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Vol. 52 No. 11

(Founded in 1972—Our 614th Consecutive Issue)

F E AT U R E S out front:

Mississippi’s Drew Massey continues a five-generation family tradition of working in the timber industry. After earning a master’s degree from Mississippi State, Massey spent a few years as a product rep for Waratah, giving him the opportunity to visit different kinds of logging jobs all over the country. He has incorporated that valuable perspective into his own operations. He’s also taken an active role in advocating for the industry through state and national logging associations.

Story begins on Page 8.

(David Abbott photo)

From The Backwoods Pew . . . . . . 20 Bulletin Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Industry News Roundup . . . . . . . . 28 Machines-Supplies-Technology . . 40 Iron Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

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A Hatton-Brown Publication

Phone: 334-834-1170 Fax: 334-834-4525

www.southernloggintimes.com

Southern Stumpin’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

American Loggers Council Successful Annual Meeting

November 2023

Safety Focus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Coming Events/Ad Index. . . . . . . . 46

Publisher David H. Ramsey Chief Operating Officer Dianne C. Sullivan Editor-in-Chief Rich Donnell Senior Editor Dan Shell Managing Editor David Abbott Senior Editor Jessica Johnson Publisher/Editor Emeritus David (DK) Knight Art Director Cindy Segrest Ad Production Coordinator Patti Campbell Circulation Director Rhonda Thomas Online Content/Marketing Jacqlyn Kirkland ADVERTISING CONTACTS DISPLAY SALES Eastern U.S. Kathy Sternenberg Tel: 251-928-4962 • Fax: 334-834-4525 219 Royal Lane Fairhope, AL 36532 E-mail: ksternenberg@bellsouth.net Midwest USA, Eastern Canada John Simmons Tel: 905-666-0258 29 Bugelli Dr. Whitby, Ontario, Canada L1R 3B7 E-mail: jsimmons@idirect.com Western Canada, Western USA Tim Shaddick Tel: 604-910-1826 4056 West 10th Ave. Vancouver, BC V6L 1Z1 E-mail: twshaddick@gmail.com Kevin Cook Tel: 604-619-1777 E-mail: lordkevincook@gmail.com International Murray Brett Tel: +34 96 640 4165 Mobile: +34 66 931 5837 58 Aldea de las Cuevas • Buzon 60 03759 Benidoleig (Alicante), Spain E-mail: murray.brett@abasol.net CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

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Southern Loggin’ Times (ISSN 0744-2106) is published monthly by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc., 225 Hanrick St., Montgomery, AL 36104. Subscription Information—SLT is sent free to logging, pulpwood and chipping contractors and their supervisors; managers and supervisors of corporate-owned harvesting operations; wood suppliers; timber buyers; wood procurement and land management officials; industrial forestry purchasing agents; wholesale and retail forest equipment representatives and forest/logging association personnel in the U.S. South. See form elsewhere in this issue.

All non-qualified U.S. subscriptions are $65 annually; $75 in Canada; $120 (Airmail) in all other countries (U.S. funds). Single copies, $5 each; special issues, $20 (U.S. funds). Subscription Inquiries— TOLL-FREE 800-669-5613; Fax 888-611-4525. Go to www.southernloggintimes.com and click on the subscribe button to subscribe/renew via the web. All advertisements for Southern Loggin’ Times magazine are accepted and published by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. with the understanding that the advertiser and/or advertising agency are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof. The advertiser and/or advertising agency will defend, indemnify and hold Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. harmless from and against any loss, expenses, or other liability resulting from any claims or lawsuits for libel violations or right of privacy or publicity, plagiarism, copyright or trademark infringement and any other claims or lawsuits that may arise out of publication of such advertisement. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. neither endorses nor makes any representation or guarantee as to the quality of goods and services advertised in Southern Loggin’ Times. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. reserves the right to reject any advertisement which it deems inappropriate. Copyright ® 2023. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Periodicals postage paid at Montgomery, Ala. and at additional mailing offices. Printed In USA.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Southern Loggin’ Times, P.O. Box 2419, Montgomery, AL 36102-2419

Other Hatton-Brown publications: ★ Timber Processing ★ Timber Harvesting ★ Panel World ★ Power Equipment Trade ★ Wood Bioenergy

4 ● NOVEMBER 2023 ● Southern Loggin’ Times

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SOUTHERN STUMPIN’

By David Abbott • Managing Editor • Ph. 334-834-1170 • Fax: 334-834-4525 • E-mail: david@hattonbrown.com

Logger’s Son/Top Gun or most of my life, I’ve organization’s board for 34 years, done my fair share of travrepresenting the interests of logeling. For the last 19 years, gers in the state.

I’ve traveled through the U.S. Not every logger’s son follows and sometimes Europe for Hatthe family tradition, though; ton-Brown. In high school and James Kuehl’s destiny was not in college, I went on several misthe woods, but in the skies. Livsionary trips with various ing near the local airport, it was church ministries. Even when I flying that caught his attention. was a kid growing up, my famiHe earned his pilot’s license ly traveled a bit; we lived in while still in high school. He Alabama, but my grandparents originally planned to enter the Air Navy pilot James Kuehl grew up in and most of my aunts, uncles Force, but around the time Scott logging. and cousins were elsewhere. was graduating from Annapolis, We’ve always had family spread Top Gun persuaded Kuehl to go out over much of the country, Navy instead. from California to New York, After attending the University Texas to West Virginia. of Minnesota Navy ROTC proWe always went to Arkansas at gram, Kuehl was commissioned least a couple of times a year as an officer in the U.S. Navy. He (summer and holidays), so that attended flight school and was trek was a familiar routine since trained as a Navy jet pilot flying before I could remember, but the F-18s off aircraft carriers. After first big road trip I can recall haptwo deployments, he, like Tom pened at the end of my first grade Cruise in the movie, was selected Real life Top Gun James Kuehl with year. My mom picked us up from the to attend the Navy’s TOPGUN movie’s “Maverick,” Tom Cruise school and we set out for MarySchool, where he graduated and land, to attend my cousin Scott Langley’s graduaserved as an instructor for six years. tion from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. I The Top Gun call sign for Kuehl was “Zuel,” kept one of the white hats tossed by the graduates after the character Zuul in the 1984 classic comedy at the end of the ceremony; for years it hung on my Ghostbusters (my kids and I just watched that bedroom wall. movie the other night for Halloween). It was also a This was in 1986, around the time the first Top play on his last name, which others often struggled Gun movie came out, meaning my cousin Scott to pronounce correctly. had already chosen a career in naval aviation Kuehl says running logging equipment helped long before that box office smash inspired others develop his hand-eye coordination, not to mention to do the same. Scott went on to serve in Iraq his work ethic from years in the woods. These he twice (1991 and 2008) and to do a stint in the credited as among the primary factors contributing Pentagon. Now retired, he builds and flies his to his success as a Top Gun pilot. own helicopters as a hobby.

Fast forward to 2022: after Covid delays and I was reminded of my Navy pilot cousin Scott 36 years since the original, Cruise and company when I read this next story a few months ago, released a sequel, Top Gun: Maverick. The and I decided it would be a good story to share movie was a solid crowd-pleasing and critically this issue in honor of Veteran’s Day on Novemacclaimed blockbuster. While they were making ber 11. You may have seen this story via Amerithe movie, Operations Officer Kuehl was stacan Loggers Council’s social media, but in case tioned at what was then called NAVAL STRIKE you missed it, ALC’s Executive Director Scott AND AIR WARFARE CENTER (the Parent Dane wrote an article about Minnesota native Command of TOPGUN). In his official capacity James Kuehl this summer. as Operations Officer, Kuehl consulted on the Kuehl, Dane wrote, started working in the movie and helped coordinate flight activities, woods with his father and grandfather when he meeting with the movie’s director, Tony Scott, was old enough to shave. Growing up in a logproducer Jerry Bruckheimer and star Tom ging family in the small logging and mining Cruise. Later, he got invited to a special screentown of Ely instilled in Kuehl a strong work ing for cast and crew in Hollywood ahead of the ethic that would later be critical to his success in public release of the movie, which premiered an entirely other area. onboard the USS Midway in San Diego.

The family’s roots in logging run deep and conOn June 29, Kuehl and Dane were guests on tinue to this day. James Kuehl’s dad is Elroy Kuehl, Peter Woods’ logging podcast/radio broadcast, Let who helped found the Associated Contract Loggers The Sawdust Fly. You can Google the episode and and Truckers of Minnesota and has served on that listen to it anytime.

F

Logger’s Daughter Honors Late Father Haylee Franks is a senior at Hardin County High School in Savannah, Tenn.

Haylee’s father, Jamie Franks, was a logger from a multigenerational logging family. He was an employee of Chris Jones Logging. Tragically, Mr. Franks, along with his wife and two younger chil- Haylee Franks dren, ages 3 and 9, died in (Photographer Kevin Howard) their sleep in a house fire in 2018. Haylee and another sibling were with their mother, Cheryl Brown, that night.

Cheryl says Jamie was a hard working man who nearly lost his life a few times in logging accidents but never quit. His grandfather logged and his father, mother and brother still log.

To honor her father’s memory and her family’s logging legacy, Haylee wanted to take some of her senior portraits wearing her dad’s company work shirt with the CJL (Chris Jones Logging) logo and his name tag visible. Owner Chris Jones, Jamie’s employer, gave the family permission to shoot her portraits at his company log yard, in front of a Cat machine like the ones Jamie used to run for CJL. Haylee plans to attend either Jackson State Community or Austin Peay State University and pursue a degree leading to a career advocating for and helping people who suffer from mental health issues and trauma.

Rescheduled Pitts trailers had such a presence at September’s Mid-South show in Starkville, Miss. that it was hard to look anywhere without seeing their logo. In our coverage in the October issue, I mentioned we would be carrying information on some new innovations Pitts is promoting this month. We’re still doing it, but it has been delayed until the December issue, so look for it next month.

ALC Awards HB At American Logger’s Council’s annual meeting in Maine in October, ALC recognized Hatton-Brown, Southern Loggin’ Times and Timber Harvesting with an award. Senior editor Dan Shell and I were honored to accept the award on behalf of HB; it is truly a team effort and the recognition is much appreciated. So we wanted to take this space to say SLT a big THANKS to ALC. Excelsior!

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Stepping Up n Drew Massey carries on a long-term legacy and gets involved on behalf of the industry that’s in his blood.

By David Abbott PHILADELPHIA, Miss. ven before Drew ★ Massey, 36, started his companies, Massey Timber LLC and Massey Timber Transportation, LLC, it seemed he was destined for a life connected to the forest products business one way or another.

Both his dad and his maternal granddad logged, and in fact on his mother’s side, logging goes back five generations. “I grew up in the woods all my life,” Massey says. “I don’t remember learning how to run a piece of equipment; I just knew as far back as I can remember.”

In 1993 Drew’s dad, Sid Massey, saw an opportunity with the CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) so he started a crew designed to specialize in plantation thinning. Still, Sid had moved on to other things by the time his son was finishing up his higher education around 2010. After completing a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering technology from Mississippi State University in 2009, Drew accepted an offer from the school to teach classes and work

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Massey sets up and moves around his loading decks to keep skid distances under 1,000 ft., with help from a map app on his smart phone.

as a research assistant in exchange for a stipend and paid tuition, allowing him to further earn a master’s degree.

“So I did that, and I enjoyed it,” he says. “I loved every minute of it.”

When that was done a year later, he started looking for jobs and responded to a posting through John Deere that Waratah had an opening.

He spent the next couple of years as a Waratah product rep for the South-

east. This position afforded him the opportunity to travel to logging job sites all over the U.S., including a fair amount of time out west. Seeing all those different styles of logging operations in different terrains allowed him the benefit of a different perspective, he believes. “I feel like I try to go about things a little different than normal and it works for me.”

That’s one of the reasons he likes

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getting involved with American Loggers Council events today. “You can talk to people from everywhere and see how they do it and why. If it’s something else I can learn a better way to do, then I want to learn it and see if I can make it even better than that.”

Drew decided to leave Waratah in 2012 so he could start his own logging business. Sid was less than en-

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thusiastic when his son told him.

“You’re crazy!” the senior Massey thought. But Drew wrote up a business plan, went over the financials and decided he could make money.

Convinced, Sid got on board and went to work for his son for a few years. “It was great,” Drew smiles.

In 2017 the younger Massey had two crews; Sid bought one crew from his son, and went back to logging on his own, which he’s still doing today at 62.

Massey and his wife Laura have been married since 2014 and have three kids: Mary Allen, 7, Andrew, 6, and Olivia, 1. The family is actively involved at First Baptist Church in Philadelphia, and in camping and Motocross and dirt bike racing with the kids.

Activist The day after Southern Loggin’ Times visited his crew in mid-September, Massey went to work the parking lot at the Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show in Starkville on behalf of the Mississippi Loggers Assn. MLA Executive Director David Livingston asked him to do it, and Massey answered the call.

That’s become a habit for him, answering the call. He stepped in to fill Johnny Black’s position on the MSFS board of directors, so this was his first Starkville show as a board member. He also serves on the MLA board of directors representing Mississippi’s central district.

Until six years ago, Massey wasn’t active in this arena. He just went to work at his own job, figuring that kept him busy enough to let others handle association work. But a nomination for Mississippi Forestry Assn.’s Outstanding Logger of the Year in 2018 inspired him to step up to do more. “I realized no one else is going to speak up for loggers if we don’t use our own voice to say what we need,” he says.

Since then he’s not only tried to do his part with MLA, he’s also gotten active with the national body at the ALC. He’s even gone to Washington, DC as part of the Mississippi delegation with ALC to speak to his state’s representatives in Congress on behalf of the logging industry. A stint during college as an intern for a Mississippi senator in DC might have helped give him some insight into the legislative process.

All this activism for logging does some good, he’s convinced, and he believes the industry needs more of it. “And I want to talk to people on both sides of the aisle,” he adds.

“Timber shouldn’t be necessarily a partisan issue. Not everyone in logging is necessarily Republican, especially in other parts of the country.

Track loader can move where needed to keep trucks flowing from the most efficient position on each tract.

You need support from both sides.

No two people will agree on everything, so we have to find some common ground with each other in order to get things done. Not a lot of loggers like politics at all, but we have to be involved in order to be seen in

a positive light and advance our industry.”

Equipment All of the newer pieces of equipment fielded by the Massey Timber

crew are Tigercat models from B&G Equipment: a 2023 635H bogie skidder, ’22 H250D processor with 575 head, ’21 T234B track loader, and ’21 724G feller-buncher. Backup spare machines include 2019 Tigercat 620E skidder, ’16 John Deere

Added this year, the processor has increased the operation's efficiency.

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437D loader and ’14 John Deere 643K cutter. For road building and maintenance work, Massey also has a ’19 700K Deere dozer, ’15 Cat D6K2 dozer and 1996 model Deere 670B road grader.

Massey typically buys a new truck, sometimes also selling an older one, just about every year. His fleet currently includes six Macks, from a 2017 spare to the newest 2023 model, along with a ’22 Kenworth W900 and ’24 International HX520. Trucks pull trailers from Mississippi manufacturers FMI and Magnolia, as well as some Pitts in the mix. The logger has 20 trailers in all; he even still has a 1990 GCL folding pole trailer that belonged to his dad. “I’ve only ever bought one new trailer,” Massey says; he tends to buy them a few years old.

Total equipment investment, he figures, is between $4 and $5 million.

Typically, Massey sets up his loading decks with the 250B processing on the roadside, where it’s easiest to get trucks in and out. He just added this processor in the last six months, having previously relied solely on pullthrough delimbers. “I’ve found the processor makes the bogie skidder more efficient, especially in hilly winter terrain so that the skidder can

From left, Roderick Miller, Drew Massey, Sammy Miller, Henry Smith, Sandrick Kelley, David Smith and Kenny Ray Stevens

pull to just one spot instead of two.”

Speaking of the skidder, he also moves the landing around to minimize skid distance, thereby maximizing efficiency and productivity. With the bogie skidder he uses a map app on his phone to keep skid distances to no more than 1,000 feet.

Massey has Garmin dash cams on all his trucks. He used to have Verizon Fleetmatics for a long time but has since dropped that system. He’s currently weighing his options to try

GPS in his trucks again.

Insurance is Hawkins and Rawlinson.

For tires, Massey uses a mix of brands these days: Goodyear, Firestone, Primex, Maxam. For truck tires he used to like to run Ameristeel D4-60, but since 2020 he shops around. During the pandemic, he had to take whatever he could get that was available when he needed it.

Supply chain delays for parts are not as bad as they were two years ago, he

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says, but there are still some slowdowns and waits.

Massey says he tries to be very strict on the maintenance routine for his machines and trucks, with fluid and filters getting serviced “religiously” at set intervals. Operators grease machines every other day, change engine oil every 250 hours and hydraulic oil/filters every 500 hours.

Air filters get serviced as needed— obviously more when it’s dusty, like it has been much of this dry fall.

Trucks get greased every other week and have engine oil changed every 15,000 miles. His preference is Chevron Delo 15W40 oil and Chevron Moly 5% grease. The higher-quality grease, he believes, lasts twice as long compared to what he used to use; back then machines had to be greased every single day.

Dealerships handle warranty repairs and the crew handles minor breakdowns, even up to rear end work in trucks. But newer equipment requires computers to work on, and Massey says he’ll soon obtain the software needed to diagnose problems. “It’s actually not that expensive,” he was pleasantly surprised to learn. “You can get it to run off your iPhone for about $800 a year, and it will plug into all makes.” If it saves him even one service call, he figures,

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then it’s easily worth that relatively small investment.

For a long time Massey has been using his dad’s shop when he needed to bring a machine, truck or trailer in for repairs. But now he has almost completed construction on a new 12,000 sq. ft. facility of his own in Noxapater, the town where he grew up just north of Philadelphia.

according to Massey.

No one ever accused logging of being easy money, and the industry has rarely challenged its practitioners more than in the last couple of years. “We are doing all we can do, but inflation has been terrible,” Massey laments. “Equipment has gone up $50-70,000 in the last few years. I feel like it may have leveled off but it hasn’t gone down and we haven’t seen enough rate The crew averages around 120 loads a week to multiple mills in Timber/Markets increases to reflect that; Mississippi and sometimes nearby Alabama.

Massey Timber wasn’t we’ve seen some. We just working on a typical tract for them er’s mill in Philadelphia, while larger have to pinch pennies and do what when SLT caught up with the crew. logs went to Westervelt in Moundwe can. And fuel is always up and Normally Massey cuts timber that ville; pine pulp would head to Interdown. We have seen a 30 cent Weyerhaeuser buys on private land, national Paper in Columbus, and light increase in August to September. At but this was actually a final harvest poles to Stella-Jones in Electric Mills my new shop when it is finished I am before replanting on Weyerhaeuser(an unincorporated community in going to put in a bulk fuel tank there owned plantation land, 28 years old.

Kemper County). There was no hard- and hopefully save a good little bit a “I’m a logger, not a timber buyer,” wood on this job, but from other gallon. My dad uses Southern LogMassey says. Though he has bought tracts Massey sends his hardwood gers Co-op and he has nothing but timber, it’s not how he prefers to production to a couple of different praise for it.” The younger Massey operate. “If I am gonna be a logger I markets, wherever Weyerhaeuser says he hopes that the group can one want to focus on one thing: logging.” says: Georgia-Pacific in Louisville or day add a station close to his territory So, for him it makes more sense to B&G Wood Yard for WestRock in around Philadelphia, where he’d be leave that to Weyerhaeuser.

Lake, Miss. and in Demopolis, Ala.; glad to take advantage of the savings.

On this atypical job, Massey’s oversized hardwood logs go to Jack loader man had a few sorts and sepaBatte & Sons lumber mill in Forest, Stable Crew rations with which to keep up. Small- Miss. On average the crew hauls 115Foreman Roderick “Smokey” er logs were bound for Weyerhaeus120 loads, or 3,300 tons, a week,

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Miller has been here a long time; in fact Massey doesn’t remember a time when he didn’t know old Smokey, since Miller used to work for his dad back in the ’90s. The same is true for a few of the guys on this crew, many of whom have been with Massey a decade or more. A lot of them are by this point basically family, in some cases literally so. For example, Roderick’s brother Sammy “Cigar” Miller mans the loader and handles BMP work, while his son Sandrick “Sandman” Kelly runs the processor.

Skidder driver Kenny Ray Stevens also worked for Massey’s dad and even his granddad in days gone by.

Last but not least, cutter operator Henry “Red” Smith has been with Massey off and on over a 10-year period.

Company truck drivers are Melvin Hardin, Greg Johnson, Michael Strait, Jason Conn, David Smith and Dennis Childress. Massey also hires some contract haulers.

“I’ve been very fortunate,” Massey says of his team. “We all work together and get along. Everyone is set in their ways but I back off and let them do it their way. I am out here every day to oversee things, but I don’t micromanage. As long as they’re doing their job, and they SLT do.”

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Fall Tradition ■ American Loggers Council held its 29th annual meeting in October.

By David Abbott

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NEWRY, Me.

ctober is supposed to bring with it beautiful fall foliage and cooler temperatures to the state of Maine. This year it brought more than that. Logging industry professionals and advocates from throughout the U.S. (and a few from beyond it) converged on the far northeastern New England state for this year’s American Loggers Council annual meeting on October 4-6. The theme for this year’s conference was “Family Tradition,” and indeed, the ALC annual meeting has become an annual tradition every fall for many logging families.

In conjunction with the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine, Maine native Andy Irish, who served as ALC President for the 2022-2023 term, hosted the conference in his home state, per ALC tradition. In fact, this is the third time in its history that ALC has held its annual meeting in Maine, which has been an integral presence in the organization since its inception in 1994. It’s not hard to see why; Maine is timber country, with forests covering nearly 90% of the land.

O

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Maine Senate President/logger advocate Troy Jackson

FSC's Frederiksen, left, and SFI's Block, right

Another ALC tradition: on the first day, attendees attend a logging tour, affording loggers from other parts of the country a chance to see a typical logging operation in the host state. Irish set up a demo of his own Tigercat machines on an eastern white pine stand managed by Wagner Forest Management. Following a very wet summer, Maine greeted the ALC group with an unseasonably warm and sunny day, perfect weather for the demo. After, Irish also showed a less easily accessed, mountaintop stand his Irish Family Logging crew had recently finished, for an up-close look at the massive windmills also managed on the land.

At a welcome reception that night, ALC previewed its upcoming PR campaign to improve the public image of logging, and played a recorded greeting from comedian Jeff Foxworthy.

Maine Senate President Troy Jackson kicked off the second day’s seminars by delivering the keynote speech. Jackson is himself a logger and a lifelong member of a logging family community who entered the political arena and has worked to further legislation on behalf of loggers. Among his accomplishments, he has successfully championed the right of Maine loggers to collectively bargain. He argued the position of a loophole in the Sherman anti-trust law allowing exceptions in the case of an unjust imbalance of power, and the state courts evidently agreed that the existing situation is indeed unjust. Jackson is currently next in line to fill in as the state’s Governor in the event the current office holder becomes unable to serve.

“Your greatest strength is your independence,” ALC Executive Director Scott Dane told those in attendance. “Your greatest weak-

Swanstrom, left, received TH award from HB's Shell, right

ness is also your independence.

People play that against you.” He admonished loggers to work together to attain common goals.

The second seminar brought with it some spirited discussion of the pros and cons of certification systems.

Representatives from the Forest Stewardship Council (Derik Frederiksen, FSC President) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (Nadine Block, SFI Senior VP of Community and Government Relations) made presentations and answered audience questions on the topic.

During a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis on the industry, Dane offered perspective from speakers on two promising opportunities. The panel included Josh Henry, President of TimberHP, a Maine company that is the first in North America to offer wood fiber insulation, an alternative already popular in Europe; and Julie

Tucker, U.S. Forest Service National Program Manager, Wood Innovations, who discussed the wood bioenergy, biofuels and bioproducts sector.

The American Loggers Council brought in an international perspective with John Rance of South Africa’s massive Rance Timber Group. Rance described the forest products industry situation in his country and highlighted differences from the U.S. in markets, challenges and operational methods.

An afternoon panel brought together speakers from Bourgeois Guitars, Dove Tail Bats and Wells Wood Turning, Maine companies representing less mainstream forest products. Kelly Madison from Associated Insurance Services, Idaho, spoke on her state’s efforts to provide affordable employee health insurance coverage opportunities for logging companies, a key to attracting and retaining quality

need. Maybe they’ve First TST Awards At Annual Meeting undoubtedly heard it before...but what if they haven’t? This is where TST shines the brightest. This is where TST hopes to fill the gaps. This is longside the ALC annual meeting, there was another meeting withwhere TST hopes to save lives in the meeting: the board members of TEAM Safe Trucking held and livelihoods. their own annual meeting while in Newry on Friday afternoon, The board members were able between the ALC awards luncheon and the President’s farewell banquet to come together and continue that night. their work for the logger and the TEAM Safe Trucking (TST) is a small non-profit educational group of forest product hauler. With some like-minded people trying to change our world for the better, one log of the greatest minds in the industruck at a time. try, they got to celebrate their suc- Bob Lussier at the TEAM Safe meeting TST started in 2015 with the single goal of making forest product cesses and plan for an even hauling safer. They knew if the industry stood a chance at being sustain- brighter future. As they peek into that future, they can’t help but see some able, they had to start here. They firmly believed that “Together Everyof the brightest advocates and supporters they have in their corner. These one Achieves More.” Today, TST has a treasure trove of forest-specific folks come from every side of the business and are steadfastly committed hauling safety training modules. These user-friendly modules are delivto TST’s mission. This year, TEAM Safe Trucking was privileged to honor ered straight to the loggers, the forest product haulers, and anyone in the three individuals—Amy Hood from International Paper, David Livingston industry who can benefit from from the Mississippi Loggers added safety measures. TST Assn., and Dave Cupp of believes that if these modules preLouisiana’s Walsh Timber Co.— vent one accident, the work will with its first annual “In it for the have been worth it.

Long Haul” award. If you want to Thankfully, the industry is seeing know what dedication and hard new drivers begin their careers in work look like, look no further this business. Some were finally than these three! TST is blessed to handed the proverbial baton, while have their support. There are many many others are starting out anew. in our industry fighting for change, Who will teach them what years of fighting to keep us safe, and fightexperience have taught the seasoned ing for a future. TEAM Safe plans driver? One can only hope they have on being at the forefront of it all. a seasoned driver to learn from, but TEAM Safe Trucking will always either way, TST’s training is specific be trying to better our world, one From left, IP's Hood, MLA's Livingston and Louisiana's Cupp were the first recipients of to what that new driver will log truck at a time.

TST's new award.

By Wendy Harrell, TEAM Safe Trucking

A

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Mississippi auctioneer Holder was back.

ALC auction raised big bucks for Children's hospitals (PLCNortheast's Dana Doran, center, with Maine's Andy Irish, right).

Loggers speak out on the issues.

Josh Henry, left, talks wood fiber insulation; Julie Tucker, right, talks wood bioenergy.

John Rance of South Africa's Rance Timber Group

Maine loggers represented

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Comedian Tim Samples

Irish, left, and Dane

New ALC President Albrecht

employees in an ever-more competitive labor market. Notably, other states, including North Carolina and Alabama, have also made some progress on this front. Finally, representatives from Log a Load for Kids and Children’s Miracle Network hospitals spoke on the positive impact the logging community has had on their efforts. In 2022 alone, Log a Load raised $3.6 million for Children’s Miracle Network.

At the Log a Load for Kids banquet and fundraiser auction that night, there was another video message, this one from The Dukes of Hazzard’s John Schneider (Bo Duke) on behalf of Children’s Miracle Network. This year’s auction had two auctioneers: Scott Hanington from Maine and Roy Holder from Mississippi. The auction raised more than $50,000 that night.

Following vigorous discussion of various industry issues at Friday morning’s board of directors and membership meetings, Irish and Dane presented the 2023 National Activist Award to Hatton-Brown Publishers, parent of Southern Loggin’ Times and Timber Harvesting, and the President’s Leadership Award collectively to the members of the ALC Executive Committee for 2022-2023.

At the President’s farewell banquet Friday night, Hatton-Brown’s senior editor Dan Shell presented this year’s Timber Harvesting Logging Business of the Year to Montana’s Ken Swanstrom.

Then, after receiving a standing ovation from the crowd for his work on the industry’s behalf over the last 12 months, Irish passed the gavel to his successor as ALC President, California’s Mike Albrecht. Maine humorist Tim Samples closed out the meeting with a brand of standup comedy unique to Maine’s culture.

Albrecht will serve as President until this time next year, when ALC hosts its 30th Annual Meeting October 2-4, 2024 in SLT Sonora, Cali.

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FROM THE BACKWOODS PEW

Grandma and the Dirty Truck Dear Grandma, It seems odd to start off that way, as it usually would include Grandpa. I am sure it is an absence you notice every day....

And so began a letter to

Antill

my Grandma several years ago. Grandpa had passed away, and she had to undergo heart surgery; and it seemed hope was next to go. Hope is a fragile commodity. We can so easily lose our grip on it, and yet

the Apostle Paul describes our faith in Hebrews 12:1 as the substance of things hoped for…thus hope has to be more solid. It cannot be something that flies from our hands and our hearts when difficult times come, because it is exactly what Christ has given to us when we bring him into our hearts; we bring in his hope.

How can we be obedient and hold

onto hope when it looks like life has cast us aside? When the doctor calls and says you have cancer. Or when you find yourself suddenly alone.

Or when divorce steps in and destroys a family. Or when jobs disappear and you find your checking account empty. In other words, when life gets tough and the swamp gets dark, when we are at the bottom, God still demands from us obedience; and he still has a plan to use us. The essence of what I shared in that letter to my Grandma, I share here.

I have come to see life as a journey along a path, and often there are detours that we do not expect, plan for, or even want to follow. It is kind of like a day in the woods with me. My truck stays muddy all the time because the roads I travel every day are often very rough and often very muddy. I am on the freeway one minute, and then the next finds me shifting in to fourwheel drive to get down a dirt path to reach a logging job. Going down these roads are not an option for me. I have to. My job and what I am responsible for is down that dirt road, through those ruts, around the rocks, and through that stream.

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.—Proverbs 3:6 Look closer at the ending of that verse; it says that God will direct our paths. Assuming we have been acknowledging him, that means the path in front of us that travels through the funeral home or the hospital room or the unemployment line is one that he has directed for us to walk along.

That road will always look like a road we do not want to go down.

It looks rough, like it will destroy or eat up whatever attempts to cross it. I have a tract of land that I have to keep an eye on in Virginia.

To get to it, I have about five miles of farm paths to drive. One section actually travels through a beaver pond. No kidding, you come up to it and the road goes down into the water. You can see the beaver dam on your left, and at the far end you can see the road come out. I carried a fellow with me once to show him this tract for possible logging. When we came up to the pond, he said there was no way we were going to be able to drive through that water. I never even reached for the brake; I just drove through it. You see I knew from experience, of seeing others drive through it, that the bottom of that pond had been covered with

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tons of gravel; there were large rocks and lots of them. Having watched log trucks in the past come through it, I had great confidence that my truck could pass to the other side.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecut-

ed, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.—II Corinthians 4:7-11 The treasure is our hope, our faith; and the earthen vessel is our body.

What the Holy Spirit is telling us through Paul is that regardless of our situation, if we are alive, God wants to use us to show Christ to others, even in our times of despair. If you think back to the road going through the pond, I had great confidence in the ability of the road under the water to hold up my truck. Why? I had seen others do it, and then I tried it myself.

When our paths in life become difficult, our job as Christians is to listen to the Master. He knows the path already, and he has made a way for us to be useful to him by being on that particular path. We don’t have to know what it is, just have faith that it is there. Then we proceed down the path. We learn as we go that the Master is faithful, that he can be trusted.

But just like he had to scold Elijah, he will scold us if we hesitate or complain about the path. Here is why: others are watching us go through the pond! They are traveling

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paths in their lives without Jesus, without faith, without hope. They HAVE to see us going through the pond, trusting in an unseen Master, who has prepared a path even through the murky, muddy waters of life. We represent hope to those who have no hope. We offer to those on the edge of life and eternity, one more chance to embrace the Master, to surrender their lives to Christ. We do not know what God has in store for us tomorrow, or this afternoon.

What matters is that we trust his direction; that the path will never overcome us, unless we let it.

The muddy truck which so often sits in my driveway is a reminder to me of where I have been the past few days. It is a testimony perhaps to the difficult paths I travel in my job. Few people ever comment on my truck when it is clean, but I get plenty of comments when it is dirty. When we are called to travel those roads in life, let it be our testimony to the sustaining hope we have in Christ, because people will notice. And when we finish the journey, there will be a new, clean, shiny truck waiting for us, and no mud on those golden streets.

Excerpted from Trees, Traps, and Truth, Bradley Antill, author, available from www.onatreeforestry.com

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that lays ahead of them. In the time between a person turning 60, as they begin to age, right until all It’s a slow day in a small town in middle Amerithe lights go out and the sky gets dark, there are ca and the streets are deserted. Times are tough, some situations to keep in mind, so that you will be everybody is in debt, and everybody is living on prepared for what is to come, and you will not credit. panic.

A tourist visiting 1. The people by your side will only continue to the area drives grow smaller in number. People in your parents’ through town, and grandparents’ generation have largely all left, stops at the town’s many of your peers will increasingly find it harder only motel, and to look after themselves, and the younger generalays a $100 bill on the registration desk, saying he tions will all be busy with their own lives. Even wants to inspect the rooms before selecting one for your wife or husband may depart earlier than you, the night. and what might then come are days of emptiness.

As soon as he walks away, the motel owner You will have to learn how to live alone, and to grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to enjoy and embrace solitude. the butcher.

2. Society will care less and less for you. No Caterpillar advertised its 950 Tree Harvester, noting that The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the matter how glorious your previous career was or it felled, delimbed, topped and bunched tree lengths, street to retire his debt to the pig farmer. how famous you were, aging will always transform claiming that it “commonly delivers tree-a-minute speed The pig farmer takes the money and heads off to you into a regular old man and old lady. The spoton softwood, with diameters of 18” and less,” all while pay his bill to the local farmer’s the co-op. light no longer shines on you, and you will have to cutting costs, time and service.

The guy at the co-op takes the $100 and runs to learn to be content with standing quietly in one corpay his debt to a local hooker, who has also been facing tough times and occaner, to admire and appreciate the hubbub and views that come after you, and sionally offered her services on credit. you must overcome the urge to be envious or grumble.

The hooker rushes to the motel and pays off her room bill.

3. The road ahead will be rocky and full of precarity. Fractures, cardioThe motel proprietor then places the $100 note back on the counter so the vascular blockages, brain atrophy, cancer… these are all possible guests that traveler will not suspect anything. could pay you a visit any time, and you would not be able to turn them away.

The traveler comes back and states that the rooms are not satisfactory, picks You will have to live with illness and ailments, to view them as friends, even; up the $100 bill and leaves. do not fantasize about stable, quiet days without any trouble in your body.

And that is pretty much how a ‘government stimulus package’ works!

Maintaining a positive mentality and getting appropriate, adequate exercise is No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However, many in the your duty, and you have to encourage yourself to keep at it consistently. town now think that they are out of debt, fostering a false atmosphere of opti4. Prepare for a bed-bound life, a return to the infant state. Our mothers mism and glee. Welcome to phony fiscal policy as created by politicians, who brought us into this world on a bed, and after a journey of twists and turns and are incredibly good at convincing us that things are great, even while we are a life of struggle, we return to our starting point—the bed—and to the state of sliding down the financial sewer. having to be looked after by others. The only difference being, where we once had our mothers to care for us, when It helps if you imagine we prepare to leave, we may not have our kin to look after auto correct as a tiny us. Even if we have kin, their care may never come close to little elf in your phone In 2015 two Americans in their 70s decided to sail their that of your mother’s; you will, more likely than not, be yacht, Nora, across the Atlantic from Norway to the U.S. cared for by nursing staff who bear zero relation to you, who’s trying so hard Unfortunately, they had to be rescued nine times before wearing smiles on their faces all whilst carrying weariness to be helpful but is in they even left Europe. and boredom in their hearts. Lay still and don’t be difficult; fact quite drunk.

The men insisted that they were perfectly competent and remember to be grateful. merely victims of bad luck. But one particular mishap, in 5. There will be many swindlers and scammers along Cornwall, England, came not while they were sailing but while they were the way. Many of them know that elderly people have lots of savings, and moored in the harbor. It seems they absentmindedly left a candle burning will endlessly be thinking of ways to cheat them of their money: through aboard when they went ashore to pick up some groceries. It fell over, as canscam phone calls, text messages, mail, food and product samples, get-richdles in boats tend to do, and set their spare clothing on fire. quick schemes, products for longevity or enlightenment. Basically, all they (Source: 1,000 Unforgettable Senior Moments by Tom Friedman) want is to get all the money. Beware, and be careful, hold your money close to you. A fool and his money are soon parted, so spend your pennies wisely.

Before the sky gets dark, the last stretches of life’s journey will gradually get dimmer and dimmer; naturally, it will be harder to see the path ahead that The Sky Gets Dark, Slowly is a book written by award winning Chinese you are treading towards, and it will be harder to keep going forward. As novelist Zhou Daxin. It is a sensitive exploration of old age and the comsuch, upon turning 60, it would do us all well to see life for what it is, to cherplex, hidden emotional worlds of the elderly in a rapidly aging population. ish what we have, to enjoy life whilst we can, and to not take on society’s He stresses that getting old is a reality that all ages should embrace and troubles or your children’s and grandchildren’s affairs for yourself. prepare for.

Stay humble, don’t act superior on account of your own age and talk down Daxin, who is 71, writes: to others. This will hurt yourself as much as it will hurt others. As we get “…Many elderly speak as though they know everything, but of old age older, all the better should we be able to understand what respect is and what they are in fact as ignorant as children. Many elderly are in fact completely it counts for. In these later days of your lives, you have to understand what it unprepared for what they are to face when it comes to getting old and the road means, to let go of your attachments, to mentally prepare yourself.

The $100 Bill

50 Years Ago...

Botched Yacht Adventure

The Sky Gets Dark, Slowly

If you think you are part of the smartest generation ever born, consider that 50 years ago an auto owner’s manual showed you how to adjust the engine valves, and today it warns you not to drink the liquid in the battery.

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INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP Kiosk Improves Truck Turnaround At all RoyOMartin manufacturing facilities, improving truck turnaround time is a crucial metric. Turnaround time measures the number of minutes it takes a truck to weigh in on the entrance scales until the time the truck weighs out once it is unloaded.

Optimizing turnaround times increases the productivity of truckers and loggers and decreases the amount of fuel trucks use while waiting to be unloaded.

In February 2023, kiosk machines were installed at log scales to help decrease turnaround times and simplify the scaling process at the plywood mill in Chopin, La. Since the addition of these machines, average

turnaround times have decreased from 16.78 minutes to 15.15 minutes, resulting in an almost 10% improvement over the traditional weigh-in process. Though this may not seem like a significant measurement, when an average of 100 truckloads collectively cross this scale every day, that’s a 2.7-hour daily improvement!

Increased safety for the drivers is another important benefit. Prior to the

kiosk system, they walked up and down steps and across a busy lane of mill traffic to reach the scale house.

Now, the drivers only have to take a few steps from their trucks to reach the kiosk.

This technological upgrade has improved the company’s relationships with truck drivers and strengthened RoyOMartin’s position as a destination of choice.

There are plans to install additional kiosk machines at the plywood entrance scales in the future.

These machines have also proved beneficial at both RoyOMartin OSB manufacturing facilities in Oakdale, La., and Corrigan, Texas.

(Article from the company’s Overstory newsletter.)

Machine Innovator Neil Peterson Dies

One of the first Peterson machines at work in Washington in 1985.

Forest machinery pioneer and innovator Neil Peterson, the driving force behind Peterson Pacific Corp. that rev- Neil Peterson olutionized inwoods and mobile delimbing, debarking and chipping, died recently. Peterson was not just a pioneer in his field but also a generous philanthropist, a guiding force for his team, and a beacon of opportunities for his employees.

Peterson initially began working with his father, Wilber, at Peterson & Sons, a construction and land clearing company that opened up a satellite chip plant in Pleasant Hill, Ore. in the late 1970s. Concerned that the plant’s chip quality wasn’t good enough for export markets, Peterson set about developing a better way to produce clean chips.

Peterson settled on a chain flail design that could handle multiple small stems effectively and simulta28 l NOVEMBER 2023 l Southern Loggin’ Times

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neously. The system was a game changer in terms of both quality and production. Peterson built a prototype debarker and two additional machines for the chip plant. Customer Longview Fibre bought the first unit Peterson sold after being impressed

with the machine’s chip output.

Peterson established Peterson Pacific Corp. in 1981 and began refining his machine. The first machine was sold to a chipping contractor, Edmund Co., in Tacoma, Wash.

Soon after, Peterson and his wife,

Linda, who was the company’s marketing and HR director, hit the road in 1986 on a legendary demo-sales trip that blew away major back East paper producers and their chipping contractors with the machine’s performance.

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The success led to introduction of the 4800 delimber-debarker, which was closely followed by the revolutionary DDC 5000—a delimberdebarker and chipper close-coupled and mounted on the same frame—in early 1989. Scott Paper was so impressed by Peterson and his machines that it actually ordered the first DDC 5000 in 1988 before it was ever built.

More advances followed, as Peterson Pacific became a global leader in machinery for mobile chipping and grinding in a variety of machines, sizes and applications.

Peterson always took pride in how his machines aided in tasks like mulching, compost creation and storm cleanup. His machines not only increased the longevity of landfills but also transformed waste wood into valuable commodities and made recycling efforts more efficient.

In 2007, Peterson Pacific Corp. embarked on a new chapter when it was sold to Astec Industries. Unlike many company owners who sell their businesses, Peterson remained with his company and transitioned into a research and development role.

Still consumed by his insatiable appetite for innovation, Peterson

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many times could be found out in the shop in coveralls, working with the engineering and R&D teams on both small improvements and big ideas. Though he retired in 2020 he still checked in.

Waratah’s Cochrane Dies In New Zealand David Cochrane, 77, founder of the Waratah Group, passed away this

past spring in New Zealand. Cochrane and the equipment he developed continue to have a significant effect on the forestry industry on both sides of the Pacific after he founded Waratah General Engineering in New Zea-

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land in 1973. This year, Waratah Forestry Equipment is celebrating 50 years of innovation and thanking customers for decades of trust and loyalty.

Waratah’s products entered Canada in 1990 when the first harvester heads were imported from Waratah General Engineering. The proven success of the product in Canada led to Cochrane being instrumental in setting up Waratah in the late 1990s.

John Deere purchased both Timberjack and Waratah in 2000.

After a non-compete expired in July 2007, Cochrane and five shareholders launched Southstar equipment and released the first two processors in March 2008. In late 2011, Southstar was acquired by Canadian investors. Cochrane remained an integral part of the business, working closely with the engineering team and sharing his many years of experience in the market.

Southstar’s growth soon began to accelerate with expansion into the Western U.S., South America and Australasian markets. This exponential growth saw Southstar acquired by Quadco Inc. in April 2016 before being acquired shortly afterward by Komatsu in 2018.

“Dave Cochrane will be remem-

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Bandit Industries Celebrates Big “40” Bandit Industries celebrated its 40th anniversary with a corporate event on September 27-28 at Remus, Mich. The event included a welcome reception, plant tours and equipment demonstrations. The event wrapped up with a dinner and entertainment.

Visitors from the U.S. and 15 countries attended, including Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Guatemala, Indonesia, New Zealand, Poland, Puerto Rico, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

This is the first time Bandit has hosted an event at its headquarters since 2018. Since then, Bandit has added new models, conducted numerous building expansions, added multiple new dealers, and increased employees by more than 70%.

“We were excited to show all attendees the numerous changes that have occurred at Bandit since our last event,” states Jason Morey, Bandit corporate marketing manager.

Even though the morning started off as damp and rainy, the excitement was high as buses boarded to transport attendees to Bandit’s corporate headquarters. Once on site, Bandit celebrates 40th anniversary at corporate headquarters. groups were guided through the buildings as employees from each department described and answered questions about what occurs in each area.

After the plant tours were completed, the weather began to clear up and buses transported attendees to Bandit’s equipment demo site where lunch was served. Once lunch was completed, various models were demonstrated, including a new horizontal grinder (to be officially announced in the near future), the 1425 coloring mulch, multiple brush chippers, four whole tree models including the Trelan 786 and Bandit 3590XL that filled a fulllength van in just under eight minutes. After the whole tree models wrapped up, the Arjes 250 and 900 shredded concrete slabs with ease. The live demos were concluded with the Model 3680 track Beast grinding logs and chunk wood.

After the demos were done, the ropes were taken down and attendees were allowed to walk around the machines. People were also given the opportunity to run a stump grinder if they wanted to.

Attendees were then transported back to Mount Pleasant where they could have a little bit of downtime before the evening festivities started. Evening events included a sit-down dinner and a casino night for entertainment.

Bandit has grown significantly since its previous headquarters event in “We received a lot of great comments about the tours and equipment demos,” Morey 2018. adds. “Each time we have people visit Bandit, they are often impressed with our employees and how open and passionate they are about their part of the production process. I was asked how we do it, and my response was simple: ‘It is the culture we have created.’ Bandit has multiple employees with 20+ years and as new employees come aboard, the drive to produce the highest quality and most productive tree care and recycling equipment is all passed down.”

In addition to this corporate event, additional events were held around the country and co-hosted with select dealers throughout 2023. There will have been a total of 24 events in 2023 all in celebration of Bandit’s 40th anniversary. These events have given Bandit staff the opportunity to meet and say thank you to those customers that have purchased Bandit equipment. bered as a true visionary of the industry, the godfather of forestry mechanization,” says Jeremy Disher of Southstar Engineering.

Acres Partners With Forisk Acres, a data-driven land research platform that supports fast, informed decision making, is partnering with Forisk Consulting, a leader in analyzing timber markets and wood baskets, to visualize timber data for both companies’ clients. This collaboration between Acres and Forisk will further expand Acres’ capacity to provide and visualize important information on U.S. timberland through its powerful land valuation tool.

“We’re thrilled to bring Forisk’s experience and data to the Acres platform to help more investors and managers in the timber industry.

We care about helping the forest industry make better decisions, and we see this partnership with Acres as a great way to enhance that value,” says Forisk President and CEO Brooks Mendell.

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insights for customers of both companies. The Forisk North American Forest Industry Capacity Database (“Mill Database”) covers 55 states and provinces in both the U.S. and Canada. With Acres, users can interact with nearly 2,000 wood-using mills nationwide to quickly view the mill type, status, current and historic owner information, capacity, and certifications. This data is key to understanding how much a mill can process and produce and overall supply chain progress.

“Data-driven insights into timberland add up. If you don’t see the whole picture of land you’re buying or selling, you can’t get the most out of your transaction. Our strategic partnership with Forisk Consulting is an immense opportunity to create a 3D image for people in the forest industry so they can continue to do the important work of driving the national timber supply chain,” says Mark Foley, Director of Timber Investments.

In conjunction with this announcement, Acres now provides users with access to the timber site index, a measure of forest productivity at a sub-parcel level. The timber site index data alongside Forisk timber mills and the intuitive geospatial

interface of Acres make for a powerful combination of tools and data for the timber industry.

SFPA Announces Safety Awards Southern Forest Products Assn. announced its 2022 John Edgar Rhodes Sawmill Safety Excellence Awards during the Sawmill & Safety Breakfast at the 37th Forest Products Machinery & Equipment EXPO on August 24 in Nashville.

The 2022 Safety Awards recipients represent 1,665,264 total hours worked among 725 employees with zero incidents among them. This is the second year in a row there are seven mills receiving Sawmill Safety Awards with zero incidents among them.

SFPA Lumber Manufacturer members are considered for the award based on information submitted regarding occupational injuries and illnesses. Safety performance is judged by how each mill’s safety record stacks up against facilities with comparable lumber output throughout the year based on their 2022 OSHA Form 300A they submit to SFPA, and awards are pre-

sented in three divisions.

Division I: SFPA member mills that produce 50MMBF or less annually —McShan Lumber Co., McShan, Ala. —Weyerhaeuser, Zwolle, La. Division II: SFPA member facilities that produce 51-150MMBF annually) –Lampe & Malphrus Lumber Co., Smithfield, NC —West Fraser, Fitzgerald, Ga. —West Fraser, Lake Butler, Fla. —Weyerhaeuser, New Bern, NC Division III: SFPA member mills that produce more than 150MMBF annually —Weyerhaeuser, Millport, Ala.

West Fraser Invests In Newberry Mill West Fraser plans to expand its operations in Newberry County, SC. The $17.7 million project is expected to create 30 jobs. The investment at the company’s current location will include an additional 60 acres of land.

“West Fraser is excited to grow our presence in Newberry County. This expansion and upgrades will ensure

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our Newberry facility is well equipped to compete in the global lumber markets and provide quality products to our customers for many years to come,” West Fraser VP of Capital and Technology Chuck Watkins says.

The company also announced third quarter financial results, and stated, “While the third quarter of 2023 marked a continuation of the challenging demand markets we experienced in recent quarters, particularly in the Lumber segment where we executed curtailments at several locations for planned capital upgrades and to meet customer needs, our North American EWP business had its best result in several quarters against a backdrop of rising mortgage rates that remain well above year-ago levels,” says Ray Ferris, West Fraser’s President and CEO. “In the face of the current economic environment, we will continue to focus on those items we can control, such as safety, operational excellence and sustainability initiatives that improve our production flexibility and lower costs. Importantly, we will continue our approach of counter-cyclical investment in our assets during these times of softer demand while we manage our balance sheet conservatively. We are always looking for

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opportunities to improve our company over the longer term, such as the announced acquisition of a sawmill in southern Alberta, which expands our Canadian treated lumber business and provides access to high-quality timber. As we move into the latter part of 2023 and into 2024, we believe our financial flexibility and low-cost position will remain competitive advantages that position us well to execute on the opportunities that lie ahead.”

CW Mill Equipment Celebrating 50 Years CW Mill Equipment Co., Inc. has been celebrating 50 years during 2023. Each product that CW has developed, manufactured, and offered for 50 years has been in large part customer-driven and is the basis for all that CW Mill Equipment does. That approach is backed with experienced staff, advanced manufacturing equipment, and will continue to provide products for years to come. CW Mill, located in Sabetha, Kan., was incorporated in October of 1973 by founder Clyde Wenger.

CW Mill’s products include large HogZilla brand industrial grinding machines, high performance hammer mill cutting and grinding tools for rigid and swing hammer style grinding machines, and automotive installation kits for crankshaft-driven aftermarket accessories.

pares with net earnings of $310 million on net sales of $2.3 billion for the same period last year and net earnings of $230 million for second quarter 2023.

“In the third quarter, we delivered solid results across our businesses,” says Devin W. Stockfish, president and CEO. “In addition, we achieved an important milestone in our Natural Climate Solutions growth program with the approval of our first forest carbon credits in Maine. Looking ahead, although near-term market conditions have moderated, we remain constructive on the longerterm demand fundamentals that support our businesses. Our balance sheet is exceptionally strong, and we remain focused on maintaining our industry-leading operating performance, serving our customers and delivering superior long-term value and returns for our shareholders.”

For its Timberlands business, Weyerhaeuser reported that in the West fee harvest and domestic sales volumes were moderately lower than the second quarter as a result of higher

elevation harvest operations and temporary harvest restrictions due to wildfire risk. Export sales volumes were significantly lower, which was partially driven by fewer export shipments to Japan. Per unit log and haul costs were lower. In the South, fee harvest volumes were moderately lower, partly due to wet conditions early in the quarter. Sales realizations were slightly lower, and per unit log and haul costs were comparable.

Forestry and road costs in the West and South were seasonally higher.

For its Wood Products business, Weyerhaeuser said sales realizations for lumber were comparable to the second quarter average, while sales realizations for oriented strandboard increased 39%. Sales volumes for lumber were slightly lower due to reduced production at several mills, partially driven by temporary operational disruptions. Unit manufacturing costs were comparable and log costs were moderately lower. For oriented strandboard, sales volumes were moderately lower and unit manufacturing costs were slightly higher

Weyerhaeuser Reports On Third Quarter Weyerhaeuser Co. reported third quarter net earnings of $239 million on net sales of $2.0 billion. This com-

38 l NOVEMBER 2023 l Southern Loggin’ Times

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due to planned downtime for annual maintenance. Sales realizations were slightly lower for most engineered wood products, while sales volumes were slightly higher, primarily for solid section products. Unit manufacturing costs were slightly higher and raw material costs were higher, primarily for oriented strandboard webstock.

Weyerhaeuser anticipates fourth quarter earnings and will be moderately lower than the third quarter, excluding the effect of changes in average sales realizations for lumber and oriented strandboard. For lumber, the company expects moderately higher sales volumes, comparable log costs, and slightly lower unit manufacturing costs. For oriented strandboard, the company anticipates moderately higher sales volumes, slightly higher fiber costs, and slightly lower unit manufacturing costs. For engineered wood products, the company expects lower sales realizations, slightly higher raw material costs, and slightly lower sales volumes, primarily for solid section products.

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MACHINES-SUPPLIES-TECHNOLOGY Deere Beaver Tooth

New Serco Loaders

Expanding the portfolio of aftermarket forestry saw teeth options for its customers, John Deere offers the one-piece hardened beaver saw tooth for John Deere wheeled and tracked feller-bunchers.

The new beaver saw tooth design boasts a beveled feature at each tooth tip, which helps improve tooth durability while striking materials other than wood. Not only does this extend the life of the tooth, but also helps increase productivity in rocky conditions where a carbide tooth would not be advisable.

“Our saw teeth models have been rigorously tested on real logging jobsites, helping us deliver ideal solutions made to tackle any forestry application head-on,” says William Borrenpohl, Aftermarket Product Manager, John Deere. “This remains the case for our new beaver saw tooth option, which was strategically designed to offer increased durability in the woods.”

As the latest addition to the John Deere saw tooth lineup, the beaver saw tooth is one of four options available to customers and can be purchased in boxes of 18 or 20 teeth. Designed for maximum durability while lowering operating costs, the full line of John Deere saw teeth is made to help support daily logging operations and applications.

Customers interested in exploring the full lineup of John Deere saw teeth can work with a local dealer, who can recommend the right saw teeth for the logging operation at hand. Visit johndeere.com.

Serco Loaders, a leader in material handling equipment, launces of its 8500-SR32 and 8500-SR34 series loaders.

These cutting-edge machines represent a significant leap forward in the world of material handling, offering unmatched efficiency, versatility, and performance.

The Serco 8500-SR32 and 8500-SR34 series loaders have been meticulously engineered to meet the evolving demands of the storm cleanup industry.

These loaders are designed to streamline operations and improve productivity while maintaining Serco’s commitment to quality, durability, and safety.

Designed by experienced engineers, and using modern tools such as finite element analysis, these boom loaders stand as a testament to innovation and power, elevating operational capabilities.

The 8500-SR32 and 8500-SR34 series loaders further solidify the company’s position as an industry leader, providing customers with tools to improve efficiency, reduce downtime, and enhance overall profitability.

Visit sercoloaders.com

Mobile Chipper Bruks Siwertell has expanded its product range with the Bruks 1006.3 RT industrial mobile wood chipper.

The truck-mounted chipper has a flexible design and offers high-capacity chipping capabilities for a range of applications, like fuel chip production.

The Bruks 1006.3 RT’s chipping unit is built on a compact frame with a slewing base, delivering an optional side-positioned infeed. It ensures consistent chip quality, processing fulllength trees and logs up to a diameter of 60 cm for softwood and up to a maximum diameter of 50 cm for hardwood, as well as brush.

The 1006 engine 796 HP and a torque rated at a maximum of 3,650Nm delivers more power and torque in the speed range used during chipping.

Other environmental and operational benefits include an advanced hydraulic system insert, the CycloneConcept, which minimizes the use of hydraulic oil, and an intelligent mobile chipping (IMC) control system, which optimizes power management, fuel efficiency and wood chip throughput.

The Bruks 1006.3 RT also has remote connectivity for easy online troubleshooting. Visit bruks-siwertell.com.

Battery Powered Sawmill Capturing the robust interest of battery-powered outdoor equipment and electric vehicles (EV), Wood-Mizer introduces industry’s first batterypowered portable sawmill. The lithium-ion battery-powered sawmill provides sawmill owners an alternative power choice which is environmentally friendly and delivers consistent, reliable, and highquality sawing performance. The battery power option is now available on the popular Wood-Mizer LT15WIDE portable sawmill that enables woodworking hobbyists and forestry professionals to safely and efficiently saw logs into lumber.

The Wood-Mizer LT15WIDE sawmill currently offers a wide range of gas, diesel and electric power options with battery-power being the latest addition.

100% of the sawmill’s functions are powered by lithium-ion batteries, which are the leading-edge technology in the automotive and outdoor power equipment industries. In addition to reducing carbon emissions, lithium-ion batteries are convenient, lightweight, easy to store, safe and rechargeable.

Offering the same optional trailer package and 36" log diameter sawing capacity as the LT15WIDE portable sawmill, the battery version comes with additional technological enhancements including: patent-pending “Smart Feed” technology; powered saw head; on-board computer; advanced saw head return. Visit wood-mizer.com.

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IRONWORKS TOLL FREE: 1-800-669-5613

CLASSIFIED AD RATES: Classified advertising rates are $55 per inch. Space is available by column inch only, one inch minimum.

DEADLINES: Ad reservation must be received by 10th of month prior to month of publication. Material must be received no later than 12th of month prior to month of publication.

CONTACT: Call Bridget DeVane at 334-699-7837, 800-669-5613, email bdevane7@hotmail.com or visit www.southernloggintimes.com

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WANT TO PLACE YOUR CLASSIFIED AD IN IRONWORKS? CALL 334-699-7837, 1-800-669-5613 OR EMAIL: CLASS@SOUTHERNLOGGINTIMES.COM

GRINDERS FOR SALE FOR SALE

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Log Truck Driver Struck By Falling Stem During Unbinding Process BACKGROUND: On a Fall morning in the Southcentral U.S., a log truck driver hauling roundwood arrived at a wood consuming mill. He proceeded to the unbinding rack to start the unloading process.

UNSAFE ACTS AND CONDITIONS: The driver lost focus during the unbinding process and was unprotected while standing inside the unbinding rack to remove the binding straps.

ACCIDENT: As the driver started unstrapping the back bunk, one of the binding straps became entangled around a

limb. To try to free the strap, the driver tugged on the entangled strap, causing a small stem to come free and fall from the trailer.

INJURY: The falling stem struck the driver on top of his hardhat. Upon impact, the driver’s hard hat was knocked from his head. The driver retrieved his hard hat, entered the cab, and proceeded to the crane to be unloaded. He did not intend to report the incident; however, another driver that was waiting in line to utilize the unbinding rack witnessed the entire incident and notified the scale operator.

The scaler caught up to the driver to check on his condition and discuss the incident. The driver indicated he was a

“little sore” but otherwise fine. He refused medical attention but mentioned that he was now a firm believer in always wearing a hardhat.

Follow all safety procedures when delivering to a mill destination.

Stay focused while performing dangerous tasks and always maintain situational awareness.

Always stand in an approved and protected area when using unbinding racks.

Report all incidents and do not refuse medical attention when injured, regardless of the severity of the incident.

Supplied by Forest Resources Assn.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CORRECTION: Always wear proper PPE to ensure a safe working environment.

Southern Loggin’ Times ● NOVEMBER 2023 ● 45

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A D L I N K ●

●

●

●

●

ADVERTISER

PG. NO.

PHONE NO.

American Truck Parts

38

888.383.8884

Around The World Salvage

42

936.634.7210

B & G Equipment

19

601.656.7011

Bandit Industries

21

800.952.0178

BITCO Insurance

10

800.475.4477

Caterpillar Dealer Promotion

11

919.550.1201

Cleanfix North America

32

855.738.3267

Dobbs Equipment

2,27

844.469.3622

Eastern Surplus

32

855.332.0500

FMI Trailers

18

601.508.3333

Forest Chain

22

800.288.0887

Forestry First

42

803.708.0624

Forestry Mutual Insurance

5

800.849.7788

G & W Equipment

34

800.284.9032

Gasburg Equipment

29

800.899.3075

Glass To Go

22

715.746.3757

Hawkins & Rawlinson

20

888.822.1173

Interstate Tire Service

44

864.947.9208

24-25

704.878.2941

Kaufman Trailers NC

3

336.790.6807

Mike Ledkins Insurance Agency

23

800.766.8349

LMI-Tennessee

33

800.467.0944

Logger Associations

22

John Woodie Enterprises

Magnolia Trailers

37

800.738.2123

Maxi-Load Scale Systems

28

877.265.1486

Midsouth Forestry Equipment

12

870.226.0000

Moore Logging Supply

38

888.754.5613

Morbark

1,7

800.831.0042

Olofsfors

31

519.754.2190

Palmetto State Insurance Agency

32

803.785.7742

Pinnacle Trailer Sales

30

910.629.2824

Pitts Trailers

48

800.321.8073

Ponsse North America

47

715.369.4833

Quadco Equipment

17

800.668.3340

Quality Equipment & Parts

44

386.487.3896

Southern Loggers Cooperative

36

318.445.0750

Stribling Equipment

43

855.781.9408

Tidewater Equipment

41,43

912.638.7726

Timberblade

35

519.532.3283

TraxPlus

30

601.635.5543

W & W Truck & Tractor

39

843.761.8220

Waters International Trucks

44

601.693.4807

J M Wood Auction

13

334.264.3265

Yancey Brothers

40

800.282.1562

COMING EVENTS November

April 2024

8-10—Forestry Assn. of South Carolina annual meeting, Wild Dunes, Isle of Palms, SC. Call 803-7984170; visit scforestry.org.

2-4—Kentucky Forest Industries Assn. annual meeting, Embassy Suites, Lexington, Ky. Call 502695-3979; visit kfia.org.

January 2024

12-13—East Coast Sawmilling and Logging Exposition, Meadow Event Park, Doswell, Va. Call 804-7375625; visit exporichmond.com.

9-10—Missouri Forest Products Assn. winter meeting, Courtyard Marriott, Jefferson City, Mo. Call 573-634-3252; visit moforest.org.

February 2024 21-25—Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers annual meeting, Hammock Beach Resort, Palm Coast, Fla. Call 336-885-8315; visit appalachianhardwood.org.

23-25—South Carolina Timber Producers Assn. annual meeting, DoubleTree Resort by Hilton, Myrtle Beach, SC. Call 800-371-2240; visit scloggers.com.

March 2024 12-13—Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo, Omni Hotel at CNN Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 334-834-1170; visit bioenergyshow.com.

20-22—SLMA 2024 Spring Meeting & Expo, Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans, La. Call 504-4434464; visit slma.org.

southernloggintimes.com

ADLINK is a free service for advertisers and readers. The publisher assumes no liability for errors or omissions.

23-25—2024 Virginia Forestry Summit, Boar’s Head Resort, Charlottesville, Va. Call 804-278-8733; visit vaforestry.org.

29-May 1—Forest Resources Assn. annual meeting, The Westin Nashville, Nashville, Tenn. Call 202-296-3937; visit forest resources.org.

June 2024 4-6—2024 SFI Annual Conference, Loews Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta, Ga. Call 202-596-3450; visit sficonference.org.

13-15—Southeastern Wood Producers Assn. annual meeting, Hammock Beach Resort, Palm Coast, Fla. Call 904-845-7133; visit swpa.ag.

July 2024 21-25—SLMA 2024 Annual Conference, JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort, Marco Island, Fla. Call 504-443-4464; visit slma.org.

August 2024 6-9—IWF 2024, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 404-693-8333; visit iwfatlanta.com.

Listings are submitted months in advance.

Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend.

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