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Vol. 46, No. 1

(Founded in 1972—Our 532nd Consecutive Issue)

F E AT U R E S

January 2017 A Hatton-Brown Publication

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

www.southernloggintimes.com

Chad Barfield Back To Logging

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J. H. Knighton Lumber Versatile And Steadfast

out front:

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Motivated by family and faith, Wayne Sojourner strives for good relationships with his employees and balances running his own logging crew with his position as a partner in LandMax, a timber brokerage. Story begins on Page 8. (Jessica Johnson photo)

S&T Construction Multiple State Trucking

D E PA RT M E N T S Southern Stumpin’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Bulletin Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Industry News Roundup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Machine-Supplies-Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 ForesTree Equipment Trader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Safety Focus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Coming Events/Ad Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Co-Publisher Co-Publisher Chief Operating Officer Executive Editor Editor-in-Chief Western Editor Managing Editor Associate Editor Associate Editor Art Director Ad Production Coordinator Circulation Director Marketing/Media

David H. Ramsey David (DK) Knight Dianne C. Sullivan David (DK) Knight Rich Donnell Dan Shell David Abbott Jessica Johnson Jay Donnell Cindy Segrest Patti Campbell Rhonda Thomas Jordan Anderson

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 • Fax: 905-666-0778 32 Foster Cres.

Whitby, Ontario, Canada L1R 1W1 E-mail: jsimmons@idirect.com Western Canada, Western USA Tim Shaddick Tel: 604-910-1826 • Fax: 604-264-1367 4056 West 10th Ave. Vancouver, BC V6L 1Z1 E-mail: tootall1@shaw.ca Kevin Cook Tel: 604-619-1777 E-mail: lordkevincook@gmail.com International Murray Brett Tel: +34 96 640 4165 Fax: +34 96 640 4022 Aldea de las Cuevas 66 Buzon 60 • 03759 Benidoleig (Alicante), Spain E-mail: murray.brett@abasol.net CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

Bridget DeVane

Tel: 1-800-669-5613 • Tel 334-699-7837 Email: bdevane7@hotmail.com

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 ® 2017. 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 Member Verified Audit Circulation

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

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SOUTHERN STUMPIN’

By DK Knight • Executive Editor • Ph. 334-834-1170 • Fax: 334-834-4525 • E-mail: dk@hattonbrown.com

“A Forested Wonderland” ew have a greater love for forestland or a greater appreciation for forest tranquility than Henry Clay Jones Jr. of Glen Allen, Va., a city of some 15,000 souls located a few miles northwest of Richmond in Henrico County. Clay and his wife of 48 years, Linda, reside at 4910 Jones Rd. on a wooded parcel—part of 42 acres that has been nurtured by him and his ancestors for 114 years.

Last November the family was one of 23 to be inducted into the inaugural class of Virginia’s Century Forest Program, which “honors forest landowners whose property has been in operation for at least 100 consecutive years and…whose diligent and dedicated efforts have maintained their land with at least 20 contiguous acres of managed forest.” In addition, the forestland has to be man-

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Clay and Linda Jones paused with Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, at right, after designating a 305-acre conservation easement as a Land Conservation Treasure.

aged by a descendant of the original owners, and the current owner has to have a documented history of timber harvests or forest management activities.

The ceremony was held at the Montpelier home of James Madison, the fourth U.S. President who was also a noted conservationist. Several state dignitaries, including State Forester Bettina Ring, participated. She commented: These families and their ancestors built Virginia and they built America.

What a fitting recognition of their achievements this is—being part of the first group in the nation’s first Century Forest Program.”

For Clay, the honor was 50 years in the making.

He started tracking activities of his ancestors back in the days of black and white three-channel TV, sifting through countless courthouse documents in looking up dusty deeds and spending untold hours asking questions of relatives.

ly bought 38 acres in Accomack County, on the Eastern Shore, 186 miles from their residence.

They buy land but don’t sell any. That would be contrary to their psyche.

They manage their property with diligence and guardianship. For example, last July they designated their 305-acre conservation easement in Dinwiddie County as a Land Conservation Treasure under the Virginia Treasures Initiative, meaning that the forested tract will perpetually be largely protected from development.

Clay, 74, who is tri-racial—native-American, European-American, African-American—says he grew up with a strong connection to the land, a feeling that is difficult for him to explain. “I remember asking my grandmother, ‘Why do I feel the way I do about the land?’ She told me it was my Indian ancestry. When I walk a tract of land, it’s a strong emotional experience. It’s like my ancestors have walked there before me and I feel like God is walking with me among the trees.

When I walk out of the woods, I feel like my burdens are left behind.”

When he talks about the land, you can sense his reverence for it in his eyes and detect it in his voice. Many years ago he wrote: “Growing up on the home place was like being in a forested wonderland. It was the most beautiful land in God’s creation—the animals roaming free, the birds soaring, the trees swaying in the wind, the sound of creeks emptying into the Chickahominy River— and I am in the midst of it all.”

Clay believes there was another connection that came to light in the late ’60s. “I sensed that God opened another door for me later in life. It was the way I met Linda. She lived on the same road where my ancestors came from in Hanover County. It was like she was waiting for me.

When I met her my whole world changed.” They married in 1968 and have six children and six grandchildren.

The Jones Legacy Clay’s ties to the land go back to his great-grandfather, Henry Clay Jones I, who married Martha Jane Johnson in 1868. With five children, they moved from Hanover County to Henrico County, where he farmed and did blacksmith work. They eventually had 15 kids: Georgiana, Charles, Lewis (Clay’s grandfather), Joel, Mary, William, Richard, Slyvanus, Luther, Morton, Samuel, Patti, Waymond, Clara and Carrie.

Several of the sons worked at local coal mines but opted not to return to work there after a mine-related accident. That’s when Lewis and Joel approached their father, seeking and receiving his blessing to log an 80-acre tract they had located nearby. The year was 1895. This successful project led to more logging, and the beginning of H. C. Jones and Sons Lumber Co. The family eventually invested in a portable sawmill and the operations involved six of H. C.’s sons and one daughter: Lewis, Joel, William, Luther, Samuel, Morton and Patti.

Over time and in connection with the logginglumber business, the family acquired real estate and expanded its farm. In the early 1900s the Joneses owned more than 1,400 acres and had an interest in and/or cutting rights on thousands of more acres. According to Clay, the business employed many in the Glen Allen area and treated all employees fairly. When the Great Depression came along, the Jones farm helped feed a community. Later, in the late ’40s and early ’50s, Clay observed “people going to the ‘Big House’ with empty sacks and ➤ 44 coming back

900 Acres And Growing In addition to part of the original family parcel, Clay and Linda own forestland—a total of some 938 acres—in eight Virginia counties. They recent6

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The family of Henry Clay Jones I, front row, from left: Waymond, Morton, Patti, H. C., Martha Jane, Mary, Samuel, Carrie and Clara. Back row, from left: Charles, Sylvanus, Joel, William, Richard, Lewis and Luther. Georgiana is not shown.

Inset: a later photo of Lewis Jones, Clay’s grandfather, fondly known as ‘Captain Jack.’

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The Caterpillar loader is the only nonTigercat piece in the Sojourner arsenal.

Right Priorities ■ Logger Wayne Sojourner cares first about doing right by his people.

By Jessica Johnson CRYSTAL SPRINGS, Miss. ayne Sojourner is the epitome of a family man. The father of three and grand★ father of seven has a friendly, approachable demeanor—he’s the kind of guy you just trust the second you meet him. He chalks up his positive attitude and kindness to being extremely blessed by the Lord.

The logger says his strong relationship with Jesus Christ is what motivates him to do business a little differently. Guided by a strong moral compass, Sojourner, 59, endeavors to operate his crew with the utmost kindness and respect. He looks at his employees as blessings

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to him, as each know how to do their job nearly perfectly and help support the overall function of the crew without causing too many headaches.

Most of the crew has been together for a while. Foreman Eddie Johnson, Sojourner’s right hand and one of his biggest blessings he says, has been with Sojourner nearly 40 years. The relationship the men enjoy is special—the kind that forms when you’ve known someone nearly your entire life and trust them implicitly. Johnson is more than a foreman, Sojourner says.

“It’s pretty cool to have someone that’s got your back,” he states, adding that Johnson is more a friend than employee at this point. Johnson helps make sure Sojourner Timber is constantly moving in the right

direction, freeing up Sojourner to divide his attention among his other business ventures.

Branching Out His first love will always be logging, Sojourner says, but he now balances that with some of his other interests, like LandMax. The LandMax timber brokerage started in 2006 when Sojourner’s markets in Mississippi started shrinking. In the early 2000s, Sojourner Timber was a contractor for Georgia-Pacfic that did a lot of volume. "It was a great relationship," he says. However, the opportunity to start a land and timber buying company arose and Sojourner, along with his brother Johnny, couldn't pass it up. The two partnered with forester Chad Smith

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and formed LandMax Properties.

The first goal of LandMax was just to buy and sell land. After a little while, the company was able to start handling timber deals.

In 2013, Sojourner’s brother passed away from colon cancer, and Smith and Sojourner elected to purchase his stock, making them the sole owners of the company. What started with just three guys, Smith being the only forester, has now grown to a staff of five foresters and seven contract logging crews, in addition to Sojourner Timber.

The dual roles can get complicated, Sojourner says with a chuckle.

He’s a boss of LandMax, but when he’s out with his logging crew, his LandMax forester is the boss. It can get a little hazy, but it doesn’t slow Sojourner or Johnson down. The goal

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Wayne Sojourner, Keith Polk, Eddie Johnson

of the crew remains the same, to get as much production as they can while maintaining the safest work environment they can.

The crew works well with LandMax, and often finds itself on thinning operations. At the time when Southern Loggin’ Times visited, the crew was on a 160-acre second thinning, removing bug-damaged pulpwood and neighboring trees to eliminate future activity. “Leaving the better and taking the worst,” Sojourner says, “so it’s a good sawtimber stand down the line.”

The logger turns to B&G Equipment in Magnolia for his Tigercat needs.

In The Woods Safety is one of the top priorities, because if the crew isn’t safe, the crew isn’t properly being taken care of, Sojourner believes. So for him, it is very special that in over 20 years there have been no recordable accidents. He credits that to just always making sure the crew knows exactly what they are supposed to be doing and where. “You have to constantly stay on it,” he says, “otherwise you won’t have the 23-year record we do.” The crew is fully mechanized, another reason Sojourner believes they are able to be so safe: Johnson couldn’t remember the last time he cranked the chain saw on the job. Trucks use trim saws for their loads, but most

From left, Justin Walls, Alex Johnson, Scotty Walls, Robert Metten, Chris Earls

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everything is cut with one of the feller-bunchers, not a chain saw.

Sojourner Timber is an all Tigercat crew, with the exception of one Cat piece. Pieces are rotated on a consistent basis to ensure they stay in warranty and get the maximum amount of production possible. Currently, the crew uses a 2016 Tigercat 724G feller-buncher with 5702 Tigercat sawhead; ’16 Tigercat 234B loader; ’16 Tigercat 620E skidder; ’15 Tigercat 620E skidder and ’14 Caterpillar 559C loader.

“Tigercat is a good machine,” Sojourner says. “The crew enjoys running them, and we get good service from B&G Equipment.”

Sojourner likes operating the new equipment, saying the technological benefits outweigh the negatives.

“We log with our phones now,” he says. Thanks to smartphone apps Sojourner can pull up maps of his tracts and decide with Johnson where to build ramps and roads, while also being able to pull up data on the machine. Of course, that is where technology can hurt, he says.

The ability to track fuel consumption down to the minute is extremely helpful, but now every time something goes wrong with a piece of equipment the first thing that has to be done is getting it plugged into a computer. That frustrates Sojourner. “It takes it out of our hands a little bit,” he says.

Johnson’s son Alex, who’s been on the crew since high school, is Sojourner’s tech man. Alex keeps track of all fuel consumption, DEF

Work Ethic

Truck drivers Paul Dickerson and Kelly Covington

consumption and any codes the machines may display. Since the equipment is under warranty, Johnson is able to lean heavily on Tigercat dealer B&G Equipment in Magnolia, Miss. for all major maintenance needs, but Sojourner, and both Johnsons, believe that being armed with the most information possible when having trouble with a machine is best. So the younger Johnson tracks everything—it also helps with estimating how much fuel will be needed during any given period, an asset for Sojourner, who buys all support products in bulk.

Routine maintenance is done every 250-300 hours either in the woods or at the 60x40 ft. shop located at Johnson’s house, whichever is more convenient from the

current location. Once every six weeks or so, especially during the summer, Sojourner sends equipment to the shop to get a bath via steam cleaner. “It helps with fire prevention. This equipment can run really hot when the heat index is in the 110° range during the summer.

Cleaning it up helps cool it off and make sure it is safe,” he says.

In the woods the crew has a fully loaded tool trailer with an air grease gun, welder, cutting torch, pails of grease, shop-built hoses, DEF pails and 2,500-gallon fuel tank. By buying in bulk and keeping maintenance to the woods mostly, Sojourner feels he is able to stretch each dollar a little farther—important as markets tighten and become uncertain. Fuel drums are also located at the shop.

The crew sends out as many as 100 loads a week.

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Sojourner says that at a young age his father instilled in him a strong work ethic. “My daddy believed the time to work was daylight to dark, six days a week. I love it. It’s a great work ethic we have,” he explains. Johnson shares a similar value; Sojourner calls him the workhorse of the operation.

Sojourner says overall the crew is pretty easy running. They work 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday with 30 minutes for lunch. On Fridays the crew knocks off at 3 p.m. and does not work on Saturdays.

In order to avoid Saturday work, if the crew falls a little behind, they will start loading early in the morning, and sometimes run late, but they always try to keep everything up and going so Saturday and Sunday can be reserved for time with family, rest and prayer.

Trucking Sojourner tries to think outside of the traditional toolbox. When put on quotas. The crew might park loaded trailers off the ramp in the woods or at the shop. This frees up space at the ramp and facilitates hauling at night or early morning.

Sojourner Timber uses a mix of one contract truck, five Peterbilt owned by Sojourner and two trucks owned by Johnson. The company has 20 trailers at its disposal. Trail-

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ers are mostly Magnolia. “But with that many trailers, we’ve got a little bit of everything,” Sojourner says.

“We’ve changed up in the last year,” Sojourner says. “We were all pulling four bolsters at one time, now we’re pulling pole trailers because of the weight. You get an extra two tons and that makes a difference now. We’re running as many as five pole trailers. We’re trying to move ahead to make more money,

and be as smart as possible.”

While Sojourner likes technology for the in-woods equipment, he’s not too keen on adding GPS to trucks. He reasons that Johnson keeps up with the drivers closely enough to make the additional expense unnecessary.

Mill closures and long lines at the mills hurt. Sojourner calls the seemingly regular three-hour wait times a “killer.”

The crew hauls 80-100 loads per

week. “You got ten loads of pulpwood for the day, but you need to get 15, so you have to stack those five,” he explains. “There’s a lot of obstacles now. Men sitting at the mill are very costly. You need trucks.”

Still, he believes mixing trucks he and Johnson own with a contract truck is the best method for getting his wood hauled. All truck maintenance is handled in Johnson’s shop at every 10,000 miles.

Home, Office Previously, Sojourner’s wife Susie handled all Sojourner Timber’s paperwork. But when the pair saw an opportunity to develop some acreage in their community into a neighborhood, they formed yet another business venture, Sojourner Development. “Now my wife builds and remodels houses,” he says.

Sojourner and his wife live on the farm Sojourner grew up on, and a

Sojourner believes the technological advances in newer equipment outweigh the drawbacks.

modest office for the logging company sits at the end of the driveway.

There Debbie Yarbrough handles all of the logging company’s paperwork with Mrs. Sojourner’s attention elsewhere.

Yarbrough joined Sojourner five years ago. After her husband passed away she was looking for flexible work while still taking care of her two children. The two call it a mutual blessing, the paramount of “the right thing at the right time for the right people.”

Yarbrough is a huge asset, Sojourner says, as she handles all DOT paperwork for the trucking arm of the company. She also schedules random drug testing for the drivers and in-woods employees. “I can’t tell you all the pressure that takes off—just to make sure you’ve got tags. You think that isn’t complicated but the paperwork to get it done, us as loggers, you know we’ll lose the sticker before we get it to the woods, let’s get real. She helps keep it all straight,” Sojourner laughs.

“Eddie, Debbie and my wife all keep me straight. I just make the bank notes. We try to keep the ox out of the ditch as much as we can. God has truly blessed us.” SLT Contact Wayne Sojourner via email: waynesojourner@me.com.

For more information on LandMax, visit landmaxproperties.com

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Welcome Back ■ After a 15-year hiatus, Chad Barfield reassembled his old team and went back to the woods.

By David Abbott ★

UNION, SC ust this year, Chad Barfield started his own logging operation for the second time in his life, but he’s hardly a rookie in this game.

Barfield, 45, had already owned Barfield Bulldozing, LLC for over 15 years when he started a new venture, Barfield Timber, LLC, early in 2016.

Before that, his experience in the woods goes back more than 30 years.

Although he didn’t grow up with direct family ties to the industry— his dad, Freddie, worked for the railroad—Barfield got a young start in the woods. With his dad gone much of the time, the young Barfield started helping out logger Raymond Crawford when he was only 13.

After 10 years working for others, he started his own company, then called Chad Barfield Logging, in 1994.

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Barfield is a single father, raising seven-year-old Conner on his own while juggling a logging crew and two dozer crews.

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His first foray into running his own logging business, when he was just 23, went well, perhaps a little too well. He shut the company down in 2000 because, he says, it got “too big.” He explains: “We were hauling 140 loads a week, and I couldn’t keep up with all the insurance.”

It was after shutting down Chad Barfield Logging that he started Barfield Bulldozing, but he never completely left the woods. Rather, he ran dozers and track hoes to build roads for other loggers and big timber companies like Weyerhaeuser, Greenwood Resources and John Hancock.

The road building business continues to go well, but a new opportunity presented itself early this year as a few area loggers started leaving the business. A local mechanic, Tim Seymour, had started working for Barfield at his shop in order to escape the hour-long commute to work he endured at his

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When he decided to get back into the logging business last year, Barfield bought two new pieces from Flint Equipment in Simpsonville.

previous job. While they worked together, Seymour and Barfield started discussing the idea of returning to the logging business.

What did it take to convince Barfield he wanted to get back into logging? “Luther,” he says simply.

He’s referring to feller-buncher operator Luther Wallace Feaster, who had worked for Barfield in his old company during the ’90s. “He came here straight out of the mill and I taught him everything he knows, that’s why he’s cutting today,” Barfield says. Feaster’s skills, Barfield says, are in high demand. “He is the man around here; everyone wants him.”

Whether or not Feaster would return was the critical factor. “It was the only way I’d come back,” Barfield admits. As it turned, Feaster said yes. With him on board, Barfield knew he could do it.

Once the newly christened Barfield Timber job was put together, other members of the old crew also came back. That includes former and current loader man William (Swamp) Griffin, 62. “I knew when we had those two, we were good,” Barfield says. Feaster brought his son-in-law Derek Cammon on board to drive the skidder. Barfield’s dad, Freddie, now retired from his railroad job, also joined the team to run parts and fuel and help out or fill in wherever needed. Company truck drivers James Cockrell and Jeff Wright and contract haulers Jarvis Colvin and James Stewart round out the operation.

He also added a 2016 Kenworth to get things rolling.

Balancing Act Along with overseeing the startup of a new company and two dozer

The crew was thinning a 300-acre tract when SLT visited in early November.

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crews, Barfield has his hands full with even greater responsibilities on the home front as well. He’s a true single parent, raising his son Conner, 7, full-time and all by himself. The busy father takes his son to school every morning, then goes to any of the three job sites where he’s needed to run a dozer or load trucks.

Barfield’s mother does pick Conner up from school in the afternoons and bring him to meet Barfield. That way, if he gets tied up and has to run late, the boy won’t have to wait. Other than that it all falls on Barfield’s shoulders. They go home to do homework and cook dinner. “And I don’t do fast food,” the dad is quick to establish. “I cook, every night.”

All the hard work and commitment is paying off. The second grader is a straight A student, his dad reports with pride, and never misses any days.

Conner obviously doesn’t work in the woods…if he ever will, that’s quite a few years off…but he did get to visit the job site with his dad on the day Southern Loggin’ Times visited, which so happened to be election day. “Today there is no school for voting, so he gets to ride around with me and check on things,” Barfield said. “And he got his ‘I voted’ sticker.”

Aside from school and work, this

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From left: William Griffin, Freddie Barfield, Luther Wallace “Cool Hand” Feaster, Chad Barfield, Derek Cammon, James Cockrell

father and son team keep themselves busy on the weekends with a shared hobby they both enjoy. They help his cousin, Trent Ivey, in dirt track racing. Barfield’s company sponsors the car, while Barfield and Conner help work on the car in the shop. Most of the races are in the summer, with a few in the fall. This past year they won 23 races, and 12 the year before.

Equipment Machines on the logging crew include two 2016 John Deere models, a 643L feller-buncher with FD55 head and a 648L skidder.

Barfield purchased both machines new to start this crew. Rounding things out are 2008 Tigercat 230 loader with CSI 264 delimber, bought used this year, and a John

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Deere 550 dozer borrowed from the road building crews. All pieces came from dealer Flint Equipment in Simpsonville, SC. Barfield has two of his own trucks, a ’96 Mack and a ’16 Kenworth pulling new ’16 Pitts plantation trailers.

Mechanic Tim Seymour keeps up with repairs and maintenance on woods equipment, trucks and trailers and road building machines at

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the company shop. He even takes care of the contract trucks. For woods equipment, he changes oil at every 300 hours. Barfield has no preference for brands on spare parts, always shopping for the best price. He does prefer Michelin tires on trucks and Firestone 30.5 tires on skidder and cutter, though even there, he shops around.

Barfield’s Bulldozing includes Caterpillar D6K2 dozers and 320 track hoes. They build roads now for the Barfield Timber logging crew as well as for other loggers and landowners. Though careful not to brag, Barfield acknowledges he

Barfield and son sponsor a cousin’s racecar.

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doesn’t often have to worry about finding work to keep these crews busy. Mostly, he says, the phone just rings because of the good reputation the dozer crews have earned in the last decade and a half. Helping run these crews are Barfield’s brother-in-law Bobby Hall and long-time employee Mark Mills.

Operations As for keeping Barfield Timber in timber to cut, Foothills Forest Products in Whitmire, SC, takes care of that. When SLT visited in early November, the logging crew was working a 300-acre tract that required both first and second thinning in some spots that had been thinned before. This job was for American Forest Management.

Since getting the band back together less than a year ago and getting back in the timber business, Barfield says things have been “rolling.” On average the crew hauls 45 loads a week. Pine pulpwood goes to Resolute Forest Products in Jonesville and Catawba.

Chip-n-saw goes to Georgia-Pacific in Prosperity. Though he rarely deals with much hardwood, he occasionally sends some of the bigger logs to Chester Wood Products in Chester.

The crew hauls 45 loads a week on average.

Markets could be better, the logger admits. One mill is dealing with a problem with its chip screens, slowing down its production, but the larger problem has been the drought this year. Dry conditions had most loggers in the area, like much of the rest of the Southeast, on quota. Because everyone can work, supply has outstripped demand. “We need rain, bad,” Barfield says.

The crew conducts a safety meeting once a month. “If anybody sees

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anything we can improve on to keep anybody from getting hurt, then we deal with that,” Barfield says. “For instance, on the skidder we kept having problems with the black step breaking off. To keep anybody from falling off, we replaced the rubber with a piece of chain.” Forestry Mutual provides equipment insurance and workers’ comp, while Barfield gets fire insurance through SLT John Deere.

Contact Chad Barfield by email: barfieldsbulldozing@yahoo.com

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The Right Approach ■ JH Knighton Lumber finds stability in diversification.

By Jay Donnell RUTHER GLEN, Va. hen Joseph Knighton ★ was running a portable sawmill in 1969 he probably never envisioned how much his business would grow before he passed away, and after. Today, his sons, David and Tim, and daughter Sandra, own the company and run three crews as well as a small sawmill. David’s son, Joe, started working full time last summer. “It started out as a portable ground mill with horses and mules,” David says.

“I can remember going to the mill with him on the weekends to feed the horses and mules.”

As Joseph’s mill got bigger, finding larger tracts of timber that would justify moving a mill into became few and far between. That’s when he

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decided to start a permanent location in Ruther Glen. Joseph then started a logging crew to log the mill and from there things grew rapidly.

David came on board in 1985 and unfortunately Joseph passed away in 1993. By then they were running three crews. JH Knighton Lumber (JHKL) Co., Inc. has seen many ups and downs in the industry over the past 25 years, especially when fuel prices escalated, but they’ve never had to downsize.

Operations Versatility is one reason for the steadfastness of JHKL. The crews are broken down into one that specializes in thinning, another that focuses on clear-cutting and the third that only does chipping. The crews combine to produce around 150 loads a week. (David’s dad started chipping in the 1970s. The thinning

President/Owner David Knighton

crew came on in the early 1990s.)

JHKL takes its wood products to a variety of outlets. Pine pulpwood goes to Verso Paper and Bear Island.

Clean-flail chips go to WestRock facilities and Bear Island. Biofuel goes to Dominion Virginia Power,

Owning a sawmill provides some harvesting flexibility.

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WestRock facilities, and Bear Island.

All hardwood sawlogs go to the family sawmill, and pine sawlogs go to either the family mill, Flippo Lumber or W.T. Jones and Sons.

David and his company purchase all of the timber themselves except for some of the thinning jobs. When Southern Loggin’ Times visited one of the crews, they were thinning on a 200-acre tract. The terrain was a little sandy. “If we know a tract is really sandy or really good ground we’ll try to save it for the winter,” David says.

JHKL builds most of its own roads with a D5 Cat dozer. When leaving a tract they try to dress up deck sites as much as possible and make sure all BMP issues are taken care of, whether with water bars or straw seeding. The company will also back blade the road to make everything look good.

JHKL has 40 employees when you include the workers at the

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sawmill. Employees arrive on site around 6:30 a.m. and leave at 4:30 p.m. Fridays are usually only half days for the logging crews. Employees must fill out a formal application in order to be considered for hiring and JHKL conducts a background check. Workers are granted time off for personal time and sickness. They also get time off during the main holidays. Employees receive a yearly bonus at Christmas as well.

The importance of safety is stressed daily and safety meetings are held every month. “I stress it very strongly,” David says. “We have a pretty good rating with our worker’s comp carrier and we try to keep it that way.”

Equipment Lineup JHKL operates a large fleet of logging and trucking equipment.

The thinning crew operates a 2016 Tigercat 234B loader, 2015 Tigercat 610E skidder, 2008 Cat 525C skidder, and a 2011 Cat 553 fellerbuncher. The chipping crew operates a 2016 Morbark 23 WCL Chiparvestor, 2009 Prentice 2670 feller-buncher, 2014 Cat 525C skidder, 2012 John Deere 437D loader, 2013 John Deere 648H skidder and a 2003 Peterson Pacific 4800E flail debarker. The clear-cut crew operates a 2012 Cat 573C feller-buncher, 2006 John Deere 648H skidder, 2008 John Deere 848H skidder, 2015 Tigercat 234 loader and a 2014 Bandit 2590 drum chipper.

The new Morbark chipper was purchased in March. “We’ve had Morbarks the whole time,” David explains. “The other unit was getting some age on it so it was time to update it. It’s a great machine.”

The company runs 10 trucks and they are a mixture of Kenworth, International and Western Star. They pull Evans, Pitts and Big John log trailers and Peerless chip vans.

JHKL’s drivers are paid by the hour.

When hiring a driver, David checks references to make sure each individual is qualified. Most of the time he knows the person applying or has at least seen him before. David reports that his drivers haven’t been involved in any accidents in many years.

The main equipment dealers are Forest Pro in Ashland, James River Equipment in Ashland and Carter Machinery in Richmond.

David only started purchasing Tigercat equipment when Forest Pro opened its doors in Ashland. “I had always heard good things about Tigercat equipment over the years,” David says. “I’m really big on dealer support and there was never really a close Tigercat dealer until Forest Pro.” He adds, “We have really good relationships with all of our dealers. They’re all very helpful when

New Tigercat loader works with the thinning crew.

Three Deere skidders are in the equipment lineup.

Left to right, forester Frank Daig, Jr., skidder/feller-buncher operator AB Carter, knuckleboom operator Bobby Anderson, feller-buncher operator/foreman Floyd Epps, skidder operator Kenny Green, truck driver Steve Wilkerson

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JHKL purchased this Morbark 23 WCL Chiparvestor last spring.

David Knighton and his son, Joe

it comes to breakdowns and helping me find parts.”

Machines are greased every other day and they get pressure washed periodically. When they grease the machines employees make sure to check the air filters as well. Mobil 15-40 oil is used in the equipment.

They try to go over all the machines at least weekly and check for minor issues. Oil and other fluid changes are on an hourly basis.

Marvin Bogar is a full-time mechanic and Willard Crowell is a part-time mechanic. Lucas Catlett also plays a key role in regular and preventive maintenance when he's not tasked with other duties.

a skidder. On the clear-cut crew, Chastine Anderson operates a knuckleboom loader, Lamont Tyler operates a skidder, Donald Webster limbs/tops felled trees and Warren Coles operates a feller-buncher.

Frank Daig, Jr. started working as the company’s forester after graduation from Virginia Tech in 2013, with a B.S. in Forest Resource Management. “Frank has been a tremendous asset after graduating from VT,” David explains. “He’s my forester and does a little bit of everything else.”

Maintaining a constant flow of timber tracts for three crews is challenging, but strong relationships

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The company has generally had good luck with equipment vandalism, but recently somebody stole the batteries out of a cutter and skidder that were left at a jobsite over a weekend. Forestry Mutual provides insurance needs.

On the thinning crew, Floyd Epps is a foreman and feller-buncher operator, AB Carter operates a skidder and feller-buncher, Bobby Anderson is a knuckleboom operator and Kenny Green operates a skidder. On the chipping crew, Donald Carneal is a knuckleboom operator, Steve Sorrow operates a skidder, James Nuckols runs a fellerbuncher and Arthur Brown operates

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with landowners and meeting landowner objectives has been key for JHKL. “We get a lot of repeat and word-of-mouth business,” Daig says. “If we can keep a landowner happy, the word spreads fast.”

Another young attribute to the company is Catlett. “Lucas not only has the ability to operate machinery in the woods, but he can perform maintenance on all of our equipment, and fill in at the mill when I need him to,” David says.

JHKL does not experience a lot of turnover in the woods. Epps has been with the business since 1991, and many others have been with the company for more than 20 years. “We’ve

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Three crews move up to 150 loads weekly.

been very fortunate with our employees.”

Industry David has invested around $4 million into the company, continuing to focus on diversification. JHKL is somewhat diversified between the chips they produce and the pulpwood. “We’ve always had something to fall back on,” David explains. “The chipping markets have gotten a little soft here in recent times and natural gas has a lot to do with that. Prices

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Left to right, knuckleboom operator Donald Carneal, forester Daig, skidder operator Steve Sorrow, feller-buncher operator James Nuckols, not pictured skidder operator Arthur Brown

are extremely low.”

He adds, “The thinning is doing great. Floyd does an excellent job of thinning and we get a get a lot of repeat business because of it. People come to us for thinnings.”

JHKL maintains an office and shop at the sawmill in Ruther Glen.

The sawmill primarily cuts hardwood grade and tie lumber and produces around 125,000 bd. ft. per week. Since they buy their own stumpage the company can bring in some pretty nice logs for the mill.

“We get a fair amount of grade lum-

ber,” David says. “The mill is very basic and simple. There’s a debarker, circle saw, gang saw and a trimmer. It’s not really computerized and there are no optimizers.”

H.L. Williams and Son Logging from King George and Richardson Logging from Fredericksburg also bring in logs to the mill.

David does not see the company expanding anytime soon because they already have lot of different things going on. “Between looking after the mill and the crews, I don’t think any expansions are in the plans.”

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David is thankful his son Joe has joined the team. “He’s third generation so hopefully he’ll follow in my footsteps.”

Strong management leadership skills, the drive of their crews and preventative maintenance keep the fire going at JHKL and enable consistent, efficient work.

JHKL is a member of the Virginia Loggers Assn., Virginia Forest Products Assn., Railroad Tie Assn., SLT and Virginia Forestry Assn.

Contact forester Frank Daig, Jr. by email: frnkstr@vt.edu

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Farmer John An old farmer who ran a small outfit was suspected of not paying his employees according to federal regulations. The U.S. Labor Dept. sent an agent to interview him.

“I need to know who your employees are, how many hours they usually work each week, and how much you pay them,” the agent said.

Old John wiped tobacco juice from his lips and slowly replied. “Well, there’s my key feller who has been with me for five years. He works around 50 hours a week and I pay him $500 a week plus free room and board. The housekeeper, who also cooks some for me, has been with me a coupla years, working part time. I pay her $15 an hour and throw in some free meals.

He paused, prompting the agent to press on. “Who else?” he asked.

“Well, there’s the half-wit who works at least 14 hours a day, six days a week, and does about 70% of all the work around here. He gets paid about $50 a week, provides his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday.”

“That’s the person I want to talk with,” the agent snapped.

“That would be me,” replied old John.

ond guy was busy counting his money. Feeling guilty, he confessed that he was actually the pro at a neighboring course and liked to pick on suckers.

The first fellow revealed that he was a local priest.

The pro was flustered and apologetic, and offered to return the money.

The priest said, “You won fair and square and I was foolish to bet with you. You keep your winnings.”

The pro said, “Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?

The priest said, “Well, you could come to Mass on Sunday and make a donation. And, if you want to bring your mother and father along, I’ll marry them.”

A Touching Moment

Heard Via The Grapevine A glass of wine at night could mean a peaceful, uninterrupted night’s sleep, especially for seniors.

Clare Valley Vintners in South Australia, which primarily produces Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio wines, has developed a new hybrid grape that acts as an anti-diuretic and is expected to reduce the number of trips older people make to the bathroom during the night. It will be marketed as Pino More.

How To Even The Score A guy was getting ready to tee off on the first hole when a second golfer approached and asked if he could join him.

The first said that he usually played alone, but agreed to the twosome.

They were even after the first few holes.

The second guy said, “We’re about evenly matched, how about playing for five bucks a hole?”

The first guy said that he wasn’t much for betting, but agreed to the terms.

The second guy won the remaining holes with ease.

As they were walking off number 18, the sec26

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Phyllis Dillerisms —Whatever you may look like, marry a man your own age. As your beauty fades, so will his eyesight.

—Housework can’t kill you, but why take a chance?

—Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the sidewalk before it stops snowing.

—The reason women don’t play football is because 11 of them would never wear the same outfit in public.

—Best way to get rid of kitchen odors: eat out.

—A bachelor is a guy who never made the same mistake once.

—I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them.

—Most children threaten at times to run away from home. This is the only thing that keeps some parents going.

—Any time three New Yorkers get into a cab without an argument, a bank has just been robbed.

—We spend the first 12 months of our childrens’ lives teaching them to walk and talk, and

Hirt’s A Proud Grandpa!

Logging equipment promoter extraordinaire Tom Hirt, who camps in McKinney, Tex. when he’s not on the road, cuddles with grandson Cooper Thomas Kitchen, who came into this world last October healthy and hungry at 10 lbs. 8 oz. and 22 in. long. The beaming Hirt was not surprised at Cooper’s size, seeing that he emerged more than 61 years ago at 10 lbs. 15 oz. Not surprisingly, the big guy—Hirt, that is—is accepting congratulatory messages via email: tom@fskequipment.com.

Cady’s Knox Skidder/Loader

Back in 1911 Cady Lumber Co., McNary, La., put a rail-dependent steam-powered Knox skidder/loader to work to handle big long leaf pine logs its crews harvested in Rapides Parish. Designed and built by Livingston, Tex. lumberman Hiram Knox, the machine rested on four large independent ‘legs’ and could not only skid and load (no guy lines required) but also could be used for pile driving and building railroads, especially trestles.

the next 12 years telling them to sit down and shut up.

—Burt Reynolds once asked me out. I was in his room.

—What I don’t like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day.

—The only time I ever enjoyed ironing was the day I accidentally poured gin in the steam iron.

—His finest hour lasted a minute and a half.

—Old age is when liver spots show through your gloves.

—My photographs don’t do me justice. They just look like me.

—Tranquillizers work only if you follow the advice on the bottle—‘keep away from children.’

—I asked the waiter, “Is this milk fresh?” He said, “Lady, five hours ago it was grass.”

—The reason the golf pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can’t see him laughing.

—You know you’re old if they have discontinued your blood type.

Homesick Snowbird At The Villages in Florida recently, there was a bumper sticker on a parked car with this message: I Miss Chicago. Someone broke the driver’s side window, stole the radio, shot all four tires, added an Clinton/Kaine bumper sticker and left this note: “Hope This Helps.”

Bragging Boys Three boys in the schoolyard were bragging about their fathers.

The first boy said, “My dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper; he calls it a poem; they give him $200.”

The second boy said, “That’s nothing. My dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper; he calls it a song; they give him $500.”

The third boy said, “I got you both beat. My dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper; he calls it a sermon; and it takes eight people to collect all the money!”

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Rolling On ■ Former logger Ray Sullivan focuses his small trucking outfit S&T Construction on hauling for log yards.

Ray Sullivan (inset, below) converted his logging job into a trucking company, hauling for wood yards in multiple states.

By David Abbott ABINGDON, Va. rom its home base in southwestern ★ Virginia, trucking company S&T Construction, LLC operates in multiple adjacent and nearby states, including primarily North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. “Sometimes we venture beyond, but that is our main circle,” says owner Ray Sullivan, 47. “We try to stay within a 100mile radius of home base.”

Hauling logs across state lines can be tricky, but Sullivan is adamant about maintaining legal status in any state in which his trucks operate. To stay on top of it, he keeps a copy of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Interstate Truck Drivers Guide to Hours of Service and all other relevant rule books and guidelines in his pickup with him at all times.

“Virginia and North Carolina both

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give us 90,000 lbs., but we have to cross Tennessee in a strip between, and they are at 88,000,” Sullivan explains. “So we try to go after the lowest weight. The way we look at it, it just gives us a variance between 80 and 90 to stay in that range.” Ohio has the lowest weight limit at 86,000 lbs., while West Virginia and Kentucky are, like Tennessee, 88,000 lbs.

Aside from weight limits, there is also the issue of keeping logbooks versus time cards, especially for the longer hauls. Sullivan has been researching the upcoming regulations regarding electronic logs and says S&T shouldn’t fall under those requirements. “The rules state that it applies to 2000 or newer trucks. We have trucks in that range, but we operate under a 100 air mile radius.”

A nautical term used to measure the distance traveled by aircraft, air miles are different than road miles. That is especially true in the mountainous terrain in which S&T trucks often

drive, where a vehicle can drive a lot of miles without actually covering much distance on the map. According to the international definition recognized by the FMCSA, an air mile is about 1,000 feet longer than a ground mile. So, 100 air miles equals about 115 statute or road miles. “As long as we stay within this 100 air mile radius we won’t violate any law,” he believes.

Further, he notes, “Unless you are required to run a paper log more than eight days out of the last 30 days, you don’t have to go to E-Logs. We have some trucks that run a log book occasionally, but mostly we stay in under a time card.” Drivers rotate the longer distance hauls to Ohio.

Safety, Insurance Sullivan doesn’t wait for DOT to randomly check his trucks. Rather, he contacts them and schedules an inspection of several trucks at once at his shop. “This has formed a good

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relationship, and by volunteering, if you do have a problem you’re able to fix it there instead of having a violation,” he says.

The proactive approach has paid dividends. On the Inspection Selection System (ISS-D), S&T has a 32point score. “The lower the score, the better you are with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration,” Sullivan says. The purpose of ISS-D is to guide safety inspectors in selecting vehicles for inspection. It is based on data about the company’s safety record, including crash history, driver history and inspection history. A score of 75-100 requires inspection; 50-74, inspection is optional. Anything below a 49 does not warrant inspection. So, 32 is excellent.

Of course, that plays into insurance. S&T is insured through Forestry Mutual Insurance Co., whose Jimmie Locklear took the lead in forming the TEAM Safe Trucking

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(TST) initiative last year.

TST’s emerging safetyfocused program focuses on awareness and education; driver training, skillset improvement, motivation and recruitment; fleet best management practices; and public image enhancement.

“I am really interested in where Jimmy Locklear is going with this TEAM Safe trucking thing,” Sullivan says. “I have been reading some of Jimmy’s stuff, and we’ve talked about it on the phone.”

Getting and keeping truck drivers insured is obviously of prime concern for him, as it is growing more complicated and expensive.

S&T has a fleet of eight trucks including two newer Freightliners.

“It’s the world we live in; insurance dictates a lot of what you do everywhere,” he drug test. They couldn’t pass it for the History notes. When he switched his truckmines or the gas company so that left Sullivan has worked on trucks all us the leftover, and that wont work. ing insurance to Forestry Mutual his life, he says. “I was about like any So I gave up on logging.” from his former carrier a few years boy; I always wanted to play in ago, the premium was half of what S&T moved into excavating for a trucks.” He bought his first truck in while, but when the economy hit bothe had been paying. “That’s a huge 1996, but quickly got burned out with tom in 2008, Sullivan says he was savings, so we have to do whatever over the road trucking. He tried the we can to maintain that. If the insurbroke. With excavating and logging coalmines for a bit, but then went to gone, he saw one way to survive. “I ance dictates that I have to fire a work for a logging crew, becoming a went to my wife and said, I know I driver over a mistake, that is what we have to do to survive as a compa- foreman. “I got the bug for the timber can buy groceries with a truck,” he industry then,” he says. Soon he went recalls. So, he started over again, now ny.” driving a truck for New River HardHe continues, “We actually had a into business for himself, setting up S&T as a logging company in 2001. woods, based in Beckley W.Va. with truck accident here in September.

Ultimately, he says the logging its mill in Mountain City, Tenn. As The shoulder gave way and the crew hit a roadblock: labor—specifithe mill grew, Sullivan states, S&T truck turned over; nobody else was cally, a scarcity of reliable younger grew with it. involved. But this is going to go workers not on drugs. “Especially in against the driver’s insurance As the economy recovered slowly, the Appalachian Mountains and in he branched out, picked up other conpoints. And we run into instances our area, we are having problems tracts and added more trucks and with young guys with CDLs wantwith opiates,” Sullivan admits. For a drivers. “We have been blessed and ing to drive and we can’t hire them while, he says, he had a really good able to provide jobs to several people because of the three-years’ expericrew, but one key worker became ill, now,” Sullivan notes gratefully. “In ence requirement.” and finding a suitable replacement 2008 S&T had everything here and Sullivan promotes an idea he became too much of a hassle. “At then it was gone. So now we are believes can help solve the problem. that time coal was still big in our spread out. We are not that big of a At a recent Virginia Sharp Loggers area, so the only option we had for company, but if something falls off in continuing education class in Buena logging was whoever couldn’t pass a one area, we know we can still surVista, Sullivan says he suggested his idea to Scott Barrett of Virginia Tech’s forestry program. “We need a reset for drivers,” he explains. “In Virginia, if you’re in a car and get a speeding ticket, you can go to a driving class and have the points removed so it won’t go against your record. Why can’t we have that for truck drivers to help with insurance?”

He points out that the driver in the recent collapsed shoulder incident has been driving for over 40 years. “His CDL is his only livelihood. He’s 67 years old. He’s still trying to work.

There should be a reset so the insurance doesn’t blackball him.”

Though lacking a formal safety training program per se, S&T conducts safety meetings once monthly.

“We preach about not speeding, and all the guys use hands free blue tooth On the left, driver Bernie Taylor (far left), Sullivan (in black) and log yard scaler David Stickon their cell phones in the trucks.” ler chat with drivers Scotty Walker (in Washington Redskins hardhat) and John Smith.

vive now.”

As an example of that diversification, Sullivan has enjoyed a good working partnership with Columbia Forest Products, a timber dealer based in Old Fort, NC. That company set up a log yard near Charlottesville, Va. and contracts S&T to manage it. “Columbia supplies the yard and the logs, I supply the people and the equipment,” he explains. “We maintain and merchandize the logs, and haul them from there to the Craigsville, W.Va. plant. It is a dry yard, we don’t hold inventory.” Sullivan keeps two Prentice loaders and two Ottawa set out trucks on the Columbia yard, with skid steers to keep the yard clean and three employees: Larry Poore, Scott Henderson and Tommy Bradley.

S&T also runs a smaller wood yard in Hansonville, Va., where it buys and sells peeler logs for Columbia, and delivers to and from a Church and Church Lumber transfer yard in Tennessee. “They asked if we would be interested in helping them, and they have been a big help for us,” Sullivan says.

On average the company moves 100 loads a week; Sullivan says three of those loads are export veneer logs to Ohio, and 15 or so come from the woods, directly from loggers. The remaining 80+ come from log yards.

S&T hauls strictly logs now—no chips or coal, though in the past Sullivan tried hauling both. “Coal is just not for us, and we have been away from chips for about three years.”

Sullivan’s business and the economy overall have bounced back considerably since 2008, but it hasn’t been sunshine and roses for everyone. “In our part of the country the economy is pretty sad with the coal mines,” Sullivan says. “You lose a lot of high end jobs, and they are trying to replace them with service jobs. It’s hard to ask a man to go from $80,000 a year to $25,000 a year. We can go in the coal fields now and find businesses abandoned, nice houses with roofs falling in.”

The damage to the coal mining industry, he says, also impacts the forest products sector directly.

“Coal miners are working people.

When coal goes down, they go into family farmland, or forestry. That helps us, because there is more for us to move.”

Fleet The company has eight trucks in its fleet now— three Freightliners, two Peterbilts, two Macks and a

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Kenworth—and 15 trailers, mostly Pitts with a few Savannahs. Most of the trucks are older models or glider kits, ’98-2007 models, but there are a couple 2015 and 2016 units in the mix, both Freightliners. Both of the newer trucks require DEF, and Sullivan says the newer one has had no issues whatsoever. He doesn’t know if the difference is the year model, or that the ’15 model has a 500 HP engine while the ’16 uses a 455 HP. Still, he states, “My opinion is that DEF in trucks and machines is a waste of time and money. We are averaging 5.5-5.8 miles per gallon on the pre-emissions trucks. The trucks with DEF are 4MPG trucks.

A lot of it is horsepower; at higher horsepower, you get better fuel mileage.”

One of the reasons Sullivan has kept older trucks and bought glider kits is because of the cost of maintenance on the newer trucks with current emissions standards. “Being small I just don’t think I can afford to maintain them once warranty is gone,” he says. “We can’t afford to go out and trade trucks every three years. But with the glider kits we got three-year/300,000 mile warranty on the motor.”

One of the trucks he bought in part as a rolling billboard for the

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Sullivan bought this attention-grabbing truck partly as advertising for the company.

company. It’s bright green with bright orange lettering on it.

“Whether you love it or hate it, once you see it you’ll remember it.”

S&T has several sleeper cab trucks, for a simple reason: it’s cheaper to buy a sleeper. In addition, Sullivan says, it’s more comfortable for the driver than a day cab. “You have more leg room, more space for a tool box. It does increase the weight, but it’s not enough to factor in.”

Even so, he does try to trim weight where he can. For instance, he prefers Detroit engines in part because they weigh less than Cat and Cummins engines. And he likes lightweight Pitts trailers. “A lightweight Pitts is a good trailer, but you give up something for it,” he

says. “There’s more maintenance down the road, because they are not as sturdy.” Still, he notes, he is still running some ’96 model Pitts trailers that are in good shape. “We have several with single point suspension. I do like that better, it stands up better and handles the load better. But we have some that are lightweight spring suspension too. We haven’t tried air ride yet.

Weight is a big factor, but you have to balance with durability, longevity and maintenance concerns.”

To keep up with maintenance, S&T has small shop with a mechanic, Scott Hubbard. “Scotty buys parts as he sees need, he keeps an eye on things and he does a real good job.” Hubbard doubles as a

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truck driver when needed. “If we get into something occasionally that’s a little over his head, we have good relationships with the local garages and sometimes we outsource the mechanic work.” Sullivan also has the trucks pressure washed one Saturday every month.

For tires, S&T uses General, BF Goodrich and Michelin. With all the winding, crooked mountain roads the trucks ride, he says 40,000 miles is all he can get on a steer tire, which means they have to be changed about every four months. The trucks average about 100,000 miles a year and use 13 and 18 speed Eaton transmissions and 40,000 lbs. 404 rear end suspensions.

S&T gets DEF fluid from Hutchens Petroleum in Stuart. Oil comes from FleetPride in Bristol, where S&T buys 90% of all its parts—brakes, drums, Baldwin filters, PrimaTech gear oil and suspension parts. “Jimmy Scott is the manager there (at FleetPride), and has taken good care of our needs,” Sullivan says.

Sullivan doesn’t believe in credit accounts for fuel or parts, and he doesn’t use one. “You end up with a huge bill at the end of the month. I know a guy who told me that any given day he owes over $40,000 in

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fuel and parts. What does he do if he loses his job? He still owes for last month.”

Teamwork Since getting into trucking, S&T has enjoyed low turnover. Sullivan has found most of his employees by the recommendations of his drivers. “I put a lot of faith in the guys I have.” He provides new hires with a checklist of what is expected of them, and they are

required to sign it before starting.

S&T conducts pre- employment drug screening and, through a consortium for small independent truckers, periodic random drug tests. “Every quarter 25-30% of the drivers in the consortium get pulled,” Sullivan says. “The last I checked there were 800 employees and 70-80 companies in this consortium, so usually I have someone every quarter getting drug tested.” He says he’s never had to fire anyone over drugs. “Most of these guys want to keep their jobs, it is

their livelihood. And that goes back to the insurance. If you get that against you, there goes your career.”

Sullivan says his team is top-notch.

“I have a real good bunch, and we can’t do this without them. They are real observant.” Drivers are John Smith, Bernard Taylor, Jeff Clark, Scotty Walker, Brian Musick and Scottie Hubbard, and Sullivan himself drives when he can. Most of them are in their 40s or 50s and have been driving for at least 10 years, some much longer. And most of the

drivers have been with the company between five to seven years; some of the older ones had worked for Sullivan before, when he was logging.

He pays drivers per load rather than by ton. “That’s how you keep your overweight tickets down,” he says. Though he’d like to, Sullivan says he has never been able to get far enough ahead to pay production bonuses, but he does pay a competitive rate and he tries to do a few special things for the drivers throughout the year. The most important key to retention, he believes, is that the drivers simply enjoy their job.

Drivers often load their own trucks at the wood yards, and are careful to avoid going overweight, though Sullivan doesn’t believe scales are necessary. “A good loader operator can tell without a scale, and you can feel it in your truck,” he says.

Getting insurance for drivers may be the biggest challenge faced by trucking companies right now, but for S&T, another is mill quotas.

“New River has more logs in inventory right now than they’ve ever had since I’ve worked for them,” he says. Sullivan believes there is an over abundance of loggers able to supply more wood than the mills demand. “When I logged, if we produced 12-14 loads a week, we were happy,” he says. “Most of your crews are mechanized now, and they produce three or four times as much, with fewer men. The mills can’t handle that.” He also points to the influx of former coal miners now working in the woods, and mild winters not slowing anyone down. “Everybody has so much inventory now that even if we do have a bad winter, I think they are going to come into the spring still with inventory. So we are looking at quotas all year next year, too.”

Though he hopes to continue for many years to come, Sullivan does have a loose succession plan in place. He has two sons: Keaton, 14, and Jaxon, 9. Keaton actually named his younger brother. “I tell them, eventually if you want to maintain what I am doing, I suggested for one to go to diesel school, and the other to get a business degree. We will stand behind them whatever they choose to do, but the way I see this country going, I think they need to get a trade. At the bank where I do most of my business, I see kids who are leaving college with huge loan debts working behind the teller line.” Still, Sullivan doesn’t necessarily plan for them to simply inherit the company, saying he has seen too many other family businesses passed down only to go out of business. “I tell them, I SLT will sell it to you.”

Email Ray Sullivan at stconstruction1@gmail.com

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INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP As We See It: Election Brings New Opportunities, But Established Challenges Remain

By Nick Smith Against all odds, Donald Trump was elected as our new president. Republicans also kept control of both houses of Congress. Since November 8, many stories have been written about rural Smith

America’s influence on the election. But what does it all really mean for the American Loggers Council, its members and professional timber harvesting?

There’s no doubt the new year will bring opportunities to reform federal forest man-

agement, restore the health of our federally-owned forests, and create more family-wage jobs where they’re desperately needed. For ALC, there will be new opportunities to advance key priorities such as ensuring uniform truck weight limits and passing Youth in Careers in Logging legislation. It will also be easier for ALC

and its partners to stop anti-forestry measures before they can hurt the industry.

But make no mistake, getting things done in Washington, DC won’t be easy. Our work isn’t done. It’s only just beginning.

When it comes to federal land management, Trump now has the chance to appoint officials who can change the culture of federal agencies, emphasizing a shift back to multiple-use management of our lands and natural resources. But the truth is the Trump Administration will be saddled with the same counterproductive and complex web of federal laws, rules and regulations that have resulted in the neglect of our forests and the loss of thousands of jobs across the industry. It’s already clear anti-forestry groups will double-down on lawsuits that bring projects to a halt and put forest health in the hands of judges instead of foresters.

Relieving our federal agencies of obstructive litigation, “analysis paralysis,” and chronic budget shortfalls requires congressional action. Given the enormous power and influence anti-forestry groups continue to enjoy in Washington, it’s likely any real change will require bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate, where Republicans lost seats. Any legislative measure will likely require 60 votes in the Senate before Trump is able to sign it into law. Many policymakers, even those in the new administration, will need to be educated on responsible logging practices and the benefits loggers provide to the American public.

The new administration and Congress offer new opportunities, but many of the old challenges facing the industry will remain. ALC members, led by Executive Vice President Danny Dructor, are working proactively with key leaders to hit the ground running. But ALC still needs your help, even with a federal government that will be friendlier to timber harvesting.

Now more than ever, it’s important for all loggers to stay informed and stay engaged to make the most of the opportunities that American voters have given us.

Stay tuned for updates in future issues of our newsletter, and don’t forget to “like” us on Facebook!

Smith is a Communications Specialist for the American Loggers Council and founder of Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that advocates for active forest management on

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federal forests. The American Loggers Council is a 501 (c)(6) not-for-profit trade organization representing professional timber harvesters in 32 states.

Visit www.amloggers.com or phone 409625-0206.

Logger Ricky Deacon Eulogized December 15 Memorial services for Ricky Stuart Deacon, 55, a long-time logger and board member of the Virginia Loggers Assn., were held December 15 in Rockbridge County, Va. Deacon died in a local head-on collision on December 10, according to news accounts.

Deacon owned Deacon Bros.

Logging of Fairfield, Va. and was

known for his honesty and integrity.

He was a member of McElwee Chapel and Lexington Moose Lodge.

Survivors include his widow, one daughter, one son, one brother, one sister, and three grandchildren.

Following a Friday evening reception, the general session gets underway Saturday morning.

Speakers will address wood supply and markets, a WSRI research project, loggers as heroes, and national

legislative issues. On tap Saturday afternoon will be a SCTPA business session, presentation of awards, and drawings for prizes.

There will be no outside equipment exhibits this year but numerous dis-

SCTPA Sets Program For Annual Meeting The 18th annual meeting of the South Carolina Timber Producers Assn. (SCTPA) will be held February 10-12 in Myrtle Beach at the newly remodeled DoubleTree by Hilton Resort Myrtle Beach Oceanfront.

Theme of the meeting will be Loggers Are Heroes!

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LOGGING LIFE AT HOME: Be Careful With Time Deborah Smith has been married to Rome, Ga. logger Travis Smith for 34 years. They have 10 children: seven by birth, three adopted from Africa, and two granddaughters. A college English major, she began home-schooling their children in 1991. Says Travis and Deborah Smith Smith: “I love my family; I am passionate about encouraging others to keep the faith, to keep taking the next right step, no matter how hard life gets.” Visit her blog: buttercupsbloomhere.blogspot.com

hile shopping for my granddaughters, I get a text: “Are you OK?” I

W thought it was strange and replied that I was fine. A second text came quickly: “Are you coming?”

My heart sank. I forgot. I was supposed to be at the tire shop, right then, picking up my sweet daughter and taking her to the dentist. Unforeseen car

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problems clashed with an appointment that she needed to keep, and I was going to help her through her jam, and I just plain forgot.

There was a lot of apologizing on my part and a lot of grace on hers. We got to the dentist’s office with two minutes to spare. She told me as she laughed, but in her matter-of-fact, serious voice, “Mama, it’s OK. Get a planner!”

So I did. I left and went directly to an office supply place and as I scanned the seemingly hundreds of planners—ones you color in, ones you have to have a degree to understand, ones that would make me feel like a home school failure mom just looking at the cover, ones that were too small for my life or too big to fit in my purse. And I prayed. “Lord, show me. Help me.”

There it was. A simple black one. At the top of each page was the date of one day.

As I drove away (yes, I did remember to go pick her up) I thought that this book would be my resolution for 2017. I love the gospel song, One Day At A Time. And I realize I need to start writing down what is going on in my days—little things, big things, important things, mundane things—because really, if something involves someone we love, it’s not little. If something we do makes life better or happier or more secure for someone, it’s special. It’s noteworthy.

For years, I have started and stopped writing in planners. For years, I have done what was to be done on a particular day, or what needed to be done in the next hour or minutes. I feel like sometimes I was just pushed into time. And sometimes, I pushed too much into too short a time. I see clearly and painfully that time is somewhat like money, but not as forgiving. I can’t pile it up.

I can’t save it. It comes and it goes and cannot be stopped. I can’t get it back. I can’t make up for what was lost. So, really, the way we spend time is more important than the way we spend money.

In 2017 I want to deliberately live. I want spaces in activities for rest and time to just be. I want to read and make phone calls and write letters. I want time to count, because it does. I remember my sailor grandfather telling me that our lives will all end one of two ways: a lighthouse for guidance or a shipwreck of warning. And I think it all boils down to how we spend our time. How we spend everything else in life depends on how and why we spend our time.

My strong logger husband goes to work early and comes home late. Saturdays find him fetching tires, looking at equipment, and just plain busy. He has one of America’s most dangerous jobs. I don’t even want to count the days that I forget that, and take for granted that we will have lots more...time. God gives us all one day, one day at a time.

I want to spend time in 2017 more carefully than ever, not because I’m afraid, but because I realize what time is, what a gift, what an irreplaceable, nonrefundable gift. And I don’t want to waste it. And I don’t want to SLT waste it.

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plays will be set up inside. Also, a tiein meeting for TEAM Safe Trucking will be held at the hotel beginning at 1 p.m. February 9.

To register visit scloggers.com or phone 800-371-2240. To make hotel reservations call 800-774-1500 or book on line at myrtle beachresort.doubletreebyhilton.com.

The room reservation code is SCT. Room block cutoff is Jan. 10.

Martco OSB Mill Still On Schedule

becoming a proactive partner in the community.”

TEAM Safe Trucking To Meet February 9 Organizers and supporters of TEAM Safe Trucking (TST) will gather in Myrtle Beach, SC February 9 to discuss the initiative’s 2016 progress and to address ways to accelerate additional progress going

forward. The meeting, which begins at 1 p.m. is open to anyone interested in helping make log/chip trucking safer, more accountable and professional.

TST recently launched a work-inprogress web site (teamsafetruck ing.com) and has streamlined internal communications and committee responsibilities to get more done in a tighter time frame, according to TEAM Leader Jimmie Locklear (910-733-3300).

The meeting will take place at the DoubleTree by Hilton Resort Myrtle Beach Oceanfront. This is the same hotel hosting the annual meeting of the South Carolina Timber Producers Assn. on February 10-12.

IP, Weyco Deal Forms Global Cellulose Fibers International Paper completed its acquisition of Weyerhaeuser’s pulp

Work continues in Corrigan, Tex. on a new oriented strandboard (OSB) manufacturing plant, the first such facility in the Lone Star State for RoyOMartin. Due to open in fall 2017, the plant represents a $280 million investment, is situated on 158 acres, and adds 165 direct jobs.

Corrigan OSB, L.L.C. is the only greenfield OSB plant under construction in the country and, upon its completion, will ship its products throughout the U.S. In September, company officials and the East Texas community celebrated the grand opening of the plant’s administration building, which marked the beginning of the transition from a construction site to a fully operational facility. Construction began in July 2015 and is nearly halfway complete. About 30 employees have been hired to date.

“We believe East Texans share our passion for excellence and experience,” says Roy O. Martin III, president, CEO and CFO of RoyOMartin. “We have sold into the Texas market for a long time, and now we look forward to

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business for approximately $2.2 billion in cash.

International Paper acquired five pulp mills and two converting facilities that produce fluff pulp, softwood pulp and specialty pulp products for a number of consumer applications including diapers, other hygiene products, tissue and textiles. The acquired business has approximately 1,900 employees around the world, with manufacturing operations in Canada, Poland and the U.S. (Missis-

sippi, Georgia and North Carolina).

The combined businesses will be called Global Cellulose Fibers, led by senior vice president Jean-Michel Ribieras.

Huber Will Reopen Tennessee OSB Mill Huber Engineered Woods LLC will reopen its oriented strandboard (OSB) plant in Spring City, Tenn. in

2018 pending completion of various state and local incentives processes.

“The reopening of our Spring City mill is an indication of the strength and resiliency of our ZIP System and AdvanTech branded products,” says HEW President Brian Carlson. “This operational investment will increase our company’s production capacity and further enhance our product availability and highly regarded customer service.”

The mill, located in the Tennessee

River Valley northeast of Chattanooga, is undergoing facility upgrades in preparation of manufacturing specialty panel products including AdvanTech subflooring and ZIP System sheathing beginning in April 2018.

“The Spring City plant is in fullswing production preparation,” says plant manager Bryan Little. Little began his career at the Spring City mill in 1997 and cross-trained in multiple functions before landing the plant manager position in 2016.

Little says the number and types of positions to be filled will be announced in early 2017.

The facility opened in 1997 but halted production during the housing market downturn in 2011.

Huber Engineered Woods also has manufacturing operations in Maine, Georgia, Virginia and Oklahoma, as well as research and development facilities in Georgia.

Louisville Tractor Joins Bandit Dealer Network Louisville Tractor, Inc., Louisville, Ky., is Bandit Industries’ newest authorized dealer for small equipment sales, parts and service.

Louisville Tractor will serve customers in southern Indiana and north central Kentucky, focusing on hand-fed chippers and stump grinders.

With more than 40 years of service to Louisville and surrounding communities, Louisville Tractor, Inc. offers an experienced staff that specializes in parts and service training.

Contact Louisville Tractor Inc., 800-866-5473 or visit louisvilletractor.com.

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MACHINES-SUPPLIES-TECHNOLOGY Doosan Log Loader

Similar to other Doosan models, like the DX225LL-5 and

DX300LL-5, the DX380LL-5 is designed for demanding logging applications. Weighing approximately 113,500 lbs., and powered by a Tier 4-compliant, 318 HP diesel engine, it is the first Doosan log loader in this size class.

Featuring high swing torque, approximately 44" of reach at ground level and powerful hydraulics, the DX380LL-5 is

primed for peak performance on forestry tracts. Doosan 360° rotating log grapples are commonly paired with the log loader’s live heel.

Doosan log loader tracks are built with heavy-duty links with double grouser shoes and full-length guiding guards. Top rollers are equipped with special clean-out brackets to simplify routine maintenance.

The DX380LL-5 is built with a high and wide undercarriage. It comes standard with a 4' forestry cab riser with all-around visibility, including a standard rearview camera that is viewable from a 7" LCD screen. The LCD screen provides critical machine data. For optimal comfort, operators can adjust the suspension seat, headrest and armrest, as well as joystick controls.

Operators have easy access to routine maintenance areas to increase machine uptime and productivity. DX380LL-5 log loader features centralized grease points, wide side-access doors for cleaning the machine’s cooling system, boom pivot bushings with greasing intervals of 250 hours and a largecapacity engine air precleaner that removes more than 99% of airborne particles and extends filter cartridge service life. Visit doosanequipment.com.

ASV Compact Loader

ASV LLC offers Posi-Track RT120 Forestry, a powerful compact track loader that performs with minimal ground disturbance. The rugged machine makes mulching, brush cutting and highway and utility work faster and easier.

The RT-120F includes maximum efficiency hydraulics and highcapacity cooling systems. The machine achieves versatility on all surfaces using ASV’s Posi-Track undercarriage.

ASV optimized the RT-120F for forestry work that can be too demanding for other machines. It includes metal guarding against brush and debris around key areas. The RT-120F incorporates an additional durability with a heavy-gauge, falling object protective structure (FOPS) level 2 cab, improved rollover protection (ROPS) and reinforced windows for impact resistance. The machine blows debris from mulching applications out of the engine compartment screens with a hydraulically driven, autoreversing cooling fan. The RT-120F works with all standard attachments.

The machine’s 120 HP Cummins 3.8-liter, turbocharged engine produces 360 foot-pounds of torque— about 8% more than the machine’s 111 HP predecessor, the RT-110.

Visit asvllc.com or positrack.com.

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6 ➤ with sacks full of food.”

While the farm blossomed during the Depression, the sawmill struggled, as there was little demand for lumber. The Jones logging and milling operation soon ceased, and H. C. Jones and Sons Lumber Co. was officially “off the books” in 1942, the year Clay was born. Morton and Patti were the last to operate the farm. The end came in 1965, when most of the land was sold by the county at the petition of several Jones heirs.

Two Generations Later After completing high school, Clay earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Hampton Institute and a master’s degree in mathematics from Morgan State University. He taught math and was department chair for more than 35 years, serving in three high schools in two states. He retired from teaching in 1999.

Blessed with his grandfather’s acute work ethic, he founded Ultra Cleaning Co., a janitorial business

that at one time had nine employees and the responsibility for the afterhours cleaning of seven buildings.

Early on he tried to hire fellow teachers, but recalls they were not interested. “They said it was below their dignity. I told them that if making money was below their dignity, I could not use them.” Income from the cleaning service, started in 1971, helped satisfy a home mortgage, enabling Clay and Linda to invest in more land. He gave up the business in 1978 to concentrate on land affairs.

Evidently, the landowner has always been frugal and good at handling money. He reflects: “My father helped me open a savings account at Consolidated Bank in Richmond when I was only 11. I deposited $40, and it’s still there, along with some more deposits we have been fortunate enough to make.”

As if he was not busy enough with teaching and cleaning, Clay started a firewood business in 1975 called Claycosons Farms and Timber. Taking inspiration from his grandfather, known as ‘Captain Jack,’ who was a meticulous record keeper and adept at sizing up the value of a timberstand, Clay too learned how to size up a tract by quizzing foresters and engaging personnel at the Virginia Dept. of Forestry.

Clay claims his firewood harvest alone averaged around $1200 per acre for several years. Mind you, he worked mostly alone in those days and had limited overhead. “I started out with a pickup and several chain saws and finally added a tractor,” he relates, “and I split all the wood by hand. It was a lot of hard work.

Whenever I’d grow tired and weak, I’d think of my grandfather and how hard he must have worked in his day, and I’d keep going.”

Among other things, Clay has a sense of humor and is also a survivor. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2004, underwent surgery for it, and continues to be in remission. He withdrew from the firewood endeavor and renamed the business Claycosons Timberland.

Needless to say, the humble Virginian is justly proud of his family’s forest legacy. “Considering they had very little education, and taking into account the conditions of their day, my ancestors accomplished quite a lot,” he says reflectively. He is also proud that his sons and daughter plan to continue that legacy. “Our third son, Lewis Minor Jones II, will be in charge; followed by our oldest son, Henry Clay Jones III; and our second son, Taman Yurii Jones. Our other children will be involved as well. They are Joel Thomas Jones, who is a good negotiator, and Dr. Naiche Owen Jones and Linda Chechoter Jones, Esquire. They will all have a job to do.” The legacy could well be extended to the grandkids, who enjoy going on excursions in the woods.

Clay openly thanks all those who helped him along the way. He credits God, ancestors, children, the forest community, and Linda, who is right at the top of the list. “She has supported me more than 100% all along, even when I made mistakes.

She continues to be the cornerstone SLT in my life.”

Reach the couple via email: ollocotjones58@hotmail.com

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PRINT CLASSIFIED AD RATES: Print advertising rates are $50 per inch. Space is available by column inch only, one inch minimum.

Click. Connect. Trade.

DEADLINES: Ad reservation must be received by 15th of month prior to month of publication. Material must be received no later than 17th of month prior to month of publication.

www.ForesTreeTrader.com

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

Logo indicates that equipment in the ad also appears on www.ForesTreeTrader.com

WANTED TO BUY

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Cat 518 & Cat 518C skidders in TX, LA area Call Kent 936-699-4700 r_kentjones@yahoo.com

Logo indicates that equipment in the ad also appears on

RETIREMENT SALE: Complete logging job; Well maintained equipment.

No tobacco use inside machines.

• 2014 720E W/52070 Log head, very low hours, like new. Has last tier 3 engine, no DEF, only 1500 hours...................$178,000.

• 2010 648 TCH, clean and tight. 6500 hours ..........................................$100,000.

• 2009 2348 on Hyd Kodiak, 426 deliberate w/new knives, pins and bushings, 4200 CTR buck saw, 1100 hours.............$78,000

www.ForesTreeTrader.com

Contact: 870-547-2947

13360

2290

13189

2010 Prentice 2864 Mulcher STK# TU119807; 4,853 hrs $170,000

2013 Deere 843K Feller Buncher STK# LU652805; 5,829 hrs $105,000

2014 Deere 848H Skidder STK# LU658557; 4,371 hrs $155,000

2013 Deere 437D Knuckleboom Loader STK# LU239287; 4,020 hrs $118,000

2011 Deere 437D Knuckleboom Loader STK# LV225560; 7,916 hrs $89,000

2013 Deere 748H Skidder STK# LU652927; 5,410 hrs $155,000

2008 Deere 748H Skidder STK# LU616549; 10,185 hrs $150,000

2015 Morbark T8-240/3 Chipper STK# LU781158; $315,000

2013 Deere 843K Feller Buncher STK# LU653837; 4,141 hrs $139,000

Visit ForesTreeTrader.com for online listing opportunities.

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Ready To Place Your Classified Ad? Call 334-699-7837, 800-669-5613 or email class@southernloggintimes.com for print ads.

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Visit ForesTreeTrader.com for online listing opportunities.

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Ready To Place Your Classified Ad? Call 334-699-7837, 800-669-5613 or email class@southernloggintimes.com for print ads.

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KNUCKLEBOOM LOADERS

FELLER BUNCHERS

SKIDDERS

CAT 559B (PR65147), 2011, 8,570 HRS., CAB, AC, 5055 TWR50 GRPL, 48’ EVANS TRLR, CTR 30 DELIMBER .....................................................$112,500

CAT 521B (0F7B00257), 2013, 3,110 HRS., CAB, AC, 35.5 TG PAD, HF201B CUTTER HEAD.........$328,000

CAT 525C (052500540), 2013, 9,500 HRS., CAB, AC,

CAT 559B (00PR65586), 2013, 6,500 HRS., CAB, AC, GRPL, PITTS H48 W/ HYD TRLR, DELIMBER .......................................................................$144,000 CAT 559C (CEKAS00329), 2013, 4,235 HRS., CAB, AC, 5505 PRENTICE GRPL, 11R22.5, DELIMBER .......................................................................$165,000

CAT 563C (0JCB00324), 2013, 5,705 HRS., CAB, AC, SAWHEAD .....................................................$165,000 HYDRO-AX 470 (0HA18564), 2004, 9,968 HRS., CAB, AC, 28LX26......................................................$44,500 HYDRO-AX 470 (0HA18931), 2005, 11,942 HRS., CAB, AC, 28LX26, HC SH48 20 HEAD ....................$38,000

30.5X32 DUAL RING, 14.4SQFT GRPL, N BLD, HYD WINCH ............................................................$72,500 CAT 535C (052501634), 2013, 5,757 HRS., CAB, AC, 30.5-32 20PR FS, 14.4SQFT GRPL, DF WINCH,

PRENTICE 2470 (PB19355), 2007, 11,347 HRS., CAB, AC, SH50 SAWHEAD ......................................$77,500

GRPL..............................................................$120,000

CAT 559C (0KAS00258), 2013, 6,058 HRS., CPY, GRPL, H48 TRLR, DELIMBER ......................$153,000

PRENTICE 2570 (PB19613), 2008, 10,457 HRS., CAB, AC, 28L-26, SH50 SAWHEAD.........................$77,500

CAT 545D (0KGP00120), 2015, 1,326 HRS., CAB, AC,

CAT 579B (PR65023), 2011, 9,270 HRS., CAB, AC, 1122.5 TRLR, GRPL, DELIMBER .....................$122,500

PRENTICE 2570 (PB19465), 2007, 9,765 HRS., CAB, AC, 28L-26, SH-56 SAWHEAD .......................$60,000

CAT 559C (CEKAS00329), 2013, 4,235 HRS., CAB, AC, 5505 PRENTICE GRPL, 11R22.5, DELIMBER ...................$165,000

PRENTICE 2470 (PB19355), 2007, 11,347 HRS., CAB, AC, SH50 SAWHEAD .......................................................$77,500

35.5L-32 24PR FS, ARCH BOOM, GRPL, DF WINCH .....................................................$294,500

CAT 545D (0KGP00120), 2015, 1,326 HRS., CAT 563C (0JCB00324), 2013, 5,705 HRS, CAB, AC, SAWHEAD .................$165,000 CAB, AC, 35.5L-32 24PR FS, ARCH BOOM, GRPL, DF WINCH..........$294,500

2687

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5569

FINAN C AVAILA ING BLE

1461

www.equipmentandparts.com

Office : 903-238-8700 • Jason Bruner: 903-452-5290 Bill Bruner: 903-235-2805 H REDUCED PRICES H

SKIDDERS

2012 John Deere 748H Skidder – 7,950 hours, Good 30.5 x 32 tires, Cab with air, Winch, Ready to work!................$129,500

2012 Cat 535C Dual Arch Skidder – 5,800 hours, 3 New, 1 very good - 35.5 x 32 tires, Cab with air, Winch. Ready to work! ..................Reduced to $119,500

FELLER BUNCHERS

2012 John Deere 643K Feller Buncher – 5,410 hours, Good 28L tires, Waratah FD22B saw head, Cab with air, Ready to work! ..................Reduced to $119,500

2004 Hydro-Ax 570 Feller Buncher Waratah FD22 saw head, cab with cold air/heat, Cummins engine, Good running machine and ready to work!.........$59,500

LOADERS

2011 Cat 535C Dual Arch Skidder – 8,684 hours, 2 New, 2 very good 30.5 x 32 tires, Cab with air, Winch, Ready to work! ...................Reduced to $105,000

2010 Cat 525C Dual Arch Skidder – 8,000 hours, 2 New, 2 good 30.5 x 32 tires, Cab with air, Winch, Ready to work! .....................Reduced to $95,000

MULCHERS

2010 Prentice 2570 Mulcher – Brand new FAE 200U/225 mulching head, Brand new high pressure mulcher pump and hoses, 28L tires, 6.7 Cummins engine, Cab with air, Ready to work! 0 hours since conversion from a Feller Buncher ................................Reduced to $189,500

2012 Prentice 2384 Log Loader – 7,310 hours, Mounted on trailer with CTR 426 Delimber, Cab with air, Cummins engine. Ready to work! ...........................Reduced to $119,500

2012 Tigercat 234 Log Loader – 8,000 hours, Mounted on hydraulic leg trailer with Riley delimber, Cab with air, Cummins engine. Ready to work! ...$119,500

2005 Prentice 384 Log Loader - Trailer mounted with CTR Delimber, Cab with air, John Deere engine, Good running machine! ....................................$49,500

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Call or email: Charles Woolard

252-946-9264 office 252-945-0942 cell

Washington, NC Email: easterneq@earthlink.net

!

0 0 1 $2 ER

E OFF

D TIM IMITE

L

Go to www.eebinc.com for details and pictures plus other equipment for sale

2015 TC 234B, 1866 hrs., CSI 496 2005 Prentice 280 w/ CTR 450 2004 Tigercat 250 Loader with delimber, Kodiak Tr........$185,000 delimber, 6300 hrs......... $48,000 CTR 416 delimber, 9585 hrs. .......................................$42,500

2010 Volvo L180F w/ Log Clamp, 2012 Tigercat 250C Loader w/CSI 2008 Peterson 2400B grinder, CAT 11757 hrs.....................$100,000 264 delimber, hyd. landing gear, no 560HP, 3382 hrs ...............$90,000 reg-en or DEP fluid..........$119,000

2016 Morbark 2755 Flail/ Chipper, 2010 Peterson 4800E delimber/ 1992 Franklin 170 S/A grapple, re-con Cummins, 28's tires CAT 1050HP, 229 hrs ..........$ Call debarker CAT C9 350HP .......................................$95,000 .......................................$22,500

3723

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EQUIPMENT FOR SALE 2006 Tigercat 610 Skidder Dual arch & winch, very nice! 7,136 hours .....$62,500

2005 Tigercat 720D Feller Buncher Center Post Saw, LOW HRS ON NEW ENGINE, Very Nice! ................................................$72,500

2007 Prentice 2670 Feller Buncher 8,730 hours, excellent condition, tires @ 40%, .........................$79,500

2012 Tigercat 234 Loader/Delimber 8,328 hours, excellent condition

.............$115,000

2005 Prentice 384D Loader/Delimber

2011 John Deere 437D Loader CSI delimber, Hyd trailer, NEW TURNTABLE, Ver Nice! .....$85,000 LOCATED IN CENTRAL ALABAMA 13267

Call or text ZANE 334-518-9937

8,196 hours, excellent condition

...............$45,000

CSI Reversible Slasher ...........$12,000 TED SMITH

5840 Hwy 36, Russellville, AL Home: 256-766-8179 • Office: 256-766-6491 Fax: 256-766-6962 • Cell: 256-810-3190

KEVIN MONTGOMERY 256-366-1425

6288

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EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

SKIDDERS, LOG LOADERS, BUNCHERS AND BUCK SAWS

• John Deere 643K Feller Buncher 2310 and FD22 Sawhead 2013 ..........$166,000 • John Deere 848H Skidder 2012 (New Motor 8/16) .................................$86,590 • John Deere 347D Knuckleboom Loader w/Pitts Hydraulic Trailer & CSI PTD 264 Delimber 2015...........................$190,020 • 648 HXDW Skidder & 437D Knuckleboom Log Loader, 50' Trailer (Skidder has new motor 9/16) ..........................$119,446.05 • 2670 Feller Buncher Quadco 22C Saw 2007............................................$33,000 • 2016 Pitts LT40 Bunk Log Trailer ...............................................$30,544.36 • 2001 Chambers Delimbinator......$44,000 • 2008 PB/388...............................$27,200 • 2009 PB/388...............................$31,000 • 384 Prentice Loader....................$28,000

WILL PAY FAIR PRICE

USED FORESTRY EQUIPMENT ALSO AVAILABLE FOR SALE

3214

YOUR PARTS RESOURCE!

352-239-1549

WE OFFER QUALITY USED PARTS WE HAVE AFFORDABLE NEW AND AFTERMARKET PARTS IF WE DON'T HAVE WHAT YOU NEED...

LET US FIND IT WITH OUR LOCATOR SYSTEM

GEORGIA LOGGERS!

CONTACT: 478.550.2330 - Keith 478.256.4063 - Gary

249

FORESTRYPARTSRESOURCE.COM

Day or Night: 252-341-9891

8309

If you own a Gates Crimper, Our truck with Hose and Fittings will come to your job site.

Call to see how we can save you time and money. email: Tim.cavalierhose@yahoo.com

EUREKA! EUREKA! EUREKA! OWNERS HAVE OVER 30 YEARS COMBINED EXPERIENCE!

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EUREKA SAW TOOTH CO., INC.

7180

We can save you money on Saw Teeth. Hundreds of satisfied ACC OW EP customers. Rebuilt Exchange or New. We specialize in rebuild- CRE TING DIT ing Koehring 2000, Hurricana, Hydro Ax split teeth and all CARDS other brands. Call Jimmy or Niel Mitchell. Quantity Discounts!

FOR SALE: $85,000

2012 John Deere 648H Skidder • Dual Function Grapple • Havey Duty Axles • 8100 hrs on machine • new John Deere factory engine (0 hrs) • Machine runs good

For more information please call or text 334-618-0142 13363

7393

4433

4275 Moores Ferry Rd. • Skippers, Virginia 23879 PH./FAX (day) 1-434-634-9836 or Night/Weekends • 1-434-634-9185

Contact Jeremy Burcham 580-579-8399

13366

WANTED NOW

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I OFFER same day while you wait OR 2-day service on straightening and balancing all types of Feller Buncher sawdisks. Tooth holder repairs. Complex or severely bent sawdisks no problem, approx.

14years experience CALL CARLTON CARVER CARVER SAWDISK REPAIR Washington NC • (252) 945-2358

IF YOU NEED

To buy or sell forestry, construction, utility or truck equipment, or if you just need an appraisal, contact me, Johnny Pynes with JM Wood Auction. Over 25 years experience.

RECONDITIONED DELIMBINATORS!!

In addition to new machines, CHAMBERS DELIMBINATOR, INC. now has factory reconditioned DeLimbinators. These units have been inspected, repaired, and updated as needed. Call us and we will help you select a DeLimbinator for your need.

6209

WE ALSO BUY USED DELIMBINATORS Call: 662-285-2777 day, 662-285-6832 eves Email: info@chambersdelimbinator.com 1123

770

Day 334-312-4136 Night 334-271-1475 or Email: johnwpynes@knology.net Visit us online: southernloggintimes.com

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Broken, Hung Tree Falls On Timber Cutter BACKGROUND: On a dry, cool, early spring morning in the Appalachians, a timber cutter was felling marked trees in a hardwood stand.

The terrain was hilly but not difficult for manual felling operations. The trees had not yet leafed out.

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: The 35-year-old timber cutter was experienced and had completed his state’s logging safety training and SFI continuing education programs.

He was regarded by another logger acquaintance as an excellent timber cutter. He was wearing personal protective equipment, including a hard hat and cut-resistant pants.

UNSAFE ACTS AND CONDITIONS: Sometime in the past, a black cherry tree had broken off approximately 20 feet from the

ground. The portion of the tree above the break landed in an upright position and had stuck into the ground, and the top of the cherry tree was now leaning against a maple tree. The timber cutter began felling this maple tree. He placed himself underneath the leaning, broken off black cherry tree. (It was unclear to the investigators whether the timber cutter failed to notice the hung, leaning tree or was simply in a hurry to fell the next tree before the skidder operator returned to the spot.)

ACCIDENT: After the timber cutter had sawn most of the way through the maple, the leaning black cherry treetop fell on him, striking him directly on the neck.

INJURY: By the time the skidder returned to the timber cutter’s work

area five minutes later, the timber cutter had already died—probably almost instantly from the blunt force trauma, according to the coroner’s office.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CORRECTION: Before each tree is felled, the timber cutter must evaluate the immediate vicinity for any overhead or other hazards, including broken or dead tops, snags, lodged, or leaning trees. Never attempt to fell a tree manually if another tree is

hung in it! Instead, the timber cutter should warn others in the vicinity of the unsafe condition by tying strips of high-visibility “killer tree” flagging around the area. The feller should then move at least two treelengths away from the lodged tree before resuming work. In addition, a skidder operator should be notified about the lodged tree and instructed to ground it immediately. OSHA requires that “each danger tree, including lodged trees and snags, shall be felled or removed using mechanical or other techniques that minimize employee exposure before work is commenced in the area of the danger tree.” Loggers should train their employees in these procedures and stress the importance of preventing anyone from wandering into the “danger zone.”

Supplied by Forest Resources Assn.

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January

May

10—Missouri Forest Products Assn.

2016 winter meeting, Jefferson City, Mo. Call 573-634-3252; visit moforest.org.

3-7—Virginia Forestry Assn. Summit, Roanoke, Va. Call 804-2788733; visit vaforestry.org.

February 10-12—South Carolina Timber Producers Assn. annual meeting, DoubleTree by Hilton Myrtle Beach Oceanfront, Myrtle Beach, SC. Call 803-957-9919; visit scloggers.com.

24-25—Carolina Loggers Assn. annual meeting, Hilton Wilmington Riverside, Wilmington, NC. Call 828-421-8444; visit ncloggers.com.

March 1-5—Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers annual meeting, The Diplomat Resort & Spa, Hollywood, Fla. Call 336-885-8315; visit appalachianwood.org.

22-24—Hardwood Manufacturers Assn. National Conference & Expo, Francis Marion Hotel, Sundance Square, Charleston, SC. Call 412244-0440; visit hmamembers.org.

April 4-6—Kentucky Forest Industries Association annual meeting, Embassy Suites, Lexington, Ky. Call 502-695-3979; visit kfia.org.

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June 2-3—Southeastern Wood Producers Assn. Trade Show and annual meeting, Jekyll Island Conference Center, Jekyll Island, Ga. Call 904-8457133; visit swpa.ag.

14-16—Forest Products Machinery & Equipment Expo, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 504-443-4464; visit sfpaexpo.com.

August 12-13—Southwest Forest Products Expo 2017, Hot Springs, Ark. Call 501-224-2232; visit arkloggers.com.

25-26—Arkansas Timber Producers Assn. annual meeting, Hot Springs Convention Center, Hot Springs, Ark. Call 501-224-2232; visit arkloggers.com.

29-31—Louisiana Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Hilton Riverside New Orleans, New Orleans, La. Call 318-443-2558; visit laforestry.com.

September 15-16—Kentucky Wood Expo, Masterson Station Park, Lexington, Ky. Call 502-695-3979; visit kfia.org.

15-16—Mid-Atlantic Logging & Biomass Expo, Selma/Smithfield, NC. Call 919-271-9050; visit malbexpo.com.

28-30—American Loggers Council annual meeting, Natchez Grand Hotel, Natchez Convention Center, Natchez, Miss. Call 409-625-0206; visit amloggers.com.

October 4-6—North Carolina Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Hilton Riverside, Wilmington, NC. Visit ncforestry.org.

Listings are submitted months in advance.

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

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