John Deere 2154D works with Waratah 622B processor.
The TimberPro 830 is a combo unit, working as either a forwarder or, with a Waratah 470 attachment, as a harvester.
continues. “They’ve been raised to continue that dedication to those traditions. It’s a real testament to not only Floyd but to Sandy as well.”
Nuts & Bolts-Plus The two newest pieces in the Quiram equipment lineup are a 2015 TimberPro 735C tracked feller-buncher fitted with a Quadco disc sawhead and a 2013 John Deere 2154D tracked carrier fitted with a 622B Waratah processor. A TimberPro TF 830 combo forwarder/harvester uses a Waratah 470 attachment when set up as a harvester. A Doosan 225 loader was purchased as an excavator and later modified with a 5 ft. cab riser and Pierce log loading boom. “It’s kind of a home-spun deal that really works well,” he says. Both Quiram loaders—the modified Doosan and a Caterpillar 320 track machine—swing Hultdins 360S grapples. Quiram also uses a 38 in. Ad12
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
vanced Forest Equipment mulcher head on a 445E Timbco for masticating jobs, mostly on USFS stewardship projects. The rest of the roster includes a Deere 110 excavator, Morgan 706 skidder and Deere and Cat bulldozers. Total equipment investment approaches $3 million. Quiram hauls with four Kenworth W900s, set up in a long log “A” train and/or mule train configurations with two- or three-axle pup trailers— mostly Whit-Log products. A threeaxle Load King lowboy is used for moving equipment. Equipment dealers are RDO Equipment Co. (formerly Triple W Equipment) in Kalispell for John Deere, Western States Cat in Kalispell for Caterpillar, Modern Machinery in Kalispell and Missoula for TimberPro and Timbco and Northwest Parts & Equipment in Columbia Falls for Doosan and various support equipment and parts. “You can get most anything you want there (Northwest),” Quiram says. “It’s
like the general store of logging supplies. We probably buy 75% of our supplies there—good people.” CityServiceValcon in Kalispell supplies all fuels, oils and grease, making deliveries to the shop. The family prefers to do business with local dealers and parts houses. “We all need to survive,” Quiram says. “We enjoy very good equipment and workers’ comp insurance rates, because the safety and health of our employees is ‘numero uno,’” Quiram informs. “We want our equipment looking good so we take care to have it in excellent working condition.” The logger calls himself “old school” when it comes to maintenance. “We haven’t bought into longer intervals in oil changes yet,” he explains, so he sticks with the practice of changing lubricants and filters in logging and road-building equipment every 200 hours. Trucks get the service at 10,000-mile intervals. Machines are greased every afternoon, and trucks once weekly. Operators use battery-powered grease guns; that is except for the owner himself, who still prefers to use a manual gun. To be fair, Quiram generally runs the Doosan loader, which he notes is the simplest machine to grease, with fewer grease points. The crew keeps a logbook to record daily activity on each machine and truck: start and end hours, fuel consumption, parts used, and so on. This equipment “diary,” as he calls it, is in keeping with his reputation for meticulous attention to detail—a trait he shares with his wife and one they have passed on to their sons. In Quiram’s world, parts preference is determined by availability, not brand. That’s especially true today, he says, because dealers keep inventory to a minimum and ordered parts are typically at least two days out, prompting him to keep a lot of filters in stock. A shop truck on site contains all the essentials and basic hand tools. In summers, Quiram also keeps a Sterling single-axle truck with a 2,500-gallon water tank equipped with sprayers and fire equipment on site for fire protection, dust control and equipment washing. Though routine maintenance takes place in the woods, the Quirams have a 50x70 ft. shop at the family farm for more demanding work, especially for truck maintenance. Walker is in charge of that, and says they can handle anything short of engine and transmission
TIMBER HARVESTING & WOOD FIBER OPERATIONS
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