Equipment World
Equipment & Supplier News
Tigercat officials recently recognized dealer and individual performance for 2007 in its U.S. retail operations. Patrick-Miller Tractor Co., Many, La., was the top dealer and the top individual sales honors went to Tommy Kirby, Tidewater, Evergreen, Ala.
Other dealer honors went to Tidewater at Hazlehurst, Ga., and at Evergreen, Ala. Other sales achievers honored included Van McLoon, Jimmy Watkins, Jim Lattay, Jeremy Strickland, Reece Mincey, Todd Mathews and Ben Smith, all with Tidewater at various locations; Wayne Ammons, Patrick-Miller; David Crouch, Forestry 21, Lafayette, Ala.; and Doug Bates, B&G Equipment, Philadelphia, Miss.
Feature
Equipping The Future by Jennifer McCary
In more than six decades of business, The Oliver Stores has weathered many industry cycles, seen logging trends come and go, adapted to a number of manufacturer consolidations and assisted its customers in meeting the ever changing demands of the marketplace. Today the equipment retailer operates four branches and serves logging communities in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Branches are located in New Gloucester, Farmington and Bangor, Me. and Lancaster, NH.
Today about 90% of The Oliver Stores’ business is forestry related and 80% of that is with logging companies.
Experience by the Ton by David Abbott
Phil Casanave, 73, is no logger—far from it. He isn’t even strictly in the fuelwood grinding business, but rather the land clearing business. After clearing land, he has to dispose of the materials, so, incidentally, he has entered the grinding business, grinding stumps, brush and other woody vegetation from job sites.
The P.J. Casanave Land Clearing Co. (CLCC) got into grinding in 2002. This was not something Casanave very much wanted to do. He was essentially forced into it by increasing restrictions on burning. Traditionally, land clearing material was disposed of by open or pit burning, but grinding has become more attractive as burning has become less accepted. In hindsight, he says the move, reluctant or not, was a good one. Many other ventures over the years have fallen by the wayside, but Casanave says, “I don’t foresee that kind of fate for grinding.”
Full Utilization by Dan Shell
Heralded as a breakthrough for federal forest management, Forest Service “stewardship projects” were begun in 2003 as a 10-year program attempting to get the FS and a variety of local interests working closer together on activities that focus on the future condition of area forests, not the maximum number of sawlogs produced. Such projects tend to include a variety of activities—thinning, understory reduction, slash pile removal, etc.—that increase forest health while reducing fire risk and insect infestations and improving wildlife habitat.
Products coming off these sales are also varied, from small to medium sawlogs and other logs for solid wood products generated through thinning, pulpwood, plus top and slash pile residuals that make everything from clean chips to bark. It takes quite a sharp operator to manage the work and the sorting, coordinate the movement and production of logging, chipping and grinding crews—and then find the markets for various raw forest products.
Oregon Action by Dan Shell
The AOL affair offered an opportunity to earn up to 10 Oregon Pro Logger credits and attend a wide variety of panel discussions and seminars that included an update on western Oregon public land management and developments in the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, operational issues such as new and proposed safety requirements, ODOT regulations and working with immigrants, as well as a Saturday luncheon keynote speech from U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.).
The AOL Log A Load for Kids Committee raised more than $30,000 during a Casino Night promotion—a record amount for the event, according to AOL Executive Vice President Jim Geisinger. In another major charitable act, the AOL Executive Committee voted to contribute $3,000 to the Vernonia Boosters organization to help restore the flood-ravaged small community’s athletic facilities and gear after more than 50% of Vernonia’s buildings were damaged during flooding last December.
Product Application: Tigercat 845C
In 2007 Tigercat brought back its highly acclaimed 845 mid-sized track-type feller-buncher that was produced from 1995 to 2003. Completely redesigned, the new 845C is hardly recognizable compared with its predecessor.
Georgia contractor Garry NeeSmith, owner of NeeSmith Timber Co. purchased the prototype machine in mid-2007. It now has worked more than 1, 400 hours in demanding hardwood lowlands in central Georgia.
NeeSmith, who routinely purchases hardwood timber that other contractors might be hesitant to harvest, rarely turns down a tract. “We won’t turn a job down because the wood is too big, or too small,” he says. A typical tract might yield four loads per acre and include oversize, large-limbed oak on higher ground. Larger trees can weigh more than 10 tons. The oak sawtimber is surrounded by smaller pulpwood and scattered loblolly pine. Lower lying wet terrain might have a denser concentration of flare butt cypress trees up to 4,000 lbs., so the 845C is test
Roundup: Mulchers
A pioneer in the development of rotary disc mulching (RDM) technology for 15 years, AFE’s excavator attachments are known for their top quality and high performance in the most demanding conditions. The secret to proprietary RDM technology is an innovative design that transfers maximum power from the carrier’s hydraulic system to the attachment. This results in a attachment that can effortlessly handle thick undergrowth or trees up to 20 in. in diameter.
Smaller carriers can be used with RDM technology, resulting in lower investment, less fuel use, transportation savings, reduced soil disturbance and fewer moving parts—all without sacrificing productivity.
Mooney's Corner
Logging Associations: Changing Horizons by Jim Mooney
Many logging associations across the nation are seeing changes this year, with some states starting new groups and others undergoing personnel transitions. As the logging force continues to shrink, the associations that represent them are responding to the shift. For some, this shift is a rallying cry for organization. Others continue to struggle with financial issues; some are holding their own.
What is the purpose or reason for a logging association? Some provide insurance through the association or a related group; others provide training, including safety and SFI. Many watch legislative issues and provide a voice for loggers. With some associations, to acquire insurance you must be a member. Others provide training at a discounted rate for members. Whatever the reason, all loggers, whether members or not, benefit from these groups.
Product Showcase
New Products & Technologies
Tigercat offers two track loader models, the T234 and the T250B. Both are powered by the Cummins QSB6.7 Tier III engine. Both benefit from an advanced load sensing hydraulic system that improves performance and fuel efficiency.
With fast boom cycles and powerful swing torque, Tigercat track loaders achieve high production in challenging delimbing and loading applications. The load sensing flow-on-demand hydraulic system ensures simultaneous control of all machine functions, excellent fuel economy and reduced heat generation. Another fuel saving feature is automatic idle down.
Select Cuts
Developments, Meetings
University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education and Georgia Research Institute will host the “From Forest to Finished Products” conference and expo November 17-19 in Athens, Ga. The site will be the UGA Center for Continuing Education Conference Center and Hotel.
The new event will focus on forestry, sawmilling, panels and value-added products to bring together in one event critical issues affecting the wood industry in the South. Planned are custom tours and on-site seminars on November 17; an in-forest logging demo on November 17; a specialization day on November 17; and workshop practicum and simultaneous meeting tracks on November 18-19.
Timberlines
Running (Limping) On Empty by DK Knight
A diverse group of 25 people intimate with the wood fiber supply chain got together recently to discuss the state of the nation’s timber harvesting and transportation sector. No participant expected it would be an uplifting discussion, and it wasn’t. Numerous problems were identified, among them: scant margins, high operating costs, slow turn times at mills, uneven playing field, failed public policy, poor public image, communications logjams, logger attrition, an aging logger force, shrinking/changing markets, smaller timber tracts (frequent moves) with smaller timber, multiple log sorts, a dwindling and unqualified labor pool, strained logger-mill relationships, efficiency bottlenecks, growing regulations and negative procurement practices and attitudes.
Timberscope
Industry News
Prentiss & Carlisle, a large forest management and forest services company headquartered in Bangor, Me., has expanded into Wisconsin after inking a deal with The Forestland Group (TFG) to manage that company’s 100,000 acres in the state. TFG recently purchased the forestland from Plum Creek.
Founded in 1924, Prentiss & Carlisle now owns and/or manages 1.55 million acres of timberland in the U.S. and Canada. It also supplies logs and fiber to various markets, using a mix of contract loggers and its own crews, harvesting equipment and trucks, not to mention wood yards, to move hundreds of thousands of tons each year. It also provides consulting, mapping and marketing services. The company has 32 foresters on staff.