Professional Logging Contractors of Maine receives FAME Education at Work for Maine Award

PORTLAND - The Professional Logging Contractors (PLC) of Maine received the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) Education at Work for Maine Award Thursday evening at FAME’s annual meeting and awards event, Showcase Maine, at Portland’s Holiday Inn By The Bay.

Nominated for the award by Northern Maine Community College (NMCC), PLC was selected for its role in creating Maine’s only postsecondary training program for operators of mechanized logging equipment, the Mechanized Logging Operations Program (MLOP).

The program was launched in 2017 thanks to a partnership between three Maine community colleges including NMCC, the PLC, and industry partners including Milton CAT and Nortrax/John Deere. It has been supported since its inception through Maine Quality Centers, a program to develop and support skilled in-demand and high wage occupations in Maine.

“The PLC is honored to receive this award on behalf of our members and pleased that it will bring additional visibility to the program, which continues to grow in success and in importance to the future of the logging industry in Maine,” Dana Doran, Executive Director of the PLC, said. “We would like to thank FAME for the award and for recognizing the value of the program and the collaboration it represents. The logging contractors of the PLC deserve credit for both identifying a need for skilled new workers in the industry and for tackling this ambitious solution to meet it, and we are grateful to the community college system, state lawmakers, Maine Quality Centers, and our valued industry partners for joining us in making it a reality.”

Fifteen graduates of the third and largest MLOP class were recognized Sept. 19 at an event held in the woods of Western Maine where they spent weeks harvesting timber using sophisticated state-of-the-art mechanized logging machines. Previous classes were held in the summers of 2017 and 2018. Plans are already in motion to offer two classes in 2020 and a location for those classes is now being finalized.

“This program provides a direct pathway to a good-paying, exciting career in the Maine woods at a time when there is huge demand for new workers,” Doran said. “There is no better or more efficient way to gain the experience and knowledge you need to become an equipment operator in the logging industry.”

Showcase Maine is FAME’s annual celebration of its successful partnerships with Maine’s business, lending, governmental, and higher education communities. The evening featured a reception, including a showcase of exhibits by Maine businesses and educational organizations that partner with FAME; a dinner and awards presentation; and a keynote speech by Maine’s own U.S. Army Staff Sgt. (Retired) Travis Mills entitled “Never Give Up. Never Quit.”

FAME is a quasi-independent state agency that provides financial solutions that help Maine people achieve their business and higher education goals. FAME helps to create a Maine workforce that with good -paying jobs by focusing on the nexus of economic and educational development. FAME recently was recognized for the fifth year in a row as one of the Best Places to Work in Maine.

To learn more about FAME, please visit www.famemaine.com.

Wheel Safety

ByDonaldBurr

PLCSafety&TrainingCoordinator safety@maineloggers.com

Let’s talk wheels. The number one thing that I have learned while researching this topic is that after all the wheels I have put on vehicles I should have known more. It is true I was ignorant on what, how and why a wheel stays on the truck. All who know me know I don’t like to be ignorant, so here goes - all you need to know about wheels and were afraid to ask.

No matter what kind of wheels you are dealing with, (Hub Piloted, Stud Piloted (Bud), or the older Dayton wheels), wheel installation comes down to clamping force and how it is being applied. If you understand nothing else you need to understand clamping force and what kind of hardware performs the clamping force. Some of the hardware is very similar and even fits well, but not right. To get proper clamping force, wheels and hubs need to be clean, uncracked, and installed straight to get maximum contact between wheel and hub. The contact needs to be straight on so that there will be no movement when the wheel nuts apply proper force. See images 1 & 2 for proper alignment.

From the first to the last step when dealing with wheels you need to observe and pay attention to what the wheels are telling you. I am not going to give you step by step just the highlights with the what & why.

After you disassemble a wheel, clean & inspect, look for cracks, bad threads, stretched stud bolts & stretched or oblong rim stud holes. This is the only time you have to give the area behind the rims a thorough inspection, because a driver cannot inspect this area during the pre-trip. Pay very close attention to the studs at the face of the hub, where cracks can be hidden from view.

When you are ready to install the wheels, for a hub piloted wheel, put two drops of oil on the stud and inside the nut, set the hub so that the pilot face is at the 12 o’clock position and start tightening at that 12 o’clock stud

Wheel Safety Continued Page 30

Wheel Safety Continued from Page 29 only to 50 foot-lbs., going around in a star pattern. At this point reevaluate if the wheel is straight (square) so that it spins round. If the wheel does not spin round the wheel will never stay tight, then loosen and retighten and check again that the wheel spins round. If the wheel spins round, then finish the wheel nuts to a torque 450 – 500 foot-lbs. If you are using stud piloted wheels tighten the inner cap nuts first to 50 foot-lbs. in a star pattern, then go around in the same pattern to 450 – 500 foot-lbs. Next the outside wheel in the same pattern 50 foot-lbs. and again 450 – 500 foot-lbs. Both type of wheels need to be re-checked after 50

100 miles. Please note that when the stud piloted wheels are checked you need to remove the outer nuts then check the toque of the inner cap nuts.

Remember over torqueing can be just as bad as under torqueing.

There are a couple of tools that can assist in tire cleaning & inspection

For cleaning the studs: Tru-bal has a tool $148.00 https://www.tru-bal.com/other-accessories/x-2756-sb.html http://www.haltec.com/pc/Inspection

For lining the rims up: Tru-bal has this tool which comes in numerous sizes for your need. https://www.tru-bal.com/solution-a

Last word here is the OSHA (1910.177) standard for wheel work done by a mechanic. The bottom line is that all employees who work on tires & wheels shall be trained in the proper procedures in removal and installations. The Tire Industry Association has 3 levels of training (Basic Commercial Tire “200” / Commercial Tire Service “300” / Commercial Tire Service Instructor “400”).

The OSHA standard can be found at: https:// www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/ standardnumber/1910/1910.177

An OSHA poster can be downloaded at: https:// www.osha.gov/Publications/wheel/3401tubeless-truck-bus -tires-wall-chart.pdf

This inspect hub-pilot wheel systems to include: M22 x 1.5 wheel studs, wheel nuts, and disc wheel bolt holes.

Did you know?

Check out the PLC Safety Video on Wheel Safety at: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=jodBZFYkJYU&feature=youtu.be

1. That torque wrenches should be checked and calibrated annually.

2. OSHA has a standard for employees who change tires.

3. That you should start with the hub piloted flange at the 12 o’clock position and tighten that lug nut first.

4. That you should tighten all lug nuts to 50-foot lbs. then check to see if the wheel is centered before you finish tightening to 450 – 500-foot lbs.

5. It is important to do a good inspection while the wheel is off because damage there could never be seen from a pre-trip inspection by the driver.