In the July/August 2014 edition of My Take, Timber Harvesting magazine Executive Editor DK Knight discusses the encouraging outlook for the forest products industry. Knight writes, “It’s exciting to hear and read about the rebounding demand for various types of forest products and the bullish outlook for them across the next three to four years. The good news is plentiful, it’s coming from many channels, and involves both domestic and export markets. Compared with last year, softwood lumber production is up and climbing as mills work extended hours and phase in efficiency and/or production improvement projects, according to a survey completed earlier this year by Timber Processing, companion publication to this one. Other such projects are being planned. On the lower volume hardwood side the story is much the same. Except for perhaps the bloodiest part of the severe recession, the demand for crossties and construction mats held firm, and has since accelerated.”

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Timber Harvesting magazine Senior Associate Editor David Abbott travels to Lake Butler, Florida to visit Chad Ward Enterprises, Inc. When Plum Creek or independent landowners want timber harvested from the worst of places, they often do business with Chad Ward, 38, the third-generation owner of Chad Ward Enterprises, Inc. Based in the north Florida town of Lake Butler, not far north of Gainesville, Ward is following in the footsteps of a family tradition started in the 1940s. Both his father and grandfather previously ran the family business under different names. Chad works now with his younger brother, Kimball, 31, and their dad Dean, 66. The company fields three crews: a swamp operation, a biomass chip crew and a upland crew that also does some chipping. Last December Ward added a TimberPro 840-B self-loading clambunk forwarder to the swamp crew.

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Timber Harvesting magazine Associate Editor Jessica Johnson visits Forrest Hodges Operations, Inc. in Forest, Texas. Forrest Hodges was born to be a logger. After all, four generations of his ancestors were loggers, and his parents gave him a fitting name for the part. Add that he hails from the east Texas community of Forest, located about 120 miles northeast of Houston, and, well, it all adds up. Hodges is a likeable guy, the kind you want to have a backyard BBQ with and share a few belly laughs. He’s down to earth, grateful for how God has blessed him, and most importantly, realistic about logging, He certainly isn’t your typical 25-year-old. A fifth generation logger, Hodges claims he started out “as a pup” and went out on his own at 19. From there, Forrest Hodges Operations, Inc. (FHO) was born. After high school and after trying his hand at both EMT school and the Fire Academy, he started with just one piece of equipment and grew gradually, then rapidly.

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Timber Harvesting magazine has a Q&A with Dick Carmical, CEO of The Price Companies, Inc. in Monticello, Arkansas. The company is one of the largest and most experienced wood processing entities in the U.S., operating several contract chipping facilities or wood yards for various pulp and paper manufacturers. Carmical, 58, also heads Price Lumber Co. of Monticello, a manufacturer of smaller dimension lumber and timbers. Carmical partnered with sawmill owner/logger John Porter Price 30 years ago to form The Price Companies. Former chairman of the Forest Resources Assn., he is a former executive board member of the American Forest and Paper Assn., and current board member of the Bernadus Wildlife Conservation Fund.

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(This article was provided to Timber Harvesting magazine by David Sikorsky, a Technical Representative for Caterpillar Forest Products) With the high cost of just about everything today, loggers are always seeking ways to save money. Unfortunately, cutting corners often does the opposite, as this can increase costs and decrease productivity. To avoid falling into that trap with your felling and processing attachments, the focus of this article is on the proper maintenance of saw teeth on your cutting head, the chain on your topping and ground saws and delimber knives.

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This article, titled “Strengthen Yourself And Your Industry”, is supplied to Timber Harvesting magazine by Wendy Farrand, operating as WFarrand Consulting, a forest industry consultant who emphasizes the value of strengthening the people side of a logging business and the impact it has on safety, production, efficiency and professionalism. Farrand writes, “The story goes there are two woodsmen working together on a job. The first woodsman worked steady and hard all day long while the other took numerous breaks. At the end of the day woodsman number one noticed that his fellow worker had a pile of logs three times higher than his! “How did you do that?” he bellowed. His co-worker responded: “Every time I took a break I was sharpening my ax.” This fable shows that it’s not always the one who works the hardest that has the best output, but the one who works at finding a balance for both sharpening the ax as well as maintaining the processes that feed production.”

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