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MyTake DAN SHELL
Got The Inflation Flu?
I
nflation is on the news and all over the dot com as loggers grapple with rising costs for just about everything they need to operate. And there’s no doubt that, despite all our earnest attempts to believe and be “over it,” the COVID pandemic’s impact, especially on labor and supply chains, is something we’ll be living with and operating under for a while. Both the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine and the American Loggers Council have recently surveyed their memberships who detailed cost increases for a wide variety of equipment, supplies and services. The ALC survey found an average price increase of 25% (some much more) across more than 20 items. Inflation can also take on a life of its own up and down the supply chain: An official with the Southern Loggers Cooperative noted that during recent fuel price run-ups members were shooting themselves in the foot by maxing out fuel purchases in fear of higher prices in the next week—which in return lowered inventories and hindered SLC’s ability to ride out market swings. There’s also an interesting note in the mid-April North American Woodfiber & Biomass Markets report from Fastmarkets-RISI about a growing debate among procurement officials and others involved in the fiber supply chain in the South Atlantic Region from northeast Florida to southeast Virginia about whether elevated wood prices from 2021—up roughly 10-15% or around $3-$4 per ton that have persisted into 2022 represent a new elevated cost structure or temporary spike? According to the report, some say higher prices are “more or less here to stay” while others claim prices eventually revert to a historical trend. That’s the funny thing about inflation: You have fuel prices that almost double in three or four months but take a year or more to get back to “normal.” There are those contractors whose prices seem to keep rising: Recent tree work on my leafy lot compared to some we had done 25 years ago showed a solid 300%+ price in4
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Fuel gets the headlines, but costs have increased across the board for loggers.
crease. Then there are the loggers, who are working for prices that are little changed from years ago. The issue is pointed up repeatedly by surveys and conversations with loggers themselves: A supply chain that doesn’t allow its suppliers to keep up with inflation will eventually have trouble finding suppliers.
Impacts Continue As part of the recent Panel & Engineered Lumber Conference in Atlanta hosted by TH companion publication Panel World magazine, I had the good fortune of listening to a presentation from award-winning economist Roger Tutterow of Kennesaw State, who delivered a presentation that noted the impacts of the pandemic on leading economic indicators and overall economy. For the forest products and construction industries, the biggest issues are inflation and labor leading to higher construction costs, and it’s uncertainty along the supply chain that’s a big contributor to higher prices, he said. Still, there are good housing and construction demand dynamics, with the inventory of new and existing housing currently at generational lows, Tutterow said. He added that recent interest rate increases may provide headwinds but historically a mortgage even between 5-6% is considered a good deal. As he covered the current leading economic indicators; he noted that the pandemic recession of 2020 was the
worst in U.S. history but also the shortest, and how we’re all living in a time of unprecedented economic dynamics during the world’s first truly global pandemic of the modern digital era. Tutterow identified another big issue is how the economy will move forward without major federal stimulus funds and reduced Federal Reserve “quantitative easing” while grappling with pandemic recovery. All the stimulus money and “paying people not to work” is in the rear view mirror now, he said. Amongst all the economic numbers and graphs, Tutterow made an important insight: We all love to talk about the mandates and shutdowns and those always grab the headlines. But 10 years from now, he said, we’re more likely to be talking about the impact of voluntary changes in our lives and businesses: the great resignation that was real, lower workforce participation, more work from home and other societal changes that will affect how the forest products industry and all of society does business.
Business Survey Please take time to visit timberharvesting.com and complete the 2022 Logging Business Survey, and keep an eye on your inbox as we’ll send out a couple more links to the survey before it closes on Memorial Day. As the economist noted, loggers have the current misfortune of living through “interesting times” as the world continues to work its way through the pandemic and a business roller coaster that started with shutdowns and social distancing that eventually led to high demand for logging services and the highest prices on record for basic forest products like 2x4s and 6s and plywood panels. The 2022 Logging Business Survey takes a close look at how loggers’ businesses have fared in the two-plus years since the pandemic and its impacts on labor, the supply chain and companies throughout the industry. Results of the TH Logging Business Survey will be shared in the July/August issue. If your company has a case of the TH inflation flu, let us know! TIMBER HARVESTING & FOREST OPERATIONS
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NewsLines
WestRock Closing Mill At Panama City, Fla. Northwest Florida fiber markets were jolted in April after WestRock announced that it will permanently shut pulpwood operations at its major Panama City, Fla. mill in early June. According to a recent Fastmarkets-RISI report, the move eliminates 2.75 million tons of annual wood consumption, with Enviva’s pellet mill at Cottondale, Fla. and Georgia-Pacific’s linerboard mill at Cedar Springs, Ga. expected to be the future destinations for much of the WestRock plant’s incoming wood. The move comes as a result of several issues, including closing an aging facility that operates an outdated linerboard line and also produces non-core business market pulp. The facility’s procurement area had also taken a big inventory hit in 2018 with damage from Hurricane Michael as pine plantations in the region were hammered. The mill itself was down more than six weeks in 2018 after sustaining hurricane damage. In addition, there’s a wave of new containerboard capacity coming on line later this year. The facility’s fast-track closure—less than three months from announcement to shutdown—marks the end of a hundred-year era as city officials note the site is to be re-purposed with a new owner. Most of the current complex came into production back in the late 1950s, but the site in an area known as “Millville” on the outskirts of Panama City has been a major regional log destination for wood consuming operations for more than a century, starting with a sawmill in 1920. International Paper Co. built the site’s paper mill in 1930. Southwest Forest Industries bought it in 1979. Stone Container Corp. purchased it in 1987 and merged with the Jefferson Smurfit Corp. in 1998 to make Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009. RockTenn purchased the mill from Smurfit-Stone in May 2011, and it’s been a WestRock mill since the 2015 Hurricane damage contributed to mill merger with MeadWestvaco. closure decision.
PLC, ALC Surveys: Inflation Bites Loggers Surveys by the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine and the American Loggers Council have both confirmed inflation is taking a big bite out of loggers’ operations and affecting the cost of many items. Earlier this year in Maine, the PLC asked members to report their increase in costs for 20 goods and services that are vital to logging operations over the period of January 2020 to January 2022. Loggers reported increases ranging from 17-30 percent, with truck and equipment insurance the lowest at 17 percent while oil and lubricants saw the highest increase at 30 percent. Many of the costliest items on the list including heavy equipment tires rose 24-26 percent in cost. According to Dana Doran, Executive Director of the PLC, “It is clear that Maine logging companies are being hit harder than many at a time when most are already struggling with difficult markets and wood prices that are not keeping pace with rising expenses.” He added that spiking energy costs are projected to add to even more to the price of most goods and services in the coming months, wors6
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ening an already critical situation.” The American Loggers Council surveyed its national membership on the same issues and found average inflationary impacts for industry specific items and services were 25% increase, some much more. According to the ALC survey report, by contrast, the delivered wood prices increased for only 30% of the respondents, with delivered wood prices remaining the same for 50% of the respondents and declining for 20%. With tight profit margins the logging industry cannot absorb these increases while wood prices remain flat, calling the current situation “not sustainable.”
Major Restoration Project Begins In Washington Loggers are beginning work on the 50,000 acre Mission Restoration Project in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in central Washington in May. The three-year project includes more than 10,000 acres of thinning and ladder fuels reduction work, and as many as 20 contractors could be working on the project at any given time, national forest officials say. Hampton Lumber successfully bid
on the project in 2021. Douglas fir logs are going to Hampton’s Darrington, Wash. mill, with pine logs destined for the Randle mill. Small log thinning operations are scheduled to begin in June.
BC Harvesting Deferrals Kick In For the time being no harvesting will be allowed on nearly 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) of oldgrowth in British Columbia as the province and First Nations throughout it develop a new approach to sustainable forest management. “Our government’s new vision for forestry is one where we better care for our most ancient and rarest forests, First Nations are full partners in forest management, and communities and workers benefit from secure, innovative jobs for generations to come,” says Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests. “By deferring harvest of nearly 1.7 million hectares of old-growth, we are providing the time and space we need to work together to develop a new, more sustainable way to manage BC’s forests.” The 1.7 million hectares figure is down from the BC government’s original intention to defer 2.6 million hectares. BC Council of Forest IndusTIMBER HARVESTING & FOREST OPERATIONS
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NewsLines tries stated the deferrals would have a devastating impact across the province, resulting in multiple sawmill closures, as well as pulp mills and value-added facilities. The government’s plan is based on recommendations from a panel of advisors with ties to environmental organizations. Known as the Old Growth Technical Advisory Panel, it has come under criticism from some sectors of the forest products industry. A recent independent study commissioned by the Council of Forest Industries of forest inventory commissioned by COFI indicates BC has about 11.4 million hectares (28.2 million acres) of old forests, the majority of which—more than 75%—is already protected or is outside the timber harvesting land base. As a result of these engagements, deferrals have been implemented on approximately 1.05 million hectares of BC’s most at-risk old growth, which are ancient, remnant and priority large stands identified by the Old Growth Technical Advisory Panel. This includes areas where sales have been paused by BC Timber Sales while engagements with First Nations are ongoing. In total, more than 80% of the priority at-risk old-growth identified by the advisory panel is currently not threatened by logging because they are already protected, covered by deferrals or uneconomic to harvest, according to the Panel. In addition to biodiversity, many First Nations expressed interest in managing old-growth on their territory in support of broader, related values such as wildlife habitat, cultural practices, clean water, healthy salmon populations and species at risk. As a result of integrated land-use planning processes underway, deferrals have also been implemented on another 619,000 hectares of old-growth forests. The new Ministry of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship will have a crucial role to play in supporting the implementation of 14 recommendations of the Old Growth Strategic Review in partnership with First Nations. Government is working towards a new Old Growth Strategy for BC to be completed in 2023. Budget 2022 provides an additional $185 million over three years to provide coordinated and comprehensive supports for forestry workers, indus-
try, communities and First Nations who may be affected by new restrictions on old-growth logging. This includes funding for short-term employment opportunities for contractors and their workers, rural economic diversification and infrastructure projects, bridging to retirement for older workers, education and skills training, and on-the-ground economic development and community support services.
Oregon: What’s Next For Forest Accord
Having groups like AOL, Oregon Department of Forestry, Oregon Forest Resources Institute, OSU Extension, industry trade associations, landowners and others participating in PFA rulemaking, modeling, training and implementation processes is a “heavy lift” but necessary for Oregon forestry interests to have their viewpoints included at each step, Sullivan-Astor writes. “The intent is to ensure flexibility is still allowed so that economic viability and operational feasibility continue to be attainable throughout Oregon,” she says.
Drax Officially Opens Demopolis Pellet Plant
Oregon loggers face rule changes.
There’s lots of work ahead as Oregon’s new Private Forest Accord (PFA) forest management rules are developed and ultimately required as of January 1, 2024, according to a recent report by Associated Oregon Loggers Forest Policy Manager Amanda Sullivan-Astor. Key deadlines this year include October 14, the last day for public comment, and November 30, when rules are scheduled to be adopted by the Oregon Board of Forestry, Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife and Fish & Wildlife Commission. The new rules are part of a Habitat Conservation Plan application that Oregon will submit to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service by December 31, 2022. The PFA is part of an agreement between major state timberland owners and environmental groups to avoid costly court cases and legislation by modifying the state’s Forest Practices Act by increasing streamside protection rules that will reduce some private timberland harvests while providing certainty for the future. New landslide and fish models are due May 1, 2023 and new rules for fish buffer zones are due July 1, 2023. Additional rules are scheduled to go into effect in 2024.
Drax Group has opened a new pellet plant in Demopolis, Ala. At full capacity the plant, which is Drax’s second production facility in Alabama, will produce 360,000 tonnes of sustainable biomass pellets a year. “Drax’s wood pellet plant that’s being commissioned in Demopolis represents a major investment that will drive long-term economic growth and spark significant job creation in Marengo County. The opening of this facility is an exciting development for this rural region, and I look forward to seeing Drax develop new growth plans in Sweet Home Alabama,” commented Governor Kay Ivey at the official opening. Will Gardiner, Drax CEO; Mayor Woody Collins; Ashley Coplin, executive director of the Demopolis City Schools Foundation; and Matt White, Drax Executive Vice President, Pellet Operations also participating in the ceremony held April 5.
Weyco Purchases More Acreage In Carolinas Weyerhaeuser Co. is purchasing 80,800 acres of timberland in North and South Carolina from a fund managed by Campbell Global for $265 million. The acquisition is composed of highly productive timberlands situated in strong coastal markets and strategically located to deliver immediate synergies with existing Weyerhaeuser timber and mill operations. Additionally, the acquisition is expected to deliver portfolio-leading
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NewsLines cash flow and harvest tons per acre within the company’s Southern Timberlands business. Key components include: —Fee ownership with 89% planted pine acreage and strong site productivity delivering attractive long-term timber returns —Well-stocked timber inventory with a mature age class producing attractive sawlog mix and average harvest of 6.5 tons per acre (or 520,000 tons) annually over the first 10 years —Expected average Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $160 per acre (or $13 million) annually from timber operations over the first 10 years With this acquisition, Weyerhaeuser will own or manage more than 900,000 acres of timberland in the Carolinas, and the company also operates four mills, a distribution center and tree nursery and hosts multiple mitigation banks and real estate development projects, while employing more than 700 between the two states.
Enviva Will Build Pellet Mill In Bond
Enviva mill building continues.
Enviva, Inc., the world’s leading producer of sustainable wood bioenergy, announced it will invest approximately $250 million in Bond, Miss. to build a new wood pellet production plant. The facility is a key component of the company’s growth strategy to double production capacity from the current 6.2 million metric tons annually to approximately 13 million metric tons annually over the next five years. “Markets for our renewable products have been growing rapidly as countries look for new ways to reduce their dependence on coal, natural gas, and other fossil fuels for heat and power generation. Demand from manufacturers driving to reach ‘net-zero’ 8
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by decarbonizing industrial production of steel, cement, lime, and sustainable aviation fuel is also growing rapidly for us,” comments John Keppler, Enviva’s Chairman and CEO. The facility site, directly off Highway 49 in Bond, was selected in close collaboration with Governor Tate Reeves, the Mississippi Development Authority, and Stone County officials. The plant is fully contracted under long-term take-or-pay supply contracts with customers around the world. In addition to creating around 100 local jobs with wages projected to be approximately 70% higher than the county average, the Bond plant will generate more than $1 million in taxes per year for the county and school district and deliver over $250 million annually in economic impact in the region. Once operational, the plant will support more than 350 jobs, including those in related industries such as logging and transportation. The new plant in Stone County joins two other Enviva facilities in Mississippi, one in Amory, which is Enviva’s first production plant in the state, and the company’s most recent manufacturing facility in Lucedale. The company also owns and operates a deep-water marine terminal at the Port of Pascagoula from which pellets are shipped to customers in Europe and Asia. Combined, Enviva’s total investment in the Magnolia State is more than $600 million and supports over 850 direct and indirect jobs in Mississippi. Construction is expected to begin in early 2023, subject to receiving the necessary permits, and is expected to take 18 months. The Bond plant is expected to have a production capacity of more than 1 million metric tons of wood pellets per year. The plant intends to use low-value and low-grade softwood and hardwood fiber sustainably sourced within 75 miles of the facility.
Origin Announces Biomass Facility Origin Materials, a carbon-negative materials company, announced plans to invest at least $750 million to develop a biomass manufacturing facility in Ascension Parish that will result in more than 1,000 new direct and indirect jobs.
The plant in Geismar will utilize sustainable wood residue sourced partly from Louisiana’s timber mills and managed forests—to produce plant-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) used in packaging, textiles, apparel and other applications. Hydrothermal carbon, which can be used in fuel pellets, also will be produced at the site. Made with renewable feedstocks, Origin’s patented technology platform is designed to reduce the carbon emitted during the production of widely used products ranging from food and beverage containers to parts for the automotive industry. The plant will be located on an LED Certified Site—the 150 acre Parks Geismar site in Ascension Parish— signifying that it has been deemed development-ready after an extensive review. The company expects construction to begin in mid-2023 and for the plant to be mechanically completed and operational by mid-2025. “The demand for ‘net zero’ enabling materials is extremely strong, and we believe this plant will be instrumental in addressing demand for our products in the United States and internationally,” Origin Materials CoFounder and Co-CEO John Bissell says. “We are grateful for the partnership of Louisiana Economic Development, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and Ascension Parish for the support they have provided in the site selection process.” The site sits along the Mississippi River with easy access to barge and rail and plentiful local wood residue feedstock. The proposed incentive package for building in the area is compelling and the local industrial cluster can provide access to hydrogen, ethylene, water treatment and more.” Headquartered in West Sacramento, Calif., Origin Materials was founded in 2008. The company has partnered with leading consumer brands including Danone, Nestlé Waters and PepsiCo in its creation of recyclable, plant-based PET plastic consumer products, as well as Ford Motor Co. and global chemical companies. This largest-of-its-kind Geismar-based facility will join the company’s network of locations, including its West Sacramento-based pilot facility and its Ontario, Canada-based production site, which is currently under construction. TIMBER HARVESTING & FOREST OPERATIONS
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FocusOnTrucking
Increase Log Trailer Visibility Make trailers stand out to help prevent accidents
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very logger operating a log truck needs to be diligent about making sure their vehicles are conspicuous and easily visible in virtually all weather and light conditions, especially the log trailers. The time of day or weather can create conditions that make it difficult to stand out to other drivers. In the event of a crash, whether or not it’s an “at fault” accident, you can be sure the plaintiff’s attorney will introduce, explicitly or implied, that their driver did not see the truck/trailer. Why? The lack of or poorly maintained conspicuity tape, inoperative lights, reflectors, or obscured lamp lenses among others. Inspections Work: Do It To discover unsafe conditions, drivers should perform pre-and post-trip inspections. Inoperative lights and lamps (tail/brake, turn signals) are commonly noted during many DOT roadside inspections as being: broken, having missing reflectors and high visibility
tape issues. These are especially common in heavy duty log hauling applications. Always check for these issues before leaving the yard or work site. Maintenance It is highly recommended that drivers have the necessary replacement and repair parts with them to act immediately. Keep extra bulbs, lenses, reflectors, and a supply of reflective tape on hand. Periodically, drivers should wipe off the reflectors, lenses, and tape to ensure visibility. Another tip is to replace filament bulbs with LED bulbs to increase serviceability and brightness. Reflective Tape and Lights In 2001, The National Traffic Highway Safety Administration (NTHSA) conducted a study on the impact of using reflective tape on trailers. The results concluded that the consistent use of reflective material would prevent over 7,800 accidents per year and 191 fatalities. The study reported that
Always inspect lights, reflectors before hauls.
tape is quite effective and significantly reduces side and rear impacts into heavy trailers in the dark. In addition to the DOT requirements at the federal and state level, for good measure add reflective tape to the rear bolsters, covering at least 50% of the height of the bolster. Add a beacon light centered on the rear of the trailer and use it, whether loaded or empty, before dawn and after dusk or when weather conditions dictate to make your trailer more visible. If your drivers often forget to turn on their beacon lights, the lights can be wired to activate when the truck’s ignition switch is turned on.
Excessive Speed Causes Fatal Accident Background: A truck driver was hauling a load of wood chips to a local paper mill. It was a clear winter evening in the Appalachian Region. Weather conditions were not a contributing factor. Personal Characteristics: The accident victim had less than one year of experience as a truck driver. The driver preferred to travel at night and had authorization for late shift transport. Accident: The truck was traveling north on a four-lane highway separated by a grass median. The posted speed limit was 55 MPH. The driver entered a slight left curve, and upon exiting the curve, drove off the road striking the guardrail in the process. The cab and trailer rolled over onto its right side. The entire rig slid down the grassy shoulder of the highway and eventually came to a stop while still on its side. There were no witnesses to the crash. A passing motorist discovered the accident scene and called 911. The accident investigators estimated the driver’s speed was 75 MPH when the truck left the road. Injury: The driver was ejected from the cab during the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene by EMT personnel. It was determined during the accident investigation that the driver was not wearing a seatbelt. Unsafe Acts/Conditions: The driver’s speed was estimated to be 20 MPH over the posted speed limit. The driver was not wearing a seatbelt. Recommendations: Always abide by posted speed limits. Always wear a seatbelt when traveling in a moving vehicle. Foremost Authority For Professional Loggers
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No Looking Back: J Shar Finds Niche Brothers Jared and Matthew Fitchett run a tether-assisted CTL job on steep Montana terrain. DAVIDAbbott
LIBBY, Mont. ising to new opportunities is a hallmark of the Fitchett brothers: At J. Shar Timber Harvesting, owner Jared Fitchett, 39, works with his “little” brother Matthew, 33 (little is misleading; Matt stands 6-foot-7). Their dad, Dan, 67, hauls his sons’ production under his own company, Dan Fitchett Trucking, using a T800 Kenworth with Pierce mule train trailer. Jared has his own truck as well, a 1984 Mack with Alpine short log pup, that he drives when needed, and Matthew is getting his CDL, too. The Fitchett brothers man a Ponsse CTL team, using tethered cable winches to access and stabi-
R
lize on steep slopes. Both the harvester and the forwarder have cable winches attached, tethered to an anchor, either a good stump or another machine (they have a spare John Deere track loader that can serve this purpose when not otherwise in use). The winches are by Herzog Forsttechnik in Switzerland. “They are a very small, family-owned company,” Jared says. “A father and son custom build these when you order them.” The winches were $140,000 each; it’s a little less to buy a new machine with it already installed, but these had to be modified to retrofit on used machines (buying new was out of the budget). The Fitchetts have a Bear harvester and an Elephant King forwarder.
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The cable, Jared emphasizes, is to assist: to increase traction and stability, not to pull a machine up the hill— the winch only has 10 ton max pull. Slopes are steep, but not vertical. The grade on the job they were working in October was between 40-60%. “The maximum recommended (safe slope for tethering) is 70%, and we don’t like going over 60%,” Jared says. “Anything over that is questionable. We should not be on any ground where that machine cannot sit on its own if that cable fails. You hook up and before you tighten the cable, slack the cable manually and if that machine tries to slide or move then it is too steep. It is unsafe and should not be on that slope.” J. Shar has been using the tethered assist system since mid-late 2020. Jared believes his company was the first, and maybe still the only, such operation in Montana. “Some other systems started up recently but we are the only cut-to-length tethered system in Montana right now, and the only six wheel Bear with winch assist balanced bogies in North America, to my knowledge.” And he has no intention of going back to how he did it before. “This is our future, and I think it will be a lot of people’s future once they see the outcome of the operations that are in place right now,” Jared predicts.
J. Shar Timber Harvesting switched to CTL logging eight years ago.
The Show Before he was a tethered CTL logger, Jared Fitchett was a TV star. He was one of the loggers on the Discovery Channel series Siberian Cut, which filmed and originally broadcast in 2014. Nine episodes were produced but only six aired in the U.S.; all episodes aired in Finland, Russia, the UK, Asia and elsewhere. You can find it now on YouTube and Hulu. The opportunity came at the right time in Jared’s life, when everything in the business was going wrong. Back then they were still doing conventional treelength logging, felling with chain saws, and it wasn’t going well; there had been many years of struggling. So he thought, why not try something different? “My thinking was this could help my family,” he relates—whether it was just making money from the show to reinvest in the business, or, he hoped, he might make useful connections with someone or learn new ideas or methods that he could bring home
From left: Matthew, Jared and Dan Fitchett
and implement to help his business be more successful at home. He turned out to be right. His experience on the show altered his entire approach to logging. The U.S. loggers selected for the show departed for Russia in the middle of January. First, producers sent the team to Rhinelander, Wisc., to train on Ponsse cut-to-length machines for two weeks. There he formed relationships with members of the Ponsse North America team: Pekka Ruuskanen, Brad Brown, Jouni Viitikka, Diana Olkowski in marketing and her husband Matt Olkowski in tech support. “I got to meet all those really good people who I am still close to today.” His switch from treelength to CTL logging started there. “That first two weeks in Rhinelander already got my
mind rolling about just what I could do at home with that equipment,” he recalls. “Before I left I told Pekka I would like to pursue this at home.” Jared and the crew—two other Montana loggers and one from Oregon, none of whom knew each other before—flew to Siberia for almost three months to make the show, logging on Russian Federation land. The American loggers worked with a Russian crew, only one of whom spoke English. “It was extremely difficult,” Jared recalls. “And of course being a TV show they wanted it to be difficult, to create drama. We knew going in there would be some of that but it was way worse than we ever imagined. You’re in a foreign country; you don’t know how things work. Me being an independent logger, I am used to find-
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The Fitchetts have used the tethered-assist method for the last two years, and say it’s their future.
says. “We made it work.” They ran it for 13 months, then replaced it with a rebuilt Buffalo. “It was nice,” Matthew recalls. “It was almost like a brand new machine.” Since then, the Fitchetts have upgraded to the Ponsse Bear harvester and Elephant King forwarder they use in the tethered system today. It’s been almost eight years since the CTL conversion, and the brothers have no desire to go back to conventional logging. “It’s the best thing we ever did,” Jared asserts. Ponsse has no dealer network in Montana. The closest is in Oregon, 12 hours away, but the Fitchetts still deal with Rhinelander, 18 hours away. “We have driven back there with broken parts,” Jared says. “We broke a differential after we got the Bear; I hauled it to Gladstone, Mich., and they rebuilt it right there; it was a two and a half day drive. They had the parts from Finland overnighted.” He doesn’t mind the distance. “In the past seven years that whole area, the Lake States, has become a kind of a second home for me.” Still, the brothers tackle 99% of repairs and maintenance themselves. “Anything we don’t understand, we talk to people on the phone like Matt Olkowski, Brad Brown and Jouni Viitikka; they help us with anything we can’t figure out,” Jared says. “We have always been able to figure it out over the phone and keep running. They have a very good overnight for parts.” J. Shar. is insured through the Montana Loggers Assn. and PayneWest Insurance in Kalispell. Dan Fitchett Trucking gets insurance through Associated Logging Contractors of Idaho.
Operations The winches, by Swiss company Herzog, were retrofitted onto used Ponsse machines.
ing my own way. You don’t know what (the Russians) are saying about us, or what they have been told about us. We are stuck with each other for three months, living in a woods camp, all in the same trailer. It was very interesting and aggravating.” Long story short, he says, the show came out that summer and was something less than a hit. But he got out of it exactly what he’d hoped: some money to reinvest, and more importantly, connections and ideas. “The show didn’t do worth a damn, but in between that time I was still communicating with Ponsse.” 12
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Gone CTL After three tough months away, Jared returned home in April 2014 and went right back to work. Spring breakup was over, and he knew he wanted to evolve into a CTL operation. Ponsse’s Ruuskanen visited J. Shar.’s operation in June. Jared sold every piece of equipment he had in October; by November he had his first harvester, a used six-wheel Ergo with 17,000 hours. Their first forwarder was a ’95 Timberjack. “It was 20 years old but it was the only machine they had available at the time,” Jared
J. Shar. works about seven months a year on private commercial land and three months a year on federal land. “We could do more (on federal land),” Jared says. “But we have built such good relationships and have such a good future on our private industrial thinning.” The private land they primarily work is now owned by Green Diamond Resource Co. and managed by American Forest Management. The federal jobs are for Thompson River Lumber, a mill in Thompson Falls. “We are lucky to work 10 months a year, due to spring breakup,” Jared says. During those months, they work on machines, take time off for family and pinch pennies. “Breakup is a very TIMBER HARVESTING & FOREST OPERATIONS
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tough time because if we don’t do good enough in the months we’re working, breakup can literally break you.” And, Matthew points out, there’s no knowing how long it can last. “Sometimes it might last a month and a half, sometimes three months,” he says. “So you have to be prepared to survive during that time and you never know when exactly you’re going back to work. Then summer hits, it’s hot and dry and we get restrictions because of fire, so it is tough.” Last October, when Timber Harvesting visited, J. Shar. was working on federal land, 18 miles of winding gravel road uphill and around the Cedar Creek elevation. The timber here, predominantly lodgepole pine, was 100-120 years old. “Some of it should have been harvested 20 years ago because a lot of it is dead or dying now,” he said. “If it wasn’t a government tract it would have been.” The small diameter stems here are very high value and sought after as post and pole material because it is very straight with tight grain. “Even the dead wood, they are able to recover lumber out of some of that,” Jared says. Sawlogs and dead logs from this job went to the Thompson River mill, about 80 miles away, a 5.5-hour round trip. Post/pole material went to a small plant in St. Regis, a 30-mile drive. “Dad can get two loads a day, and if it is green wood, he can haul 35 tons,” Jared says. “We try to focus on 70 tons a day, but we do more than that. We average 70-100 tons a day, depending on the job. What we are cutting here, if it was all green, it would be 100-plus tons a day, but not with how light the dry dead wood is. We’re moving that much in volume but not in weight. The dead is 50% lighter than the green, and we get paid by weight.” On jobs like this one, the brothers live in a camper in the woods during the week, going home on weekends. Jared lives in Libby, Matt in Columbia Falls, north of Kalispell, and Dan lives in Marion between Kalispell and Libby, so this job site was quite a trek. The rest of the year, on private land jobs, they work within 100 miles from home. The company has an active presence on social media: look them up on Instagram and Facebook to see videos and photos they post. Matthew also takes a lot of overhead aerial footage with his drone. They use this content as marketing for their business, for the
industry as a whole, the Ponsse brand, and the tethering method. The drone is also useful in scouting potential timber tracts. “We use it to look at some of these sales ahead of time, with aerial views to see what we’re getting into,” Jared says. “For instance here we could pick out how much dead is in it, which was kind of hidden on the ground.” Matt adds, “Sometimes we walk in and think it’s not too bad but then you fly over it and see a whole different view. We use it
to help plan pricing and what the wood quality might be.” Originally, Jared called his company Jared Fitchett Logging. “But I wanted to change that,” he says. “I wanted something unique, not just my name.” His dad suggested an abbreviation for Jared and his wife’s name, Sharlyn. “I call her by her full name, but everyone else calls her Shar.” In 2005, not long before they were married, he renamed the company J. Shar. TH “It’s something different.”
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Making A New W Sawmilling company goes back to its roots with A&A Brochu Logging. JESSICAJohnson
Rockwell: Startup logging venture has done well with newly trained employees and double shifts while concentrating on commercial thinnings.
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w Way
With an initial goal of 500 cords/week, the operation now steadily hits 40 loads a week delivered to the mill.
ENFIELD, Me. leasant River Lumber Co., based in Dover-Foxcroft, Me. is one of the largest producers of finished lumber in the state. So, it’s only natural that as a multi-location mill company, their log needs would be incredibly high. As Maine wrestles, like the rest of the U.S., with an aging logging force, while landowners still need their tracts thinned, mill owners Jason and Chris Brochu decided to try something their family hadn’t done for many years—run a logging job. Leaning on Rob Rockwell, a guy who’d been in the lumber business his whole life with some logging experience, the company A&A Brochu Logging was born in 2020, named after the Brochus’ father and uncle, Adrian and Andre, who logged under the same name years earlier. The idea behind the company was simple. Work with some of the landowners they knew, specifically Katahdin Forest Management (KFM), to thin the state’s plantations of spruce and fir that had survived the
P
bud worm of the late 1970s and early 1980s but hadn’t been touched since. This new commercial thinning operation would help the landowners, and feed the expanding Pleasant River Lumber (PRL) sawmill site in Enfield. And maybe bring some new blood into an industry that was struggling to attract fresh talent. When the Brochus first approached Rockwell, who at the time was running the mill’s log yard and doing procurement, it surprised him. But he says he loves a good challenge and A&A Brochu Logging was definitely going to be one. “I never thought I would do something like this,” he says. “It’s a learning curve, and it has been fun.” A huge part of that learning curve is Rockwell’s employees. Instead of going out and trying to recruit from within other logging contractor’s ranks, A&A Brochu looked at guys from outside of the industry. “Most of my guys have never run equipment before,” Rockwell explains. “We don’t want to take good operators away
from other contractors because that hurts us at the mill. Instead, we looked to guys already working for us at the mill who might want to do something different, or training guys that have zero experience in the woods.” The decision has worked well, and within two years of the first purchase of a Ponsse harvester/forwarder cut-tolength combination, A&A Brochu has expanded again and again—running multiple shifts and adding to its iron registry every few months.
Operations Operationally, the idea is simple— the plantations, while stagnant, have ideal wood for the PRL mill in Enfield, and KFM, as a management company, had supplied all the PRL sites for years. It was a natural fit on paper, and as Rockwell says, in reality as well. While there are always days he drinks a lot of coffee and fields phone calls 24/7, the operation is working out better than anyone could have thought. Hence, two
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A&A Brochu Logging does almost all commercial thinning on larger 100-500 acre tracts.
expansions with plenty of growth opportunities in the future. “It’s been fun for all of us,” he adds. The operation is strictly a commercial thin, working on tracts of between 100 and 500 acres, usually on the higher side, on contract with KFM for the next five years. In the very beginning, Rockwell’s goal was to produce 500 cords of wood per week out of the operation. He reports they have been hitting that target for quite some time. Now, the
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ideal week is at least 40 truckloads delivered to the mill. The stands are challenging to work in—and get the high production Rockwell needs—because it is really thick, small growth timber. In order for the operation to make sense, and get the most value out of the machines, the operation needs to be rolling as much as possible. For Rockwell and his guys, that means double shifts. With the way the Ponsse machines were designed and fabricated, they are
able to run year-round, a benefit that helps offset their higher cost. “Uptime is everything,” Rockwell says, “And we want to make sure we get the wood cut and delivered to the mill.” Using the Ponsses allows them to do just that. In the winter, the operators make use of the machines’ pre-heaters, which allow them to go down between day shift and night shift, without getting completely frozen and unable to work. In total, A&A Brochu Logging uses one late model John Deere forwarder, three Ponsse Scorpion King harvesters, a Ponsse Buffalo King forwarder and a Ponsse Buffalo forwarder. The machines represent three expansions of the initial investment in one Ponsse harvester and forwarder. Rockwell says the equipment is all very dependable, especially the Ponsses which are designed for the type of climate and timber he works on in Maine. He further explains that the machine’s reputation is what initially drew the Brochus’ attention, and his own. “This particular harvester I feel is perfect for our application. It has great visibility, the cab swings with the boom. There is no obstruction, so the operator can see all angles. There’s not many machines, that I can see, that are equivalent in the marketplace,” he says. But he’s quick to say he loves the John Deere machine as well, and just like any machine—the Ponsse has some features that aren’t his favorite and the John Deere has things he doesn’t like. Routine maintenance is handled by both day shift and night shift operators at the 12:30 p.m. shift change. Rockwell likes having both guys work on the machines at a time because they have the chance to communicate, know what the other was doing that day or planning to do the next. It cuts down on finger-pointing if something goes wrong, too. What maintenance the operators cannot do is handled by an in-house mechanic based in Enfield. The addition of the mechanic in late 2021 really eased Rockwell’s stress load. Even though the machines are all late models, and the plan is to rotate them on a fairly aggressive schedule, things still sometimes can go wrong. Rockwell’s paperwork, tickets and accounting needs are all handled by PRL staff in primarily Enfield, with support from the corporate office in Dover-Foxcroft. The woods machines run double TIMBER HARVESTING & FOREST OPERATIONS
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shifts; A&A Brochu Trucking only runs one shift. Wood is hauled by all company trucks, though at times the seven company trucks have been leased out to other woods contractors. Most of the trucking fleet is Western Star, with Freightliner and Kenworth in the mix. All are center mounts with Serco self-loaders. Rockwell says with narrow and small landings in the woods, self-loaders are efficient and necessary because a full-sized log loader just wouldn’t fit. “This is more versatile and one less machine I have to worry about,” Rockwell says. In all, for Rockwell, the move to commercial thinning from procurement has been a good one. He still buys wood for the mills, but his focus is A&A Brochu Logging. Starting an operation from the ground up is no small task: “I struggled with it at first; like, what am I doing? But I’ve learned a lot. It’s been exciting. The opportunity from the owners to be here you go, to have an ownership, have that much trust in you is incredible. I couldn’t do it without the support I get from Pleasant River Lumber and Dave Wilson with KFM.” Update: Following Timber Harvesting’s visit, A&A Brochu Logging expanded again this spring, purchasing stumpage in northern Maine. To get this timber cut, the company purchased two treelength operations, one based in Chester, Me. and one in Island Falls, keeping both owners on as the crew supervisors, and adding an additional cutto-length two-man crew. Rockwell says the contractors were feeling the pinch of rising costs in fuel, parts and labor, while also dealing with an aging employee base. Rockwell kept the treelength crews set-up similarly, but did invest in some newer machines, trading in a few skidders and replacing them with newer models, adding a Caterpillar track machine with a new Pro Pac delimber, and replacing a few aging feller-bunchers. Rockwell says A&A Brochu’s initial goal—reinvigorating logging in Maine and trying to bring the younger generation’s interest in the profession up—remains unchanged with these two acquisitions. By investing in some newer machines, existing employees will see a hit the ground running ability once the mud season comes to a close. “We are still looking to grow the company even more in the future,” he adds. “The TH wheels are turning!” Foremost Authority For Professional Loggers
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Longs’ Story Short: Hardwood Focus Georgia’s Long’s Logging & Timber finds opportunities in lowland logging. PATRICKDunning GIRARD, Ga. fter years of rising before dawn to milk cows on the family farm, the Long brothers aren’t afraid of work or being a little tired. They’re up at 4 a.m. and on the job site by dawn, jumping in a cab and picking up where they left off the previous day. Brothers Daryl, 47, and Caroll, 50, acquired early-riser tendencies in their youth, milking dairy cows on their family’s farm six days per week before daylight alongside their father, Jimmy Long. The family was in the dairy business 20 years with close to 200 cows. Caroll recalls, “The dairy business kept getting smaller and there wasn’t much money to be made so he (Jimmy)
ventured into logging.” Logging replaced dairy farming as the family’s main source of income, and Jimmy established Long’s Logging in 1995. Since its inception, the company has specialized in hardwood tracts in swamps with wet ground as the brothers seek to separate themselves from the area’s many high-production hill loggers.
A
Flashback
Caroll Long, left, and brother, Daryl
The company’s S855E shovel machine is fitted with 36 in. triple grouser pads and a 5195 directional felling head.
By 2000, Daryl’s swamp crew was running a ’97 Timbco cutter, ’00 Timberjack 460 and ’90 tracked 325 Prentice with a Hultdins grapple and SuperSaw. The Longs had converted a used ’95 Hitachi 200 excavator to a shovel machine and added a heel bar and Hultdins grapple with SuperSaw. They found that mounting the SuperSaw to the shovel machine helped handle some delimbing in the woods to reduce work for the loader operator and leave slash for matting skid trails. Caroll’s crew was similar, running a ’98 Timbco 415 cutter, ’98 Timberjack 460 skidder and ’90 Prentice TMS with 310 knuckleboom loader. The brothers rebranded to Long’s Logging & Timber LLC in 2010 after Jimmy died, but the sons kept many of their father’s methods. Caroll and Daryl share ownership of the
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company, each overseeing a swamp crew. A third crew under the Long’s Logging & Timber banner is led by Caroll’s son, CJ Long, 27. This crew serves as the agile operation, capable of moving on a dime and cutting smaller and more complex tracts.
Operations In November 2021, Daryl’s crew was running woods equipment akin to the company’s early years, including bogie skidders and tracked shovel machines, only the newer machines he’s using now are exclusively Tigercat. “We’re running more bogie skidders on two of our jobs,” Caroll says. “We were running a shovel back then and had a Timbco bogie; we decided to go with Tigercat when they came on in the ’90s.” He adds, “We’re on our fifth bogie skidder. We like to run them four to five years and rotate them to accrue a little equity. Plus, after five years they have close to 12,000 hours on them so it keeps from having to work on them very much.” As to why they favor Tigercat, the brothers cite the brand’s durability and the service provided by AllWood Equipment. “We went with Tigercat because of its proximity to our shop and their good service,” Caroll says. “We like the dealership and the way they’re built.” Daryl and Caroll work with Allen Coleman, general manager, and Jamie Smith, sales manager, at AllWood’s Washington location. Because all of Long’s Logging & Timber’s woods equipment is under warranty, maintenance is limited to oil changes every 250 hours, per manufacturer recommendation, using Mystik oil. Trucks are greased every other day and oil is changed at the 30,000mile mark. “We change oil and service brakes and tires but everything else is under warranty. The way these newer machines are designed you have to hook a computer up to fix just about every-
All bogie skidders include dual PrimeX 24x5s for optimal traction in Georgia’s wetlands.
thing,” Caroll says. “Everything is designed to go back to the shop so we keep them new enough that they’re under warranty.” Dion Golfman serves as Long’s Logging & Timber’s inhouse mechanic. Daryl’s crew was operating on a 250-acre private tract conducting a clear-cut prescription on a wet section of land in Bullock County. Among the three crews, Caroll says they can cut any tract and they stay split up to diversify. “All three of us can cut any tract but usually his (Daryl) or my crew cut the bigger tracts with longer skids, versus crew number three,” Caroll says. “The other crew has a spare bogie skidder just in case we get on too long of a drag, we’re able to bring it in. If we get on a tract that needs it versus the 620, we’ll swap it out and put our larger bogie on that job.” Daryl confirms, “We split up to be able to cut smaller tracts as well as big ones, just to stay useful. Anybody that needs us to cut, we can cut anything.” Crews try to stay within a 45-mile radius of each other. Two 635H bogie skidders, ’19 and ’21 models, lay slash down for added traction on Georgia’s damp ground following weekend showers. Bogies are fitted with dual PrimeX 24x5s on the front and back and feature a 146
in. grapple. The brothers like to keep drags between 1,800-2,500 ft. and recently purchased a ’21 bogie 620 skidder as well. The ’16 Tigercat S855E shovel logger, equipped with 36 in. triple grouser pads, maneuvers well in low spots. Its 5195 directional felling saw is capable of felling, shoveling and bunching, effectively reducing time and labor. Daryl mans a ’20 Tigercat 234B loader at the landing, stacking and sorting hardwood species including red oak, ash, sweet gum and tupelo. Daryl says there’s a few pine trees scattered along the edges of the field as well. Long’s Logging & Timber contracts for Battle Lumber Co. Inc., Wadley, and purchases nearly 20% of its own stumpage. Daryl’s crew averages 60 loads per week, and all three crews together average 150 loads weekly.
Trucking The Long brothers operate 14 trucks and have 13 full-time drivers. Long’s Logging & Timber has been able to avoid a lot of the grueling truck driver shortages other loggers currently face. The secret, Caroll says, is taking care of their drivers.
Hardwood outlets have remained stable through the winter despite a few bouts of rain last month.
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All three crews together average 150 loads weekly with majority of Long’s Logging & Timber’s volume dedicated to Battle Lumber.
“We have some that have been with us a while; just retired one and another passed away recently. We just hired three last week and outside of them, the rest have been with us, some close to 10 years,” Caroll says. “We treat them fair so they’ll stay.” Long’s Logging & Timber runs four Kenworths, four Macks and six Freightliners, the oldest one an ‘18 model. Truck dealers are MHC Kenworth, Augusta; Vanguard Truck Center, Savannah; and Freightliner of Augusta. The company’s assortment of 14 Pitts and nine McLendon trailers are used for hauling wood to Battle Lumber and International Paper locations in Bloomingdale, Augusta and Eastover, SC. Caroll says trucker shortages are still a challenge and paying truck drivers more in 2022’s stagflation period doesn’t improve the company’s bottom line. “It’s a different ball game for truck drivers who haul freight than those who haul wood,” he explains. “You tell your freight company you need to pay your drivers more, they can justify it and pass it down, 20
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whereas in the logging industry everyone has a cut-and-haul rate and if the mills don’t agree to adjust it you can’t pay your drivers more. We’re already paying more for fuel and truck parts. Where is the money going to come from if someone says we need to increase freight rates? We know we need to but where will the money come from?”
Markets Caroll says their hardwood outlets were steady through a predominantly dry winter in the Southeast despite a few heavy bouts of rain in April. Pine pulpwood demand slowed briefly for four weeks in December as export markets in Savannah temporarily shut down for routine maintenance. As of this spring, Long’s Logging & Timber’s hardwood pulpwood markets are wide open along with overseas market demand for pine logs. “This past winter wasn’t very wet, but it’s been wet here recently, though. On the pulpwood side, the mills slowed down a little bit but overall things were fair,” Caroll says. “Luckily we’re hardwood driven though some of the tracts we cut have a fair amount of pine in the bottoms.” The company often sees an uptick in demand for hardwood shovel loggers during wet seasons. The wetter the ground, the bigger the emphasis
placed on what the company is already known for: shoveling hardwood on low and wet ground. “We utilize the equipment; what we bought it for is to put mats in and actually shovel the wood,” Daryl adds. “We primarily cut for Battle (Lumber) but we have landowners and dealers reach out to us hunting for shovel loggers. The wetter times are the bigger the need.” Roughly 80% of Long’s Logging & Timber’s volume is delivered to Battle Lumber. Good thing the Longs are multi-faceted and able to navigate their market’s ebbs and flows. “Markets come and go. At times there’s a big hardwood push, other times a big pine push. We just concentrate on shovel logging wetlands,” Caroll says. “Biggest thing is trying to keep costs down. We keep having to become more efficient, which is hard to do. Labor, equipment and input costs are all rising but rates don’t change much.” During this period of inflationary pressures the brothers haven’t had to let anyone go but do try to minimize labor costs. “The fella on my loader ran it for 20 years, was in the truck for five, and last year we put him back in a truck and I’ve been running the loader full time,” Daryl says. The brothers are fortunate to have sons and sons-in-law coming up in the business. Caroll’s son, CJ Long, 27, and son-in-law, Rusty Burke, 27, work together on crew three. Daryl’s son-inlaw, Johnathon Jones, works on the third crew and his son, Mark Long, plans to join the fold when he graduates high school. “We’ve been fortunate with the guys we hired,” Caroll says. “Altogether we’ve been in logging 31 years. It’s been great; we haven’t figured out TH how to quit.” TIMBER HARVESTING & FOREST OPERATIONS
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ProcessorTechnology Deere Upgrades Harvester Heads John Deere developed the H423 harvester head and the large-size H425 and H425HD as an upgrade to the previous H413, H415 and H415HD models. Like its predecessor, these heads have 4WD feed. The H423 harvester head works on the 1070G, 1170G and 1270G base machines and is ideal for thinnings and other fellings, where the tree diameter at chest height (BHD) is 150-350 mm. With improved hose routing from boom to harvester head, and from valve block to feed motors, this attachment offers improved durability, easy hose replacement and improved hose protection with modifications to the frame. It has an operating The H423 harvester range of minimum diameter at chest height (BHD) 40 head offers improved mm to a maximum 500 mm. durability. The H425 harvester head for the larger size class is available on the 1270G and 1470G base machines. This attachment is ideal for final fellings and other fellings where the tree diameter at chest height (BHD) is 250-500 mm. Also including improved hose routing from loader to harvester head and from valve block to feed motors, the hoses are routed through the frame and well protected within the structures, improving durability. Additionally, the H425HD harvester head added to the H425 model offers an HD tilt frame, expander pins in the upper end of the tilt cylinder, feed motor arms, and lower delimbing knives. The H423 and H425HD are compatible with a variety of Tracked Harvesters, including—the 803MH Tracked Harvester, 853MH Tracked Harvester, 859MH Tracked Harvester, 953MH Tracked Harvester, and 959MH Tracked Harvester Overall, the John Deere H423 and H425HD harvester heads provide operators with higher productivity, increased uptime, and lower daily operation costs, assisting them in tackling jobs while prolonging the life of their harvester head. A wide selection of saw motors and saw bars are also available for the H423 and H425HD harvester heads. Visit deere.com
Ponsse H10: More Effective Cutting, Processing In Ponsse’s harvester heads, durability and reliability come first. The harvester heads must withstand extreme stress, while being as accurate and gentle as possible, without damaging the stem surface unnecessarily. This is why Ponsse’s harvester heads have been developed together with their users. Innovative design, continuous R&D and decades of experience have made Ponsse harvester heads the quality leaders in the markets. Ponsse harvester heads offer a superior performance. Their solid structure, effective functions and precise control guarantee excellent productivity, a high level of quality and, of course, a long service life. Ponsse models range from processing large diameter Ponsse harvester heads offer trees with superior performance to small compact efficient thinning’s – of course, all being a superior performance and easily adjustable and serviceable. excellent productivity. Ponsse harvester heads are designed with an eye on the harvesting efficiency ratio. Their ease of maintenance and excellent efficiency meet all the needs of forest machine entrepreneurs. Solutions designed specifically for different size classes ensure that you always have the most efficient harvester head at your disposal, regardless of the harvesting site. The Ponsse H10 harvester head offers unbeatable quality and productivity. Ponsse H10 is intended for harvesting and processing using a sturdy track-based machine. Its solid structure, firm grip and powerful feed guarantee a high efficiency ratio and reliability for years to come. Ponsse H10 has been made specifically for demanding harvesting conditions and tested by customers working on large diameter trees. No compromises can be made over durability and power in North American logging sites. H10 has been designed with advanced technology and is built to be smart and sturdy. Regardless of its large size and high power, the H10 is highly precise. The Opti control system helps to feed the trees quickly and to cut them to the correct length, with high accuracy. It has been developed together with customers for several years. As a result, the harvester head is highly precise, enjoyable to use and easy to maintain. Visit ponsse.com
The CHAD Boosts Processor Head Uptime The wear and tear on your processing head day-in and day-out is relentless. These heads as you well know are exposed all day long to some of the worst conditions in timber falling, delimbing and bucking. Our Compact Hose Assembly Devices (CHAD) are an asset to any processing head or any piece of equipment you have in your woods. These mobile hydraulic crimping units allow you to build your hydraulic hoses on the job site without taking unnecessary trips to town. These downtime eliminators were designed to keeps loggers logging! Call our dealer, Knight Forestry, today to learn more about our Compact Hose Assembly Devices and all the processing head options they have to offer! Visit schwabbrothershydraulics.com 22
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NewTechnology2022 ProLenc Boosts Processor Performance ProLenc’s new patented pending 250 Series Brake Link specifically integrates with 5 to 8 ton class rotators offered by Baltrotor, Finnrotor and others in this class with It’s unique simple, tapered friction sleeve design. Externally mounted and integrated on the link, it offers easy access for periodic tension adjustments and serviceability. The link is single or double dampening and also available as individual units to adapt to the wide variety of linkages and crane tips available. Ideal for smaller thinning harvesters and free-swinging loading grapOnly one wear part available in a self ples as well as biomass heads, the 250 lubricating composite material or a series allows ProLenc to offer a full grease lubricated, zinc-based material. complement of brake links and dampeners for all attachments up to 2,000 kg. or 4,400 lbs. Visit prolenc.com
Tigercat Harvesting Heads Tigercat harvesting heads are built to match the high-performance capabilities of Tigercat track and wheel carriers and are well suited to a variety of jobs including at-the-stump harvesting, roadside processing and debarking. 570—The 570 is most productive working with trees 15-50 cm (6-20") in diameter in softwood and hardwood stands. Although best suited to the Tigercat H845 series, the 570 is designed to work with the H822, H855 and 1185 carriers, or a 20-25 tonne forestry excavator. With optional hydraulically timed processor knives, the 570 can also be used for roadside processing. The 570 is also available with a fixed wrist for applications where positive control of felling and trimming of large limbs is required. 575—The 575 is a heavy duty three-wheel drive harvesting head also best suited to in-stand harvesting in the 175-560 mm diameter range. It is very effective in tough applications like large limbed hardwood and crooked trees. With optional mechanically timed processor knives for easier picking, the 575 is also an excellent roadside processing head. The 575 features Tigercat’s three-two drive system. When processing a tree, the head starts in three-wheel drive, maximizing feed force for faster acceleration and quickly powering through bigger trees. As the load drops, it automatically shifts to two-wheel drive, improving efficiency and increasing feed speed up to 30%. Both the 570 and 575 use larger diameter hoses and larger capacity valves than similar class heads to match the greater hydraulic flow and power of Tigercat harvester carriers. 568—The 568 harvesting head is a robust, high performance head designed for The 575 features Tigercat’s tracked carriers. It is best suited for road-side processing applications, with trees in three-two drive system. the 15-55 cm (6-22") range. With timed knife arms and triangulated wheel arms, the 568 can quickly pick and maintain positive tree contact and control. The patented 4WD-2WD auto-shift drive system provides extra power and positive grip when feeding large trees, fast speed in smaller trees and full manual control when needed. Knife arms feature double-edged, replaceable blades with optimal contour for clean delimbing. The front floating knife with spring preload follows the contour of the tree further enhancing delimbing performance. Other features of the 568 include optional conventional boom or through-tip boom continuous rotation, laser diffuse or through-beam find end sensors, colour marking and various feed wheels. Visit tigercat.com
Half a year has flown by...here’s the rest of 2022:
Timber HARVESTING
& F O R E S T O P E R AT I O N S ™
visit timberharvesting.com Take the Logging Business Survey
• July-August— Logging Business Survey • September-October— Logging Business of the Year • November-December— Steep Slope Logging
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Dust&Rust Readers are encouraged to send historical items.
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EquipmentWorld John Deere Expands Self-Repair Resources John Deere announced it will enhance the capabilities of existing diagnostic tools and expand their availability. In 2023, the company will roll out an enhanced customer solution that includes a mobile device interface, and the ability to download secure software updates directly to embedded controllers on select John Deere equipment with 4G connections. In addition, John Deere announced
that coming in May it will expand its offerings by giving customers and independent repair shops in the U.S. the ability to purchase Customer Service ADVISOR directly through JohnDeereStore.com. Customer Service ADVISOR has been available through John Deere dealerships, enabling customers to diagnose, troubleshoot and repair their own equipment. With the ability to purchase directly from John Deere, equipment owners and independent repair shops will have expanded access
Pewag Completes Purchase Of Wallingford’s Inc. Pewag group, a leading global company in traction chain devices and industrial chain solutions, has completed the acquisition of Wallingford’s Inc. and BABAC Inc., a leading U.S.-based provider of forestry traction devices, forestry supplies and snow chains. Wallingford’s and BABAC are now consolidated as part of Pewag’s traction and forestry segment. The acquisition of Wallingford’s and BABAC is a strong fit with Pewag’s North American forestry business and in particular its forestry traction devices business. It is part of the strategy of Pewag to be a leader in this segment globally. Moreover, the high-quality forestry traction devices, developed and manufactured by Pewag in Austria and Czech Republic will be integrated in the portfolio of Wallingford’s. Pewag has hundreds of years of experience in the manufacturing of chains and their components. Founded as a forging plant in Brueckl, Austria 1479, Pewag group became one of the leading chain manufacturers worldwide. Today, its success is based on well-engineered state-of-the-art quality products. Pewag’s business areas are mainly snow chains, forestry traction, hoist and conveyor chains, do-it-yourself products, engineering, lifting and lashing chains and accessories and tire protection chains. It operates modern chain production facilities in Europe and in Pueblo, Col. “The combination of Pewag’s strong portfolio in forestry with traction devices and the wide distribution network of Wallingford’s in the forestry industry will result in a leadership position in this sector in North America. Moreover, the skidder and ring skidder traction devices developed and manufactured by BABAC will complete Pewag’s global forestry product range,” comments Rob Bekkers, CEO, Pewag Traction and Forestry. President of Wallingford’s Inc. Chip Wallingford adds, “We are very excited to now be part of the global Pewag group, which will add value and quality to our product portfolio, improve our position in the North American forestry market and will definitely give a further push to our professional customer service.” Founded in 1975, Wallingford’s Inc. is an international wholesaler of tire chain, logging and industrial supplies. Products are predominantly sold to distributors in North America. The sales and marketing office is located in Oakland, Maine, with a distribution, assembly and administrative facility in New Hampton, NH, and Canadian distribution centers in Edmonton, Alberta and Montreal, Quebec. In the position as President of Wallingford’s Inc., Chip Wallingford will be in charge for the future development and is taking over this position from John J. Wallingford.
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to Customer Service ADVISOR, in addition to existing access to replacement parts to complete needed repairs. John Deere owners will continue to have the option to visit a dealership, engage an independent repair shop, or self-repair their machines according to their preferences. Visit www.JohnDeere.com/repair.
Stihl Inc. Appoints Horan As President/CEO Stihl Inc. has named Terrence (Terry) Horan as President and CEO, responsible for the management of the Stihl Group’s largest market and subsidiary. “We are pleased to welcome Mr. Horan, an internationally successful leader with 35 years of experience in the power tools, DIY, and consumer goods industry to the Stihl family,” comments Dr. Nikolas Stihl, chairman of the advisory board and supervisory board at Stihl Group. Michael Traub, chairman of the executive board, adds, “Terry Horan has demonstrated proven leadership of major companies and global brands, creating winning cultures focused on innovation and leveraging a deep understanding of the end-customer. This makes him the right choice to lead the company and its employees.” Horan joins Stihl Inc. after a successful career as RPM Consumer Group president at RPM International Inc. Horan has also held various senior leadership roles including president and CEO of DAP Products Inc., president of The Master Lock Co., president and CEO of the Robert Bosch Tool Corp. North America, and president of Dremel Power Tools. “I am excited both personally and professionally to join the team at Stihl Inc.” Horan says. “I look forward to working with the men and women here in Virginia Beach, our branch and distributor teams, and our vast network of more than 10,000 local Stihl dealers across the country.” Horan, a native of the Chicago area, received a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Notre Dame, and a bachelor’s degree in marketing at Northern Illinois University. He also volunteers as a Start-Up Advisor at the IDEA Center at the University of Notre Dame. He and his wife Jill have three children. TIMBER HARVESTING & FOREST OPERATIONS
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EquipmentWorld Rottne Promotes XParts Program
Ponsse Increases Finland Presence
Rottne Industri offers Rottne XParts, a preventive replacement program of machine parts. Rottne Xparts emphasizes four steps: ● Take the opportunity to replace a component when your machine is already scheduled for a shutdown. ● If a unit breaks, order a new replacement part from your dealer. If your need is urgent, Rottne will send it out to you by express delivery. ● You then send the worn/replaced unit to Rottne within 30 days. ● In its workshop, Rottne repairs the worn unit and you only pay the cost of repair or restoration. The price will never be more than 90% of the new price and the average price ends up at about 60%. ● Rottne offers a better guarantee compared to a new spare part. Compared to a new spare part, which has a warranty for six months or 1,000 hours, you get double that—one year or 2,000 hours.
Ponsse’s investment in a new and modern service center in Joensuu will further improve the quality and efficiency of maintenance and service in Finland. The 1,000 sq. m service center includes field and information system maintenance, spare parts and machine sales, technical support as well as a well-stocked spare parts storage and the Ponsse Shop. “The new service center allows us to provide an even better level of service to our customers and ensure a fast turnaround for machine maintenance. On the spare parts side, we can now
provide a delivery service, making it possible for our customers to sign a service agreement on equipment purchases,” comments Ponsse Finland’s Country Director Jani Liukkonen. Ponsse reports its market share in Finland is 45%. The international Ponsse maintenance network consists of 235 service centers.
NED Joins Barko Dealers Lineup Barko Hydraulics announced the addition of National Equipment Dealers (NED) as the company’s newest authorized dealer. With more than 30 years of industry experience in heavy equipment sales, rentals, and serving customers in an array of industries, NED will sell and support the full line of Barko equipment in South Carolina. With 15 locations in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, NED is one of the preeminent heavy equipment
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EquipmentWorld dealers in the U.S. NED serves customers in earthmoving, forestry, mining, oil and gas, scrap and material handling, road construction, landscaping, government and municipalities. Paul Harmer, NED Forestry Div. Manager, comments, “We are thrilled to expand our relationship and our territory with the innovative Barko product offering. We look forward to growing our business throughout the NED territory with this great product.”
Collaboration Enhances Data-Based Intelligence Remsoft’s collaboration with ForestPHD, an Australian-based developer of Sticks, opens new opportunities for forestry companies to drive more accurate harvest, delivery and wood flow schedules and budgets. This partnership will enable the use of forest machine data in Remsoft Forest Intelligence solutions. The partnership will improve visibility and data-based intelligence for forestry companies
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using Remsoft Operations SaaS software to plan and schedule their harvest and wood flow activities. Widely used throughout Australia, New Zealand and increasingly other parts of the world, ForestPHD’s Sticks cloud solution enables data collected by forestry equipment to be analyzed for better understanding of harvesting operations, wood flow logistics and value recovery. Sticks aggregates data from feller-bunchers, harvesters, processors and forwarders that support the internationally recognized StanForD data format that is used by manufacturers. Linking the machine data from Sticks with Remsoft Operations opens new opportunities to drive more accurate harvest, delivery and wood flow schedules and budgets with improved harvest unit inventory updates and forecasts, harvest productivity rates and harvesting costs. “As forestry companies make the move from spreadsheets to intelligence-based planning in Remsoft Operations, data integration is a key
focus for delivering more value,” says Doug Jones, Senior VP, Remsoft. “Our collaboration with ForestPHD opens the door for clients to incorporate and extract more value from their forest machine data to inform supply chain decisions.”
Cleanfix Enhances Operations Team Hägele GmbH, manufacturer of Cleanfix Reversible Fans, announces a number of personnel promotions throughout its growing global operations. These include Steffen Erhardt as Director of Engineering; Matthias Fischer, Team Lead, Application Engineering; Gideon Flor, Marketing Manager; Brad Reibling, Production Manager, North America; Michael Anderson, Marketing Manager, North America. CEO Steffen Hägele comments, “As a business entity, and as a family, it is so rewarding and reassuring to us to be able to confidently promote people from within.”
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InnovationWay Tigercat Swing Yarder The purpose-built Tigercat 180 swing yarder combines the speed and stability of conventional yarders with the mobility and simpler controls of excavator-based yarders. The result is a powerful and versatile yarding machine for extreme terrain logging applications. The 409 HP carrier was carefully designed with a component layout, hydraulic system, drivetrain, and boom system optimized for yarding. The result is high line pull, excellent stability, and efficient operation. Designed to achieve exceptional stability, The 180 can achieve high line pull without the use of guylines in most operating conditions. The undercarriage has a reinforced pedestal and carbody with an extended blade for added stability. Blade mounts are tied directly into the carbody for added
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strength. The machine can be quickly moved to the next setup by simply lifting the blade. In operating situations where additional stability is required such as with extremely long yarding distances or low deflection conditions, a simple static guyline can be quickly set up. The machine still retains the ability to swing with this guyline attached. Visit tigercat.com
Waratah Debarking Head Waratah Forestry Equipment announced the H225E—a new generation of its H215E head for single-pass eucalyptus debarking. Designed for use on large, wheeled harvesters and excavators, the H225E is a powerful, high-capacity debarking head that productively dominates in the harsh application. With a weight at 3,720 lbs., this new 200 Series head features a higher performance valve that allows for better oil flow and greater hydraulic working pressure capabilities (35 MPa or 5,076 PSI) for more feed power. It also boasts reduced frame fric-
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InnovationWay tion for straight or curvy trees. Improved measuring wheel log contact enables more accurate measuring while a new find-end laser sensor reduces the need to saw. The H225E also includes patented variable angle feed rollers for better bark separation cutting as well as debarking initialization and efficiency, improving debarking for varying diameters. Redesigned swept cast arms improve delimbing in harvesting or processing applications with lower knife improvements for reverse delimbing. The H225E features Waratah’s TimberRite H-16 measuring and control system. Visit waratah.com
rain capability to help you maximize your productivity. With high productivity for thinning and light clear-cutting,
the 12-metric-ton class forwarder offers several frame-length options. Designed for smooth and precise operation, the 845-1 has a long reach with excellent lifting power and slewing torque. Even when fully loaded, operators can maneuver with confidence in the most rugged forests. The chassis and suspensions on Komatsu forwarders are designed for perfor-
Deere Training Simulator
John Deere offers the Forestry FullTree Training Simulator for cost-effective and efficient operator training in a risk-free environment, all while avoiding wear and tear on equipment. The Training Simulator allows operators to explore interactive virtual logging sites as if they were in the cab of a John Deere machine. This product offers realistic, true-to-life controls that can be swapped out to quickly convert the simulator to a different John Deere forestry machine type in a matter of minutes. Operators can view the simulation through a single-display, 55" TV. The display screen offers highly detailed, realistic graphics allowing operators to create custom environments, switch between machines in the same environment or mimic stump to landing material flow. Visit deere.com
Komatsu Forwarder Komatsu’s 845-1 forwarder offers an excellent combination of high crane capacity, maneuverability and rough terForemost Authority For Professional Loggers
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InnovationWay mance under demanding conditions. Komatsu Comfort Bogie axles with a high portal offset and V-shaped frames provide some of the highest ground clearance in the industry. Designed to maximize performance with high power and torque with a Tier IV Final fuel-efficient engine, the sophisticated control system on the 845-1 automatically adapts to changes in engine load. Computerized HST system considers machine load, terrain conditions, power and torque output to give you exceptional tractive force. Hydraulic retarder overspeed protection ensures the driveline won’t run too fast. Operator comfort is key to productivity and the spacious and open cab on the 845-1 provides excellent visibility, ergonomic controls and a seat that delivers all-day comfort. The state-of-the-art MaxiXT system monitors and controls everything from engine and crane to the transmission and service ladders. A standard diesel heater system heats the engine coolant, hydraulic oil and the batteries to facilitate cold-weather starting on the 845-1. Maintenance is quickly and easily completed with a service-friendly design that features an electronically powered tilting hood. All filters are located together for easy access under the hood. Visit komatsu.com
drum chippers boast high torque for high volume production. Chip accelerators enable faster load times with more chips in each truck. The 4300B drum chipper can easily handle material from logs up to 26" (61 cm) in diameter, to brush and small feedstock. The chipper utilizes a 36"diameter by 40" wide (91 by 102 cm) drum with wear resistant AR450 wear surfaces on the drum pockets and shell. A sloped feed deck makes feeding the chipper easier. The optional material sizing grate and chip accelerator ensures tight chip packing and fully loaded chip vans. All models come standard with an end-load spout; the 4310B and 6310B are available with an optional top-load spout. The discharge system can either add load density or propel chips significantly farther from the machine for in-woods and clearing operations. The grate system provides ultra-consistent chip sizing; twigs and small stems are easily fractured through an inno-
ASTEC Drum Chipper ASTEC Industries Peterson’s 4300 and 6300 series drum chippers are available in double or triple grouser tracked options. Powered by a Caterpillar engine, Peterson
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InnovationWay vative system. Easy access knives on all drum chipper models have a patented safety latch system which prevents the drum from moving during knife changes. Anvils are made from AR400, for long life and accurate chip sizing. Visit astecindustries.com
timberharvesting.com
Tigercat Track Feller-Buncher
The Tigercat LX830E is a powerful and stable leveling feller-buncher with a compact tail swing and a high performance closed loop track drive system, well suited to steep slope thinning and final felling applications. The updated E-series cab includes a new parallel action air ride seat with integrated heating and cooling. The reclining seat is fully adjustable with seat angle and seat extension adjustment. The wider seat cushion and lumbar support provide operator comfort all day long. HVAC controls feature a new infinitely variable fan speed control, adjusted on the control panel or the machine control system touchscreen, adding to operator comfort. Multiple convenient storage locations with nets have been added to the cab to keep items secure. A redesigned engine enclosure provides improved roof access for clearing debris. A boom slider also reduces debris build-up in hard-to-reach areas. A hot shutdown feature has been added. This allows the turbo to sufficiently cool before stopping the engine, improving turbo life. A larger, spring-assisted pump cover allows for easier service access to the hydraulic pump area. Hydraulic enhancements include quicker anti-stall response, consistent anti-cavitation flow and improved heat rejection. Visit tigercat.com
Timber HARVESTING
& F O R E S T O P E R AT I O N S ™
Visit timberharvesting.com -Logging Business Survey -Business of the Year
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SelectCuts As We (ALC) See It
New Spotted Owl? SCOTT DANE The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to change the listing from Threatened to Endangered for the Northern Long-Eared Bat will do nothing to reduce the mortality of the bat, but will contribute to the declining numbers of loggers in the U.S. and threaten the forDane est products industry. Let’s examine the facts: ● The Northern Long-Eared Bats are dying from being infected with a fungus that causes the White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), while hibernating in caves during the winter. ● The mortality rate for bats infected with the fungus is 97%-100%. There is no known cure. ● The range of the bats covers 37 states.
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● WNS is predicted to be in 100% of its U.S. range by 2025. One of the talking points being promoted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in support of their efforts to change the listing from Threatened to Endangered is that the Northern LongEared Bat contributes $3 billion annually to the U.S. agricultural economy through pest control and pollination. The U.S. forest products industry is one of the largest manufacturing industries in American, representing nearly 4% of manufacturing GDP, $300 billion in products annually and $109 billion in payroll. More than 100 times the so-called economic contribution of the bat. If the Northern Long-Eared Bat is listed as Endangered it will result in enhanced habitat (forests) protection restrictions, particularly during the summer (June and July) roosting phase. Since it is impossible to accu-
rately identify roosting trees, this will open up a pandora’s box of overreaching limits and restrictions that will impede forest management activities. Furthermore, after the bats, including newborn bats, return to the caves to hibernate, they will be infected with the fungus and die anyway. This prescription will be equivalent to treating a terminal illness (literally for the bats) with an ineffective focus on extenuating factors while ignoring the source of the illness. The medical field has a fundamental principle of “Do No Harm.” The listing of the Northern Long-Eared Bat as Endangered, and the subsequent actions and restrictions that will result, will do harm, particularly to the timber and forest management sectors. Far more harm than good. The Endangered Species Act was ➤ 38 passed by Congress in 1973.
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SelectCuts 34 ➤ In nearly 50 years more than 2,000 species have been listed, with only 54 ever being removed due to recovery, and many (34) removed due to extinction. This constitutes only a 2% recovery rate. A species must satisfy at least one of five listing criteria in order to qualify for listing as a “threatened” or “endangered” species under the Endangered Species Act: ● The present or threatened destruction, modification or curtailment of its habitat or range ● Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific or educational purposes ● Disease or predation ● The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms ● Other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence Based on these criteria the American logger satisfies more than one and should therefore be considered for listing as “threatened” or “endangered” and afforded the same protections. Scott Dane is the Executive Director of the American Loggers Council. ALC is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing the interests of timber harvesting and tim-
ber hauling businesses across the United States. For more information visit www. amloggers.com.
A celebration of life was held April 9 in Lenoir City. Donations in his memory can be made to the CLL Society, cllsociety.org.
Rawls Was One Of Morbark’s Faces
Auburn Forestry School Celebrates 75th Year
Stephen (Steve) Brady Rawls of Lenoir City, Tenn., who worked for Morbark for more thann 20 years and was a recognized presence at industry trade events for Morbark, died April 2. He was 68. A member of Trinity United Methodist Church in Lenoir City, Rawls was a talRawls ented sales consultant, mechanic, and operator of a wide range of heavy equipment. Happiest outdoors, Rawls enjoyed working in this yard on a John Deere and in his garden. Known as a kind and honest man, he had a passion for his Harley. Rawls is survived by his wife of 28 years, Melissa May Rawls, son Thomas Herzog (Heather) and granddaughter Emersyn as well as countless other family members.
Auburn University’s College of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences culminated its 75th anniversary year with a gala at the Gogue Performing Arts Center on April 13 featuring a keynote address and performance by Rolling Stones keyboardist and honorary U.S. Forest Service ranger Chuck Leavell and a proclamation from Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey. Mary Katherine Pittman from the Office of the Governor presented Ivey’s proclamation to Janaki Alavalapati, dean of the College of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, in honor of the college’s anniversary and its recent change in designation from a school to a college. Alavalapati recognized Auburn’s leadership and faculty, staff, alumni and friends who have propelled the college forward for the past 75 years to become a premier institution.
AdLink
EventsMemo
Easy Access to current advertisers! http://www.timberharvesting.com/advertiser-index/
Listings are submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend.
May 20-21—38th East Coast Sawmilling and Logging Exposition, Richmond Raceway Complex, Richmond, Va. Call 804-737-5625; visit exporichmond.com.
This issue of TIMBER HARVESTING is brought to you in part by the following companies, which will gladly supply additional information about their products. American Loggers Council
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202.627.6961
Astec
39
800.269.6520
Bandit Industries
25
800.952.0178
BITCO Insurance
27
800.475.4477
Cleanfix North America
28
855.738.3267
John Deere Forestry
5
800.503.3373
Despino Tire
16
318.445.4561
July 13-14—The Warnell Logging Cost Analysis Course, Flinchum’s Phoenix, University of Georgia, Athens, Ga. Visit conted.warnell.uga.edu/courses/lca_2022.
ElmiaWood
29
+46 36 15 20 00
FinnMETKO
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+358 40 900 9410
Firestone Agricultural Tire
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515.242.2300
Forest Chain
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800.288.0887
July 17-20—Interforst, Messe München, Munich, Germany. Call 49 89 949-11548; visit interforst.com/en.
Ponsse North America
1,2
715.369.4833
Precision-Husky
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205.640.5181
Prolenc Manufacturing
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877.563.8899
Schwab Brothers Hydraulics
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850.584.7006
Seppi M.
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800.681.1371
Tigercat Industries
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519.753.2000
White Mountain
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800.439.9073
May 20-21—Montana Logging Assn. annual meeting, Copper King Hotel, Butte, Mont. Visit logging.org. June 2-4—Elmia Wood, Bratteborgs gard, Jonkoping, Sweden. Visit elmia.se.
July 22-23—Missouri Loggers Council annual meeting, Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. Visit moforest.org. August 11-14—Virginia Loggers Assn. annual meeting, Williamsburg Lodge, Williamsburg, Va. Call 804-6774290; visit valoggers.org. 38
MAY/JUNE 2022
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