TimberWest - November/December 2015

THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE Bighorn Logging, Banks, OR

EMERALD VALLEY KEEPS ON KEEPING ON Emerald Valley Thinning, Philomath, OR

SPECIAL INSERT: 2016 INDUSTRY CALENDAR

THE VALUE OF ALDER Definance Forest Products, Tacoma, WA

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ON THE COVER Photo of Bighorn Logging’s yarder taken by Lindsay Mohlere.

November/December 2015 Vol. 40 No. 11-12

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Emerald Valley Keeps on Keeping on

Emerald Valley Keeps on Keeping on Resolve and flexibility are the hallmark of Emerald Valley Thinning

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The Challenges of Change Harve Dethlefs retired from electronics and began a career in logging

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Don’t Overlook the Value of Alder Defiance Forest Products discusses the marketability of Alder

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A Lifetime in the Woods Gardner Logging & Road Construction

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Biomass Column Colorado Woody Biomass Plant Plays Waiting Game

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The Challenges of Change

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Pacific Logging Congress Review

Don’t Overlook the Value of Alder

DEPARTMENTS

Page 4 .............................................................In the News Page 30 ............................................................Tech Review Page 36 ................................................. Association News Page 36 ............................................... Calendar of Events Page 37 ..................................................... Machinery Row Page 40 ........................................................ New Products Page 41 .................................................Advertiser’s Index Page 41 ................................................. Classified Section Page 41 ............................Subscription/Reader Service Page 42 ........................................................Guest Column

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A Lifetime in the Woods

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U.S. Government and Companies Reiterate Commitment to Forest and Climate Programs

On December 1, at COP21 in Paris, France, leading companies announced that they intend to prioritize their sourcing of commodities in regions implementing largescale forest and climate programs. The U.S. welcomed this innovative new approach from Marks & Spencer and Unilever, and the expectation that other companies will join in this approach. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell attended the announcement in Paris and noted the importance of this publicprivate approach.

This move to source from jurisdictions combatting deforestation will bring together the power of global agricultural supply chains with strong government commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the announcement, areas with existing initiatives that meet certain criteria will be the first priority for supply chain sourcing, so long as quality and volume mandates can be fulfilled. The criteria include: a strategy to reduce emissions from forests and other lands; a system to measure and monitor net reductions in emissions; performance below an ambitious and decreasing emissions baseline; monitoring of social and environmental safeguards; stakeholder engagement; high-level political support; and a national U.N. Climate Change Convention contribution (INDC) that includes forests and land use.

Globally, the United States promotes climate action in forests and other landscapes as one of three pillars of the Global Climate Change Initiative. Since 2010, the United States has dedicated more than $1.5 billion to Sustainable Landscapes programming.

For more information about these announcements, please visit http://standwithforests.org/#OfficialStatem entsandPressRelease.

Salvage logging at Colville

The Seattle Times reported that there is a massage salvage logging taking place in Coleville after the wildfires. Six days a week, more than 20 logging contractors are cutting burned woods, hauling what could amount to more than 20,000 semi truckloads of timber to market before it’s over, enough to build 4,200 homes.

Wood Waste Looking for a Home

Tons of urban wood waste collected in Portland, Oregon, may head for landfills following the suspension of production at a major paper mill in Newberg, Oregon.

The Portland Business Journal reported 4

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that the mill received more than a hundred thousand tons of Portland’s salvage timber in 2014.

SP Fiber Technologies, which is updating the production line in Newberg, is owned by WestRock Company, formed this summer from the merger of Rock-Tenn and MeadWestvaco.

Kilmer Hosts Timber Talk

The Peninsula Daily news reported that U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer recently hosted “the first of five public meetings featuring the Olympic Peninsula Forest Collaborative, a new panel of industry leaders and conservation groups working to increase timber harvests while helping the environment in Olympic National Forest.”

Kilmer said the conflict “. . . has been a pretty good method for employing attorneys, but it hasn’t really done much for the health of our local economies, and it hasn’t done much for the health of our forests, for that matter.”

Four more public meetings with the collaborative will be held next year in Mason, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, and Clallam counties.

Klamath County Commissioners Oppose Wilderness Proposal

It was unanimous—Klamath County commissioners said the fire danger was too high to allow 500,000 acres around Crater Lake National Park to become designated wilderness.

The Commissioners voted to sign a resolution opposing Oregon Wild’s bid to classify a corridor from Brown Mountain to Crescent Lake as the Crater Lake Wilderness.

Could Paper Power Your Phone?

Could paper one day be powering your phone? The answer is yes. DailyMail.com reported that “a humble sheet of paper has been transformed into a battery so efficient, it can store as much electrical energy as the best supercapacitors on the market.”

Dubbed ‘power paper’, the material is made of nanocellulose—cellulose fibers similar to those used in paper—that have been broken down by high-pressure water to produce fibers just 20 nanometers thick.

These nanofibers were coated with an electrically charged polystyrene plastic in a water solution. For more information, visit www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/ need-new-battery-your-phone-6975866.

TimberWest November/December 2015 www.forestnet.com

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Editor: Diane Mettler, diane@forestnet.com Copy Editor: Beth Szyperski Contributing Editors: Barbara Coyner, Leslie Danielson, Lindsay R. Mohlere, Andrea Watts ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Sales Mgr: James Booth – jbooth@forestnet.com Director: Rob Stanhope – stanhope@forestnet.com Sales Contact Information: Toll Free: 1-866-405-6462 Phone: (604) 990-9970 • Fax: (604) 990-9971 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Publisher & Production Manager: Sheila Ringdahl – sringdahl@forestnet.com Office Manager: Betty Rosales – brosales@forestnet.com Corporate Office Information: Phone: (425) 778-3388 Fax: (425) 771-3623 timberwest@forestnet.com www.forestnet.com Send all materials - Insertion Orders, Contracts, Copy, Photos, Disks to: TImberWest Publications, LLC P.O. Box 610 (300 Admiral Way, Suite 105) Edmonds, WA 98020-0610 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Send both OLD and NEW Circulation information to: TimberWest Magazine Attn: George Aldridge P.O. Box 610, Edmonds, WA 98020 Fax: (425) 771-3623 • subscribetw@forestnet.com ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Advertising created by TimberWest Publications, LLC is the sole property of TimberWest Publications, LLC and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of the publisher.

PUBLISHER’S EDITORIAL STATEMENT: TimberWest reports on the logging and lumber segment of the forest industry in the Western United States with emphasis on the states of AK, WA, OR, ID, MT and CA, providing current information on timber harvesting techniques, sawmill operations, news, legislation, events, people and products pertinent to this market.

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ContractorProfile

Emerald Valley Keeps on Keeping on Lindsay R. Mohlere

C

elebrating twenty years

in business means a lot to Tracy Smouse, owner of Emerald Valley Thinning Inc. of Philomath, Oregon.

“It’s been a tough go, but we survived.

We’re still here.”

Handling the Punches

Having the resolve and flexibility to keep on through the tough times is a hallmark of Emerald Valley. “This is actually my second go’round. We did this back in the ‘70s, but when the market took a dive, we just got out,” Smouse says. In the mid-1990s, when new opportunities became available, Smouse, along with business partner Jerry Sedlack, jumped back in and founded Emerald Valley.

“Jerry and I had like-minded goals,” Smouse said.

Unfortunately, with new opportunity came tragedy. In 2003, Jerry Sedlack lost his life in an accident when he got out in front of a cutter and a tree fell on him. “Jerry and I had a good relationship,” Smouse says. “We really enjoyed each other’s company. But

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after the accident, it was just my wife Laurie and I. We had to buck up and continue on.”

At that point, the company took a sharp turn and moved out of the thinning business. “Jerry was the forest engineer. He did all the layout work, legwork, the cruising, and stuff on the sales we were working. After he passed, I needed to get away from that aspect of the business. The crew did too. So we got away from thinning and went back to concentrating on the final harvest work.”

Retooling

Over the years, Emerald Valley has prospered running clear-cut operations. In 2013, Emerald Valley applied its flexibility by opting to get back into the thinning business and re-tooled to take advantage of new methods and opportunities. Travis Smouse, Tracy’s son, manages the thinning operation, dealing with the customers, negotiating contracts, and running the sides.

“We have some longevity there. Thinning is going to be around now that the state and the Feds realize it’s a way to sell timber without drawing too much attention from people who don’t like clear cuts.”

TimberWest November/December 2015 www.forestnet.com

Additionally, fuel reduction practices are gaining ground. “They’re starting to see the light,” Smouse says. “They have to do something about it because it’s not going to get better on its own.”

Three Sides

Today, the company is going full steam operating a thinning side, cable logging side, and a yoder side, punching out over 20 million board feet a year. Currently, the

cable side is logging for Plum Creek Timber Company and will soon move to Georgia Pacific tracts. The cable thinning side is working for InterFor on state land. The yoder side is also working InterFor contracts.

Emerald Valley contracts out its cutting through Jay Mullberry Contract Cutting, and the bulk of the company’s hauling is handled

by Henry Trucking of Toledo, Oregon.

The Right Iron for the Task at Hand As far as Tracy is concerned, Link-Belt is the right iron for the task at hand.

“They’re one of the better machines out there,” Smouse says. “They have a great support group and the dealer is local, Triad Machinery in Coburn. Parts are readily available, and the service technicians know their stuff. Management and staff really go above and beyond to fix you and get you back on the road.

“One year we had a machine that burned up a wiring harness, and parts were a couple weeks out. The dealer had a used machine in the yard and offered to let us use it until we got ours back in service. Pretty commendable for a dealer to do that,” Smouse says.

“When we buy new, we buy Link-Belt.”

Hook Tender Kenny McKinney

Field Test

Emerald Valley has also field-tested new equipment from Link-Belt. The most recent test involved the new Link Belt 4040.

“It was the second field test we’ve done,” says Smouse. “This time the factory brought out four engineers from Japan. They soldered connections to the main boom and wired it to record stress and flex. We shovel logged all day with the machine, and the next day (continued on page 8)

Emerald Valley got into thinning in 2013. They now have a thinning side, cable side and yoder side. Pictured is a Link-Belt 290 with a Log Max 10000 and Thunderbird Tower.

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ContractorProfile they attached the wires to the stick boom and worked it all day again. I think they’re a little amazed at what the loggers do with these machines once they get them on the ground.”

Lots of Iron

Emerald Valley’s cable thinning operation employs a 1980 Washington 78 yarder alongside a 2014 Link-Belt 240 with a Log Max 7000 processor. An older Komatsu 220 handles shovel and log loading duties. “The Komatsu is in the mix because we picked it up at the right price,” Smouse adds.

On the cable side, Emerald Valley uses a 1985 Thunderbird TMY 50 yarder paired with a couple 290s. The 2012 Link-Belt 290 is the processor utilizing a Log Max 10000.

The log loader is a 2013 Link-Belt 290.

The yoder side tackles its duties with a 2011 Link-Belt 290 double-drum yoder matched with a 2010 Link-Belt 240 processor and loader.

The company also keeps production running smoothly with a Caterpillar 517, a John Deere Grapple Skidder, a 550 John Deere, a TD20 Dozer, and a D8 Dozer.

“We use the D8 as a support vehicle in our tower operation,” Smouse says. “Anymore, with these tree farms, sky lines and anchors are getting to be a real big issue. We’re always backed up against the re-prod and the stumps are rotted out. There’s nothing out there, so we anchor the skyline with a dozer.”

The Challenges of Everyday Business

Like all logging companies, Emerald Valley has experienced the everyday battle of trying to find a happy medium between the cost of doing business and the topsy-turvy market fluctuations and downturns.

When the economy tanked in 2008, Emerald Valley tightened the belt and weathered through it.

Tracy Smouse and son Travis in front of the 240 Link-Belt.

“It was ugly, wasn’t it?” Smouse says with a chuckle. “Yeah, you end up doing things you don’t want to do. But we made it through. Kept the crew, kept the equipment.

We weren’t the only ones. Everybody suffered through that. The mills did. We did.

You just have to do what you gotta do.”

However, the biggest challenge in keeping the company running at maximum production is people. “Keeping a good crew,” Smouse says is the secret to success but remains his company’s biggest hurdle.

“Finding the right people is a huge challenge. We work as steady as anybody, and we pay a good wage, but the work force is non-existent.”

Emerald Valley has tried a number of ways to recruit new employees, including the State Employment office and, on occasion, Craigslist.

The company is also involved with the local high school’s forestry program. “The

local high school has a pretty good forestry program, and we’ve been able to pick up a few good employees through it.”

Smouse said they’ve even started a few people out green. “We don’t start them out in the machines,” Smouse adds, “We start them in the chokers and if they show me they’re motivated and that they’ll show up five days a week, think straight, and be a team player, we keep them on.”

Currently, Emerald Valley employs twenty crewmembers including two support staff and a mechanic. The company offers a family wage, pays half the premium for health insurance, and offers a 401K program, contributing up to four percent after one year of employment.

It’s been 20 years of ups and downs, but Emerald Valley Thinning is looking forward to the next 20 years.

TW

Emerald Valley uses a variety of machines.

Above is a Log Max 10000, which is coupled with a Link-Belt 290. On the left is a Komatsu PC220LL with a Pierce stick and boom.

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ContractorProfile

The Challenges of Change

Bighorn Logging Banks, Oregon

By Lindsay R. Mohlere

A

fter nearly 35 years in the logging business, Harve Dethlefs has grown accustomed to the challenges of change that began on the first day he fired up a chainsaw as his own

boss.

Dethlefs started out logging following his retirement after 20 years as a warehouse manager for Oregon electronics giant Tektronix Inc. Dethlefs followed his heritage and headed to the woods. “I grew up in a logging family,” he said. “My dad felled timber, drove log trucks, ran a CAT—did a little bit of everything. Most of my other family worked in the wood products or logging industries, going back to my grandfather.”

At that point, Dethlefs began cutting timber. It was his first step into entrepreneurship and a major change of direction. “When I left Tek, I had an idea I wanted to run my own outfit,” Dethlefs said. Soon afterward, he teamed up with another cutter and formed a contract cutting business. “When we started, I had a couple of guys working for me and so did my partner. We did contract cutting work around the Willamette Valley. We grew to 41 cutters in a little over two years, working in the woods from the Santiam Canyon to the Columbia River.”

A few years later, in 1981, Dethlefs changed yet again when he got out of the cutting business and split with his partner.

That transition was the first big step toward what would become Bighorn Logging Corp.

“We were just a small logging contractor. I had three or four guys working for me. We were doing high lead thinning for Longview Fibre until they started us clear cutting.”

With the advent of the Longview Fibre contract, Bighorn began to grow. To handle the work, the company added employees and purchased a bigger yarder and other equipment. In the late 1980s, the company also started working for RSG Forest Products, which presented more challenges and, yet again, changed the dynamic of the company.

More people. More machines.

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ContractorProfile

Harve Dethlefs, founder and CEO of Bighorn Logging Corp., surveys a yarder side working on Stimson Lumber Company land in northwest Oregon. Far right: A pair of John Deere forest machines easily handle the log loading and processing duties while a Thunderbird TTY 70 keeps the turns coming at top production.

Company Grows Quickly

In the mid 90s, Bighorn expanded further and took on Weyerhaeuser contracts in Washington State. That relationship lasted about six years until Dethlefs grew tired of driving to Washington to check on crews, and the company landed logging contracts with Willamette Industries. When Weyerhaeuser took over Willamette, Bighorn went back to work for the forest products giant; however, the association lasted only a few years.

Bighorn stepped up and began logging for Stimson Lumber Company, one of the oldest continuously operating integrated wood products companies in the U.S. By 2001, Bighorn had grown into a sizable logging operation. That year alone, the company logged 53 MMBF, running four or five sides and employing nearly 50 people.

Today, the company employs 70 people, operates seven sides, builds roads, custom cuts, and runs a fleet of eight trucks for contracts with Stimson, Boise Cascade, Columbia Vista, Cascade Hardwoods, and StellaJones, in addition to several private projects.

Expected harvest in 2015 is 52 MMBF. Dethlefs, an avid hunter and fisherman, arrives in the office every morning at 8:00 a.m., but the daily operations are left up to Executive Vice President Mark Standley Jr. and Timber Manager Mike Luttrell. Denise Dethlefs is Bighorn Logging’s Secretary/Treasurer.

It was quite a change from one man armed with a chain saw. “The company’s growth wasn’t by accident,” Dethlefs says. “I had a plan, but it grew a lot faster than I expected.”

Machines on the Leading Edge

The demands of running four yarder and two to four ground-based sides require a solid commitment to field the best equipment available to meet company production goals. While the company’s equipment list consists of several different brands, Dethlefs has his preferences.

All of Bighorn’s yarders are Thunderbirds.

The lineup features a TTY-90 tower, a TTY-70 tower, a 255 swing yarder, and a 6250 swing yarder. The yarders are all older machines, but with the right maintenance they’ve held up.

“The Thunderbirds have been very reliable.

They’re good machines and don’t need much repair. I bought the 70 tower in 1996 for five hundred fifty thousand. Now a new yarder will cost a million four. Makes sense to keep repairing the old ones,” Dethlefs says.

The tower yarders are paired with Boman Mark V and Mark VI motorized carriages, and the swing yarders employ Acme carriages.

Most of the company’s nine log loaders and four dedicated processors are newer John Deeres with a couple of CAT 568s and a couple older Hitachis thrown into the mix.

“We run John Deeres because we feel they are quality machines, and we get great dealer support,” Dethlefs says. Waratah 622, 623,

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ContractorProfile and four 624 dangle heads are the preferred processors, with one 625 mounted on a John Deere 3754.

In addition to eight hand cutters, Bighorn Logging fields a Tigercat 830 feller buncher equipped with a Quadco intermittent saw and two new 2015 Tigercat LS855 leveling shovels equipped with 5195 grapple bar saws for directional felling and bunching, which were purchased from Triad.

Filling out the Bighorn equipment stable is an assortment of John Deere machines from Papé Machinery and CAT equipment (from Peterson Cat), including a CAT 325 excavator/roadbuilder.

“Machines have come a long way in the last ten to fifteen years,” says Dethlefs.

“We’re always trying to stay on the leading edge of the technology that allows us to see better production. It requires us to do a lot of trading for newer equipment. We probably have as good array of new equipment as any outfit in northwest Oregon.”

A Solid Philosophy of People

Dethlefs credits his management experience at Tektronix interfacing with his employees as a good foundation for dealing with the challenges of running a logging operation.

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“Turnover really hurts a company,” Dethlefs says. “Training an employee is not a week or two process. It takes years to be able to work in this industry and be safe enough to survive without getting all beat up. You’ve got to treat employees right so they stay with you.”

While offering top wages, major medical and dental insurance, an optional 401K program, and bonuses, Bighorn tries to provide the best benefits it can and stay competitive in the industry.

Another aspect of keeping a good crew is providing a safe working environment in an inherently dangerous business. To that end, the company has a proactive approach to safety, which is immediately evident in its use of Waratah dangle head processors instead of stroke delimbers.

“We used delimbers in the past, but we had a situation where one of our operators swung the boom around and crashed it into the cab of a yarder with the engineer sitting in it. Luckily, he saw it coming and dove to the floor. He didn’t get hurt, but ever since, we’ve used dangle heads. There’s not enough room on the landings for a 50-foot boom. It’s safer with the Waratahs,” Dethlefs explains.

In addition, Bighorn truck drivers meet every three months to review safety practices

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TimberWest November/December 2015 www.forestnet.com

The company works hard to keep employee turnover low. and current changes to rules and regulations.

Company-wide safety meetings are held a couple of times a year to keep everyone up to date.

Dethlefs believes the real secret to success still boils down to having the right people on the job. “Employees are what really make a company,” he says. “It’s not the machines.

It’s not the management. It’s the people. You can buy equipment. You can buy the vehicles.

You can buy all that other stuff, but you can’t buy people.”

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Learn more about our Rapid Cycle System at JohnDeere.com/GameChangers.

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WoodProducts

For 24 years, Tacoma based Defiance Forest Products manufactured Douglas fir and western hemlock for use in doors, windows, and veneer. In September 2014, brothers Travis and Terry decided to expand, on a trial basis, into exporting alder for veneer. Pictured is a Doosan DX300LL. (Below) Harold Raines assisted, since his company Rainestree Log Yard exported alder to the East Coast mills since 2005.

Don’t Overlook the Value of Alder Defiance Forest Products discusses the marketability of Alder

By Andrea Watts

W

ith market prices that rival—and in some cases eclipse— Douglas fir, red alder cannot be overlooked when you’re assessing the value of a logging job.

Even if you’re not sure what veneer-quality alder looks like or if you find a stand doesn’t contain the volume of alder needed to fill a truckload, Defiance Forest Products is there to help you every step of the way: from cruising to sorting.

Alder in Demand

Travis Tebb, co-owner of Defiance Forest Products, says the best alder is found out here in Washington, Oregon, and 16

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WoodProducts British Columbia. Yet it’s not in the Pacific Northwest where alder is in demand. Instead it’s mills back East—in Kentucky, Virginia, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan—and even in China, which turn to his company as their alder source for use in veneer. The reason for alder’s demand is it “can be stained any way you want…and can be manipulated to look like any wood,” Tebb explains.

For the past 24 years, Tacoma-based Defiance Forest Products manufactured Douglas fir and western hemlock for use in doors, windows, and veneer. In September 2014, brothers Travis and Terry decided to expand, on a trial basis, into exporting alder for veneer. Harold Raines had already proven it was a viable business operation; since 2005 his company Rainestree Log Yard exported alder to the East Coast mills.

Sourcing Alder

Raines entered the market quite by accident. His 20 years of experience with the Grays Harbor Scaling Bureau, followed by working as a consulting logger, hadn’t prepared him when a Canadian client asked where he could source alder for veneer. “I had no experience [with alder], but I knew who to talk to,” Raines says.

After nearly 10 years of running a log yard based out of Shelton, Raines was ready to retire, yet buyers weren’t willing to buy the log yard without his experience. Tebb wanted that experience too but he also knew

Defiance Forest Products are sourced from over 500 clients. of Raines’ desire to spend his afternoons on the tees. The men reached the compromise of Raines coming on as a part-time consultant, and the partnership has proven fruitful.

There are a lot of moving parts to this business, and Harold has developed the network to make it work, Tebb says.

Their alder is sourced from a network of 500 clients, primarily small private landowners located throughout most of Western Washington, spanning Grays Harbor, Lewis, Pierce, Kitsap, and Mason Counties, even down to Woodland. They have an openmarket policy, Raines says, which means

If you recognize this…

they never know day-to-day, week-to-week what’s going to come in.

Marketable Alder

April through October is the peak time for logging alder, and Tebb says that Defiance Forest Products sells three to five truckloads per week. Depending upon the client’s order, these loads may contain four grades of alder: grade A, which has no knots, to Rustic, whichin spite of its imperfections, is a soughtafter wood for high-end uses such as finishing. Sales are constant throughout the year.

The alder that is marketable for veneer is

you need one of these.

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www.forestnet.com November/December 2015 TimberWest

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WoodProducts generally 50-60 years old and has at least a 15” DBH. If clients want an assessment of the market value of their alder, Raines encourages them to call, and he’ll come out to conduct a free assessment of the stand.

“Once I show someone [what to look for], generally they can do it on their own next time,” he says. Customers appreciate that Tebb will buy all grades and accept mixed-species loads. One caveat for the alder is they only take fresh-cut timber to minimize the splitting that occurs.

When it comes to running their business, both Raines and Tebb say that maintaining trust and honesty with their customers and clients is critical. One practice that Raines advocated for continuing when he joined Defiance Forest Products was paying customers not only good money but also on time. “Honestly, we try to do the best we can for them and us,” Raines says.

At the Yard

Once the alder arrives at their yard in Tumwater, Raines sorts the logs into the grades requested by their clients. Though some clients will make the trip to the log yard and judge the sort themselves, Tebb says that many of their clients trust Raines to sort the alder for them.

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The best alder for veneer is between 50 and 60 years old and at least 15 inches in diameter.

From there, shovel operator Duane Bell, who has worked with Raines since 1997, sorts the logs into piles. Ray Willis, who has been with Raines since 2005, prepares the logs for shipping. To prevent the logs from splitting and staining during transit, Willis waxes and sprays each log. In logs that have visible cracks, he inserts plastic clips in the cracks to prevent further splitting.

TimberWest November/December 2015 www.forestnet.com

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Alder Making Its Mark

With their alder being sourced from both “mom and pop” and large landowners, Tebb says they are bringing in the volume, which really puts Defiance Forest Products in a niche. Raines adds proudly, “I believe that now Defiance may be the largest exporter of alder veneer on the West Coast.”

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OLC a additi dds inside onal space exhibit Audito in the rium

2016 OLC Board

Meet the Board

T

he

OLC Board chose Reaching New Heights with Forest Products as the theme for the 2016 Conference. The theme is important to the industry because it connects the guy on the harvester to the end user.

To reinforce the theme, one of the hot

topics will be cross laminated timber. At one of the Friday afternoon seminars, Valerie Johnson, president of D.R. Johnson Lumber Company—a 50-person lumber mill and glued laminated timber business in the southern Oregon town of Riddle—will participate in the business seminar Cross Laminated Wood and Tall Structures. Also on hand will be Dr. Lech Muszyński, an assistant professor in the Department of

Wood Science and Engineering at Oregon State University. He teaches mechanics of wood and wood composites and wood composites manufacturing.

The board is excited to see the 2016 OLC expand from 2015. Conference Director Rikki Wellman says, “The Auditorium, which has 13,000 square feet of additional (continued on page 22)

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(continued from page 21) inside exhibit space, has been added to the OLC fleet of buildings. New exhibitor Valley Freightliner has reserved a third of this building and plans are in process to have a very nice truck display, other company exhibiting in this building is Brutus Truck Bodies. Some of you may remember this building in the past years as where “Beall

Transport” had a large exhibit. The total inside exhibit space for the 2016 show will be 75,000+ square feet.”

In addition, the OLC board has continued to work hard to create an event that supports our professional and diverse industry, by providing education, networking opportunities, and state-of-the-art technology displays, as well as ongoing support in the

form of grants and scholarships through the Oregon Logging Conference Foundation program.

The OLC Board of Directors encourages you to register for the Oregon Logging Conference and help us all reach new heights in 2016. Visit www.oregonloggingconference.com for current program details.

Standing in the Gap Keynote Speaker Wiremu Lee Edmunds

W

hen Wiremu entered

the forest industry, he was taught “old school” methods, working first in Sivilculture and then later joining the logging crews where he worked hard, moved through the ranks and became a foreman at the young age of 26.

Later, Wiremu became involved in community and social services. Wiremu was instrumental in creating the Safety Warrior concept combined with the NZ Oil Refinery Company where a year later they became

winners of the Safe-guard Safety Awards in 2012 from the Safety Warrior initiative.

The initiative even 3 years later is still active among the staff and leaders of the refinery.

Currently Wiremu serves on the National Steering Committee for the government agency ACC as the North Island Representative for all forestry workers.

Wiremu is passionate about changing unsafe work practices within this Industry; it has also lead to Wiremu becoming a sort after Keynote speaker around the country and overseas.

Lee Edmonds and Marsella Edmonds

Desserts for Dreams - Boys & Girls Aid Society

F

irst Lady Lisa Unger invites you to join her at the 13th Annual Ladies Desserts for Dreams Charity Event, which will take place Friday, February 26 at the Eugene Hilton. The 2016 event will include a light lunch to go along with the delicious desserts from the many bakeries in the Eugene and Springfield area.

A light lunch, desserts, wine, champagne, and an alcohol-free beverage choice will be served from 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Tickets for this event are $30 with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the charity of Lisa’s choice—Boys & Girls Aid Society.

The organization was founded in 1885 and is the oldest child welfare agency in Oregon. Boys & Girls Aid was originally founded to solve the problem of abandoned children living on the streets of Portland.

Since that time, the agency’s work has never faltered; the organization serves children and young adults in crisis.

For more information about the organization visit www.boysandgirlsaid.org.

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TENTATIVE PROGRAM AND SCHEDULE OF ENTERTAINMENT WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016 - Activities Held At The Eugene Hilton

Panels and Seminars at a Glance

Attendees rely on the OLC to offer a wide range of panels and seminars and earn up to nine professional logger credits.

This year attendees won’t be disappointed.

Below are just some of the topics attendees will have to choose from.

4p.m. – 6:30p.m.

Registration – Meet & Greet - “Hosted Beer & Wine” -

4p.m. - 10p.m.

Doors Open for Silent Auction benefiting “Talk About Trees” OWIT Dinner and Live Annual Auction – Call OWIT at 503-831-1593 to order tickets.

“Hosted Beer & Wine” – Playwrights Hall, Eugene Hilton

6:30p.m.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2016 - Program Sessions Held At Lane County Fairgrounds 7a.m. - 4p.m.

Registration - Main Convention Center Lobby

8a.m. - 5p.m.

Equipment Displays Open

7a.m. - 8a.m.

Opening Session Breakfast - Wheeler Pavilion – Sponsors: Caterpillar & Peterson Cat Ticket included with paid registration

8:00a.m. – 11:00a.m.

Opening Prayer – Kirk Luoto, Cross & Crown Inc. Oregon Logging Conference Foundation Auction Call to Order, Wheeler Pavilion - 1 PL Credit Welcome – Chairman, Eugene Chamber of Commerce Greetings – Doug Mays, 2016 President, Pacific Logging Congress st Program Update – Jeff Wimer. 1 Vice President, Oregon Logging Conference President's Address – Jeff Unger, 2016 President, Oregon Logging Conference Oregon State University Forestry Program Update – Dean Thomas Maness, Dean of Forestry, Keynote Speaker –- Wiremu Lee Edmonds, “Standing In The Gap”, Tuakiri Limited, NZ Sponsor: Waratah

Thursday

Better Ideas / New Technology in Logging Panel – 1 PLC Credit Moderator: Jim Dudley, Swanson Group • Linear Rock Crushing, Matt Bostrom, Advanced Land Management LLC • Revisiting Tethering Systems in the Pacific Northwest, Frank Chandler Jr., C & C Logging Co. • Eye for an Eye, Brian Tuor, Cable Logging Consultant and Trainer • Steep Slope Innovations with Cable Systems, Tyson and George Lambert, T-Mar Industries

Friday

Oregon Forest Practices Act Compliance Audit Moderator: Erick Gehrke, Plum Creek Timber Part 1. Overview of the Audit by Paul Clements, Compliance Training Coordinator, Oregon Dept. of Forestry Part 2. Industry / Stakeholder’s Perspective Part 3. Overview of What We Do Well According to Audit Results Part 4. Top 6 Non-Compliance Items: Relation to ORFPA and Remedies for Improvements

Washington Forest Practices Tools for Safe Yarding

Moderator: David Boyd, Hancock Forest Mgmt. NW Joe Gryco, Pacific Power Group/Active Data Systems Roger Smith, President, R L Smith Logging Tony Henderson, ACDAT System

Oregon Project Updates

• Swanson Group Mill Re-building. Chuck Wert, COO, Swanson Group • Red Rock Biofuels—Biorefinery in Lakevew, OR. Jeff Manternach, Co-Founder & CFO, Red Rock Biofuels, which develops processing plants to convert woody biomass into renewable, drop-in diesel and jet fuels.

Cross Laminated Wood and Tall Structures

Speakers will discuss Cross Laminated Timber (CLT).

• Manufacturer of CLT. Valerie Johnson, President, DR Johnson Lumber, Co. • Architect/Engineer. Speaker to be announced.

• Tall Structure Project. Lech Muszynski, Assist.

Professor in the Dept. of Wood Sciences & Engineering, Oregon State University

9a.m. - 4p.m.

Chainsaw Wood Carver – Outside Demonstration Area

10a.m. - 1p.m.

Elementary School Education Tours

10:30a.m. – 12:30p.m.

Exhibitor Hands On Seminar- “Log Roll Out” / “End Products”- Outside Display Area -2PL credit “End Products” Brian Tenbusch, Boise Cascade, Monmouth, Oregon, Jayme Dumford, Swanson Bros., Lumber Co., Noti, Oregon “Log Roll Out” Dave Sabol, Manager, Pacific Rim Log Scaling Bureau, Lacey, WA

12pm-6pm

Lars Larson Show Broadcast Live Remote Onsite – Sponsor: General Trailer Co.

12p.m. - 1p.m.

Free Time to View Equipment Displays

1p.m.

Meeting Called To Order - Wheeler Pavilion

1:30p.m.

Operators of the Year Presentation – Oregon Department of Forestry

2:00p.m. - 4:00p.m.

“Better Ideas / New Technology In Logging” 1 OPF Credit Moderator: Jim Dudley, Swanson Group, Glendale, Oregon 1) “Linear Rock Crushing”, Matt Bostrom, Advanced Land Management LLC, Lebanon, Oregon 2) “Revisiting Tethering Systems in the Pacific Northwest” - Frank Chandler Jr., C & C Logging Co., Kelso, WA 3) “Eye for an Eye”, Brian Tuor, Cable Logging Consultant & Trainer 4) “Steep Slope Innovations with Cable Systems, Tyson and George Lambert, T-Mar Industries, Campbell River, BC Canada

5p.m. - 6:30p.m.

Sawdust Bowl "Hosted Beer & Wine – Performance Hall, Convention Center FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2016 - Program Sessions Held At Lane County Fairgrounds

7a.m. - 4p.m.

Registration - Main Convention Center Lobby

8a.m. - 5p.m.

Equipment Displays Open

7a.m. - 8a.m

Hosted Breakfast - Wheeler Pavilion – Sponsor: Pape’ Group - Ticket included with paid registration

9a.m. - 4p.m.

Chain Saw Wood Carver –- Outside Demonstration Area

8:30a.m. - 11:30a.m.

“Oregon Forest Practices Act Compliance Audit” Seminar - Wheeler Pavilion – 3 FP Credits Moderator: Erick Gehrke, Plum Creek Timber, Coos Bay, Oregon Part 1: Overview of the Audit, Paul Clements, Compliance Training Coordinator, Oregon Department of Forestry, Salem, Or Part 2: Industry / Stakeholder’s Perspective Part 3: Overview of What We Do Well According to Audit Results Part 4: Top 6 Non-Compliance Items: Relation to ORFPA and Remedies for Improvements

8:30a.m. - 10:30a.m.

“Washington Forest Practices – Tools for Safe Yarding” Seminars - SE Meeting Room Exhibit Hall - 2 WAFP or 1 PL Credit 1) Joe Grycko, Pacific Power Group / Active Data Systems, Vancouver, Washington 2) Roger Smith, President, R L Smith Logging, Olympia, Washington 3) Tony Henderson, ACDAT System, New Zealand

10a.m. – 11a.m.

Business Seminar 1 – SW Meeting Room - Exhibit Hall – 1 PL Credit “Log Market Updates” Foreign Markets: Dave Stroble, Merrill Ring LLC., Port Angeles, WA Domestic Markets: Speaker to be announced

10a.m. – 11a.m.

Hands On Seminar 1 – “Log Roll Out” Outside Display Area – 1PL Credit Dave Sabol, Manager, Pacific Rim Log Scaling Bureau, Lacey, WA

11:30a.m. – 3:30p.m.

"OLC" Log Loader Competition – Sponsors: Triad Machinery & Linkbelt - Outside Display Area Visit www.oregonloggingconference.com or call 541-686-9191

1:00p.m. – 2:00p.m.

Business Seminar 2 - SW Meeting Room – Green area on map - Exhibit Hall - 1 PL Credit “Oregon Project Updates” Swanson Group Mill Re-build: Chuck Wert, COO, Swanson Group., Glendale, Oregon Red Rock Biofuels – A Biorefinery in Lakeview, Oregon: Jeff Manternach, Co-Founder & CFO, Red Rock Biofuels LLC. Fort Collins, Colorado

1:30p.m. - 3:30p.m.

“Making Safety Real” Seminar – Wheeler Pavilion – 2 PL Credits “This seminar will emphasis practical boots on the ground safety” Moderator – Steve Henson, Potlatch, St Maries, Idaho 1) “Cable Logging Safety, Setup & Efficiency”, Brian Tuor, Cable Logging Consultant & Trainer 2) “Logging Fire Salvage Safely”, Don Persyn, Roseburg Forest Products, Roseburg, Oregon

1:30p.m. - 3:30p.m.

“Washington Forest Practices” Seminar - SE Meeting – Exhibit Hall – 2 WAFP or 1 PL Credit - “Cultural and Historic Preservation” Topics will be addressed.

1) David Powell, Archaeologist, Timber, Fish and Wildlife Program, Yakama Nation 2) Allyson Brooks, State Historic Preservation Officer, DAHP, Olympia, WA 3) David Morrill, Forester, Hancock Forest Management, North Cascades Region, Orting, WA

2:30p.m. - 3:30p.m.

Business Seminar 3 – SW Meeting Room - Exhibit Hall – 1 PL Credit “Cross Laminated Wood and Tall Structures” Speakers on this seminar will discuss Cross laminated timber (CLT), CLT is an engineered wood building system designed to complement light- and heavy-timber framing options Manufacturer of CLT: Valerie Johnson, President, DR Johnson Lumber., Co., Riddle, Oregon Architect / Engineer: Speaker to be announced Tall Structure Project: Lech Muszynski, Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Wood Science & Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon

2:30p.m. - 3:30p.m.

Exhibitor Hands On Seminar 2 - “Tire & Wheel Safety“ presented by Les Schwab Tire Center Outside Display Area – 1 PL Credit Gary Pierce, Fleet Tire Systems, Les Schwab Tire Center, Portland, Oregon Bill Ashley, Fleet Tire Systems, Les Schwab Tire Center, Eugene, Oregon

5p.m. - 6:00p.m.

Sawdust Bowl "Hosted Beer & Wine" Performance Hall, Convention Center

12:30p.m. - 3p.m.

LADIES' DESSERTS FOR DREAMS – Charity Benefit for Boys and Girls Aid Society.

Enjoy Decadent Desserts Donated from area Restaurants and Bakeries Visit www.oregonloggingconference.com or call 541-686-9191 to order tickets.

7p.m. – 11pm 7p.m.

7p.m. – 9p.m.

7:30p.m. – 11pm

OLC Celebration Buffet Dinner & Dance – Playwrights Hall, Eugene Hilton Doors Open - Hosted Beer & Wine Tasting Buffet Dancing to Bump In The Road

EVENTS HELD AT THE EUGENE HILTON

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2016 - All Activities Held At Lane County Fairgrounds 9a.m. - 2p.m.

All Exhibits Open To Public – Convention Center & Parking Area Family Fun and Education Activities – Wheeler Pavilion Wood Carver – Outside Demonstration Area High School Forestry Skills Competition - Outside Display Area

10a.m. - 12p.m.

"OLC" Log Loader Competition – Sponsored by Triad Machinery and Linkbelt - Outside Display Area Visit www.oregonloggingconference.com or call 541-686-9191

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Spotlight

A Lifetime in the Woods

Gardner Logging & Road Construction By: Leslie Danielson

W

arren Gardner has wit-

nessed logging evolve from iconic lumberjacks to highly advanced equipment operators. And he’s always happy to share glimpses into a perhaps overlooked period in logging history.

Starting out on a K-20 Celtrac crawler

It would seem that Warren was destined to be a logger, when his father John Gardner began the Gardner Logging and Road construction company in the early 1920s.

Growing up in Addy, Washington, Warren operated his first K-20 Celtrac crawler at the age of six. Early models such as the Celtracs and Caterpillar 30 and 60 weren’t easy to operate. They required skill and patience, and Warren had plenty of it. His drive and ingenuity at a young age showed that he was truly ahead of his time.

By sixteen he had already begun building roads alongside his father, inheriting his dad’s working spirit and passion for the Caterpillar crawlers.

Early on, the company employed around 40 men, who worked long hours and stayed in the Gardner logging camps until the jobs were done. Managing with traditional logging equipment such as horse teams, jammers, steam donkeys, and just plain manual labor, they moved the legendary old growth timber to the mills.

“It took four or five men to do what one guy can do today,” Warren explains, putting the amount of physical labor into perspective. Standing timber was felled by hand and moved into the hauling phase, which at the time was heavily concentrated around horse teams. The logs were then transported to mills by methods of splash dams, log flumes, or Shay engines from the mountainous terrain. (continued on page 26)

Warren (top) loves his old CATS. He still runs the D7 he purchased in 1948.

Photos here also include a 324 D and an old jammer.

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Spotlight (continued from page 25)

Jammer Arrives in the 40s

Warren’s competition days and his collections.

Advancements were being implemented to adjust to the ever-changing demands of the job. It wasn’t long before cable logging took over and phased out the use of horse teams for skidding altogether. Designed specifically for the logging industry, cable logging developed into a highly useful machine known as the jammer.

When a new jammer cable skidding system was needed for the company’s production, Warren built one himself. Using his father’s old 1917 Federal truck, he built a single drum jammer in 1946, which they ran frequently.

“It would pull big pines for them. It would bust a guy line every once in a while and flip it over,” Warren recalls with a chuckle, adding that brains were beginning to beat out brawn. The great thing about jammers was that they could be built out of anything with an engine; by simply mounting the system to a truck, logs could then be skidded with little effort over difficult terrain. These innovations by men like Warren were changing the face of logging.

Jammers continued to improve throughout the years, and different varieties are used

today. Any type of excavator with a 50-foot boom, equipped with double allied winches, can offer a thousand feet of available reach.

These double-drum cable systems with electric over hydraulics are now the new standard, providing the modern day logger with an advantage over steep terrain.

Road Building

Alongside logging operations, numerous road construction and dozing jobs were being done by the company as well. Warren began building roads at sixteen, proving to be better than many operators at the time, and he continued to improve his operating skills using the fleet of Caterpillar’s crawlers, including many D6, D7, and D8s the company owned throughout the years.

Post WWII, the Cat crawlers began to be utilized heavily in the woods and in building roads. Early models of cable blades were controlled and took a tremendous amount of finesse to build high quality roads such as Warren did.

“In them days when you started on a hill, I would get a big hunk of dirt over here, hoist that blade up and keep pushing, and it would stay like that for quite a ways and then I could start cutting,” Warren explains. By utilizing this strategy, he had no problems

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www.olofsfors.com

hooking the cable driven blades into the dirt to begin constructing roads. “When somebody says you can’t do anything with a cable dozer, they don’t know what they’re talking about,” Warren says. He proved that with the 8oo-plus miles of road he built with the D-7 cable blade Caterpillar he bought in 1948.

Selling Direct

In earlier times, the company was selling to many lumber companies in the area. “In 1947 I made real money selling to Columbia and Emerson lumber companies,” Warren recalls.

The best year he claims to have had was when he was a gyppo logger, selling directly to the mills and getting paid by volume, between 1941 and 1948. “We logged about a million a month, for a good productive month,” Warren says, noting he ran a crew of around 25 men falling timber by hand. Despite the successful yields, there were often snags that slowed the company throughout the years, between war and labor strikes, times were often tough for Gardner’s logging crew.

But as any true logging outfit would, they carried on. Eventually Warren became sole owner of the business. “I bought a used D-6 Caterpillar, a new truck, and fixed up

my jammer,” Warren recalls. Once he took hold, he continued to work jobs all over the Inland Northwest region, working contracts and gyppo jobs that came his way.

Managing a smaller crew of six to eight men and quickly advancing logging techniques, Warren adapted to the times, getting more done with less overhead. “I made more money that way,” he says. In 1962, an operator was making $3.26 an hour and a laborer was making $2.50 per hour working for the Gardener Logging Company.

Union dues were also paid at that time, and a fee of 10 to 15 dollars was paid monthly, as Warren recalls.

By 1968, Gardner logging operations began to wind down and the company concentrated more on road building. Warren claimed many jobs throughout the years; however, in 1975 he took an opportunity to work for Potlatch. He was asked by the man in charge at the time, if he could run a D-8 Caterpillar. Warren responded, “Yes, sir, in fact I could give you a haircut with a Cat,” he recalled with a smile. For the next 14 years, Warren built many roads for Potlatch around the St. Joe drainage. He built roughly 25 to 30 miles of road a year during that 14year stretch, an amazing amount of work for one man and a dozer.

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It wasn’t always all work and no play for Warren Gardner. His life accomplishments spill over into many different areas, including his award for being 1956 Wood Chopping Champion, with a time of 34.6 seconds for a 16” diameter log, an impressive endeavor.

“I always tried to be the best at everything I did,” Warren explains, and that could never be denied. Many thousands of miles have met the blade of Warren’s dozers, as he contributed to an unsurpassable amount of history that lies in the dirt roads he built from the Marble Valley of Washington, to the deep Floodwoods of Northern Idaho.

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Turkey Springs treatment, before and after.

Colorado Woody Biomass Plant Plays Waiting Game

By Barbara Coyner

N

obody knows better than J.R. Ford all the hurdles that have to be overcome to get a woody biomass energy facility up and running.

The Colorado businessman started his efforts to build a five-megawatt plant in Pagosa Springs in 2006 and subsequently had to modify the plan to produce 3 MW of power and Biochar as a coproduct. Ford has yet to even pour the foundation for the facility. It isn’t for want of trying.

“It is impossible to go forward, there are so many strings attached,” says Ford, the owner of Pagosa Land Company, which has long worked on projects in forest restoration, streamside improvements, roads, and ponds.

His proposed woody biomass facility is being developed under the name Renewable Forest Energy LLC. “We’ve decided recently to just install the gasifier so we can start producing biochar and wait for the power production until we can finalize a contract to sell the power.”

Cutting Boards & Creating Jobs

For Ford, the idea of woody biomass power is a natural progression in the world of forestry. He got into chipping forest residuals as part of forest improvement projects and he has paid attention. That has helped him snag Forest Service stewardship contracts and even a Forest Service grant to 28

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do a feasibility study for a community-based woody biomass plant. Additionally, he’s hauled politicians and forest stakeholders out to see his on-the-ground work; he went participated in a collaborative group; he’s gone to Sweden to look at custom chippers and grinders; he’s studied gasifier plant designs; and he hired consultants to evaluate potential biomass supply.

In June, Ford cut his first boards in a small mill that employs six people. The six-year-old mill equipment was purchased from the government, which previously had sprung for the sawmill equipment on behalf of a nonprofit. The nonprofit bailed on the project, leaving the never-used mill available.

It was a gain for J.R. Ford and the town of Pagosa Springs, which once had the largest sawmill in the state. Ford was now seeing two of his goals met: thinning the nearby forests and employing local people.

No to Energy

Ford’s third goal of making energy from the woody biomass remains unmet. Why? Regular readers of this column would suspect either opposition from environmental groups or fickle policy on the part of politicians. In both cases, you would be incorrect.

Ford says the local collaborative group and area environmental organizations have given their blessings to the proposed gasifier plant.

Ditto for state politicians.

“State officials don’t see that we have a

TimberWest November/December 2015 www.forestnet.com

choice,” says Ford, noting the fuels buildup and beetle-kill problems in adjacent Ponderosa pine and warm dry mix conifer forests. “We need to remove materials from the forest and make something out of it.”

He adds that most existing mills won’t take Ponderosa Pine, so his mill is turning the local species into boards and lumber that go out into a developing market.

Power Supplier Stands in the Way

So, back to the question: What is the holdup on the Pagosa Springs plant? It’s a convoluted story involving the area’s major power supplier, Tri-State, and the area’s smaller rural electric cooperative LPEA. According to Ford, LPEA has been very cooperative while Tri-State, on the other hand, has not.

Under existing Tri-State policies, cooperatives like LPEA can choose to add a maximum of five percent local or non-traditional energy sources to its energy mix being supplied by Tri-State. This type of local energy can look very attractive to small co-ops and their customers. But it is not exactly a hit with the largely coal-powered Tri-State.

Under these same policies, Tri-State can modify the rates and conditions under which it will purchase this power, influencing which types of projects are financially feasible.

After a recent ruling by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a

WoodyBiomass small electric co-op at Delta, Colorado, got the go-ahead to directly purchase power from a local renewable energy project rather than being required to purchase all of their power through Tri-State. The FERC ruling allows the little guys to add more local and renewable sources, but Tri-State is still allowed to modify its policies and procedures on the rest of the power purchased from them, with local co-ops having to make up any cost differences for directly purchasing from local sources.

That could mean unexpected rate hikes, not a popular thing among small rural electric co-ops. Put in simple terms, it’s a gotcha game, one that has forced J.R. Ford to alter his plans. “I am just tired of dealing with TriStat.” says Ford. “I’m not a big government kind of guy. “But with Tri-State, we kind of need a solution at the government level. Why can’t the local coops buy local power without interference from Tri-State?”

Meanwhile, Ford notes that his ongoing forestry projects are yielding twice as many chips as first estimated—a steady supply of raw materials coming from within largely a 35-mile radius. With most mills taking mainly spruce these days, supplies of pine and dry mixed conifers remain largely unused as Southwest Colorado tries to tackle its huge fuels reduction problem.

Ford’s problem might likely be a more

Renewable Forest Energy is achieving two of its goals: thinning forests and employing local people, using this Bruks wood chipper and Valmet 890.3. common problem as other woody biomass plants try to take hold. To more fully understand the FERC ruling at Delta, Colorado, please see http://www.renewableenergyworld. com/articles/2015/07/ferc-removes-obstaclesthat-limit-distributed-renewable-energy-incolorado.html, or the article in an April 2015 edition of High County News at http://www. hcn.org/articles/rural-electric-cooperative-asksgovernment-for-more-freedom. On information

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about the local collaborative group San Juan Headwaters Forest Health Partnership, please see http://www.sanjuanheadwaters.org. If you are served by a rural cooperative that gets its power from a bigger source, odds are this will become a more universal situation, one with no straightforward solution. Just ask J.R. Ford.

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PORTABLE GRINDERS Diamond Z’s machines fit the transport requirements while being large enough to get the job done but not too big to move conveniently and cost effective even for the smaller jobs.

All Diamond Z grinders are offered with Tier 2-3 and 4 emission rated engines as well as track, wheel and stationary mounted with either diesel or electric power. www.diamondz.com

Bandit

Bandit developed the micro chipper drum for the Model 2590, 3090 and 3590 whole tree chipper to meet various production needs.

Bandit® chippers produce the highest quality micro chips. Nearly all chips produced by a Bandit micro chipper measure at 3/8”-minus and most are 1/4”-minus.

The company is particularly proud of its latest micro chippers with a head designed to make a 1/4” cut, a throwing system centered around its patented Power Slot, and its unique discharge system that will allow the chippers to fully load the largest chip trailers without the need of an auxiliary blower or chip accelerator.

“Eliminating the need for a discharge assist adds 100 hp to the chipper drum, but more importantly, the additional chipping power coupled with our synchronized feed system will improve fuel economy by about 30 percent,” Bandit President Jerry Morey said.

Bandit’s patented Clean Feed systems do not allow chip to fall under the feed system or to carry back around the infeed chain.

Bandit chippers also have the ability to convert a micro chipper to produce a conventional chip without changing the drum.

“The Beast® horizontal grinder can be equipped with cutter bodies with a chipper knife attachment to produce what we call Biosawdust, which is a microchip, but a bit finer,” Morey said.

“Again, change, you can quickly change the unit back to process all types of material to supply a multitude of markets.

A worldwide dealer network backs all Bandit whole tree chippers and The Beast recyclers. www.banditchippers.com

Diamond Z

Since Diamond Z introduced its first grinder back in 1988 it has proven itself to be a premier manufacturer of heavy industrial waste reduction equipment in the industry.

The market demand for a durable, heavy duty, transportable, highly productive grinder was evident. Having the ability to process large stumps and logs while still having the ability to product a fine consistent finish product at staggering production rates has definitely helped the Diamond Z gain a global reputation producing the most productive grinders.

Manufactured at its new facility in southwestern Idaho, Diamond Z’s innovative grinders and metal recycling equipment, are shipped throughout North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe.

Machines ranging from 30,000 to over 106,000 lbs with horse powers ranging to well beyond 2000 hp round out its product line.

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DuraTech Industries

DuraTech has two recent additions to its family of grinders, the Model 5064, Model 9564 Horizontal Grinders. These Heavy Duty grinders are equipped with CAT engines; Tier III (5064, 5064T) and Tier II (9564). An HPTO wet clutch transfers power to the hammermill which is fed by a self governing floor apron and feed roller to meet your specific requirements of productivity and efficiency.

The 5064T features a large 61.5” x 35” feed opening allowing material to flow to the 64” wide 8,850 lb. hammermill for superb grinding performance. The programmable logic speed control (PLC) governs the product flow through the 13’2” 197 Cub Foot feed hopper for maximum grinding efficiencies. The optional remote control allows the operator to have complete control of the grinder while operating support equipment. www.duratechindustries.net

Morbark

The Morbark 6600 Wood Hog is an aggressive, productive grinder ideal for processing clearing debris, yard waste, storm debris and other mixed woody feedstocks into saleable products. The 6600 Wood Hog’s 66” x 50” infeed opening processes large material with ease, and engine options up to 1125 HP give you plenty of power.

The popular track option with 330L or 330EL Caterpillar undercarriage allows you the flexibility to easily bring the machine to the material.

Like all Morbark Wood Hogs, the 6600 comes standard with the Morbark Integrated Control System to maximize production and engine efficiency; a laser-cut, factory-balanced rotor for unsurpassed durability; and an aggressive feed wheel with an internal poclain (continued on page 32)

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TechReview (continued from page 30) drive that has no chains or sprockets for more torque and reduced maintenance.

The proven breakaway torque limiter driveline protection system protects against catastrophic damage from contaminants. And with the optional Morbark Quick Switch Grinder-to-Chipper Conversion Kit, you can use your Morbark Wood Hog to produce high-quality—and highly profitable—biomass fuel chips or sawdust.

These are just some of the reasons that Morbark is the largest and most respected name in grinding. www.morbark.com.

Rayco

The only thing better than a compact horizontal grinder is a compact horizontal grinder on tracks.

Rayco’s RH1754 Horizontal Grinder is now available in a selfpropelled version that rides on a heavy-duty, steel track undercarriage.

This adds another element of versatility to the RH1754, making it easier to move the machine around job sites and to perform tasks like windrowing material or sorting material into different piles.

The 240 hp, RH1754-240 on tracks weighs just 20,500 lbs and is just under 8-ft wide, to avoid permits when trailering. A wireless radio remote operates each track independently, to provide precise control and two speed final drives allow for creep speed or high speed travel. The RH1754 is an economical solution for producing high quality mulch from a variety of wood waste materials, pallets, wood chips, etc. Finally… there’s a horizontal grinder on tracks within reach of the small contractor. www.raycomfg.com

Rotochopper

Rotochopper specializes in grinding and shredding equipment for converting wood waste into end products like mulch, animal bedding, and compost. The Rotochopper grinder lineup ranges from 150 hp up to 950 hp, available with diesel or electric power. Available in portable, stationary, and track configurations, Rotochopper grinders operate in a wide range of facilities and process diverse feedstocks, from wood chips to whole trees.

The largest Rotochopper models are also available with crawler tracks and a transport dolly. With this track and dolly system, a Rotochopper grinder can quickly switch from highway transport on the dolly to worksite navigation on crawler tracks. The track and dolly system is powered entirely by the main hydraulic system and requires no special tools for coupling and uncoupling the dolly.

Rotochopper also recently launched an upgrade to its chipper conversion package, which allows Rotochopper owners to produce mulch and chips with the same machine. This update for the chipper package uses KeyKnifeTM inserts to make knife maintenance simple, while minimizing knife costs.

Recent upgrades include an enhanced throat opening on the largest Rotochopper grinder, the B-66. The increased opening allows the B-66 to process larger diameter material, while still maintaining unmatched feed control. www.rotochopper.com

Rawlings Manufacturing

The original rotary hog was invented and developed by Rawlings Manufacturing Inc. in 1977. Since then the family has owned and operated the company which has designed, manufactured and marketed several product lines.

Rawlings Portable Wood Grinders are heavy duty portable grinders capable of producing valuable wood fiber products in a single pass. With over 30 years of experience in wood waste reduction, The Rawlings team offers unique design features.

The Rawlings HZX is a heavy-duty wood hog that can process material of any length to the customers’ exact specifications. The simplicity of the Rawlings rugged design with the Super Hi Inertia rotor comes complete with interchangeable Roc Wear Striker Bit system. All internal liners and sizing grates are bolt in eliminating high maintenance costs.

Unique to Rawlings Hogs is our innovative Safety Swing Away Anvil Release System, which minimizes damage from contaminants in the feed material. The Swing Away feature allows metal and other damaging objects to drop through onto the out feed conveyor before entering the grinding chamber. When shear pins are sheared a protection circuit shuts down hog and conveyor to protect the machine. www.wastewoodhogs.com

Peterson Pacific

Peterson Pacific Corp, a Eugene, Oregon based manufacturer of horizontal grinders, chippers, blower trucks and screens continues to evolve horizontal grinder design.

“In the last 2 years, we have introduced four new horizontal grinders and we continue to evolve the product line with the allnew Peterson 2710D horizontal grinder being introduced in January, 2016” said Michael Spreadbury, marketing manager for Peterson.

Peterson offers both diesel and or stationary electric powered horizontal grinders from 580-1200 hp. Most Peterson machines are

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Purpose-built

from the ground up Log Loaders from SENNEBOGEN – 44,000 lbs. to 750,000 lbs.

Simple design… Lift more. Move faster. Save fuel. Run longer. www.sennebogen-na.com Tel: +1-704-347-4910 Circle Reader Service Card 118

TechReview (continued from page 32) also available in either a tracked or wheeled configuration, depending on what best suit’s your application. Peterson is also now offering an optional removable transportation dolly for some of their tracked horizontal grinder line, eliminating the need for a low-boy trailer.

All new Peterson horizontal grinders feature new, lower sidewalls to help the operator visibility while feeding the machine. To ease maintenance, the compression roll raises high allowing technician’s excellent access to the rotor for bit changes. Peterson’s innovative Adaptive Feed System monitors machine performance and adjusts feed speeds, down pressure, and engine RPM to provide smooth and consistent feeding-providing superior fuel economy and exceptional product quality.

Of course, all Peterson machines have the patented Impact Release System and Impact Cushion System, which allows protection from contaminated feedstock and helps protect the mill from catastrophic damage-features only found on a Peterson machine.

Since 1981, Peterson has specialized in the developing of delivery and processing equipment that turns low grade, organic materials into high value products. www.petersoncorp.com

Terex

TEE offers a selection of horizontal grinders, designed and manufactured with a focus on flexibility, durability and sustainability. Whether you’re looking for a dieselpowered horizontal grinder that is tracked or wheeled, the manufacture equipment that never compromises quality. TEE

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handles all aspects of configuring, building, installing and supporting a complete materials processing system.

TEE’s mobile grinder lineup has delivered hours upon hours of continuous operation across countless applications. Companies primarily focusing on land clearing, bark mulch production, municipal solid waste and recycled construction and demolition (C&D) processing have regularly turned to TEE’s robust horizontal grinders.

TEE produces both upswing and downswing grinding machines.

Upswings are generally higher speed for cleaner material with premium throughput. Downswing are generally lower speed with the ability to process a more contaminated waste stream and have the flexibility to accept multiple rotor options. www.terex.com

Vermeer

Vermeer portable horizontal grinders are built tough and offered in a variety of configurations to suit large land-clearing, municipal waste and composting operations. The grinders feature optional length feed tables, and the Thrown Object Deflectors (TOD) reduces the quantity and distance of thrown material.

Self-propelled track grinders are highly maneuverable and are able to work on uneven terrain jobsites and land-clearing projects.

Vermeer horizontal grinders feature remote-controlled operation, our exclusive SmartGrind feed system and the patented Vermeer Duplex Drum.

The grinders range from 515 to 950 hp and 26” to 50” maximum feed height. www2.vermeer.com TW

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FOR ALL YOUR SAWMILL EQUIPMENT AND SYSTEM SOLUTIONS

Our team can help you with anything from equipment customized to your needs to maintenance and service of your equipment, as well as the highest-quality wear parts and replacement parts.

Contact us today! www.morbark.com • 800.831.0042 Circle Reader Service Card 120

Idaho Forest Health

The Evergreen Foundation recently released a report on Idaho’s national forests.

The report notes that of the 696 million cubic feet of net growth on Idaho’s forests, 80 percent is dying each year. To put that amount of mortality in perspective, Idaho’s annual forest mortality would “be a solid block of wood the size of a football field stretching 1.8 miles into the sky.”

The report entitled “The Ticking Time Bomb in Idaho’s National Forests: Where do we go from here?” discusses recommendations to address this extreme forest health crisis.

Idaho. The meeting took place Oct. 17-20, 2015. The annual award is named after the late Bronson Lewis, who served for 24 years as secretary and then executive vice president of APA. The award recognizes individuals for their lifetime leadership and outstanding contribution to the industry.

Martin has been a recognized force in the structural panel industry for more than 40 years. In 1981 he directed the design and construction of the first oriented strand board plant in the South, and in 1995 he directed the design and construction of a new, state-of-the-art plywood plant.

Jonathan Martin Receives Bronson J. Lewis Award

N. California Doesn’t Meet FY15 Targets

Jonathan Martin, chairman and CEO of RoyOMartin of Alexandria, Louisiana, was honored with the Bronson J. Lewis Award at the APA Annual Meeting in Coeur d’Alene,

Rick Svilich reported for the American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) that Klamath, Six Rivers, Shasta Trinity, and Mendocino National Forests did not meet

their Fiscal Year 2015 targets. The combined target was 103.2 million board feet (mmbf ), but the final tally was 82.3 mmbf or 80 percent of the goal. Sawlog volume accounted for 57 percent, biomass accounted for 28 percent, and firewood accounted for 15 percent.

The Mendocino accomplished 98 percent (all firewood) of its target, the Six Rivers 92 percent, the Klamath 79 percent, and the Shasta Trinity 77 percent. Svilich says, “Consultation issues with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service kept the Klamath from offering recovery [salvage] sales and meeting the target. Fires on the Shasta Trinity burned through one sale that was being advertised, which had to be pulled and kept the forest from meeting its target.”

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CALENDAR January 14 Western Forestry and Conservation Assoc., Eugene, OR 503-226-4562, www.westernforestry.org January 14-16 Associated Oregon Loggers’ 46th Annual Convention, Eugene, OR 503-364-1330, www.oregonloggers.org January 19-22 Association of Equipment Distributors (AED) Summit, Washington DC 800-388-0650, www.aednet.org January 28 3rd Annual Western Forest Industry Conference, Vancouver, WA 503-226-4562, westernforestry.org February 3-5 14th Ann. Forestry Forum Coeur d’Alene, ID 208-667-4641, www.forestersforum.com February 10-12 Northeastern Retail Lumber Assoc. LBM Expo, Providence, RI 518-286-1010, www.lbmexpo.com February 11-13 Sierra-Cascade Logging Conf. & Forest Products & Construction Equip.

Anderson, CA 530-222-1290, www.sierracascadeexpo.com February 25-26 California Forestry Association Annual Meeting, Napa, CA 916-444-6592, www.foresthealth.org February 25-27 Oregon Logging Conference 78th Conf. & Equip. Show, Eugene, OR 541-686-9191 www.oregonloggingconference.com 36

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Intelescope Solutions Leverages DigitalGlobe’s Geospatial Big Data Platform

DigitalGlobe Inc., a leading global provider of commercial highresolution earth observation and advanced geospatial solutions, announced an agreement with Intelescope Solutions to enable globalscale satellite imagery data for the forestry industry.

DigitalGlobe›s Geospatial Big Data Platform combines tools, data, and infrastructure to answer challenging questions about our complex and changing world. By coupling an innovative business model with modern cloud computing capabilities, DigitalGlobe enables customers and partners to extract information at scale from the world’s largest library of commercial satellite imagery.

Intelescope, a global provider of forestry analytical services, will run its own patented algorithms against millions of square kilometers of high-resolution earth imagery within the GBD Platform to generate timely and relevant information for its customers.

Intelescope’s clients, which include forestry landowners, managers, and consultants, timber REITs, TIMOs, and pension and hedge funds, are keenly interested to understand commercial timber volumes and health on a global scale.

Vermeer Names Jason Andringa as President and CEO

The announcement that Jason Andringa will serve as Vermeer’s President and CEO was first made in August 2014, as part of the company’s family succession planning process.

“I’m excited, honored, and humbled to have the opportunity to continue my family’s legacy of leadership at Vermeer into the third Jason Andringa generation,” said Jason Andringa. “We will continue to fulfill our promise to our customers by capitalizing on our strengths: innovative, high-quality products; entrepreneurial dealers; and the diligent practice of continuous improvement while continuing to create opportunities for growth with today’s fast-moving customer expectations in mind.”

Prior to becoming president and CEO, Andringa served as president and COO, in addition to a number of other roles at Vermeer.

Before joining Vermeer in 2005, he was a staff engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Mary Andringa, current CEO and chair of the board, will assume the role of chair of the board exclusively Nov. 1, 2015.

equipment designed to the latest Trelleborg technology standards.

Andrea Masella, Country Manager Agricultural and Forestry Tires, Trelleborg Wheel Systems Americas, commented, “Having a manufacturing presence in North America is central to our growth strategy. The new production facility enables us to increase production capacity and ensure close proximity of Trelleborg premium tires both for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and tire dealers. North American customers can take pride knowing that Trelleborg’s industry leading tires are manufactured locally in the U.S. www.trelleborg.com

Papé Acquires Johnson Lift and Expands Coverage as Hyster® Dealer

Hyster Company announced that Papé Material Handling, a division of the Papé Group has expanded its territory coverage with the acquisition of Johnson Lift, a division of Johnson Machinery Co. As a result, Papé Material Handling is now the authorized and exclusive Hyster® dealer in those territories previously covered by Johnson Lift, including eight Southern California counties, Yuma County in Western Arizona, and the Baja Norte region of Mexico.

This transaction allows Hyster to maintain the highest level of product availability and service for its customers, and will help Papé Material Handling grow its already successful materials handling business. For over 23 years, Papé Material Handling has positively represented the Hyster brand, receiving the Hyster Dealer of Distinction Award 21 times, which is more than any other dealer since the award’s inception—a demonstration of their dedication to excellence and record of performance.

TW

High quality wearparts for tub/horizontal grinders and forestry mulchers

Revolutionary grinder tip design

It’s Machine #4,000 for Deere-Hitachi Specialty Products

Forestry equipment manufacturer DeereHitachi Specialty Prodcuts of Langley, B.C. celebrated its 4,000 machine produced in December. The machine was a 2154D processor equipped with a Waratah HTH 622B head and more than 100 employees celebrated along with B.C. logger Shane Garner who purchased the machine and representative of Brandt Tractor.

Trelleborg Manufactures its First Forestry Tire in North America

Trelleborg announced that it has manufactured its first forestry tire in North America at its new production facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

The 430,000 square feet production facility is Trelleborg’s first in North America dedicated to the manufacture of premium radial tires for agricultural machinery. The facility utilizes state-of-the-art

Your benefit:

, MORE GRINDING T FI O MORE PR

Contact us: King Kong Tools LLC 678-765-7930 info info@kingkong-tools.com

Work smart

www.kingkong-tools.com

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PLCReview

106th Pacific Logging Congress Review

By Mary Bullwinkel

A

visit to the woods to see logging operations in Hawaii was one of the highlights of the 106th Pacific Logging Congress (PLC), held in November on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Record breaking attendance and participation marked the gathering, which also included pertinent panel discussions and presentations on topics such as steep slope harvesting, workforce planning, and the benefits of networking.

2015 PLC President Todd Gordon, who is the NA Forest Corporate Accounts Manager for Caterpillar Forest Products, welcomed the gathering saying, “I want you to know that your attendance and commitment to our industry is noted and appreciated.”

The logging was occurring on the Hamakua plantation, former sugar cane growing property and today a fast-growing Eucalyptus Grandis forest, according to Bill Stormont, American Forest Management Inc.’s Hawaii Manager. “(President Abraham) Lincoln was in office when sugar was being grown there,” Stormont said.

Washington state-based Sustainable Forestry Services is the logging contractor, utilizing two Madill feller bunchers, two processors with Waratah 623 processing heads, two grapple skidders, a John Deere and a Caterpillar 525, and three loaders, a Doosan, Caterpillar 330, and John Deere 2154.

The saw logs are being cut into three lengths, 4, 6, and 8 meters, and shipped out of the Kawaihae Harbor every couple of months, mostly to China. Stormont said the operations is producing saw logs and peeler logs, depending on what the buyers want.

Other Asian markets are being explored,

as well as using more of the fiber locally for biomass. Currently biomass energy being generated in Hawaii (mostly on the Island of Kauai) can provide up to 11 percent of current electrical needs.

The eucalyptus is a very fast growing tree species, and is one of several types of trees harvested on Hawaii. Other woods harvested are koa, sandlewood, and pine.

The PLC program included a first-class line up of knowledgeable speakers to share their insight on several pertinent topics.

“Our speakers have joined us…to support our education mission.” Gordon said. Of particular interest was the panel discussion on innovative steep slope harvesting, which included contract loggers, manufacturers, and research analysts. PLC Program Chairman Doug Mays said the panel presented innovative thoughts and approaches that will help “engineer out the risks associated with logging…and find a safe way to do what we do.” The bottom line is to decrease accidents, increase safety, increase the amount of wood fiber available, and be mindful of the environmental impact.

What was described as a “breath of fresh air” was the presentation by Six Rivers National Forest (in northern California) Supervisor Merv George. George is the first Native American Forest Supervisor. He said, “The forest matters to me. I hunt there, I cut firewood there, and there are Sacred Sites there too.” And he added, “We are in desperate need for more active management…if we do nothing, it will all burn up,” a reference to recent fires in California that burned tens of thousands of acres in the summer of 2015.

George spoke about community collaboration and participation to promote ecological restoration. George also urged industry representatives to play an active role

Left: Todd Gordon handing over the Ax to the new PLC president, Doug Mays, Weyerhaeuser. Middle: Merv George is the Six Rivers National Forest Supervisor in northern California, Right: PLC Executive Director Rikki Wellman was presented a plaque recognizing all her efforts during her 16 years of leadership. Wellman is retiring at the end of 2015.

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Eucalyptus logs being loaded onto a ship in the harbor at Kawaihae, Hawaii. The machine on board the ship is a Caterpillar 315.

Link-Belt 290 Processor with a Waratah 623 processing head. by commenting on advertised timber sales, and helping recruit industry-minded people to work for the U.S. Forest Service. “I am optimistic looking toward the future,” he told those in the audience. “There is hope and you are a big part of it,” he said.

Concluding activities included a silent and live auction with $35,000 in proceeds being raised, and donated to the Pacific Forest Foundation for educational programs such as scholarships and distribution of the DVD “This is My Office,” and the brief recognition of PLC retiring Executive Director Rikki Wellman. Wellman has served as Executive Director for 13 years, and will continue in her position at Executive Director of Oregon Logging Conference. Michelle Mays will step in as PLC Executive Director effective January 1, 2016.

Mark your calendars now, and plan on attending the 107 Annual PLC to be held in San Diego, CA November 7 – 9, 2016.

TW

NEW 30-Tooth Bandit BEAST RECYCLER

Increases Production and Lowers the Cost of Processing Logging, Sawmill and Green Waste.

Bandit Industries’ extremely popular Model 3680XP Beast Recycler has undergone some design improvements, which increases its production and lowers its operating costs.

We build a better Beast to help you Build Your Bottom Line!

The improvements include: • A new 30-tooth grinding pattern – which lowers your wear parts costs • A faster mill rpm – material clears the mill faster, which lowers your wear parts costs • A more-open mill housing design – reduces wear in the mill chamber, which lowers your wear parts costs • Additional screening area – which increases production • A new proportional feed drive system – which increases production The result is up to a 40% increase in production and a lower per-ton grinding cost. The Beast will process as much as 500 cubic yards an hour in typical green waste and does exceptionally well in processing cull logs, cut offs and chunkwood.

If you want to lower your operating costs while increasing your production, take a look at the best – take a look at The Beast!

Let us prove it to you. Contact Bandit Industries today to arrange for a demonstration and find out how Bandit Builds Your Bottom Line. Call 1-800-952-0178 or visit us online at www.banditchippers.com.

YOUR AUTHORIZED BANDIT DEALER FOR BANDIT WHOLE TREE CHIPPERS AND BEAST® RECYCLERS IN CALIFORNIA AND ARIZONA!

800-77-BeJac • www.BeJac.com Placentia • Fresno • oakland • redding sacramento • san diego • Phoenix

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CEC Introduces the New Diesel-Powered 4x8 Screen-It®

In an age when the scope and overall market trends in the screening business are evolving, CEC is adapting to meet those changes head on. In light of changing market demands, CEC has designed and built the answer—the new CEC 4x8 Diesel Screen-It. The 4x8 Diesel Screen-It is a commercial-grade, self-contained, portable screen that produces high quality material at a price that companies can more easily afford. It’s small and light enough to tow behind a modern diesel work truck, yet still maintains CEC’s strength.

Second, it has a feed height capable of allowing customers to load it with a standard skid-steer loader, no ramp necessary.

Third, it’s easy to operate while still producing a high quality, sellable finished product. www.ceccrushers.com

Olofsfors Upgrades ECO-Wheel Tracks for CTL Machines

Olofsfors is pleased to announce that an upgraded version of ECO-Wheel Tracks for cut-to-length machines is now available in North America. A new cross member design based around the proven EVO model and the addition of side supports make ECO-Wheel Tracks available for more tire sizes and brands. The EVO cross member offers excellent strength and anti-slip properties with a unique sunken cleat position that reduces the stress in the cross member and makes it user friendly when re-cleating.

ECO-Wheel Tracks ‘CTL’ are suitable for harvesters and forwarders where traction and stability are the primary requirements. Wheel tracks are an economical alternative to conventional tire chains for metric sized tires. www.eco-tracks.com

Sellick Equipment Announces New Rough Terrain Forklift

Sellick Equipment’s S150, 15,000-pound capacity at 24” load center is now in full production. This new model is powered by an economical 74 hp 4-cylinder intercooled Tier 4 final electronic engine that produces 295 Ft/lbs of torque. The clean burning diesel does not require exhaust after-treatment, diesel exhaust fluid, nor regeneration cycles. The engine is coupled to a fully automatic power shift 4-speed transmission and when equipped with the 4x4 option, allows for on-the-go engagement of the steerable drive axle.

Operator safety and comfort are consistent with all Sellick models. And the S150 is designed for heavy industrial applications such as steel and plastic pipe manufacturing/distribution, steel fabrication, engineered wood products, concrete products, automotive recycling, and public utilities, to name a few. www.sellickequipment. com 40

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Walbro Introduces New Innovation in Diaphragm Carburetor Technology

Walbro, one of the world’s largest carburetor manufacturers and a leading supplier of fuel injection, ignition, and fuel system components, announced the release of a new ethanol-proof metering diaphragm technology that greatly improves carburetor life and performance consistency.

Walbro’s new Spiral Diaphragm technology incorporates advanced, ethanol-resistant materials to ensure consistent performance from the factory to the field in both year-round and seasonal-use equipment.

“Traditional rubber-based diaphragm materials become brittle and deteriorate with age,” states Tim Grifka, Walbro’s vice president of Quality.

In time, this affects starting and running performance of gasoline powered handheld equipment. As the ethanol content in fuel increases, this process is accelerated and is especially noticeable in seasonal-use equipment where the diaphragm dries out during long periods of storage. “Walbro’s new Spiral Diaphragm eliminates these problems by incorporating materials that are unaffected by ethanol and other chemicals commonly used in commercially available fuels.” www.walbro.com

Timber Tracker App

Daniel Turner, of Turner Logging LLC, recently designed an app for loggers and forestry professionals. The app, called Timber Tracker, allows users to scale and tally logs and standing timber from their phones or tablets. Once the users have their figures recorded, they can save them for their own personal records or email a direct quote to the customer.

“This is just the base version of the app,” says Turner. “And the app is free to download.” www.turnerlogging.com

Detachable Traction System

The carbide claw adds traction to your rubber track machines.

This patented Detachable Traction System for endless track vehicles is designed to provide improved stability in all directions and increased traction on ice and snow, as well as deep mud and slush.

The system is comprised of gripping bars that are bolted completely through selected treads of each track, angled to prevent sideways slippage, and with a gripping surface comprised of a patch of durable rough protrusive material designed to claw into ice or hardpacked snow, ensuring traction and increased safe performance.

The Detachable Traction System allows the operator of a tracked vehicle to select the appropriate traction element to match the terrain conditions, gripping bars for ice/hard snow, and compression troughs for slush/mud or both for mixed conditions. www.clawM.com TW

AD INDEX PG COMPANY RS# 39.......... BANDIT INDUSTRIES / BEJAC CORP....123 18.......... CASCADE TRADER..............................111 12.......... CLEANFIX NA.....................................107 27.......... FEENAUGHTY MACHINERY..................115 11.......... HANGZHOU QIRUI TOOLS CO..............105 5............ HUSQVARNA.......................................102 29.......... JEWELL MFG......................................116 13.......... JOHN DEERE......................................108 37.......... KING KONG TOOLS.............................122 20.......... LBX/TRIAD/BEJAC..............................113 44.......... LOG MAX...........................................125 35.......... MORBARK..........................................120 26.......... OLOFSFORS/IGGESUND......................114 9............ PAPE MACHINERY...............................104 19.......... PETERSON.........................................112 14-15..... PONSSE.............................................109 17.......... PROLENC MANUFACTURING...............110 12.......... QUADCO.............................................106 34.......... RADIATOR SUPPLY HOUSE..................119 33.......... SENNEBOGEN....................................118 36.......... SIERRA CASCADE SHOW....................121 31.......... STEEP SLOPE LOGGING CONFERENCE.117 2............ TIGERCAT / TRIAD MACHINERY...........101 43.......... WARATAH...........................................124 7............ WHITE MOUNTAIN CHAIN....................103 CALENDAR January.........................................Komatsu America February................................................... Caterpillar March......................................................... Peterson April............ LInk-Belt / Bejac Corp / Triad Machinery May.............................................Quadco Equipment June............................................ Pierce Pacific Mfg. July.......................................................Sennebogen August.............................................Nelson Paint Co. September................................Southstar Equipment October................................................... Husqvarna November......................................................Ponsse December....................................................Log Max

CLASSIFIED Andrea Masella Appointed Country Manager North America Trelleborg Agricultural and Forestry tires Trelleborg is pleased to announce that, effective October 19th, Andrea Masella was appointed to the position of Country Manager for North and Central America Agricultural and Forestry Tires for Trelleborg Wheel Systems.

www.forestnet.com

Andrea Masella graduated in engineering from the University of Rome, Italy.

His passion for the agricultural industry grew while initially working for an original equipment manufacturer and then at Trelleborg, where he has held several strategic positions in Europe and North America.

Masella says: “It is an honor for me to take on this new challenge at such an important moment for Trelleborg agricultural tires in the U.S. There are many positive things happening in the company, such as the first “Made in the USA tire” produced in our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in South Carolina. We have also successfully launched several new product lines in both original equipment and replacement channels.”

Dealers and end users can find more information about Trelleborg at www.trelleborg.com/wheels/us

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guestcolumnist

Redwood — Growing Strong

By Charlie Jourdain

F

Management

or far too long now, many in our

industry have operated with the misconception that redwood isn’t even available for sale anymore. They mistakenly believed that actions taken more than 30 years ago effectively limited our experiences with and enjoyment of redwood to the confines of protected parklands.

Availability

The truth is that redwood has never stopped growing and continues to be available as the sustainable lumber of choice for a variety of building projects. And it’s all thanks to careful forest management practices that have been in place far longer than many think.

A uniquely American-grown species, redwood trees can only thrive along a narrow strip of land that hugs the Pacific coast in Northern California. Humboldt County accounts for 20 percent of the total forest production for the entire state of California— nearly 1,500,000 acres of combined public and private forest in production. More than forty percent of all remaining old growth Coast Redwood forests, approximately 680,000 acres, grows in Humboldt County, the vast majority of which is protected or strictly conserved within dozens of national, state, and local forests and parks.

The majority of Redwood trees grown for harvesting and milling come from this area, which is subject to the world’s most stringent management and harvest practices.

Both the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) require private forestland owners to have harvest plans and management operations audited, and both set standards relating to the licensing and training of forest managers as well as broad standards for forest resource conservation.

This certification program also requires water, air, soil, and wildlife habitat resources be conserved and sites to be replanted with native species. Nearly all our product-producing redwood forests are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council or Sustainable Forestry Initiative as sources of environmentally-sound building materials.

California forestry regulations also set high standards for sustainability and resource conservation, laws considered the most stringent in the world. In fact, a study

by California Polytechnic University–San Luis Obispo found that California’s forestry regulations are as strict, or stricter, than the standards set by FSC and SFI. This conscientious habitat management and replanting means there will be plentiful forestlands to sustain the native wildlife and provide lumber for generations to come. That

Charlie Jourdain is why redwood is still available to consumers; for each redwood cut down, hundreds are being planted in its place.

Features

Today redwood is one of the most environmentally-friendly ways to build decks, fences, and some furniture. Redwood’s naturally sustainable features include: • Redwood trees are carbon negative, as they decrease carbon and then store more carbon than emitted in manufacturing.

This is far less than any plastic composite product that puts a ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

• Redwood can be refinished a number of times and is also biodegradable. Other materials can spend thousands of years in landfills.

• Redwood’s tight wood grain means it holds its shape more consistently; it is also naturally resistant to insects, disease, and even fire.

With a healthy, responsibly-maintained growing stock, redwood is well-positioned to grow with demand as more consumers become aware of the characteristics of this wood and the availability of its lumber. To learn more about the many ways redwood can be used, visit www.realstrongredwood.com.

Charlie Jourdain is President of the California Redwood Association, www.calredwood.org, TW

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TimberWest November/December 2015 www.forestnet.com

Circle Reader Service Card 124

Circle Reader Service Card 125