Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

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November 2018

SWISS STYLE LOGGING IN B.C. with remote control tower yarder operation KYAHWOOD FOREST PRODUCTS: A waste-not approach to sawmilling FOREST PLANNING TOOLS can generate big $ savings

With this issue…

The Edge!

NEW AND NOTED at the Timber Processing and Energy Expo

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ON THE COVER November 2018 Volume 49 • No. 7 Editor Paul MacDonald Contributing Editors Jim Stirling Tony Kryzanowski George Fullerton Tech Update Editor Tony Kryzanowski

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

It can take loggers time to get used to a new location when they move their equipment—new terrain, different timber, and perhaps different weather conditions. But Swiss logger Beni Brunner had to get used to a whole new country and continent when he set up logging operations in the B.C. Interior with his Valentini remote control tower yarder. Read all about Brunner’s B.C. experiences beginning on page 10 of this issue. (Cover photo

by Paul MacDonald)

Associate Publisher Anthony Robinson • (604) 990-9970 E-Mail: robinson@forestnet.com Sales Associates James Booth • (604) 506-8631 E-mail: jbooth@forestnet.com Perry Rosehill • (604) 613-3001 E-mail: rosehill@forestnet.com

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FEATURES 4

28 Hobby sawmill

A forest industry advisor recently warned wood producers that the robots are coming to American home building.

What started as a hobby sawmill operation for retired teachers June and Larry Scouten has grown into a successful business—and they can now point to hundreds of fences, decks and docks in Ontario that Scouten White Cedar has been part of creating.

Spotlight Story: The robots are coming— to home building

10 Logging in B.C., Swiss style

Swiss logger Beni Brunner has set up a remote control tower yarder operation in the B.C. Interior, and the equipment is working well in some very challenging conditions.

18 Waste-not sawmill

B.C.’s Kyahwood Forest Products has a green waste-not approach to business: it uses trim ends for its feedstock, the plant’s residuals are used for manufacturing wood pellets, and some of the sawdust generated at Kyahwood is used to heat the mill.

22 Forest planning tools can generate big $ savings

Alberta’s Millar Western Forest Products says there is the potential to save millions of dollars in its woodland operations with new forest planning tools.

DEPARTMENTS

Calendar............................................ 8 Suppliernewsline............................. 44

takes off

32 New and Noted

at Portland’s Timber Processing & Energy Expo

We take a look at what was New and Noted at the recent Timber Processing & Energy Expo (TP&EE) in Portland, Oregon.

41 The Edge

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

50 The Last Word

The forest industry faces some tough sledding with multiple challenges ahead, says Jim Stirling.

Subscriptions................................... 46 Classifieds....................................... 49 Ad Index.......................................... 49

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

3

spotlight

ROBOTSARE COMING —to home building

THE

A forest industry advisor recently warned wood producers that the robots are coming to American home building, and that steel continues to be a very real threat.

By Tony Kryzanowski

“

M

y grandchildren are almost certainly going to buy a home built in a factory and I’m hoping it will be built from wood.”

That was the concluding statement delivered by Paul Jannke, representing Massachusetts-based forest industry consulting firm Forest Economic Advisors LLC, at this year’s Alberta Forest Products Association (AFPA) annual conference held recently in Jasper.

Jannke sent a jolt through those attending the session, warning dimensional lumber producers supplying the American market about two notable macro trends that will likely have a significant impact on Canadian wood sold south of the border over the next decade.

The first is the growing trend toward off-site, robotic building construction to supply the Canadian forest industry’s bread and butter market: American single detached homes. The second is the strong consideration being given by some of these builders to using steel—instead of wood— on their production lines.

The presentations Jannke delivers to

Landmark Homes in Edmonton has been a forerunner in the adoption of robotic, off-site home building component construction.

4

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

to page 6

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spotlight from page 4 the AFPA have become a popular feature with participants, as he rarely disappoints with the depth, quality, accuracy and uniqueness of the information he shares.

Jannke outlines in detail the current state of the industry globally, as well as macro trends that likely will impact the market for wood products in the short, medium and longer terms.

After coming off historic highs of $650 per thousand board feet of benchmark 2 X 4’s in the American market last spring, prices have now dropped to about half that level. What drove those prices higher were low lumber inventories in the U.S., exacerbated by reduced supply from British Columbia due to the record number of forest fires curtailing sawmill production. The situation was made worse by a cold winter that slowed rail transportation of Canadian lumber to the U.S. There were also more American housing starts in 2018 than expected, and record amounts spent by American homeowners on renovations and remodeling.

While Jannke predicted that prices would not spike again anytime soon, there is also no recession looming on the horizon. He expects a steady and profitable year for Canadian lumber producers in 2019, with prices settling into the $400 per thousand range.

It’s what Jannke said about the lumber market in the U.S. beyond that point that really caught the audience’s attention.

There was a somewhat predictable jaded response from some in the audience who had heard about the dimension lumber industry’s demise several times over the past half-century. But the evidence that Jannke presented concerning on-the-ground trends among American builders had a certain ring of authenticity to it to make several in the audience visibly uncomfortable in their chairs.

Jannke says that the biggest challenge among developers and home builders in the United States is not housing demand.

That continues to stabilize and trend upwards. The biggest challenge is a significant construction labour shortage and this is changing how American homes will be built in future.

In short, the robots are coming.

There are 200,000 fewer American construction workers compared to historical levels. In addition to youth steering clear of construction jobs, Jannke says that the opioid crisis is also contributing to fewer construction workers. This crisis is serious and is resulting in a decline in

labor force participation, with the biggest impact being in rural areas.

The consequence of fewer construction workers in the U.S. is that more builders are opting for off-site construction. This sector is now capable of producing attractive single detached home designs as well as multi-family and commercial buildings like hotels with all the electrical and plumbing passageways cut out, and with a high degree of accuracy of modular components fitting together, within about one millimetre. All that is required are on-site assembly crews. Another attractive element to off-site versus on-site building for developers is that these structures can be erected in a matter of days, versus weeks using traditional methods.

Jannke says that builders and developers are opting for robots in factories over human on-site tradespeople, and while they are still using wood as their preferred material, that is not set in stone.

The wood industry should be concerned about that.

He pointed out why wood continues to dominate residential building construction and why off-site manufacturing will challenge that paradigm.

Wood continues to be the building material of choice for single detached homes because that is historically how they have

6

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

Robotic, off-site home building is making great strides in the U.S. because of a severe construction labour shortage. Some companies are considering the substitution of wood for steel in home building construction. been built. For decades, these homes have been hammered together on-site with framing crews and carpenters.

That will no longer be the case, given the trend toward off-site, robotic module construction.

What’s working against wood and favoring steel with off-site building construction is that robotic manufacturing using steel is well established. Robotic assembly lines in the auto industry are just one example. So, there is no historical connection in a factory environment to using wood.

Jannke says that a number of off-site builders are already complaining about the variability in wood quality from suppliers and some are openly talking about substituting a portion of their production with something other than wood, the obvious alternative being steel.

Significant capital is pouring into the off-site building construction industry in the U.S. from Silicon Valley. Billionaires who made their fortunes recognizing the power of robotic building and new communication technology now see that there is a pivotal change happening in building construction—and they want to be part of it. to page 8

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spotlight from page 6 The potential move away from using wood in building construction is not only happening in the United States because of construction labor shortages and more off-site building, but also in other key wood markets for Canadian producers, like Japan.

That said, Jannke added that what’s working in wood’s favor of continuing to dominate the single detached home market is its environmental footprint superiority over alternatives like steel. But the wood industry should take this growing trend toward off-site building with alternative building materials seriously, and be prepared to work with factory builders to ensure that they receive wood products that suit their needs. Some of these builders have even expressed a willingness to pay more for their wood, if it meets their needs.

In addition to this building trend, AFPA conference attendees spent considerable time discussing global trade, with the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and current softwood lumber tariffs being top of mind.

Given the upcoming Alberta election in 2019, there was a heightened government presence at the conference, including presentations by the province’s Agriculture and Forestry Minister, Oneil Carlier, who was in attendance throughout the entire conference, and Alberta’s Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Deron Bilous, who delivered the keynote address at the formal dinner. A number of other Members of the Legislative Assembly representing forested areas were also present.

To everyone’s relief, the federal government was able to negotiate the continued presence of the dispute resolution mechanism within the new NAFTA, which many believe will be one of the key avenues to once again address and resolve punishing American tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber.

A reality check was provided on just how important the American market is to Canadian wood producers. It was pointed out earlier in the conference that 89 per cent of Canadian wood products are shipped to the U.S. Jannke says that Canadian producers have a greater sense of urgency to want to resolve the softwood lumber tariff issue because trade

represents 31percent of the Canadian economy while trade represents only 12 percent of the American economy.

For those thinking that greater trade in wood products with China is the solution to greater Canadian wood product market diversification, Jannke says that producers should think again. Even with China engaged in a trade war where they are threatening a 25 percent tariff on Southern Yellow Pine produced in the U.S., it is not likely that Canadian producers can compete with cheaper wood products from Russia.

“It is much, much cheaper for China to buy wood from Russia than from Canada,” Jannke says. “There is much more profit to be made shipping to the U.S. market than China, even with the tariff.”

Wood products trade with China from Canada has in fact fallen significantly since 2013, which may not necessarily be a bad situation, given concerns about the Chinese economy and its significant debt.

“The Chinese economy is slowing and people on the ground there are nervous,” Jannke says.

CALENDAR January 16-18

76th Annual Truck Loggers Association Convention, Vancouver, BC 604-684-4291, www.tla.ca January 22-24

BC Natural Resource Forum, Prince George, BC 250-640-7469 www.bcnaturalresourcesforum.com January 24

Mapping the Course: Timberlands, Forest Products Processing & Fiber Conf. Vancouver, WA 503-226-4562, westernforestry.org January 29-30

Forest Nova Scotia 85th AGM, Halifax, NS 902-895-1179, www.forestns.ca January 30-31

Bois-Energie 2019, Rennes, France 33-38-486-8930, www.boisenergie.com February 4-7

Paper Week Canada 2019, Montreal, QC 514-392-0265, www.paperweekcanada.ca February 6-8

Association of BC Forest Professionals, AGM, Kamloops, BC 604-687-8027, www.abcfp.ca

8

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

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BClogging

Logging in B.C.,

Swiss style

Swiss logger Beni Brunner has set up a remote control tower yarder operation in the B.C. Interior, and the equipment is working well in some very challenging conditions.

t can take loggers time to get used to a new location when they move their equipment—new terrain, different timber, and perhaps different weather conditions.

But Swiss logger Beni Brunner had to get used to a whole new country and continent when he set up logging operations in the B.C. Interior—and he is the first to say that it has been a pretty big adjustment. And there may be some further adjustments to come, in terms of the ownership of his Valentini remote control tower yarder, and whether he will continue logging in B.C., long term.

That said, clearly Brunner and his Brunner Tower Logging Ltd. crew enjoy working in B.C. and Canada, though they are subject to bouts of homesickness from time to time. “B.C. is beautiful—and there are not so many people here,” says Brunner. “For me, as a logger, this country is a dream.”

With its size, Canada has wide open spaces and tremendous timber resources compared to Europe, which is generally very densely populated, and as a result has a smaller forest land base. In Swit-

zerland, the annual cut is 4 million cubic metres vs. the 65 million cubic metres in B.C. alone. You could pretty much fit all of Switzerland in a corner of B.C. Brunner’s interest in setting up logging operations in B.C. was twigged three years ago, when he visited his friend and colleague, Christian Volk, who had already established a logging operation in Clearwater, B.C., Volktrans-Canada Ltd. Both Volk and Brunner have logging operations in Switzerland, and had helped each other out, Brunner helping Volk with tower work, and Volk helping Brunner with conventional ground-based logging.

About 80 per cent of the work Brunner does in Switzerland is tower-related, with the balance being conventional, and some heli-logging. At times, they will do long cable logging, up to 1.8 kilometres, with intermediate towers set up. And all of the logging they do is selective logging vs. the clearcut logging that is practiced in B.C. They are very experienced in steep slope work, having done logging in a region that includes the Swiss Alps.

About two years later, Volk let Brunner know that there were opportunities for tower loggers in B.C. Gilbert Smith Forest Products, an independent forest company based in Barriere, B.C., north of Kamloops,

10

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

By Paul MacDonald

I

Swiss logger Beni Brunner (above) had to get used to a whole new country and continent when he set up logging operations in the B.C. Interior—and he is the first to say that it has been a pretty big adjustment.

BClogging was looking for tower operators (see sidebar story on page 16).

“Things happened pretty quickly from there,” explains Brunner, from the cab of his pick-up truck, at a logging site near Blue River. B.C. “I came over and toured the areas, and the blocks, with the Gilbert Smith people.”

Brunner set up logging operations in

the summer of 2017, with a brand new Italian-manufactured Valentini tower, so he now has a year-plus of B.C. logging under his belt.

Some of the differences he’s found between B.C. logging and Swiss logging have been small and subtle, others quite dramatic.

One of the changes that Brunner has

made is to his logging approach and to his equipment line-up—they’ve had to add some additional equipment. They are now working with a processor, a Volvo 2924C equipped with a Waratah 623 head, a John Deere 2054 loader and a Hyundai 3029 for hoe chucking. The hoe chucking is new to Brunner—that is something they did not include in their logging plan.

He now understands why some B.C. logging contractors have a mix of tower logging and ground-based logging equipment, to get their production numbers, and make their operations economically feasible. “That seems to work better than just doing tower work,” he says. Production can be challenging, especially in the winter months, working in snow. They were working in up to six feet of snow last winter, before they were able to move to logging in lower elevation ground.

Given the nature of tower work, they have small landings, with limited space for log sorting. And it can take time to build enough sorts for a load, which can make trucking, to say the least, a challenge. And not all truckers want to drive steep roads. to page 12

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

11

BClogging from page 11 At times, they have managed this by forwarding logs down the road, to a larger landing area.

Added to this, Brunner purchased brand new tower equipment, with the Valentini. Other tower loggers in B.C. are working with older equipment that was usually long ago paid for.

That said, Brunner and his crew were looking forward to getting into better blocks this fall that are designed for the tower—where he’s had input into the layout of the blocks. “It should work better there—that’s what I’m hoping. I’m looking forward to that because the tower is running awesome, and we are getting good production from it.”

It will be a nice block for the tower, he says. It’s a bit longer yarding, about 500 metres, and it’s a chance for the tower to really prove its stuff. The longer yarding will work well for licencee Gilbert Smith, too, as they can also build less road.

The block they were working in this past summer had a good amount of big spruce, in addition to the western red cedar that Gilbert Smith needs for its mill

Given the nature of tower work, Brunner Tower Logging has small landings, with limited space for log sorting. At times, they have managed this by forwarding logs down the road, to a larger landing area. in Barriere. A good deal of the cedar is decadent, though. “You look at that big cedar, and think it will work well for tower yarding, but a lot can break apart,” says Brunner.

“It makes the yarding pretty tough sometimes. When you have good wood, it works well. When you have a lot of rot,

you’ve got all this equipment working, and you’re not getting the volume you need.”

When he first set up in B.C., Brunner faced a lot of one-off, and time consuming, but very necessary, tasks, like getting SAFE certified, and getting WorkSafeBC to sign off on the tower equipment.

When Brunner Tower Logging made the move to B.C. with the new yarder, they were well set up for any maintenance that might be required.

“I thought it might be hard to get parts here, so we brought over a lot of parts. But now I think the parts we need for the Valentini are pretty common here,” he says.

“But I brought over a complete second remote control. If you have a problem, we can use the second remote control and send the other one back for fixing.”

Hoses took some getting used to, since Brunner and the crew were used to all metric hose sizes. They’ve since made the shift to imperial sizes.

With the Valentini yarder being brand new, they really did not expect any problems with it, and that has been the case.

Bruner said he is pleased with the tower.

“It has been working really well every day,” he says.

Even though work visas were arranged for Brunner and his small crew, he still needs additional people. And like in pretty much all of the Canadian forest industry, those people can be hard to find—and hang on to.

In Switzerland, he explained, young people will do an apprenticeship under a government program, and learn steep slope logging. “So there is a base of to page 14

12

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

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BClogging from page 12 knowledge there—when I am hiring people there, I know they have at least a little bit of experience, and we’re not starting from zero.”

And in Switzerland, employees can’t just leave jobs, and employers can’t just lay people off—each has to give at least three months’ notice. “You have security that people are going to stay with you,” he says. Contrast that with Canada and B.C. where people just don’t show up for work one day—and don’t even bother to give notice.

“It’s very frustrating,” says Brunner. “Especially in steep slope logging. You need really good people, and training people is expensive.” Working around the tower, he says, you want to have a solid crew.

“It’s much easier to find a skidder operator—it’s really hard to find a crew for tower work like this. Around the tower, you want to have a good crew of three to four guys.” With the limited amount of tower yarding done in B.C. these days, getting experienced tower guys is tough.

“I could find good workers to come over to Canada, but the problem is getting more work permits—it takes a long time.

For younger people, it’s not as complicated, they can get a work permit for a year. But for good, experienced workers, who are sometimes older, it’s very difficult to get permits for people like that.”

All this said, as of the fall, the operation was starting into better blocks, with indications that they will be able to achieve good production numbers.

And despite all the challenges, they have managed through a year of logging in B.C., though Brunner has found it very frustrating at times—perhaps too much, so. Brunner says he is now exploring all his options—including selling his tower yarder, and returning to Switzerland.

14

Lots of technology added to European yarding

T

hough Swiss logger Beni Brunner is now working in B.C. with a new tower yarder with state-of-the-art technology, the basics of tower logging remain the same, he says.

“In Europe, we used to have the same type of tower as B.C. 40 years ago. The basic tower has remained the same—but in the last 20 years, there has been a lot of technology added.”

This particular Valentini tower yarder was built specifically for North America, and is the first tracked carrier of its size, and it has some pretty nifty features.

They no longer need a chaser unhooking logs at the landing or even a dedicated tower operator, as the Valentini v1000/M/3/R has remote control. So the processor/loader operator can easily operate the machine.

The system also features an auto return carriage—the carriage automatically returns to where it came from, on the slope. It comes with a Bergwald SMU shotgunning carriage.

It features a computerized electric over hydraulic control system, hydraulic drive load sensing drums, and four Ludwig electronic chokers. It has a 37.9’ to 57.7’ hydraulic telescoping tower. Power comes from a 400 hp Fiat-Iveco engine that burns about 12 litres an hour.

The tower is equipped with leveling jacks in four corners, and a large diameter jack centered under the tower that reduces frame and tower stress.

The tower yarder is equipped with 850 metres of 26 mm skyline, 900 mm of 14 mm mainland line, 1800 metres of 14 mm haulback line, and 1600 metres of 6 mm strawline. It has an operating weight

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

This particular Valentini tower yarder was built specifically for North America, and has some pretty nifty features. of 45,000 kgs, and working capacity of 8,000 kg.

Brunner clearly made a significant equipment investment, with the intent on making the system work here. “I believe this tower is the right equipment for Canada.”

But he also says logging rates have to reflect the investment, and sometimes less than high production due to tough ground or conditions.

Brunner notes they’ve been flexible, and have made adjustments to their operations during the year they’ve been operating in B.C. “We’re learning every day, and thinking of how to do things differently to make the operation work better.”

He says that the B.C. industry could benefit significantly from doing more long cable yarding, with big savings due to less road having to be built. But the challenge remains logging rates: they have to be right to justify the equipment investment.

To say that the ground is steep in this part of B.C. is an understatement.

A visit to the Gilbert Smith Forest Products logging operations and you understand why high elevation heli-skiing is such a big business in this region. For the company, working in the ‘steep and deep’ is a given.

For Gilbert Smith Forest Products, steep ground is a given

F

or Gilbert Smith Forest Products, a family-run forest company with a Western Red Cedar sawmill in the town of Barriere, about 70 kilometres north of Kamloops, B.C., logging in steep slopes is second nature.

Some licencees in the B.C. Interior directed their harvesting efforts towards lower elevation wood during the downturn, and doing mountain pine beetle salvage work. But for Gilbert Smith, that wasn’t an option—they needed cedar to keep their sawmill running.

“We still needed access to cedar,” explained Glenn Foss, former forestry manager at the company, which has operated its sawmill in Barriere for more than 40 years. “Throughout the beetle era and all the salvage and lower elevation work that was going on, we never left the high elevation ground. We never lost our expertise, and we maintained a tower operation, sometimes two, in our contractor pool.

“If anything, we doubled up on what we were doing in steep slopes,” says Foss.

“A lot of companies were out salvaging pine, but we had to make sure we logged our quota, so we could get the cedar to run our mill.”

To say that the ground is steep in this part of B.C. is an understatement. A visit to their operations and you understand why high elevation heli-skiing is such a big business in this region.

“For us, working in steep slopes is just what we do,” Foss says. “Working in the ‘steep and deep’ is a given.”

In recent years, they worked with a solid cable contractor and crew. But that said, it was clear that more yarders and experienced people were exiting the industry. Some simply were retiring, while others converted to conventional ground equipment.

The company then did some work with tethered equipment, such as the ClimbMAX, but the ground proved too rocky and slope stability was an issue. So they knew that they would still need a tower contractor to work in the rocky and wet steep ground. “The tethered equipment are great tools—but there is no silver bullet for taking over from towers, and I don’t think there ever will be,” says Foss.

They sought out local contractors to do the tower work. “But we were not successful in finding anyone local.

“So out of necessity, we had to look further afield,” says Foss.

It was around that time that Beni Brunner started talking to the company about setting up cable yarding operations in B.C., expanding from his base in Switzerland.

Though it has been a challenge for Brunner, Foss said that the Italian-made Valentini V1000/M/3/R yarder that Brunner is using has a number of safety advantages

16

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

over its Canadian counterparts, including: --A remote control system on the yarder and remote chokers have reduced the amount of exposure hours per cubic metre vs. a conventional tower --The yarder can be operated by the processor or loaderman on the landing --The hooktender controls the carriage upon approach, and controls the dropline out in the bush. There is no need for a Talkie-Tooter system. The hooktender sends the signal for the carriage to return to the landing, once safely cleared.

--The system has pre-set carriage return speeds and locations --There are variable preset speeds to accommodate slowing for intermediate supports, in long line yarding --Only one remote can have control of the system at any time; control must be passed off.

In terms of environmental benefits, there can be reduced road density doing long yarding, reduced soil disturbance, and more access to timber.

Overall, Foss described the Valentini yarder as the “Cadillac of tower yarders”.

While it has been a struggle for Brunner and his crew, Foss has great admiration for their determination. “They know that the tower is designed to produce a certain amount of cubic metres of wood a day, and they are not satisfied if they are not producing it.”

BCsawmilling

Waste-not sawmill B.C.’s Kyahwood Forest Products has a green waste-not approach to business: it uses trim ends for its feedstock, the plant’s residuals are used for manufacturing wood pellets, and some of the sawdust generated at Kyahwood is used to heat the mill.

Marie Boivin is senior office manager for Kyahwood Forest Products Ltd., and co-manager of the company with Stan Morris Jr. (above). Kyahwood manufactures finger jointed stud lumber, the majority of which is exported to the U.S.

18

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

By Jim Stirling

T

it-for-tat tariffs, sub-plots and even some negotiations highlighted the 2018 mid-summer scenario surrounding the efforts to reach a new North American Free Trade Agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada.

Awaiting in the wings is the emergence of a new softwood lumber agreement between Canada and the U.S. It all seems a very long way away from the small, predominantly First Nation community of Moricetown alongside the Bulkley River in west central British Columbia. But it’s not. It would be hard to find a more forest-dependent community than Moricetown.

Kyahwood Forest Products Ltd., is by far the largest employer in the area, about 30 kilometres west of Smithers. Kyahwood is wholly owned by the Witset Nation and manufactures finger jointed stud lumber, the majority of which is exported to the U.S. “Right now we have 58 people working at Kyahwood and three salaried staff.

About 98 per cent of those people are aboriginal,” points out Marie Boivin, senior office manager for Kyahwood and co-manager of the company with Stan Morris Jr. Most of Kyahwood’s 58 employees are breadwinners for their families, significantly underpinning the economic security of Moricetown and its surrounding areas.

The U.S. lumber market has been buoyant, but it is beginning to show signs of stabilizing. The strong market has so far helped Kyahwood survive the imposition by the U.S. International Trade Commission of duties on Canadian softwood lumber imports. The U.S. alleges the imports are materially hurting U.S. lumber companies despite U.S. production breaking records. Appeals have been launched

by Canada, but the duties continue to be levied. The duties affect every Canadian forest company exporting softwood lumber into U.S. markets.

Smaller companies—like Kyahwood— have a proportionately tougher time handling the U.S. imposed duties.

“For our classification as a finger jointing plant, we face countervailing duties of about 14 per cent and anti-dumping duties of about six per cent (in round numbers),” said Boivin. “It’s been a challenge.

The duties take away the cash flows we need.” to page 20

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

19

BCsawmilling Trim ends for Kyahwood come from Canfor Houston’s planer in lengths from seven inches to 24 inches. They are loaded onto trucks aided by moving floors for the highway journey to Moricetown.

Kyahwood’s infeed system unscrambles and singulates the blocks into lugs for progress through the process. A scanning system helps determine trimming requirements, explained Kyahwood’s Boivin, and there’s a DelTech pocket edger for those blocks requiring it. The blocks are assigned to one of the operation’s 13 storage bins.

Most of the blocks will be finger jointed into 2 X 4 and 2 X 6 studs in lengths up to 12 feet, she continued. Some 2 X 3 product is also manufactured for use as trailer stock. The manufacturing plant has the flexibility to remanufacture blocks with imperfections into shorter lengths and/ or higher grades. “Nothing goes to waste here,” she added.

The finger jointing readying process continues with cutting fingers into both sides of each block prior to applying glue and pressing together. Kyahwood’s finger jointing machine was manufactured by Western Pneumatics in Eugene, Oregon, which also supplied the operation’s table

from page 19 Kyahwood has proven itself a survivor.

Not that it’s always been easy. It’s endured changes in ownership, periods of closure and a punitive U.S. lumber market before.

The manufacturing facility has also undergone significant improvements to reduce costs while improving productivity, grading accuracy and recovery. Kyahwood Forest Products became an entity in 1995. It was part of a joint venture with then-Northwood Pulp & Timber, and it manufactured finger jointed lumber and other remanufactured wood products.

Canfor Corp., acquired Northwood, but continued the joint venture agreement with Kyahwood until 2007. Since then, the Witset Nation has owned and operated Kyahwood Forest Products.

Canfor, however, continues to play an essential role in Kyahwood’s operation.

The feedstock for Kyahwood’s finger joint operation still comes from Canfor’s planer operation in Houston, about 95 kilometres to the southeast. A sales and marketing agreement with Canfor for Kyahwood’s products has proved beneficial to both parties.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

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BCsawmilling downstream, where boards are precision end trimmed to desired specifications.

They don’t usually run the finger joint machine at maximum lug per minutes speed, pointed out Boivin. “We tend toward the slow and steady approach to keep offgrade reduced.” The manufacturing plant’s workers are also rotated between machine centres to reduce negative repetition issues.

The glue is allowed to set for about 24 hours before the product is wrapped, labelled and shipped outside. Kyahwood’s finger jointed studs are desirable for their dimensional stability and straightness. In 2017, Kyahwood sent nearly 13.5 million board feet of product to market. “In 2018, the company had shipped 7 million board feet by the end of June,” notes Boivin.

Continuing with its green waste-not approach to business, Kyahwood tries to ensure everything produced in or by the plant finds a market. The plant’s residuals are trucked back to Houston, where they are used by the Pinnacle Pellet manufacturing plant located there. The Witset Nation has a 10 per cent ownership stake in the Houston pellet plant and Canfor is also a partner in the operation.

Kyahwood has proven itself a survivor in the forest industry, but it has not been easy, as it’s had to endure changes in ownership and periods of closure. But the manufacturing facility has undergone significant improvements to reduce costs while improving productivity, grading accuracy and recovery.

Some of the sawdust generated at Kyahwood is used to heat the plant, while its economy grade lumber finds a home in China.

Kyahwood is a relatively small plant, but its accomplishments are large. It’s exporting a valuable wood product to

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

the U.S. manufactured from a residual material; it provides essential jobs and industrial experience to a predominantly aboriginal community—and the company provides benefits to the province in the process and an object lesson in wood fibre utilization.

21

forestmanagement

The AFRIDS forest inventory planning platform allows woodlands employees at Millar Western, like GIS analyst Chad St.Amand, to access visual forest inventory data on tablets or smart phones in the field.

Forest planning tools can generate

BIG $ SAVINGS Alberta’s Millar Western Forest Products says there is the potential to save millions of dollars in its woodland operations with new forest planning tools.

By Tony Kryzanowski hen a well-established and respected forest company like Alberta-based Millar Western Forest Products Ltd says it has made an investment in new forest planning technology that has the potential to save millions of dollars, the rest of the industry pays attention.

According to Chad St.Amand, a GIS analyst at Millar Western, the company is likely to achieve significant improvements to its bottom line thanks to its AFRIDS forest planning and decision support platform. AFRIDS stands for Advanced

Forest Resource Inventory Decision Support Tool.

AFRIDS, along with its cost planning module, is marketed by Lim Geomatics Inc. and was developed as a result of feedback from the company’s forestry clients.

“Spreadsheets have been the way to do operational planning, but spreadsheets don’t have a spatial component to them,” explains St.Amand. “It’s just a bunch of numbers. That’s the big difference with the AFRIDS’ world because it is a Webbased, visual tool. The value estimations are very quick. I can produce results in half-an-hour, where it took days to produce similar results without the tool.”

22

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

W

St.Amand emphasizes that AFRIDS will not replace established Trimble Forestry GIS-based planning tools, but supplement them. He says that the strength in AFRIDS and its cost planning module is the ability to upload spatial harvest blocks and quickly calculate the most profitable way to get the right wood to the right mill, and the end product to the consumer.

“That quick cost comparison and understanding the cause and effect is a huge value that Millar Western, and others, are going to see,” says St.Amand, who to page 24

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forestmanagement from page 22 previously used AFRIDS while working at another forestry company. He brought that knowledge and experience to Millar Western.

Millar Western manages between 300 and 400 harvest blocks a year, and St.Amand says that there is a real opportunity to realize impressive cost savings with AFRIDS, even at a medium-sized firm like Millar Western. However, he recognizes that the company is quite small compared to other major companies within the Canadian forest sector. If applied at some of the industry’s larger forest planning operations, their savings could be exponentially greater.

Not only has AFRIDS proven its value in improving harvesting and transportation efficiency, but it is also assisting with the delicate balancing act of planning forest operations in and around sensitive habitat, in compliance with government requirements. With AFRIDS, Millar Western can quickly develop cause-and-effect scenarios according to provincial habitat management plans, which helps in choosing effective strategies that balance the

needs of different species like caribou with those of the industry.

Millar Western has been using AFRIDS for just over a year and the cost planning module for about six months. Previously, they were working almost exclusively with Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. St.Amand says that AFRIDS has become a vital tool for employees at the company.

Millar Western operates sawmills in Whitecourt and Fox Creek, as well as a BCTMP pulp mill in Whitecourt. It also recently purchased Spruceland Millworks, a producer of specialty wood products located west of Edmonton, in Acheson, Alberta.

St.Amand says that including AFRIDS into the Millar Western forest inventory planning mix has caused a bit of a culture change, but staff and management are recognizing the benefits quickly.

“The easiest comparison that you can make with AFRIDS is Google Maps,” says St.Amand. “People have embraced Google Maps very quickly—it doesn’t matter your age or who you are. It doesn’t take long to understand what Google Maps is trying to do. AFRIDS falls into that same category.”

Millar Western GIS analyst Chad St.Amand says that learning to work with AFRIDS either in the office or in the field is as easy as learning how to use Google Maps.

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forestmanagement Built on the SRI ArcGIS platform, Lim Geomatics says that AFRIDS has the ability to unlock the power of LiDAR data and imagery with an easy-to-use interface that’s accessible anywhere with an Internet connection. LiDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, is well known in the forest industry as a remote sensing tool that uses infrared laser pulses transmitted from an aircraft to map the surface of the earth and those features found on it, which is presented as a three dimensional point cloud of the landscape below. LiDAR can present precise horizontal and vertical dimensions of a forest cutblock, making it possible to calculate height and diameter of trees, which can then be used to calculate fibre volume. Aerial photography is less accurate because it is limited to delivering only a visual image of the top of the forest canopy. Lim Geomatics says AFRIDS, combined with a forest inventory produced from LiDAR, can deliver volume estimates with up to 95 per cent accuracy.

There have been significant advances over the past two decades in how LiDAR data is captured. Twenty years ago, point data was captured at a rate of 2,000 laser

pulses per second. Now, due to technological advances, it is more like 300,000 laser pulses per second. The level of detail has also improved exponentially, evolving from 10 points per square metre to as much as 300 points per square metre.

Lim Geomatics helped Millar Western do the necessary modeling and analysis for 2.5 million hectares to create an advanced forest inventory from LiDAR data.

With that data uploaded and staff trained in the use of AFRIDS, the cost planning module was added.

The results being experienced by Millar Western do not surprise Kevin Lim, President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Lim Geomatics. He says that any forest company can duplicate what Millar Western and others have achieved, adding that industry interest has caught fire.

“Currently, there is not a day that goes by where someone doesn’t reach out to us, wanting to understand how our technology can help their forestry business address some of those pain points of data sharing, how to collaborate with internal

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

25

to page 26

forestmanagement

The AFRIDS platform supplemented by its cost planning module allows Millar Western woodlands personnel to perform work that would have previously taken days in just a few hours. The company says applying this technology has the potential to save it millions of dollars.

stakeholders and external contractors, automate work flows etc,” says Lim. What gratifies him these days is that after more than a decade of promoting this LiDAR-based forest management planning tool, the Canadian forest industry is finally coming around in a big way to recognize the value of what today’s powerful planning tools can bring to a forest company.

The goal of the AFRIDS platform and add-ons like the cost planning module is to help foresters avoid getting caught up in the weeds of technology and help them to do their work.

Lim is in a unique position, having written his PhD related to LiDAR technology and its potential application in forestry.

His academic work in the fields of GIS and remote sensing at Queen’s University, University of Waterloo and University of Guelph led to the incorporation of Lim Geomatics in 2006. The company now has LiDAR-based products all around the world.

In the bigger picture, what the Millar Western example is demonstrating is the promise of LiDAR working in combination with advancements in more powerful and easier-to-use computers and GIS systems.

As more tech savvy employees enter the workforce, Lim says younger workers

well-acquainted with the power of tablets and smart phones are eager to work with new forest planning tools that work on devices familiar to them.

“In the past, it was very difficult to get map data onto the Internet,” says Lim. “Today, that data is published on the Web and you just decide who you want to share it with, and they can consume it with their browser, their Smartphone or their tablet.”

While forest companies often deal with service providers where the forest sector is only part of their business, the forest sector has historically represented as much as 80 per cent of Lim Geomatics’ business. To date, it has produced 26 million hectares of forest inventory using LiDAR, which it believes is the most of any company in the world.

Speaking with Lim, it’s clear that he is well aware of what LiDAR can offer and where it has its limitations. He says that the information provided by LiDAR will never fully replace boots-on-the ground.

For companies to generate the data needed to make good forest management and business decisions, it takes the combination of both. However, the role of people working at ground level is redefined when working with AFRIDS. Lim readily admits that one of the shortcomings of using LiDAR for area-

26

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

from page 25

based forest inventories is its inability to differentiate between individual tree species, as typically the sampling point intensity is not geared towards analyses at the individual tree level, but stand level.

Instead, wood species information from existing inventories, such as Vegetation Resources Inventory (VRI), can be leveraged to allocate volume to species. For conifer and deciduous species groupings, LiDAR does a fairly good job of being able to tell the difference between a stand of poplar and a stand of pine.

Lim says that the company’s LiDARbased technology is playing an important role as a tool to encourage growth and investment within the bioeconomy. Because of its ability to accurately predict forest inventory volumes and above ground biomass, employing this technology makes it easier to identify forest resources more suitable for bioenergy products when making business cases for facilities like bioenergy power and wood pellet plants.

In addition to Millar Western, some other North American companies using the Lim Geomatics AFRIDS technology for their forest inventory planning include American Forest Management, Tembec, which is now owned by Rayonier Advanced Materials, Tolko and Weyerhaeuser.

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smallsawmilling

Scouten White Cedar deals exclusively with white cedar logs harvested in Ontario. They cut the logs into various sized rough boards, dress them and sell the results to homeowners and contractors.

HOBBY SAWMILL TAKES OFF What started as a hobby sawmill operation for retired teachers June and Larry Scouten has grown into a successful business—and they can now point to hundreds of fences, decks and docks in Ontario that Scouten White Cedar has been part of creating.

By Heather Hudson nyone who knows June and Larry Scouten will tell you that they aren’t the type to take it easy in their golden years.

The couple managed a 150-acre farm in the Smiths Falls, Ontario area, about 80 kilolmetres southwest of Ottawa, complete with 100 head of beef cattle, while both were teaching high school full-time and raising a family. Their retirement in

the early 2000s didn’t stick the first time; a shortage of science and math teachers drew them back to the classroom for a few more years.

And as they prepared for true retirement, selling some of the farm material and 50 acres of their land, the project unearthed a second act that neither saw coming—but made perfect sense for the industrious couple.

“The 50-acre lot we sold had some cedar bush on the border line and the

28

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

A

buyer didn’t want our cows in his front yard—so we had to build a fence as part of the deal,” explained June. After cutting down some of the cedar and building the fence, they had the logs converted to boards and tossed them into their farm sale. Unexpectedly, the boards proved very popular with buyers.

“We put two and two together: cedar lasts a long time and people like to buy cedar boards. We started to think cedar would be a very useful product.”

The Scoutens began scouring their remaining 100 acres and cutting down white cedar trees damaged from the 1998 ice storm that ravaged parts of eastern Ontario and Quebec. They had no trouble selling their findings to folks in the area who were keen to use them as posts and rails for fencing.

As satisfying as the work was for “people who like to make use of stuff,” they realized their new hobby was dangerous work. “Basically, it didn’t bring in a lot of money and it was quite risky to be felling these trees and still keep all your body parts intact,” said June. “That’s what got us into establishing a mill, buying equipment and dealing with the milling of logs.”

Today, the two run the successful Scouten White Cedar, a milling company that deals exclusively with white cedar logs harvested in Ontario. They cut the logs into various sized rough boards, dress them and sell the results to homeowners and contractors in Ontario and, occasionally, northern New York State.

The Scoutens’ choice of wood originally came from what was close at hand but, in time, they began to understand and appreciate the unique value of white cedar. “The true value of cedar is that it stands the test of time in conditions that would cause rot in a lot of other woods,” said June.

White cedar is an evergreen softwood common in the northeastern U.S., southern and northern Ontario. It grows mainly in rocky and wet areas and has a wide fibrous root system which allows it to cling to rocky, difficult areas where hardwoods cannot grow. It matures to roughly 50 feet. Its natural oils protect against rot, moisture and insects—making it a historically popular wood for cabins. June says it’s no accident that many long-standing barns in their area are made from cedar logs—and are still standing decades later.

Anyone who knows June and Larry Scouten will tell you that they aren’t the type to take it easy in their golden years. “We can’t sit around all day,” says June (above).

“You need a reason to get up in the morning or you won’t live very long. The mill gets us moving and we really enjoy it.”

The Scoutens’ customers have discovered that white cedar is ideal for a range of outdoor structures, including decks, docks, fences, sheds, gazebos, picnic tables, saunas, chairs and roofing. June says they also mill it for indoor paneling, wainscoting, ceilings and floors.

As a local product, it’s also a more cost-effective choice for central and eastern Canadians than Western Red Cedar (grown and milled on the west coast).

And the size of white cedar is particularly suited to a mid-size operation with an artisanal sensibility like Scouten White Cedar.

“The red cedar is a bigger tree than white, so automated machinery can cut red cedar logs quite efficiently. With a smaller log, like white cedar, you have to be more careful. Generally, it takes a knowledgeable sawyer to get the most out of a particular log,” said June.

“We’re doing that all the time, looking and measuring and trying to figure

out how to get the most out of each log.

That’s why the big box stores rarely sell white cedar. They can’t get a large, dependable, high-quality supply. And we do strive for quality—the knots are very solid and attractive. We also sell clear cedar with no knots.”

For years, Scouten White Cedar was supplied by a Sault Ste. Marie company, but today they work exclusively with smaller suppliers within 150 kilometres of their home and business. Getting sufficient quality wood hasn’t been a challenge so far, but they’re realistic about potential hazards like market variables and government regulations that could present problems in the future. “You never take anything for granted,” says June.

As the orders came flooding in, the Scoutens upgraded their hobby tools for more industrial-grade machinery, including

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

29

to page 30

smallsawmilling from page 29

The Scoutens cut logs into various sized boards using two Wood-Mizer LT15 electric band saws. They recently added a Cantek HP-345T tilting head resaw to their machinery line, which has quickly become an important piece of equipment.

a Silver SF-4020AH moulder that transforms rough boards into finished fence board, deck board, tongue and groove, channel board, balusters and more.

The Scoutens cut logs into varioussized boards using two Wood-Mizer LT15 electric band saws.

They recently added a Cantek HP345T tilting head resaw to their machinery line, which has quickly become an important piece of equipment because they can safely cut thick boards such as a 4 x 4 x 8 into 4 pieces of 1 x 4 x 8. The hydraulic hold-downs hold the board securely so the cut is consistent.

“Because it tilts, we can also produce beautiful beveled cedar siding, with either a planed or rough surface, with or without a rabbet.”

When it comes to the mill’s accommodations, a structure they’d used to repair tractors and farm machinery was converted into the main building of the mill. It’s been modified a few times over the years to adapt to the needs of the machinery. “The moulding machine has to be kept warm or it won’t lubricate—

30

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

and then won’t operate—so we had to enclose part of the building and insulate and heat it with a propane furnace. We also had to build an addition to house the space to run 16-foot boards in one side and out the other,” explains June.

An 80-year-old “good old-fashioned barn” was repurposed to house one of the bandsaws; the hayloft is used to dry the boards. A birthing area for cows is now a storage area for lumber, in addition to a round bale barn that also holds drying boards. June acknowledges that if they’d had to build or buy their mill from scratch, things would have been much more difficult.

Larry’s engineering education and their hands-on skills in science have made up for their initial inexperience with running a mill. Still, June says the learning curve has been steep at times, particularly when it came to that moulding machine. They learned, “you’ll quickly be up to your eyeballs in shavings” if you don’t collect them, so Larry designed a custom collector for the shavings, which blows them into round bale bags. They sell the shavings to farmers to use as dry bedding for animals. Even the slab wood is bundled with steel bands and sold for kindling.

Scouten White Cedar customers are an even mix between homeowners and contractors. Although most customers use white cedar boards for outdoor fencing, decks and indoor flooring, some of the Scouten white cedar logs are being put to inventive use. A Penetanguishene, Ontario business uses their white cedar for structural foundations called cribs that can be filled with rocks and laid in water.

A Sudbury company built a realistic giant fort in a playground out of Scouten wood.

And there are some massive shelters for picnic tables built by a Kingston company —complete with Scouten’s intricate beveled roofing—at a horse riding establishment in Ottawa. A visitor from England loved them so much, he ordered four just like them. “It’s exciting to know that our cedar roofing has been to England. It blows my mind all the things people use cedar for,” said June.

The growth of the business has been customer driven and June expects it will stay that way.

Today, three full-time employees work with machinery and help get orders together. The Scoutens expect to expand a little, depending on the market. Their informative website (www.scoutenwhitecedar.ca) has captured the interest of many new customers.

smallsawmilling “We’d like to do another 10 years. We can still operate well and we like what we’re doing. Milling is good for us physically and mentally. And it’s satisfying to be able to point to hundreds of fences, decks and docks in Ontario that we’ve been part of creating. We also enjoy helping

customers who appreciate natural products like we do.

“We can’t sit around all day,” says June.

“You need a reason to get up in the morning or you won’t live very long. The mill gets us moving and we really enjoy it.”

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As the orders came flooding in, the Scoutens upgraded their hobby tools for more industrial-grade machinery, including a Silver SF-4020AH moulder that transforms rough boards into finished fence board, deck board, tongue and groove, channel board, balusters and more.

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industryevents

New and Noted at Timber Processing & Energy Expo

By Tony Kryzanowski

T

he Timber Processing & Energy Expo was recently held in Portland, Oregon, featuring new machinery and technologies from the industry’s leading equipment manufacturers and suppliers, with over 100,000 square feet of exhibition space at the Portland Exposition Center.

Here are some of the highlights from Logging and Sawmilling Journal’s attendance, support and reporting of the TP&EE.

BID Group unveils new Variable Tool Opening debarker

Described as the first true debarking innovation in decades, the BID Group presented its new Variable Tool Opening (VTO) debarker at TP&EE, offered through its COMACT subsidiary.

BID Group says that the VTO offers ultra-high speed and unmatched results in removing bark, while minimizing tear-out and damage to logs.

It has all-electric actuation with no air seal, which contributes to a much higher rim speed.

The result is more feet processed per minute. BID Group says that VTO offers the highest possible debarking speeds in today’s market.

It also features a closed loop servo arm control.

A log optimizer installed on the front end of the VTO measures incoming log diameters to pre-position debarker arms to match log profiles as they enter the debarker, resulting in reduced bark content in chips.

The VTO also features a flare butt reducer module with four hour-glass shaped chip heads. The module is capable of working at the same speed as the debarker. www.thebidgroup.ca/products/comact/

New Autolog GEN 3 log optimizer available in January

Autolog’s new GEN 3 log optimizer will be available in January.

The company offered a live demonstration of the unit at TP&EE. It can scan density to 1/2” at 650 ft/min.

It can also replicate any curve sawing from a downstream machine and offers live simulation to compare side by side solutions from live production logs, optimized with different parameters.

32

This provides the advantage of better optimized sawing solutions.

An easy comparison tool allows users to analyze multiple simulation results and choose the best solution.

The operator also has the option of choosing a solution based on a risk factor, such as rotation error.

Mechanical log movement is minimized by using the last solution, controlled by a maximum loss factor.

The GEN 3 log optimizer will work with all types of optimized primary log breakdown units, such as log turning, log sorting, chipper canter, twin, quad, etc. www.autolog.com

Signode BXT3 hand-held plastic strap tensioner is user friendly with wide tension range

Signode’s battery-powered, BXT3 hand-held plastic strap tensioner works in a wide range of applications, from situations where minimal tension is required to higher tension requirements.

The BXT3 has an intuitive user interface that allows for quick setting adjustments to accommodate production changes quickly and easily. For pressuresensitive packages, tension levels can be adjusted by pressing a button.

A built-in strap alignment indicator confirms that the strap is inserted and aligned properly before tensioning, minimizing the occurrence of misaligned strap joints. A real-time indication of applied tension provides further confirmation of accurate cycling.

Signode says that a perfectly balanced design, coupled with one-button operation and touchpad adjustments, makes the BXT3 simple to operate. www.signode.com

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

to page 34

REBATES! Brandt is offering customers special rebates on equipment throughout the year.

Visit thanksabillion.ca for details.

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industryevents from page 32

Bruks Siwertell air elevated conveyer eliminates idlers and reduces maintenance

The newly-merged entity of Bruks Siwertell introduced its new innovative enclosed conveyor design called the Belt Conveyor at TP&EE, providing a mitigation measure to the issue of dust generation in mills.

The Belt Conveyor is composed of a standard belt supported on a bed of pressurized air over a formed steel trough. This new design eliminates idlers and all the maintenance issues associated with traditional conveyor designs.

The company says most importantly, this innovative design eliminates the safety and environmental issues caused by dust, and mitigates housekeeping that is commonly generated by other conveyor designs.

The Belt Conveyor is described as a simple cradle system that supports the formed carrying trough and covers. A central air manifold provides the air pressure to suspend the belt. www.thebeltconveyor.com

JoeScan honours contest winner Galloway Lumber

At JoeScan’s TP&EE booth, a group of sawmill industry leaders gathered to toast Galloway Lumber, the winner of the Longest Running JoeScan contest. The announcement ended the months-long search for the longest continually operating JoeScan 3D laser scanner.

With champagne and beer glasses held high, marketing manager Brad Michael and JoeScan founder and president Joey Nelson spoke to the crowd packed around their booth.

During the ceremony, Nelson identified the winning scan head. “This is really special because it’s the very first JoeScan ever installed. It’s still running great, almost sixteen years later.”

The winning scanner first went to work on the bucking line at 34

Galloway’s British Columbia sawmill in February of 2003, or just over 5700 days ago.

“If this isn’t a testament to our ‘Made for Sawmills’ motto, I don’t know what is,” Michael said.

Although there was only one winner in the contest, JoeScan was quick to acknowledge all of the sawmills and systems integrators that have worked with them over the years. “From our oldest partners to our newest friends, you’re the reason we’re here today,” Michael said. “Here’s to sixteen more years of successful sawmill scanning.” www.JoeScan.com

Metal Detectors Inc’s MP5000-X elevates metal detection sensitivity

Metal pieces and wood processing equipment don’t mix.

Metal Detectors Inc (MDI) now offers its new MP5000-X digital search coil with new coil geometry for improved stability, clean target signals and improved sensitivity.

It delivers higher signal resolution which improves sensitivity and superior target identification and discrimination, along with expanded environmental interference rejection, and greater stability in extreme temperatures.

MDI has integrated its popular phase calibration board in the MP5000-X, which the company says now makes calibration a breeze. www.mdiblue.com

Brunette features CBI Magnum Force horizontal grinder

In addition to their exhibit area inside, Brunette Machinery displayed the new CBI Magnum Force Stationary electric horizontal grinder/chipper outside the front entrance of the TP&EE. The machine features interchangeable rotors for either grinding or chipping, a large open-ended feed conveyor for long length material and a unique “Intelligrind Variable Feed System”

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

to page 36

548/548 LL FOREST MACHINE

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WHEEL FELLER BUNCHERS

TRACK HARVESTERS

TRACK FELLER BUNCHERS

The new 548/548 LL Forest Machines set a new standard with enhanced performance coupled with ultimate machine efficiency.

Cat® proven components, purpose-built upper and lower frames, and application specific linkage configurations increase machine up time. Key features include: • Increased swing torque and lift capacity provides additional power to move trees

• 336 size, grease lubricated tracks, provide excellent life in variable working conditions

• Larger hydraulic pumps allow increased performance and maximum efficiency

• New premium rear entry cab and side entry cab enhancements improve operator experience

Look to your Cat dealer for financing and all the machines you need for sustainable harvesting and land management, forestry road construction, hauling and millyard. Total support from one source. www.cat.com/forestry

© 2018 Caterpillar. All Rights Reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, BUILT FOR IT, their respective logos, “Caterpillar Yellow,” the “Power Edge” trade dress as well as corporate and product identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission. www.cat.com www.caterpillar.com

industryevents from page 34 that automatically adjusts the feed speed of the planetary hightorque feed roller motors for continuous feed based on load. The Intelligrind communication system, with radio remote control, provides real-time system diagnostics, performance measurements, and operating program adjustments. It also monitors fluid levels, temperatures, pressure and issues alerts when needed.

With extreme duty frame fabrication and a design engineered for long wear life and easy maintenance, the CBI Magnum Force grinder/chipper offers the lowest cost of operation available, says the company. www.brunettemc.com

Key Knife ILS guide alignment system delivers multiple sawing benefits

With Key Knife’s ILS guide alignment system, water blocks are adjusted on a spherical surface for precise 360° adjustment, ensuring exact 90° alignment of guides to arbor. Benefits include increased recovery by eliminating a saw step, increased lumber quality by reducing lumber deviation, increased production by reducing saw changes and eliminating midshift changes, prolonged saw and guide life, and quick and easy guide alignment. The system is custom designed and manufactured to each machine’s specifications, and works with single, double and quad saw systems. www.keyknife.com

Raptor Integration Log Profiler X auto grader offers scanning and machine learning

Raptor Integration offers custom scanning and control systems, employing an array of X-ray, vision, and laser technologies throughout the sawmill and planer mill with the goal of producing the highest lumber grade and value possible.

The company’s Log Profiler X uses RemaSawco’s unique dual plane scanning technique with movement compensation to scan logs with high precision.

Movement compensation ensures that vibration and sideways log movement do not influence the measurement accuracy.

The result is an accurate 3-D model of each log. With the real 3D shape of the log, Raptor Integration says that X-ray, visual and under bark measurement accuracy is raised to a new level.

The Log Profiler X is an X-ray measurement system with 3D true shape modeling, movement compensation, visual scanning and under bark measurement.

Its software features metal detection, bucking optimization, 36

primary breakdown optimization, species identification, scaling and supplier revenue calculation, and log sorting. www.raptorint.ca

Miller electric drive planer designed with ruggedness and durability in mind The Miller planer is a high-speed, ribbon feed system that is capable of planing at speeds over 3000 ft/min.

This electric drive planer is said to be very robust and was designed for ease of maintenance. Miller says that it is also very operator friendly, as the bottom planer rolls can be leveled, aligned and removed from the side of the machine.

The infeed and planer system offer axial servo positioning in

12 positions and this is accomplished with electric servo actuators and tensioning from pneumatic cylinders.

Electric servo setworks control the top, left, and right cutterheads and the main bed plate.

The planer is capable of top, bottom, left and right side head auto jointing. www.millermfginc.com

Promac rolls aim for improved log control and maintenance time savings

The Promac Group offers log turner and infeed rolls that aim for better log control and easier maintenance.

Their hourglass rolls achieve better log control with easy to maintain hold down rolls. For maintenance ease, the rolls are designed with the ability to change teeth without changing the entire roll. When the teeth wear, it is also possible to simply flip

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

to page 38

industryevents from page 36 them over to extend their use. Also, during this maintenance procedure, there is no need to remove the roll from the pivot arm, thus saving the bearings and time.

With Promac’s log-turner spiked rolls, there is no need to remove log turner spiked rolls out of the frame, which also saves

time, money and bearings. These spiked log-turner rolls fit any length, diameter or hub.

They feature Promac’s popular B-loc hubs, spikes are hardened to RC 50-54, and every spike is threaded with Red Loctite. www.promacgroup.ca

38

Royal Cylinders launches new electric cylinders

Royal actuators, offered by Westcoast Cylinders in New Westminster, B.C., have been used in heavy duty applications in the resource sector since 1960. Recently, the company launched its new E-series electric roller screw, describing it as the strongest electric cylinder on the market.

Royal says that electric actuators offer a number of performance benefits compared to hydraulic and pneumatic actuators.

These include higher positional accuracy; direct control of the actuator without external influences as each actuator is independently controlled; it eliminates fluid leaks; it has high energy efficiency as energy is only consumed during operation and not while idling; very high stiffness, thus eliminating bounce or give during operation; low maintenance needs; and, less noise for quieter operation.

The Royal E-series electric roller screw has a solid, one piece output shaft for maximum strength and flawless finish, described as the strongest shaft on the market. In addition, the unit utilizes a bronze scraper to remove any accumulated debris on the output shaft in order to prevent internal contamination.

It has trunnion industrial mounts that come with wearable pins and the plate mounts are oversized for more support. The steel housing construction is designed around Royal’s hydraulic cylinder line.

It is also designed for high impact forces. www.royalcylinders.com

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

March 12-13, 2019 Conference, Richmond, BC, CANADA March 14, 2019, Post-Conference Workshop, UBC Malcolm Knapp Research Forest

DON’T MISS OUT!

There is huge interest in innovative harvesting technology in the Pacific Northwest. This conference offers the opportunity to enable loggers to increase both safety and productivity.

Tuesday March 12th, 2019 Pre-conference Icebreaker

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20

20

November 2018

The Edge Alberta to build test centre capacity for green building, bioproducts and GHG mitigation

BY TONY KRYZANOWSKI

A

lberta Innovates is providing funding for centres that will advance technology and training within five sectors or themes. Three of these themes have potential benefits for the forest products sector.

The initiative, called the Clean Technology Facilities Support Program, is part of the province’s Climate Change Innovation and Technology Framework (CCITF) announced in 2017. Alberta Innovates is currently evaluating project proposals from applicants in a competitive process, with up to $31 million in funding support available.

The centres are intended to provide access to equipment, utilities and operations to industry and research organizations. These “test centres” could include testing, certification, training, demonstration, experimentation or the creation of a hub for technology awareness.

Alberta is eager to invest in in-

Production of laminated veneer lumber (LVL) and off-site building construction are two of the areas of advanced forest industry and building construction activity in Alberta that could benefit from new test facilities and accompanying support personnel being funded by Alberta Innovates.

novation and technology that reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, drives economic growth and achieves economic diversification.

The five themes being targeted for Research & Innovation investment are: Green Building Technologies; Biomass Waste/Natural Gas Conversion Technologies; Electricity Technologies; Emissions Reductions Test Facilities; and Cleaner Oil Sands Test Facilities.

The facilities can take various forms, from single buildings with dedicated technical support personnel to networks and clusters of facilities working together.

The level of support for successful proponents will vary. They will have up to two years to make capital investments and begin operations in support of industry.

Patrick Guidera, Director of Forest Technologies with the Bio business line at Alberta Innovates, says test centres for Green Building Technologies, Biomass Waste/Natural Gas Conversion Technologies, and Electricity Technologies have the potential to help both wood product manufacturers and the building design and construction industries overcome technical hurdles and knowledge gaps.

“In essence, what these test centres could help the forest sector accomplish is a broader portfolio of different fibre and product development,” he says.

Industry is already invested in the development of novel engineered wood products such as laminated veneer lumber (LVL) and cross-laminated timber (CLT).

Technical work is being done to achieve greater penetration into the construction market, including new applications such as tall building construction. There are Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

also novel building approaches evolving in the province, such as off-site building construction. The challenge is that because companies are focused on managing their businesses, they often lack the time to investigate incorporation of new green building materials and technologies into their regular workflow.

“The engineering and construction areas presently have some challenges in moving forward with green building,” says Guidera. “So, this program is designed to help those industries address technical challenges with the type of support that they have said they need.”

Alberta Innovates has already provided financial support for the production at the demonstration level of such wood-based materials as lignin and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC). This program has the potential to provide greater testing capacity within the province to help advance the production and application of these biomaterials, either on their own or in combination with other materials in green building applications.

The Clean Technology Facilities Support Program is one of several programs being rolled out by Alberta Innovates and other agencies as part of the CCITF, on behalf of the Alberta Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

For more information about the Clean Technology Facilities Support Program and other programs administered by Alberta Innovates for CCITF, contact Dwayne Brunner at dwayne. brunner@albertainnovates.ca. Or visit albertainnovates.ca/funding-cleantechnology/climate-change-innovationand-technology-framework-ccitf/.

41

The Edge

CWFC fast-growing tree experience evident in national network of afforestation demonstration sites

BY TONY KRYZANOWSKI

A

fforestation or establishing forests on non-forest land using short rotation woody crops (SRWC) is a national opportunity. A network of demonstration sites established by Natural Resources Canada’s Canadian Wood Fibre Centre (CWFC) shows which SRWC species grow well in various geoclimatic zones across Canada.

Today, nearly all of the primary technical development questions to successfully establish SRWC plantations in a variety of Canadian regions have been answered, and these sites are open to evaluation by anyone interested in this crop’s economic potential.

The network of well-advanced demonstration sites has been evolving for almost 20 years. Today’s primary national network of technical development sites exists in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, with hybrid poplar being the core species in a high yield afforestation design.

“We have developed a map which identifies the site suitability and therefore the yield potential of various hybrid poplar clones, based on bio-geoclimatic conditions of all agriculture lands in Canada,” says Derek Sidders, Program Manager of the CWFC Technology Development and Transfer Group.

SRWC offer both a way for forest companies to enhance their fibre availability and the ability to grow more consistent and purpose-grown wood fibre with huge documented volume gains in a fraction of the time vs. a natural forest. These crops can also be planted in close proximity to final users.

SRWC plantations represent a new potential cash crop for farmers and landowners, and they can help mitigate the negative impacts of climate change, while having the potential to help Canada meet its international greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets because they are natural carbon sinks.

Each of CWFC’s demonstration plantations provide examples of highlyproductive, primarily hybrid poplar clones 42

suitable for each location, thus removing most of the guesswork among landowners and end users of what species and clones to select for planting in their particular area. These hybrid poplar plantations have reached commercial harvest potential in some cases in as little as 12 to 15 years.

One demonstration site was planted in 2004 near Duck Lake, Saskatchewan and was established in partnership with a local First Nations group.

Short rotation woody crops offer a way for forest companies and landowners to grow consistent wood fibre, at very high production.

“This site of hybrid poplar currently stands at an average of 11 centimetres in diameter and 12 metres in height per tree, with approximately 67 cubic metres of fibre growth per hectare after 14 years of growth,” says Sidders. “That’s about 4.75 cubic metres of growth per hectare per year.”

Sidders says the natural forest averages about 1.7 cubic metres per hectare per year over the full lifespan of the forest. So SRWC hybrid poplar grown on moderate to high quality land can produce 8 to 12 times more fibre than the average natural forest.

A second demonstration site near MacGregor, Manitoba, about 110 kms west of Winnipeg and adjacent to the TransCanada Highway, features a number of locally adapted hybrid poplar clones and some custom designed for southern Manitoba. Some like Prairie Sky and DN-34 are achieving 13 centimetres in diameter and 15 metres in height after 13 or 14 years of growth, depending on the clone and planting, yielding between 120 and 140 cubic metres of fibre per hectare.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

Sidders describes this as “extremely high productivity”.

A third demonstration site near the University of Guelph in southern Ontario was planted in 2005 and 2009 on a 25 hectare site. It features different management regimes and local sitesuitable hybrid poplar with a long history in that region. After 13 years, the 2005 planted hybrid poplar on the Guelph site has achieved 13 to 16 centimetres in diameter, 13 to 15 metres in height, and volumes of 95 to 125 cubic metres per hectare. The nine-year-old plantings average 10 centimetres in diameter, 10.5 metres in height and 35 cubic metres per hectare.

“In a really extreme example, we have a site south of London, Ontario that was planted in 2012, and currently has the highest growth production that we have seen on any site,” says Sidders.

That SRWC plantation is in the Zone 6 hardiness area, featuring Class 1 agriculture land.

“The hybrid poplar has grown to 12 centimetres in diameter and 16 metres height after just six years of production, at 1,100 stems per hectare and three metre by three metre spacing,” says Sidders. “It is already yielding 96 cubic metres per hectare.”

A fifth demonstration site established in 2013 is on an eight-hectare location in Kemptville, Ontario, 60 kms southwest of Ottawa. It has hybrid poplar at 10 centimetres in diameter and 9 metres in height after five growing seasons, and is on a trajectory similar to the London, Ontario site.

All these sites are being maintained and managed by CWFC’s partners to maturity.

For information about the location of CWFC short rotation woody crop demonstration sites and technical data related to these sites, contact Derek Sidders at derek.sidders@canada.ca or CWFC Wood Fibre Development Specialist Tim Keddy at tim.keddy@ canada.ca

The Edge

SUPPLIERNEWSLINE Breakthrough for Valutec’s TC continuous dry kilns Maine’s Pleasant River Lumber is the first North American company to invest in Valutec’s TC continuous kilns. Valutec is a leader in Europe for comprehensive wood drying solutions.

Pleasant River Lumber of DoverFoxcroft, Maine, primarily serves its domestic market, and the two continuous kilns it has purchased will be used at two facilities.

For Valutec, the company says that the agreement represents an important step in positioning it as a world leader in comprehensive wood drying solutions.

In the global market, Valutec is firmly established as a supplier which, over time, has invested what it says is the most in research and development of lumber kilns and control systems. The TC continuous kiln is no exception.

“Thousands upon thousands of hours have been invested in the development effort underlying this leap in technology,” says Ingo Wallocha, Managing Director of Valutec Inc. “We have studied, evaluated, tested and reinvented all parts of the TC continuous kiln, which first started being used in 1927. It is truly motivating to see how it all has paid off, confirming that we are on the right path.” www.valutec.ca

John Deere unveils new midsize harvesters

on the 1170G is said to further increase operator efficiency, regardless of the application.

The midsize G-series harvesters come equipped with the John Deere 6068 Final Tier 4 engine. Combined with standard Adaptive Driveline Control, the 1070G and 1170G models offer a powerful and productive solution. With Adaptive Driveline Control, the operator selects the desired rpm setting based on the operating conditions, and the system adjusts engine rpms automatically to correspond with the engine load.

Both models are equipped with the TimberMatic H-16 control system.

The 1170G model is available in sixwheeled or eight-wheeled configuration.

The 1070G harvester is suited for fragile terrain and thinning applications.

These midsize G-series models feature a new rear frame design, with the engine, hydraulic pump, cooler and tank package having been turned 180 degrees, lowering the rear frame and improving visibility.

Additionally, the cooler fan has been moved to the rear of the machine frame, reducing cabin noise. www.johndeere.com

Bosch Rexroth technical training course dates announced

Bosch Rexroth is accepting registration for all courses in its popular training program designed for industrial hydraulic

John Deere now offers two new Gseries wheeled harvester models—the 1170G and 1070G. The company says that these new midsize machines provide loggers with the power and precision needed for today’s jobsite, while a more comfortable operator station ensures loggers are productive all day long. The availability of the Intelligent Boom Control (IBC) technology 44

By Tony Kryzanowski and mobile hydraulic users, designers and engineers.

Rexroth Hydraulic Technical Training is targeted toward individuals who maintain hydraulic systems, design new systems or want to upgrade existing systems with new technology.

Rexroth provides on-site training for specific hydraulic installations, and customized training programs are available with training delivered to the participant’s location. Online Hydraulic Training is also available as self-directed eLearning courses that include basic hydraulics as well as various technology-specific courses including energy efficiency and electrification of hydraulics. www.boschrexroth.com/training

Solesbee’s dozer rake offers versatility

Solesbee’s offers a blade-mounted dozer rake as an efficient solution for land

clearing, raking brush, and piling trees and branches.

The rake’s c-curve design rolls brush and debris, making it easy to windrow material while minimizing the amount of dirt pushed with it. The rake also features an extended upright with multiple holes to easily mount on nearly any dozer blade without customization.

The rake is available with a full range of teeth for optimal debris clearing in a variety of applications. All rakes feature sturdy 2” wide hardened steel teeth for lasting durability in harsh environments.

Solesbee’s standard teeth are 20” long, and optional 14” to 24” lengths are also available. In addition, customers can choose from a variety of teeth quantities and spacing options. www.solebees.com to page 46

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

The Interior Safety Conference is Back at the Show!

Stay tuned for details.

DON’T MISS OUT, RESERVE YOUR SPACE TODAY! For more information about this premier event, please contact:

MARK CUSACK, National Show Manager mcusack@mpltd.ca • Toll-Free: 1.888.454.7469

suppliernewsline from page 44

San Group purchases land for new B.C. sawmill

The San Group Inc has announced an agreement to purchase land on the Port Alberni Catalyst Paper mill site, on Vancouver Island, to construct a new sawmill.

Under terms of the deal, San Group will purchase 10 hectares of the original Catalyst Port Alberni paper mill site.

It’s anticipated that construction of a new sawmill will create 50 new jobs

in phase one, followed by an additional 85 jobs, once phases two and three are operational. The deal also provides an additional supply of wood chips to supplement production for Catalyst’s operations in B.C., which will ensure greater viability and security for the company and its more than 1,500 person workforce.

The agreement represents a total investment of between $60 million and $70 million by the family-owned San Group Inc, for the construction of the new sawmill, that will ensure that smaller diameter logs will be processed in B.C. It’s anticipated construction will begin next spring. www.sangroupinc.com

New Hyundai guarding package for wheel loader

#

Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas now has a guarding package for its HL960HD wheel loader.

Developed to protect the machine from jobsite hazards found in various wheel loader applications, the guarding package for the HL960HD wheel loader helps ensure the operational integrity of key systems and components.

Hinged steel front and rear cabin

NOVEMBER 2018

NAME:________________________________ TITLE/POSITION:__________________

guards protect glass from damage, while enabling quick access to the windows for cleaning and maintenance. A radiator grille guard protects against hazards such as debris, falling objects and collisions with stationary or moving objects, but also provides quick access to the cooling system and engine compartment. Guards for exterior lights, the bucket cylinder, axle seals, attachment hoses, engine belly and front chassis undercarriage complete the package.

The Hyundai HL960HD wheel loader is a heavy-duty version of the standard HL960 wheel loader. www.hceamericas.com

Wood-Mizer’s dust removal blade features high alloy steel

Wood-Mizer’s exclusive Vortex dust removal blade profile is now available in DoubleHard high-alloy steel resulting in a more durable blade that delivers up to twice the toughness and sharp life com-

COMPANY NAME:_______________________________________________________ ADDRESS:____________________________________________________________ PHONE: ______________________________

FAX:___________________________

EMAIL:______________________________________________________________ WEBSITE:____________________________________________________________

pared to carbon steel blades.

Introduced in 2016, Vortex dust removal technology was previously an exclusive feature of SilverTip carbon steel material used primarily in high production resawing operations.

Patent-pending and trademarked for its revolutionary design, the Vortex blade profile creates an extremely unique turbulence that removes sawdust from the cut.

By reducing the amount of sawdust left on the board, the Vortex blade minimizes the need for additional sawdust removal after processing. www.woodmizer.com/blades

# 46

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

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USED EQUIPMENT

FOR SALE

Comact:

DDM6 Complete with log turner & infeed, 2001

Comact:

DLI Twin complete with log turning & infeed, 2001

2xUSNR/Lunden: Sawmill Stackers – 16Ft., 2001 Bruks:

1512CS Drum Chipper, 2006

CAE/Newnes:

50 Bin Sorter, 16FT, 2001

CAE/Newnes:

26 Bin Sorter, 16FT

CAE/Newnes:

Trimmer, 16FT, 2001

BM&M:

10 x 20 Chip Screens, 1995

Salton:

Dry Kiln Steam, 2000

Chip Bins:

3 x 30 unit Diamond/FlatSide

Acrowood:

Chipper with Edem Vibrating Conveyor

Milltech:

Tilthoist hydraulic, 16FT, 2000

Westech:

Two Tier Hydraulic Tilthoist, 16FT, 2000

Nicholson:

A5A Highspeed 17” Debarker,

original bitmap

-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐ vector (w/grouped elements)

late 90’s WOLFTEK I N D U S T R I E S

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Newnes/McGhee: Newnes/McGhee 6” curve saw gang 2001

-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐ vector (w/grouped elements)

-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐ header

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For Info Contact Scott • 1-780-504-1999 Scott@wolftek.ca

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

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thelastword

The forest industry faces some tough sledding with multiple challenges ahead

By Jim Stirling

B

ritish Columbia’s forest industry is well experienced in dealing with adversity. It has learned on the job— and by necessity.

All of that experience and more might be required for the forest industry to successfully navigate the next few months.

Rarely have so many factors, circumstances and uncertainties been lined up to simultaneously impact forest industry activities in the province.

In no particular order—because they’re all important and potentially devastating in combination(s)—the continually warming climate characterized by its extremes is fundamental to the industry’s challenges.

The mountain pine beetle epidemic in the B.C. Interior, expanding beetle populations in other species including spruce and Douglas fir, are continuing to erode the forest industry’s life blood at source.

The same is true of wildfires. B.C. has endured two successive devastating wildfire seasons, each with its own grim statistics of record setting. The situation cannot be characterized as a “new normal”. It’s simply unsustainable. The insects and the fires are impacting the present and midterm timber supply essential to sustain the forest industry.

Damaged trees that are salvaged mean higher prices in the harvesting and processing stages—and less value in the marketplace.

Other ramifications of the changing climate world-wide like drought, floods, storms of unprecedented ferocity and volcanic activity are reflected in other ways.

Skyrocketing disaster-related compensation paid to the provinces and territories in Canada and around the world, for example. It’s naïve to think the insurance industry impacts won’t filter down through governments and add to forest companies’ operating costs.

In August, the U.S. Department of Commerce postponed until November final determinations of its anti-dumping and countervailing duty allegations on the imports of softwood lumber from Canada.

But the 6.87 per cent anti-dumping tariffs—which the U.S. alleges is the selling

of softwood lumber below market value— have continued.

The U.S., Canada and Mexico have been preoccupied during the summer with the NAFTA re-negotiation circus. It resulted in the ratification of a new tripartite agreement including entrenchment of the existing dispute resolution mechanism. Good news there. Weather induced disasters in the U.S. might continue stimulating lumber prices beyond the historical fall construction slow down.

The B.C. forest industry is continuing to feel the effects of its ageing work force dilemma. Efforts to recruit and retain a workforce are priorities for most industries across North America and Europe. In B.C., the most urgent personnel requirements are in the bush with truck drivers and equipment operators. They have contributed to wood shortages and unscheduled mill shutdowns.

At the other end of the process, there are issues surrounding moving finished wood products to markets in timely fashion. It seems the forest industry has always had a love/hate relationship with the railways, the most efficient volume shipper for wood products. In central and northern B.C., CN is the rail carrier and it’s been the source of much frustration for lumber shippers in the last few months. Too much product sitting on sidings for too long to suit customers and producers. CN has also been taking stick about its capacity woes from its other customers like intermodal, grain, coal and crude oil. CN has said it’s expansion and investment in its rail infrastructure capacity in western Canada are bringing about service improvements.

The need for improved raw material access and wood products diversification becomes more pressing as B.C. accumulates increasing volumes of wood from fires, insect damage and logging debris that can’t economically be converted into commodity lumber products.

Good progress is being made, albeit gradually, on developing and marketing biofuels and other sophisticated, nontraditional uses for wood fibre. Improved

50

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2018

utilization of wood residuals for in-mill heating and process control have become industry standards. And the wood pellet manufacturing sector has proved successful. But the future for using wood biomass for generating more electricity is unclear. BC Hydro is undergoing a period of comprehensive review to streamline its operations. Part of that includes the future of biomass electricity, including wood fibre supply and its costs from BC Hydro’s perspective.

The relationships between the B.C. government, the forest industry and indigenous governments is a further area of potential friction. It will likely remain so until an agreement can be reached on a workable and mutually acceptable form of consultation for land access.

Aboriginal consent for log harvesting on traditional territories may also be part of changing provincial policies being mulled within Premier John Horgan’s NDP government in B.C. The forest company licencees had the right under the previous Liberal government to transport logs inter-regionally to best suit their processing facilities. The Horgan government has talked about re-establishing an earlier NDP policy requiring logs be processed nearer their point of origin.

The objective is to create more jobs and community benefits in the rural areas of the province.

In September, the Horgan government appointed John Allan as its deputy minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. Allan brings broad experience in the B.C. forest industry including stints heading up the Council of Forest Industries and the B.C. Forest Safety Council. He’s well versed in B.C.’s recent forest industry.

The key now is that Premier Horgan has the right man on the point with the appropriate team support. He’ll need that to help the provincial government assist the forest industry with its flexibility to move ahead as it deals with its range of impending challenges.

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