Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

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November 2019

ALBERTA’S SPRAY LAKE SAWMILLS upgrades main breakdown line

Special Insert: 2020 Canadian Forestry Calendar!

FIRE MITIGATION in British Columbia’s Okanagan Region

ELTEC LOGGING EQUIPMENT takes on tough ground—anywhere WITH THIS ISSUE...

ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF INDUSTRY INNOVATION

CARTER LOGGING Handing over the logging reins to the next generation

Rule the Forest

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FEATURES November 2019 Volume 50 • No. 7 Editor Paul MacDonald Contributing Editors Jim Stirling, Tony Kryzanowski George Fullerton Tech Update Editor Tony Kryzanowski Publisher/CEO Anthony Robinson • (604) 990-9970 E-Mail: robinson@forestnet.com Social Media: Kaitlin Davidson Digital Marketing: Diane Mettler Email: digitalmarketing@forestnet.com Sales Associates James Booth • (604) 506-8631 E-mail: jbooth@forestnet.com Perry Rosehill • (604) 613-3001 E-mail: rosehill@forestnet.com Subscription Enquiries Maureen Cole, Circulation Manager (905) 201-0853 Fax: (905) 294-8645 E-mail: SubscribeLSJ@forestnet.com Design & Art Production Manager Sheila Ringdahl E-mail: artwork@forestnet.com Accounting Manager Shelina Jessa • (604) 731-1535 E-mail: accounting@forestnet.com Office PO Box 86670, 211 East 1st Street North Vancouver, BC V7L 4L2 Phone: (604) 990-9970 • Fax: (604) 990-9971 Website: www.forestnet.com Subscriptions: Canada $58 a year; two years $70; three years, $85. Group accounts, six or more subscriptions, $25 per subscription per year. Outside Canada, $95 per year.

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On the Cover: With two summers of record-busting forest fire seasons behind it in 2017 and 2018, the B.C. government is looking for any steps that can be taken to reduce the chance for wildfires. And the province’s forest industry is stepping up to help with that. Read about Gorman Bros. Lumber’s work on a fuel mitigation project in the Okanagan region of the province beginning on page 14. (Cover photo by Paul MacDonald).

4 Spotlight: Aid package

for B.C. forest industry: a little late, and a little light?

The B.C. government has announced a $69 million aid package to forest industry workers and communities that have been affected by mill closures and curtailments—but some critics say it’s late in coming, and does not go far enough.

8 Capital for constant

improvements

The management at Alberta’s Spray Lake Sawmills fully understands the concept of constant improvements, and has recently made some capital investments to upgrade its main breakdown line and expanded its value-added product mix.

14 Stepping up to help

prevent wildfires

The B.C. forest industry is involved in some interesting initiatives to help reduce the risk of forest fires, including a recent fire mitigation project in the Okanagan region involving Gorman Bros.

Lumber and logger Donovan Martin.

22 Handing over the

logging reins to the next generation

The Canadian Woodlands Forum’s Outstanding Logging Contractor of the Year, Darrin Carter Logging, is truly a family logging operation, with Darrin Carter in the process of having sons Justin and Cody take on increased responsibility in the business.

DEPARTMENTS

Calendar.................................................7 Tech Update.........................................38 Suppliernewsline...............................42

29

Eltec equipment takes on tough ground—anywhere

Quebec-manufactured Eltec logging equipment has earned a solid reputation for performance and reliability in Canadaand abroad—thanks to a focus on producing high performing machines for tough harvesting environments.

32

Growing the cut in Alberta

Alberta’s new Conservative government is considering more intensive land management to grow its Annual Allowable Cut, by perhaps as much as 30 per cent.

36

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

46 The Last Word

Jim Stirling talks about finding the smart— although difficult—path forward for the B.C. forest industry.

Classifieds...........................................45 Subscriptions......................................45 Ad Index...............................................45

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

3

spotlight

AID PACKAGE FOR B.C. FOREST INDUSTRY: a little late, and a little light?

The B.C. government has announced a $69 million aid package to forest industry workers and communities that have been affected by mill closures and curtailments—but some critics say it’s late in coming, and does not go far enough.

By Jim Stirling orestry dependent communities and their residents in the British Columbia Interior have been thrown a welcome life raft by the provincial government.

The NDP’s $69 million aid package is intended to help laid off forest workers weather the hardships caused by a rapid succession of sawmill closures, shift reductions and production curtailments.

From the beginning of 2019 to mid-September, there have been four permanent mill closures; and 13 categorized as indefinite and dozens of temporary shutdowns.

Some production curtailments have been extended further. The affected number of workers is estimated to exceed 3,000 by the provincial government but when all the indirect numbers of people impacted are included, the total is much higher.

The aid package was announced by B.C. Forests Minister Doug Donaldson in September, in Prince George.

The largest single item was $40 million spread across two years to sustain an early retirement bridging program with the

cost shared with prospective employers.

Workers have to be 55 years and older to be eligible and those in that age category working in other mills may also qualify for the program.

The next largest allocation in the aid package is $15 million for a new short term employment program. It’s designed to support initiatives which are more than work projects. They include wildfire mitigation and forest resiliency programs in the interior communities affected by mill closures.

A further $2 million is to go toward establishing a job placement coordination centre. The government will also offer short term community support programs in locations that have permanently lost a sawmill as a major employer. That part of the package means Quesnel, Chasm (southern Cariboo region), Vavenby and Fort St. James will each receive $100,000 to support community programs. Communities with indefinite mill closures are eligible for $75,000 each.

The federal government has been urged to join the province in supporting laid off

4

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

F

forest workers in B.C. The importance of action will continue to be pressed upon the newly elected government in Ottawa.

The timing of the B.C. aid package was politically astute coming as it did prior to the Union of B.C. Municipalities annual convention. The provincial government was scheduled for an earful from the delegates if had it not acted. As it was, there were criticisms that the aid package was too late in coming and didn’t go far enough. Some observers expected the package to address the politically charged issue of stumpage rate changes.

Forest companies are still facing the same basic issues they were months ago with wood fibre shortages, high operating costs and wood product market challenges. The mountain pine beetle epidemic and the disastrous forest fire seasons of 2017 and 2018 brought the costs and fibre shortage issues to a head. The Logging and Sawmilling Journal took a closer look at the impacts of mill closures and to page 6

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spotlight

from page 4 production curtailments in the forest dependent communities of Mackenzie and Fort St. James in north central B.C. The bad news for Mackenzie started in July. The rumour mill in town had been working overtime for a while before the news became official that Canfor Corp was placing its Mackenzie sawmill on “indefinite curtailment”. Then Conifex Timber Inc., the other major sawmill in town, placed its mill on temporary curtailment.

With the raw material tap turned off,

East Fraser Fibre Co Ltd’s Parallel 55 value added finger joint plant in Mackenzie was soon idled. About 400 people were directly affected by the closures in the town of about 3,500 people.

It didn’t take long for the mill layoffs to affect the local business community. A Mackenzie Matters rally was organized to alert the two senior levels of government to Mackenzie’s plight. Hundreds attended the rally even as loaded logging trucks rumbled south from town taking logs from the forests around Mackenzie to distant sawmills.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

“I just get frustrated watching the logging trucks drive out of our community,” said Kim Guthrie, a rally organizer echoing a frequently expressed sentiment.

“Something’s got to de done. We can’t just sit back and watch our community go down the tubes.”

The United Steelworkers, the union representing workers in the forest industry, is one group on record urging the restoration of the appurtenancy rule. It calls for harvested timber to be processed close to its community of origin.

But Mackenzie did receive other some good news prior to the provincial government’s announcement of its aid package for laid off forest workers. “Conifex and East Fraser cooperated with each other to help source a wood supply so Conifex could start operating again,” said Joan Atkinson, Mackenzie’s mayor. The Conifex mill re-started production September 3 on a five-day work week. It was down to four days a week prior to the closure. Parallel 55 had its raw material stream restored which in turn helped boost the wood chip supply for Mackenzie’s pulp mill.

Mayor Atkinson noted that Mackenzie doesn’t have the fibre supply issues like

spotlight other B.C. Interior communities. The mountain pine beetle epidemic didn’t have the same impact around Mackenzie as further south in the Interior.

Canfor is reportedly helping its laid off workers. Some people have found work at Centerra Gold (Mt. Milligan), a producing copper/gold mine northwest of Mackenzie. “We’re not back to normal here but we are better off than we were a few weeks earlier,” said Atkinson.

But other issues are on the horizon to potentially affect the sustainability of Mackenzie’s forest industry. For example, the warming climate is lowering the level of water entering Williston Lake, the reservoir adjacent to Mackenzie. The worstcase scenario for the forest industry is low water levels could affect the operating ability of the Paper Excellence pulp mill in Mackenzie.

In areas to the north and east of Mackenzie, efforts to improve the populations of central mountain caribou herds could have profound effects of regional natural resource industries. That includes coal and mineral mining, oil and gas as well as forestry. Caribou populations have been declining since the 1990s and the government is considering far-reaching restrictions on industry to preserve both high and low elevation caribou habitat.

Protests persuaded the provincial government to initiate an interim moratorium on resource development pending further discussions with First Nations, industry and communities.

CALENDAR January 15-17

78th Annual Truck Loggers Assoc. Convention, Vancouver, BC 604-684-4291, www.tla.ca January 28-29

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The B.C. government’s $69 million aid package is intended to help laid off forest workers weather the hardships caused by a rapid succession of sawmill closures, shift reductions and production curtailments.

People throughout B.C., especially those living in small forest-dependent interior communities, are interested in seeing how the first test case for Bill 22 plays out. The Bill was enacted by the NDP government in May 2019 and obliges forest companies to obtain prior government approval and consider the public interest prior to the transferring of cutting rights. Canfor announced in June 2019 that it was closing its sawmill and planer complex in Vavenby, B.C. with a loss of 172 jobs. Canfor proposes selling its timber rights to Interfor Corp. Interfor would divert the fibre to its Adams Lake sawmill, east of Kamloops.

The government’s aid package for laid off forest workers was warmly received in Fort St. James.

“We’re thrilled. It’s just what Fort St. James needed,” exclaimed the district’s mayor, Bev Playfair. “The provincial government has been listening to us.”

Fort St. James, with its population of about 1600 people, has lost one of its two major sawmills with the permanent closure of the Conifex sawmill and planer directly affecting 226 people. In July, Mayor Playfair and Chief Alexander McKinnon of the Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nation signed a 30 day Declaration Financial Crisis. It was subsequently renewed for a second month. The declaration was a highly unusual measure for a small community to take.

There was a Plan B on the table in Fort St. James before the government’s aid package was announced. Hampton Lumber has proposed buying the Conifex Fort St. James quota for about $39 million and building a new, smaller mill on the Fort Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

St. James site to process it. The timeline is estimated at two years and Mayor Playfair is hopeful the government aid package will assist the laid off Conifex workers to bridge the gap until the new mill is up and running.

Hampton Lumber is a long established, family-owned operation based in Portland, Oregon. It runs two sawmills in the Burns Lake area in partnerships with First Nations south of Fort St. James. Concerns have been raised in Fort St. James that wood from the Conifex sale was destined to sustain Hampton’s Burns Lake area mills.

In September, Steve Zika, Hampton’s CEO, wrote an open letter to the community outlining the company’s intentions.

“While other companies may be reluctant to expand or enhance operations in British Columbia, we believe that a new sawmill in Fort St. James—sized for a secure future timber supply—will be competitive and sustainable,” said Zika. He added that Hampton has made partnerships with First Nations and “aggressively competed” to purchase wood over a large area to support its Burns Lake area mills.

“While timber supply is a constant challenge for our Burns Lake mills, we would not be building a new sawmill in Fort St. James if we were planning to take the licence wood to Burns Lake,” he explained.

The new Fort St. James mill design will be predicated on the established secure long term timber supply, he added. Zika confirmed the estimated two-year time span between finalizing the deal with Conifex, building the new Fort St. James mill and on legalities like government reviews and licence approval transfer.

7

CAPITAL millupgrade

for constant improvements

The management at Alberta’s Spray Lake Sawmills fully understands the concept of constant improvements, and has recently made some capital investments to upgrade its main breakdown line and expanded its valueadded product mix.

Workers installed the new 10” Optimil vertical double arbor edger at Spray Lake Sawmills over a weekend.

8

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

BRUNETTE Horizontal Chipper performance engineered for optimum chipping

FEATURES: With the installation of the new Optimil vertical arbor edger at Spray Lake Sawmills, the mill will be able to further diversify the value added product mix.

A

lberta’s Spray Lake Sawmills (SLS) has recently improved its bread and butter medium size log processing line by investing capital to purchase a new 10” Optimil vertical double arbor edger (VDAE) and a new Autolog trimmer optimizer.

The investment delivers multiple benefits, including expansion of the company’s already highly diversified, value added product line. This expansion will also

Arnold Fiselier, Spray Lake Sawmills' senior vice-president, with the system that significantly reduces airborne dust accumulation in the mill.

allow the company to help fill customer orders in-house without having to rely on outside vendors for certain products.

Overall, SLS understands that any company not focused on constant improvement soon gets left behind. It helps that the company isn’t playing in the same sandbox as other Canadian commodityfocused softwood lumber producers.

Despite producing about 115 million board feet of lumber annually, SLS ships no softwood lumber directly to the United States from its location in Cochrane, just west of Calgary, although some of its products do eventually show up in American and overseas markets through its customers. Its marketing focus is primarily to customers and distributors in Western Canada. So unlike other softwood lumber producers, it’s not paying a 22 per cent tariff to ship softwood lumber south of the border.

The secret sauce at SLS is its complete focus on producing value added products while maximizing recovery from its spruce and pine logs. They produce high quality dimensional lumber and timber products for both white and treated markets. They also market wood chips, peeled and treated fence posts, cattle bedding, and apply bark mulches and soil blends using its fleet of blower truckers operated by a company subsidiary called Top Spray.

Every year, SLS aims to spend some capital to improve operations or to diversify its product mix. This year, the company took aim at its primary log processing line. The sawmill has three to page 10 Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

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millupgrade from page 9 processing lines for small, medium and large diameter logs. However, about 90 per cent of production occurs on the medium diameter log line, which can process logs up to 17” in diameter and features the new Optimil VDAE and Autolog trimmer optimizer. So money spent on this line has the potential to deliver significant benefits—and it has.

The company’s small log line features a HewSaw 200 breakdown unit for smaller logs and their large log line is equipped with a Forano headrig for oversize logs. All told, SLS can produce lumber and timber dimensions anywhere from 1” X 4” to 6” X 6” up to 16’ in length. They process logs down to an 11 cm top.

The new VDAE replaces an existing unit with technology from the late 1990s.

It was equipped with a single shifting arbor. It was also hydraulically-driven. Over the last few years, SLS was starting to experience issues with control consistency and product limitations, so it was time for an upgrade.

Among the biggest improvements is that the new VDAE is electrically-driven,

VDA OUTFEED After a full day of production

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VDA OUTFEED

The VDA Outfeed eliminates sawdust spray as well as fugitive debris from the saw clusters. No perimeter guarding is required with its 100% contained modular design. Having smooth inner walls eliminates flitch hang-ups and jamming. The built in doors allow for easy inspection and maintenance. This system is the latest engineering product developed by Wrangler Engineering Ltd. making it the right fit for your operation.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

millupgrade which provides SLS with a much higher level of control. It is equipped with additional pairs of infeed and outfeed feed rolls for better holdback control in the winter months. Being focused on value added products, log processing control is critical.

“Because we went to a double shifting arbor with a six-inch pocket, that gives us more flexibility around our timber program and value added products that we can produce on this machine vs. what we were able to do before,” says Arnold Fiselier, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at SLS. He adds that they can now produce additional value added products for their wood treated facilities and respond immediately to market demands.

“We’re really trying to add value to every piece of lumber or timber that goes through the process,” says Fiselier.

What’s quite unique about the SLS production process is that this line has the ability to produce a combination of both timbers and dimension lumber from the same log. Not all logs will produce a timber. It depends how the Perceptron log scanner solution at the front end of the processing line has optimized the breakdown of individual logs, but the potential is there.

Fiselier says that they don’t operate at the same speed and high volume throughput as other typical commodity-driven sawmills because that’s not the objective at SLS. This was a bit of an adjustment even for him, since he brought years of experience working at a high throughput dimension sawmill when he joined SLS. He describes the current wood product market as competitive, and although SLS does not ship softwood lumber to the U.S. directly, the 22 per cent tariff that other companies shipping softwood lumber to the U.S. must pay—in combination with fewer housing starts south of the border because of weather and other dynamics—is having a ripple effect on Canadian lumber markets served by SLS. Despite over two billion board feet of softwood lumber being taken out of production in North America over the past year, led largely by sawmill closures and curtailments in the British Columbia Interior, there still seems to be a considerable amount of lumber available. So, given current conditions, SLS is looking for every opportunity to improve its competitiveness. Constant improvement and being highly diversified helps.

Four years ago, the focus was on a significant upgrade to the company’s planer

mill, which featured installation of a new Comact GradExpert, computer-based, lumber grading system and launch of its new line of sienna-colored, treated wood products. Two years ago, they made significant canter upgrades to beef up their Perceptron scanner’s hardware, software and controls. They also upgraded their Key Knife chipping heads on the canter line. These improvements were initiated somewhat to set-up additional upgrades like installation of the new Optimil VDAE.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

Fiselier says that the new VDAE delivers higher recovery, increased valued product mix as well as improved uptime and productivity.

With the new Autolog trimmer optimizer, SLS replaced 20-year-old technology where the hardware and software were no longer supported. So it was time for a replacement. to page 12

11

millupgrade from page 11 The company shopped around and determined that the Autolog product was the best fit for their operation. It represents current technology that provides more optimizing solutions more quickly.

The optimizer classifies more defects, which allows SLS to reduce trim loss, reduce the volume of low-grade lumber produced by the optimizer, and decreases the volume of pieces redirected to the board edger. Also, as a new install, it is more reliable.

“We went from a six-inch scan density to a quarter-inch scan density with this install, ensuring that we are directing the right stick of lumber to the right location,” says Fiselier.

A major concern for all sawmills currently is minimizing the generation of airborne dust and waste material because of the danger they represent. Fiselier says given the advance of the mountain pine beetle eastward from British Columbia— particularly through the mountain park passes and from northern Alberta where it is already prevalent—it is only a question of time when the sawmill will start to process higher volumes of beetle-infected logs. These logs are generally drier, which leads to the production of finer and dryer dust particles. All new capital projects are looked at closer for added health and safety benefits at the engineering stage.

Staff at SLS worked with two contractors on their current project. B.C.-based Wrangler Engineering Ltd. (part of the Corbilt Group of Companies) was their mechanical contractor and Calgary-based Static Energy, was their electrical contractor.

12

Logs arrive in the Spray Lake Sawmills yard tree length, and are merchandized as they enter the sawmill. The mill is able to produce both dimension lumber and timbers in-line and from the same log, which contributes significantly to their diverse value added product mix.

SLS chose the Optimil VDAE model that features better dust containment.

The trade-off is that it is a bit harder to observe and reach components for maintenance, but given the higher level of dust control it offers, the company believes making this investment is worthwhile. Wrangler Engineering designed and installed the enclosed infeed and outfeed conveyors for the Optimil VDAE. Within these enclosed conveyors, they installed devices to minimize the amount of sawdust thrown during log processing, directing it to a collection waste conveyor system below. Not only is the floor around

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

this area of the primary breakdown line a lot cleaner, thus improving overall safety at the sawmill, but Fiselier says that the system also saves the company about four to six hours of clean up time per week.

Overall, SLS is poised to remain a leader in sawing technology and is very excited about the future ahead.

“We’ve got some of the very best people in the industry working here and now we have some of the best technology to help them do a better job,” says Fiselier.

forestmanagement

STEPPING UP to help prevent wildfires The B.C. forest industry is involved in some interesting initiatives to help reduce the risk of forest fires, including a recent fire mitigation project in the Okanagan region involving Gorman Bros. Lumber and logger Donovan Martin.

ith two summers of record-busting forest fire seasons behind it in 2017 and 2018, the B.C. government is looking for any steps that can be taken to reduce the chance for wildfires.

And the province’s forest industry, both through forest companies and logging contractors, is stepping up to help with that.

West Kelowna-based Gorman Bros.

Lumber has taken on a number of initiatives in the Okanagan area of the province, which has been hit by the last two forest fire seasons.

Founded in the 1950s, family-owned Gorman Bros. Lumber is a major forest industry player in the Southern Interior of B.C., with a major sawmill in West Kelowna, and other operations and extensive forestry tenures in the region.

This past winter, Gorman Bros. worked on a pioneering project with two partners —First Nations group the Okanagan Nation Alliance and the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. (FESBC)—on lands above the town of Peachland, about 20 kilometres southwest of Kelowna.

The goal was fuel mitigation work, removing fuels from the forest to help prevent forest fire events in the interface

14

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

By Paul MacDonald

W

between forests and communities.

Matt Scott, planning forester with Gorman Bros., explained that the Okanagan Nation Alliance made the application to the FESBC to fund the project, and Gorman Bros. Lumber worked collaboratively with the alliance.

“We worked together with them to come up with a landscape level fuel break, on ecosystem restoration, and to get some timber out of the site,” said Scott. And it’s worked out well, he reports. “It’s been a good project for everyone involved.”

The FESBC was set up in 2016 by the provincial government, with the government providing an initial contribution of

$85 million. The FESBC’s big picture goal is to advance environmental and resource stewardship of B.C. forests, including preventing and mitigating the impact of wildfires.

The 80 hectare site above Peachland involved in the FESBC-funded project is part of Gorman Bros.’ operating area.

“We were looking at the area, and there was some timber value in the stand,” said Scott. “We thought rather than doing conventional block logging, we could make this a great project and involve the Okanagan Nation to gain their valuable perspective. They were involved in the planning for the project, from the very beginning.”

FESBC provided the necessary funding to make the project economical. The block was made up primarily of fir and yellow pine—the larger pine went to the Gorman Bros. sawmill in West Kelowna, and the fir went to other mills in the region.

“With the pulp wood, that is where the FESBC funding came in,” explains Scott.

There was a lot of undersized timber on the site, and the funding made it economical to transport this wood to BC EcoChips in Okanagan Falls, for chipping.

This was key to the success of the project, from a fire protection standpoint—if the undersized timber wasn’t removed, it would not have worked as a fuel break.

“Rather than burning the under-sized timber on site, we were able to harvest it, and achieve extra fibre utilization,” says Scott.

If the project had not proceeded, Gorman Bros. would have gone with smaller blocks, and there would have been less timber and fibre produced. “The end result would not have been as good for the ecosystem,” says Scott. Or for fuel mitigation, he added.

to page 16

DB Martin Contracting is truly a family operation: from left, Tom Meredith, Donovan Martin and Bruce Martin.

Logging is a family project at DB Martin Contracting

D

B Martin Contracting is truly a family operation, with Donovan Martin handling the John Deere 1470 harvester, his sister’s partner Tom Meredith running the HSM 208F forwarder, and Donovan’s father, Bruce Martin, doing the loading with their Deere 2154D machine—and also doing some hand falling, when it’s required. After family contracting operation Brycemar sold its quota and equipment two years ago, Bruce took a break from logging, and worked on some personal projects, including a cabin. He didn’t need a whole lot of prodding from Donovan to get back into the bush.

A cousin’s husband, Simon Wilson, bought a logging truck, and now hauls for DB Martin Contracting. “We’re able to pretty much keep him busy,” says Donovan. “It’s worked out really well, with everything kind of falling into place. We have the three of us in the bush and Simon on the logging truck.”

Donovan himself had an early start in logging, doing handbucking and slash work for his father’s and uncle’s operation. In the 1990s, Brycemar had a cut-tolength operation, and he managed that. “So the equipment that we are working with now is pretty familiar to me,” he says.

When Brycemar exited the business, Donovan worked for another contractor for about a year. “But I had always wanted to do something on my own, so I was looking at doing some subcontracting for someone, some processing or skidding work. And the opportunity came up to do this work for Gorman Bros, and I kind of jumped on it.”

How has the first year gone for them?

“We’ve had a couple of bumps. But overall I think we have the experience and knowledge to tackle anything that can be thrown at us.”

Between Donovan, with his 20-plus years of experience, and Bruce’s 45 years in the industry, they might have not have seen it all, but they’ve seen an awful lot during their time in the industry—and successfully managed through it.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

15

forestmanagement from page 15 The District of Peachland was also involved, and they met with the district’s fire chief. Scott noted this region had been hit with two forest fires, in 2017 and 2018. “We also tied in with the district to make the fuel break. There is still the risk of wildfire, but this will definitely be a help.”

With the harvesting completed, the B.C. Wildfire Service will be wrapping up the project with a broadcast burn.

In addition to helping to manage the fuel issue, the Peachland project also helps to bring back the grasses for the mule deer, and fire-dependent browse species.

Scott said it looks as though there may be more of these types of projects in the future. “With the fibre constraints the industry is facing, these projects provide access to fibre that might not otherwise be available,” he said. “There is lots of opportunity for it in the Okanagan region, with all the community interface we have.

“This was also a great opportunity to collaborate with the Okanagan Nation Alliance on a mutually beneficial project.

We were able to work together right

from the planning stages through to the harvest.”

Gorman Bros. used Donovan Martin’s DB Martin Contracting to do the work on the Peachland project. Scott described Martin’s harvester/forwarder operation as an “excellent fit” for the work.

“We left a significant number of trees, 75 trees per hectare, on the site, and Donovan was able to work around those trees, with no damage. Our First Nations partners were out to look at the site afterwards, and said that they were really impressed with the work, and the low impact of the equipment.”

B.C. logger Donovan Martin has worked with some large scale logging operations in his 20-plus years in the business—including major logging operation Brycemar Enterprises, which was owned by his father, Bruce, and his uncle, Brian.

Brycemar had an extensive list of logging equipment, everything from excavators to bunchers to loaders—and a shop to take care of all of that equipment.

These days, however, Martin has set up his own logging operation, DB Martin Contracting, based in Summerland, B.C., with his father Bruce involved, and is quite content to keep the operations

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modest in size—and they are happy to be involved with doing interesting spacing and clearing work with Gorman Bros.

There was a good amount of co-ordination between the partners working on the Peachland project, says Martin.

“It was a pilot project so it took a bit of time to get things figured out. But in the end it went well—everyone involved was committed to having it work, and be a success.”

Martin agrees with Gorman Bros.’ Matt Scott in that there could be further work such as this going forward. “Communities are wanting to build fire safeguards,” he says. “It seems to be more on the minds of people and communities.”

That is especially so with the last two horrific fire seasons, and events such as the evacuation of Williams Lake two years ago. There was also the massive Kelowna Fire of 2003 that destroyed 238 homes, and forced the evacuation of more than 33,000 people from the city. In May in Alberta, some 5,000 residents were evacuated from the town of High Level due to threatening forest fires.

Martin notes there can be a lot of fuel in the bush, and some of that is definitely around the interface with communities.

“We’ve always jumped on fires and put them out as soon as we can. But there is a lot of fuel out there, and it can go off like a torch, with the hot weather.”

And he has no doubt the weather continues to add to that risk. “The winters were much colder 20 years ago and the summers are now hotter and dryer—I’d say there has definitely been a change.”

This past summer, Martin was doing selective logging for Gorman Bros. in an area that is just minutes from a suburb of Kelowna, the Mission area of the city, at the foot of Okanagan Mountain.

“It’s nice being close to town, but we get a lot of traffic up here,” he says.

When working at roadside, they stop operations for traffic, but a lot of the blocks have been off road a bit, so the traffic, more often than not, does not interfere with their operation. “We also try to do a lot of our work early in the morning, when there is not too much traffic.”

Illustrating both the industrial history of the area, and it’s growing importance to recreational users, part of the area where they were working in included the roadbed for the Kettle Valley Railway.

The Kettle Valley Railway, part of the Canadian Pacific Railway, opened in 1915,

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to page 18 16

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

forestmanagement

Donovan Martin’s logging equipment consists of a Deere 1470 harvester and a HSM 208F forwarder. It helps to have fewer pieces of equipment and be more nimble when it comes to working in smaller patches, Martin says, as they can more easily move from one logging block to another. from page 16 and serviced the growing mining industry in the B.C. Interior, running through the region to Hope, where it connected with the main CPR line.

Much of the railroad’s original route has been converted to a multi-use recreational trail, known as the Kettle Valley Rail Trail, which carries the Trans-Canada Trail through this part of British Columbia.

Gorman Bros. has been working with local recreational groups, such as mountain bikers, on the harvesting plan. The area has a good number of mountain bike trails. The local bike clubs have been good to work with, says Martin. Some of the bike people they have talked to have been familiar with the logging equipment they are using, and are satisfied with the end result of the partial harvesting, he says.

Unlike larger centres like Vancouver, there still seems to be good support and understanding of the importance of the forest industry in Kelowna. The industry has a reasonably high profile in the city, with Gorman Bros. having a mill in the area.

In the early summer, the DB Martin operation was already looking at some pretty dry conditions, and were on early shift. “It’s pretty early in the year for us to be doing that,” says Martin.

Gorman Bros. supplies them with a basic prescription for the work they are doing, and it’s up to the DB Martin team to execute. “We try to keep the trails as narrow as we can, and stay away from the sidehills,” explains Martin.

“It’s better to do the selective logging with a harvester like the John Deere 1470—we can reach off to the side without swinging in the whole boom. It’s got a long reach.”

Martin says he is looking forward to some steep slope tethered work coming up. Their Deere 1470 has a Haas winch, and their HSM 208F forwarder has a purpose built HSM winch. “I think there will be more opportunity for steep slope work going forward—we’ve definitely been trying it out every chance we get. So far, it’s usually just small parts of a block.”

That familiarity will position them well when they get into a project with a fair bit of steep slope. “It’s also a lot easier on the machines,” he added.

Their equipment is in good shape.

When they bought it, the Deere harvester had a bit over 7,000 hours on it, and the forwarder was newer, with only 2,000 hours on the clock.

“We were pretty confident with how the equipment was maintained.”

But there are always the unpredictable repairs; they have had to replace the harvester’s rear end.

Finding a loader for a good price was a challenge. “Everyone seemed to be looking for used loaders at the time,” says Martin. They found their John Deere 2154D in Williams Lake. In a way, the loader came full circle. In running the serial numbers, they discovered that the loader was previously owned by Brycemar. “So we knew a lot of the history on that machine,” says Martin.

“Going forward, I think the harvester will be the main piece to require work, with its high hours and the fact that it is the workhorse of the operation. The forwarder has lower hours, and is doing straightforward work.” And they are not doing super heavy duty work or long hours with the loader.

They try to do most of the maintenance themselves, explained Martin.

“Some of the major work, we hire that

18

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

out. With the rear end on the harvester, that was done through the Deere dealer, Brandt Tractor. But we pulled it out, and then sent it to them.”

They deal with Brandt for parts on the 1470 and the loader, too, of course. With their HSM forwarder, HSM is distributed

by InovForest, with TopDown Enterprises from Kamloops being the local dealer.

In terms of operating the harvester, Martin said he was already familiar with the equipment through the work he’d done in the past with harvesters in doing cut-to-length. “I was pretty familiar with the operating systems, and operating harvesters on the slopes, and how they handle.” And, he adds, he enjoys the work. “Doing selective logging is more interesting, and challenging.”

Martin said they have a solid crew, and that it can make a difference in that they are all family—everyone is willing to go the extra distance to make the operation a success. “Everyone really works as a team,” he says. It can be difficult to find younger people who want to enter the industry, and put in the hours, he says.

That said, more of the Martin family could get involved in the business, though that may be a few years down the road.

Martin has three young daughters, and they all have an interest in logging equipment. “They are all Tomboys,” he says, with a laugh.

Although the logging industry is mostly male, that is slowly changing, with more women operators, and definitely more women foresters.

As for Martin, he’d welcome his daughters getting involved in the business, if that were to happen. He noted that Brycemar had a woman operating a forwarder. “She did a great job and was really easy on the equipment,” he says.

forestmanagement

Logger Donovan Martin shoots for the right equipment combo

B

.C. logger Donovan Martin picked up the Deere 1470 harvester they are working with used, about a year ago. Going for used equipment has helped keep their overhead costs down.

“We didn’t want to get new equipment starting off, so I did quite a bit of shopping around last spring,” he said. “The 1470 is a larger machine, which I felt we would need for the bigger wood we were going to be in.”

He thought carefully about selecting the right sized forwarder for the operation, and decided on the HSM 208F. “It seemed like a good match.” He had found that in doing cut-to-length work before, if you didn’t have the right-sized equipment, it could take a shift-and-a-half on the harvester to keep the forwarder busy. So matching up equipment is key.

Martin says there can be some good value in used equipment, especially if you take the time to shop around. “One of the reasons I went for used equipment was not to have such a huge investment, to start off.”

As they get more established, they have the option of updating their equipment line-up to more recent models. But that will be in the future. “I think we’re in pretty good shape in terms of equipment right now. Keeping it small and manageable is where I want to be.”

Getting larger could mean more revenue, but it would also likely include more headaches, and definitely mean having to get more equipment, and taking on more risk. The next piece of equipment on the DB Martin shopping list is very practical: a service truck.

It also helps to have fewer pieces of equipment, and be more nimble, when it comes to working in smaller patches, Martin says. “You’re not moving five pieces of equipment form block to block, and having to low bed it. We just move a couple of machines, and having wheeled equipment, we can move along fairly quickly.”

Martin added that he thinks there is going to be good opportunity to do further selective logging work going forward. “I think there is going to be more work like that, going between where the old cuts are, and doing smaller patches here and there.”

Opting for used equipment, like the Deere 1470 harvester, has helped keep Donovan Martin’s overhead costs down.

20

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

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eastcoastlogging

Handing over the reins of the logging operation: Darrin, Justin and Cody Carter.

HANDING OVER THE LOGGING REINS to the next generation

The Canadian Woodlands Forum’s Outstanding Logging Contractor of the Year, Darrin Carter Logging, is truly a family logging operation, with Darrin Carter in the process of having sons Justin and Cody take on increased responsibility in the business.

By George Fullerton his past April, the Outstanding Logging Contractor of the Year Award was presented to Darrin Carter at the Canadian Woodlands Forum (CWF) spring meeting by CWF executive director Peter Robichaud—and it was truly a family affair. Darrin received the award along with his sons, Justin and Cody, who now work in the family business and are in the process of taking on an ownership stake —and increased responsibility—in the operations.

Darrin, who is in his mid-50s, says he is not “completely retiring” but rather stepping back from management responsibilities. He will remain involved and available for consultation—and be an extra set of hands when help is required.

Darrin has been at it for quite a while.

At the age of 16, he began working at harvesting on his father’s trail cutting operation around their home base near Amherst, Nova Scotia. The senior Carter worked as a stump-to-roadside contractor for Scott Paper, which owned the kraft pulp mill near Pictou, Nova Scotia.

When he was 20, Darrin stepped out and bought his own forwarder, hired a chainsaw crew and became a contractor himself for Scott Paper.

Three years later, in 1988, he bought a Koehring 618 feller buncher, and went to work for a larger contractor. Darrin’s first experience with cut-to-length harvesting was helping out his father, who had purchased one of the very first double-grip Rottne harvesters to go to work in the Maritime Provinces.

22

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

T

In the mid-1990s, Darrin made the step to at-the-stump processing with the purchase of a Hornet processor to follow his buncher, and a 16-tonne Rottne forwarder rounded out the team soon after.

“We grew the operation slowly,” Darrin explained. “I would keep my eye out for deals on equipment and built it up that way. We added a processor, which allowed us to process more than the buncher was producing, so we added another buncher. And then there was too much wood on the ground, so we added more forwarder capacity, and so on.”

The current operation consists of 10 harvesting pieces, in addition to 11 pickup trucks, service trucks and trailers. The

to page 24

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eastcoastlogging from page 22 harvest operations are mainly for Northern Pulp industrial freehold and Crown lands, and they also operate some private woodlot stumpage.

The Carter’s 10 forestry pieces: two Tigercat bunchers, five Tigercat harvester/ processors (with three Hornet processors, a LogMax and a SP single grip) and three Rottne 18 tonne forwarders.

The Carters employ about eighteen people. In addition to operators, one employee works in the shop located near Darrin’s home. Operators work ten-hour shifts. The early shift runs from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the later shift runs from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.

“We are fortunate to have a welltrained, competent and dedicated crew of operators,” says Darrin.

Darrin got his first Tigercat tracked carrier around 2000, and has since switched the buncher and processor fleet completely to Tigercat.

“Originally, Strongco was the Tigercat dealer and more recently Wajax in Moncton is our Tigercat service and parts provider,” he says. “Our sales rep is based in Nova Scotia, but we use their Moncton shop for parts because it handy to our base.

“The Tigercat equipment have proven to be reliable and high performance machines,” he noted. “We believe tracks are best for the environment we work in. We have lots of steep ground to contend with, and the tracks provide stability and great traction for climbing.

“We also have a long and positive relationship with Rottne and their staff at the Moncton shop,” he added. “When we began looking for single grip harvesting heads, it was practical for us to have a serious look at SP heads which Rottne Canada handle.

“We tried them out and they have worked well for us. At present, we operate with one SP and one LogMax head and we will soon have two more SP heads on our Tigercats, replacing the older Target/Hornet processors.”

In the past year, Carter has hired on new talent to handle some of the office administration and safety program management and administration.

“Since we were married, my wife Renee has handled the bulk of the office administration including payroll, managing inventories and such. In the past year, we hired Julia MacMillan to handle office administration and to manage our safety program, and Julia has been a positive

addition to our business. Over the years, the requirement for safety program administration has become onerous, and Julia has a very good grasp of what is required—and her forestry experience allows her to communicate effectively with all our employees.”

Through the years, Darrin Carter Logging Ltd has been the recipient of numerous safety and quality/production awards.

The Carter’s contract primarily for Northern Pulp, a Paper Excellence company, which owns a kraft pulp mill outside Pictou, Nova Scotia. While softwood pulpwood is directed to Northern Pulp, sawlog material is directed as studwood to Sproule Lumber and Scotsburn Lumber.

Softwood logs generally go to Elmsdale Lumber and hardwood logs go to Groupe Savoie, and low-grade hardwood is directed to Great Northern Timber, which operates a wood chip export terminal in Sheet Harbour and a pellet plant in Musquodoboit, Nova Scotia. The Carter’s production in 2018 was 140,000 tonnes.

While Darrin Carter Logging is making investments in equipment and making management changes, all is not secure in the Nova Scotia forest industry.

The Northern Pulp mill opened as Scott Paper in 1967 at Abercrombie Point, Pictou County, and is currently owned

by Paper Excellence, producing some

24

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

Darrin Carter got his first Tigercat tracked carrier around 2000, and has since switched the buncher and processor fleet completely to Tigercat. The Tigercat equipment have proven to be reliable and high performance machines, Darrin noted, and tracks are a good fit for their logging operations.

228,000 tonnes of kraft pulp annually.

While the current wastewater treatment system is scheduled to be closed in January 2020, there is no approved plan for a replacement system. A proposal to discharge treated effluent directly into the Northumberland Strait has generated fierce opposition in both Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. With no firm plan for wastewater treatment, the future operation of the mill seems to be uncertain.

As a consequence of the questions around the future operation of the mill, Darrin— along with a number of land owners and contractors—has had meetings with the Nova Scotia Premier and other government officials, to point out the significance of the mill as an economic anchor for the province, as well as for mills and wood producers outside the province that supply chips and roundwood to the mill.

Darrin pointed out that one of the consistent things he has observed about contracting is that things continually change. Recent provincial legislation directed forest management to plan partial cuts and less clearcutting. To that end, the Carters are retiring two Hornet processors and replacing them with the SP 761

to page 26

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eastcoastlogging from page 24 single grip heads, which will allow those machines to handle partial cut harvests more effectively.

Another new technology to join the hardware line-up at Darrin Carter Logging is their drone.

“We have been using a drone on our operations for a couple of years, and it has become very nearly indispensable,” says Darrin.

“We use it to fly our harvest blocks to ensure that we have processed and forwarded all the harvested trees. It’s very expensive for the block to be declared finished and move the processors out, and then have the forwarder operator discover a corner with bunched wood remaining.

“Such a situation requires additional floating costs and time out of production.

With the drone, we can fly a block, and ensure all the wood is processed, and do a final flight to make sure all the wood has been forwarded, without investing a lot of time for a person to walk the entire block.

“Just recently, I was looking at a 200acre block, to buy the stumpage. With the drone, I was able to fly the block and identify areas which had wood, and then go directly there and evaluate the wood, rather than investing a lot of time to walk

the entire block. The drone also gives a real picture of the conditions of roads and locations of watercourses, and opportunities for crossings.”

Another change that Darrin sees on the horizon is the requirement to operate a smaller forwarder on partial cut blocks.

“Right now we are running 18 tonne forwarders and they are big when you are operating with crop trees along the

could have a real dilemma on our hands when those older operators step away from the industry.”

Darrin said his family was honoured to have their business be recognized as CWF Outstanding Contractor of the Year.

He went on to share the benefit that CWF membership offers.

“Attending Canadian Woodland Forum events has numerous benefits,” he says.

“It keeps us up to date on new technologies in the forest industry. We come home with ideas about how we can make our operations more efficient.

The meetings are also an opportunity to meet with other contractors and discuss challenges we all face. In addition to business related things, it is also simply a great social event to catch up with friends and meet some new people.”

Referring to the plans to pass management responsibilities on to his sons who have worked in the business, Darrin pointed out: “Justin and Cody began working equipment while they were still in school. They enjoy working with equipment and they enjoy forestry. If they are going to make contracting their career, I think they are at the age when they should be making the commitment and establishing themselves in the industry.

“I could hold out and control the business well into the future, but that could lead them to hesitate about staying with it, and maybe they would choose a different career path,” he added.

“I’m convinced that the best strategy for us is to pass on the management responsibilities to them, and for myself to stay in the picture and work with them at arms length, and be available to offer business advice on request.

“For our future, my wife Renee and I want to have the option to be able to take off for a trip, without having to worry about the operation.”

Darrin shared that he has recently taken on some new challenges which he believes will provide a strategic benefit to the harvesting business.

“I got my air brake certification, and I passed the road test for my Class 1 driver’s license, and I bought a truck and float, and an excavator. I plan to have it to build roads for stumpage blocks that Jason and Cody operate. The excavator will also come in handy on company and Crown operations where the roads might need a little help to keep the operation and the wood moving.”

A new technology to join the hardware line-up at Darrin Carter Logging is their drone. “We have been using a drone on our operations for a couple of years, and it has become very nearly indispensable,” says Darrin.

26

trail. I can see that we may have to have a smaller forwarder to handle forwarding on partial cut blocks.”

Another issue Darrin sees that will impact his and many other contractors is the workforce aging out, and taking retirement.

“Right now, we have a number of operators who will be eligible to retire in a few years,” he explained. “With the uncertainty that surrounds forestry in Nova Scotia, there are not a lot of young people coming along to sit in those seats. We

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loggingequipment

E ltec Equipment takes on tough ground—anywhere Quebec-manufactured Eltec logging equipment has earned a solid reputation for performance and reliability in Canada—and abroad—thanks to a focus on producing high performing machines for tough harvesting environments.

The Eltec brand of forestry equipment has earned high marks for its performance throughout northern Quebec and Ontario, and on the west coast of North America.

28

By George Fullerton

T

he Eltec brand of harvesters and log loaders has developed an enviable reputation for performance and reliability in the world’s toughest forest harvesting environments.

Born out of Volvo forestry’s discontinuance of their tracked harvester series, the machine designs were purchased by Technologies Element PSW Inc., and the manufacturing and assembly was moved to Val-d’Or, Quebec.

Under the management of the Element Family, the Eltec brand earned bragging rights for performance throughout northern Quebec and Ontario, and on the west coast of North America. The success of the Eltec series of machines caught the attention of loggers around the world and the Eltec distribution network now also includes the U.S., France, Russia and New Zealand.

Technologies Element PSW Inc., founded in 2011, is one of a family of businesses owned by the Element Family in

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

loggingequipment

Karl Element (top left) is responsible for parts and co-ordinating services for Eltec’s manufacturing business. Karl is a grandson of Donat Element, the founder of the Element Family of businesses, which includes Foresco (above) which designs and manufactures machines and components for forestry, mining and construction industries.

Val-d’Or. Equipments Element, founded in 2002, sells and services several lines of forestry equipment. Hydraulic Val-d’Or provides a complete range of hydraulic parts and services. Foresco designs and manufactures machines and components for forestry, mining and construction industries. Les Abaitteurs Jacques Element, established in 1980, employs more than 100 people in forest products harvesting and transportation in addition to road construction.

The Eltec assembly factory is a rather modest set of buildings when viewed from the Rue des Manufacturers in the Val-d’Or Industrial park. However, once inside, the atmosphere is very professional with a culture focused on productivity and quality assurance.

The only visual clue that this small shop is the research and manufacturing centre for Eltec forestry machines is a pair of shiny red machines: a log loader and a feller-buncher, parked in the yard awaiting final testing prior to beginning a trip to their customers.

Karl Element is responsible for parts and co-ordinating services for the manufacturing business.

Karl is a grandson of Donat Element, the founder of the Element Family of businesses. Donat left his home in the Gaspésie when a teenager, and moved west and north through Quebec, working in sawmills and logging camps. Donat established himself and his large family in Vald’Or, and in 1971 set up Donat Element & Fils, specializing in harvest contracting and road construction.

The family-based business developed expertise and extended its work in forestry and servicing the mining industry in Quebec and northern Ontario. Donat eventually became a Tree Farmer dealer, and built a solid reputation for service and repair to forestry and mining equipment.

The Element Family of businesses expanded in 1980, when Donat’s son, Jacques, formed Abbatteurs Jacques Element Inc., and established it as one of the major road building companies in AbitibiTemiscamingue, serving both the forest and the mining industries.

In 1988, Jacques acquired Hydraulique Val d’Or, and in 1991 established Foresco, a business focused on process machinery fabrication and repair.

Technologies Element became a dealer for Direct harvesters which were being manufactured in Quebec City. Direct was eventually acquired by Volvo, and manufacturing moved to Korea.

In the 2008 financial crisis, Volvo undertook substantial restructuring, and the Direct harvester became a causality of the reorganization.

The Element Family understood the Direct technologies and jumped at the opportunity to acquire the rights to the designs for the harvester, with the intention to bring it back to Quebec, and establish manufacturing in Val-d’Or. Technologies Element began manufacturing harvesters under the Eltec brand, and the first Eltec harvester emerged from the Val-d’Or shops in 2011.

The Element group had key resources to handle the ambitious enterprise including the hydraulic shop, the Foresco machine shop, and more importantly, an ambitious and imaginative leadership and a dedicated and highly trained team of workers willing to take on new challenges.

During a recent visit, Karl began a tour of the Eltec manufacturing process at the back of the shop, where steel plate is assembled into the Eltec cab.

“As part of the purchase deal, we acquired the design specs for the cab which is ROPS and FOPS certified for forestry and construction safety regulations,” he says. “We have made only slight modifications, essentially to make it better for forestry operations. We have grown up in forestry and we know what contractors and operators require to help make the machines very productive.”

The Eltec crew have also incorporated design changes to hoods and other body components, specifically to meet needs and requirements that customers and loggers have requested.

“We build a roomy cab, which allows

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

29

to page 30

loggingequipment from page 29 operator comfort and room for personal effects,” he explained. “The cab can also provide room for a trainer to occupy space behind the operator seat for oneon-one coaching.”

Moving through the shop, a track body was being assembled, as well as booms and a stick.

Karl shared that the U.S. trade measures on Canadian steel and aluminum had a major impact on their manufacturing process, and for a short period they sourced track body components from Korea. He said that as the embargo was eased in the spring of 2019, they were planning to acquire and cut steel to once again build their own track bodies.

Employees are committed to quality production and manufacturing. As the tour progressed, Karl noted a Cummins engine waiting to be installed, as the next machine was being created.

“We switched to Cummins for power and it has been a positive move,” he says.

“We have excellent support for Cummins and they supply both Tier 3 and Tier 4 engines, depending on the specific laws in the country the machine will be delivered to. Cummins also works closely with us for any technical developments we require.”

Hydraulic Val-d’Or fabricates all the hoses for the Eltec machines. Each individual hose is identified with a proprietary coded tag. Karl explained that the code for any hose on an Eltec machine can be presented to any Parker hose dealer, and they can replicate the hose precisely to Eltec specifications, using a database shared by Eltec.

Wire harnesses are sub-contracted to a provider based in Montreal. Eltec installs their own proprietary software in their machines.

“The software allows for five separate

operator control preferences,” he says.

Eltec will manufacture their own prototype hydraulic cylinders to test new configurations or upgrades. Once a prototype has been proven and incorporated into the design and offered in the option sheet, the company relies on subcontractors to manufacture and supply cylinders.

“We know loggers and we know their requirements for getting optimum productivity from their machines, so we have incorporated those demands into the Eltec machines,” pointed out Karl.

Eltec also sub-contracts certain specialized technical service in the manufacturing process, including machining and installation of bushings in the boom assemblies.

Karl pointed out that in terms of highly specialized technical work, contracting out the expertise for this specific work is currently the most cost effective, and provides the highest quality assurance.

Their Foresco equipment has two laser cutters, a plasma cutter and a large assembly of steel bending cutting and machining equipment. All the production machines are operated by focused team of technicians.

Asked about the technical challenges for operating the high tech laser cutter, the operator replied that when you are trained to repair helicopters, the complexity of the laser cutter is not so complicated.

The laser cutter allows components to be etched with part numbers.

The back end of the Foresco shop has recently been expanded to organize and store steel for the manufacturing process.

Eltec manufactures five separate models of machines and buyers have an option list to choose from, to incorporate specific items they require. All the machines are manufactured with the same five hydraulic pumps, but in each individual application (buncher, harvester or loader), the output

Eltec-owned Hydraulic Val-d’Or fabricates all the hoses for the Eltec machines. Each individual hose is identified with a proprietary coded tag. The code for any hose on an Eltec machine can be presented to any Parker hose dealer, and they can replicate the hose precisely to Eltec specifications, using a database shared by Eltec.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

of the pumps’ output is portioned to functions differently, depending on the specific application requirements.

The paint shop has a sand blasting room where they use steel pellets to prep the components prior to priming. The steel pellets are re-used. Eltec uses high quality paint, and applies multiple coats to ensure resilience.

Eltec machines destined for Russia and Australia/New Zealand receive extra attention to paint application, since the machines will be exposed to salt while in marine transit.

Eltec machines are finding eager customers in some very challenging forestry environments. The company is selling a lot of production to the Canadian west coast, and meeting performance demands on steep slopes, and in handling big timber. The success of Eltec machines in the Canadian Rockies has gained the attention of loggers in New Zealand, which carries out a good deal of forest harvesting on very steep terrain.

Eltec has also achieved marked success in Russia. Karl shared that the Russian forest resource is similar in many ways to Quebec forests, and their machines have been working productively in that country.

Karl added that since Russia has close ties with Scandinavia, Scandinavian harvester heads have consequently been installed on Eltecs, and have made a very powerful and productive combination as harvesters.

Eltec machines have also been sold in France, in a buncher configuration (biomass thinnings) with a narrow track body to fit their particular forestry machine requirements.

Upstate New York has become a good market for Eltec, where steep slopes and large timber demand the traction and power advantages that the Eltec machines provide.

Eltec forestry machines are manufactured in four distinct models, and are ordered with the specific options that each purchaser desires. The 220 model features zero tail swing configuration as a feller buncher or harvester. The 270 features a longer track base, and is built for ether feller buncher or harvester applications. The 310 model features a tilt platform and is also available as a feller buncher or harvester. The LL317L log loader features a long stable base and a high, soundproof and roomy cab.

Regardless of the model and its configuration, however, every Eltec machine carries the Element commitment to quality and performance—wherever it works in the world.

forestmanagement

Growing the cut in Alberta

Alberta’s new Conservative government is considering more intensive land management to grow its Annual Allowable Cut, by perhaps as much as 30 per cent.

By Tony Kryzanowski

E

ven though the province’s current commercial forest is fully allocated, Alberta’s new Conservative government wants to investigate ways to boost the province’s available wood basket from public lands by at least 30 per cent while continuing to manage the forest resource in a healthy and sustainable fashion.

That’s according to Devin Dresshen, Alberta’s new Agriculture & Forestry Minister, who was the first speaker at this year’s annual Alberta Forest Products Association (AFPA) convention held in September at Jasper Park Lodge.

He said that amount of additional commercial fibre could deliver a net benefit to the province of about $3 billion.

Dresshen has given individuals in his department the task of investigating how there could be changes to current forest management and reforestation practices that could result in growing more trees on the same land base, potentially resulting in a larger annual allowable cut (AAC) for forest companies down the road.

“We want to set the bar high and to be able to achieve that,” Dresshen told delegates at the convention.

Paul Whittaker, AFPA president and CEO, said that the Minister’s comments emanated from a conversation Dresshen had with several forest industry representatives, some of whom have experience growing trees on private land.

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AFPA President and CEO, Paul Whittaker (above), introduces Alberta deputy ministers (left to right) Jason Krips from Economic Development, Trade and Tourism, Bev Yee from Environment and Parks, and Andre Corbould from Agriculture and Forestry, to update convention attendees on new directions set by Alberta’s new Conservative government, which includes consultations on a new Forestry Act. “What they were saying to the Minister is that they know that we can actually get more AAC and grow more off the same number of hectares, so they are talking about more intensive management,” Whittaker said. “We know we can increase the AAC if we do some things right.”

Potential new approaches to forest management and reforestation fall in line with another announcement made by Dresshen. He said that consultations will begin soon on legislative changes to the Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

Alberta Forestry Act and regulations governing the province’s forest industry, with the goal of presenting legislation for a new Forestry Act in fall, 2020. The province is aiming to reduce red tape, improve efficiency and eliminate barriers to forest industry growth in the province, such as giving the Minister the authority to renew a forest company’s Forest Management Agreement (FMA) rather than requiring to page 34

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forestmanagement from page 32 an Order in Council involving the entire provincial cabinet.

The province is also establishing three sub-regional task forces to provide it with direction on endangered Woodland Caribou habitat management that will include four industry representatives, but it has already taken the position that the socio-economic impact of how caribou lands will be managed in future will be a big part of the conversation. This could put the province at odds with the federal government as it relates to the wording and application of the federal Endangered Species Act. Andre Corbould, Alberta's Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, said that the federal Endangered Species Act is a “fundamentally flawed” piece of legislation because it does not consider the socio-economic impact when action is taken to protect endangered species like the Woodland Caribou.

Bev Yee, Deputy Minister for Environment and Parks, said that there will be a different approach to caribou management in the province, focusing on land-use versus the federal government’s caribou-centric approach.

“We believe in working landscapes where industrial activity can continue on those landscapes,” she said. Future land use management where caribou call home will include socio-economic impacts and will be based on what Yee called “sound science”.

According to Dresshen, new Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is focused on jobs,

economic growth and oil pipeline construction. At present, this oil-producing province is constrained in shipping its petroleum products to markets by pipeline capacity.

The government’s focus on economic growth is particularly timely against a backdrop that according to Todd Hirsch, Chief Economist at ATB Financial, is far from rosy. Gone are the heady days between 2010 and 2014 when the oil industry was booming and the province was achieving annual GDP growth of five per cent or more per year, rivalling such economic powerhouses as China and leading many to believe that this trend would continue unabated.

However, the collapse of the oil sector in 2015 changed all that. Since then, Hirsch said that the petroleum sector has shed 25 per cent of its workforce, and with the growing number of automated systems being put to use by industries— including oil and gas—many of those jobs will not return.

He predicted tepid GDP growth in Alberta of only 0.8 percent in 2019 and 2 percent in 2020.

“It’s hard to find a sector in Alberta that is not experiencing challenges,” he said.

“Essentially, it is going to feel like zero growth (in 2019).”

It appears that the province’s forest sector is not markedly better off. Whittaker described 2019 as a challenging year, where the industry has experienced a price rollercoaster in all sectors.

“Benchmark prices have dropped 30 per cent year over year,” he said, and further complicating business for Alberta

Consultations are expected to begin soon on legislative changes to the Alberta Forestry Act and regulations governing the province’s forest industry, with the goal of presenting legislation for a new Forestry Act in fall, 2020.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

forest companies is the over 20 per cent softwood lumber tariff to ship dimension lumber to the United States. Kevin Lynch, a lawyer with Bennett Jones, a law firm assisting the Alberta government with Softwood Lumber Agreement negotiations, said that current countervailing duties on Alberta companies are twice as much as during the last dispute. That’s because of the growing importance of Alberta exports to the U.S. relative to Ontario and Quebec.

However, a forestry economic overview presented by Paul Jannke from Forest Economic Advisors LLC, showed that Alberta’s industry is not experiencing the kind of industry curtailment and job loss that is currently occurring in neighboring B.C. All told, about 2.5 billion board feet of softwood lumber has been taken out of production over the past year in North America, with the B.C. Interior far ahead of other areas in contributing to this production retreat.

While indicating that he is generally loathe to offer comment on issues impacting the forest industry outside the province, Whittaker said that it is hard to ignore the challenges being experienced

by British Columbia’s forest sector, created by a diminishing resource because of the mountain pine beetle epidemic and forest fires.

“There are too many mills chasing too few trees,” he said. What’s also hurting B.C.’s forestry sector is a provincial NDP government eager to “rethink the industry” without being on the same page as industry.

In addition to greater support from the federal government in caribou management that does not exclude industrial activity on lands they occupy, Alberta is also calling on the feds for financial support in its fight against the advance of the mountain pine beetle in the province. The danger presented to Alberta’s commercial forest was evident in Jasper National Park—the entire Lodgepole pine forest right to the eastern gate of the park is infested with the beetle that has already devastated B.C.’s Interior forest industry, leading to mill closures and significant job loss.

Alberta is very unhappy with how little the federal government has provided in financial support to help keep the beetle at bay, says the government.

“This is a Canadian issue,” said Deputy Minister Corbould. “Up to now, we are not at all satisfied with the federal response to that.”

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G4 Insights is hoping to install a wood waste to renewable natural gas pilot project at an Alberta sawmill as the next step toward commercialization.

THE

ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF INDUSTRY INNOVATION

Alberta field trial is successful for conversion of wood waste to renewable natural gas

n innovative clean energy start-up, G4 Insights Inc., has successfully demonstrated its technology can convert all types of wood waste into renewable natural gas (RNG) that is indistinguishable from conventional natural gas.

The company is now eager to scale up its technology, preferably at a sawmill. That would provide Alberta’s forest industry with another commercial outlet for underutilized wood waste, while also delivering a significant environmental dividend to the province.

Renewable natural gas produced from sustainably managed forest residues can emit up to 85 per cent fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than conventional natural gas.

Alberta Innovates (AI) partnered with Natural Resources Canada, the Natural Gas Innovation Fund (NGIF), gas distributor ATCO, and FPInnovations to provide $2.8 million in grants and in-kind contributions toward the six-month demonstration conducted by G4 Insights. AI provided $250,000 through its Alberta Bio Future program.

Jason Nixon, Alberta’s Environment and Parks Minister, said Alberta is pleased to support the development of this type of clean technology. Nixon said it fits well with the province’s newly introduced Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) program.

Steve Price, Executive Director, Bioindustrial Innovation at Alberta Innovates, said the Alberta Bio Future program has over the years invested in projects that promote the research, development and use of the province’s abundant, renewable resources in forestry and agriculture for the development of new bioproducts and exports.

“Not only are we adding value to these wood residues and potentially creating new revenue streams for forest companies and helping rural communities that depend on this industry, we are also creating diversification in the energy industry and creating new opportunities using disruptive technology, all while lowering our carbon footprint,” Price said.

Development of this technology has strong support from the natural gas delivery industry, from the Canadian Gas Association and the association’s Natural Gas Innovation Fund (NGIF). NGIF Managing Director John Adams noted his organization has been with G4 Insights from the beginning.

“This is a very exciting clean energy project for us and G4’s technology has the potential to be a game changer in the field of renewable natural gas,” said Adams.

G4 Insights’ equipment is located at an ATCO facility in Edmonton. For the first time in Alberta, RNG was injected directly into ATCO’s pipeline distribution system for use in homes and businesses. It provided an opportunity for G4 to collect technical and financial data to determine the optimal performance of its conversion unit.

“RNG from wood waste is a largely untapped renewable resource that Canadians can use to heat and power their homes and businesses, using a carbon-neutral fuel,” said Graeme Feltham, ATCO Utilities Vice President, Customer Experience & Innovation. “ATCO is supportive of RNG as a technology and is hopeful that their support will help accelerate the adopting of RNG in Alberta and commercialization of the G4 technology.”

This technology, co-founded and developed by two University of Alberta engineering grads, Edson Ng and Matt Babicki, can process wood waste like branches and tops that are typically piled and burned at the

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

By Tony Kryzanowski

A

roadside in logging operations, and wood waste generated at sawmills. Ng says the process has a net 70 per cent efficiency, meaning 70 per cent of the energy in the raw material used is converted into RNG. The remainder is biochar which is reused as part of the process and a small amount of ash byproduct.

G4’s demonstration unit can process 100 kilograms of wood waste into one gigajoule of RNG per day. The next step is to scale up their technology to a pilot plant capable of processing two tonnes of wood waste per day to produce 20 GJs of RNG. The goal is to build a commercial plant capable of processing 36 tonnes of wood waste per day to produce 450 GJs of RNG, followed by a larger plant able to process material from sawmill operations rated at 750 tonnes of wood waste per day and producing 10,000 GJs of RNG. G4 was able to use a geospatial database created with Alberta Innovates support called the Bio-Resource Information Management System (BRIMS), a comprehensive online tool that identifies biomass throughout Alberta.

“We used this system to find 16 million tonnes of biomass,” says Ng. This amount of biomass could support 64 commercial RNG plants, which in turn could supply RNG to three million Alberta homes.

Ng notes it would make the most sense to locate commercial plants at or near sawmills. That would reduce the number of commercial RNG plants to between 15 to 20 in Alberta, supplying up to one million Alberta homes.

For more information about Alberta Innovates’ support for this project and the Alberta Bio Future Program, contact Julia Necheff at Julia.Necheff@albertainnovates. ca.

CWFC planning Technology Development Legacy Network of Sites

By Tony Kryzanowski

N

RCan’s Canadian Wood Fibre Centre (CWFC) has launched a Legacy Network of Sites initiative to provide industry, forest practitioners, researchers, and the public with a legacy site network.

It will present practical knowledge on the impact of technical innovations to forest practices that have been established to address primary forest management questions.

The goal of this initiative, expected to take two to five years, is to protect the investment made by various stakeholders to establish these technical development sites, gather valuable data related to R & D conducted on these sites, and to protect and to promote them, maximizing their value, and of course, preserving a legacy for present and future stakeholders.

One part of this Legacy Network of Sites is the Alberta Forest Practices Innovation Trail Network.

This Trail Network is a cluster of legacy sites that consists of CWFC and Canadian Forest Service (CFS) forest research and development sites established within Alberta’s commercial forest over several decades.

They were established in partnership with a variety of stakeholders, including industry, forest regulators, and universities, typically to address a particular, high profile forest management issue of the day.

The initial focus is a compendium of forest practices research done in the Alberta boreal plains mixed wood forest focused on mixtures of trembling aspen and white spruce, white spruce, and lodgepole pine.

Sites included within the Trail Network are operational scale sites and novel demonstrations that have five to 35 years of history, with practical applicability, ecological and technical descriptions of original disturbances and technical applications, designs and layouts, and growth response monitoring plots. They also have relevance today, demonstrating to industry results from a particular application which they may find beneficial, and worthy of adoption in their current forest management practices.

“These Trail Network sites address the newly evolving challenges associated with climate change, impacts related to the mountain pine beetle, fire vulnerability, and

An example of 26-year-old white spruce growing in the Tom Hill Tower area, established in a Grizz elevated bed mix. The Grizz is a site prep tool patented by the Canadian Forest Service, with Derek Sidders the inventor. reforestation, as well as industry concerns related to stem size and timber supply issues,” says Derek Sidders, Project Manager, Technology Development and Transfer at CWFC. Among the other issues that research and development on sites within the Trail Network will help address are long-term diversity in the forest as a risk reduction strategy in an era of changing climate as well as the role of forests in carbon sequestration. It is invaluable to have long-term research studies and demonstrations to use as evidence and validation of sound practices that will influence on-the-ground forest management by forest companies.

“The forest industry is interested in an expanded, enhanced, and sustainable forest as it relates to timber supply of the species and size that are going to be useful to an efficient and diverse forest industry and enhanced bio-economy,” says Sidders.

One example of a Trail Network site is the Tom Hill Tower area north of Edson, Alberta. It was a demonstration of innovative site preparation practices to grow trees quickly using mixing site preparation technology to establish planted trees effectively without additional vegetation control treatments.

“At year 26, we have white spruce that are 10 to 12 metres tall and 15 to 20 centimetres in diameter,” says Sidders. “These trees were planted in 1993, so in that short amount of time, these trees experienced

phenomenal growth in a mixed wood scenario. These are high value trees grown over a short time frame, with the potential to increase product options as white spruce is one of the most valued fibre sources in Canada.”

There are also Trail Network sites demonstrating the planting of white spruce in understoreys, done in conjunction with the local forest industry and provincial governments. These sites focus on diverse fibre supply for both hardwood pulp, OSB and the dimensional sawmill industry.

Individuals interested in the location of Trail Network sites and the documentation attached to them will be able to access digital or hard copy documents as the Legacy Network of Sites evolves. CWFC is also developing a spatial imagery system linked directly to the on-the-ground technical layouts, aerial visuals of the actual practices being deployed, and the follow up growth response.

Sidders says that in general, the public would be surprised by just how much quality and practical on-the-ground research has been conducted over several decades within the commercial forest, and that this is an investment worth protecting and promoting, which is the whole point of this Legacy Network of Sites initiative.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

37

For more information about this initiative, contact Derek Sidders derek.sidders@ canada.ca.

TECHUPDATE

By Tony Kryzanowski

Planer Mill Equipment Autolog

Autolog says that mill personnel have described its ProGrader linear planer optimizer as one of the easiest grading systems to work with.

The ProGrader is a linear optimizer designed to fully automate the grading process of dressed lumber at the planer. It is positioned just after the planer, and allows for replacing a part or all of the positions of traditional graders.

What does easy to use mean exactly? It means that owners can quickly leverage the knowledge and the experience of their key graders. At many locations, graders with limited computer knowledge can learn and delve into the system to extract the most value out of every piece.

The ProGrader is described as a reliable and fast system that can be installed close-coupled or not, processing all dimensions between 1” X 3” to 6” X 12” from 6’ in length and up. www.autolog.com

Gilbert

In order to always offer its customers the best planing solutions, Gilbert has continually been developing a range of automatic upgrades designed to increase planer efficiency and make the planer room a much safer environment.

The Gilbert Roll Intelligent Positioning (GRIP) system was designed to gain production, increase efficiency and offer the best traction possible on boards feeding through a Gilbert planer.

Using the highest quality components available on the market, the GRIP system is built to automatically control position and force applied on the board with the pineapples and planer top rolls. It significantly improves feeding and auto-adjusts for boards with thick and thin variation.

The GRIP system can be retrofitted on all existing Gilbert planers, and is offered on all new Gilbert planers.

Gilbert is currently installing many 4.0 intelligent features to the planer, designed to collect infeed and outfeed data to make many automatic self-adjustments. Gilbert’s goal is to keep it very simple for every operator to run and produce the highest quality grades. www.gilbert-tech.com 38

USNR

USNR has updated its Coastal planer infeed and bridge system with 16” diameter pineapple rolls that have a more aggressive tooth pattern and an open profile to facilitate picking up the boards.

It features a closed-loop tensioning and positioning system so one push of a button sets all the feed rolls and pressures. This results in better pressure control, better product feeding, and better recipe setting options for different product widths and thicknesses. It features automatic thin board control, whereby the system automatically senses a thin board and drops the pineapples to grab the board and shoot it off to the planer.

The Coastal planer has developed a well-deserved reputation among planer operators for providing years of consistent and reliable production, according to the company. USNR says that upgrading a Coastal planer system is a worthwhile investment that can greatly increase efficiency and offers an attractive return on investment, particularly when productivity is an issue. www.usnr.com

VAB

Since its beginning in 2004, VAB says that it has put R&D at the centre of its business strategy to maintain its leading position in North America for sawmill and planer mill lumber scanners and graders.

In 2019, VAB introduced its newest innovation called the Pointer Projector Solution (PPS). Offered with VAB’s lumber scanners and graders, and mounted on the AirBoard Tracker, the PPS projects in real-time on boards relevant information for the mill operator and quality controller where they can at the same time visualize the grading process and achieve quality control tests in seconds.

Mill staff can visualize in real-time the board’s length, moisture content percentage, grade, board ID, downgrade reasons, and more, and achieve and save quality control tests in seconds.

VAB says that its customers can be assured of maintaining their quality and profitability objectives with the Pointer Project Solution system. www.vab-solutions.com

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

techupdate Lucidyne

Lucidyne says that its groundbreaking software platform Perceptive Sight Intelligent Grading has been recognized in the wood products industry as a new gold standard in lumber grading.

That recognition is now reaching into the technology sector as well. NVidia is the market leader in developing high-speed graphical processing units (GPU) for the gaming industry, as well as in self-driving vehicles, workstations for data science, and much more. NVidia has recognized Lucidyne’s extraordinary use of their products in lumber grading applications.

All new Lucidyne GradeScans and ChopScans are equipped with Perceptive Sight. Using Deep Learning Artificial Intelligence, the system “learns” defects and characteristics, delivering unparalleled results.

Both the technology sector and Lucidyne’s customers have taken notice with the results delivered. With many mills reporting close to zero above-grade, Lucidyne says that it is the choice for automated lumber grading. www.lucidyne.com

PLCUSA

PLCUSA says that it offers state-of-the-art planer mills with world class design, equipment, controls and installation.

PLCUSA describes itself as a true turnkey company for the lumber industry, offering more exclusive innovations, resulting in solutions that will help customers achieve better performance.

PLCUSA has a proven record in personnel reduction by providing customers with a streamlined planer mill that is basically hands-off lumber handling. From its infeed breakdown through its newest high-speed planer, to the stacker and paper wrap stations, PLCUSA says that it has its clients covered.

Over the last 20 years, PLCUSA says that its most unique advantage that puts it above the competition is the hands-on years of experience of its team members in the lumber manufacturing sector. It prides itself in the ability to provide clients with affordable, cutting edge technology, sturdiness and efficiency. www.plcusa.net to page 40

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

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techupdate from page 39

Murray Latta Progressive Machine

The Murray Latta side head safety plunge jointer is available for Stetson-Ross, Coastal and Newman planers.

With over 30 successful installations, it has achieved proven significant improvements in increased operator safety, convenience, and cost savings. Jointers are mounted outside the safety hood. As the hood is never removed to joint knives, the operator is never exposed to rotating or broken knives, debris or sticks. There has been a time saving of approximately 70 per cent per joint as there is no need to lock out motors, remove blow pipe or hoods. The simplified and accurate jointing procedure extends knife life significantly. Full payback is estimated at 60 shifts. www.mplmachine.com

Wolftek Industries

Wolftek’s Thermal Monitoring System shows real time temperature information which visually sees the sources of heat. This information improves safety while reducing mechanical wear, maintenance and downtime.

40

Unlike other systems, such as RTD or thermo couplers, Wolftek’s Thermal Monitoring System gives information in real time while also providing historical information. With the camera’s large field of view and multiple alarm zones, this technology can track and gather more thermal information and make it more practical for comparison and monitoring. Maintenance can be better managed by fixing issues before they arise, reducing downtime by eliminating troubleshooting and expediting ordered parts.

ControlLogix integration allows the system to be monitored in real time along with full industrial interlocking for 24/7 capability. www.wolftek.ca

Miller Manufacturing

Miller says that it continues to increase its footprint in the industry at a very fast pace, now having 19 planer lines and countless retrofits sold. From installation and commissioning to preventative maintenance and repair, Miller delivers the resources customers need, when they need them, according to the company. Regardless of the age or condition of equipment, Miller has the right solution, the company says. Having more than 30 years of application expertise and knowledge, its team is ready to take on the toughest jobs.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

techupdate Located in the Pacific Northwest, all Miller planers and infeed systems are manufactured with the highest standards in the industry. Its tradition of simplicity and ruggedness has given it one of the top names in the marketplace, says the company.

Miller is not just an OEM. It retrofits, rebuilds and engineers for all planer manufacturers’ equipment. From basic to complex parts, its state-of-the-art CNC equipment and fabrication capabilities provide complete planer solutions for customer production needs.

The Miller 830E planer has a 6” X 13” capacity. Features include eight roll, removable cutter heads, electric drive, servopositioning on all horizontal and vertical axis, auto jointers, and feeds up to 3000 fpm.

The Miller 630E planer has a 6” X 9” capacity. Features include six roll, removable cutter heads, electric drive, servo positioning on all horizontal and vertical axes, and auto jointers. It is a stud machine and feeds up to 3000 fpm.

The Miller infeed has a live shear, up to four pineapples, and powered hold-downs on the bridge, pneumatic tensioning and electric servo positioning, robust frame construction, and electric drive.

Retrofits include TEFC cutter head motor conversions, setworks, removable head conversion, planer roll module conversion, and sidehead assembly conversions. www.millermfginc.com

TS Manufacturing

TS Manufacturing has installed their most recent additions to the company’s planer mill line-up.

The Continuous Tilt Hoist module allows the TS Tilt hoist to maintain its fully flat front while enabling continuous unloading of lumber into a planer infeed system. This all-electric design can be retrofitted to existing systems or be part of a new installation. Given the persistent focus on stick breakage prevention, care was taken to ensure that the continuous tilt hoist module did not create any additional gaps or catch points that can dramatically increase stick breakage. Additionally, TS has recently installed its continuous stacking Package Maker system which also is fully electric utilizing servo technology, and can be retrofitted on many existing systems. www.tsman.com

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

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SUPPLIERNEWSLINE Tigercat introduces highly anticipated 1165 wheel harvester

The Tigercat 1165 is a mid-sized harvester well suited for thinning, selective cut and final fell applications.

With strong swing and leveling capabilities that Tigercat says exceeds the competition, the 1165 is well suited for steep slopes. The machine is available in both six-wheel and eight-wheel drive configurations.

Powered by the Tigercat FPT N67 engine, the 1165 provides full emissions compliance for Tier 4 final regions, along with excellent fuel economy, all in a simple and reliable package. Both Tier 4f and Tier 2 options deliver 282 hp at 2000 rpm.

The 1165 wheel harvester uses the same swing components as the larger 1185 machine, as well as oscillating and articulating centre section components used on Tigercat forwarders. The new active oscillation balancing technology provides machine stability, even while travelling. This allows crane operation while driving, thus increasing productivity.

The patented long reach ER crane is energy efficient and provides the same action as a parallel crane, but with simplified construction and less maintenance. The 30’ crane comes standard for heads up to 3530 lb, and a 36’ telescopic crane for heads up to 2425 lb.

The 360 degree continuous swing upper turntable supplies strong swing torque. Leveling capacity is 24 degrees backward, 18 degrees forward and 18 degrees side to side. This, along with tethering lugs built into the frame, facilitates steep slope cable assisted harvesting applications. www.tigercat.com

Weiler Forestry begins new product launch with B457 and B458 track feller bunchers

Weiler Forestry has launched two new reduced tail swing track feller buncher models, the B457 and B458.

The company says that these productive new machine platforms feature excellent multi-function capability with dedicated pumps, a new cab that maximizes operator experience, field-proven components, and excellent serviceability These Weiler B457 and B458 track feller buncher models have the latest Cat C9.3 engine that produces 298 hp and meets U.S. EPA Tier 4 Final emission standards. A Tier 3 engine option is also available.

42

By Tony Kryzanowski

The B457 is a non-leveling model best suited for plantation thinning, biomass harvesting, and medium-production select or clearcut applications, while the B458 is a leveling machine for steeper terrain and excels in select or clearcut logging.

The B457 and B458 combine lift capacity, swing torque, and drawbar. Multi-function performance is achieved through dedicated pumps and optimized circuit configurations. The B458 has an extended track roller frame option that includes two additional bottom rollers for a total of 11 bottom rollers, enhancing overall machine stability in steep terrain. In addition, a standard or heavy counterweight option is available for a diversity of harvesting conditions. Unobstructed ground clearance enables unimpeded travel over stumps, rocks, and other debris. www.weilerforestry.com

Expander and Vanderwell to build Canada’s first biomass supplied gas-to-liquids plant

Expander Energy Inc has entered into a letter of intent with Vanderwell Contractors (1971) Ltd, an Alberta family-owned company, to build Canada’s first commercial demonstration biomass-to-gas-to-liquids (BGTL) facility near Slave Lake, Alberta.

The plant will produce clean burning synthetic biodiesel from a variety of biomass feedstocks.

The BGTL project will be completed in two stages. Phase one will be the installation of a gasifier and gas-to-liquid unit with expected production capacity of 120 barrels per day (BPD) of synthetic fuel. Upon the successful completion and testing of phase one, the companies will proceed with phase two to increase the capacity of the plant to 500 BPD. Expander has developed and patented the BGTL technology to be used in the facility and says it has the expertise to build plants of this magnitude. Vanderwell brings over 70 years of expertise in the forestry industry and will provide a sustainable biomass feedstock and a location for the facility. www.vanderwell.com

KilnScout offers energy savings

A mill can save as much as 10 per cent on its energy costs, just by optimizing its lumber drying and control strategies.

The KilnScout wireless in-kiln moisture meter from Finna Sensors gives mills the power of optimization by reporting accurate lumber moisture content during kiln drying.

Powered by direct in-kiln moisture content input, KilnScout features real-time moisture and temperature readings, advanced reporting software and remote monitoring options to optimize batch and continuous kilns. No more costly manual feedback loop between planer and kiln. Now, KilnScout’s realtime readings control drying, save energy, improve grade recovery and increase profit, says the company. www.finnagroup.com

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

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AD INDEX ADVERTISER PAGE Autolog...........................................................13 BID Group.......................................................41 Brandt Tractor.................................................25 Brunette Machinery..........................................9 CarboTech......................................................40 Corbilt Group of Companies............................10 Eltec...............................................................19 Gear Centre....................................................15 Gilbert............................................................39 Itec 2000........................................................20 John Deere.....................................................35 Nokian Tyres.....................................................2 Olofsfors.........................................................21 Optimil............................................................11 Peterson.........................................................31 Ponsse..............................................................5 Ritchie Bros....................................................44 Scandinavian Forestry Inc...............................17 Sennebogen...................................................27 SMS Equipment..............................................47 Springer Microtec...........................................23 Static Energy Inc.............................................12 Tigercat..........................................................48 Tsubaki..........................................................33 USNR..............................................................43 Western Forestry Contractors Assoc..................7 Wood-Mizer....................................................16 WorkSafeBC.....................................................6

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# Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

45

thelastword

Finding the smart—although difficult— path forward for the B.C. forest industry

By Jim Stirling

I

mproving any situation begins with recognizing changes need to be made.

The B.C. Council of Forest Industries (COFI) has initiated conversations among its partners about what the next generation of forest industry might look like in its recently published plan, “Smart Future: A Path Forward for B.C.’s Forest Industry.”

It’s a comprehensive report—and a candid one. “Smart Future” doesn’t pretend to have all the answers and recognizes many details require clarification.

The document doesn’t address where the money might come from to achieve its objectives. And, naturally enough, some of COFI’s suggestions reflect the interests and biases of its membership—the major forest companies in the province.

COFI’s contribution contains 60 policy choices in five broad categories that it believes will steer the forest industry toward a less volatile future. The five areas COFI identified are: invest in and protect the working forest land base; have smart rules to protect the environment and encourage investment; strengthen participation of indigenous people and community partnerships; double down on market and product diversification; and be the global hub for expertise in low-carbon green building.

“Industry is ready to work with all parties to put these ideas into action,” declared Don Kayne, chair of COFI when the document was publicly introduced.

“Working in partnership, we can create the right conditions for a world-leading, globally competitive and innovative manufacturer of high quality, sustainable products that support skilled jobs and provide economic benefits for communities, First Nations and all British Columbians.”

The first area cited—“Invest in and protect our working forest land base”— serves as a good example of the approach the organization took to its subject. It’s no surprise to anyone working in the forest industry during the last few years to learn the land available for forestry activities

has been consistently whittled down. The public’s expectations from the forest industry to continue delivering B.C.’s ‘good life’, especially in small communities, remains but now it has to be generated from a smaller operating area. COFI says 52.3 per cent of the B.C. land base is now covered by some form of conservation designation.

“A key choice that would help build the confidence that drives investment into the province would be to settle on the size of our working forest and lock it in. This will allow companies and communities to plan a future that workers can count on,” says COFI. The organization also suggests implementing a ‘no net loss’ policy to provide certainty in the long term and have that policy subject to a review every five years.

Finding ways to reduce the levels of uncertainty that have haunted the B.C. forest sector in recent months and years is a recurring motivating theme behind many of COFI’s suggestions for change.

A physically smaller working forest underlines the necessity of improving the value and productivity it generates.

Technology in its various forms is viewed

by COFI as a means of enhancing the fibre resource, especially when it’s superimposed on the many implications of a warming climate.

As examples, COFI cited the applications of LiDAR (light detection and ranging), artificial intelligence and drone technologies to produce accurate and updated timber inventory information. You need an accurate knowledge of what’s available to manage it sustainably.

COFI also addressed a familiar subject in NSR lands. Not Sufficiently Restocked forest lands are a grab bag classification most frequently used to include harvested sites left to the vagaries of natural regeneration. COFI, ever cognizant of the B.C. Interior’s timber supply woes, urges the accelerated replanting of the province’s NSR lands with the optimistic goal of a

46

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - November 2019

five-year completion target.

Smart Future maintained the theme of intensifying forest management techniques in the working forest, from implementing commercial thinning programs to improving seed stock. Lessons well learned from the mountain pine beetle epidemic and the wildfires of 2017 and 2018 are prominent in the document.

It urges “vigilant monitoring” of forest pest infestations in B.C; the spruce bark beetle represents just one of concern. And COFI recommends a maximum window of 24 months for salvaging timber after a wildfire. The reasons cited are to maximize the economic value from the fire damaged-stands and to quickly restore the landscape through treatment and replanting into productive forest.

COFI also calls for the creation of a biomass tax credit to utilize residual forest fibre from dimensional lumber logging.

The organization says a tax credit would create employment and boost the low carbon economy.

COFI would also like to see a working group of industry, government and academia established “for the development of flexible and innovative approaches to climate-affected forests” with a goal of ensuring a more fire-resilient and sustainable fibre supply.

The Smart Future document contains a similar range of suggestions for action in each of the other four major areas it identified. ”Our focus is on ideas that address the things we can control, where we can influence outcomes. We have tried to identify concrete actions that will help build our next generation forest industry and help to achieve the stability, predictability and confidence that we all want.”

It should be interesting to see how other forest groups react to COFI’s vision for the B.C.’s forest industry.

“Smart Future: A Path Forward for B.C.’s Forest Industry.” is available at www.cofi.org

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