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Vol. 43, No. 5
(Founded in 1972—Our 500th Consecutive Issue)
F E AT U R E S
MAY 2014 A Hatton-Brown Publication
Phone: 334-834-1170 Fax: 334-834-4525 www.southernloggintimes.com
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KeJa’eh’s Kevin Hodges Never Say No
Forrest Hodges Easy Going Success
Co-Publisher Co-Publisher Chief Operating Officer Executive Editor Editor-in-Chief Western Editor Managing Editor Associate Editor Associate Editor Production Manager Ad Production Coordinator Circulation Director
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
ADVERTISING CONTACTS DISPLAY SALES Eastern U.S. Kathy Sternenberg Tel: 251-928-4962 • Fax: 251-990-9409 219 Royal Lane Fairhope, AL 36532 E-mail: ksternenberg@bellsouth.net Midwest USA, Eastern Canada
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CTW Forest Products Change Of Pace
out front: Southern Loggin’ Times marks its 500th consecutive issue with a look back at the publication’s history, and a look forward at young logger poised to be the leaders of tomorrow. (Christy Sparks cover design)
Four Decades Plus Seasoned Industry Perspective
D E PA RT M E N T S Southern Stumpin’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Departed But Remembered. . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Bulletin Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Supporter Submissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Memorable Quotes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Letters Archive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Industry News Roundup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 IronWorks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Coming Events/Ad Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
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: 778-822-1826 • Fax: 604-264-1367 4056 West 10th Ave. Vancouver, BC V6L 1Z1 E-mail: tootall1@shaw.ca 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 • Fax: 334-834-4525
Southern Logginʼ 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 nonqualified 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—TOLLFREE 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 Logginʼ 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 Logginʼ Times. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. reserves the right to reject any advertisement which it deems inappropriate. Copyright ® 2014. 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 Logginʼ Times, P.O. Box 5613, Montgomery, AL 36103-5613 Member Verified Audit Circulation
Other Hatton-Brown publications: ★ Timber Processing ★ Timber Harvesting ★ Panel World ★ Power Equipment Trade ★ IronWorks ★ 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
SLT Connected From The Start W
elcome to the 500th issue of Southern Loggin’ Times. It’s a milestone we’re proud of and one that lots of co-workers, subscribers and supporters helped to bring about. It’s also a milestone that many magazines, whatever their field or focus, never achieve. This keepsake issue is filled with much the same type of content as always but there are significant extras and a couple of twists in the package. Younger guys own and operate the logging businesses that are profiled by younger staffers David Abbott, Jessica Johnson and Jay Donnell, and May Lamar presents an interesting piece on enterprises that have been “making wood” for 40 or more years. You’ll find a generous selection of quotes—most of them by loggers—from past issues. They’re witty, on point, and well worth your time. Also from past issues, and for your entertainment/enlightenment, we include Bulletin Board Classics and a selection of letters. As
well, we acknowledge many industry deceased in the segment Departed But Remembered. You’ll also find interesting editorial submissions from certain advertisers starting on page 42. Finally, in the following space I reflect on SLT’s history and join other staff writers in trying to define the “SLT Mystique.”
The Beginning Back when short pulpwood and cable skidders were common, the forest industry was growing like kudzu, off-road diesel could be had for less than a quarter per gallon, and the low T phenomenon was yet to be conceived, the principals of Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. launched a new publication known as Loggin’ Times. (The Southern designation was years away). The tabloid newspaper was described as “strong on Southern woods work and the people who make it hap-
SLT Co-Founder Cline Memorialized March 31 Charles E. (Charlie) Cline, co-founder of Southern Loggin’ Times and former president of Hatton-Brown Publishers, SLT’s parent company, was memorialized March 31 in Montgomery, Ala. Cline, 92, died March 27 at his Montgomery residence after a brief illness. Charlie retired in 1981 after a 28-year career as editor and publisher that began in 1953. He helped clear the forest industry trade publication path that Hatton-Brown successfully followed and subsequently widened. He joined H-B as the first editor of its then only publication, Pulpwood Production. Although he had no knowledge of the timber business, he loved the outdoors and had an engaging manner, filling a vital role in successfully promoting the usefulness of a pulpwood magazine as an information tool. Charlie logged untold miles digging up stories about innovative people, intriguing Charlie Cline machines/devices and interesting ideas. He pioneered the column Wood Tick Trail, where he recounted the “who, what, when and where” of his travels. For many years he was the “face” of the magazine, carrying its good will nationwide. Charlie supported the idea of a new regional logging-focused publication and helped his colleagues, Dave Ramsey and DK Knight, launch Loggin’ Times in 1972. He also supported H-B’s launch of Timber Processing in 1975. Eventually Charlie relinquished his editorial duties, shifting to more of a management role some 10 years before he retired in 1981. In his post retirement years he enjoyed fishing with close buddies, visiting with his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, and immersing himself in projects connected with the Dalraida Church of Christ, Montgomery, where he served as an Elder for more than 40 years. He was an avid reader and had a passion for Creek Indian history, often sharing his passion by addressing various groups on the subject. Born in Bay Minette, Ala., he served in the Army Air Corps during World War II and later earned a BS in journalism at the University of Oklahoma. Survivors include his devoted wife of 70 years, Irma Beth; one daughter; one son; seven grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. 6
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pen.” It was created to appeal to loggers, pulpwood producers, timber brokers, small sawmills, and logging equipment dealers, the latter the principal target for advertising support. The first issue in October 1972 was mailed to about 6,000 souls camped out from Virginia to Texas. Like many forest-focused ventures, Loggin’ Times—yes, the third g was purposefully omitted from the beginning—emerged in a most humble manner. The first issue was printed on cheap newsprint and consisted of 20 unstitched pages, all black and white except for the green logo. Its 8-plus pages of display advertising—a quarter page black and white ad could be had for a mere $95—generated less than $3,000; there were no classified ads whatsoever. The first issue carried reports on three loggers in the Carolinas: Allen Mitchum, Elton Malpass and brothers Hank and Joe Young; and two out of Louisiana in Files Timber Co. and James Nutt. Among their collective equipment were a Roanoke tree shear; Franklin and Taylor skidders; Ford and White road tractors; Ramey, Cascade and Hy-Hoe knuckleboom loaders; and Allis-Chalmers bulldozer—former brands unfamiliar to many who make, sell, own or operate logging gear today. Also included was a twopage photo essay on the 13th East Coast Sawmill and Logging Equipment Expo (Richmond Show), then staged in September. Early advertisers included Stihl, Ross Equipment, Forestry Equipment, Tidewater, HP Equipment, Scott Truck & Tractor, Stith Equipment, G&S Mfg. (not G&S Equipment), Timber Machinery, Johnson Trailers, Pioneer Logging Machinery, Thompson Tractor, Burford Equipment, West Georgia Equipment, Southern Equipment, and Timberland Saw Co. Not surprisingly, several of these entities have disappeared or taken on new identity. Scott Truck & Tractor salesman Jerry Pender graciously accompanied me to the Files Timber woods. It was the first of many times he accompanied me, or another SLT editor, to a logger’s woods. Pender has since retired, twice, and leaves a long list of woodsmen as former customers and current friends. Scott has not sold logging equipment for several years, losing the Prentice and Timberjack brands to consolidation maneuvers.
Early Issues Those early issues were thin, informal, and structurally loose, characterized by short feature stories on loggers and by black and white dealer ads that changed very little from month to month. Intermingled with it all were news items, many about new and expanded mills and plants, new equipment manufacturers and equipment dealers. Feature articles on logging equipment dealers
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would soon follow, as would coverage of new manufacturer/dealer alliances, and dealer open house and customer appreciation events. In a later period, Pioneer Machinery’s Gar Scott must have thrown at least two of these events a year, but today they rarely happen at any equipment dealership. Only the Good Lord knows how many loggers and equipment dealerships this publication has profiled and how many customer-appreciation affairs it has covered. One distinct early vintage issue was December 1973. It focused on the family of southeast-
ern coastal migrant pulpwood producer T.R. Goodson, who eventually settled in eastern North Carolina after stints in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Five of his seven sons— Kenneth, Raymond, Allen, Harrell, and Marvin, better known as Bobby—ran their own logging operations and were featured in the issue. Another brother, Randy, worked on Kenneth’s crew. The youngest brother, Don, chose another career path, perhaps to the gritted teeth displeasure of the paternal leader. T.R. also had three daughters, none of whom, as far as I
know, were attracted to the scent of freshly cut trees. For the record, the Bobby Goodson of Swamp Loggers fame is the son of Marvin and grandson of T.R. (By the way, here’s a belated Happy Birthday wish for Bobby. How does it feel to be 50?)
S-l-o-w Growth In those formative years, the newspaper grew slower than a longleaf pine, but it did come as advertiser confidence in LT gradually improved
Defining The SLT Mystique W
hat makes SLT so popular that loggers (and some loggers’ spouses) crave it, their wives fear losing it, their kids are captivated by it, and competitors envy it? Well, it’s…it’s…it’s…a question SLT editors have kicked around for years but never have pinned down, exactly. Here are their takes: DK Knight: It’s the editorial and geographical focus (95% logging/98% South); the editorial volume, tone and style; writers who know the logger’s turf and truly relate to what he’s up against; the tabloid size (larger editorial and advertising images); crisp reproduction (bright, coated paper); the big used equipment selection in IRONWORKS; the standalone nature of Bulletin Board; logger(s) on the cover; all of which makes a package that warmly appeals to the individual and collective logging soul. There’s an old expression, ‘The road to a friend’s house is never long.’ I think most loggers feel that way about SLT. Rich Donnell: As an editor involved with the content and production of Southern Loggin’ Times for 30 years, it’s easy to take it for granted. That is, until you read through the last batch of letters from readers or, even better, until you visit them and receive feedback from loggers and their families. Indeed “family” is the key word, because the logging family readership of SLT accepts SLT as a member of the family. Correspondence from logging families to us isn’t so much about their new machinery technology and harvesting jobs as it is the latest generation to join their business, or photos of their children with birthday cakes decorated with the drawing of a skidder, or stories of how a logger-coached little league baseball team just won the championship, or the latest fund-raising efforts to support children’s hospitals. They don’t come any friendlier or more down-to-earth than logging families in the South. The least we can do in Southern Loggin’ Times is to return that friendship by providing a pleasurable reading experience. Dan Shell: Trade magazines covering closeknit industries such as logging—if done right— have a way of endearing themselves to readers, and Hatton-Brown has done plenty of things right. I make a point of taking some of the random reader calls that come in to the office, and my favorite calls begin with, “How do we get in the Lawggin’ Times?” It’s that note of familiarity and loyalty that SLT readers give us that helps spur us to do a better job. And when you have the kind of readers and following that SLT has, there’s extra motivation to do your job better. Loggers aren’t held in the highest esteem by society, and having their own publication that understands their way of life, their working conditions and their invaluable contributions to the industry and their communities—while celebrating the hard work, the technology, the tradition, families and jobsite camaraderie—makes for a powerful connection between magazine and reader. SLT has always sought to portray loggers in as positive light as possible while accurately describing the challenges and obstacles they encounter. 8
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Writing about loggers and their families and their challenges and triumphs, and giving recognition to those who’ve done well, is a job I’ve enjoyed for more than a quarter-century, and working with a valued and reputable asset such as SLT makes one of the best jobs in the world even better. David Abbott: Loggers as a group largely feel ignored, unappreciated, misunderstood or even demonized by the society that benefits from their work. They’re at the bottom of a supply chain that leaves them the leftovers. The public largely is oblivious to what the logger does, until it singles out a log truck on the highway or notes the aftermath of a clear-cut. Loggers are invisible to politicians, except when it comes to taxes and regulations. Loggers are perceived as greedy robber barons with an insatiable appetite for the destruction of natural beauty, eager to wipe out every last tree on earth. That misperception is a big part of what makes this magazine so meaningful to its audience. In SLT loggers find validation; a venue for their own stories; a place where their achievements are recognized, even celebrated. The reason it resonates so strongly is more personal than its ability to deliver useful information. This is our Rolling Stone. Jessica Johnson: SLT is more than a magazine. It’s a snapshot into the life of so many Southern Americans. We are real; we don’t try to sugar coat anything. Sometimes rates aren’t great. Sometimes truck drivers are a pain in the rear end. But other times, crews clear 200 loads a week, and start-up loggers buy brand new pieces of equipment. Logging is filled with ups and downs, highs and lows. SLT covers it all in a family-friendly way—from photo submissions of little loggers to glimpses into the families profiled on the covers, SLT knows it sometimes takes a village to make a logging job work and that village starts and ends at home. For me, SLT is like a family. The editorial staff is just like any of the crews we profile. There are a few of us rookies that feel like we have something to prove, and a few old timers that you can always count on. Jennifer McCary: Southern loggers and SLT fit together like a well-worn pair of jeans. As one logger put it recently, “It’s just more personal.” He has been reading it since he was a kid, and it remains his preference. SLT is the one he sits down to read and spend quality time with. SLT has a good following among loggers’ children, who eagerly anticipate its arrival and comb through it again and again. One logger’s wife once told me her husband hoped his youngest daughter would follow him in the business. The 30-month-old insisted her daddy read from SLT for her bedtime story every night and insisted it be packed in her suitcase when they traveled. And what logger dad doesn’t beam with pride when presented with their son or daughter’s latest artistic rendition of their ‘superhero’ at work? In my years on the logging trail, I met many fine logging families. Sometimes the logger would find an excuse to stop by the house so I could meet his wife. Other times wives with toddlers in tow would arrive on the job with donuts and drinks for all. And sometimes I’d get a call from a desperate wife trying to avoid her husband’s ire for losing or destroying his cherished copy.
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Ed Thompson’s ‘Twilight Zone’ gig was one example of how SLT editors had a little fun with words and pictures.
as one year gave way to another. Ads with spot color began showing up. The first full color cover was published in September 1974, just weeks after Richard Nixon prematurely exited The White House. Over time, a few equipment manufacturers gradually joined dealers as regular advertisers. Even so, total page count issue-toissue remained in the 30s and 40s throughout the 1970s. LT first penetrated the 50-page mark with 56 pages (New Orleans Superdome show issue), in June 1979. Looking back, some of the cover photos, spot color treatments and cover designs were crude, and others marginal at best. We eventually learned that you couldn’t make a poor photo any better with screens, color tints, posterization or other treatments. We also seemingly delighted in throwing in non-family-friendly jokes, not to mention photos of skidders and trucks grinding it out in deep mud. The same went for using photos of workers not wearing safety gear, but understand there was a time when wearing safety gear and promoting overall safety awareness were treated far too lightly by the industry at large, not just in our “logging paper,” as some subscribers called it. LT served as a launch vehicle for H-B’s entry into the lumber manufacturing sector in 1975. For several months Timber Processing Industry appeared as a section in LT before it found its own legs in January 1976. In 1978 LT began selecting and honoring a “Logging Equipment Salesman of the Year,” presenting the honoree with the Hatton Award, named for Hatton-Brown’s feisty founder, Hartwell Hatton. This program continued until the mid ’90s. Recipients included Johnny Ward, 10
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Kit Avery, Harry Bass, Larry Kitchen, Stan Smith, Harold Taylor, Cliff Fowler, Donnie McDaniel, Walter Kinchen, Bobby Huskey, Jim Spencer, Jerry Pender, Norwood Houston, Cleve Altman, David Sanders, Donald Knight and Thurman Taylor. (Apologies if I overlooked a recipient.) It was also in 1978 that LT, having outlasted a copycat competitor, adopted the slogan, “The South’s Only Logging Newspaper.”
Positive Adjustments Soon after 1980 turned the corner, the economy was stuck in a deep recession that produced high inflation and even higher interest rates. It was bad, but nothing like the turbulent “treecession” of 2008-2011. Even so, those turbulent times prompted Timberjack to offer a “modest” interest rate of 16% on its overstocked skidder supply in 1981. In an important move in August 1981, H-B principals amended LT’s name to Southern Loggin’ Times, thus strengthening its bond with the region’s robust timber business. Earlier in the year, the IRONWORKS used equipment section was created, and that October the Southern Stumpin’ column appeared—previous columns included Timber Tales and Wheelin’ & Dealin’— the work of the vivid imagination and nimble fingers of Associate Editor Steve Northcross. Here is part of Northcross’ title amendment commentary: “…We realized that we’d left off a key word from the title of this mess of paper when we first slapped it together, but we’ve got it in place now. It’s that word that makes chicken worth lickin’, whiskey worth sippin’, and women
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worth getting’ into a barroom brawl about. That’s Southern—Southern fried, Southern Comfort and Southern belles.” Despite early jitters, the decade of the 1980s was quite notable for SLT. It achieved official magazine status with the January 1982 issue when H-B began stitching and trimming the publication, then hit another plateau that June when the company upgraded to a higher quality paper and more expensive printing process, assuring advertisers of high quality full color reproduction. Advertisers began gradually converting to full color ads, but editorial photos, except for the cover, remained black and white. The word “publication” was substituted for the word “newspaper” in the slogan. In 1982 SLT began offering bumper stickers with the message: American By Birth, Southern By The Grace Of God. (See related letters, pages 54-55.) H-B probably sold more than a thousand of these the first year they were offered. Newsflash: We’ve decided to bring these stickers back! See ad on page 28. A little more than two years later SLT began offering a standout historic photo called Log Truckin’, which Associate Editor Ed Thompson helped make popular in a piece of Southern Stumpin’ fiction. That ‘Twilight Zone’ piece hinged on a gigantic two-page photo of four trucks pulling trailers through a small town. On board were one-log cuts from the same gigantic tree. Thompson wrote that the logs were not a product of a western forest in the 1930s but a recent product of western North Carolina. That was not true, of course, but it helped elevate orders for the photo. Hundreds were sold. They are still available, along with other images, as part of our Chop
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From The Past selection. Details are found on our web site: southernloggintimes.com.
Cover Trivia It may come as a surprise to some newer subscribers, but the first logger whose image appeared on the cover (May 1982) was likely a woman, Arkansas’ golden-haired Linda Covey, 102 pounds and 62 inches of stamina and resolve. While clinging to her regular job and trying to keep her household intact, she had temporarily taken over her injured husband’s logging operation to keep the proverbial wolf from the door. I can still visualize her at the controls of that Clark 664B grapple skidder (non-enclosed cab, of course).
and programs; followed various environmental developments (remember the Ft. Benning woodpecker/forester drama?) followed emerging trucking regulations; equipment manufacturer consolidation; and much more. Not long after Associate Editor Mike Tankersley took over for Dan Shell as the SLT point guy, he came up with the idea of a column that would be written by loggers’ wives and other women involved in the timber trade. He dubbed the work Wives Tales, which appeared regularly for a couple of years. A few years earlier we created a space for former Mississippi logger William Wilder, who began turning out a tough-to-edit column known as RFD #7, which continued until he became disabled. SLT shook off a relatively sluggish two-year performance early in the ’90s and enjoyed a record run. It came out with its first 100 page-plus issue (108) in May 1995. As to total pages, other notable issues were June 1997, 128; April and May 1998, both with 108; May and June 1999, 104 and 128; and April and May 2000, 104 and 108.
Watershed Issue
A one-of-a-kind cover about Joe Wood, a one-of-a-kind guy
Other unusual covers included those of March 1984 (Texas helicopter logging); May 1991 (short headlines only, and angled at that); the 10th anniversary issue (super large 10 numeral); and the 25th anniversary issue (all previous covers reproduced in miniature). Perhaps the most memorable cover, a cartoon work both unorthodox and appropriate, and perhaps a little too close to the edge, appeared in September 1985. Serving as a preamble to a piece on the life and times of Barko’s very expressive Joe Wood, it stands alone, just as Wood himself for copious reasons stood alone among regional forest industry personalities. Editors began opening up the editorial pages in the mid ’80s, opting for larger headlines and photos and extending the length of logger features. In addition, the cover design took on a new twist beginning in 1989: equipment was downplayed in favor of a logger’s photograph. It turned out to be a move that helped the magazine bond even tighter with the regional logging fraternity.
Ah, The 1990s SLT writers began taking on some heavy subjects as the ’80s faded and the ’90s beckoned. They questioned whether contract loggers were truly independent; delved into wood procurement policies and procedures; reported on the emergence of logger associations; stayed on top of wood products plant-driven sawhead advancements; increasingly promoted safety practices 12
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The largest issue ever was the 25th Anniversary Issue of October 1997, which contained 152 pages and weighed 13.4 ounces, almost three times as much as a typical issue today. In H-B’s publishing world, this equated to a logging operation knocking out 50 loads in a daylight day. Other than its thickness and weight, that issue stood out for its graphics and editorial content, including: ● Cover. All previous covers were reproduced in miniature. ● Logger’s Honor Roll. This consisted of a list of hundreds of loggers, timber brokers, equipment dealers, sawmills and other organizations that had been featured in SLT since its inception. ● 25 Men Who’ve Made A Difference. Selected by our editors, this group was representative of the hundreds of men and women whose contributions helped to shape the region’s logging industry in the period 1972-1997. The list included Buck Beach, Allen Bedell, Paul Bell, Bill Boyce, Mal Crawford, Roger Drake, Tracy Gunter, Tommy Hamby, Ralph Metcalf, Jimmy Mitchell, Tom Morgan Jr., Richard Reeves, Matt Rigoni, Al Rollison, Ken Rolston, Alvin
Editorial Contributors Over the years, numerous editors and contributors traveled to remote locations; ate fast food; patronized some questionable motels; clawed, slid or slogged their way to job sites; held “it” for hours; and faced deadlines, which at times they seemingly ignored. Former writers who contributed to the cause included Griff Griffin, Steve Northcross, Lucy Ridolphi, Ed Thompson, Connie Long Estes, Mike Caswell, John Stevenson, Kathy Porter, Tommy Walker, Gale Norman, Jennifer McCary, William Wilder, Ford Boswell, Alison Rouse, Mike Tankersley, Todd Douglas, Courtney Lane, Rebecca Catalanello, Amy Privette, Matt Tripp, Teri Playford, Tonya Cooner and Jim Mooney. Some of these folks remained with us for years, others moved on quickly. As far as I know, all of these people, with the exceptions of Willliam Wilder and Teri Playford, are still alive.
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Schilling, Gar Scott, Carl Sikes, Gordon Sims, Bill Stuart, Johnny Ward, Joe Watkins, Joe Wood, M.M. Wright, and Joe Young. ● Wit & Wisdom From Past Issues. Numerous notable quotes were reproduced from previous issues. ● Glancing Back. This consisted of four pages of photos/captions and cartoons. ● It Happened On The Job. Readers told of actual experiences.
Other Developments The magazine racked up record performance from 1997-2000, when its combined annual page count topped 1,000 for four consecutive years, an unprecedented accomplishment for any H-B publication. No other magazine in the H-B family has reached that mark. Within H-B, which publishes six magazines, SLT stands out for several reasons. It is the company’s only monthly publication, its only tabloid, and its only regional brand. It’s also the only one that has no annual editorial calendar. Why? It’s never needed one. More importantly, at some point in the ’90s, SLT muscled its way to the top of the heap in terms of advertising revenue, a position it continues to hold. Contributing to its financial performance, as well to its overall popularity, is the IRONWORKS used equipment section. Somewhere along the way and, as Forest Gump would say, “for no particular reason,” we dropped the slogan “The South’s Only Logging Publication” and in January 1994 rolled out a new one, “The Southern Logger’s Best Friend.” It was another important move that helped the magazine bond even tighter with the logging community. First appearing in 1998, and showing up in a hit-and-miss fashion for a few years, Bulletin Board is now hands down the most popular page in the magazine. It’s certainly the first page many subscribers turn to when a new issue arrives. Even women seem to like BB’s diversified offerings— well, most of them. Why, I’ve had lay preachers tell me they occasionally use select BB items while giving sermons or teaching. Hmmmm.
Reflections So, here we are, 500 issues later, in an industry that has changed greatly in many ways, yet in some ways remains much the same as it was 500 months ago. But that’s another story. We’re humbled to have been fortunate enough to create a unique product that’s more personal and comfortable for loggers, who happen to have more skin in the wood supply game than anyone. SLT is reserved for those who live and operate in the South, a policy that those to the North don’t necessarily agree with but generally seem to understand. Southern loggers prefer SLT, call for it when they inadvertently let their subscriptions lapse, and often keep back issues for years. In many instances, their young kids spend hours on the floor with it, and woe to the wife who innocently dispenses with an issue, or a collection thereof. Sincere thanks go to our subscribers and advertisers for your big part in molding and sustaining us, and for your faith and confidence in the SLT brand. We’re thankful for all the relationships and friendships that have come our way as a result. Most of all, thanks to the Good Lord for blessing and sustaining us along the way, and for allowing us to continue working toward a SLT new milestone.
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Walking Tall ■ Enthusiastic and ambitious, young logging entrepreneur Kevin Hodges has learned from the past and set his sites on the big time.
It was a snowy day in early March when Southern Loggin’ Times visited two of Kevin Hodges’ five crews.
By David Abbott SOUTH BOSTON, Va. t’s been only three years ★ since 2011, but in the short time since then Kevin Hodges, 31, has grown his company, KeJa’eh Enterprises LLC, into one of the biggest producers in his part of the state. Excited about his accomplishments and eager to accomplish more, one thing is for certain: Hodges is just getting started. “My hobby is logging,” Hodges says. Even a hobby can cause stress, he notes, but says the stress from logging doesn’t bother him. “I just love it that much.” Prior to starting KeJa’eh in April that year, Hodges had been working for his dad Kenneth Hodges, President of H&M Logging, also in South Boston (Virginia Loggers Assn. Executive Director Jim Mooney wrote a feature article on Kenneth Hodges, which appeared in the May 2006 issue of Southern Loggin’ Times). When the younger Hodges was ready to strike out on
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his own, H&M had the capacity to field 10 crews—the elder Hodges mixes equipment up to match the needs of each tract rather than keeping fixed crews, a habit picked up by his son—and the younger man was supervising four of them. Hodges bought three of those crews from his father, representing nearly half of H&M’s equipment and production. Since, both companies have
nearly doubled: H&M has grown back to 10 crews, and KeJa’eh can now run six.
Yes Man “The main reason for my growth? I can never say no,” Hodges admits. When Louisiana-Pacific, and later other mills, called asking him for loads, he has always found a way to
Three generations strong: Kenneth Hodges, left, stands proudly by his wife Mary Hodges, their grandson Kevin, Jr. (KJ), and on the right, Kevin Sr. Kevin’s brother, Kenneth, Jr., will soon be joining the family business as well.
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deliver, often by adding more crews and newer machines. “If someone says here is an opportunity, I take it and run with it.” A single afternoon in the KeJa’eh office reveals what a busy man he is, running with all those opportunities, finding ways to make it happen. He’s on the phone constantly, overseeing his diverse crews, communicating with truck drivers and foremen, planning ahead with mills and foresters, coordinating with his dad Kenneth (they share office space), managing, answering questions, making deals. In between phone calls he receives visits from a young man looking for a job, an older gentleman who wants him to cut some timber from his land, and a procurement man offering a supply contract. And to some extent, Hodges credits timing with how busy he is. With new mills opening or reopening—the Franklin pine mill, for one—increased demand has spurred on higher prices and thus more landowners selling timber. A muchdiminished logging capacity to meet that demand, courtesy of the “mini
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The company’s two Trelan chippers weren’t used this day, but chips do represent a big piece of the pie for Hodges.
recession” as Hodges calls it, has made more room for aggressive newcomers. “A lot of loggers went out of business since 2008, and that has opened more doors for me too.” Hodges suspects the logging force shrinkage has come to an end. “There were a lot of auctions going on, but that has kind of stopped. Now the guys who are left know how to manage their business.”
Manpower KeJa’eh’s 36 employees include 11 in trucks, 21 in the woods, two in the shop (one mechanic for equipment and one for trucks and trailers), and two in the office. Truck drivers are Steve Bollinger, David Bomar, James R. Davis, James Fuller, Charlie Harris, Jr., Ray Marrow, John Miller III, John Powell, Leonard Shelton, Adam West and Gary Yancey. Woods operators include, on loaders, Willis Ballou, Jr., Shon Ballou, Clarence Edmunds, Rylo Foster, Brian Saunders, Mike Shelton and Edward Watson, Jr.; on skidders, Ronnie Davis, Torrence Dunkley, Wayne Fallen, Jesus Hernandez, Brandon Mills, David Shelton, Greg Shelton, Jerry Traynham and Jonathan Daniel; on cutters, Luis Hernandez, James Prevette, Brayton Shelor and Calvin Wilmouth; and yard man Gary Chappell. Hodges hires a part-time consultant, a retired LP employee familiar with DOT inspections, to conduct safety meetings on each crew monthly and to ensure records on all truck drivers are compliant with DOT standards. His insurance comes through Forestry Mutual.
KeJa’eh merchandises pine and hardwood logs, crosstie logs, pine and hardwood pulpwood and chips for several markets in the area.
Setup Hodges typically divides his equipment into four or five crews, changing the arrangement as needed for each tract, depending on conditions.
Hodges prefers bigger 35.5 Firestone tires for his bigger skidders, like the Cat 545 and Deere 848 models.
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The makeup of each crew isn’t fixed necessarily from one job to the next. “I always wanted one big crew,” he reveals. “But I learned from my dad to be flexible for anything. He told me a big crew has to take 50 acres to make it worthwhile; you can break it down into several smaller crews and take 15 acres if you need to. So I can separate six ways or consolidate into three crews.” He has seven loaders, but always puts two together on at least one and often on two crews, with the seventh usually reserved as a spare. At present Hodges is fielding five crews. Crew one features two loaders—a 2012 Caterpillar 559B loader and 2005 Prentice 410EX—and two skidders—a 2012 Cat 545C and 2007 Cat 535C—with 2012 John Deere 843K feller-buncher and 2005 Trelan 26RC chipper. Crew two uses a 2012 Cat 559B loader, 2008 Cat 545C skidder and 843K John Deere cutter. Crew three has a 2013 John Deere 643K cutter, 2005 Prentice 384 loader and 2012 Cat 525C skidder. Crew four features a 2013 Cat 559B loader, 2013 John Deere 648H skidder and 2012 Cat 553C cutter. Crew five uses a 2005 Prentice 384 loader, 2012 Cat 535C skidder and 2006 Hydro-Ax 470 cutter (which is usually a spare). Other spares include a 2006 Prentice 384 loader, 2007 Cat 525C skidder, 2008 Deere 748H skidder and a 2002 Trelan 23RC chipper. Most of his newer equipment came from either salesman Tim Blalock at James River Equipment in Danville (John Deere) or Steven Hite at Carter Machinery in South Hill (Cat). The Trelan chipper and other older machines he bought from his dad. Note that the equipment is a mix not only of brands but of age, with slightly older and somewhat newer machines working together—10 machines are 2012 or 2013 models, and 11, counting spares, are from 2005-2008. “I try to run half old and half new, and cycle it out,” he explains. Since he just bought several new pieces in the last two years, the plan is to leave a gap for a few years while paying those machines off, then purchase several new pieces in 2017 or 2018, to at that time phase out the ones from 2008 and older. Though he supplements his capacity with as many as eight contract haulers, Hodges’ own fleet includes 11 trucks, with several each from International, Western Star, Mack, Kenworth and Peterbilt, ranging from 1999 to 2012 models. These rigs pull 30 trailers and chip vans from Pitts and ITI. He runs drop deck Pitts trailers for plantation pine pulpwood and four bolsters for larger logs. One truck is set aside primarily for moving equipment from tract to tract. Hodges prefers Firestone tires on 16
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ers, but the bulk of his work comes through his two primary timber dealers, Carolina Commonwealth Forest Products (CCFP) in Henderson, NC and Independent Timber Co. in Dry Fork, Va. He counts CCFP’s J.G. Hurt and Joe Ross among his friends and mentors.
Mentors
Eight contract haulers supplement 11 company trucks.
forestry equipment—using 30.5 on smaller machines and 35.5 on bigger skidders like 848 and 545 models. Although he is capable of dualing tires in wet conditions, he has not had to do so yet this year. On trucks, he uses Michelins on the front end and BF Goodrich on the back, with virgins and recaps on trailers. Tire suppliers include various G.C.R. Tire Center locations, Gretna Tire in Gretna and Mac’s Tire Services in Danville.
Markets Hodges has multiple mill outlets. The recently reopened Franklin Lumber Co. in Franklin is a new market for pine logs, which also go to Morgan Lumber Co. in Red Oak, while hardwood logs go to Asal Tie & Lumber in Scottsburg. He sends crosstie logs to R.S. Brown & Sons Timber in Charlotte Court House. Louisiana-Pacific in Roxboro, NC and Huber Engineered Wood’s OSB plant in Crystal Hill, Va. (just eight miles from Hodges’ office in South Boston) both take pine pulpwood off his hands. So does Georgia Pacific’s OSB plant in Brookneal, along with hardwood pulp chips. Other destina-
tions for chips include the Dominion Power plant in Hurt and Novec Energy Production in South Boston. He says that the growing biomass sector played a big role in his company’s rapid growth. Cumulative load average, with all crews combined, is 250-300 loads a week. In KeJa’eh’s biggest week yet, the company totaled 367 loads. In terms of what kinds of tracts the crews work, that varies depending on the seasons. In the spring, summer and fall he tends to run two thinning crews and two clear-cut crews; in winter he usually adds a chipping crew and assigns all crews to clear-cuts on the best land he can get the least distance from the highway. Summers typically offer dryer ground, and thinning jobs tend to be upland, better for thinning in the same corridors all day, he says. Clear-cuts allow the crews to move around to dryer spots and then come back to the wet side of a tract later. The crews work in all directions within a 100-mile radius of South Boston. Hodges cuts a fair amount for LP both in Virginia and in North Carolina, and on rare occasion buys small tracts from private landown-
The young logger is humble enough to acknowledge that he has benefitted from the influence of several role models, the most important of which was his father. “I was blessed to be around a lot of good people,” Hodges says, highlighting another facet of his success. “My dad moves 500 loads a week, and Joe Ross (one of the owners of CCFP, his timber dealer) is moving (a lot). I have those two on speed dial. With two powerhouses like that close, you can’t help but succeed…if you listen.” And listening, he emphasizes, is vital. “It doesn’t take much for me to learn. You tell me and I listen. I don’t have to experience it to believe. I hear what the role models tell me. If you tell me it’s hot, I believe you and I won’t touch it…if it comes from someone I respect, like my dad and J.G Hurt and Joe Ross. That will take you a long way.” The main lessons he says he’s learned from his role models are saving money and paying off debt as fast as possible. Although he has learned from and respects the ways of his father’s generation, he is also open to trying new ideas. For instance, he is eager to explore online tools to grow his business, like using Facebook to connect with others in the business. As such the company is currently developing a web site to take advantage of such opportunities. He hopes it will offer another avenue for finding jobs by connecting with landowners and procurement foresters.
Like Father, Like Son…
Average total weekly loads is up to 300; the biggest week yet yielded 367 loads.
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Growing up around the business and watching his dad all those years, Hodges says the key to success then was primarily hard work. “It was all about how hard you could work, that was the only way to make it.” Now, he says, the work is less physically demanding, and the emphasis is more on managing the business. That was necessary in the old days, too, but with today’s tighter margins, putting the right people and processes in place is more crucial than ever before; hard work alone won’t make it. Foretunately, Hodges is prepared; he earned his MBA from Averett University in Danville after completing his undergraduate degree there. For now, his main focus is on
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Of KeJa’eh’s 36 employees, 21 work in the woods, with 11 truck drivers, two mechanics and two office workers.
growing his business. “I’m ambitious; I’m just not where I went to be yet in my career.” His goal, beyond paying off equipment, is to buy and cut his own timber and perhaps even to have other loggers contracting under him at some point. Along with staying up to date with Sharp Logger credits, he is a member of the Halifax County Chamber of Commerce and he sponsors sever-
al race cars and local youth sports teams. In the future, the young man hopes to get involved with the Virginia Loggers Assn. and eventually have time to serve as an advocate for the industry. One of his priority issues is the restriction on young people working in the business, as long as they are with responsible adult family members. “My son enjoys the woods and wants to play
with the equipment, and that’s how you get the next generation interested,” he believes. “If they want to, they should be able to.” Son Kevin, Jr. (KJ) is something of a mascot for the company, spending his afternoons after school at the office with both his parents (his mom works there as well). Only five, KJ knows the names of every piece of equipment and all the operators. The
company’s name, in fact, is a mash up of KJ and his cousin, Kevin’s niece Nevaeh (Heaven spelled backwards): KeJa’eh. Hodges also has a new baby son, Kristian Kobe Alonzo Hodges. Carrying on the family tradition, Hodges is obviously very proud of his father and his children, his heritage and his future. Contact Kevin Hodges at Kejaeh.enterprises@gmail.com SLT
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Good To Go ■ Six crews strong and east Texas’ Forrest Hodges isn’t planning on stopping.
By Jessica Johnson FOREST, Tex. orrest Hodges is a likeable dude. He’s the kind of guy you want to have a backyard BBQ with and share a few belly laughs. Down to earth, grateful for what God has blessed him with and most importantly, realistic about logging, Hodges isn’t your typical 25-year-old. A fifth generation logger, Hodges claims he started out “as a pup” and went out on his own at 19. From there, Forrest Hodges Operations, Inc. was born. After high school and trying his hand at both EMT school and the Fire Academy, he
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With six crews, Hodges hauls about 350 loads weekly when not hampered by quota.
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Forrest Hodges, 25, started with just this one machine, the first he ever purchased.
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A self-professed John Deere fan, Hodges beams, “You
n
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Tigercat is purchased from Tejas Equipment in Lufkin.
started small with just one piece of equipment and just kept building. Now, Hodges purchases his own timber, has a contract with Hancock Forest Management, operates six crews, and runs his own trucking business. Hodges doesn’t have a forester on staff, and isn’t a graduate forester himself. But, he does cruise the timber he purchases, uses two different outside consultants and has one timber buyer on his own staff. The crews do it all from 30 and 40 acre tracts to 1,000 acres, Hodges says it’s hard to say what “normal” looks like for them. Between the six crews, he estimates that average production is about 350 loads a week, as long as mills don’t have the boys on quota. How does he do it all, ➤ 68
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never have to work on them.”
His crews cut on a variety of tract sizes and types, for multiple markets in east Texas and Louisiana.
CSI delimbers pair with Deere and Prentice loaders to get the loads out.
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Different Twist ■ CTW Forest Products maneuvers its way through 10 years. WINDSOR, NC en years ago, Ben Twiddy and Wayne Cale decided to leave their district manager positions with Tigercat and create a new logging company, CTW Forest Products. Since then, they’ve shown the ability to make the adjustments necessary to keep their business moving forward. “What we are doing today is absolutely nothing of what we started with almost 10 years ago,” Twiddy states. “It has evolved and changed constantly.” Prior to forming CTW Forest Products, Cale had graduated from Pitt Tech Community College as a machinist and then from Central Carolina Community College in Sanford as a tool and die maker. He worked for Albermarle Forest Products in Edenton for six years after graduating from Central in 1990. Twiddy grew up on a farm in eastern North Carolina. After earning an Agriculture Business Management degree from North Carolina State University in 1993, he went to work for Perdue Farms for five years. Interestingly enough, both men
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Owners Wayne Cale, left, and Ben Twiddy
grew up less than 20 miles apart, but they did not know each other until they both joined Tigercat. Cale joined the company in 1996 and Twiddy came on in 1998. “We both were working for Tigercat as district managers,” Cale
explains. “Ben had South Carolina and parts of Georgia. I had North Carolina and Virginia. We worked closely with our Tigercat dealers. We would take care of any of their needs—sales, service, and just try to help grow Tigercat.”
A Tigercar T234 loader with CSI 3000 IDT delimber is operated by Charles Sykes.
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The positions not only supported the growth of Tigercat, but the two district managers also got an up close look at the forest products industry. “It gave us a lot of experience with all different types of logging crews and different regions pretty quickly,” Twiddy says. “Hardwood, swamp shovel logging, first thinning, fuel chipping jobs, clean chipping jobs. We saw it all. We were on different logging jobs every day. We got to see a lot and learn a lot from what other people were doing.” Twiddy and Cale had spent considerable time working with Jimmy Witherspoon, a prominent logger and sawmiller in South Carolina. In 2004, with the financial support of Witherspoon, they formed CTW Forest Products and struck out on their own. “I am not sure what his incentive was,” Twiddy says of Witherspoon. “He just wanted to help us out. He knew we worked hard and did what we said we would do when we were at Tigercat. He just likes to grow businesses.” For Twiddy and Cale, CTW For-
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Twiddy estimates that he runs his equipment some 2,200 hours a year.
est Products was the opportunity to apply what they had learned over the years in the woods. They liked Witherspoon’s business model and thought it was something they could recreate back near their old hometowns located close to Windsor. They also liked the idea of not traveling quite as much. Twiddy and his wife, Sarah, have three children and reside in Edenton, NC, while Cale and his wife, Alissa, have two children and live in Roper, NC. Twiddy and Cale envisioned a specific niche—specialty hardwood lumber. They constructed their own sawmill that Cale would supervise, while Twiddy would run the logging crew. They grew to 35 employees at CTW Forest Products counting the sawmill, logging crew, wood yard and office staff. On the logging side, they started with a very small hardwood shovel job. “We tried to focus mainly on cypress,” Twiddy recalls. “We were primarily swamp logging to get cypress pulpwood and cypress logs for our own mill and our own mulch yard.” CTW was making its mark as a small producer of specialty lumber, but market pressures began to impact
their business plan as the economy sagged into a recession. When the local paper mill, which had been the top purchaser for CTW’s pulpwood, switched over to exclusive use of softwood, the red flags went up in Twiddy and Cale’s minds. As the housing market continued to swoon, the partners realized that they might have to switch gears to survive. “It was no great foresight on our part,” Twiddy explains. “We just saw what was happening around us and began to realize that we were too small to compete in the lumber market.”
New Beginning In 2009, Twiddy and Cale decided to get out of the sawmill business and focus on their logging operations. And they converted their swamp logging crew into two pine cutting crews, one clear-cutting and the other thinning. They retooled their crews by investing in low ground pressure equipment requested by their main market, Forest Investments Associates, which manages forests that were once owned by International Paper. They had contacted FIA some years ago when they were looking to
change from a hardwood shovel job into a pine job. In 2013, Twiddy and Cale became the sole owners in CTW by buying out Witherspoon. And only very recently did they sell their thinning operation to a new logger. But by no means does that indicate they’re committed to downsizing. “We are always looking for opportunities to diversify or grow our business in sound directions,” Twiddy says. Meanwhile, Cale is back at Tigercat as a district manager, while maintaining his partnership with Twiddy in CTW. Today, CTW averages 100 loads per week, three-quarters of which is chip-n-saw and the remainder pulpwood. WT Jernigan & Sons Trucking, Inc. moves the output to primarily the West Fraser sawmill at Seabord, NC, and to KapStone Paper in Roanoke Rapids, NC; IP in Ridgeway, NC; IP in Franklin, Va.; GP in Emporia, Va., and to a lesser extent about every mill within 120 miles, including Domtar, Enviva and Weyerhaeuser. In mid April, they were shovel logging a pine tract in Newsoms, Va. Logging equipment and the machine operators include: 2007 Tigercat 822C feller-buncher, Ryan
Ellis; 2011 Tigercat 720E fellerbuncher or 2001 Tigercat shovel, Kevin Watson; 2009 Tigercat E620C skidder, Brent Griffin; 2012 Tigercat T234 loader with CSI 3000 IDT delimber, Charles Sykes; 2013 Tigercat 234 loader, Marcel Castello; and the newest piece of equipment, a 2014 Tigercat 630E dual arch skidder with 21 sq. ft. grapple, Terry Ward. The trim man and gypsy moth load inspector is Julio Morales. They also operate an ’84 Deere grader, and on spare are a 2004 Tigercat T250 loader, CSI delimber and buck saw. Equipment runs on Firestone tires. The wood yard runs an ’02 Deere 624H wheel loader, ’98 Tigercat T240 loader and a ’94 Morbark 1000 tub grinder. The grinder provides mulch for playground material or boiler fuel. Other personnel include office manager Elaine Swisher, wood yard operator Rodrigo Falcon, mechanic Randy Goodwin and driver George Razor. Considering their backgrounds, and the fact that Cale is again working at Tigercat, it’s no surprise that Tigercat iron is their preference. They sold Tigercat for years, but now that they’ve made a living with it for the
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Marcel Castello operates a 2013 Tigercat 234 loader.
past 10 years, what’s their opinion? “Superior engineering,” Twiddy says. “Tigercat has pioneered bunching sawheads, ER boom track cutters and large capacity skidders among many other advancements. In fact, loggers now routinely expect and need 20,000 plus hours out of logging equipment. This was unheard of 20 years ago before Tigercat started.” Twiddy adds that even loggers who don’t run Tigercat have benefited, as all of the manufacturing community has improved their technologies. Twiddy emphasizes: “Margins have become so tight in logging that we have to have long lasting, lowest cost per ton equipment. We have to run a lot of production every day and every week to keep the ball rolling. We cannot afford equipment breakdowns because when a piece of equipment breaks down, we have repair bills, we have a man that is stopped, and we have slowed production down. We have to run hard all the time.” Twiddy estimates that he runs his equipment some 2,200 hours a year. They service their engines every 250 hours, and hydraulics every 500 hours. CTW’s Tigercat dealer is A G Lassiter Equipment in Chocowinity, NC. Their Deere dealer is R.W. Moore of Ahoskie, NC.
Julio Morales is the trim man.
Terry Ward operates a 2014 Tigercat 630E dual arch skidder.
Cale believe it is important to constantly review their daily procedures and practices. “I have always tried to look from the outside at what that person was doing and remind him to watch out for this or watch out for that,” Cale
explains. “We don’t want anybody to get hurt for any reason. No load is worth that.” Only one man, the pole saw cutter, is on the ground with any regularity. While Twiddy at times will have to step into a machine and operate
Safety Matters CTW’s logging formula isn’t only about production. Twiddy states it’s about “remaining profitable while operating a safe, professional company that provides a quality work environment for our employees.” In 2012, Forestry Mutual Insurance Co. named CTW Forest Products as NC Loggers of the Year for their outstanding safety record. Going back to their days as Tigercat employees where they spent a lot of time in the woods looking at loggers from the outside, Twiddy and 24
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Kevin Watson on Tigercat shovel
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for a day or so, he prefers to supervise, which translates into a safer workplace. Another important element of CTW’s impressive safety record is the quality and longevity of the employees. Five of the crew have been with the company since its founding. “We have good people,” Twiddy says. “We were fortunate to get some good, experienced people when we started that had been working on logging jobs all their lives. And thankfully, they are still with us.” Another thing that has not changed is the positive relationship between Twiddy and Cale. The partners have always kept distinct roles which both believe has been a source of their harmony over the past 10 years. “Ben and I get along great,” Cale says. “Our wives call it life partners. If there is a bump in the road you just have to deal with it and that’s what we do.” Twiddy adds, “It helps that we have the same goals, the same objectives, and that is to grow the business and be as successful as we can.” The recent uptick in the demand for fiber in North Carolina certainly has provided some optimism. They are pleased to see new companies such as Enviva (wood pellets) making an investment in North Carolina and Virginia. They, like many of their fellow loggers, hope the trend will translate into a stable marketplace. “I know every business should have five-year goals and three-year goals,” Twiddy says. “And we have five-year and three-year dreams, and plenty of four-year payments, but I would just be blowing smoke if I tried to make a prediction. In the last 10 years nothing has been the same. It’s a constant evolution. It SLT always will be.” An earlier version of this article, written by Chris Brown, appeared in TreeLine, a publication of the North Carolina Forestry Assn. It has been updated by SLT associate editor Jay Donnell.
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Backside Of 40 ■ Loggers share views on longevity for themselves and their companies. By May Donnell
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ew businesses come and go but mostly they go. The old rule of thumb is that 95% will be toast in five years, and while the accuracy of this statistic is debatable, the fact remains that trying to start a business is like trying to start an old truck in a hard freeze. As much as you want it to work, you never really know. There are no guarantees, which is all fine and good, and then there’s logging, which after snake handling, is perhaps the biggest gamble of them all. What separates the take-offs from the crash landings? With that question in mind, SLT contacted dozens of long-time loggers, a few timber buyers and several office managers across the South for this article. To qualify for the unscientific survey, the business had to be at least 40 years old. We asked this simple question: What’s the secret to your success? Just for the record, not a single person answered, “Luck.” On the other hand, nearly everyone mentioned two other four-letter words—“Hard Work.” Other words and phrases that kept cropping up include “Diversification,” “Do Unto Others,” “Good Relationships,” “Low Turnover,” “Pay Your Bills,” “Faith,” and “Family.”
Tracy Gunter, 1986
“Logging is first in our lives after our faith,” Gunter says. “We put everything back into the business.” In South Carolina’s low country, at Summerville, Joe Cone has spent 60 years logging, and he’s still at it. Doing business today as Cone & Sons Logging, Inc., Cone got it going in 1954. According to his daughter, Jennifer Cone Craven, Cone, 83, turned over the reins to her brother, Jeff, 11 years ago. However, the elder Cone is usually the first one on the job and operates the loader all day long. Jennifer and her mother, Florence, are involved in the business, mainly keeping
Hawkins, Dunning, Clary
Joe Cone, right, with son Jeff, 1983
Faith, Then Logging Leesville, South Carolina’s Tracy Gunter grew up helping out around his father’s portable sawmill. In 1962 he struck out on his own as a pulpwooder. “There were times when we wondered where the next check, the next meal, would come from but the American dream is something we grew up believing in,” Gunter says. Today, Tracy’s Logging and T3 Chipping together involve six crews and 60 employees. In 1996, Forest Resources Assn. named Gunter its National Outstanding Logger. The organization has long produced clean chips but five years ago added a fuel chip division, which was recently awarded two new contracts. 26
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office affairs intact. Fittingly, the Cone siblings and their offspring pitched a “60 years in logging celebration” for their elders on May 2. Cone & Sons was featured in SLT in April 1983. Here is a quote from that article from Joe: “As long as my health holds up, I plan to stay out here. I’ve only lost two days in 27 years to sickness, though there were some bad days. Why, the best thing in the world for a hangover is guiding a chain saw for a couple of hours.” At the time, Cone noted that he came close to walking away from logging only once in that 27 years. Craven says he underwent heart surgery about five years ago. “But I assure you he was back in the woods way before ordinary patients,” she wrote in an e-mail to SLT.
Wayne Hawkins, right, with son Chris, 2013
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Wayne Hawkins of Goodwater, Ala. started his logging operation in 1963 without a loader or a skidder. “We just put it (short pulpwood) on our shoulders and loaded and we did that for three years,” Hawkins says. “I bought my first skidder, a Tree Farmer, in 1968 and paid $10,500 for it. Times have sure changed.” Former Kentucky Logger of the Year Dale Dunning’s father was a sawyer in a stave mill before starting Circle D Logging out of Princeton, Ky. in 1948. Dunning, his son, Robert, and his two brothers, Phillip and Barry, now run the show, which deals in hardwoods “99 percent” of the time. According to Dunning, business is booming. “Everybody wants logs, but the problem up here is that it’s hard to find somebody who wants to work.” Back in 1948, Kerry Clary’s mother and father started Aubrey L. Clary Inc. in Gasburg, Va. Joyce Clary manned the office for the next 59 years. Today Kerry runs the business, has three crews, a mulch plant in nearby Emporia and 40 employees. “We believe in the Golden Rule and try to live that way and do business that way,” he says. “My parents began the company with very little and stuck with it.” Aubrey Clary passed away in 1994 after
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the times, because every 20 years logging changes whether you want it to or not,” he says. “One reason we’ve been successful is that we have always made sure everybody gets paid before we pay ourselves.” Has all this success gone to Hill’s head? “I was on the cover of SLT some years back and I’m still wearing the same shirt.” Obviously not.
Relationships Are Key Kerry Clary, 2002
supplying the Union Camp mill at Franklin for half a century. Kerry Clary now contracts with J.M. Huber Co. His son, Hunter, has recently gone to work in the mulch plant. “Working with two great companies like we do, and having loyal employees and very little turnover has been a key to our success," Clary says. "Plus, over the past seven or eight years diversification has helped us survive. The mulch business picks up about the time logging slows down.”
Roughly half of those contacted say that maintaining good relationships—with customers, vendors and among family members—is critical to longevity. “Our company operates very much like a family,” says Lynetta Usher Griner of Usher Land and Timber in Chiefland, Fla. “Everyone has a voice.” The Usher business has been around for 90 years, ever since E.T.
“Same Shirt” Charles Hill of Hill Logging in Jeffersonville, Ga. is no stranger to hard work or conversation. In fact, he can do both at the same time. Recently, he loaded poles onto a trailer as he spoke about the longevity of the business. He points out that he has a picture of himself, his father and uncle from around 1947. Charles is in diapers. The three of them are posed beside a load of short pulpwood. “So that’s proof I’ve been in the business 67 years,” he says. Charles and his brother Larry run the operation their father started in 1946. They have one crew but are generally working in two different places, as Charles does private cuts and Larry contracts with Plum Creek. “You’ve got to keep up with
Charles Hill, 2004
Ken and Lynetta Griner, 2014
Usher, Griner’s grandfather, got things rolling tapping pine trees for turpentine. Her father continued the business and Griner and her husband took over following the death of her brother, E.T. (Tommy) Usher III in 1989. The company currently has about 35 employees. Four logging crews and 10 truck drivers deliver approximately 200 loads of various wood products per week to six different mills in north Florida. Griner says her company has very little turnover. Five years ago, an employee retired after 53 years. In 2003 the Griner business took FRA’s National Outstanding Logger honor. Lynetta currently serves as president of the Florida Forestry Assn. Not every successful logger starts out in logging. In 1969 tobacco farmer Walter Weatherington started Weatherington Logging in Stella,
NC. He says he didn’t have any choice. “My logging business grew so much I couldn’t help but let go of farming.” With a cable skidder, a tractor, a truck and a couple of chain saws, he went into logging full time. Today he is partially retired while his son and grandsons run the business. “I would recommend nobody get in logging unless you got a rich daddy who can help you with a couple of million in new equipment,” Weatherington says. “Used to be at the end of the year we’d have some money saved and we’d by a tractor or something. Now, competition is so stiff that when the buyer pays the landowner there’s nothing left for the producer.”
Going Strong At 81 Jackie Buster of Buster Logging in Unionville, Mo. is 81 and, like SC’s Cone, going strong. This coming fall he will compete for the 35th year in a row in the wood chopping competition at the Iowa State Fair. He got his start in the 1960s, cutting oak stave bolts for whiskey barrels and hand loading them onto a homemade trailer. “They weighed about 10 pounds apiece so a load was about 30 tons of handling,” he says. “We did that for 12 years.” He still logs hardwoods, mainly walnut, with son Harlan and another long-time employee, Jesse Ruggles, 77. In addition, Buster Farms raises cattle, is a Jonsered chain saw dealer and owns a mostly idle bridge timber mill (since bridges now are mostly built with steel and concrete). “We make sure and pay everybody, stay healthy and try not to get killed,” Buster says. For the vast majority in the business, logging is a family affair.
Arkansas’ Griffins, Jones And speaking of brothers, meet the brothers Griffin of Gurdon, Ark. All six—Billy, J.L, Jerry, Tiger, Ricky and Mike (now deceased)— threw in together in 1972. The remaining five still operate Griffin Brothers Logging. “Nobody knows how they all got along all these years but they do,” says Tiger’s son, Heath Griffin, 27, who works with his uncles. The Griffins also ran a sawmill in Texas for 11 years. They maintain two crews, generally buy their own timber and have a shop in downtown Gurdon. “They grew up poor,” Heath says. “IP was right here and they needed to put food on the table. It just made sense.” In Lacey, Ark. four generations have worked for R.D. Jones Logging; three of them still active in the business. R.D. Sr. started the company in the 1940s with mule and horse
Rob Jones, 2004
teams doing the skidding. R.D. Jr. (Sonny), R.D. III (Rob) and R.D. IV (Beau) today run the operation with three crews and five machines. The company maintains contracts with Plum Creek, Potlatch and Silvicraft and also works independent contracts in a three county area. “We have survived because each generation trains the other well,” Rob (IV) says. “We keep up good relationships and make good business decisions but it’s gotten harder and harder to make a profit. Every cost has gone up and I can’t think of one thing that went down.” During the winter, the outfit turns to shovel logging to keep things going. Rob’s wife, Lori, runs the busy office. “My son Beau was tops in his class at University of Arkansas Monticello and chose to work in the woods,” Rob says. Another son, Tyler, plans to join the company after graduation. “I would downsize except for my boys,” he adds. Irene Cutshall of Iuka, Miss. has been running the office at Cutshall & Sons Logging for 43 years. Her husband, Doug, is a former Mississippi Logger of the Year who still builds roads and makes repairs but leaves much of the day-to-day work to sons Stephen and Jonathan. She comes by the job naturally. “I’ve always liked math and book work,” she says. “I used to run after parts but I don’t anymore. Still, some days are longer than others.” Ronald Reel of R&R Logging in Iron City, NC says his father, Rhyne, started with a portable sawmill in 1940. Later, when Duke Power needed help clearing a basin for what would be the 50-square-mile reservoir Lake Norman north of Charlotte, Rhyne changed with the opportunity. “They told him to park the sawmill and start logging,” Ronald says. “And that’s what he did.” Ronald and his brother Mark, a nephew and two first cousins now run the one-crew operation. Sometimes Rhyne still helps out as well. “My dad and the good Lord
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Doug Cutshall family, 2014
helped us to get where we are,” Ronald says. “He instilled in us a good work ethic: If you live, you work.” Colon Bazor Jr. and his son, Brantley, run 46-year-old Bazor Pulpwood in Wayne County, Miss. In addition to buying their own timber and logging, they also have a pole business. According to Bazor, timber and pulpwood prices have not gone up enough to offset the higher costs of insurance and fuel. “My equipment is getting old and I can’t afford to replace it,” he says. The outfit consists of one eight-man crew. At 69, Bazor says he has no plans for retirement. When asked whether his son will eventually take over, he replies, “He’s welcome to it.”
named him Southeastern Outstanding Logger. “It’s funny because 2010 was the best year in company history and 2011 was the worst in company history,” Gray says. Jerry’s father, W.C., started the business by himself in 1971 with a “wore out” Tree Farmer skidder, a loader, two chain saws and a Ford truck. The business has grown a lot in 43 years. Like Clary in Virginia, Gray believes in diversification. The company has 23 employees, two crews and 11 trucks, and is a Husqvarna chain saw dealer. From Gray’s shop in Madison, two full-time mechanics and a welder perform repair work for other loggers. W.C. is still working on a bulldozer. Brother Jackie, who worked in the family business,
Highs, Lows Like any business, logging has its ups and downs. Just ask Jerry Gray of Gray Logging in Madison, Fla. In 2010 Gray was named Florida Logger of the Year by the Florida Forestry Assn. and in 2011 FRA
Jerry Gray, 2003
passed away in 2001. “Our success is about hard work, not just hard work but good work, and long hours,” Jerry says. “You’re only as good as your last job so we always cut it just like we own it. We also pay bills on time.” While stricter regulations make logging more of a challenge these days, Gray notes his son-in-law Josh Light has joined the company and that several grandsons are interested in coming on board. “We’re going to be around a long time,” he says.
Charles Donald Timber Charles Donald Timber Co. started in 1946 and is headquartered in Vicksburg, Miss. and operates wood yards in Durant, Hazlehurst and Port Gibson. It had $44 million in sales last year, with hardwoods making up most of the volume. Founder Charles Donald’s three sons, George, David and Charles Jr., each run a different division of the 16-employee timber brokerage operation. The company contracts with more than 30 logging outfits and employs eight foresters. George oversees the foresters; Charles Jr. runs the wood yards and David handles the office. “We have loggers who have been with us for years and years,” George says. “We try to treat them as partners.” He adds that while the pine log market has been horrible, the sale of hardwoods has been a bright spot. “My father had some advice for me when I was a young man,” George says. “He said go to college, join the army or pay your own way.” George chose the first option and went to Mississippi State. After earning his degree, he joined his father in the family business.
Sticking It Out Every long-running forest products venture seems to have at least one thing in common: all have faced some kind of adversity, but kept on going. According to Weatherington of North Carolina not all bottom line disasters are natural or market driven. “Politics has a lot to do with it, too, and I’m not in politics.” Equipment woes also play a part in the economics of logging. “New equipment is for the young guys,” Dunning of Kentucky says. “We upgrade all the time but don’t buy much new and we take care of what we have.” Dunning also serves as his operation’s mechanic. “Sometimes I stand in amazement at the survival of my business, considering our humble beginnings,” says Gunter of South Carolina. “But we’ve always treated people like we’d like to be treated and we always pay our bills. Logging is our way of life. My son Tracy works with me full time in the woods and my two daughters, Lisa and Jennifer, run the office. Logging has fed my family and educated my children. We not only have survived, we keep on surviving.” The longevity of a business might also have something to do with how much the owner enjoys the work. Consider talkative Charles Hill of Georgia, whose Uncle, Brady Floyd, a timber buyer, lived to age 96 doing what he loved. “My father tried three times to be a logger and finally made a go of it,” Hill says. “After work today if I walk over to my 17-year-old pickup and put my hand on the door handle and the good Lord calls me home, I will have enjoyed every minute of it.” SLT
Make A Statement! As Americans, our heritage is important to us, but for most Southerners, it’s a treasure. You have to be born and raised South of the Mason-Dixon line to know just what it means to have Southern heritage. While we’re all proud to be Americans, Southerners feel God went the extra step for them. Show your Southern pride with these highly visible 3-1⁄2 in. x 12 in. bumper stickers from the publisher of Southern Loggin’ Times. Only $5 each, including postage and handling. All stickers shipped unfolded. Order on-line: www.southernloggintimes.com; by phone (800-669-5613); or mail (Bumper Sticker, Hatton-Brown, P.O. Box 2268, Montgomery, AL 36102-2268). Make checks payable to Hatton-Brown Publishers.
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Departed... But Remembered M
any forest industry members have passed on since Southern Loggin’ Times was launched and SLT acknowledged the death of several. We would not have known about the passing of many had their family members or friends not notified us. Knowing that we could never assemble a complete list, and that we would unintentionally overlook many, we felt it fitting to assemble and print as many names of the departed as we could, soliciting names from key contacts and otherwise going with what we knew. The following group includes many of the departed that some of the SLT staff had the privilege of knowing, working with or otherwise wrote about: Billy Lancaster; Joe Wood; Frank Meacham; Bob Currie; James Nutt; Bill Stuart; M.M. Wright; Stooge Millwood; John Anderson; Gar Scott; Bill McKenzie; Forrie Davidson; Al Rollison; Roger Drake; Kit Avery; Aubrey Clary; Aubrey Lanier; Tom Morgan; Ged Roberson; Frank Capps; Wayne Hutcheson; Bill Sahlie; Bob Oglesby; Glenn Plummer; Floyd McGowin, Jr.; Wayne Comer; Rex Smith; Luke Turner; Bernie Hathcock; Jimmy Hall; John Dix; T. Willie Hutchins; Hartwell Hatton; Charlie Cline; George Eiland; S.R. Jones; George Williams; Charles Davis; Dan Miller; M.J. Bunch; Edmond Lott; John Henderson; Jack Johnson; Bud Gauthier; Willie (Sam) Locklear; Jackie Burt; Leonard Douzart, Sr.; M.A. Rigoni; Lanny Woolfolk; Grady Felder; Narcissa Gwaltney; Otto Klick; Carter Harris; Buddy Nolen; Carl Sessions; Kenneth, Randy and Harrell Goodson; Wilton Moody; Michael Raynor; C.R. Riley; Ross Daniel; J.F. Hester; R.W. Moore; Harry Bass; Pat Maloney; Dick Jones; Willie Ezell; Joe Moore; James Shelton; Smokey Langston; Pete Wrenn; Edward Temple; Joe Roeder; Claiborne Babb; Reeves Williams; Tom Baicy; Corbitt Williams; George Easter; Ashton Lewis; W.T. Cotman; George Shelton; C.E. Harrell, Jr.; Harry Booker; Lavelle Harrell; Jim Fields; Preston Chunn; Jerry White; M.C. Hamilton; Bob Ferguson; Ray Nuss; O.Y. Harvell; Honree Powell; Edward Owen; Don Gates; Jerold Miller; W.F. Hunt; Tom Boone; Thad Davis; J.B. Jones; Dewey Gordan; Bobby Leary; L.F. Rogers Sr. and Jr.; George Miller; Kenneth Gore; Jeffrey Wright; W.A. Albritton; James Tubbs; Red Padgett; T.W. Byrd; Bill Dubose; L.P. Cruce; Shug Mangum; Steve White; W.O. Byrum; Huey Robinson; Alton Auger; Crawford Bowen; James Clary; Murray Hooker; Thomas Busch; Joe Watkins; Tom Walbridge; I.B. White; Brady Wadsworth; Tom Bush; Ray Hahn; J. L. Huff; Sterling Dees; Waino Hunt; Rayford Havard; L.C. (Bully) Wilson; John Suttle; J.W. Fairley; Jerry Bunch; O.W. Lyles. W.D. (Chicken) Flowers; E.C. Johnson; Ray Nobles; Willie Clary; Ron Apple; John Hood; Gene Collins; Burt Carlson; Ed Matics; Danny Summers; Jim Painter; Jim Prentice; Leroy Higginbotham; Paul Brooks; Buck 30
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Goodman; Jim Kowalczak; Cam MacDougall; Cecil Williams; Larry Cross; Roy White; Harold Taylor; J.B. Strickland; Ernie Hollingsworth; Earl Clark; Roger Ward; Mac McRory; Calvin Johnson; Charles Thompson; Preston Turner; John Comer; Jerry Wimberly; Sam Chaney; Len Vizina; Cliff Fowler; George Burris; Charles and Jack Hale; B.Z. Henderson; George Hall; Jim Altman; Charles Burkhardt; Ken Rolston; Robert Earl (Shorty) Leachman; Norm Rollo; Paul Windham; Roger Stribling; Brenda Wood; John Maxie Catoe; G.W. Roberts; Usher Meyers; Tommy Fulghum; Bill Taylor Sr. and Jr.; Norval Morey; Ted Coleman; Ross Gable; DeLynn Welch; Tommy Hamby; William Wilder; Ben Babb; James Sullivan; Donald Autrey; Cessel Mincey; S.K. Wilson; Gene Borders; Reagan Fox; Edward Owen; Frank Grady; Leo Heikkinen; Mack Mott; George Ragsdale; Bob Slocomb; Bud Martin; Aubrey Long; Junior Boyette; T.J. Earle, Sr.; Harvey Smallwood; Robert Scarbrough; George Garner; Alto Brill; Bill McMillan; Ben Turner; Mike Harvey, Sr.; Bill Odom; Arthur Eaton, Sr.; Paul Moon; Johnny Dees; H.D. Cole; Clyde Sullivan; Able Long; Danny Goodbar; George McKenzie; Buck Campbell; Edwin Reaves; Joe Binford; J.D. Vaught; Tommy Usher; Mike Griffin; Jerry Truesdell; Frank Hartley; Jackie Gray; Wayne Perkins; Lewis (Buddy) Olliff; R.L. (Buddy) Brewer; Leo Lambert; Donald Smith; Lindbergh Rabb; Harry Scott Watson; Theopolis Lott; Bill Oettmeier, Jr.; James Crawford; Jerry Upton; Ben Read; Harold Gordon; Tommy Bell; Carroll Edwards; Ben Jones; Thomas Holland, Jr.; Glenn Washington; Doug Phelps; Richard (Jimmie Dick) Richardson; Francis (PeeWee) Temple; Scott Davis; Robbie Robertson, Jr.; Jim Crouch, Sr.; John Victor Powell; Frank Burt; Mac Campbell; Ronnie Poston; Robert Collin; Ellard Steen; Henry Lindsay; Carl Lowery; Stacy Clark; Billy Deese; Willie Harris; Jeffery Pridgen; Arthur Williams; James Williams; John Garner; Delmar Jeffers; George Raynor; Bill Gooch; Brownie Gooch; Carson Thompson; Cecil Russell; Frank Blake; Earl Thompson; Este Thompson; Gene Hurley; Robert Tysinger; Pete Anderson; Bill Morris; H.W. Robinson; Coit Davis; Gary Pearce; David Glenn Morris; Charlie Messer; Max Brown; Robert Crowder; Doug Gupton; John Garrett; Buddy Byrum; Clinton Kelly; Alvin Smith; Russell Cash; Steve Cash; Vance Butler; Jerry Flake; Carlton Cahoon; J.D Sholar; Paul Autry; Robert Cecil; Lindsay Harris; Kress Goodwin; Mike Bunting; Bennett Black; Charlie High; Thomas Bateman; William Lewis; Robert Leary; Willie Shelton; Forest Knowles; T.R. Jones; Gene Malpass; Keith Mayo; Z.B. Byrd; J.T. Hunt; Gary McFalls; William McFalls; Jackie Bowers; Jimmy Nash; Macon Williams; Dan Morton; J.T. House; Frank Byrd; Jim Fordham; Rueben Martin; Ken Gray; Jim McCloon; Jim Evans; Al Andrews; Don Baysinger; Palmer Blankenship; Bobby Bowlin; Paul Cabe; Bernie Call; Frank Camp; Kenneth Bowlin; Bruce Capps; Ray Church; Elmer Corpening; Max Crisp; Philmore Bowlin; Edward Capps; V.M. Church; Jack Eller; Jackie Ferguson; Wilson Godfrey; Vance Gregory; Billy Hawkins; Carl Hedrick, Sr.; Roy Herman; Wayne Herman; Chester Holland; R.B. Howard; Terry Huffman; Foster Bill Jackson; Herman Jackson; Emmit Jones; Jonas Kaylor; Billy Keith; A.D. Ledford; J.D. Lunsford; Jack Mann; James McClure; Bill McNeely; Herchel Metcalf; Gilbert Miller; Lester Miller; Joe Mills; Sherman Payne; Lake Prevette; Harlay Reece; Vernon Reece; A.E. (Yank) Ruff; George Sales; Ray Shepherd; Albert Shumate; Dwight Summers; Frank Walker; Jim Walker; Cap Walsh; Larry Walsh; Max SLT Whiteside; Tom Worley; Peter Dyson; Mike Radcliff
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Sermons In Miniature
his room and said, “Son, what was it? Was it the nuns?” Little Tommy looked at her and shook his head, no. “Well then,” she replied, “was it the books, the discipline, the structure, the uniforms, WHAT was it?” Little Tommy looked at her and said, “Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that guy on the wall nailed to the big plus sign, I knew they weren’t fooling around.”
Here are some messages spotted on the signs of churches: Can’t Sleep? Try Counting Your Blessings. Honk If You Love Jesus. Text While Driving If You Want To Meet Him. What Is Missing From CH—CH? UR. Aspire To Inspire Before You Expire. You May Party In Hell But You Will Be The Barbeque! There Are Some Questions That Can’t Be Answered By Google. Every Day Above Ground Is A Good One. Avoid negative people, places, things and habits. The Best Vitamin For A Christian Is B1. Believe in yourself. Adam Blamed Eve, Eve Blamed The Snake, And The Snake Didn’t Have Consider things from every angle. A Leg To Stand On. Don’t give up or give in. Thou Shalt Not Steal The Copper From The AC Unit. Enjoy the moment and encourage others along the way. Try Our Sundays. They’re Better Than Baskin-Robbins. Family and friends are treasures, so treat them that way. To Be Almost Saved Is To Be Totally Lost. Give generously and cheerfully. Try Jesus. If You Don’t Like Him The Devil Will Always Take You Back. Hang onto your dreams. Church Parking. Trespassers Will Be Baptized. Ignore those who try to discourage you. Read The Bible. It’s User Friendly. Plus We Offer Tech Support Here On Jump at new opportunities. Sundays At 10:30. Keep trying no matter how hard it seems or becomes. You Are Not Too Bad To Come In Or Too Good To Stay Out. Love others more than yourself. God Cared Enough To Send The Very Best. Make good things happen. Walmart Isn’t The Only Saving Place In Town. Never lie, cheat or steal. ATM Inside—Atonement, Truth & Mercy. Open your eyes and see things as they really are. Free Coffee, Everlasting Life. Yes, Membership Has Its Privileges. Pursue incremental improvements every day. Forgive Your Enemies. It Messes With Their Minds. Quitters never win. Don’t Be So Open-Minded That Your Brains Fall Out. Re-evaluate practices and procedures from time to time. God So Loved The World That He Did Not Send A Committee. Stop procrastinating! Tomorrow’s Forecast: God Reigns & The Son Shines! Take control of your own destiny. If God Had A Refrigerator Your Picture Would Be On It. Understand yourself in order to better understand others. Can’t Sleep? Counting Sheep? Talk To The Good Shepherd. Visualize your dreams. Read The Bible. It Will Scare The Hell Out Of You. Want your dream more than anything. Don’t Wait For Six Strong Men To Bring You To Church. X-celerate your efforts. Download Your Worries—Get On Line With God. Yearn to make your business and operation more professional. God Help Me To Be The Person My Pet Thinks I Am. Zero in on what really counts. Prayer: Free Wireless Access. Why Pay For GPS? Jesus Gives Free Directions. Do Not Criticize Your Wife’s Judgment; Consider Who She Married. Never squat while wearing spurs. Don’t Give Up. Moses Was Once A Basket Case. I work behind the counter Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of In a logging equipment store; experience comes from bad judgment. Sometimes I’m called a genius, Letting the cat out of the bad is much easier than Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His Sometimes I’m called much more. putting it back in. parents had tried everything: tutors, flash cards, special If you think you’re a person of some influence, try learning centers—in short, everything they could think I claim I’m no mechanic, ordering someone else’s dog around. of. Finally, in a last ditch effort, they took Tommy But when a machine gets sick Never kick a cow chip on a hot day. down and enrolled him in the local Catholic school. A trained mechanic asks me There are two theories to arguing with a woman. After the first day, little Tommy came home with a What makes the damn thing tick. Neither works. very serious look on his face. He didn’t kiss his mother Never slap a man, or woman, who’s chewing tobachello. Instead, he went straight to his room and started I’m supposed to know the numbers co or dipping snuff. studying. Books and papers were spread out all over Of bolts and pins and gears It doesn’t take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of the room and little Tommy was hard at work. His For every tractor put together sheep. mother was amazed. She called him down to dinner For more than 40 years. Always drink upstream from the herd. and to her shock, the minute he was done he marched Life is much easier if you plow around the stumps. back to his room without a word and in no time he was I’m an engineer, machinist. When you’re throwing your weight around, be preback hitting the books as hard as before. And trusted techie, O my Lord— pared to have it thrown around by somebody else. This went on for some time, day after day, while the I’m supposed to be an Edison The quickest way to double your money is to fold it mother tried to understand what made all the differCombined with Henry Ford. and put it back in your pocket. ence. Finally, little Tommy brought home his report Never miss a good chance to shut up. card. He quietly laid it on the table and went up to his Ah, life would be a pleasure Always speak the truth, but don’t always speak. room and hit the books. With great trepidation, his And I’d grin from ear to ear, Men learn in different ways. Some learn by readmom looked at it and to her surprise, little Tommy got If the customers could only tell me ing; some by observation and listening; and some an A in math. The model, make and year! have to pee on the proverbial electric fence for themShe could no longer hold her curiosity. She went to selves.
The ABCs Of Reaching Your Goals
Parts Manager’s Lament
Simple Truths, Rules For Living
Little Boy, Math And The Cross
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Seeing Is Believing: Dog Climbs Trees A Man Of Many Parts A salesman is a man of many parts. To the sales manager, he’s a pin on a map; to the factory, he’s a quota; to the auditor, he’s an overloaded expense account; to the treasurer, he’s an item called cost-of-selling; to the wife, he’s an accused playboy; to the competition, he’s a lowdown SOB. A salesman needs the endurance of Hercules, the brass of Barnum, the craft of Henry Ford, the tact of Henry Kissinger, the tongue of John Kennedy and the mind of Albert Einstein. He must be able to sell all day, entertain to midnight, drive all night to the next town and be on the job the next morning, fresh as dew. He must be an expert storyteller, jokeman, golfer, card shark, businessman, dinner companion, listener, adviser, and a few hundred other things.
Creative Classified Ads; Some With Blunders Wedding dress for sale. Worn once by mistake. Dinner Specials: Turkey $6.95; Chicken $5.95; Beef $8.95; Children $2.95 For Sale: antique desk suitable for lady with thick legs and large drawers Used headstone for sale. Good deal for a man named Grady Now is your chance to have your ears pierced and get an extra pair Wanted: 50 women for stripping machine operators in factory We do not tear your clothing with machinery. We do it carefully by hand. For Sale: Eight pups from a German Shepherd and an Alaskan Hussy Cows for sale. Never bred. Also one gay bull Tired of cleaning yourself? Let me do it. Free Dog. Eats anything and is fond of children Washer and dryer for sale. No longer need. Have joined nudist colony.
Hearing? No, Hearing In a south Georgia church one Sunday morning the preacher said, “Anyone with ‘special needs’ who wants to be prayed over, please come forward to the altar.” With that, a visitor got in line, and when it was his turn, the preacher asked his name. “I’m Leroy, and I want you to pray for help with my hearing.” The preacher placed his hands on Leroy’s ears and prayed and prayed and prayed. The entire congregation joined in with much enthusiasm. After a few minutes the preacher removed his hands, stood back and asked, “Leroy, how is your hearing now?” “I don’t know yet,” Leroy responded. “My hearing ain’t ‘til Thursday.”
Flatnose Odom thinks loblolly pines are special—particularly because he can get his short legs around them—and that’s half the work. He’s been climbing them for three years, and if you were to ask him to show you how he does it, he’d gladly oblige. That’s a pretty amazing feat for Flatnose, considering that he’s a dog. Flatnose, the pride and joy of owner Barney Odom, Dovesville, SC, is part pit and part English bulldog. Odom owns eight bulldogs, and though he claims they each have special talents, Flatnose is the envy of the bunch. Even as a pup, Odom says the dog “was as smart as I’ve ever seen. He just had a heap of sense.” Odom was just as shocked as everyone else when Flatnose took to climbing trees. What puzzled the owner most was that the dog wasn’t even treeing a squirrel. The wonder dog has been showing off for Flatnose Odom does his thing television stations and newspapers, clamoring for a chance to record his amazing feat ever since. According to his master, Flatnose has learned that it’s far easier to get up a tree than to get down. Odom is always nearby to offer assistance and tries to make sure he climbs only high enough to get down safely. Recently, however, a television crew came to do a story on the dog and in all the excitement, Flatnose climbed a bit higher than normal. “He went so high up that tree, my heart went down to my shoes,” the owner says. “I just knew he was going to fall and kill himself. So I yelled and he stopped and turned around but by then he was so high up that when I caught him, we both hit the dirt. If I hadn’t tried to catch him, he might’ve broken a leg.” Such is the life of a star. to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved.” “Now, Joey, is that really what your teacher taught you?” his mother asked. “Well, no, mom, but if I told it the way the teacher told it, you’d never believe it.”
Think Of Those Who Truly Care
The following is the philosophy of the late Charles Schultz, the creator of Peanuts comic strip. You don’t have to actually answer the questions. Just read straight through and you’ll get the point. Indecision is the key to flexibility. Name the five wealthiest people in the world. There is absolutely no substitute for a genuine lack of preparation. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners. There is absolutely no educational value to the second kick of a mule. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest. Happiness is merely the remission of pain. Name10 people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor or The facts, though interesting, are irrelevant. actress. A person who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners. Everything should be made as simply as possible, but no simpler. How did you do? The point is, none of us remember the headlines of I have seen the truth and it makes no sense. yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers, these are the best in their One-seventh of your life is spent on Monday. fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. By the time you make ends meet, they move the ends. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with A smile is a frown turned inside out. their owners. A camel is an animal designed by a committee. Here’s another quiz; see how you do on this one: List a few teachers who aided your journey through school. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time. Name five people who have taught you someNine-year-old Joey was asked by his mother thing worthwhile. what he had learned in Sunday School. Think of a few people who have made you feel An old man gingerly shuffled into an ice “Well, mom, our teacher told us how God sent appreciated and special. cream parlor and pulled himself slowly, Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to Think of five people you enjoy spending time painfully, up onto a stool. After catching his with. lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the breath, he ordered a banana split. Red Sea, he had his engineers build a pontoon Easier? The lesson: the people who make a difThe server asked kindly, “Crushed nuts?” ference in your life are not the ones with the most bridge, and all the people walked across safely. “No,” he replied, “arthritis.” Then he used his walkie-talkie to radio headquarcredentials, the most money or the most awards. ters and call in an air strike. They sent in bombers They are the ones who truly care.
Thoughts To Get You Through Any Crisis
Sunday School
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An Agitated Washer: SLT Meets Its Match First Trip To The Mall An Amish boy and his father were visiting a large shopping mall. They were amazed by almost everything they saw, but especially by two shiny, silver walls that could slide apart and back together again. The boy asked, “What is this, father?” The father responded, “Son, I have never seen anything like this in my life. I don’t know what it is.” While the boy and his father were watching wide-eyed, an old lady in a wheel chair rolled up to the shiny walls and pressed a button. The walls opened, and the lady rolled between them into a small room. The walls closed, and the boy and his father watched small circles of light with numbers above the walls light up. They continued to watch the circles light up in the reverse direction. The walls opened up again, and a beautiful young woman stepped out. The father said to his son, “Go get your mother.”
Answering Machine Message: “I’m not available right now, but thank you for caring enough to call. I am making some changes in my life. Please leave a message after the beep. If I do not return your call, you are one of the changes.”
Walmart In The Will An elderly woman decided to prepare her will and told her lawyer she had two final requests. First, she wanted to be cremated, and second, she wanted her ashes scattered over the local Walmart. “Walmart?” the counselor grunted. “Why there?” The woman explained: “So I can be assured my daughters will visit me twice a week.”
“Hello, is this DK Knight?” the female caller said with a twinge of embarrassment in her voice. “Yes it is. How may I help you?” “My name is Susan Harvey. Chan Williams with Industrial Tractor said you could probably help me. You see, our copy of Southern Loggin’ Times got damaged and I wondered if we could get a replacement,” she said. “I’m sorry you had a problem. The post office folks do damage some copies occasionally.” She came back, meekly: “This wasn’t the post office. It was my washing machine.” “What do you mean?” “I was putting some clothes in the washer while reading the story on my husband (Mike) and may have put the magazine in with the clothes. Or it may have fallen in when I laid it aside. I really don’t know,” she said with a laugh. “Did it ruin your clothes?” “No, but it fell all to pieces when I tried to take it out,” she said. “That’s too bad, but never fear, we’ll send along a replacement. In fact, we’ll send a couple since you’ve had so much trouble and your husband’s featured in that issue.” Susan said thank you and resumed her laundry. From now on, reading material of any kind is off limits in the laundry room at the Mike Harvey household! —Fish Need Water, Agency Says —Caskets Found As Workers Demolish Mausoleum —Federal Agents Raid Gun Shop, Find Weapons —Crack Found In Man’s Buttocks —Panda Mating Fails, Vet Takes Over —Woman Improving After Fatal Crash —Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges —Diaper Market Bottoms Out —Antique Stripper To Display Wares At Mall
Three Men On A Hike
A Woman’s Perspective
Three men were hiking through a forest when they came upon a large raging river. Needing to get to the other side, the first man prayed, “God, please give me the strength to cross the river.” Poof! God gave him big arms and strong legs and he was able to swim across in about two hours, but he was almost pulled under twice. After witnessing that, the second man prayed, “God, please give me the strength and tools to cross the river.” Poof! God gave him a rowboat and strong arms and strong legs and he was able to row across in about an hour after almost capsizing. Seeing what happened to the first two men, the third man prayed, “God, please give me the strength, tools, and the intelligence to cross the river.” Poof! He was turned into a woman. She checked the map, hiked a mile upstream, and walked across the bridge.
A man said to his wife, ‘I don’t know how you can be so stupid and so beautiful all at the same time. The wife responded, “Allow me to explain. God made me beautiful so you would be attracted to me; God made me stupid so I would be attracted to you.”
The Dish Pan
Back when I was about 15 I helped my dad cut pulpwood. We used mules for skidding and loaded by hand. Dad had cut some logs on our back 40 and told me to take Henry the mule and bunch the logs along the roadside while he took care of some business in town. It was one of those very hot and humid July dog days. The further down the road I worked the closer I came to a little creek. At mid-afternoon, once I had made three passes by the creek, I told Henry it sure would be nice to take a dip in the creek. So in a few seconds I had my A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a brogans and overalls off and was in the cool water. word. An earlier discussion had led to an argument and neither of them But I had a feeling that someone was watching me. I slowly turned wanted to concede their position. around and there was a strange girl standing on the creek bank. Smiling As they passed a barnyard dotted with mules, goats and pigs, the husshyly, she was holding my overalls. When I yelled at her she took off, carband asked sarcastically, “Relatives of yours?” rying my overalls with her. I was in a jam. I knew it would be hard ”Yep,” she quickly shot back, “in-laws.” explaining to dad how my clothes had disappeared without telling him I was loafin’ in the creek. As I was trying to figure out what to do, I spotted a discarded dish pan in the bushes along the creek bank. KeepSome people are like a Slinky—not really good for anyA woman was sipping on a ing one eye on the fleeing girl with my overalls, I grabbed thing but they bring a smile to your face when pushed glass of wine while sitting on the pan and held it in front of me as I left the water in purdown the stairs. the patio with her husband, suit of her. She looked back at me and smiled in the funand she said, “I love you so niest way. The faster I ran the faster she went, slowing much; I don’t know how I down a little on occasion to look back and smile. could ever live without you.” After a ways I finally stopped and yelled to her: “Do Here are some headlines that should have been rewritten: Her husband asked, “Is that you know what I think?” —Prostitutes Appeal To Pope you or the wine talking?” With that same silly smile on her face, she replied: —Tiger Woods Plays With Own Balls, Nike Says She replied, “It’s me… talk- “Yes, I know what you think. You think that dish pan has —One-Armed Man Applauds The Kindness Of ing to the wine.” a bottom in it!” Strangers —Jimmy Gilliland, Rockford, Ala.
Wife Vs. Husband
Love Is Grand
Thought For The Day:
Where Was The Editor?
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Smiley Treecutter’s “Gatewood Wonder” A Lesson About Life Two friends were walking through the desert. During one point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: today my best friend slapped me in the face. They kept on walking until they found an oasis, and decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped slipped and fell and began to drown, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he scratched on a stone: today my best friend saved my life. The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “after I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now, you wrote on a stone…why?” The friend replied, “When someone hurts us we should write it in sand, where winds of forgiveness can erase it, but when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.” The message: Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your benefits in stone.
The Old Outhouse There was a little boy that lived in the country. They had to use an outhouse, and the little boy hated it because it was hot in the summer and cold in the winter and stank all the time. The outhouse was sitting on the bank of a creek and the boy determined that one day he would push that outhouse into the creek. One day after a spring rain, the creek was swollen so the little boy decided today was the day to push the outhouse into the creek. So he grabbed a 2x4 and started pushing. Finally, the outhouse toppled into the creek and floated away. That night his dad told him they were going to the woodshed after supper. Knowing that meant a spanking, the little boy asked why. The dad replied, “Someone pushed the outhouse into the creek today. It was you, wasn’t it son?” The boy answered yes. Then he thought a moment and said, “Dad, I read in school today that George Washington chopped down a cherry tree and didn’t get into trouble because he told the truth.” The dad replied, “Well, son, George Washington’s father wasn’t in the cherry tree.”
Ronald Reagan In Classic Style “Socialism only works in two places: Heaven where they don’t need it and hell where they already have it.” “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” “The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.” “Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.” “I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress.” “The taxpayer: That’s someone who works for the federal government but doesn’t have to take the civil service examination.” “Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.” “The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program.” “It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.” “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” “Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed, there are many rewards; if you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book.” “No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is as formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.”
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Forced by his primary mill outlet to either cut costs or shut up and shut down, a Deep South logger recently tapped his deep innovative reservoir and brought forth a type of hybrid machine that some say may rival the latest computer-aided CTL offerings of Scandinavian manufacturers. Dubbed the “Gatewood Wonder,” the unorthodox contraption features thin sheet metal, a lightweight frame, simple gearbox and no doors or window glass. “I want everybody to know that I had lots of help in coming up with this jewel,” exclaims Smiley Treecutter, who says he has delivered wood to the same company at the same rates since just before Al Gore invented the Internet. “Some of the brightest minds remaining in wood procurement made notable contributions, not to mention a coupla spent equipment engineers,” he points out. Despite repeated attempts by engineers to change the design, Treecutter says he remained hard-nosed about sticking to a form-and-function formula reflective of the procurement philosophy of a majority of large forest products companies. “They wanted a cheap machine with a short-term lifespan. They didn’t care how it looked, sounded or performed, but it had to be cheap and expendable. That fundamental drove the entire project. And by jove, I think we succeeded,” he The GW’s engine burns a mixture of mineral spirits, braggs. diesel fuel and spent motor oil—lots of the latter. Actually, the logger says, the design evolved gradually and was directly linked to the price, availability and location of components and odd parts, which he says were rounded up in two years from 40 boneyards in at least four states. It was a daunting task that taxed both his physical stamina and mental capacity. “In a way, pulling all this together was a lot like logging. It was a hell of a challenge and we got bruised and scratched up, but we hung in there.” On the downside, concedes Treecutter, is the unit’s ratty appearance, marginal productivity and limited availability. “Hey, you can’t have it all,” he laments. “Who cares how it looks? The mill folks don’t. And performance and productivity are non-issues to a logger when he’s cut back to 60% of capacity. Yeah, the downtime would be a hassle if it were not for quotas and the fact that you can stop by most any junkyard and find a part that’ll work.” Treecutter points with pride to the engine, a three-banger Oliver diesel lifted from the briar-shrouded skeleton of a small crawler. It burns a mixture of mineral spirits, diesel fuel and spent motor oil—lots of the latter. The combustion of this goo is carried our poorly, resulting in sluggish engine performance. However, the logger says the thick, black smoke given off in the process is an effective deterrent to mosquitos and other pests. “And, believe it or not, the spirits make the smoke smell pretty darn good.” Noteworthy, too, are the GW’s axles, bent 6º in opposite directions on either side by design. While this makes the machine hard to steer, it does effectively thwart theft and deters workers from riding to the nearest country store at noon to fetch RCs, saltines and potted meat. And what of that mysterious attachment dangling on the rear? “We’re still perfecting that,” explains the designer. “We figger that eventually we’ll get the thing so ugly that the trees will simply fall over in fright and delimb and debark themselves. Now wouldn’t that be something? Course, if we do succeed in that area, the procurement folks will probably cut us $2 a ton. You know how it is out here. Every time you take a step ahead, procurement comes up with a way to knock you back.” Treecutter admits that development of the Gatewood Wonder may be too late to help stabilize his bleeding business. “But it could help attract unknowing newcomers to this business and thus keep cheap wood flowing through the gates. That evidently is what it’s all about—cheap wood, at any price.”
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Supporter Spotlight 500 O
ur advertisers make this issue of SLT possible, so we invited them to submit an article and a photo for this section.
American Truck Parts “I have been a reader of Southern Loggin’ Times for the past 30 years and have always enjoyed the quality of the articles. Congratulations on your 40plus years of service to the logging industry. I have been an advertiser for the past several years and have seen great results from SLT marketing. Every copy of SLT is placed on our parts counter and is constantly read by our customers as they are awaiting parts or service. Thanks to SLT and our logging customers for years of success here at American Truck Parts, Inc.”—Jimmy Kitchens, owner
B&G Equipment B&G Equipment has been serving the forestry community of Mississippi since 1976. It started with its main branch in Philadelphia, Miss. and has since expanding to four locations that cover the whole state of Mississippi and parts of Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama. W.J. Bates and Donald Grantham started as a truck and trailer supply company. By the end of 1976 the Clark skidder dealer in Memphis, Tenn. had talked them into putting a Clark skidder on the yard. By 1983 B&G was selling Clark skidders all over the state and in Louisiana. By the end of that year B&G had opened its second location in Hammond, La., which moved to Magnolia, Miss. in December 1984. B&G opened its third location in Hattiesburg, Miss. in 1997. By this time B&G was the Tigercat dealer for all of Mississippi. In August 2002 B&G opened its fourth location in Iuka, Miss. Now owned by the Bates Family, B&G is a full line dealer for Tigercat, Morbark, Mclendon Trailers, CSI and Rotobec. With three generations of the Bates family involved, B&G is focused on keeping the customer running and having parts on the shelf. Although W.J. Bates, CEO, has stepped back some, he still comes in to work every day. He leaves the details to Debbie Bates Webb (President), Justin Webb (Vice President), Rodney Kelley (Hattiesburg Store Manager), Randall Williamson (Magnolia Store Manager) and Jeff Lee (Corporate Parts Manager). B&G is Tigercat’s longest running dealer and together they continue to provide solutions to the ever-changing forestry industry. This can be found in the new Tigercat engine that offers the simplest answer to Tier 4 engine emissions that the industry has seen. The new Tigercat engine can be found in the new 600 E series skidders and new 726E and 724E cutters. Committed to “Forestry only,” B&G will continue to serve its customers for years to come. B&G would like to congratulate Southern Loggin’ Times for its 500th issue and thank them for promoting the forestry industry. 42
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Big John Trailers Founded by “Big John” Drury in Folkston, Ga. in the early 1970s, Big John Trailers is now in its 41st year of manufacturing. “Big John” believed in providing a product that would outlast and outperform the competition, and to this day that belief still goes into every trailer built. Because we have been around longer than our competitors, and because of the fact that we work directly with loggers on design and customized options, Big John Trailers is the obvious choice for your log trailer, loader/delimber trailer and lowboy needs. You can trust that our “Full Load Series” log trailers and our “Rugged and Dependable” loader/delimber trailers and Kodiak hydraulic leg delimber trailer will be a higher quality, superior product. Contact us at 1-800-771-4140 to locate the Big John dealer nearest to you or visit us on the web at www.bigjohntrailers.com to view our product line. Jimmie Gowen and the staff at Big John Trailers would like to take this opportunity thank all of our customers for the past business and wish you all a prosperous future.
Caterpillar Caterpillar’s first purpose-built forestry machine was the Cat 518 cable skidder introduced in October 1971. It was described as a “log-moving tool that has Kevin Thieneman, president of made a place for Caterpillar Forest Products, and itself in the woods Gary McClam, Gary McClam with its advantages of Logging Inc., Kingstree, S.C. speed, ability to move big loads and maneuverability around stumps.” Today Caterpillar designs and manufacturers a complete line of Cat and Prentice brand purposebuilt forestry machines and attachments, plus all the equipment needed for other forestry activities from road building to mill yard. “We are the complete equipment supplier for the whole chain. A forestry customer can buy Cat graders, excavators, dozers, wheel loaders, material handlers and skid steers, in addition to fellerbunchers, harvesters, skidders and knuckleboom loaders. Plus we offer financing, telematics, fluid analysis and other services,” says Kevin Thieneman, Caterpillar Forest Products president. “Dealing with one supplier can be a huge advantage to the customer. First there is the commonality in machine operation and parts interchangeability between machines. And then there is the dealer’s ability to support all the machines and ensure they are working smoothly together.” Caterpillar’s global dealer network includes more than 20 Cat and Prentice dealers serving the South and South Central United States. “With a dealer facility near every Southern Loggin’ Times reader, we can get the product support and technical know-how to our customers quickly,” Thieneman says.
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In addition to industry knowledge provided by Cat dealers, Caterpillar Forest Products’ Global Solutions Team (GST) works with large and small customers to help them improve their bottom line. The team does this by taking a highlevel view of a company’s operation and bringing the application expertise, services and machines needed to improve it. “We review the operation from a system standpoint. We look at the total cost of harvesting or total cost of load and transport, or total cost in the mill yard and how each operation can impact the other. It’s not just about the equipment; it’s about providing a complete solution for the customer’s problems,” says Florentino Bernal, GST manager. “Caterpillar and Cat dealers work with our customers to help them meet their goals by providing more productive and lower cost solutions and all the support and services they need,” Thieneman concludes.
Cooper Forestry Cooper Forestry, a forestry equipment and parts company, was born of the Wayne Cooper logging family. Family patriarch Wayne Cooper, a logger for more than 60 years, was lost to leukemia in 2011. Dad’s knowledge of the industry is greatly missed. For more than 20 years Cooper Forestry was a Hood, Timberjack and Barko dealer. The know-how to keep these brands and many more running have been retained. We have an extensive library of parts and service manuals for most brands of logging equipment. Cooper Forestry still remains the Hood dealer for new machines and parts in this geographic area. Our relationship with Hood began in August of 1984 and it remains strong until today, as does the Hood name in knuckleboom loaders and equipment. We would like to express our gratitude to the thousands of customers who have patronized Cooper Forestry for the past 27 years, actually 30 years if you count the three years we operated as “Wayne Cooper and Sons Lumber Company Forestry Equipment Division.” During these 30 years we have made many friends from Maine to Oregon as well as every Southern state. While the tumultuous past decade has seen many well-respected dealerships close due to an ever-contracting equipment brands and logging market, Cooper Forestry remains open for business. The times have been and remain difficult for Cooper Forestry, but we are determined to stay in business as I believe we represent the voice of the small logger and remain dedicated to providing parts to loggers at prices greatly reduced from those of much larger organizations. In the beginning I told loggers who bought a choker, power saw file or gallon of oil I was grateful for their business. Today this remains true, small or large you are important to us.—Eddie Cooper
Cutting Systems Inc. Cutting Systems, Incorporated (also known as CSI) recently marked the 4th anniversary of the death of its founder, Mr. Calvin Johnson. CSI, well known in the forestry industry for its line of equipment, was incorporated by Mr. Johnson, along with
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his family and associates, in 1995. Prior to that, Mr. Johnson, along with his sons Tony and Ronnie, and associate Ralph Metcalf, successfully owned and operated CTR Manufacturing for 14 years. CTR was sold to Blount, Inc. in 1994. At the close of a five-year non-compete agreement with Blount, CSI started manufacturing slasher saws and pull-thru delimbers. Due to Mr. Johnson’s innovative ideas, quality workmanship, and dedication to customer satisfaction, CSI quickly gained an impressive market share of new and previous customers. CSI is now one of the largest manufacturers of slasher saws and pull-through delimbers in North America. After the death of Mr. Johnson in 2010, the company continues to thrive under the leadership of his family and associates. CSI continues a steady rate of growth among forestry market dealers. CSI understands that conditions are different in all parts of the country and tries to accommodate all of its customers’ needs through a variety of different models of delimbers and bar-and-chain slasher saws, and also has carbidetooth circular saw models for the harsh conditions in northern parts of the country. CSI is attuned to customer satisfaction, and wants each customer to get their money’s worth with a product that will give them maximum production and longevity with minimum downtime and expense. CSI also recognizes that product support is paramount, and the company remains committed to providing unparalleled customer service. The fact that many of CSI’s past customers continue to seek the company out for their existing forestry needs is a testimonial of the company’s success, and the CSI family is grateful to its customers for allowing it to continue to thrive. Phone 704/592-2451 • Fax 704/592-4458
Flint Equipment Co. From construction, forestry and mining equipment to ag equipment and diesel power units, if John Deere makes it, we rent it, sell it, finance it, insure it, service it and provide parts for it—all over the Southeast. As a John Deere dealer for 45 years, with 18 full service facilities in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina, we are committed to providing superior customer service and product support. Flint Equipment Company offers a wide range of new and used equipment that meets our exacting standards of quality, reliability and affordability. We carry a large stock of used John Deere equipment, as well as units from other manufacturers. With access to equipment throughout the world, we can find any piece of equipment you need. Used equipment is thoroughly inspected by our highly trained service team to guarantee you get an accurate, honest appraisal; then, it is fully repaired and refurbished to your specifications by our skilled technicians. Contact Flint Equipment today for all of your equipment needs! John Deere, Hitachi, Euclid, Dynapac, NorAm, Eager Beaver Trailers, Trail King, Finn, Atlas Copco, Topcon, Parts and Service, Financial Services, Equipment Insurance, Rentals: Albany, GA (229) 888-1212; Adairsville, GA (770) 773-9857; Atlanta, GA (404) 691-9445; Andrews, SC (843) 221-4940; Aynor, SC (843) 358-5688; Braselton, GA (770) 965-1889; Brunswick, GA (912) 264-6161; Columbus, GA (706) 687-3344; Cuthbert, GA (229) 732-2631; Dothan, AL (334) 794-8691; Grovetown, GA (706) 855-5440; Ladson, SC (843) 572-0400; Macon, GA (478) 788-1586;
Savannah, GA (912) 964-7370; Simpsonville, SC (864) 963-5835; Troy, AL (334)566-4181; Walterboro, SC (843) 539-1420; W. Columbia, SC (803) 794-9340; www.flintequipco.com
James River Equipment
James River Equipment is your full-service equipment dealership servicing construction, forestry and agricultural customers in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. From 29 locations ranging from Charlotte, NC to northern Virginia we are dedicated to serving the needs of our customers and providing the best value in products and in service. Our culture emphasizes and highlights the value of people—both our employees and our customers. We spend more than $1 million annually on training and education for our employees to ensure that they continually grow professionally and to provide the best possible quality of service to our customers. Our goal is to keep your equipment up and running, and to help you complete jobs profitably. With more than 290 technicians, $20 million in parts on hand, over 100 field service trucks, and a growing “WorkSite Solutions” department, we are here to keep your machines working. As our mission statement states, “we want to provide value, and to do it for the long term!” The history of James River Equipment dates back to the 1920s in Holly, Col. Rudolph Romer, great-grandfather of Mark Romer, the President of James River Equipment, opened a John Deere dealership there in 1926. The dealership prospered in spite of the depression, largely due to the people and their commitment to the customers. The foundation of offering quality products and supporting them with exceptional customer service expanded eastward in 1977 when the Romer family purchased a dealership in Virginia and James River Equipment was born. As we have expanded to 29 locations our ownership has grown to more than 30 partners, each of whom has an active management role. Having so many partners allows us to combine the resources of a large organization with on-site decision-making at each store. We believe that decisions involving people, whether customers or employees, are best made face to face.
J.M. Wood Auction J.M. Wood Auction was founded in 1973 by Malcolm and Brenda Wood in Montgomery, Ala. The Wood family held long ties to the logging and sawmilling of the past, but it really wasn’t until the early ’80s when their focus on logging equipment began to emerge. Row cropping was down, and farmland was being converted back into pine plantation. During this period many large corporate mills were built across the Southeast. In 1979 J.M. Wood Auction started a second auction facility in Philadelphia, Miss. By the late ’80s logging was booming and
J.M. Wood Auction found itself as the largest forestry auction company in the United States. In 1990, tragedy struck the J.M. Wood family. Malcolm passed away at the age of 46 after a short battle with cancer. Brenda kept the company going and conducting logging auctions from Texas to the Carolinas, making friends and lifelong customers along the way. In 1996, Garlon Gore retired from KingPower Timberjack, the company he co-founded, and joined J.M. Wood. Garlon brought a wealth of experience and fresh ideas. In 2006, J.M. Wood conducted a landmark forestry auction for Cat Financial and the Cat dealer network of Pioneer Machinery. Since then J.M. Wood has conducted retirement auctions for some of the biggest names in logging. J.M. Wood Auction still stands alone as the top provider of forestry auctions, having conducted thousands of auctions and selling forestry machines to nearly every country where there is a forest to manage. On December 22, 2013, J.M. Wood Auction lost Brenda Wood, but her legacy and moral compass will persevere through the auction family she built. Through the years Southern Loggin’ Times has played a significant role in the growth of J.M. Wood Auction. We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to D.K. Knight and the entire team at SLT for all the advice and promotion of the logging industry we all love.
John Deere John Deere has become an icon associated with American values of hard work, ingenuity and a commitment to quality. While the company has not always provided purpose-built forestry machines, John Deere’s forestry roots go back further than most realize— always driven by a customer-inspired commitment to quality equipment solutions for loggers. In 1949, John Deere introduced the MC Crawler, which was prized by loggers because of its versatility and ability to navigate rough terrain. The MC went on to become one of the most hardworking machines John Deere produced. The 1960s and 1970s saw a renaissance in John Deere forestry equipment. In 1961, Timberland Machines released the Timberjack 200 Series skidder. Available with a 61 HP gasoline engine, the Timberjack would form the blueprint for the modern skidder. Later in the ’60s, John Deere released its 440 Series, another milestone in skidder design. It brought operator comfort into the equation to increase safety and productivity. The 1970s saw the introduction of the harvester. Released in 1977, the John Deere 743 combined the speed of rubber tires with the reach of a boom. It allowed operators to harvest two trees per minute and formed the basis for today’s modern harvester. Though John Deere’s customers had always been the catalyst for product innovation, the process formalized in the 1990s. Customer feedback was incorporated into the design process through dealer and customer advocacy groups. This user-centric approach was a first in the industry and continues to be a crucial part of John Deere’s product development process. From a company with humble beginnings to a worldwide leader in forestry equipment, John Deere enjoys a rich heritage in the industry. Today, with the advent of telematics and other
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technologies, loggers can look forward to innovations that will make forestry faster, safer and more efficient in years to come.
Kaufman Trailers For more than 25 years, Kaufman Trailers has been delivering high quality trailers at factory direct pricing. Kaufman Trailers is a family owned manufacturer and retailer of a full line of utility, gooseneck, flatbed, equipment, car, dump, log, and heavy haul trailers that was started in the “side yard” of the current owner Robb Kaufman’s mobile home park back in 1987. Since then, Kaufman Trailers has grown to employ more than 280 individuals at multiple locations and remains committed to our original goal of delivering our valued customers a high-quality trailer at the lowest possible delivered cost. We do this by eliminating the middle man and therefore saving you, the end user, that unnecessary “dealer markup” that adds no real value to your trailer. No other trailer manufacturer can promise the best price possible to the customer by delivering trailers straight to the end user without any headache. The new Kaufman FR42LT lineup of log trailers continues our tradition of delivering rugged, reliable, and best of all affordable trailers at factory direct pricing. With a heavy duty, underslung, 4-spring Hutchens H-9700 suspension, our base model is our best seller providing excellent value. Aside from the 24 in. deep, high tensile, fully fabricated main beams and full depth crossmembers at each bolster, the most popular feature of this trailer is the low ride height at the rear. With an underslung suspension, this trailer provides much more stability and eliminates the feared sway when rounding turns and rocking through the woods, ensuring you years of service. We are now offering a full line-up of customizations in our FR42LT series. With Watson single point and Ridewell air ride suspensions, headache racks, extra bolsters, relocated bolsters, additional paint colors, and tire and wheel upgrades, you’ll have a tough time “stumping” the sales team here at Kaufman!
Magnolia Trailers, Inc. A small local group with a goal of building the best log trailers the industry had yet seen established Magnolia Trailers Inc. in 1993. We pride ourselves in building each trailer to each individual customer’s needs, and our customer’s satisfaction is the highest in the industry. Our trailers are built with extreme durability due to the high quality products we use. An advantage in being a small company is that it gives the customer direct communication with the manufacturer. Magnolia Trailers has a line of lightweight bolster trailers and a lightweight pole trailer. With higher tensile strength steel, we have reduced trailer empty weights by as much as 1,500 lbs. per trailer. We also build fixed neck lowboys and steerable pipe trailers. Gordon Fryfogle is the sales manager and Larry Williamson is also in sales. For all your logging trailer needs please contact Magnolia Trailers at (800) 738-2123; Gordon’s cell (601) 508-3333 and Larry’s Cell (601) 508-3334; Fax: 601-947-4900; P. O. Box 1146, Lucedale, MS 39452. 44
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Maxi-Load Platform Scales MaxiLoad welcomes the opportunity to say congratulations and thank you to Southern Loggin’ Times. Its 500 successful issues representing nearly 42 years speaks for itself regarding the leadership of DK Knight and the hard work of the entire staff of Southern Loggin’ Times. Thank you for developing the “Southern Logger’s Best Friend.” It is also the forestry equipment manufacturer’s best friend. Loggers like to read about loggers and no other publication covers this subject so well. Maxi-Load was started in 1996 by a south Georgia swamp logger of 24 years. It was the result of a search to control truck weights and to work in the wet and muddy conditions associated with swamp logging. At the beginning there was never a thought about selling scales. It was all about finding a solution that would work where we worked and accurately control our truck weights. After the first unit was successful, word spread and units 2 through 6 sold in the local area. In 1997 Maxi-Load ran its first advertisement in Southern Loggin’ Times. We were in the scale business! It is the conditions under which Maxi-Load started that support our statement “If You can Load There—We can Weigh There.” The initial requirement to work on a swamp logging job was also the foundation of a very durable and trouble free product. We have never tried to build the cheapest scale. Our objective has always been to build the best scale. Logging is a profession that requires a quality product. Several upgrades have been added recently. We work constantly to improve the scale we build and to service the customers we have. Each scale sold has brought new friends over the last 18 years we have dealt with some of the finest people on earth, 99% of them have been loggers. The help we have received from customers, other equipment manufacturers, dealers and their sales representatives has been unbelievable. Vulcan On-board scales has partnered with us since the beginning. Southern Loggin’ Times opens new doors each month. Thanks to all for all you do!
Nokian Tyres Congratulations to Southern Loggin’ Times on its 500th issue! Nokian Tyres is proud to be a supporter of this great resource for the logging community. At Nokian Tyres, we strive to provide the best quality skidder tires on the market. All of our tires are made in Finland where the logging industry has a long history, just like the Southeastern U.S. We use the latest technology to continually improve the performance of our skidder tires to give our customers the best value. Our tires feature extra wide breakers and steel fortification to protect against punctures, our special cut and crack resistant compound, enhanced wood protector to prevent wood from getting between the tire and the rim and an improved hexagonal bead wire. We recently introduced our 35.5L-32 26 ply Forest King TRS LS-2 skidder tire and it is performing very well in the field. We also offer sizes
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30.5L-32 26 ply, 30.5L-32 20 ply, 28L-26 26 ply, 24.5-32 16 ply and 23.1-26 16 ply. We are expanding our distribution in the Southeastern U.S., so please consider Nokian the next time you need to purchase a skidder tire. We are a small organization, so we can offer you a personal relationship with our staff that the larger manufacturers cannot provide. If you have a problem with one of our tires, we will make it right. Nokian Tyres is a global market leader in forestry tires. Our company has designed special tires for forestry use since the 1960s. The product range includes CTL as well as full-tree machines, such as skidders, and special tires for tractors used partly or mostly in the forest. Nokian Tyres’ products are known for their high quality that guarantees a long service life and reliable functionality for the extreme conditions found in the forest. With Nokian Tyres, you can rule the forest.
Pitts Trailers For 38 years, Pitts Trailers has pioneered and developed lightweight, durable trailers that stand the test of time. Pitts Trailers was founded in 1976 by Andrew Pitts to feed a growing demand for trailers in the logging industry. Pitts started his company in a 1,200 sq. ft. building. Quality and versatility earned Pitts a reputation as the known source for delimber and log hauling trailers. Andrew’s son Jeff Pitts joined the company after college in the early ’80s. His father retired in 2002 and Jeff purchased the company to become the sole owner. Andrew still sits on the Board of Directors and Jeff serves as the Chief Executive Officer. In 2014, Pitts Enterprises introduced a minority share stock sale, giving the employees a personal investment in the company, responsibility for the finished product, and the reins to their future. With combined facilities for all plants totaling over 1,000,000 sq. ft. on 50 acres, Pitts produces log, lowboy, log loader and delimber trailers, chip vans, moving floor/self-unloading vans, steel flatbed trailers, steel-aluminum combination flatbeds, extendable flatbed, drop deck trailers and oil field specialty trailers. “Haul less steel and more wood” was the driving force behind the creation and introduction of the Pitts Loadpayin’ series logging trailers in 1994. Loadpayin’ trailers revolutionized the industry by allowing their owners to payload an extra 2,000 lbs. over other frame trailers. The lightweight advantages and unmatched durability made the Loadpayin’ trailers the flagship of the Pitts Trailers line. The introduction of the Ultra Loadpayin’ series trailers in 2001 again raised the bar for lightweight logging trailers—a bar that has yet to be matched. With the acquisition of the Dorsey trailer facility in 2007, Pitts Trailers added chip vans and moving floor vans to the forestry product line. As the first and largest manufacturer of hydraulic leg delimbing trailers, a leader in hydraulic detachable neck and fixed neck lowboys, and the industry leader in all types of flatbed trailers, Pitts Trailers has cemented itself as the #1 forestry trailer brand in the U.S. “You’re ahead with a Pitts Behind.”
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Power Equipment Co. Power Equipment Company is a subsidiary of Bramco, Inc. headquartered in Louisville, Ky. Power, together with its sister company, Brandeis Machinery & Supply Company, constitutes one of the largest construction, mining and forestry equipment distribution networks in the United States. Together, we have 15 full-service branches throughout Tennessee, northern Mississippi, eastern Arkansas, Kentucky and Indiana. Power offers the most complete line of construction, mining, forestry equipment and services available. We are committed to providing the people, market-leading products and quality services to decrease our customer’s downtime and increase their production and profits—to give our customers THE POWER TO PERFORM! In business since 1946, Power can trace its success to being the first to respond to each of its customers with creative and flexible solutions to their unique needs and circumstances. In addition, Power has been applying the principles of Total Quality Management and its continuous improvement philosophy to its basic business practices since 1998. Power’s mission is to sell, rent and service mobile equipment and provide related services to customers when working in Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and eastern Arkansas. We value organizational performance in all we do; we don’t lie, cheat or steal; we obey the law; we treat everyone with respect and care; we aggressively promote the manufacturers we represent, their products and our services; we continually seek out and implement new and better ways of creating value for our customers; we will settle for nothing less than to be the preferred supplier to our customers and to prove we’re the best in the business; we run a tight ship and take pride in giving our investors a fair return on their investment. Our Locations: Knoxville, TN (branch and corp. headquarters) 865-577-5563; Nashville, TN 615213-0900; Chattanooga, TN 423-894-1870; Kingsport, TN 423-349-6111; Memphis TN 901346-9800; Tupelo (Saltillo) 662-869-0283
R Squared Solutions In 2009 R Squared Solutions began producing the GS470 grapple saw. This grapple saw was designed in response to customers’ desires to have a simpler designed saw with outstanding performance and durability. It offered ease of maintenance while utilizing commercial off-the-shelf parts. The saw was designed to fit larger grapples found on many of today’s popular loaders. It could cut up to 30 in. in a single pass. In 2013, we updated the grapple saw design to the GS500, which introduced more robust covers, cushioned cylinders and a high pressure gear motor. These enhancements provided for a saw with even better durability and performance. R Squared Solutions began prototyping its first pull-through delimber design in January 2013,
with full-scale production commencing in October of 2013. The delimber is built on the “widethroat” concept to handle the volume of small trees loggers are trying to put through them today. It offers the widest throat opening available on the market today at almost 100 in. With the robust design of the knives, this delimber can handle even the most demanding delimbing operations out there. It incorporates several new features never seen in the pull-through delimber market. The structure is built from a mono-housing design, which significantly reduces weight while at the same time providing greater strength and durability. All cylinders have integrated cushions, which reduces impact and stress on the housing and the knife arms. In an industry first, this delimber can be operated with or without an accumulator box. This option gives the owner the ability to reduce service and maintenance cost. Also an industry first, the cradle bearing uses all 3/4 in. grade 9 bolts with lock nuts. The customer no longer has to worry about drilling out a bolt broke off in the bearing. Utilizing a 50 in. bar and a high-pressure gear motor, it has the capacity and performance to cut through whatever you can get in the delimber. Please visit our website at www.rsquaredsolutions.com
Ring Power Building reliable, stable haul roads with Cat track-type tractors, excavators, articulated trucks, motor graders and soil compactors is just the beginning of a successful timber harvesting operation. Ring Power Corporation, your Cat equipment dealer in northeast and central Florida, also offers Cat forestry products for timber extraction, timber processing, timber loading and mill yard operations, as well as a multitude of work tools and attachments to add versatility and productivity to every job. In a harsh, rugged working environment, quality, durability and reliability can make the difference to a successful operation. Offering the best forestry equipment backed by the same high quality parts and service support we provide for all our products is how Ring Power helps our customers succeed. Whatever the logging application, uptime is crucial — and Cat machines keep operation cycles running smoothly. Cat skidders and feller-bunchers ensure maximum performance and productivity for timber extraction while Cat knuckleboom loaders and transport trucks expedite processing and timber loading. At the mill, Cat log loaders, wheel loaders, diesel generators and telehandlers keep the materials moving efficiently throughout the plant. Designed with safety and operator comfort in mind, Cat forest machines reduce operator fatigue in addition to increasing production capability. Owners and operators who partner with Ring Power take comfort in knowing support is available seven days a week. With branch locations in St. Augustine, Jacksonville, Gainesville, Tallahassee, Perry, Ocala and Lake City, Ring Power has north Florida’s logging country covered. From the highest quality machines to the best-in-industry service, Ring Power and Cat Forestry Products are built for the long haul. Our history proves it and our future depends on it. For more information about Ring Power’s forestry products and services, including the D-Series Skidder coming out this summer and many other new Cat products, visit www.ringpower.com.
River Ridge Equipment River Ridge Equipment, LLLP is a partnership that purchases used John Deere GIII 648 and 748 skidders to be remanufactured and sold. The skidders are stripped down to the frame and all mechanical parts are reconditioned to factory specifications. River Ridge has a machine shop equipped with line boring machines. We bore all pin holes to factory specs. Differentials, transmissions, engines, hydraulic cylinders, valves, grapple and grapple booms are all reconditioned. Hydraulic pumps are replaced and radiators and coolers are repaired or replaced depending on their condition. The cab is reconditioned and new seats and new glass are installed in the cab. The reconditioned parts are either used to reassemble the skidder to sell or are entered into inventory to be resold to loggers throughout the U. S. River Ridge also remanufactures skidder to customer’s specifications. This provides the customer with an option to extend the life of their skidder with a cost that is approximately one-third that of a new skidder. River Ridge has partnered with dealers in Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana and Texas to offer loggers access to the savings provided by purchasing our quality reconditioned parts and machines. Plans are in process to add dealers in additional states. For additional information please see our website, www.RiverRidgeEquipment.com or call us at 855.325.6465.
Tigercat Pulled off a north Florida highway in 1992 was a Mack truck hauling a Prototype Tigercat 726 feller buncher, strange look1992 ing feller- buncher. Two guys stood armed with a punch and die set and a ball-peen hammer: a truck driver, Don Snively, and a tradesman, Jim Wood. Both worked for MacDonald Steel, a fabricating plant in Ontario. Serial numbers and paper work were minor details that no one thought about during the rush to get the prototype Tigercat 726 fellerbuncher built—until the prospect of jail loomed. When it came time to build the prototype Tigercat, Wood was the obvious choice. As a licensed electrician, millwright and automotive mechanic, he had the skills to deal with the complications and uncertainties sure to accompany the assembly process. The clock was ticking and Wood recalls being questioned by Tigercat president Tony Iarocci regarding the machine’s state of readiness. He answered, “We can ship it now or wait three more weeks.” Tony said “ship it tomorrow.” They had the batteries bungee-corded into the belly pan. Snively climbed into the old Mack truck bound for Timber Expo-Southeast. Wood followed in a pickup. They worked on the machine at rest stops in the evening. By the time they reached Tifton, Ga., it was acceptably finished. Recalling the expo and the Deere people who brought them, Williston Timber co-owner Eddie Hodge says, “They were rushing us through the show to get us to the new Deere machines and we wanted to stop and look at this new Tigercat. The damn engine was turned around the wrong way...besides it was a catchy name.” Shortly after the show Eddie met with the Tigercat guys in Louisiana. “I said to Tony, ‘If you want to you can bring that thing to Florida. If it stays together for a month, we’ll buy it.’ So that was the ➤ 78
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Worth Repeating ■ Select quotes from the pages of previous issues
1973
“With that open circle saw spinning, it really looked worse than it was. I don’t think T.R. ever had one man get hurt on it. When he was working a big crew and that thing was going, the insurance man would come out to the job, take one look, tremble in his tracks and walk off.”—NC logger Marvin (Bobby) Goodson, 1973, on the dangerous Montague Mill shortwood machine operated by his retired father, T.R. Goodson, and later by himself before he abandoned it at some remote eastern NC site
1974
“It’s a real boy dog.”—Alabama equipment dealer Wayne Hutcheson on the new Log Hog XTR-870 loader
1975
“Sometimes I wonder what he had against me when he sold it to me.”— Louisiana logger Duke Wallace, reflecting on his purchase of his dad’s logging outfit
1976
“Men and cattle are a lot alike. and I’ve had my dealings with both. You can get one unruly cuss in the bunch and before long the entire herd will be ruined.”—Georgia logger Hugh Lewis
1977
“Lots of companies are still trying to starve the logger; they think we can continue to go right along running for the same price we did five years or so ago.”—Alabama logger Dickie Sewell
“You’re talking to a man who has smelled the back end of many a mule.”—Louisiana logger R.A. Rentz “I think an equipment salesman ought to have to log for a year before he begins selling.”—Alabama salesman Buddy Nolen “You can’t solve your problems by warming a chair in a café.”—Mississippi logger Bailey Dunaway
1978
“It gets rough out here at times but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Guess it’s sorta like the little boy playing in the mud over his boot tops; he’s there ’cause he likes it.”—Mississippi log46
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ger Jimmy Dale Suber “If a man’s not happy he hasn’t accomplished much in life.”—Mississippi logger Otis Brewer
1979
“I’ve had more titles than Husky has had loader models.”—Barko Hydraulics’ Joe Wood “We had so much hell out here we had to hire a preacher.”—Arkansas’ Linda Covey, who had taken over the struggling logging job of her injured husband, on hiring a sawhand who was also a part-time preacher “The more machinery and men you put on a job the less efficient it becomes.”—Louisiana logger Wilmer Cryer
1980
“I swing this ax just to keep up my appetite.”—Virginia seasoned logger Ernest Hubbard on his fondness for using an ax to mark logs for bucking and for remembering the ax’s place in the early part of his 41-year logging career. “I never thought they’d work in this country but they (grapple skidders) really make an ass of cable skidders.”—South Louisiana logger James Dauzart
1981
“The logging and pulpwood business has been a tough business ever since it’s been a business.”—Georgia logger Lewis Bennett
“I got this Dobro guitar and I’ll play it out here after a good day. But on Fridays I’ll take to the gin…I’m happy. I just hope I can log another 54 years.”— 54-year-old Georgia logger G.L. (Red Top) Kennedy “Except for payments, insurance and interest, I’d look like I was making a million dollars.”—Kennedy again
1982
“One board you can sell is worth more than a truckload you can’t.”—NC portable sawmiller Frank Hartley “Watching him work is like being inside a 47-jewel watch. He’s real s-m-o-o-t-h.”—Alabama logging equipment salesman Kit Avery on customer Charles Moreland
“You can’t be a taker all the time. You’ve got to be a giver some of the time.”—Alabama logger Romie Duncan
1983
“I’ve invested my entire life in this business. There’s a lot of me in these woods.”—Texas logger Walter Kyles “Sure, I get frustrated with this business. Who doesn’t? But I truly enjoy being out here.”—Alabama logger F.E. (Mutt) Glenn
1984
“They know their job. They take pride in their work just like a man does.”— Alabama logger Jerry Brown on his logging mules
1985
“If a dog’ll run it, I’ll hunt it.”—Tidewater Equipment Co.’s Ben Reavis “He says so little, but when he talks, he says so much.”—Arkansas equipment dealer Jonathan Davis on customer Jackie Burt “That chipper is a very demanding taskmaster.”—Georgia logger John Pickle
“I’m gonna trade it if it ever wears out.”—NC logger Foster Bill Jackson on his 11-year-old Franklin 132 skidder “When he came to Pioneer he couldn’t even spell the word skidder, much less sell one.”—Pioneer Machinery salesman Jerry Wimberly on fellow salesman David (Bubba) Byrum
1986
“Nothing scares an old lady more than a loaded log truck coming at her.”—SC logger Virgil Wall “If you can run a power saw for a year it doesn’t owe you a penny.”— Alabama logger Billy Ray Camp “The first week our payroll came to $75, and I grossed $62.50. After the first year I had less money than when I started.”—Georgia logger Randy Holton, recalling the first year (1970) of his logging career
“It’s so bad they’ll steal the 1987 grease out of a biscuit.”—
Arkansas logger Steve Richardson on theft and vandalism
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“If you want to see what a tire is worth, put it on a log truck.”—Alabama logger David Adams “You never really get there…The further we go the more we learn.”— Ted Coleman, President, Hydraulic Materials Handling Div., Omark Industries “Like the farmer, we’re probably going to produce ourselves out of business.”—Georgia logger Harry Gilmore
1988
“A satisfied customer will tell at least one person; a dissatisfied customer will tell a hundred.”—SC equipment dealer and former logger Johnny Ward
“Out here you don’t get a chance to make second mistakes.”—Louisiana logger Gene Bearden “These machines here ain’t nobody’s but the Good Lord’s and mine.”—Texas logger E.W. Bluitt on running well used, note-free equipment “ I believe he could tie his shoe with that thing.”—Alabama logger Ezell Castleberry on the skill of loader operator Guy Roach
1989
“Hell, if I wasn’t married, I’d live in the woods.”—Mississippi logger Jim Hamilton “I don’t even own a truck today, thank the Lord.”—SC logger Joe Young
1990
“The best thing a logger can do is set an example, and my dad and I try to do that. We don’t just work in the logging industry, we work for the betterment of the logging industry.”— Florida logger Doyle Majors “I don’t care what you do, somewhere you can improve it a little.”— Retired Georgia logger Q.J. Hill “It was so cold down here (northwest Florida) the boy dogs were stickin’ to the fire hydrants.”— Barko’s Joe Wood “I don’t want to empty the ash tray.”—Virginia logger and cigar smoker Richard Green on why he bought a new car every year “If there’s one thing the wood
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industry needs it’s a good appearance.”—Virginia sawmiller and former logger W.R. Deacon
“If we don’t start working together we’re not going to be working a all.”—Florida logger Gene Kirker
1991
“You can get in that truck and drive it to California.”—Mississippi logger Gillon Holmes on his ’69 Autocar, the carrier for his loader “It’s more dangerous on the highway than it is in the woods.”—NC logger Terry Rivenbark “He could kick over a bucket of manure and it’d turn into gold.”— Alabama equipment man Beau Christy on former co-worker and forwarder promoter Edgar Hodges “I’ve tried a lot of things and was unsuccessful at most. I only wish I could have got it all together at a younger age.”—CTR Mfg. principal Calvin Johnson, age 64 “It’s almost as good as sex.”— NC equipment salesman Ed Coltrain on his new cell phone
1994
“If our troubles start getting to us, we just take off and go fishing.”—Mississippi logger Albert McCarty “If you can’t work for Mr. Hal, you can’t work for anybody.”—Billy Jackson, foreman for veteran Alabama logger Hal Johnson
“Some people go down to Oaklawn (Hot Springs horse track) to gamble but we just go to the Forest Service.”— Arkansas sawmiller Bill Porter
on the unraveling of NF timber sales in the state “Have you ever tried to use a portable toilet while wearing a hoop dress?”—Carolyn Beale on why she did not join her timber dealer husband, Steve, in festivities linked to reenactment of Civil War battles.
1995
“When you start with nothing you appreciate every scrap you can get.” —Louisiana logger Tony Lavespere
“I don’t know if I’m an activist or not, but I do care about people shoving things down my throat without my being able to at least have a voice in it.”—Florida logger Charles Johns
“The industry went about adopting and implementing SFI with all the grace of a monkey making love to a football.”—Mississippi State forestry professor and industry observer Bill Stuart
1992
“I’m not too particular about my trucks as long as they’re red, they’re Fords and have Caterpillar engines.” —Tennessee logger J.B. Powell
“That thing just marched up the hill like it was picking cotton.”—Arkansas logger Don Wright on watching a Timbco T430 being demonstrated on his job “I can actually make money by working at my desk.”—Georgia logger Dallas Turk on taking the time to shop for various services and supplies
1993
“It’s like a rooster picking up corn.”—Georgia equipment dealer Donald Knight while observing a Franklin 4000 feller-buncher, equipped with a Risley Rotosaw, take down pine “He could watch a truck come by and pick out things wrong with it that the driver didn’t even know about.”—Arkansas logger Joe Griffith on the ability of his logger father-in-law, J.D. Long
“You can put a brand new loader right here beside it and the only thing you’ve got is payments.”—Florida logger Eddie Batten on his 26-yearold Husky knuckleboom “He’s a businessman first and a logger second, and I think you have to do that these days to be successful.”—Champion procurement forester Ron Cherry on Florida logger Archie Weaver Southern Loggin’ Times
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“I was told that if I declined to cut this particular tract, I would be replaced. I said ‘so be it’ and walked out. They’re always calling you an independent contractor, but how independent are you when they can do that?”—Arkansas logger J.L. Griffin “I ain’t like 75 years old. Hell, I am 75!”—Georgia logging legend J.O. Barber, responding to a question posed by an SLT editor.
1996
“Logging is such a lightning rod for so many issues that you had better get involved or you won’t have a job.”— Texas logger John Bradley “A man’s no good to you if he’s hurt.”—Georgia logger J.C. Ashmore “One logger doing people wrong —leaving trash, pouring oil on the ground, leaving filters scattered about —he’ll make it hard on 20 other loggers doing people right.”—Georgia logger Grant Lewis
“The hardest thing is learning to say no to deals where you can’t make any money. You’ve got to stay busy, but making money has to come first.”— West Virginia logger Harlan Simmons
1997
“My anvils will wear out before that thing will.”—Georgia logger Larry McCorkle on his CTR slasher “If you think five more loads a day will solve your problems, you may be
headed in the wrong direction.”— Alabama logger George Robinson “The trees on that tract were so limby a one-legged dog could climb most of ’em.”—Georgia logger Steve Rampey
1998
“If you’re going to influence your future, you’ve got to organize.”— Mississippi logger and Mississippi Loggers Assn. activist Donnie Burt “As the South becomes more urbanized, our public image will become less appreciated.”—Georgia logger Kenneth Moore “We used generators and lights to work at night. We slept in tents on a couple of jobs. People still talk about those days. Sometimes I’ll buy timber, telling the sellers who we are, and they’ll say: ‘You’re those nuts who work at night.’”— Sylvio Fauteux, recalling the early days of the Virginia logging career of himself and his two sons, Bob and Leo “Computers are great so long as somebody else is running ’em and I can get the printout.”—Alabama timber dealer/logger Hal Jones “In Mississippi, today the only person in worse shape than a logger is Bill Clinton.”—Cecil Johnson, Director, Mississippi Loggers Assn.
1999
“Putting chrome on a dog is like putting perfume on a hog.”—Texas contract trucker Rainbow Hougesen, on his conviction that chromedup Peterbilts look better than chromed-up Macks “When you operate with the kind of overhead we do and you’re running a 4 to 5% profit, you can’t afford to make mistakes.”—Alabama logger Larry Jordan “I don’t know how many times I’ve had loggers ask me if we also make cookware.”—John Lide, factory rep for Koehring, leading maker of sawheads
“We paid millions of dollars to put a man on the moon and all we would have had to do was tell a skidder driver he couldn’t go there.”—Mississippi logger Tim Holloway “I was too young to be an old logger, too small to be a big logger, and too poor to be a rich logger, so I decided to do my best to be a good logger.”—Texas logger Micha Miller
2000
“We try to haul everything but the stump.”—Mississippi logger Mark McKelvaine “There’s not much retirement in this business.”—Florida logger Alfred Elixson “You threw the big in with the little, and boy we threw some big in 48
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there for years.”—Georgia logger Stooge Millwood, reflecting on the customary practices of in-woods chipping in the early years of the chipping spread owned by him and his brothers “It’s (logging) a cash flow business. We’re making a living but we’re not accumulating anything.”—Georgia logger Parker Rahn “She’ll call you at 4 in the morning and tell you it’s time to go.”—Virginia logger George Davis, pointing out the motivating style of his mother and her vital role in the family’s logging business
ducers Assn. leader Joe Allen on the Southern loggers’ association phenomenon
2003
“When I started logging some of the (Bowater) foresters told my dad: ‘We’ll give him two weeks.’”— Tennessee logger Dennis Saffles, 44, on the beginning of his career at age 19 “As long as we have a free market situation, the entrepreneurial spirit will assure new loggers as we need
them.”—Texas Logging Council Coordinator Bob Currie
“By the time I get my chaps, boots and hat on, gather up my gas can and pick up the saw, I’m toting almost as much as I weigh.”— Gifted Oklahoma equipment operator Wendy Wyrick, fortyish, a woods worker since age 16 and wife of logger Glenn Wyrick, on why she did not care for chain saw work
“It’s not whether it’s John Deere, Cat or Tigercat. All the equipment now is real good. It’s the people who make your job.”—Louisiana logger Johnny Jenkins “Equipment dealers have priced themselves out of the market. We only call them when we have to.”— NC logger Chip Capps “Whatever we sell, that’s what they’ll buy.”—NC equipment salesman Collie Wallace on Pioneer Machinery’s switch from Timberjack to Caterpillar
2001
“You can’t have too much safety.”—Texas logger Larry Gaudet
“My wife is from the old school. She’s never told me what to do, never. Then again she’s done a real good job of reasoning with me.”—70year-old Alabama logger Carl Sessions “When you get in a jam, you go to a clutch, and Curnest is our clutch.”—Martco forester Scott Poole on Louisiana logging contractor Curnest Gulliot “She’s the heart and backbone of this business.”—Louisiana logger Curnest Gulliot on his wife, Shirley “It wasn’t loggers who promised that SFI would forever change timber management and harvests for the better, but it’s loggers who are paying.”—Bob Currie, Texas Logging Council Coordinator
“You can prepare for the routine stuff, but it’s the unexpected repair bill that wipes out what little profit there is.”—SC logger Clyde Brown “I wouldn’t work in Dallas if you gave me the whole city.”—Texas logger Keith Carrell “If John Deere made a woman, I’d have one!”—Oklahoma logger (name withheld for obvious reasons). “There is no way that a logger can do enough in the woods to cover the cost of one bad piece of legislation.”—Alabama logger Larry Jones
2002
“My family is my greatest strength. I couldn’t put up with the problems we are currently facing if they weren’t there to encourage me.”— Georgia logger Carson Sands, Jr. “I’m going to work until I’m 100, take a 30-day vacation and then I’ll decide if I want to retire.”—72year-old Florida logger Sylvester Comer “Where could we have been now had all of us pooled our resources and pulled together for the last 30 years?”—Southeastern Wood ProSouthern Loggin’ Times
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“New is nice, but paid for is excellent.”—Alabama logger Beryl Nichols
2004
“When somebody does good work, you need to tell ’em.”—Georgia logger Jeffery Boland “We don’t have them for their looks.”—Mississippi logger Clarence South on his pair of resurrected 1970s R Model Macks used as setout trucks “That’s all you’d ever see of him in the woods—his back—because
he was always so far out ahead of everyone.”—Gayle Huff, wife of 50-year Alabama logging vet Robert Huff
“Owning a logging job is like being a bank teller. You handle a lot of money but you don’t get to keep much of it.”—NC Logger Ray Cole
2005
“She’s extraordinarily good on equipment…better’n most men I’ve seen.”—Kentucky logger David
Kissiar on the machine operating ability of his wife, Amy
“…To say I’m a Master Timber Harvester because I sat in a class for so many hours (and took no test) is almost an insult to my intelligence.”—Georgia logger Terry Moore “As long as they put the trees ahead of me and the mills behind me, I’m fine.”—Georgia logger Mike Harvey “You can only whittle a stick so
long before it breaks. Most loggers’ sticks are getting pretty limber right now!”—SC logger Tommy Barnes “They unloaded that one before they got to the mill.”—SC logger J.C. Doolittle, pointing to a load of logs spilled beside an access road by a contract trucker “It doesn’t matter how many loads you haul in a week; it’s how much you can pay yourself at the end of the week.”—Florida logger Eric Baxley “He started the day I started, and when he quits, I’m gonna quit.”— Louisiana logger Martin Gardner on skidder operator J.P. Lewis, on board for 35 years
2006
“It’s a simple system. If you’re simple minded you’ve got to have a simple system.”—Arkansas logger Sammy Word on his maintenance routine “Very few things come between me and working, but grandkids will.”—Word again “I just feel free out here.”—Georgia logger Jimmy Storey
“Equipment doesn’t lay out, doesn’t show up late, doesn’t borrow money, doesn’t quit or go somewhere else for more money.”—Georgia logger Harry McDonald “One of the first things I told my crew when I started was that I wasn’t their girlfriend or wife or their mama; so when I needed something done, they need to see me as the boss, not someone else.”—Florida female logger Tracy Varnes “We have 21 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren; the house is full at Christmas.”—Georgia logger J.D. Gordon, whose crew consisted of himself, two sons, four grandsons and a log-hauling daughter
“Yankees running from the snow and people along the Gulf Coast running from hurricanes.”—How SC logger Rudy Ritter explained the rapid population growth around Summerville, SC between 2000 and 2004
2007
“The banks won’t finance you. They’d sooner loan you money to invest in an 8-track tape store than in a skidder.”—Alabama logger Travis Beasley “It’s a lot different working for a private corporation versus a publicly owned one.”—Mississippi logger Steve Mathis
2008
“My daddy said, ‘It’s a poor frog that won’t praise his own pond.’ We had always done a good job and the work we needed found us.”—SC logger Paul Gunter on finding work 50
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for two of his crews “I had one of my crew tell me this morning, ‘Mr. Gunter, it ain’t hard to follow a man who gets his hands dirty.’”—Gunter again, on one reason his company has little employee turnover “It wasn’t long before I was looking to him for strength.”— Mississippi’s Karen Nail on the optimism and tenacity of her logger husband, Benji, who was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2007 and underwent two surgeries and
two rounds of chemotherapy, but was away from the woods for a very limited time “My daddy (Sam Durham) said a man was worth 50 cents more a day if he didn’t wear gloves, because he spent a good bit of time taking them off and putting them on; and if he didn’t smoke cigarettes he was worth another 50 cents a day, because he didn’t have to take time to roll ’em.”—SC logger Leon Durham
2009
“God blinded Saul. God slapped me off a loader.”— Texas logger Lavoy Eason on his conviction that God used a near-fatal loader mishap to get his attention and to turn his life around
“All we can do is adapt to what we have to work with.”—Mississippi logger Ken Martin on market conditions “People have helped me every step of the way.”—Virginia logger Larry Roach
“I don’t want to find a bubble gum wrapper on the ground on my job.”— Florida logger Steven Hardee on his commitment to helping change the negative public perception of loggers
“In these rural areas, we are the General Motors. We have not gotten any bailouts and we are not asking for any…”—Virginia logger Ronnie Wright to Virginia congressman Tom Perriello while Perriello was touring a logging operation “Logging just gets in your blood. Some days you cuss it; some days you love it.”—Physically handicapped Florida logger Michael Conner “I was sitting at my desk inside a bank one day and thought to myself, ‘What in the world am I doing inside?’ So a couple of weeks later I was on an open-cab John Deere skidder.”—NC logger Willie Bunting “I think we’re all going to have to mash the reset button and look at what we’re doing with our money.”—Mississippi logger Keith Bunch on what he termed “going back to log trucks, not show trucks”
2010
“We work all day and half the night.”—Alabama logger Kenneth Miller in explaining the reasoning behind the company’s name, Moonlight Logging Co. “It’s a ‘poke and plum’ settlement. If you’re riding down the road and you poke your head out the window, you’re already plum out of town.”—Oklahoma logger Mike McCoy on his home community of Eagletown “Almost overnight we went from having no sales to having nothing to sell.”—Barko’s Brad Massey on an unexpectedly strong sales bump “I think I’ve logged for free since last (as in 2009) August.”—Alabama logger Jimmy Pritchett “I don’t know what the formula for success is but I do know what the formula for failure is. Just try and please everybody.”—Southeastern Wood Producers Assn. Executive Director Tommy Carroll
2011
“It’s a case where the men push the boss more than the boss pushes the men. They don’t let up. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”—Louisiana logger Kenneth Morgan on his employees “I decided to give logging one more try and see if I had learned from my mistakes the first time around.”—Georgia logger Ken Sheppard 52
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“He told me, ‘I couldn’t say this in any other situation because it would be sexist, but you’re a little woman. How do you expect to take control of a courtroom?’ I told him, look, in my real life I ran a sawmill. I can handle a courtroom.”— Bullock County, Ala. District Judge Terry Daniel, wife of logger Hunky Daniel and former manager of the family’s sawmill “…There’s a lot more talk than action, but I think there is so much talk that eventually there will be action.”—Georgia forester/entrepreneur Dennis Carey on the development of biomass-based industries in the state “It’s backed up like a soup line.”—Mississippi logger Jason Watts on truck congestion at his primary pulpwood market “Right now trucking is in more of a crisis than logging.”—NC logger Richard Williams “A lot of loggers don’t realize how much money scales can make for you by not going in too light or too heavy.”—Arkansas logger Dale Proctor
“We kept telling them (the mill) we can’t do it for that, and they kept saying we wouldn’t quit. We did.”—SC logger Robert Walker, speaking for himself and his partner/brother, Billy “When I started in the business, I wanted to borrow some money from him (his logging father). He told me I could make it the same way he did: digging, scratching and clawing.”— Florida logger Darrell Varnes “Reputation means more to me than a dollar.”—Florida logging equipment dealer Randy McKenzie
“What I do every day is my dream. I’m so blessed to be in the wood business.”—Virginia logger C.K. Greene “It seems like everyone is looking for a pie job these days.”—NC logger Joe Ross
2014
“Routinely running in three states, GPS tracking (for trucks) has become a go-to feature we are sold on.”— Florida logger David Morris, partner in Panhandle Forestry Services
“When you’ve got multiple breakdowns, it’s time to call it quits on the day and go home.”— Arkansas logger Chris Goodman “We’re equipment-conservative.”—Tennessee logger Michael Redfern, who, along with sons John and Justin, go after big grade hardwoods with chain saws, a 30-yearold cable skidder, a fork-equipped Case 455B crawler and a 1985 tanSLT dem axle Kenworth
2012
“I started (in the woods) when we were pulling wood with a mule, when I was too little to do anything but steer the mule. I learned a valuable lesson from that mule. If the log hung up, he would stop, then maybe go to the left. If that didn’t break the log loose, he’d go to the right. If that didn’t break the log loose, he’d stay until somebody could free it. That taught me a little about life; that if things don’t work one way, you have to do it another. Otherwise, you just tear up everything.”—Successful SC businessman Johnny Ward “There’s no challenge in cutting planted pine.”—Florida logger Bill Harrison “This is something we would have thrown away a couple of years ago.”—NC logger Terry Rivenbark, pointing to a pile of pine tops “I don’t know why anybody who is not already in this business would want to start in it now.”—Georgia logger Steve Rampey “Life is too short not to do what you love.”—Mississippi logger Sam O’Bryant “Some days it’s (logging) like a blind dog in a meat house.”—Alabama logger Ray Singleton
2013
“His best friend at 16 years old got kicked between the eyes by a mule and it killed him, so dad used draft horses.”—Alabama logger Wayne Hawkins, recalling the animal preference of his logging father, Leonard Southern Loggin’ Times
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LETTERS From SLT Archives Proud Recognition I certainly am proud of the article that was in your October 1981 issue in connection with the dedication of Union Camp’s new wood yard at Lavely, Ga. To have this modern wood yard named after me was one of the highlights of my 35-year career with Union Camp and it surely was nice to have it publicized in your fine paper. C.E. Lavely Wood Procurement Manager (Retired) Union Camp Corp. Savannah, Ga.
Thanks From Honoree I want to thank Southern Loggin’ Times for honoring J.A. Riggs Tractor Co. and myself with the 1981 Hatton Award. After the shock of this toned down, I realized that this was the greatest honor ever bestowed on this country boy. I sincerely believe your company and staff have contributed more to the forest products industry than any company or organization related to it. If it was not for the excellent work
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you and your people have done, we would not be able to do the job we are doing and get the wide coverage it takes to penetrate this market. Please keep up the good work. We are looking forward to a long and fruitful relationship. Harold Taylor Forest Products Representative J.A. Riggs Tractor Co. Little Rock, Ark.
An Encouraging Note I really enjoy your magazine. You do a wonderful job reporting on the logging industry. I would like to see more articles on the little crews— even some horse and mule crews— while there are still some left. David Kilpatrick Kilpatrick Brothers Logging Hohenwald, Tenn,
Show Article Applauded Your article on the New Orleans Forest Products Expo in the August issue was one of the best, most incisive accounts of exhibitor reaction that we have seen on the show.
We, quite frankly, are aware that our New Orleans show is generally not as good for logging/harvesting exhibitors as the Atlanta location, but your article showed that very positive results can be achieved when there is something of interest shown and demonstrated. Thank you for your efforts in putting together this excellent article. Lionel Landry Exposition Director Southern Forest Products Assn. New Orleans, La.
Future Logger Enclosed please find pictures of 11-year-old Bryan Humphreys, who is a 5th grade student. Bryan won first place for his “Timberjack & Logging Project” at a recent social studies and science fair held at his school. Bryan drew the trucks and equipment for the poster himself. He took match box trucks and rebuilt them to look like log and pulpwood trucks. We wanted to share his accomplishment with you since he got the ideas and inspiration from Southern Loggin’ Times.
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A favorite uncle of Bryan’s, who is a logger himself, gave Bryan a subscription to your magazine for a birthday present a couple of years ago and he has enjoyed it very much. Parents of Bryan Humphreys White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.
Touched His Heart Thank you for your adoption article. The Lord used it to touch my heart in a very special way. Thank you for your willingness to show what God has done. The article was a real blessing for me. Our daughters are 21 and 20 years old, 7 months apart. Jennifer is our blessing through adoption and Holly through natural birth. Both are marvelous answers to prayer. Bob Barrett Federal Paper Board Co. Newberry, SC
Bumper Sticker #1 Accompanying this letter is my order for your “American By Birth...Southern By The Grace Of
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God” bumper stickers. However, I thought you might be interested in how someone from Illinois not only found out about them but also wants them. I grew up in Asheville, NC and now spend my summer vacations there with my folks. A couple of weeks ago I was driving down one of the main streets and pulled up at a stop light behind a pickup truck that had one of your stickers on its bumper. I commented on it to my wife. As we drove up the street I said to her, “I wish I knew where he got that … I want one on our car.” And she responded, “Why don’t you ask him?” At the next red light I jumped out and ran up to ask him. Just as I got my question out the light turned green. He yelled something about “Farm Equipment Company… River Road… Terry Roberson” as he drove off and I ran back to my car. Before I could see him again we got separated in traffic. I told my wife that I thought I knew what he said and we proceeded to Farm Equipment Co. Sure enough, I found Mr. Roberson and he gave me a copy of Southern Loggin’ Times and gave me your name. That’s the story in a nutshell. I enjoyed meeting Mr. Roberson and from what he said about you I thought you might like to hear it. That’s also the reason I’ve written this myself rather than having my secretary type it. I agree with your statement above the order blank! You have to be a Southerner to understand. I was born in Selma, Ala. and have lived all my life in the South, with the exception of the past few years. That’s the reason I can hardly wait to get the bumper stickers. I would appreciate it very much if
you could send them to me without folding them. If you’ll let me know, I’ll be glad to send the extra postage for that service. In closing, thank you for taking the time to respond to this request from a fellow who’s “proud to be Southern.” Sincerely, Jesse P. Chapman, III Jacksonville, Ill.
More Bumper Sticker #2 This past May in Richmond you participated in Expo ’82, giving away bumper stickers that read “American By Birth...Southern By The Grace Of God.” Ever since I put one of these on my car I have been deluged by requests for a source of these stickers. You seem to have captured the spirit of the “New South.” I write asking you if I may obtain five of these stickers to distribute to my pesky kinfolk. I will be happy to pay the cost associated with this request. Please advise.
age to my left eye, and my right foot was disjointed and turned around backwards when I was put in the ambulance. I stayed in intensive care for 16 days on a breathing machine because my left lung was all cut up. I was given seven pints of blood. I am getting no workers’ comp as of now, because I am in a court battle with the insurance company. I even applied for welfare and food stamps and was turned away because I own too much; or so they said. I’m not getting any help from anyone except my wife’s family. I’m just glad to be alive; that is why I feel for the Coveys like I do. Logging is very dangerous work, as I know now, and a very risky
business at its best, but someone has to do it, so I took a shot and almost died trying. I was very lucky, as were the Coveys, I was working close to another logger on the tract I was on. He took over for the man helping me and I’m glad he did. He saved my life. His name is Ronnie Sullivan, also of Star City. So you see, I also have trouble, but I can still feel for others who have trouble. I’m not crying for pity, I enjoy your logging books very much and thought you might like to know how some of the crippled loggers survive. It’s not easy, but for one, I am going to come back, and I hope SLT the Coveys do too.
Maynard E. Burkett, III Richmond, Va.
Been There, Too My name is Donald Hackney. I am the owner-operator of Don Hackney Logging in Star City, Ark. I just read the story in Southern Loggin’ Times about Linda and Johnny Covey. My heart really goes out to them, because I personally know what they are going through. Last July 14, 1982, I was severely injured in the woods myself. A pine tree fell on me. All of my ribs on the left side were crushed, the vertebrae in my back was fractured and my head was cut up. I have nerve dam-
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INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP As We See It: Special Thanks To ALC Sponsors By Brian Nelson
F
or any association to offer services to its members, it needs revenue, and to do that solely on membership dollars can be challenging. That is where Nelson sponsorships come into play. When organizations that support our industry become sponsors of the American Loggers Council (ALC), they help us offer valuable services to our members through their sponsorship dollars. For nearly 20 years now the ALC has been “the voice” of professional loggers in this country by attending meetings, testifying before Congress, and meeting with our elected and agency officials in Washington DC and anywhere else where there is an issue impacting loggers on a national level. It has been two years since the ALC unveiled its new logo and new website in an effort to rebrand itself and make more loggers aware of the work it is doing on their behalf. At
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the same time, the ALC changed how sponsorships were handled as it relates to levels and how that money would be used. Since that time the number of sponsors has increased, as has their financial commitment to the ALC. Without their support we would not be able to accomplish as much as we have for our membership; and for that we are very grateful. There are a variety of ways that our sponsors support us. Examples include hosting our summer board of directors meetings at their facilities, recognizing the ALC in their advertising, helping to get information about the ALC out to loggers in areas that are not currently represented by ALC, and sending representatives to Washington to make visits on the Hill with our members. As I write this, we are preparing for our annual trip to Washington to meet with our elected officials and federal agencies to discuss issues important to loggers, and are looking forward to the participation and
unique perspectives that our sponsors bring to the table. This year, representatives from Caterpillar, John Deere and the Southern Loggers Cooperative will be present, and I hope that we see this type of participation continue to expand, giving our sponsors an opportunity to see what we do, how their funding is being utilized, and again helping us and those in Washington to realize that we are truly “all in this together” and we need to continue to work together to make this industry better for all parties involved. Anyone who has been to our nation’s capital knows how expensive that city can be, and that is where those sponsorship dollars are truly needed. Some may question if those visits are doing any good and I would answer “YES.” The ALC has been asked to testify before Congress a number of times on various subjects in recent years, as well as having been contacted by various federal agencies for our input on issues important to loggers. That shows we are getting our message out and that the ALC is regarded as the true “voice of professional loggers.”
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I would urge all of you to support those organizations that support the ALC and this industry as a whole, and to thank them for their support. For a complete listing of our sponsors, please visit our web site at www.americanloggers.org. Nelson is the ALC’s president. He and his brother David and father Marvin own and operate Marvin Nelson Forest Products, Inc., Cornell, Mich. The ALC is a non-profit 501(c) (6) corporation representing professional timber harvesters in 30 states. Visit ameri canloggers.org or phone 409-625-0206.
Loggers Converge On Capitol Hill On April 3-7 members of the American Loggers Council gathered in Washington in a coordinated effort to present issues important to the timber harvesting industry to lawmakers. Over 60 members attended, including representatives from Caterpillar Forest Products, John Deere and the Southern Loggers Cooperative. Over 100 hill visits were made. They included discussions on major
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INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP issues such as youth careers in logging; truck weight reform; National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reform; implementation by the U.S. Forest Service of new authorities in the 2014 Farm Bill to help the agency achieve its allowable timber sale quantities; and biogenic carbon accounting methods that are being looked at by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that could impact expanding woody biomass markets. On the first day ALC members were briefed on these four issues by the ALC staff and heard a presentation from Dan Sakura with the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) on tax issues that could impact reestablishing and managing private forestlands. Following all day Thursday and Friday morning visits to the capitol, members gathered at a Friday afternoon briefing session where presentations were made from the Forest Service on 2014 Farm Bill provisions and the 2014 and proposed 2015 budget; Dept. of Transportation on CSA and freight issues; the Federal Forest Resource Coalition on Forest Service Timber Sale
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Hatton-Brown Partners With ATPA For In-Woods-Expo Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. and the Arkansas Timber Producers Assn. (ATPA) have joined forces to sponsor the next In-Woods-Expo, a major demonstration/ display of forestry equipment, supplies and services that ATPA launched in 2004 and held again in 2007 and 2011. In-Woods-Expo 2015 is scheduled June 18-20 on a rolling pine plantation site managed by Weyerhaeuser Co. outside of Hot Springs, Ark. ATPA partnered with the Forest Resources Assn. (FRA) in sponsoring the first three successful events, but FRA, which has undergone a change in leadership and focus in the last two years, chose not to partner again, opening the door for ATPA to consider other options, according to Larry Boccarossa, ATPA Executive Director. “Our board explored several partnership options to strengthen planning, publicity, and execution strategies. We believe working in collaboration with Hatton-Brown will enhance the success In-Woods-Expo has experienced in prior years,” Boccarossa said. “Hatton-Brown will serve as the main conduit in promoting the show to issues; USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture on grants that might be available for forestry research (including timber harvesting); and Tom Trone with John Deere, who discussed the emerging
its numerous connections across the U.S. and internationally. In addition, this partnership will leverage the publicity resources in key renown Hatton-Brown publications, including Timber Harvesting, Southern Loggin’ Times, and Wood Bioenergy, to reach key audiences including exhibitors and attendees. In addition, this partnership will streamline registration through online avenues and payment collection, enhancing our capabilities to attract and encourage participation. We are very excited about this opportunity and our partnership, and believe In-Woods-Expo 2015 will be one of the best shows we’ve been a part of.” Speaking for Hatton-Brown, Co-Publisher DK Knight said, “We consider it a privilege for Hatton-Brown to join the ATPA team in helping plan, promote and implement In-Woods-Expo 2015. By combining the live show experiences of both organizations, H-B and ATPA expect to present the best expo in the series.” The first expo planning committee meeting was held in late April. For emerging expo details, monitor www.arkloggers.com.
technologies being provided by OEMs on telemetric systems that adapt to forestry equipment. One immediate opportunity as a result of these meetings was an invitation to testify before the
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House Natural Resources Committee supporting HR 4315, HR 4316, HR 4317, and HR 4318 regarding the Endangered Species Act (ESA). There were also numerous members supporting the positions of the ALC
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INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP in both the House and Senate. On Saturday morning, the ALC Board of Directors held its spring meeting where committee reports were given and strategies were discussed to pursue further action on legislative priorities. The National Woodland Owners Assn. was voted in to become an Organizational Associate Member of the ALC. ALC President Brian Nelson remarked, “Each year the fly-in continues to grow and members have become very comfortable with making their visits to the Hill and discussing our issues. What is more enlightening is the fact that now our sponsors are joining with us to add their unique perspective to further our issues. I would like to thank all of those who made the commitment and took the time to be with us as we continue to represent the professional timber harvesters across the U.S.”
Logging Cost Analysis In Columbia, Shreveport A course on logging costs analysis techniques will be offered in the coming weeks by the Warnell Con-
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tinuing Education Program of the University of Georgia. The course in Shreveport, La. is set for June 910 while that for Columbia, SC is set for July 15-16. Instructors will be Dale Greene and Chad Bolding. For details, contact Ingvar Elle at 706-583-0566.
Exhibitors Pouring In For Mid-South Show Exhibitor interest in the 2014 Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show has been good since space was made available earlier this year, with new space bookings coming in regularly, according to Misty Booth, Show Manager. The biennial event, which is celebrating its 30-year history this year, is set for September 19-20 at the Burkhardt Pavilion and on the Starr Memorial Forest near Starkville, Miss. The familyfriendly event incorporates equipment technology; continuing education classes for
loggers and foresters; forest management tips for landowners; the Caterpillar (Prentice) loader championship; Log-A-Load for Kids fundraisers; and special activities for kids. On-line pre-registration ($15) will open June 23 at midsouthforestry.org; admission is $20 at the gate. “The show attracted 5,500 attendees, guests and exhibitors in 2012—a record turnout—and with an improving economy, we hope to set a new record this year,” says Booth. “I encourage potential exhibitors to lock in space soon, as the prime spaces are going fast.” Exhibitors as of April 15 included Hatton-Brown Publishers, Horizon Insurance Group, Thompson Machinery, Caterpillar, Nations Welding Service, Vermeer MidSouth, Bandit Industries, John Deere, Mississippi Loggers Assn., MLA Insurance Services/ Risk Management Partners, Stribling Equipment, Insurance & Risk Managers, Forestry Suppliers, Mississippi 811, GCR Tire
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Center, B&G Equipment, Tigercat Industries, Morbark, Waters International, Barko Hydraulics, Mississippi Forestry Assn., Puckett Machinery, Alliance Tire Americas, Peterbilt of McComb, Chambers DeLimbinator, MLA Log-A-Load for Kids, Peterson Pacific, DavisGarvin Agency, Magnolia Trailers, Lumberman’s Exchange, Rotobec, Wood-Mizer Products, TruckworxKenworth of Alabama & Mississippi, MS Machinery Sales, Timber Clothing Co., Hawkins & Rawlinson, FAE USA, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneer; Kinder Morgan; Advanced Drainage Systems, Rayco Mfg., TriState Truck Center, Lumbermen’s Equipment Digest, and Taylor Machine Works.
Bibler Brothers Sold To West Fraser West Fraser has purchased its second softwood lumber sawmill in Arkansas in two months. The company is acquiring Bibler Brothers Lumber, owned by Terry Freeman, in Russellville. This follows the acquisition in March of Travis
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INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP Lumber in Mansfield. Bibler Brothers Lumber produced 136MMBF in 2013. West Fraser will now own four sawmills in Arkansas, and 16 in the U.S. along with 14 sawmills in Canada. James Bibler purchased the mill from Nekoosa Paper in 1986. Bibler sold the mill to his general manager, Freeman, in 1998.
Louisiana’s Jeffrey Martinez Honored
Changes Announced By NC Loggers’ Group The North Carolina Assn. of Professional Loggers (NCAPL) is searching for a new Executive Director to replace Doug Duncan, who resigned effective May 1 to lead the Forestry Equipment Operator Training Program (FOROP). Largely through Duncan’s efforts, the association developed FOROP as a pilot program in 2012 and expanded its depth and reach. The NCAPL executive committee members have issued an executive director job description, which is now available. Members Chip Capps and Perry Hunt are fielding
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Jeffrey Martinez, center, owner of TJM, Inc., Zwolle, La., was recently honored as the Forest Resources Assn.’s Southcentral Region 2014 Outstanding Logger. A logging businessman for 35 years, Martinez is known as a true professional, excellent communicator and good leader and manager. He received a wooden crosscut saw plaque from FRA Southcentral Region Vice Chairman Gary Beacher, left, and a STIHL MS 461 chain saw and $250 check from STIHL Southwest’s Sean Kinney.
questions. Capps can be contacted at 252-432-7209 and Hunt at 919562-1861. In conjunction with Duncan’s res-
ignation, the FOROP program has been detached from NCAPL to operate as a standalone entity as a partner with Caterpillar Forest
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Products and NC Caterpillar dealer Gregory Poole Equipment, which have supported FOROP with harvesting machines since its inception. Under NCAPL it had three full time employees. “We will make every effort to facilitate this transition as seamlessly as possible, and wish Doug and the equipment partners much success with this important program,” said NCAPL Chairman Norman Nance. “Doug deserves tremendous thanks for his service to our association in getting us off the ground and in guiding our rapid growth.” Duncan, 59, was hired by the NCAPL when it was formed in 2007. “It’s been my pleasure to serve the needs of North Carolina loggers and supporting partners since the NCAPL was established,” Duncan said. “The FOROP training has grown into a successful program that demands more time and attention to further its expansion. Caterpillar Forest Products and Pioneer Gregory Poole Forest Products support the goal of providing safe and efficient basic entry-level operators. Their commitment and the obvious
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INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP logging industry need encouraged my job change. I look forward to stepping up to the challenge and working with the many loggers and friends established over the years.” The development prompted these responses from equipment providers Caterpillar Forest Products (CFP and Gregory Poole/Pioneer
Machinery (GP/PM). Chip Burroughs, CFP Territory Manager: “This is a positive step in the development of this program. Doug Duncan has been the champion behind it from the start and now this project will have his leadership full time. Attracting and training equipment operators is critical to
the survival and expansion of the forestry industry and this program is an important step.” Scott Thomas, GP/PM: “Gregory Poole/Pioneer Machinery is very proud to be a FOROP partner by supporting the program with new Caterpillar equipment. The NCAPL Board of Directors’ vision to start the
school continues with its recent decision to allow the school to become a separate entity. This will allow the FOROP leadership to dedicate 100% of their time to expand the scope and reach of the school. We are very excited about the benefits this will bring to our logging industry.”
SWPA Event To Include Logging/Outdoor Expo The annual meeting of the Southeastern Wood Producers Assn. (SWPA) will be radically different this year in that it will occur in conjunction with a logging/outdoor (recreational) exposition, with a focus on transportation. It will be staged at the Jekyll Island Convention Center in Jekyll Island, Ga. on June 6-7. Numerous manufacturers, equipment dealers and service providers will display harvesting machines, attachments, tires, trucks, trailers and other products. A different group of vendors will offer various outdoor gear, including boats, fishing tackle, hunting supplies, grills and ATVs. Admission for adults (18 and older) is $20 per day or $35 for two days. Admission for children 11-17 is $15 per day or $25 for two days. Children 10 and under will be admitted free. Tickets for the SWPA annual banquet are $50 each (adults and children 11 and older). Golf and skeet shooting events will benefit Log-A-Load for Kids. Admission fees for each are $100. For more information, contact SWPA at 904-845-7133, 478-9522809, or 912-276-0657.
Softwood Sawmillers Express Optimism Nearly 79% of U.S. softwood lumber producers responding to Timber Processing’s Annual Sawmill Capital Expenditure Survey rated their lumber business situation as excellent or good at the end of the first quarter 2014, and nearly 88% expect their situation to be excellent or good for the remainder of 2014 and through 2015. Another 12% forecast their situation for the remainder of 2014 and 2015 as fair. Not a single producer responding to the survey expects their situation to play out as poor or very poor over the next two years. Timber Processing magazine, an affiliate of Southern Loggin Times, conducted this survey in late March and early April. It was directed toward owners, presidents, general 64
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INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP managers, plant managers, supervisors, corporate executives and regional managers.
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Respondents came from large and small producers across the U.S. Two key questions in the survey
asked producers how much capital investment in machinery and systems has already been or will be
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committed to their mill in 20142015, and for which specific machinery or systems. An impressive 46% said more than $1 million is being spent. Broken down further, 23% said $1-3 million, 14% said $3-5 million, and 9% said $5-15 million. Another 14% said $500,000 to $1 million, while 7% said $300,000-$500,000, and 14% said $100,000-$300,000; the remaining 19% are spending less than $100,000. An open-ended question inquired as to what lumbermen are most concerned about with regard to their lumber markets. “A softening economy, poor housing numbers, oversupply of lumber,” stated one. “Right now we are having some transportation issues—not enough trucks to get our finished lumber shipped,” said another. Another concern from another lumberman: “Cost and supply for raw materials and the ability to move wood byproducts.”
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19 ➤ exactly? “One of the most important things in this business is to go with the flow,” Hodges says with a shrug. When asked about how his young age affects him, Hodges shrugs again, saying, “It’s hard to get respect and hard to get financing at first, but I’ve done all right.”
IronWorks He’s of course being modest, as his iron registry is impressive. With six crews he’s got a lot of stuff, as he says—mainly John Deere with Tigercat and Prentice in the mix, with set hands making use of Stihl 460s. “I’m a Deere fan. They’ve been really good to me, for one, but the skidders: they’re not the biggest and they’re not the baddest, but they are dependable. You never have to work on them,” Hodges believes. Hodges works with Doggett Machinery and Tejas Equipment in Lufkin as his dealers. “I’ve done cost per ton on all my equipment and John Deere comes out the best,” the Deere fan says. It doesn’t hurt that John Deere also has the features that Hodges
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enjoys like JD Link maintenance alert software and good financing plans. Though he doesn’t always use the Deere financing plans, “It just depends,” he says. “I shop it around for the best rates.” Hodges uses Commercial Bank in Wells, Tex., and Wells Fargo for some pieces, but he does admit that John Deere does a lot. In addition to in-woods pieces, Hodges runs 19 of his own trucks, plus he makes use of contract trucks. His trucks are a mix of Mack, Kenworth and Peterbilt, though Peterbilt glider kits are his preferred brand. Trailers are also a mixed bag of Viking and Pitts Ultra Lites. “Vikings are too heavy with the new weight laws,” Hodges comments as to his fairly recent switch to Pitts. Every single one of them is equipped with Vulcan scales, purchased from FTR Equipment in Lufkin. Loading legal is not only important to Hodges, but instrumental to keeping trucking costs low, as Hodges admits his trucks have had problems with weight tickets in the past. “Trucks are stressful,” he says, “You make your money logging and then hope to break
even on trucks.” Tires on both in-woods equipment and trucks are Firestone. “I’m a Firestone guy. I’ve had the best luck with them,” Hodges says, noting that he sticks with what he’s had success with and doesn’t usually change.
Markets Since Hodges runs so many crews, usually spread out throughout east Texas, he markets his wood to many different places. He also has a wood yard that trucks will haul to, which helps keep profits up and a diverse mix going to the mills. Mills include: West Fraser, Georgia-Pacific, Louisiana-
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Pacific, International Paper, Arrington Pallets, and MeadWestvaco. “We go all over Texas and even into Louisiana,” Hodges says again with a shrug. The shrug to some might appear that the 25year-old is disconnected or unaware of his business. The exact opposite is true. Hodges is sharp, but laid back. “God’s blessed me for sure. He gives you a brain to think with, hands and arms to work with, but you’ve got to make the right choices,” Hodges says. Hodges credits his ability to make the right choices to knowing he can count on his crew. “I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for the employees.”
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Maintenance Hodges keeps one full time mechanic on staff, Steve Hopkins. Steve’s main responsibility is truck and trailer maintenance, but he will also handle equipment breakdowns. Each crew has a foreman responsible for changing oils and greasing. Most maintenance is easily taken care of and kept up with because of the JD Link software. For a guy like Hodges, who isn’t out on the job all day every day, it allows him to be aware of what’s going on with the equipment without having to spread himself clear across Texas, as he says. In addition to JD Link, Hodges employs Mark Hayes as a supervisor over all the inwoods jobs, which helps not spread himself too thin. It might be his youthful spirit, but Hodges isn’t afraid to use JD Link to check in on crews. One of the biggest issues in east Texas is dust, and Hodges’ jobs are plenty dusty. To combat dust from becoming a problem, air filters are blown out every week or so, with cutters sometimes needing to be blown out every day. The mechanic operates out of a shop located near Hodges’ home, but are really ready for something bigger. Since most work is done in-woods, Hodges hasn’t been pressed to find another shop, but is definitely looking for more space near the existing facility.
ers’ comp. Hodges has never had a recordable accident and credits safety meetings and a veteran crew for keeping the jobs safe. Hodges isn’t sure what the future holds for him and his company. In
five years? He wouldn’t put it past himself to have a small hardwood sawmill or another few crews. Hodges best sums up his company, and by extension his life, saying, “It’s hard to make every move
count—there’s only two reasons people are in this business. You either love it or it’s the only thing you know how to do. And I love it. I really do. It’s a pain sometimes, SLT but I love it. I really do.”
Family Ties Forrest Hodges Operations, Inc. is very much a family affair and the young man knows that without his family, he wouldn’t have gotten where he is today. In fact, because of his grandfather, W.C. Hodges, and getting out on the job at age 9, he wouldn’t be a logger at 25. Hodges’ father, Keith Hodges, runs his crew on the Hancock contract, while Hodges’ uncle, Joe Hodges, runs one of the crews on a private track Hodges has purchased. Though his father is more than just one of his foremen, Hodges calls him “my right hand man.” Hodges’ secretary is actually his mother-in-law Carmen Montgomery. She does all office work alongside Hodges: mill tickets, payroll, insurance payments and equipment payments. According to Hodges, “You name it, she does it.” That includes his least favorite task, dealing with insurance companies. Larry Davis Insurance covers the machines, while Bituminous writes workSouthern Loggin’ Times
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Want To Place Your Classified Ad In IronWorks? Call 334-699-7837, 1-800-669-5613 or Email: class@southernloggintimes.com
IRONWORKS
TOLL FREE: 1-800-669-5613 Cummins motor with 8000 hrs. .$215,000 • 4-35.5x32 tires mounted on 20 hold John Deere rims ............................$6,000 • 4-73.44x32 tires mounted on Tigercat 14 hole rims, all @ 70% ..............$12,000 Call (740) 352-4626 or (740) 682-6188
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Waverly Wood, LLC of Waverly, TN is looking to employ a full time Forester; experience preferred. Applicants must be able to cruise and buy timber tracts and will report to the Timber Procurement Manager.
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. WE ALSO BUY USED DELIMBINATORS
50' ......G2-6 Gates Hose .....$137.59 50' ......G2-8 Gates Hose .....$156.50 50' ......G2-12 Gates Hose ...$259.95 Call Tim Alligood 252-341-9891 www.cavalierhoseandfittings.com
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2006 Prentice 384 CSI delimber, Hydraulic legs, new engine, 10649 hours..........$48,000
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FOR SALE Barko 225 with
CSI delimber, good running, dependable loader, cold a/c, Deere engine ....................$21,000 obo PARTING OUT: Timberjack 735 shovel, Tigercat 845B fellerbuncher with 5702 saw head, 110 degree rotation.
Contact 251-513-7001 945
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RECONDITIONED DELIMBINATORS!!
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IRONWORKS RATES; Space available by column inch only, one inch minimum. Rate is $50 per inch, special typesetting, borders, photo inclusion, blind ads, $10 extra each. Deadlines: By mail, 15th of month prior to publication. Place your ad toll-free 24 hours a day from anywhere in the USA (except Alaska and Hawaii) 1-800-669-5613 ask for Classifieds 8:30-5 pm CST. After business hours our automatic ad taker will take your ads.
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FINAN C AVAILA ING BLE
www.equipmentandparts.com
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Office : 903-238-8700 • Shane Fuller : 903-235-1147 Jason Bruner: 903-452-5290
SKIDDERS
2012 John Deere 648H Dual Arch Grapple Skidder - 2,700 hours, “NEW” 30.5 x 32 tires, Extended power train and hydraulic warranty until 7/15 or 5,000 hours. ...$169,500
2004 John Deere 843H Feller Buncher – Waratah FD22 Saw Head, 28L tires, Cab with air, Extra clean for age.........................................$59,500
MULCHERS & CONSTRUCTION
FELLER BUNCHERS
2011 Cat 573 Feller Buncher – 4,500 hours, Prentice SH50 Saw Head, 30.5 x 32 tires, Cab with air. ........$145,000
2011 Prentice 2570 Feller Buncher – 6,200 hours, Cummins engine, Waratah FD22 Saw Head, 28L tires .....$119,500
2008 Prentice 2670 Feller Buncher – Prentice 22” Center Post Saw Head, 34:00 tires, Cab with air. ........$79,500
2006 Hydro-Ax 670 Feller Buncher – 22 inch Waratah Head, 6.7 Cummins, 34:00 tires, Low time Hydro – Stats and saw pump (2012). ..........$69,500
Visa and Mastercard accepted
2014 Barko 930 Mulcher – Brand new machine, 1 year bumper to bumper warranty, 2 year power train warranty, 305 HP Cummins engine, FAE Mulching Head, 28L tires. Rent to own WAC.............................$349,000
2006 Cat 563 Mulcher – Fecon BH120 Mulching Head, Good 28L tires, Cab with air. ................$116,500
2008 Cat 563 Mulcher – “NEW” FAE Mulching Head, “NEW” High pressure pump and hoses, “NEW” 28L tires, Cab with air. This machine has 0 hours since the conversion from a Feller Buncher. Rent to own WAC ..$189,500
LOADERS
2002 Tigercat 240B Log Loader – Can be mounted on trailer with CTR Delimber or Riley Delimber, Cummins engine, Cold A/C, Ready to work! ...............................................$49,500
NOT PICTURED 2011 Cat 553 Feller Buncher – 5,300 hours, Prentice SH50 Saw Head, 28L tires, Cab with air. ...............$110,000
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SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SALE!! JOHN DEERE 648G II & III 460D
★ RECONDITIONED TRANSMISSIONS ★
INCLUDES: 6 month warranty fluid & filters
$15,900 Exchange, Installed
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(1DN sn#)
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JOHN DEERE 648G III & 460D
$15,900 Exchange, Installed
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Also Specials on: ENGINES & AXLE COMPONENTS call for prices without installation
CAT 525B/535/545 $15,900 Exchange, Installed
TOLL FREE 1-800-251-2789 ● DIRECT 936-829-7278 ● FAX 936-829-7283
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ROCKWELL, EATON, FUNK, COMMERCIAL, BULLDOG, SPICER, DURST, GEAR PRODUCT 72
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Watch videos of some of our machines on YouTube
2009 John Deere 648H—Torque 2011 Prentice 234B—3962 hours, 2007 John Deere 648GIII Log Skidconverter, Just In ...............$87,500 CTR 426 .............................$160,00 der—Direct Drive, Engine rebuild in August 2010, New center pins, New blade pins & bushings, Very straight ...........................................$69,500
2004 Timberjack 460D Log Skidder—Torque converter transmission, Reman engine with 2400 hrs, New center section, New glass, All cylinders & valve body dry...................$65,000
2005 John Deere 748GIII Log Skidder—Very good 30.5 tires, New cen- 2007 John Deere 648GIII—Single ter pins, Dry all over, cold a/c, Woods arch, Direct drive, VERY GOOD 30.5 tires Ready!! ..............................$69,500 .............................................$65,000
2002 Hydro-Ax 670 Feller Bunch- 2011 John Deere 548GIII—Low 2002 Hydro-Ax 570—28L tires: er—New disc, New center pins, hours, Good 28Lx26 tires, Very good - 75%, Very straight & tight..$47,500 Rebuilt pump drive, Good 28L tires 1 owner, Ready to work ...$130,000 ...........................................$49,500
2010 Prentice 2384B; 7,974 hours; CTR 426 2007 Tigercat 230C; 10,028 hours; CTR Delimber mounted on Evans Trailer...$119,500 delimber, Mounted on Pitts Trailer ....$79,500
2007 CTR 950B Skidder; 7,353 hours; 128" Bunching Grapple; Cummins Power; 30.5x32 tires............$64,500
2005 Tigercat 724D; 14,858 hours; Tigercat 5600 sawhead; 30.5x32 tires .................................$83,900
2004 Tigercat 718; 12,590 hours; Tigercat 5000 sawhead; 0 hrs on rebuilt engine; 30.5x32 tires............$52,900
2010 Tigercat 234; 3,048 hours; Pitts Trail- 2005 Deere 843H; 8,916 hours; 67x34 tires, er, CSI Delimber ..............................$129,500 Front 60% .........................................$59,900
3191
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EQUIPMENT FINANCING • Preferred Good Credit Plans • Rough Credit Plans
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2004 Tigercat 250 Track Loader, Cummins Recon engine, 36" tracks, 4053 grapple.......$85,000
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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. 770
Day 334-312-4136 Night 334-271-1475 or Email: johnwpynes@knology.net
2004 Tigercat 640C Bogie Clambunk Cummins w/6683 hours; NAF Bogie walking beams, single 32.5 on front and duals 28Lx26 on rear; machine has not swamp logged.......$125,000 Machines are not at one location, they are consigned to EEB, Inc. by the owners; FOB present location. Price, Condition and Availability subject to change without notice
CALL CHARLES or visit website for full specs and details
www.eebinc.com
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2004 CAT skidder 525B, Dual arch, 50 inch flotation tires at 50%, 11,100 hours, no winch ......$42,000
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EUREKA SAW TOOTH CO., INC.
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We can save you money on Saw Teeth. Hundreds of satisfied A NOW CCEPTIN G customers. Rebuilt Exchange or New. We specialize in rebuildCREDIT ing Koehring 2000, Hurricana, Hydro Ax split teeth and all CARDS other brands. Call Jimmy or Niel Mitchell. Quantity Discounts!
4275 Moores Ferry Rd. • Skippers, Virginia 23879 PH./FAX (day) 1-434-634-9836 or Night/Weekends • 1-434-634-9185
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TIDEWATER EQUIPMENT CO. KEN • 803-300-7837
Call or visit our website: www.tidewaterequip.com SKIDDERS 2006 CTR 950 .....................................$25,500 2001 Deere 648GIII .............................$40,500 2008 Deere 648H ................................$85,500 2010 Deere 648H ..............................$100,000 2005 Deere 748GIII .............................$57,000 2004 Tigercat 620C ............................$67,500 2005 Tigercat 620C ............................$66,000 2003 Tigercat 630C ............................$50,000 2004 Tigercat 630C ............................$61,000 2005 Tigercat 630C ............................$60,000 2005 Tigercat 630C ............................$75,000 2010 Tigercat 630D ..........................$140,000 2005 Timberjack 460D........................$57,500
FELLER BUNCHERS 2011 CAT 563....................................$119,900 2009 Deere 643J .................................$85,000 2007 Prentice 2470 .............................$65,000 2008 Prentice 2470 .............................$88,000 2008 Prentice 2570 .............................$89,000 2006 Tigercat 718 ...............................$65,000
2009 Tigercat 718E...........................$110,000 2012 Tigercat 718E...........................$192,000 2005 Tigercat 720D ............................$74,500 2006 Tigercat 720E.............................$78,500 2011 Tigercat 720E...........................$147,000 2005 Tigercat 724D ............................$69,500 2005 Tigercat 724D ............................$85,200 2004 Tigercat 822 .............................$167,500 2005 Timberking TK340 .....................$30,000 2004 Timberking TK360 .....................$61,100
LOG LOADERS 2005 Deere 335C ................................$27,500 2005 Prentice 280 ...............................$42,500 2005 Prentice 280 ...............................$45,000 2006 Prentice 280 ...............................$45,000 2004 Prentice 410 ...............................$24,500 1999 Tigercat 230B.............................$16,000 2004 Tigercat 230B.............................$37,500 2002 Tigercat 240B.............................$34,100 2003 Tigercat 240B.............................$48,100 2004 Tigercat 240B.............................$53,500
2005 Tigercat 240B.............................$68,900
INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT 1997 MORBARK 22 ............................$69,000 2007 MORBARK 3800 WOOD HOG.$212,500 2010 MORBARK 4600XL..................$435,000
MISCELLANEOUS Assortment of tires and rims for Deere/Tigercat CTR 314 and 400 Delimbers .......................................$1000 to $18,000 Tigercat Shears and Saws ......................................$2,500 to $20,000 Please come see us at our new parts locations: – Waycross, GA (912) 282-9284 – Statesboro, GA (912) 601-9924 – Elizabethtown, NC (910) 876-7058
View our web site for over 200 listings with newly reduced prices and pictures 2687
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CLIPPERS
SH56 Sawhead ............$98,500
HYDRO-AX HYD 321 (7121), PETERSON 5000G (2G-2141998, 10,000 Hrs, Cab, AC, 661), 2001, 12981 Hrs, Cab, 24.5-32 , 20’’ Sawhead$33,500 AC, Whole Tree Chipper HYDRO-AX HYD 670 $200,000 (HA18975), 2005, 11000 Hrs, 30.5-32, SC56 Sidecut FELLER BUNCHERS Cab, Sawhead ..........................CALL CAT 563 (00HA19937), 2011, DEERE 643K (1DW643KXHA 2026 Hrs, Cab, AC, 24.5-32, 0631650), 2010, 3900 Hrs, SH50 Saw..................$198,000 Cab, AC, 28L-26, FD45 Saw CAT 573 (00HA19789), 2010, CALL 3666 Hrs, Cab, AC, 30.5L-32, TIGERCAT 726 (7260852), SS56 Saw..................$173,500 1997, 10,000 Hrs, Cab, AC, 30.5-32, 22’’ Sawhead $39,000 CAT 573 (00HA19945), 2011, KNUCKLEBOOM 4623 Hrs, Cab, AC, 24.5-32,
LOADERS
TIMBERJACK 450C (CB4855), 1994, 10,000 Hrs, Orops w/ PRENTICE 280 (P57066), 2000, Cage, 28L-26, Sorting Grapple 12738 Hrs, Cab, Trailer .....CALL .................................$22,500 PRENTICE 384 (62951), 2006, CAT 517 (05WW00419), 2004, 14430 Hrs, Cab, AC, Evans Trail- 7877 Hrs, Cab, AC, Esco Graper, Prentice Grapple, CTR 320 ple.............................$200,000 $44,000 CAT 525 (03KZ01265), 2004, 11708 Hrs, Cab, AC, 30.5-32, SCREENS DOPPSTADT SM720 (W096211 Dual Arch Grapple........$61,500 79A1D07448),2010, 248 Hrs, CAT 525B (03KZ02111), 2006, Trommel Screen ........$323,000 4778 Hrs, Cab, AC, 30.5-32, DOPPSTADT SM720 (W09621 Grapple ............................CALL 21781D07286), 2009, 1581 Hrs, 7’ 20’’ Drum w/ 3/4 ‘’ CAT 525C (052501416), 2011, Punch Plate ...............$250,000 5601 Hrs, Cab, AC, 30.5-32, Double Arch Grapple, S Blade, SKIDDERS Winch...............................CALL
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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
7393
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FOR SALE
2011 John Deere 648H, dual arch skidder, 34" tires, 3750 hrs. ...........................$162,500 731-225-2434 2859
FOR SALE 7195
2004 and 2005 John Deere 748G-III, 2004 has 7000 hrs., 2005 has 7500 hrs. (2004) $65,000......(2005) $95,000
MAMA & VETERANS... WE THANK YOU! CAT: 205-6407 WHEELS (35.5-32) (4) AVAILABLE....$900/EA
CONTACT: 478.550.2330 - Keith 478.256.4063 - Gary
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ASK ABOUT TIRE OPTIONS!
FORESTRYPARTSRESOURCE.COM
2006 John Deere 748G-III, 0 hrs on motor ..............$95,000 Also have three 30-35x32 skidder tires ............................................$2,500 each
Call Heath Griffin
1-870-260-9439
3723
6209
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INDIVIDUAL LOGGER APPLICATION
FIELD SERVICE TECHNICIAN HewSaw US, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of a world leader in the design and manufacture of processing equipment for the forest products industry, is opening a parts and service depot in Savannah, Georgia to better serve our customers throughout the United States. We are seeking to hire a qualified tradesperson as a Field Service Technician to complement our existing team within North America. The incumbent will be based out of Savannah. Responsibilities: • Provide on-site inspection and repair services to our existing customers throughout the eastern portion of the United States; • Act as liaison between customers and engineering, and project and corporate management to ensure customer issues are resolved in a professional and expedient manner; • Participate in the installation and commissioning of new machinery and provide training to customer personnel; • Required to work irregular hours and overtime as required. Qualifications: • Post-Secondary education with Millwright or Fabricator trade qualifications or the equivalent combination of education and experience; • Experience working in an industrial environment preferred; • Problem solving skills – identifying problems, evaluating options and implementing solutions; • Proficiency in pneumatics, hydraulics and electrical systems as they relate to our equipment; • Ability to read and understand engineering drawings; • Proficiency in understanding PLC functionality is preferred; • Proficiency in use of Word, Excel and Power Point is preferred; • Candidate must be able to provide training in a classroom environment; • Ability to travel extensively to sawmill locations throughout North America and must hold a valid passport for occasional international travel.
I wish to join the American Loggers Council as an Individual Logger Member in fulfilling the ALC’s mission of enhancing the logging profession, providThe National Voice for ing a unified voice on logging issues and cooperating Professional Loggers with public, industrial and private timberland owners to further sustainable forestry practices. Date: __________ Applicant Company: __________________________ I
❑ am a member ❑ am not a member (check one) of a state or regional logging assn.
Category of membership requested: (please check one)
❑ 1-5 employees $100/year ❑ 11-19 employees $300/year
❑ 6-10 employees $200/year ❑ 20+ employees $400/year
Name of Contact Person: ______________________________________ Address: _____________________________________________________ City: ________________________ State: ___________ Zip: __________ Phone:________________________________________________________ Fax: _________________________________________________________ Email: _______________________________________________________ Website: ______________________________________________________
A competitive salary plus full benefits package is offered. Preference will be given to candidates who are currently residing in Savannah, Georgia or neighboring areas. If you meet the above requirements, please submit your résumé by e-mail before June 5, 2014 to: bruce.delicaet@hewsaw.com
Forward with payment to: American Loggers Council • Individual Logger Membership P.O. Box 966 • Hemphil, TX 75848 All individual logger memberships will be due January 1 of each succeeding year. There is no pro-rata rate available based on the date of initial membership. 5552
WWW.AMERICANLOGGERS.ORG LOG ON! • 409-625-0206
Richard Lindley • Used Equipment Manager • 205-849-4222 Ashley Tucker • Northern Region • 205-849-4393 Bill Baker • Used Equipment Manager – South • 334-215-5207
USED EQUIPMENT FOR SALE
2011 PRENTICE 2670C, S/N PB20030, 4769 2011 CAT 559B, S/N PR65039, 5187 hrs, CTR 2010 PRENTICE 2570, S/N PB19847, 5040 hrs, hrs, SC-57 Cutter head .............................$185,000 426 Delimber/Pitts Model 48 trailer..........$165,000 SH 56 22" Cutter Head/28L-26 Tires ........$115,000
2011 CAT 525C, S/N 52501199, 7088 hrs., Dual Arch 2006 CAT 525C, S/N 52500164, 10875 hrs, Single Arch 2006 CAT 525B, S/N 3KZ02147, 10509 hrs, Single Arch grapple/Winch/Decking Blade/30.5-32 tires .......$129,500 Grapple/Winch/Decking Blade/35.5-32 Tires...........$53,500 Grapple/Winch/Decking Blade/30.5-32 Tires...........$65,000
VISIT OUR WEBSITE OR CALL US FOR MORE INFORMATION ON MORE OF OUR QUALITY USED EQUIPMENT
website: www.thompsontractor.com • email: usedequipment@thompsontractor.com Southern Loggin’ Times CLICK HERE IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY OPTED IN!
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A D L I N K ●
ADVERTISER American Logger’s Council American Truck Parts Around The World Salvage B & G Equipment Bandit Industries Big John Trailers Bituminous Insurance Bron RWF Carter Machinery Cat Forest Products Cleanfix Reversible Fans Cooper Forestry Equipment Cutting Systems John Deere Forestry Duratech Industries Employer’s Underwriters Equipment & Parts Firestone Agricultural Tires Flint Equipment Forestry Equipment Resources Forestry First Forestry Mutual Insurance G & W Equipment Hawkins & Rawlinson Lynn Hendrix Equipment Hewsaw Machines Hydraulic & Pneumatic Ironmart James River Equipment George Kahler Sales Kaufman Trailers KMC Kootrac/Kootenay Tractor Knight Forestry Mike Ledkins Insurance LMI-Tennessee Magnolia Trailers Maxi-Load Scale Systems Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show Moore Logging Supply Nokian Tyres Ozark Machinery Peterson Pacific Pitts Trailers Power Equipment Prolenc Manufacturing Puckett Machinery
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409.625.0206 888.383.8884 800.251.2789 601.656.7011 800.952.0178 800.771.4140 800.475.4477 800.263.1060 800.868.4228 919.550.1201 855.738.3267 423.338.5470 877.844.1274 800.503.3373 888.795.1977 800.622.7635 800.983.1971 515.242.2300 229.888.1212 256.766.6491 803.807.1726 800.849.7788 800.284.9032 888.822.1173 936.563.4174 604.852.7293 800.785.5133 888.561.1115 804.798.6001 888.330.7297 866.497.7803 800.562.5303 229.762.3500 800.766.8349 800.467.0944 800.738.2123 877.265.1486 662.325.2191 888.754.5613 800.565.2525 800.766.6455 800.269.6520 800.321.8073 865.577.5563 877.563.8899 601.985.3700
45 ➤ deal. It didn’t even have a serial number on it. Don gets stopped by the DOT. You know stolen equipment moves like that, you grind the serial numbers off. They’re from Canada. They don’t have any paper work. They’ve got a day cab truck. And all they wanted was to get rid of that thing and go home.” Get the rest of the story in Between the Branches March 2006. Back issues are available at www.tigercat.com.
Timbersure In the logging industry—where the threat of injury or loss of life is ever-present—you need an insurance company that will not only protect your business, but also you, your employees, and your family. That’s where the TimberSure Risk Purchasing Group comes in. Since 1995, TimberSure has specialized in writing property and casualty insurance policies for logging contractors throughout the United States. We are true logging insurance experts who have dedicated our careers to providing the financial protection required by loggers like you. We understand the daily risks you face on the job. And we write specific, effective insurance policies to meet your needs. With policies for you, your equipment, AND your logs, we provide customizable logging insurance policies for commercial auto, commercial general liability, commercial property, inland marine, and umbrella insurance. 78
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ADVERTISER Quadco Equipment Quality Equipment And Parts R Squared Solutions Ring Power Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers River Ridge Equipment Riverside Diesel/Bulldogg Rotobec USA S E C O Parts & Equipment SI Onboard/VPG On-Board Weighing Smith & Turner Equipment Southeastern Wood Producers Stribling Equipment Thompson Tractor Tidewater Equipment TimberSure Vermeer Manufacturing Viking Trailers W & W Truck & Tractor Waratah Forestry Attachments J M Wood Auction
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ADLINK is a free service for advertisers and readers. The publisher assumes no liability for errors or omissions.
COMING EVENTS May 6-9—Forest Resources Assn. annual meeting, Virginia Beach Oceanfront Hotel, Virginia Beach, Va. Call 202-296-3937; visit forest resources.org. 10—Texas Logging Council Forestry Fun Day, Exposition Center, Lufkin Tex. Call 409-384-0016.
But TimberSure is not just an insurance company; we’re a community. When you become a TimberSure policyholder, you become part of our extended family. Speaking of family, TimberSure is owned and operated by father-son team Jeremiah J. O’Donovan and Jeremiah P. O’Donovan. As a familyowned business, we consider your whole family when giving policy advice. You’ll enjoy peace of mind knowing that not only you but your family, too, are protected from the devastating financial risks of injury or death. You have a strenuous and hazardous job. You deserve an insurance agent who understands the mechanics of your industry. TimberSure Risk Purchasing Group works with only the best independent logging insurance agents across the country, who know the industry inside and out. Don’t you deserve logging insurance from industry experts? Call TimberSure today at 800-410-6333 or visit us at www.timbersure.net!
Viking Trailers Viking Specialized Trailers LLC, located in Nacogdoches, Tex. is a specialized trailer manufacturer dating back to 1992. Since the beginning Viking Specialized Trailers has grown to 100 employees and has 200,000 sq. ft. under roof with room to grow. With a full time professional trailer engineer our customers are ensured that every trail-
MAY 2014 ● Southern Loggin’ Times
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16-17—Expo Richmond 2014, Richmond Raceway Complex, Richmond, Va. Call 804-737-5625; visit exporichmond.com.
June 6-7—Southeastern Wood Producers Assn., Jekyll Island Convention Center, Jekyll Island, Ga. Call 904845-7133; visit swpa.ag.
er we sell is built to their expectations. Viking offers two standard weight log trailers and two light weight versions, as well as a 35 and 40 ton skidder trailer. All of our trailers can be modified to fit your specific need. The newest addition to the Viking Forestry Family is the 48 ft. knuckleboom loader trailer that will be available mid-2014. Viking Specialized Trailers has recently moved into their new sales building located at 1730 SW Stallings Dr., Nacogdoches, Texas 75964. Along with a new sales office we have also opened a new truck and trailer parts department for all of your truck and trailer need. With thousands of parts available the Viking Parts department can get your trailers back on the road quickly saving you time and money. Stop by or call and talk to John Adams (936) 564-8378 for all your parts needs.
W&W Truck & Tractor “I have been receiving Loggin’ Times and Timber Harvesting for the past 40 years. My company has enjoyed our relationship with the publication and it has allowed me to make contact with customers all across the U.S. during that time. In 1978, I received one of the highlights of my career, the Hatton-Brown Award from Loggin’ Times. I honestly believe that DK Knight has more compassion for loggers in the U.S. than anyone I have ever met and I value our great relationship with him. I hope these magazines continue for another 40 years and continue to enjoy the success they have achieved.”—Yours SLT Truly, Johnny E. Ward
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