he wants to go down, he spools out,” adds Hanson. “You keep a certain tension so you never slide and you can work from side to side easily. The levelling system offers 26 degrees forward, 7 degrees rearward and 14 degrees to the side, keeping the operator level and comfortable in the cab.”

Although Clusko looks to John Deere and Brandt to be their main supplier, they do have a Tigercat 365 six-wheel skidder that specializes in rugged terrain.

Jared Bremner says investing in this cutting-edge equipment was a strategic move for the company. It’s where they see the future of the business. Operators, managers and owners have to page 30 28

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

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steepslopelogging John Deere dealer Brandt Tractor and Island Pacific Equipment outfitted Clusko with a John Deere 850J ROB with a two-winch system attached. The winches are powered by the 850J’s hydrostatic drive motors.

from page 28 all undergone extensive training to ensure proper operation and safety procedures are followed. Practice has been key to working out any kinks. “There’s some element of trial and error to know what works best as you go through different scenarios on the ground. We want to be front runners in the system so it’s beneficial for

all of us to get up to speed quickly.”

So far, they’ve gotten great value out of the system logging in Valemont, B.C. on slopes varying from 45 to 85 per cent.

“Once the ROB is set up and the operator is doing his thing, he was extremely confident and comfortable on hills as he felled timber and chucked it down the road.”

They saw great handling on tree sizes of .8 cubic metres. “It was a huge asset

compared to hand falling which had a lot of risk. The steep slope equipment eliminates a lot of hand fallers on the ground. Safety is our number one priority and this system helps reinforce that,” said Bremner.

In 2015, Clusko Group built new infrastructure, including a full-service truck shop and 20-man camp in Clearwater, where the heart of their business is and where they want it to grow. They also have offices in Kelowna and Williams Lake. Clusko logs about 325,000 metres annually for Canfor in the Clearwater, B.C. area and employs roughly 80 people.

They continue to run a complete road construction side, building main roads, access roads and bridge installs. Bremner says downsizing has largely been a positive exercise.

“When we were as big as we were

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

TAKE CONTROL

OF YOUR LOG SUPPLY Earlier this year, Clusko Logging Enterprises was recognized for its business excellence, winning forest company Canfor’s 2017 Top Canadian Contractor Award. Pictured above, left to right, are: Andrew Lavigne, Operations Manager, Vavenby Fibre; Don Kayne, President and CEO, Canfor; Jared Bremner, Clusko Logging; Stephen Mackie, senior vice-president, operations-Canada; Kevin Horsnell, group general managerforest management group Canada. back in 2013, we started to lose our dayto-day interactions with the crew. It’s hard to have relationships with 160 people.

That’s always been important to us and we wanted to re-establish that.”

Downsizing also meant weeding out extraneous equipment. Bremner says the company worked with Hanson and Brandt Tractor to offload outdated machinery and upgrade others.

“The operating area in Clearwater is vastly different than the north. There’s lots of steep terrain, rock and broken ground. Moving here was the beginning to move toward the steep slope tethered machines. We had to adapt from flatbottomed tilters to bigger, six-wheel drive skidders that can handle the area appropriately,” said Bremner.

“Overall, you have to evolve with the conditions in logging. You’ve got to be willing to change and stay with the times.”

The Bremner brothers are taking that spirit of entrepreneurial evolution and mixing it with the legacy of the family business. “We’re looking to expand for sure. It’s more strategic than just saying, ‘Yeah, we want to grow back up to a million and a half cubic metres a year.’ We want to diversify and take on more opportunities where it works.”

One of the ways the business has evolved is with each brother forming his own company within the Clusko Group.

“We’ve all started our own companies.

We’re slowly adding machines and trucks, but are still under the mothership company,” said Bremner.

Troy runs Troyco Enterprises, which supervises the trucks, loaders and the shop serving the Clearwater operations along with the harvesting operations. He employs two log loaders and seven logging trucks that haul for the Clusko Group.

Ryan is owner of North Face Ventures and also runs a log loader and six logging trucks within the Clearwater area. Some of them are long loggers which help get the wood off the mountainside. Ryan tends to all the company’s vendor accounts and purchasing and assists with the trucking fleet.

And Jared runs Jareco Holdings Ltd., which has four processors and two skidders and takes care of all the processing for Clusko Group. “We each have our separate phases or areas of focus and continue to grow so that eventually we have our different sides in the future. In three to five years, we all plan to hopefully have our own standalone operations,” said Jared.

In the meantime, they run the business as a well-oiled unit for the Clusko Group, consulting daily and working toward the same goal to evolve with the business.

“Our focus is being successful in this industry in well-defined locations. We have systems in place that are strategic and effective for us. We see a bright future.”

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

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B.C.sawmilling

RESOURCEFUL SAWMILLING

Vancouver Island sawmiller Lawrence Wheatley has weathered two decades of the ups and downs of the sometimes unpredictable wood products market by being extremely resourceful, and having a strong focus on local customers.

By Paul MacDonald

L

awrence Wheatley had somewhat of an indirect route—from working as a mechanic to operating an excavator on a silver mine in the Yukon—to getting into the sawmilling business.

But that said, he’s managed to survive the sometimes rollercoaster ride in the forest industry over the last several decades, with his company, Quinsam Reman. In fact, the company is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, which is a significant accomplishment considering the ups and downs of the business.

Quinsam Reman is a small sawmill and

An entrepreneurial background has come in handy for Lawrence Wheatley (above) who can produce a little bit of everything from Quinsam Reman in Campbell River, B.C. After working as a mechanic, Wheatley says it was time for a change when he bought the small mill operation. “I always wanted to do something with wood,” he says.

32

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

reman operation in Campbell River on B.C.’s Vancouver Island, cutting mostly for local customers in the region. But Wheatley actually started work as a heavy duty mechanic for B.C. Cat dealer, Finning, back in the 1970s.

After the stint with Finning, he set up his own shop in Campbell River, doing maintenance for local outfits, including Raven Lumber, which operated a major sawmill in the city. After an economic downturn hit in the 1980s, “I decided to go gold mining in the Yukon,” he says.

Wheatley headed up to the Yukon with an excavator, and ended up doing exploration work, but it was on a silver mine.

Just as he arrived in the Yukon, though,

B.C.sawmilling

he had a different, but good, feeling.

“I had this funny feeling, like I had been here before,” he says. “I was content—like I was home.”

Later, he learned his grandfather, one of 13 kids, had, in fact, worked in the Yukon, before settling with Lawrence’s Dad on Vancouver Island. So the adventure side comes honestly to Wheatley, as does the entrepreneurial side. One of his uncles, Noah Wheatley, moved to California as a teenager, and was instrumental in the growth of that state’s famous Mother’s Cookies, which at one point made 17 million cookies a day.

An entrepreneurial background has come in handy for Wheatley who can

produce a little bit of everything from his mill, located on the highway leading from Campbell River to Gold River. Wheatley says it was time for a change when he bought the small mill operation.

“I always wanted to do something with wood, and I was tired of laying in the water and pulling wrenches, fixing equipment,” he says.

The business concept was to go midsize, and employ as many as 20 people; but due to a tight timber supply and up and down markets, Wheatley has kept it smaller scale. “It’s a struggle to get wood,” he says. “There is a lot of wood around here, but it gets shipped down to the mills down around Vancouver.”

Generally, Wheatley says, the business is a tough challenge, but clearly one he is up to. “I still enjoy coming in to work every morning,” he says. “But it can be feast or famine for the business at times, that’s for sure.

“When it’s feast time, you try to put a little bit away so you can get through the down times.”

Focused on mostly local customers, they will cut wood for decking, siding, sheds, —and it’s mostly yellow cedar. “We’ve been moving customers to yellow cedar and people have been discovering that it is

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

33

to page 34

B.C.sawmilling from page 33 almost as good as red cedar. In term of longevity, it’s probably better because most of the red cedar these days is second growth, and it’s not as good as old growth.

“We can’t afford to buy Western Red Cedar,” he adds. “The price of yellow cedar is much less.” Or at least it has been, Wheatley says prices for yellow cedar logs have been heading steadily up, as it gets used more.

To get that yellow cedar, Quinsam Reman has to work around the logging schedules in the area. In the winter, logging can be shut down due to a deep snowpack, and in the summer, it can be shut down due to fire risk. “This last winter, there was a lot of snow, but the last few years it has been good because there hasn’t been a lot of snow.” Sometimes, they’ll have to purchase their logs for the winter as early as September.

At one point, the operation had a moulder, and they were doing more reman work, including some contract work in Ontario. They bought cedar shorts and made a number of products, including hand rails, spindle blanks, fencing and 2 x

Quinsam Reman is focused on mostly local customers, cutting for decking, siding, sheds—and it’s mostly yellow cedar. To get that yellow cedar, Quinsam Reman has to work around the logging schedules in the area. In the winter, logging can be curtailed due to a deep snowpack, and in the summer, it can be shut down due to fire risk.

6 tongue and groove.

They then switched to doing more work for the local market around Campbell River.

An exception to that involved a recent project cutting 35,000 board feet

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

of salvage cedar for an operation out of California, Cascadia Forest Products.

Cascadia produces everything from siding to beams from salvaged and reclaimed wood. “We had a hell of a time getting salvage cedar for them, but we finally got it,” says Wheatley. “We’re hoping to do more down in the States, but it’s hard to say what’s going to happen down there with the politics.”

After the moulder was not earning its keep, they sold it off, and invested in some other equipment, including some better resaws, and a Keystone Machinery automatic stake pointer. Quinsam produces a lot of tree planting stakes for forest companies on Vancouver Island, and planting companies, such as PRT, North America’s largest producer of containergrown forest seedlings.

“Getting the pointer made a big difference—doing the pointing used to be very labour intensive,” says Wheatley. With the new machine, they are now able to do 8,000 stakes a day. “It even packages the pointers and puts the package on a pallet.”

When Quinsam Reman first set up on the site, the business came with a large headrig. “It’s a big old beast,” says Wheatley, with a blade that is 13 inches wide and 39 feet long. In its heyday, it could probably produce upwards of 40,000 board feet a day, but towards the end of its life, it was operating in fits and starts, with production of about 2,000 board feet a day.

Wheatley replaced that behemoth with to page 36

Solution with split rules enabled

B.C.sawmilling roadbuilding from page 34 a mid-sized electric Forester band saw that he picked up at auction.

Following the Forester at the mill, they have an Esser 100 hp bull edger, with three shifting saws and one fixed saw, that can cut eight inches by 32 inches.

“We can do about 3,000 board feet a day with two people on the mill,” says Wheatley. “The Forester works pretty well for us.”

The Forester needed a fair bit of work when they bought it, he notes. The wiring had been stripped out. “But we put it all back together, and it works pretty well now.” Wheatley says his experience as a heavy duty mechanic, and with equipment over the years, has definitely helped in keeping things working around the mill.

They usually use all the sidecuts from the Forester for making the planting stakes, and their knotty wood goes into fence boards.

They pretty much cut to order, says Wheatley, having little inventory. “If someone came in today wanting some decking, we would cut the decking, and the sideboards would go into the stakes or some fenceboards—we try to utilize it all.”

They work to make the sideboards as thin as possible, to cut into firewood, as

well. Trim ends also go into firewood.

There’s a steady market. “The firewood always seems to go,” says Wheatley. “We don’t have a chipper because we could never find a home for the chips.”

Being a small sawmill means by definition being resourceful, and Wheatley does exactly that when things are a bit quiet, with the firewood sales. They made storage bins that take an honest half-a-cord, and people back up their pick-ups to the bins.

On the maintenance side of the mill, Wheatley and employee Jeff Thomas take care of most of what is required. They usually keep a stock of some parts, such as belts and bearings, on hand, he says. It has sometimes been difficult to get these parts locally with the shutdown of the two major sawmills in the area, Raven Lumber and the Elk Falls sawmill. When those mills closed, the local supplier base was reduced.

The fall tends to be a bit quieter for the operation—at least until the orders for the planting stakes start to come in, with forest companies looking to get ready for the upcoming planting season. “We usually try to get the guys to send in their orders, and start work on doing tree stakes in December,” he says. This past December, for example, they had two orders, for 30,000 and 34,000 stakes.

When Quinsam Reman first set up on the site, the business came with a large headrig. They replaced that behemoth with a midsized electric Forester band saw (above) picked up at auction. They usually use all the sidecuts from the Forester for making planting stakes (right), and their knotty wood goes into fence boards.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

The five acre site for the mill—“perfect for our size”, says Wheatley—sits on a mostly industrial section along the highway, with lots of gravel operations. In fact, part of their site had a bit of a hole, where the previous owner had sold off some gravel. Last summer, construction work was being done on the highway and the contractor needed to get rid of some broken-up asphalt—and the hole proved to be the perfect place for it.

“Every night, they would bring us six truckloads of material,” says Wheatley.

“And we backfilled the hole up.” A friend with an old Cat D8 came in, and worked over the material, and flattened it out.

When the road construction was complete, the contractor had some excess pit run material, which was placed on top of the now-filled hole. “It’s really nice now,” says Wheatley. “You can drive anywhere over it with a forklift—and it did not cost us anything.”

With their operation working pretty well now, Wheatley does not head out to the equipment auctions too often these days—he used to be a regular. “I still go once in a while,” he says. Inevitably, he finds something they can use, such as electric motors. But at major auctions, he notes, and with online bidding, you can be bidding against Americans, with their higher value dollar, or anyone in the world. The super good deals, he says, aren’t there anymore.

TECHUPDATE

By Tony Kryzanowski

Lumber Marking Systems Gateway Graphics

Gateway Graphics specializes in manufacturing and supplying a complete line of marking equipment and products designed to meet the needs of the wood products industry.

Its lumber, panel and pallet printers have been an industry standard for decades and have stood the test of time, proving to be a reliable, dependable and cost effective method for applying grade marks and other information on lumber, plywood, OSB and all heat treated wood products, says the company. Gateway Graphics says that the solid construction and rugged durability of its printing equipment will keep marking customers’ products when other equipment becomes outdated or in need of replacement. Many of its printers have been in use for over 25 years.

From rubber stamps, hammers and inks, to high end automated printers, the company says it has everything needed for marking wood products. www.gateway-graphics.com

Jet Marking Systems

The team at Jet Marking Systems works to diagnose and resolve costly packaging and labeling issues.

By integrating 2D barcode printing systems using the technology of a Leibinger CIJ printer and Microscan AutoVision camera, the company has assembled a system to eliminate commonly found human error typically introduced in the packaging process of a lumber planer mill.

Jet Marking Systems has a factory- and industry-trained team with a pool of dynamic and dedicated technicians that cover all of Western Canada. The company says that it has carefully selected and partnered with first class technology and manufacturers of coding, labelling, case sealing, tracking and traceability, RFID and conveyor systems to offer customers the very best options for industry. www.jet-label.com

Samuel Packaging

Samuel Packaging describes itself as a leader in ink jet grade mark systems in North America with numerous innovative features and speed capabilities for dimension lumber mills of over 300 boards per minute. There have been constant improvements

38

and features added to the Samuel ink jet grade mark systems since the first systems were installed in 1990. Samuel ink jet grade mark systems have been installed in numerous companies including Canadian Forest Products, Carrier Lumber, Conifex, Irving Forest Products, Resolute Forest Products, Tolko, West Fraser and many more.

Samuel Packaging creates the ink jet grade stamps as required and obtains approval from all grading authorities including WWPA, NLGA, ILMA, RIS, PLIB, CLA, AFPA, CMSA, COFI, PLIB, TP, SPIB, NHLA, NLPA, CLA, OLMA, and MLB. www.samuelsystems.com

International Bar Coding

International Bar Coding (IBC) is a one-vendor solution for bar coding, labeling, and tracking wood products throughout the value chain.

With over 20 years’ experience, IBC’s solutions are used in tree nurseries, timberlands, log yards, sawmills, kilns, planers, and inventory yards.

IBC says it is a trusted source for automatic label printer applicators, HMI and machine vision integration, manual tagging solutions, custom data collection, pack labeling, labels and tags, and mill automation and safety.

Whether customers are making lumber, boards, plywood, or engineered wood, IBC says that it can help keep score. www.ibcworld.net

Autolog

Autolog, celebrating 30 years of innovation in the lumber industry this year, continues to invest in the advancement of their products, including their lumber marking system, the ProGSP grade stamp printer.

Built on its reputation for high print quality, durability, reliability and lowest cost of ownership, Autolog says its ProGSP now offers many new features such as a convenient end printer enclosure

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

to page 40

YOUR SUCCESS IS OUR BUSINESS

CUTTING EDGE SOLUTIONS FOR THE WOOD PRODUCTS INDUSTRY Samuel is one of the world’s leading providers of industrial packaging solutions. We offer a range of state-of-the-art unitizing, load protection, product marking, coding, and labeling solutions to suit any application in the forest products industry.

INK JET GRADE MARKING Numerous installations operating the Samuel Ink Jet Grade Mark Systems • System speeds of over 300 boards per minute with unique information on each board • Numerous options available including zero downtime printing, grade mark quality scanning systems, graders initials, time and date information, marketing information, unique board ID and much more

• Continuous duty cycle equipment • Non-contact application • High print placement accuracy

BAR CODE PRINTING AND SCANNING Proven High Speed Print and Apply at Over 300 Boards per Minute • Print and apply label with unique information for each board • Fully integrated Windows based operator interface • Continuous duty cycle equipment

• Non-contact application • Secure label adhesion

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PACKAGING SYSTEMS GROUP

techupdate from page 38 add-on, dynamic bar coding, configurable print density per field reducing ink consumption, integrated print quality camera system, MS Windows 10 LTSB (Enterprise) operating system and optional 100 per cent aluminum pen stalls, to name a few.

With its fully integrated HP TIJ (Thermal Ink Jet) technology, using reliable OEM components with a hassle-free lifetime warranty, Autolog says that this customizable, reliable, compact and innovative system is specifically designed for harsh mill environments. www.autolog.com

Z-Tec Automation Systems

The WinJet II Lumber Marking System was the first to bring HD printing capabilities to the wood products industry, and continues proving its reliability with over 100 installations across North America and overseas, says Z-Tec Automation Systems.

For 25 years, Z-Tec has focused its efforts on reliable and robust solutions for industrial processes.

With an ongoing R&D culture within the company, Z-Tec says that its solutions maintain their lead by remaining flexible and responsive to customer needs, and the company

40

being proactive to meet the future demands of the industry.

WinJet II is fully customizable, designed specifically for each installation. www.ztec.com

Utility Composites

Utility Composites Inc has introduced Sundog UHF RFID staples for advanced inventory tracking applications of products with rough wood surfaces such as pallets, logs, utility poles and railroad ties.

Sundog is a state-ofthe-art UHF RFID tag in a staple form, made in collated packs for sequential installation. The company says it is the only RFID tag that can be quickly installed into rough wooden surfaces and will not fall off or blow off in outdoor environments or during transport.

Each staple contains a unique microchip that can be instantly read when the load comes into proximity with a programmed RFID scanner, yet these tags will not trip metal detectors. The staple’s external antenna has long distance and angle read range

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

to page 42

techupdate from page 40 capabilities and UHF RFID allows for hundreds of reads per second. Sundog is described as the ideal product for those who desire a reliable, real-time inventory management system, reduced inventory losses, faster and efficient multi-tag readings, high read range capability and the elimination of labor for individual barcode reading.

Sundog staples can be easily driven into dense wood with a specially designed hammer tacker. The tool can apply 25 staple tags before reloading is required. The pneumatic Sundog stapler, created for accurate staple placement and production tag installation, will be available in the first quarter of 2018. www.sundog-rfid.com

Signode

Signode offers a lumber marking system that emphasizes both speed and quality. Many of its systems are operating at over 200 lpm.

The Signode system permits such marking features as grade, quality, and board identification for simplified marketing and traceability.

The lumber marking system features robust, all-steel construction with a fully enclosed design to handle challenging situations

on a lumber production line.

The open architecture with robust PLC controls has no custom interfacing software.

It is an eight-head system using both an advanced ink and ink delivery method, which also features a vision system for quality control management. www.signode.com

Microtec

The Microtec Grade Scanner is a very useful tool for operators to manually grade and trim boards, says the company. It can either be implemented stand-alone or integrated with a quality scanner. Grade scanner recognizes manually applied grade, trim and sort marks on lumber and interprets them. Installed on the trimming/sorting line, Grade Scanner reads the manual mark assigned by the grader and links the mark information to the corresponding board quality, trimming or sorting information.

Grade Scanner quickly recognizes customized grade and sort marks and speeds up production as manual data entry is no longer required. Modular design allows an easy integration between planer and lug sorter or trimmer. Depending on the production scope, Grade Scanner may be easily adjusted to customer’s needs. www.springer-microtec.com

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

ALWAYS INNOVATING

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October 2017

The Edge Biomass—getting what you pay for?

I

t’s a known fact that forest biomass that is used for supplying the energy sector must meet quality standards that apply specifically to energy-producing facilities. These standards involve moisture content (MC), particle size, fines content and degree of contamination. Customers each have their own requirements, which sometimes vary, and suppliers have to respect them. Developing a payment system based on quality and calorific value criteria seems to be the obvious thing to do, but that may be easier said than done.

Standardizing quality

There are international quality standards to help harmonize procurement and negotiation practices between the traditional forest industry and the emerging bioenergy industry. Standards that come under ISO/TC 238—Solid biofuels, for instance, cover a range of items, including terminology, sample preparation, fuel specifications, and classes. However, the methods described can be expensive and the classification used difficult to implement. That is why FPInnovations is currently working on developing a simple and easy-to-use classification system that will make it possible to quickly assess biomass quality. The system is based on both visual and touch indicators, and five quality criteria are used to define the class: moisture content, particle size,

contaminants, presence of white wood, and density of wood species.

Speaking the same language

At the time of the transaction, suppliers and users often speak a different language. The supplier arrives with volumes expressed in cubic metres or green metric tonnes, whereas the user wants to pay for calorific value in megawatt-hours (MWh) or gigajoules (GJ). Variety in the supply (roundwood, wood chips, sawdust, bark, planer shavings, crowns and branches,

construction-renovation waste) further complicates the situation.

The FPJoule web platform tool (http:// fpjoule.fpinnovations.ca) created by FPInnovations allows users to convert units of measurement so both parties can speak the same language and understand each other. Furthermore, the tool calculates the heating value of the biomass by taking into account its origin (species group, tree section) and moisture content.

Developing an innovative payment system

FPJoule can therefore serve to develop an innovative payment system based on the heating value of the biomass. This value and the quality class are much more appropriate parameters for determining the price of the biomass than an amount per green metric tonne. Such a system could prove to be an incentive for delivering high-quality material.

For more information on this topic, or if you would be interested in testing this classification system, please contact Sylvain Volpé, Senior Scientist in FPInnovations’ Fibre Supply group at sylvain. volpe@fpinnovations.ca.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

45

The Edge

Seven ways to reduce fuel consumption in forest operations

S

ince fuel costs are a major factor when using off-road equipment, it’s in the best interest of any machine owner to reduce these necessary costs as much as possible.

Some work habits and operational factors have an impact on fuel consumption. Recent tests carried out by FPInnovations researchers allowed them to explore certain ways of improving energy intensity and also to measure fuel economy.

Conduct hydraulic systems tune-ups

A feller buncher’s numerous hydraulic systems make it a complex piece of equipment.

Performing maintenance, seemingly optional, on the machine when it is always in operation is hard to plan. Yet, hydraulic tune-ups have helped increase productivity and reduce energy intensity from 0.54 l/m3 to 0.43 l/m3. This translates into a 20 per cent improvement.

The return on investment when it comes to maintenance was estimated at fewer than 200 hours.

is therefore not recommended on this type of machine. However, other machines may react differently.

Use fuel-saving mode

Haul tree trunks in a high position

Excavators and machines built on similar frames often have a throttle featuring a fuel-saving mode. Tests have shown that this mode, when used in the proper conditions, can reduce fuel consumption by 20 per cent and negligibly affect productivity.

Sharpen feller buncher saw teeth

Sharpening a feller buncher’s saw teeth can reduce fuel consumption and boost productivity by increasing energy intensity by 13 per cent. It is recommended to inspect saw teeth on a daily basis to see if they are still well sharpened and safe.

Avoid using a poorly maintained chain

It’s better to change the chain on the harvester head as soon as it shows signs of losing its sharpness. A dull chain reduces productivity and increases operating costs. It has been shown that using a new and sharp chain can reduce energy intensity by 15 per cent.

Maintain constant engine speed

Changing engine speed can have a negative impact on fuel consumption. In the case of a feller buncher, lowering engine speed by 100 RPM reduced productivity and increased fuel consumption and energy intensity by 6.5 per cent. This practice 46

The position of a skidder’s grapple can have a significant effect on the resistance force of tree trunks on the ground and therefore on fuel consumption. Hauling the trunks in a high position reduces their resistance, which results in lower fuel consumption. A 25 per cent difference in consumption was noted between the high and low position on a favourable slope. Tests conducted with a 5 per cent slope showed that the grapple’s position had less impact on consumption (difference of 3 per cent between high and low position).

Skid logs on optimal slopes

Skidding on an unfavourable slope can increase not only fuel consumption, but also the unit operating cost. Forest management planners and operations supervisors are therefore encouraged to review their operational plans before they start building roads or positioning skidding trails in order to potentially gain efficiency.

If you have any questions, it is always possible to test other practices to measure their impact. For more information, please contact Vincent Roy, transportation and energy researcher, at vincent.roy@fpinnovations.ca.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

The Edge

Tips offered on how to succeed with small sawmilling venture

BY TONY KRYZANOWSKI

A

n Alberta farmer has discovered that it makes a lot more financial sense to transform his easily accessible and good quality trees into wood products than accept what forest companies are prepared to pay him for his standing timber.

Will Vohs owns two-and-a-half sections of land called the Valley of Hope Farm a half-hour west of Innisfail, Alberta, which includes a woodlot on a half-section. He says that he can manufacture a 12” X 12” X 20’ timber on his band sawmill and sell it for about $250. That’s compared to the $50 to $100 per raw log that forest companies want to pay him.

Timbers are the easiest wood product to manufacture on his all-hydraulic, 28 horsepower, gasoline-fuelled Wood-Mizer LT40 band sawmill equipped with a debarker, which he purchased for $30,000 about 12 years ago.

“Small sawmilling and wood value adding are good opportunities to diversify farm income and provide local employment while reducing risk for forest fire,” says Toso Bozic, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry Bioenergy/Agroforestry Specialist.

Although Vohs didn’t launch his sawmilling venture to make a lot of money and doesn’t advertise, using a lot of the wood he manufactures on his own farm, he says customers from all over the province still seem to find him through word of mouth.

Typically, Vohs operates his sawmill two to three days a week in springtime.

Dorian Lavallee, Wood-Mizer National Sales Manager in Canada, says that parttime sawmilling is a great way to get started as a business. Wood-Mizer is the number one brand in the portable sawmilling industry throughout the world with more than 70,000 sawmills sold in 120 countries. They have had a presence in Canada since 1989.

“You have the security of your full time job, which allows you to build a client base to ensure a steady income from your custom milling business,” he says. “For a small scale sawing business, we would

Alberta’s Will Vohs discovered that he could make more money adding value to his standing timber and selling wood products than what forest companies wanted to pay him for raw logs. recommend the LT35HDG25 portable sawmill starting at $30,000. For a full time sawing business, we recommend an LT40HDG26 starting at $40,000.”

In 2005, Vohs wound down his 130 head, pure Charolais cattle herd and decided to sell some standing timber from his woodlot to a forest company to raise some money. That’s when it occurred to him that he could probably make more money producing his own wood products.

Vohs carefully harvests about 50 spruce and aspen trees annually measuring at least 16” at the butt and up to 30”. Typically, he falls the trees and transports them to his band sawmill, which is set up in an enclosure that also serves as shelter to protect his sawn lumber.

“Being here forty years, I realized that stuff falls apart,” says Vohs. “So you need to buy lumber to fix it or you can cut your own lumber to fix it. Being that I already had a tractor to pull logs out of the bush, I already had a Bobcat to put logs on my sawmill, and a chainsaw—all I was missing was the sawmill.”

Vohs has no regrets about his sawmilling venture, and while it isn’t a big money

maker, he says he has built up equity in the business because the sawmill itself still has good value, if some day he decides to sell it. The key to anyone interested in making a sawmill investment is to try it first, because there is a lot of physical labor involved.

In addition to being prepared for the physical work, Vohs concludes that access to inexpensive, good quality standing timber, a dry place to store wood products, and the ability to produce custom wood products at a fair price are all important factors to consider before taking the plunge. Dorian Lavallee agrees, saying that the key business issues for prospective, small-scale sawmillers to consider are log supply, or the ability to get logs affordably, and customers to buy the end product, whether that is cants, lumber, furniture or other wood products.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

47

For more information on how to fully assess your potential to establish a sawmilling business, contact Toso Bozic at toso.bozic@gov.ab.ca.

The Edge

SmartOperator Forestry: Helping forest operators reduce greenhouse gas emissions

I

n remote communities of British Columbia, FPInnovations has been hard at work with forest operators, rigorously testing harvesting machines and heavy construction equipment while they perform everyday work tasks in the field. The goal: to determine ideal technologies, business practices, and off-road machine operating practices in an effort to reduce fuel consumption and ultimately diminish greenhouse gas emissions by five to 10 per cent.

Starting out as part of a larger provincial initiative, FPInnovations has partnered with the forest industry and the B.C. government to develop SmartOperator Forestry—an educational offering where operators learn how to improve machine operation and selection. To get there, FPInnovations is first developing the science that supports the classroom lessons.

To date, the field trials have shown that excavators in economy mode versus power mode can save up to 20 per

cent in fuel consumption. Skidding logs downhill reduces the energy intensity of a log skidder by 47 per cent compared with uphill travel, while feller bunchers with sharp teeth decrease energy intensity by 13 per cent in contrast to those with dull teeth. These are only a few examples of how FPInnovations is quantifying the energy intensity of commonly used harvesting and road construction machines, and developing an accurate carbon footprint model for Canadian harvesting operations.

Cameron Rittich, Transport and Energy Researcher, explained that “identifying these values will also help companies understand that small operational modifications and staying on top of maintenance reduce their long-term costs, while also actively contributing to B.C.’s climate leadership goals.” It’s a win-win scenario, with a full complement of benefits: • improved operational efficiencies • increased equipment uptime • decreased fuel consumption

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

• reduced greenhouse gas emissions • enhanced air quality • improved performance of existing machines • increased knowledge when selecting new machines.

The team hopes to offer the SmartOperator Forestry approach—a framework consisting of a fleet benchmark study, operator education, and follow up—by the start of 2018.

Today, the focus is on B.C.’s forest sector, but FPInnovations envisions that the program will be extended across Canada to other sectors that use off-road machines such as mining, oil and gas exploration, heavy construction, and agriculture.

For more information, please contact Cameron Rittich, senior scientist of FPInnovations’ Transport and Energy group, cameron.rittich@fpinnovations. ca

The Edge

Concentrated woody biomass enhances district heating, carbon trading and bioenergy opportunities Sidders says that the establishment costs for a concentrated woody biomass plantation are higher than the other two patterns any Canadian forest companies recommended by CWFC because as many have already diversified into bioas 16,000 stems are planted per hectare mass power production to lower in one, two or three row beds. The beds their internal heat and energy costs while are spaced 1.8 to 2 metres apart. The cost making better use of their wood residuals. to establish and manage this plantation is Some have taken it further, and improved estimated at $8000 to $8500 per hectare. their balance sheets by becoming green Harvesting costs are estimated at between power and district heating providers. $20 to $25 per green tonne every Also, as some parts of Canada three years. and the world pivot away from the Vegetation management is the use of fossil fuels in power producsame as with other afforestation tion, some companies are now patterns, involving mechanical vegmajor wood pellet producers. etation control. Passive cultivation But the availability of affordable takes place for vegetation managewood residuals can restrain how ment within three to five weeks, much power, heat and wood pellets straddling the plantings with disks a company can generate. or cultivating shoes. Multiple entries The Canadian Wood Fibre Cenare made throughout the initial tre (CWFC) says that short rotation growing season to help the trees concentrated woody biomass afforestablish their root systems. With estation is an opportunity for forest the concentrated woody biomass companies to enhance their access pattern, intensive vegetation control to raw materials, thus providing an is only needed to establish the opportunity to participate more fully crop, as the site grows back quickly in the growth of the bioeconomy.

A three year stand of concentrated woody biomass enough so that only one treatment Derek Sidders, Program Manager featuring hybrid poplar is ready for harvest (above). is needed after each harvest. at CWFC, says that the sale of carbon Proven harvesting technologies credits can help to mitigate the cost of establishing and managing these crops as lar in a hedge-like pattern of about 14,000 have been developed specifically for concentrated woody biomass, resulting in to 16,000 stems per hectare. Through they are excellent carbon sinks. CWFC has either a chip or round bale end product. coppice management, these crops recalculated that these plantations sequester CWFC has supported the development of generate and are harvested every three between 14 and 28 carbon dioxide equivabaling technology and continues to work years. The goal is to protect and maximize lent tonnes per hectare on an annual basis. with developers to improve bale density production from the root system so that as “The concentrated biomass design is so that more material can be transported many as six crops can be harvested every specifically intended to produce woody per truckload. With more material transthree years from the same planting. biomass fuel for energy in the form of The concentrated biomass afforestation ported per truckload, there is the potensolids, liquids or gases,” says Sidders, with tial to economically gather concentrated pattern requires shorter and smaller land plantations economically located up to woody biomass from a greater distance. bases compared to other afforestation 100 kilometres away from where the bioFinally, by staggering the planting patterns because production is increased mass will be consumed. schedule and developing a crop rotation CWFC has developed a variety of prov- on the land base, with considerably strategy, Sidders says that companies can more stems planted per hectare. Crops en afforestation patterns that provide fordevelop scenarios where there is a continalso reach maturity every three years, est companies with strategies to mitigate uous flow of concentrated woody biomass compared to 12 to 20 years with the large the potential for fibre supply disruption to supply their end use needs. stem, high yield afforestation pattern. because of climate change while creating CWFC is able to recommend suitable new potential business opportunities. It willow and hybrid poplar species to maxihas developed and recommends three For more information about establishmize vigor and production for each climatproven afforestation systems. These are ing a short rotation concentrated woody ic zone in Canada, based on its research, large stem, high yield afforestation; large biomass plantation, contact Derek Siddemonstration sites, and development of a stem, mixed afforestation; and, small ders at Derek.sidders@canada.ca. site suitability classification system. stem, concentrated woody biomass

BY TONY KRYZANOWSKI

M

afforestation.

In this third of a three-part series about afforestation opportunities, CWFC focuses on short rotation, concentrated biomass, how to establish these plantations, anticipated growth trajectories, and opportunities for its commercial use.

Concentrated woody biomass afforestation involves high density planting of very fast growing shrub willow and hybrid pop-

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

49

The Edge

Pulp and paper fly ash shows strong potential as hydrogen sulfide scrubber

BY TONY KRYZANOWSKI

A

lberta’s kraft pulp producers currently produce about 60,000 tonnes of fly ash annually, a considerable portion of which is landfilled at rapidly increasing costs.

But research supported by Alberta Innovates (AI) shows that fly ash is effective for oxidizing deadly hydrogen sulfide from sour gas wells. These laboratory findings by Dr. Paolo Mussone, a chemical engineer who leads the Applied Bio/Nanotechnology Industrial Research Chair at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), could benefit both Alberta’s forest and petroleum industries significantly.

Many of Alberta’s natural gas wells produce “sour gas” that includes hydrogen sulfide, which must be removed before the gas can be sold commercially. Mussone is developing a technology that, when fully scaled, will help pulp mills reduce their landfilling costs while monetizing what is currently a byproduct.

His three-phase research project is supported by the Alberta Bio Future program led and managed by AI, and all the pulp mills belonging to the Alberta Forest Product Innovation Consortium.

The first phase characterized the properties of fly ash produced by Alberta mills from burning hog fuel, while the second has focused on evaluating use of fly ash as a catalyst to oxidize hydrogen sulfide and convert it into sulfur and water.

“Right now (in the second phase), the project is focused on conducting laboratory scale work with fly ash samples that we receive from the mills, and determining which ones may be most suitable for this type of application,” says Mussone.

It is possible to increase the concentration of oxides in the fly ash but “the manipulation of fly ash into an engineered product is not a trivial matter, because its mineral composition is typically relatively complex,” says Mussone.

The third phase, in collaboration with

Alberta Innovates, will gather all project data and by working with industry partners, determine the most economical path forward for extracting the fly ash and processing it to the point where it can be marketed as a catalyst for the gas processing industry.

Alberta Innovates has provided a grant of $128,060 to support this research.

Steve Price, AI’s executive director for bioindustrial innovation, says Alberta Innovates is working with industry and academics through the Alberta Bio Future program to explore new opportunities for product diversification and for emissions reduction. “This project with Dr. Mussone exemplifies what can happen when research partnerships are formed,” Price said.

One option for pulp producers would be to take their savings from diverting fly ash from the landfill and build postprocessing units at the mills to produce a high-value, commercial product for use by natural gas producers to scrub hydrogen sulfide.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

Pulp mill fly ash as observed using a scanning electron microscope with a typical resolution of approximately 100 microns (inset photo), which is the thickness of human hair.

Another approach is to increase the porosity of the fly ash, allowing the molecules needed to react with the hydrogen sulfide to travel deeper into solid substrates to achieve better overall reactive performance.

Mussone notes the most desirable option for pulp producers would be to market the fly ash with the least amount of processing because this would require the lowest level of investment.

“We will have a clearer picture of where the optimum lies in terms of trade off between catalytic efficiency and degree of raw fly ash manipulation. The collaboration with our industry partners and their technological insight will be critical towards identifying the best option,” Mussone says.

Mussone suggests there could be other promising uses for fly ash, such as soil amendments and stabilizers, and concrete additives.

For more information about this project, contact Dr. Paolo Mussone at pmussone@nait.ca or Alberta Innovates Communications Specialist Julia Necheff at julia.necheff@albertainnovates.ca.

SUPPLIERNEWSLINE The BID Group acquires Spokane-based MoCo

The BID Group has acquired MoCo Engineering and Fabrication Inc, located in Spokane, Washington. MoCo is a leading manufacturer of sawmilling equipment, specializing in stickering lumber stackers and stick recovery systems.

The BID Group says that the combination of MoCo’s industry leading reputation and a joint dedication to customer service continues BID’s plan of worldwide growth and expansion.

Formed 22 years ago by co-owners Chuck Moles and Erik Humble, MoCo will continue to operate from its existing facility in the Spokane Valley.

“Erik and I are excited for the MoCo team to be joining The BID Group. We believe this is a very good fit for MoCo and our employees. Like ourselves, Brian Fehr and Alistair Cook worked in the mills for years to grow to where we are today,” says Chuck Moles, co-owner of MoCo. “The acquisition of MoCo allows us to expand our worldwide product offerings and further enhance the turnkey solutions we provide for customers in North America,” says BID CEO, Alistair Cook. BID’s founder and Chairman is Brian Fehr.

Based in Prince George, B.C. and with facilities throughout North America, The BID Group is a privately owned company with over 30 years of experience in providing equipment, construction, and turnkey solutions to the forest products industry. www.bidgroup.ca

Tigercat makes changes to 822D series carriers

Tigercat has swapped the Tigercat FPT C87 engine for the N67 engine to more closely match the duty cycle of this series of harvesters and feller bunchers.

Models with the N67 engine will include the 822D, L822D, H822D and LH822D. The machines will be available with Tier 2 or Tier 4f engine configurations for sale worldwide. Tigercat will continue to produce the LX830D with the C87 engine and closed loop track drives

for the North American market.

The 822D platform has a higher capacity cooling system and a new engine enclosure profile that improves right hand side visibility. A new cab structure with narrower front posts and larger side windows further enhances visibility with improved sight lines. The skylight has been replaced by the SKYVIEW camera system providing the operator with a much wider field of view. The 822D is now standard equipped with LED lighting for improved productivity in night shift operations. www.tigercat.com

Peterson introduces new 6310B drum chipper

The all-new Peterson 6310B drum chipper, offered by Peterson Pacific Corp, is said to be suited for high volume biomass producers who have a wide variety of feed material, from logs up to 36 in diameter, to brush and small feedstock.

The 6310B drum chipper is powered by a 1050 hp C27 Caterpillar engine, and has an optional Tier IV engine available.

At 86,000 lbs, the track mounted 6310B was designed for operations requiring high production and frequent moves between jobs.

The 6310B drum chipper has two drum configurations, an 8-pocket drum to make standard biomass chips or a 16-pocket drum to make microchips.

An optional grate system has been redesigned to allow for adjustment from a microchip to a 1¼” chip with the same grates. Traditional Babbitt-type knife systems are standard equipment, or an optional Key Knife system is available.

Peterson’s chip accelerator system adds load density or throws chips well away from the machine for land clearing operations.

The chipper uses a 50' diameter by 60' wide drum. Other key features include a sloped feed deck for feeding ease and wear resistant AR400 wear surfaces on the drum pockets and shell. The feed chain has been upgraded to WDH120 for improved strength and long life. www.petersoncorp.com Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

By Tony Kryzanowski First Canadian biomass torrefaction plant begins commercial production

Airex Energy has now started production at its biomass torrefaction plant, located in the La Prade industrial park, in Bécancour, Quebec.

The industrial size demonstration plant, which required around $10 million in public and private investments for its design, construction, and start-up, showcases the latest biomass torrefaction technology, called CarbonFX. This unique, revolutionary technology, designed by Airex Energy, significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions for many industries still using coal or coal byproducts.

Airex Energy’s torrefaction process transforms biomass residues into biocoal pellets, a clean and renewable fuel that can replace coal and oil. Biocoal’s unique properties allow it to easily disintegrate, so it can be ground up and combined with bituminous coal in thermal power stations producing electricity, without major changes to existing systems for handling, storing, and grinding coal. www.airex-energy.com

John Deere introduces narrower stick booms for M-Series tracked harvesters

To help loggers maximize timber quality, John Deere has upgraded its harvester stick boom attachment across all 800MH and 900MH-Series tracked harvesters.

The new stick boom geometry delivers the same high level of boom envelope performance, but with a narrower design to help operators minimize damage to harvested trees.

The new boom stick is 4.8” narrower at the attachment end than the existing booms, reducing contact with the harvested tree. This narrower boom uses the standard Waratah-supplied dogbone adapter for traditional external hose routing. A new, narrower cradle, supplied by Waratah, will continue to offer customers with an optional through-the-nose plumbing solution. www.johndeere.com

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classified LSJ’s Anthony Robinson receives CIF Award Logging and Sawmill Journal (LSJ) is pleased to announce that Anthony Robinson, LSJ’s Associate Publisher, was awarded the prestigious James Kitz Award by the Canadian Institute of Forestry (CIF), at a ceremony in Ottawa in September.

“I’m truly honoured to receive the James Kitz Award,” said Anthony. “I’m even more honoured that it was presented by members of Jim Kitz’s family.” Anthony was presented the awarded by Jim Kitz’s wife and two daughters (pictured right).

“I take great pride in being involved in Canadian forestry, as I’m sure Jim Kitz did, and join the other foresters involved with the CIF awards in seeing a bright future for Canada’s forest industry—for

the people who have been involved in the industry for many years, and those like myself who are at the start of their careers.”

The award is named after Jim Kitz, who was a member of the Institute and the Alberta Registered Professional Foresters Association. Jim made several outstanding contributions to forestry early in his career, but suffered a sudden and untimely death at age 36. This award recognizes the contributions made by Jim, both professionally and personally and is awarded to those who exemplify Jim’s approach to all aspects of life while making an outstanding contribution to forestry early in their career.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

53

thelastword

Forest industry must lead on developing national carbon credit trading system

By Tony Kryzanowski

I

t’s time to get serious about tree farming and carbon credit trading in Canada— and the Canadian forest industry has a vested interest to make it happen. It needs more trees, more resilient forests in this era of climate change, and cheaper ways to grow and manage its fibre supply.

I recently completed an extensive and detailed series of articles about the current state of tree farming on private land in Canada. By the end of my research, I was shocked by just how close we are in this country to igniting a massive new industry whose benefits include a vastly increased wood fibre supply for industry, huge carbon sinks to address climate change, significant new income potential for landowners and farmers, and production of a carbon neutral, substitute fuel for power producers currently using fossil fuels.

So why isn’t it happening? Three words: carbon credit trading—and the mystery surrounding it. This is, without a doubt, the biggest stumbling block to why we do not have a large tree farming industry in Canada because tree farming doesn’t work economically unless landowners and/or industry can mitigate the cost of establishing tree farms by selling carbon credits.

So this is why the forest industry has to make this a priority and take the lead on this file.

Some provinces have carbon credit trading programs, but they are a mishmash of schemes, jargon, pitfalls and red tape that would cross a rocket scientist’s eyes. This has to stop. Industry needs to invest its time and money to present a program and encourage the federal government to establish a national carbon credit trading system that anyone and everyone can access simply and for profit.

The federal government took the national standard approach with a carbon tax. It should take the same approach with carbon credit trading.

If provinces want to continue with their own carbon credit trading programs that are better than or enhance the federal program, that’s fine. But there should be one, base system across Canada.

The concept of developing a tree farming industry in Canada is going nowhere until a national, simple, attractive method of claiming carbon credits to grow trees is developed, to encourage industry, farmers and landowners to participate.

As mentioned earlier, we are so close to changing the very complexion of this country and taking a serious run at meeting our greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, while massively increasing our wood resource and modeling for the rest of the world. I am strongly convinced that what is currently happening in the United States, such as the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change Accord, is simply a blip. The issue of climate change is not going away any time soon.

In the meantime, the world, and particularly countries like China, are making massive investments in projects aimed at curtailing GHGs. Trees are and can be a big contributor to leveling off and lowering the planet’s temperature.

There are no technical barriers to launching a national tree farming and carbon credit trading system in Canada.

All the heavy technical lifting has already been done. In the Edge section of this Logging and Sawmilling Journal issue, the third in a series of three articles is presented by the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre (CWFC) on the benefits of afforestation. Afforestation is science jargon for tree farming. It means planting trees on

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - October 2017

non-forested land like farms.

CWFC offers three scientifically and technically proven tree farming methods called high yield afforestation, mixed afforestation, and concentrated biomass afforestation. High yield afforestation (tree farming) involves fast-growing, cloned or hybridized, but not genetically modified, poplar, aspen and poplar/aspen cross species in what looks like an orchard. These trees mature in 15 to 20 years vs. 60 to 90 years in a natural forest. Mixed afforestation—and this is very exciting for the forest industry as a whole—involves these same hardwood species, but with tolerant softwood species like white spruce or white pine planted in the understorey.

This pattern yields two potential cash crops on different growth trajectories and closely mimics the natural forest. Concentrated biomass tree farming involves high density planting of willow or hybrid poplar species in a hedge-like pattern primarily for use in bioenergy production.

These crops can be harvested every three to four years, and up to six times before a new crop needs to be planted.

Not only does Canada have the blueprint for commercial tree farming on a massive scale, it also has some of the brightest technical minds in CWFC’s Derek Sidders, Tim Keddy, and their team members to mentor anyone interested in launching a tree farming venture.

So let’s engage organizations like FPInnovations and the Forest Products Association of Canada to investigate current carbon credit trading practices and pitfalls in each province, with the goal of developing and recommending a simplified, alternative, national, carbon credit trading system.

CONFIDENCE BY DESIGN. “We typically harvest wood in the two to three tonne piece size and we are doing 500 to 600 tonnes per day.

Once we looked into the idea of going purpose-built, it was a no brainer. It performs so much better, the reliability is there, ease of maintenance and the longevity. The 880D is built for the task and it has been a major benefit to the operation.”

Colin Wroe Whisker Harvesting 880D logger Roadside processing