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Vol. 51, No.4

(Founded in 1972—Our 595th Consecutive Issue)

F E AT U R E S out front:

April 2022 A Hatton-Brown Publication

Phone: 334-834-1170 Fax: 334-834-4525

www.southernloggintimes.com Publisher David H. Ramsey Chief Operating Officer Dianne C. Sullivan Editor-in-Chief Senior Editor Managing Editor Senior Associate Editor Associate Editor

Rich Donnell Dan Shell David Abbott Jessica Johnson Patrick Dunning

Publisher/Editor Emeritus David (DK) Knight

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Lowe Brothers Logging Alabama Logger of 2021

Art Director Ad Production Coordinator Circulation Director Online Content/Marketing

Cindy Segrest Patti Campbell Rhonda Thomas Jacqlyn Kirkland

ADVERTISING CONTACTS DISPLAY SALES Eastern U.S. Kathy Sternenberg Tel: 251-928-4962 • Fax: 334-834-4525 219 Royal Lane Fairhope, AL 36532 E-mail: ksternenberg@bellsouth.net

Mississippi’s Manuel Henderson is a man of faith; the young contract trucker-turned-logger juggles managing two crews with his role as senior pastor of his home church. Despite all the ongoing challenges of late, he maintains an optimistic view of logging’s immediate future. Story begins on Page 8. (Photo by David Abbott)

Midwest USA, Eastern Canada John Simmons Tel: 905-666-0258 • Fax: 905-666-0778 32 Foster Cres.

Whitby, Ontario, Canada L1R 1W1 E-mail: jsimmons@idirect.com

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Fuel Prices Higher And Higher

Southern Stumpin’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 From The Backwoods Pew . . . . . . . 22 Bulletin Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Industry News Roundup . . . . . . . . . 26 Trucking Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Safety Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Machines-Supplies-Technology . . . 38 ForesTree Equipment Trader . . . . . 41 Coming Events/Ad Index . . . . . . . . . 46

Western Canada, Western USA Tim Shaddick Tel: 604-910-1826 • Fax: 604-264-1367 4056 West 10th Ave. Vancouver, BC V6L 1Z1 E-mail: tootall1@shaw.ca Kevin Cook Tel: 604-619-1777 E-mail: lordkevincook@gmail.com International Murray Brett Tel: +34 96 640 4165 +34 96 640 4048 58 Aldea de las Cuevas • Buzon 60 03759 Benidoleig (Alicante), Spain E-mail: murray.brett@abasol.net CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

Bridget DeVane

Tel: 1-800-669-5613 • Tel 334-699-7837 Email: bdevane7@hotmail.com

Southern Loggin’ Times (ISSN 0744-2106) is published monthly by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc., 225 Hanrick St., Montgomery, AL 36104. Subscription Information—SLT is sent free to logging, pulpwood and chipping contractors and their supervisors; managers and supervisors of corporate-owned harvesting operations; wood suppliers; timber buyers; wood procurement and land management officials; industrial forestry purchasing agents; wholesale and retail forest equipment representatives and forest/logging association personnel in the U.S. South. See form elsewhere in this issue.

All non-qualified U.S. subscriptions are $65 annually; $75 in Canada; $120 (Airmail) in all other countries (U.S. funds). Single copies, $5 each; special issues, $20 (U.S. funds). Subscription Inquiries— TOLL-FREE 800-669-5613; Fax 888-611-4525. Go to www.southernloggintimes.com and click on the subscribe button to subscribe/renew via the web. All advertisements for Southern Loggin’ Times magazine are accepted and published by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. with the understanding that the advertiser and/or advertising agency are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof. The advertiser and/or advertising agency will defend, indemnify and hold Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. harmless from and against any loss, expenses, or other liability resulting from any claims or lawsuits for libel violations or right of privacy or publicity, plagiarism, copyright or trademark infringement and any other claims or lawsuits that may arise out of publication of such advertisement. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. neither endorses nor makes any representation or guarantee as to the quality of goods and services advertised in Southern Loggin’ Times. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. reserves the right to reject any advertisement which it deems inappropriate. Copyright ® 2022. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Periodicals postage paid at Montgomery, Ala. and at additional mailing offices. Printed In USA.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Southern Loggin’ Times, P.O. Box 2419, Montgomery, AL 36102-2419 Member Verified Audit Circulation

Other Hatton-Brown publications: ★ Timber Processing ★ Timber Harvesting ★ Panel World ★ Power Equipment Trade ★ Wood Bioenergy

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APRIL 2022 ● Southern Loggin’ Times

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SOUTHERN STUMPIN’

By David Abbott • Managing Editor • Ph. 334-834-1170 • Fax: 334-834-4525 • E-mail: david@hattonbrown.com

Global Connections N

o man is an island, and neither is any nation or industry—not even the ones that are on islands. It’s an interconnected globe we all live in; events half a world away can and do impact us, whether we realize it, or like it, or not. The export market to China, for instance, is very important to the bottoms lines of lots of loggers and timberland owners down here in the U.S. South.

With that in mind, I want to consider the Russia/Ukraine situation, our connections to it, and how it can indirectly affect us—beyond just fuel prices.

In condemnation of the unprovoked attack on Ukraine (and no doubt with an eye to PR fallout), hundreds of businesses are leaving Russia, including many in the forest products sector.

Tigercat announced via social media post on February 25 that it would be suspending supply of all equipment, components and spare parts to Russia. “Tigercat regrets the negative consequences of this decision on the work of all our dealers and end-users in Russia who are not related to this devastating conflict,” the post acknowledged.

Likewise, Swedish agricultural magazine ATL reports that John Deere, Komatsu and Ponsse have also stopped all deliveries of both new and used machinery and parts to Russian and Belarusian markets.

These aren’t meaningless gestures of virtue signaling, nor are they painless. Taking a stand for freedom and justice comes at a cost. For instance, sales in Russia and Belarus reportedly accounted for 20% of Ponsse’s net sales in 2021. Other companies, like oil/gas giant BP, also stand to take a sizable hit by walking away from the Russian market.

International Paper announced in a press release that it intends to “explore strategic options, including the possible sale, of its 50% ownership interest in Ilim Group.” According to investigative journalist Daniel Connolly, IP has since 2007 been in a 50-50 joint venture with Ilim, a Russian company with close links to Putin and his oligarch allies. They harvest in Russia and export wood pulp, mostly to China.

The Board of PEFC International (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification, an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization that promotes sustainable forest management through independent third party certification) classified all timber originating from Russia and Belarus as “conflict timber,” which therefore cannot be used in PEFC-certified products. Likewise, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has suspended trading certificates in Russia and Belarus, announcing, “Wood and forest products from Russia and Belarus cannot be used in FSC products or be sold as FSC-certi6

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fied anywhere in the world as long as the armed violence continues.”

Remember that in Russia, there is no private ownership of forestland. Oligarchs close to Putin are behind Russia’s largest logging companies and wood products exporters, according to a report from Earthsight, a British environmental group that has criticized International Paper and other companies with Russian investments. So, again, it’s not just PR or virtue signaling to withdraw; when we do business with Russia, we help fund Putin’s war chest.

From Russia, With Lumber Russia is the largest forested country in the world, with timber on 45% of its area. They grow a lot of pine, spruce, larch, and cedar. However, studies by the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization have determined that the potential

of Russian forests is underutilized. While containing a fifth of Earth’s forests, Russia has less than 4% of the global trade in forest products. Its timber industry generates about $20 billion per year—compared to more like $200 billion in the U.S. But more than half of our timberland is privately owned; that might have something to do with ours being more productive and profitable.

Still, Russia is a major exporter of forest products (including logs, lumber, pulp, paper and pellets) to the European Union, China, Japan and the Middle East—$12 billion worth in 2021, according to Wood Resources International (WRI). Europe imported almost 14 million m3 of logs and nine million m3 of softwood lumber from Russia and her partner, Belarus, last year, also according to WRI. The European Federation of Wooden Pallet & Packaging Manufacturers says that Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus collectively supply much of Europe’s softwood for pallets and packaging. Russia also exports a lot of paper to the EU.

Between the war and sanctions from governments and the private sector, observers expect a significant disruption to Europe’s wood supply.

Alternative sources in Nordic and Baltic countries will likely not be sufficient to compensate for the shortfall. Russia’s former customers will be forced to import from other sources, opening up potential new export opportunities. Meanwhile, these additional restrictions on an already strained supply chain could cause further price increases.

Speaking of price increases: fuel prices were already going up, along with everything else worldwide. That inflation has now been exacerbated. The U.S. only got something like 2% of our supply from Russia, but the EU has reportedly been importing 41% of its natural gas and 27% of its crude oil from Russia.

Food prices are also impacted; Ukraine supplies the EU with almost 60% of its corn as well as livestock grain. Russia is the world’s biggest exporter of fertilizer (shipments now suspended) and also a major wheat supplier.

Together, Russia and Ukraine are Europe’s breadbasket, but more than Europe will be affected. In terms of exports worldwide, almost 30% of wheat, 20% of corn and over 80% of sunflower oil come from Russia and/or Ukraine. In fact, if estimates from the International Food Policy Research Institute are accurate, 12% of all food calories traded in the world come from those two countries.

With the devastation of Russia’s attack, Ukraine’s crop for this year is probably already lost, so food supply worldwide will be impacted for years to come.

In a March 5 article for Business Insider, Natasha Dailey wrote that “Lumber prices are continuing to surge amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and traders could soon see even bigger price swings. Futures have been on a wild ride since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After tumbling through the spring and summer, they have been rebounding and got a fresh jolt from Russia’s war.”

In a March 10 article for Woodworking Network, Larry Adams reports, “Since Russia invaded Ukraine, lumber prices have jumped 14% to $1,452, putting them just below the all-time peak of $1,711 per thousand board feet recorded last May, according to a report in Market Insider and other publications. Even before the war began, lumber prices were volatile. In January, they fell 15%. Since February 1, they’ve soared 55%.”

Dailey notes that in an interview with Fox Business, U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz, a Ukraineborn Republican lawmaker from Indiana, mentioned lumber as one Russian industry Western governments should target for sanctions. “Such sanctions could rattle lumber prices further,” SLT Dailey opines.

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Rolling Along ■ Young logger Manuel Henderson is grounded but optimistic for the future of logging.

By David Abbott PIAVE, Miss. anuel Henderson, 37, may be a young man as loggers go, but don’t let that ★ fool you. He’s got plenty of experience under his belt, having already been in business under his own name for 17 years, since he was barely more than a kid himself.

Manuel grew up around the woods business, and has spent his life in different aspects of it. His dad, whose company Glen Henderson Logging and Trucking was featured in Southern Loggin’ Times in the early ’90s, has been logging for about 40 years.

And the family owns a sawmill, Henderson Lumber in Piave.

Manuel graduated high school in 2003 and went right to work for his dad in the woods. In 2005, he started his own company, Manuel Henderson Trucking, Inc., to contract haul for Glen Henderson Logging.

In November 2019, Glen offered to sell his son one of his logging crews, a clear-cut job he had estab-

Henderson still runs five crews at his company, but Manuel has no plans for further expansion at this time; he’s happy right where he is.

After all, he’s got his hands full enough.

M

Out Of The Woods

Manuel Henderson

lished for Weyerhaeuser. Manuel took the deal and quickly grew the in-woods operation, adding a second crew in 2020 and more than doubling production.

With his trucks now hauling exclusively for his own two crews instead of contracted out, the different Henderson family businesses in the area are fully separate. Glen

Both Manuel Henderson Trucking crews fell with a Tigercat 724G; this one works on crew 2.

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When he’s not logging, Henderson has another full-time job, or more of a life calling, really: tending to the flock he shepherds as senior pastor of his home church, Union Grove Assembly of God. He’s been pastoring since he was 27, right at 10 years now.

“I never knew this was coming,” he says. “All I was going to do was log, and work in the church, but God saw different. He opened the door; my home church was without a pastor, and they asked me would I fill in till someone else came along.” After a while, as things kept going well, the church asked if he’d consider taking the position permanently. He agreed, then went to school in Jackson to get his credentials.

This was the church Henderson

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grew up in and has been part of all his life, along with most of the rest of his family. He’s able to balance the responsibilities of his two vocations well; with his crews working close to home and on short hauls, he can juggle managing logging with visiting members of his congregation when they’re in the hospital and other pastoral duties. It also helps that his dad’s timber buyer, Chris Adcock, is the church’s youth pastor.

Henderson preaches at three services a week. He calls Wednesdays a slow day in the woods, allowing him to works on the sermon for that night, and he takes off Saturdays to prepare for Sunday’s services, spend time with family and catch up on visiting.

At home, Henderson is a family man, married with children. He and his wife Ashley have three daughters: Cartiae, 14, Lexi, 12, and Hadley, 9.

Henderson bought his 948L-II skidder from Deere dealer Stribling Equipment in Hattiesburg.

Equipment In the woods, both crews are set up with mostly similar machines. Both run Weiler K560 loaders, one a 2020 and the other a 2022 model. He keeps a Prentice as a spare loader. Crew 1 uses a John Deere 948L-II skidder, while crew 2 has a ’21 Tigercat 632H, the newest machine in Henderson’s stable. A second, slightly older 632H, a ’19 model, rotates between the crews, to whichever one is on a longer drag at the time. Both crews entrust felling duties to a 724G Tigercat cutter.

Puckett Machinery (Weiler), Stribling (Deere) and B&G (Tigercat), all in Hattiesburg, are his equipment dealers. Service is good from all the dealers, Henderson says. “I have no complaints on any of them.”

The Hendersons were Puckett customers before Weiler bought Cat’s forestry division; Glen would only run Prentice loaders on his crews.

“They’ve been so good, so we just stayed with them,” Manuel says. “We have mostly stuck with Tigercat for skidders, but when John Deere came out with the L series, the salesman got us to try them and they are very impressive,” the younger Henderson attests. “Dad has a few and I have the one. And Tigercat is definitely our preference on cutters.”

With mostly newer machines under warranty, maintenance and repairs tend to be routine. Operators grease and change oil during the week, and use some Saturdays to change hoses or catch up on anything that slipped by during the week. Henderson looks to a local mechanic to handle oil changes and tires on trucks.

Speaking of the hauling side, Manuel Henderson Trucking—the logging crews run under it—now features 12 trucks, each assigned to one of the two crews. They are Peterbilt, all except one Western Star, pulling

Weiler K560 knucklebooms, a 2020 and 2022 model, sort and load on each crew.

Henderson has two Tigercat 632H machines, ‘19 and ‘21 models, one on crew 2 and the other floating between crews as needed.

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Magnolia and FMI trailers. Peterbilt of Hattiesburg is his truck dealer.

Crews On crew 1, Phillip Parker operates the loader, Josh Grantham drives the skidder and Justin Brewer mans the feller-buncher. Floater is Matthew Brown, running the extra skidder on either crew. Crew 2 has Jeremy Brewer on the loader, Edward Weaver on the skidder and Darren Woods on the cutter. Truck drivers are Danny Smith, Jason Walley, Heath Brewer, Michael Byrd, William Bond, Channing Walley, Alton Rigney and Tony Allen.

“They’re a good crew,” the logger says. “A lot of them have been here for 15 years, since it was all trucking.”

Both crews cut exclusively for Weyerhaeuser; the contract transferred when Manuel took over.

Weyerhaeuser has a reputation for strong safety standards, and Henderson says it is well earned. Requirements include all PPE, including safety vests, glasses and lace up steel toe boots (no slip ons); three points of contact is stressed, and no power saws besides a pole saw are allowed. “They don’t even want you to trim with a machete,” the logger says. “They are the strictest,

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The logger was a trucker first, and has 12 rigs on the road.

but it is a blessing. Thankfully, we have had no accidents.”

Henderson holds monthly tailgate safety meetings for both crews and truck drivers, covering three topics at each meeting. The topics come from Henderson, who addresses whatever he thinks needs to be addressed.

Markets

Manuel Henderson, left, with James Gibson, right, Weyerhaeuser harvest manager for MS/LA region

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Henderson stays pretty local, harvesting in mostly just three counties: Greene, Wayne, Perry, with a little action in a fourth, Jones County.

On a sunny and warm day in early March, SLT visited both of Manuel’s crews working clear-cut jobs on mature planted pine stands not too far from each other. Sometimes they work on the same tract, but most of

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the time they stay separate.

“When Plum Creek owned this property, they would do second thinnings, but Weyerhaeuser has done away with second thinnings,” Henderson says. “So now their rotation is about 25 years and they take it down.” These are typical jobs for the crews. They stay in this type of wood all the time, with lots of logs and chip-n-saw in mature stands ready for final harvest. “It’s good because it’s a mixture,” Henderson says. “If logs get tight, we shift to chip-n-saw.”

They also have pole sorts, and differ-

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ent separations for logs and chip-nsaw. The loader operators merchandise the timber to its highest and best use based on the market needs of Weyerhaeuser.

Manuel’s brother Jonathan runs Henderson Lumber, which the family converted from a hardwood mill to pine. They also started exporting to China in the last year.

Both Manuel’s crews and all of Glen’s crews haul to Henderson Lumber, as well as to other local markets. Manuel Henderson Trucking hauls pulpwood to Leaf River in

Augusta and chip-n-saw to Interfor in Bay Springs and Canfor in Jackson, Ala. Other primary markets include Hood Industries in Wiggins, Beaumont and Waynesboro and GeorgiaPacific in Taylorsville. The furthest The crews usually produce 100 loads a week each, and hauled a total 7,626 loads (216,512 tons) in 2021.

With everything that has happened in the last two years, it might be surprising to some that logging, for many, has actually gotten better since 2020, with many loggers finding mills wide open, taking all the wood

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they can get, even paying more to get it in some cases. But nothing can last forever, and the pendulum swings back. Markets are in-between good and bad these days, Henderson reports. “It’s kind of tightening up on us. We’re seeing quotas now. At our log mills we’re on quota, at our chipn-saw mills we’re on quota. We’re wide open on pulpwood. Usually February and March are wide open, but this year it has been dry enough that they have enough wood, after it was extremely wet the last two years.”

The logger continues his analysis: “Covid kind of slowed things down too. Lumber went crazy high. Mills had cutbacks with workers. But we have been fortunate; it has only just now started slowing down for us.”

With fuel prices skyrocketing in recent months, first from inflation further exacerbated by the instability in global markets caused by Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, Henderson reports that mills are trying to respond with fuel adjustments, but it isn’t catching up with the prices. “They give us a few more cents to try to offset it but it has jumped so quick. Fuel is over $5 here and we have never seen prices like that. Back in Katrina it got up in the high $4 range, to $4.85 or $4.90, and that left no extra money after paying your note and insurance. But we were able to overcome that because we were only battling fuel. Now it’s everything.”

The logger wonders how long people will be able to keep it up at this level, and he fears it may go higher, maybe as high as $7 a gallon. “The parts situation, we were dealing with that, but this fuel, that has been a game-changer for a lot of people. Here’s the tricky thing: with the mills being full as they are, they’re not throwing out extra money for their logs; why would they? They’re getting all they want.

So now you’re trying to buy timber for the bare minimum they’re paying. So where are you going to get the extra money (to pay for the increasing costs)?”

For Manuel, that’s why he likes working with Weyerhaeuser.

“They’re able to give that extra little bump, because they have all these commitments, they have to get their wood cut.”

Despite all that, logging does look better, he says, if only fuel cost would get under control. There are new mills coming to his area, for one thing: the Enviva pellet plant in Lucedale and Idaho Forest Group's sawmill in Lumberton. “It’s very hopeful in the future,” he says. “It’s looking good. We’ll haul to that Lumberton mill. And even now, still, we got quotas but we hit 200 loads just about every week. So it’s SLT a blessing.”

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Highs And Lows

■ Lowe Brothers Logging was Alabama’s Outstanding Logger of the Year for 2021.

By Patrick Dunning CARROLLTON, Ala. hile receiving his ★ state’s 2021 Outstanding Logger of the Year award at the Alabama Loggers Council (ALC) Annual Meeting last fall, Steve Lowe kept things in perspective. “I want to thank God because this worked out perfect. We love what we do, living in Pickens County and working with the people we do.”

Steve, 54, and his brother Terry Lowe, 57, owners of Lowe Brothers Logging, Inc., credit their dad, Harold Lowe, with instilling a solid work ethic in them. They remember getting off the school bus and heading straight to the woods with their father when they were nine and 12 years old. “We'd get out of school and think we were going to watch cartoons,” Steve recalls. “But dad said, 'Nah boys, we’re going to load this truck.’ Hard work played a part in it. We enjoyed it then and still love logging now.”

Harold had worked for a construction company in Tuscaloosa before purchasing a log loader with an 8 ft. boom on the truck bed. He skidded logs with Belgian draft horses until buying his first mechanized skidder in 1985. The boys were more interested in the art of

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timber felling anyways.

When Harold retired in 1992, Steve and Terry founded Lowe Brothers Logging with a single truck and gradually grew the business over the years into a four-man mechanized operation. The company’s single crew doesn’t pursue large production numbers but is well known for its environmentally conscious work ethic in the woods.

That was ultimately a big factor that led to them being named Alabama's Outstanding Logger for 2021.

“We get audited every year and they check our SMZs and BMPs and we were commended on it,” Steve says. “When we first started, there weren’t SMZ or BMP regulations. Even though it costs a little extra to do, it’s better for the environment and wildlife. We try to keep debris near the loading deck scattered and do little things to make the tract look better when we’re finished. It gives us more tracts to cut, so we stay busy.”

Steve says Pickens County has always been a logger’s paradise because of its surplus of timberlands accompanied by a handful of pine and hardwood grade mills. The company’s 40x60 shop in Carrollton sits within a 20-mile radius of the eight sawmills to which Lowe Brothers delivers. The brothers have maintained several of the same professional relationships their father

cultivated with equipment dealers and landowners, and have now established themselves as one of the state’s top timber harvesters.

Operations When Southern Loggin’ Times visited Lowe Brothers Logging in February, the crew was conducting a clear-cut prescription on a 60-acre private tract in Pickens County for McShan Lumber Co. Steve and Terry grew up two miles down the dirt road and previously thinned this block with a chain saw and cable skidder 30 years ago, under the Lowes Logging banner when their dad was still in it full time. The Lowe brothers still hang on to the words their father spoke to them as children. “Remember boys, your reputation follows you as long as you live.”

Back then, Harold contracted for Pate Lumber Co., Carrollton, (now Cooper Marine) and worked closely with its owner, Frank Pate. “This is home turf for us,” Steve says.

“When my dad first bought his log truck, boom and Belgian horse skid, he worked for Mr. Frank. All these years later we’re still working for Mr. Frank; he just doesn’t have a sawmill anymore. He owns a lot of land and we do most of the cutting for him because it’s the type of logs McShan wants. They pay the best

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money.” Pate plans on replanting the 60 acres of harvested pine pulpwood and hardwood and says he’s had good luck with loblolly seedlings in the past.

When Pate Lumber closed in 2006, Lowe Brothers followed one of Pate’s longtime foresters, David Walker, to McGee Lumber in Aliceville, for which they contract-cut hardwood. After Hurricane Katrina severely damaged 320 million trees along the Gulf Coast in 2005, including large parts of Mississippi of Alabama, McShan began offering stormwood contracts and the Lowes’ accepted a bid.

Lowe Brothers officially became a contractor for McShan Lumber in 2011, working closely with McShan timber procurement managers Grover Allgood and his son, Gee Allgood. It was Gee who presented the Logger of the Year award to Steve at last year’s ALC meeting.

“The Lowe Brothers crew and family have been a pleasure to work with over the last 11 years,” Gee says. “They hold each other to a very high standard of professionalism and work ethic, both in and out of the woods. For us it is reassuring to know that when they are cutting a tract of timber, they will treat the land as if it were their own.”

Steve and Terry target pine and hardwood grade logs in 20-acre sections with some pre-marked 70 ft.

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logs merchandised as transmission poles for Cahaba Electric Co. LLC in Centreville. They prefer running one crew to stay on top of things better.

Equipment Like their father before them, the Lowe brothers run almost exclusively John Deere forestry equipment, with the exception of a Caterpillar dozer.

“We’ve run John Deere since we’ve been in logging,” Terry says. “They perform well and we have a good relationship with the dealership.” The dealer in question is Warrior Tractor and Equipment in Northport. “Our dad traded with Mr. Gene Taylor at Warrior and he’s been super good to us. Jimmy Long, our salesman at Warrior, will come by the house and drop off parts on my doorstep.”

Steve adds, “We’re using a loaner loader right now since our knuckleboom has had issues with a bearing; he’s got it in his shop and is letting us use one of his until ours is fixed. He doesn’t mind if he has an extra piece of machinery in the yard. That means a lot to us.”

The brothers replace one tractor at a time. Their newest piece is a ’21 843L-II feller-buncher purchased last year to replace a ’10 643K that had 12,000-plus hours. Lowe Brothers’ equipment inventory also includes a ’16 437E loader, ’03 648G-III skidder, ’12 748H skidder and ’04 Caterpillar D5 dozer.

Lowe Brothers owns three Macks (’00, ’05, and ’07 models) and one ’07 Peterbilt, all pulling Magnolia trailers. Steve prefers older-model rigs, citing easier maintenance.

Engine oil is changed every 300 hours in woods machinery and every 10,000 miles in trucks. Steve and Terry grease trucks and woods equipment weekly and prefer Delo-400 15W-40 across the board. “Delo 400 is what we’ve always run,” Steve says. “It’s what my dad ran and we’ve had good luck with it, so why change.” Anything related to engine overhaul in forestry equipment and trucks, the brothers will haul to Warrior Tractor or their mechanic, Lee Russell, who has been with the company 15 years and spent many nights under the moon fixing equipment with Steve.

“Our equipment is older but in pretty good shape,” Steve says. “We can do cylinders and that type of stuff but when it comes to the engine, that’s beyond what we’re trying to do. When this new cutter breaks down or malfunctions, we’ll have to call someone. Newer machines aren’t built as hands-on as this older equipment.”

The 748H is 10 years old but still going strong.

Jamie Stephens, truck driver; Bobby Sanders, truck driver; Stephen Posey, loader operator; Steve Lowe, co-owner; Terry Lowe, coowner; Eddie Lowe, skidder operator

Markets Lowe Brothers Logging averages 50 loads per week. “We aren’t high

The cutter is the newest piece the brothers have, added last year.

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The 2003 model skidder is a reminder of John Deere yellow.

The crew loads and hauls an average 50 loads a week.

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volume but try to focus on doing quality work,” Steve says.

McShan Lumber is requesting 10 in. pine pulpwood tops and no larger than 29 in. butts. Cooper Marine in Carrollton takes some of the Lowe Brothers’ larger logs, accepting 38 in. butts in grade pine. “(There’s a) big pine and hardwood push going on right now,” Steve reports. “It was so wet last year; we didn’t have a dry spell like we do now. We moved equipment across two counties trying to cut tracts because it was so wet. Wet weather affected our mills some.

Most of our sawmills were low on inventory.”

They haul hardwood grade logs to Lewis Brothers Lumber Co., Aliceville, and Noland Lumber, Gordo; pulpwood to WestRock and Georgia-Pacific, Aliceville; and pine pulpwood to International Paper, Columbus, Miss. Lowe Brothers also hauls to Cooper Marine, Carrollton; utility poles to Cahaba Electric Inc., Centreville; and McShan Lumber.

Each member of the Lowes’ crew is from a family with a background in logging. Stephen Posey, 39, loader operator, is married to Steve’s second cousin and has been with the company nine years. Posey’s father was featured in SLT in 1987 in an article dubbed “A Pocket Full of Poseys.” Steve and Terry’s younger brother, Eddie Lowe, operates the skidder and is the only Auburn University fan on the crew. Jamie Stephens, 41, has driven trucks for the company three years and Lowe says he’s a solid mechanic. Bobby Sanders, 31, has driven big rigs since he was 18. Between the two of them, the truck drivers have over 30 years SLT of experience hauling logs.

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Surging Fuel Prices!

■ Who is it hurting? Why is it hurting?

Where is it going?

by Todd Martin, Southern Loggers Cooperative President & CEO

I

was honored when asked by Clay Altizer and the Forest Resources Association (FRA) to weigh in on the surging fuel prices and the impacts on logging and forest products transportation sectors.

Why? Well, it is not because I feel that we are the experts. I readily admit that prior to taking this position with the Southern Loggers Cooperative (SLC) in 2012 that I did not know much about the “fuel” business other than the fact that I had purchased many thousands of dollar’s worth of fuel in my 23-year career in logging, forest products trucking and chip milling leading up to that point. However, during the last 10 years I have learned much about the business side of the fuel industry. That still does not make me an expert. However, with the SLC’s 32 fueling locations across seven states, just a little under 4,700 members, and approximately 55 million gallons of fuel pumped or dropped into members’ bulk tanks predicted for this year, I certainly believe that we have a good feel for what the fuel business is doing, or at minimum, we have a good feel for how prices move. We literally track it daily and our fuel brokers track it hourly.

As a point of reference, let’s look back in time for just a moment. In April of 2018, I was honored to speak at the FRA’s Annual Meeting in New Orleans. On the day that I made my presentation at that meeting, SLC average fuel prices for On-Road and Off-Road fuel were $2.70/gallon and $2.22/gallon, respectively. Just a couple days prior to the 2020 Presidential Election (a very significant date in time) the SLC average fuel prices for OnRoad and Off-Road fuel were $1.79/gallon and $1.44/gallon. Fast forward to the day that I researched our past pricing for this article (3/14/22) and the SLC average prices for On-Road and Off-Road fuel were $4.72/gallon and $4.11/gallon, respectively. In just a

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short 16-month period, the SLC average fuel prices increased $2.93/gallon for On-Road (164% increase) and $2.67/gallon for OffRoad (185% increase).

So, with that being said, let’s jump into the three questions in the title of this article.

Who is hurting from the surging fuel prices?

Obviously, the answer to that question is EVERYONE. That certainly works its way right down to the consumer, regardless of whether they are buying lumber, paper, or a box of cereal at the grocery store. However, for the purpose of this article it is the logger and those that transport forest products. They are the ones that we have first-hand knowledge of how much it is hurting. At least 90% of our SLC members are loggers and/or forest products truckers.

Why is that important? In a recent Woods to the Mill article by the FRA’s Northeast Region Coordinator Eric Kingsley, he said “As is obvious to anyone in the forest industry, loggers and truckers are the supply chain links that connect the woods to the mill. In FRA’s supply chain schematic, there are a lot of arrows connecting lots of products, but for anything to get from the woods to the consumer, the industry relies on loggers and truckers. If loggers aren’t healthy, it’s hard for any other sector to be healthy for very long.”

Why is it hurting?

Aside from the changes over time that I mentioned above, the upward movement that we have witnessed since 1/1/22 has been at a rate that added efficiencies and fuel adjustments (if actually received) can’t keep up with. Over the past two weeks alone (2/27/22 – 3/12/22), SLC average prices have increased $1.23/gallon for On-Road and $1.09/gallon for Off-Road.

Around 50 cents of that increase for our prices took place in one single day. According to a recent survey by the American Loggers Council,

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Scott Dan, Executive Director, indicates that just under 50% of those responding to the survey were showing increases at or above 50% in their fuel costs in the first two months of the year. Keep in mind that this was before the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Obviously, the rapid rise in fuel cost doesn’t stop with “just” the fuel. It increases every other item associated with operating their business. I encourage you to visit the American Loggers Council web site and view the rest of the survey to see how all costs of operating have changed since the first of the year. Additionally, in our business, we see other issues that only add to the issue at hand with the surging fuel prices. Our Executive VP and COO, Jason Slatten, made the following statement: “When fuel markets go haywire, one of the most common things we see at Southern Loggers stations is the “panic buy” or stockpiling. Because of the lag in our pump prices due to our pricing structure (our direct invoice cost plus a very small markup), we’ll see a few members start showing up with piggyback tanks, drums, buckets, and any other container they can get a drop of that cheap fuel in. Owners send every truck they have, their buddies, cousins, and in-laws to fill up. That reaction to a rising market may seem like a wise one but is actually quite detrimental. Those guys got that cheap fuel stockpiled, but our tank is now empty. The next guy to come in who needs 100 gallons today to run his job is left standing there with nothing and now must find fuel somewhere else, paying Lord only knows what. Naturally, this leads to additional unproductive time chasing fuel and fewer loads to the set and to the mill. On those days when the fuel market is higher than a giraffe’s butt, we’re now left with no option but to purchase whatever we can just to wet the tank. The rub is now members will have to pay for that high day, instead of SLC being able to “sit out” on buying fuel that day and ride our inventory until tomorrow when the market may not be crazy. That’s not always an option, as we have some stations that get a transport load (or two!) five days a week just to stay going. The big takeaway here is that you WILL NOT avoid fuel price increases in an economic and geopolitical climate like we currently have. You may sidestep it for a few days, but not for long.”

Where is it going?

This is a question that is often posed to our primary fuel broker, Jamie Landers of FM Fuel and

Resources. His answer is the same every single time “If I could tell you that, I would have an entirely different set of friends!” While that is comical, it is very true. Yes, there are speculators that speculate, and predictions made by everyone.

However, nobody really knows!

Sometimes we all like to pretend that we do, but we do not! In the political climate that we live in, one move by a person, or one word by another can change the whole course of how fuel prices are moving. I mentioned our COO Jason Slatten above. He and I have these conversations on a daily basis. We wholeheartedly agree that from what we’ve heard and read from folks in the fuel industry, we should expect elevated prices for the near future.

While we have witnessed some sizable drops in the past five days (3/10 – 3/15), domestic inventory for crude and products is down, as is production. Demand has ramped up now that the country has opened back up and will most likely increase even more once summer comes. Personally, I’m hoping that we/they are all wrong and domestic production goes full steam ahead tomorrow, and friendly foreign countries want to sell us some cheap crude to help us out in the meantime. The question is, in this political climate, will our government allow that to happen? We speculate but do not know that for sure!

I read a quote from a Minnesota trucker in an “As We See It” article

by American Loggers Council Executive Director Scott Dane that read, “The prices being paid to loggers and truckers are not keeping up to the increased cost of doing business.” What we have started to see and hear in the past few days is that some consuming mills are providing some flat rate increases and fuel adjustments. While those increases are certainly appreciated, is it enough? Has it been timely? What we here at the Southern Loggers Cooperative truly hope to see is consuming mills and other raw materials buyers adjusting rates closer to real-time. Our professional loggers and truckers need to be compensated for the increased costs they’re incurring, rather than a bump for what’s already past. A financially healthy raw materials supply chain can only be a good thing for the forest industry.

Things are tough! Doing business is tough! I would certainly rather write an article that is much more positive. However, I can always count on one of my board members and former Chairman of the Board of the SLC, Greg Williams, to remind me of this: “It’s a fine day SLT for logging!”

This article is part of Forest Resources Assn.’s Woods to Mill series.

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FROM THE BACKWOODS PEW

Food Piles Have you ever heard the old saying, “Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink?” I do not like water in Antill my woods. That is water where water is not supposed to be. I was

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doing a routine check on a stand of timber that bordered a notorious beaver stream one day. Beavers had seemed to materialize from out of nowhere, and dammed the stream. Now, it had been a few months since I had been in to check this area, thus finding an active dam

was not a surprise. Finding a fresh food pile next to the lodge was a bit of a disappointment, however.

Food piles are what beavers create when they are getting ready for the winter. It wasn’t that the beavers were active that caused me to frown, but rather that winter was approaching.

When winter approaches, even in the South, along with it comes ice. I

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don’t much care for ice, especially since it has to get cold to make it.

Too much time has passed since the days of my childhood, and I have lost my enthusiasm for cold weather.

The beaver sets about building a food pile next to his lodge just in case the ice gets thick, and just in case it lasts a while. You see, a food pile is a collection of sticks and small trees that a beaver will cut off and float to his lodge. Once there he makes a floating pile or mat. These sticks will be accessible from under the water, under the ice, allowing the beaver to have a meal when the pond or swamp is frozen over, and he cannot find a hole to climb out of. Since he keeps all of his lodge entrances under water, a frozen pond means he is trapped at home or at least under the water surrounding his home; thus the food pile.

Now consider for a moment a delinquent beaver. He is distracted.

He knows winter is coming, and there is a need to gather supplies.

Failure to prepare could be a capital offense, causing the death of himself or his family. He decides to get busy with the food pile.

At first all goes well. He has found several juicy cottonwood saplings, and some willow was growing just upstream. But then he saw something else. It was magnificent and awesome. He had to have it on his food pile. He would be the envy of all. He began to gnaw and chew. It was tough all right, but what a beauty. Finally, he had it on his pile. Yes, it was tall and slender, and had a single bright, green “leaf” on the top, with the word “Johnson Road” on it. It did look

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good on his food pile.

Eager to add to the diversity of his pile, he began to look further and further from the lodge. He returned late one evening with a tall, spindly-looking pole. It did not have any leaves, but it was shiny. He wondered what the man meant when he heard him screaming across the yard about a TV antenna?

Yes, he soon had a mighty fine food pile, only there wasn’t much food on it. He did have several street signs, the TV antenna, a mailbox and post, and two orange traffic cones. The beaver had become distracted. He had spent his time pursuing items that would not help him when the cold days of winter came.

What a silly beaver, we would say. He knew winter was coming.

He was busy. But why didn’t he prepare?

Winter comes to us all. Life begins to slow down, and takes on a bit of a chill. The joints don’t move like they used to. The hair, if it stays, changes to a gray color. Yes, winter is always at the end of autumn, after the summer days are just a memory. Winter reminds us that we are mortal. Life as we know it is just the beginning of an eternal journey, and the “death of winter” is the stepping from this life on earth to life in eternity. Life doesn’t end; it just changes requirements.

Food piles are where we lay up supplies for the coming winter.

Jesus said it like this in Matthew 6:19-21: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Are we building our “food piles,” the supplies to see us through the upcoming winter, with items of junk?

Looking for something good to place on the pile, some choice cottonwood perhaps? Try some of Colossians 3:12-17: Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,

singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. It starts with being made new in

Christ (verse 10). It adds to that living a life of holiness, humbleness, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and love. Don’t face the upcoming winter without being prepared, wasting precious time adding items to the food

pile that will never see you through the winter.

Excerpted from Bibles, Beavers, and Big Timber, Bradley Antill author, see this and more at www.onatreeforestry.com

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Wordplay

Creative Firewood Stacking In Norway

A cartoonist was found dead in his home. Details were sketchy.

I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.

England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool.

They told me I had type-A blood, but it was a Type-O. I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can’t put it down.

I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words.

Did you hear about the cross-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn’t control her pupils?

Broken pencils are pretty much pointless.

What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.

He Got The Job A manager at the local Walmart had the task of hiring someone to fill a job opening. After sorting through a stack of resumes she found four candidates who appeared to be qualified.

She decided to call all of them in and ask them only one question. Their answer would determine which one would get the job. The manager asked, “What is the fastest thing you know of?”

The first candidate replied, “A thought. It just pops into your head.”

The second applicant chimed in. “A blink,” she said. “It comes and goes and you don’t know that it ever happened.”

The manager turned to the third person, who said, “The speed of light.”

Impressed with all the answers, the manager looked to the fourth person for his reply.

He said, “Based on what I’ve just heard, it’s obvious to me that the fastest thing known is diarrhea. You see, the other day I wasn’t feeling so good, and I ran for the bathroom, but before I could think, blink and turn on the light, it was too late.”

He got the job. l Eagles

A Conversation With God A pastor climbed to the top of a mountain in the Holy Land to talk to God, asking Him, “What does a million years mean to you?”

God replied, “A minute.”

The pastor asked another question: “And what does a million dollars mean to you?”

God replied, “A penny.”

“Can I have a penny?” asked the reverend.

God replied, “In a minute.”

‘Ponderisms’ I’d kill for a Nobel Peace Prize. money from pessimists; they don’t expect it back. l Half the people you know are below average. l 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name. l 82.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot. l A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good. l A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory. l If you want the rainbow, you’ve got to put up with the rain. l The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. l I almost had a psychic girlfriend, but she left me before we met. l OK, so what’s the speed of dark? l How do you tell when you’re out of invisible ink? l If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something. l Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm. l When everything is coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane. l Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy. l Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off immediately. l I intend to live forever. So far, so good. l

l Borrow

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may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines. happens if you get scared half to death twice? l Why do psychics have to ask you for your name? l If at first you don’t succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried. l A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking. l Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it. l The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread. l The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard. l The sooner you fall behind, the more time you’ll have to catch up. l The colder the X-ray table, the more of your body is required to be on it. l If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you. l Marriage is when a man and woman become as one; the trouble starts when they try to decide which one. l I think I’m beginning to lose my mind, but as long as I keep the part that tells me when I gotta pee, I should be OK. l Marriages are made in heaven. But then, so are thunder and lightning. l What

Church Bulletin Bloopers At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be ‘What Is Hell?’

Come early and listen to our choir practice.

Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.

Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.

The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.

Potluck supper Sunday at 5 p.m.; prayer and medication to follow.

The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

This evening at 7 there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.

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INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP As We See It: The Next Generation

By Scott Dane American Loggers Council recently completed the 2021 Loggers Survey. One of the glaring findings, although not a surprise, that was identified was the fact that 50% of the Dane companies that responded

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were 25 years old or older (the survey did not break down the age of companies beyond the 25 years). This, along with the average age of the logging and trucking workforce being in the upper 50s, is an issue that must be acknowledged. What does it

mean? It means that half of the logging and trucking infrastructure and workforce will potentially exit the industry in the next 10-15 years. How does the U.S. forest products industry survive with a major loss of infrastructure and workforce?

If a company does not have a succession plan in place, someone to take over the company (which is less and less the case in what has historically been a generation transfer), then

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the common “retirement plan” is to sell-off the equipment and shut down the business.

There are some young guns that have come into the industry who are carrying on the family business and taking a seat at the table of organizations representing the timber industry.

But the numbers are disproportionate; there are far greater numbers of old loggers and truckers compared to young loggers and truckers.

Look around the industry. It is these “old” loggers and truckers that have built today’s timber industry upon the foundation that generations before them laid.

It is said that: “The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life. A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall not sit.”

Today young loggers and truckers are enjoying the shade because of the trees their fathers, grandfathers and others planted over the generations before them. Their jobs are easier today because of the hard work and heavy lifting done by the previous men and women.

America’s “Conservation” President and founder of the U.S. Forest Service, Teddy Roosevelt, gave a speech entitled “The Man In The Arena” where he said; It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasm, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

The “old” loggers and truckers are the men that have been in the arena, whose faces are marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strived valiantly; who came up short but continued daring greatly; who spent themselves in a worthy cause.

Ronald Reagan gave his famous Freedom speech which stated: Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.

We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought

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for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

I say: The logging industry is never

more than one generation away from extinction. There may be sawdust in your bloodstream, passed on from generation to generation, but if you don’t fight for it, protect it, and hand it on to them as the generation before you did, you will spend your sunset years telling your children

and your children’s children what it was once like in the woods where men worked hard and proud to keep the forest healthy.

These “old men” planted the trees in whose shade you sit and whose trees you will harvest. Who fought for it, protected it, and handed it on to

you, as the generation before them did. But it would not have happened had they not come out of the woods, attended meetings, formed organizations, lobbied, and fought to protect and defend the timber industry.

The 20-, 30-, and 40-year-olds today must replant so the generation after them can also enjoy the shade and trees.

I want to challenge the next generation to step up. To be the man in the arena. To quell the storm and ride the thunder that challenges the timber industry. To be the strong man that stumbles and not the cold and timid soul who neither knows victory or defeat.

So you don’t have to tell your children and children’s children what it was once like to work in the woods...

Scott Dane is Executive Director of the American Loggers Council. ALC is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing the interests of timber harvesting and timber hauling businesses across the United States. For more information visit www.amloggers.com.

Biomass Facility Planned In Louisiana Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and Origin Materials, a

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carbon-negative materials company committed to the global transition to sustainable materials, announced that the company plans an investment of at least $750 million to develop a biomass manufacturing facility in Ascension Parish that will result in 1,057 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.

The project will create 200 direct jobs with an average annual salary of more than $90,000 plus benefits.

Louisiana Economic Development estimates an additional 857 indirect jobs will result in Louisiana’s Capital Region. The company estimates 500 construction jobs will result at the peak of development for the new facility.

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

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Bulletin Board Item Disappoints Tigercat Spokesperson Regarding the January 2022 issue of Southern Loggin’ Times, we at Tigercat were sad and disappointed to read a short piece in the Bulletin Board section of the publication entitled, “Hide the Necklace.” The incident described and alleged to have taken place in St. Cloud, Minn. is based on various social media posts that have been floating around the internet at least since 2015. The story is a complete fabrication and has been widely debunked by multiple sources, including the local St. Cloud newspaper (SC Times) twice—once in 2015 and again in 2019. Key facts have changed over time. The location (Wal-Mart or Shields) and the gender of the unknown shopper are inconsistent.

It doesn’t seem to be an accident that the location is Minnesota, a state that has a very high proportion of Somali immigrants, who are themselves well over 90% Muslim. It seems plausible to me that someone fabricated and circulated the story to foment hate and to pit one religion against another. I cannot think of a single good reason for including this false anecdote in your publication.

We are disappointed by the poor standard of journalism. This kind of unvetted, emotionally charged rhetoric should have no place in any print publication, and certainly not in a respected forest industry journal. Perhaps this is a great time to acknowledge that all citizens and religions should be respected in free and democratic societies such as the Canada and the United States.

Here are the links to the aforementioned news coverage in the SC Times: https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/2019/06/24/fake-newsstory-cross-necklace-re-emerges-st-cloud-scheels/1550928001/ https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/immigration/ 2015/12/27/fact-check-wal-mart-cant-verify-facebookrumor/77842216/ Paul Iarocci Marketing Manager Tigercat Industries Inc.

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expects construction to begin in mid2023 and for the plant to be mechanically completed and operational by mid-2025.

insured. “We will be building back, hopefully starting before long,” Smith says. “We may be back up and running by the end of the year.”

Sawdust Fire Causes Major Sawmill Damage

FRC Purchases Management Group

The Idaho Timber Corp. southern yellow pine mill in Carthage, Ark. suffered significant losses from a fire that broke out on Sunday night, February 20. While the mill was not in operation, an explosion reportedly at an air compressor caught sawdust on fire. By the time the fire department arrived on the scene, roughly half the mill had burned, including the headrig and gang saw. “It didn’t burn it all to the ground, just the most important part of it,” according to Idaho Timber timber buyer Mack Smith.

“It dealt us and the entire south Arkansas area a rather big blow in trying to sell the bigger pine logs,” says Gregory Givens of Gene Givens Logging, one of the contractors who supplied the Idaho Timber.

“We are still buying some rough green lumber, stacking and drying it and running it through the planer, to keep our people working so we don’t lose everybody,” Smith says.

The mill estimated losses at around $25 million. It’s reportedly fully

Forest Resource Consultants, Inc. (FRC) announced the acquisition of Land Management Group, LLC (LMG). LMG is a forestry consulting, appraisal and brokerage services company based in Statesboro, Ga. Since 1974, LMG, previously known as Lanier-Brookins, Inc., has managed a client-owned land base located primarily in Georgia and Alabama.

David Foil, President of Forest Resource Consultants, states, “The location of Land Management Group’s client base complements FRC’s existing footprint and provides an opportunity for us to broaden our presence and better serve our existing clients in these regions.” As part of the acquisition, FRC will continue to operate LMG’s Statesboro office and will maintain the company’s existing staff. Scott Brookins, LMG Owner and Managing Partner, adds, “I’m excited to join the FRC team. I have complete confidence that FRC is the most qualified company to serve my clients.”

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Drax Gets Satellite Pellet Plant Going Drax Group is ramping up to full production at Leola—the first of three new satellite pellet plants it plans for Arkansas. Leola, in Grant County, is part of a $40 million investment by Drax in the state, creating approximately 30 new jobs across all three sites planned for Arkansas as well as many more indirect jobs.

Including Leola, Drax operates six pellet plants in the U.S., which use biomass sourced from sustainably managed working forests in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi. The pellets are used at Drax Power Station in England to generate renewable electricity for millions of UK homes and businesses.

Drax’s conversion of its UK power station to sustainable biomass from coal was Europe’s largest decarbonisation project, reducing emissions from Drax’s power generation by 90% since 2012. Sustainable biomass is enabling Drax’s plans to deploy bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS)— a pioneering negative emissions technology which permanently removes millions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The three satellite plants in Arkan-

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sas are expected to produce a total of 120,000 tonnes of wood pellets per year from sawmill residues.

The satellite plants are located near sawmills, so they can use the sawdust and other byproducts. Construction of the second Arkansas satellite plant in Russellville, Pope County, is underway with commissioning expected this year. Drax is continuing to develop plans for a third plant.

In 2020, around 43% of the material used to produce the pellets used to generate renewable power at Drax Power Station came from sawmill residues (sawdust and other byproducts). The rest came from low-grade material such as treetops, limbs and misshapen and diseased trees not suitable for other use and thinnings.

Meanwhile Drax announced that its Pinnacle Renewable Energy business and Drax Group’s U.S. pellet business, Drax Biomass Inc., are rebranding as Drax in a move that supports the Group’s growth strategy. Drax Group acquired Pinnacle last year.

Drax plans to increase its annual pellet production capacity to 8 million tonnes by 2030 from around 4 million tonnes currently and is doubling global pellet sales to 4Mt by 2030 to meet an expected increase in global demand for the low-carbon fuel.

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TRUCKING SAFETY

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: l The driver’s speed was estimated to be 20 MPH over the posted speed limit l The driver was not wearing a seatbelt RECOMMENDATIONS: l Always abide by posted speed limits l Always wear a seatbelt when traveling in a moving vehicle

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Ice Causes Truck Operator To Fall BACKGROUND: On a winter day in the Lake States Region an employee of a logging company

was showing the truck operator how to secure a loader on a lowboy trailer. The conditions were

wintery with snow and ice present.

PERSONAL CHARACTERIS-

TICS: The male employee involved in the incident was a 58year-old trucking supervisor for the logging company.

UNSAFE CONDITION: Snow and ice made for slippery conditions on the site. Ice had accumulated on the equipment.

The employee involved in the accident failed to have proper footwear with non-slip soles for the icy conditions.

ACCIDENT: While climbing up on to the loader the employee slipped, fell forward, and banged his ribs. Even though the employee was using three points of contact when climbing on to the equipment, icy conditions caused his feet to slide out from under his body, causing the fall.

INJURY: The employee was taken to the doctor and an x-ray was taken of his ribs. The employee suffered bruised ribs.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CORRECTIONS: l Maintain 3-points of contact when climbing on to equipment. l Tap your foot on potentially icy areas to see if they are slippery. l Wear appropriate footwear for the conditions present. l Pay close attention to weather conditions. l Proceed slowly while climbing. l Do not carry items in your hands. l Remember ice and snow mean “take it slow!”

Supplied by Forest Resources Assn.

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MACHINES-SUPPLIES-TECHNOLOGY Waratah Debarking Head

Legna Timber Software

Deere Training Simulator

Waratah Forestry Equipment announced the H225E—a new generation of its H215E head purpose-built 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 1690 kg (3,720 lb.), 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.

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 TimberRiteT H-16 measuring and control system for increased efficiency, accuracy and productivity.

The H225E features new delimb arm profiles, which improve delimbing and durability in plantation stands of consistent diameter or variable diameters of big timber. The length measuring system has been improved for more durability and placement on the log—or with optional measuring from the feed motors. Visit waratah.com.

Legna Software, a leading software developer in the wood products industry, announced the launch of Angel, a software-as-a-service platform developed to manage timber procurement and inventory management in one, easy-to-use, cloudbased interface.

“Angel ensures that all stakeholders in the value chain—loggers, truck drivers and executives in the sawmill—have access to the same data in real time, eliminating wasted time and costly errors,” says Woody Rich, CEO of Legna Software.

Accessible anywhere, Angel is a SaaS platform that consolidates data from three mobile applications used in the field by loggers, scale operators, and log yard managers. Angel improves workflow by capturing data at the source, preserving data integrity for all stakeholders in the supply chain.

—Angel Loader enables loggers to create an eticket in the field, providing immediate visibility into what products are being loaded and where they’re being sent.

—Angel Receiver allows scale operators to easily match electronic tickets generated in the field with an arriving load.

—Angel Unloader enables log yard operators to capture load attributes and sync them to existing e-tickets in real-time. Visit legnasoftware.com/angel.

John Deere offers the Forestry Full-Tree 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.

The simulator is equipped with swappable John Deere controls, allowing quick interchange of joysticks and foot pedals to multiple machine types.

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.

The Forestry Simulator offers training for a number of Deere machines including the 953M/959M tracked feller-buncher w/FR22B head, 953MH/959MH tracked harvester w/H480 head, 953ML/959ML shovel logger w/grapple and FL85 head, 843L-II wheeled feller-buncher w/FD22B Head, and 848L-II skidder. Visit deere.com.

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PRINT CLASSIFIED AD RATES: Print advertising rates are $50 per inch. Space is available by column inch only, one inch minimum.

DEADLINES: Ad reservation must be received by 10th of month prior to month of publication. Material must be received no later than 12th of month prior to month of publication.

Click. Connect. Trade.

www.ForesTreeTrader.com

CONTACT: Call Bridget DeVane at 334-699-7837, 800-669-5613, email bdevane7@hotmail.com or visit www.southernloggintimes.com

Logo indicates that equipment in the ad also appears on www.ForesTreeTrader.com

3939

FOR SALE

2014 TIGERCAT 724E

5500 saw, 34's, nice job ready machine ..............................$72,500 Call or Text Zane • 334-518-9937

LOGGER’S BEST FRIEND!

8309

Repair Hoses in the Log Woods Crimper Start-up Kit Less than $5,000 Contact: Chris Alligood 1-252-531-8812 email: chrisa.cavalierhose@gmail.com

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Ready To Place Your Classified Ad? Call 334-699-7837, 800-669-5613 or email class@southernloggintimes.com for print ads.

In addition to new machines, CHAMBERS DELIMBINATOR, INC. now has factory reconditioned DeLimbinators. These units have been inspected, repaired, and updated as needed. Call us and we will help you select a DeLimbinator for your need.

WE ALSO BUY USED DELIMBINATORS

MIG welding is the incorrect way to repair cracks in saw disks according to a major welding rod manufacturer.

I weld all cracks with TIG and air hammer “Peen” the welds.

Disk straightening and balancing is a specialty.

CARVER SAWDISK REPAIR 252-945-2358 Washington, NC 27889

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Call: 662-285-2777 day, 662-285-6832 eves Email: info@chambersdelimbinator.com

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EUREKA! EUREKA! EUREKA! OWNERS HAVE OVER 30 YEARS COMBINED EXPERIENCE!

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EUREKA SAW TOOTH CO., INC.

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We can save you money on Saw Teeth. Hundreds of satisfied ACC OW EP customers. Rebuilt Exchange or New. We specialize in rebuild- CRE TING DIT ing Koehring 2000, Hurricana, Hydro Ax split teeth and all CARDS other brands. Call Jimmy or Niel Mitchell. Quantity Discounts!

4275 Moores Ferry Rd. • Skippers, Virginia 23879 PH./FAX (day) 1-434-634-9836 or Night/Weekends • 1-434-634-9185

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A D L I N K ●

ADVERTISER American Loggers Council American Truck Parts Around The World Salvage Bandit Industries Big John Trailers BITCO Insurance BKT USA Caterpillar Dealer Promotion John Deere Forestry East Coast Sawmill Expo Eastern Surplus Flint Equipment FMI Trailers Forest Chain Forestry First Forestry Mutual Insurance G & W Equipment G&R Manufactured Solutions Hawkins & Rawlinson Interstate Tire Service Kaufman Trailers NC Komatsu Forestry Division Mike Ledkins Insurance Agency LMI-Tennessee Loadrite Southern Star Logger Associations Magnolia Trailers Maxi-Load Scale Systems McComb Diesel Mid-Atlantic Logging & Biomass Midsouth Forestry Equipment Moore Logging Supply Morbark Olofsfors Pitts Trailers Ponsse North America Prolenc Manufacturing Quadco Equipment Quality Equipment & Parts Southern Loggers Cooperative Stribling Equipment Tidewater Equipment Tigercat Industries Timberblade TraxPlus Tri-State Auction & Realty W & W Truck & Tractor Waters International Trucks J M Wood Auction Yancey Brothers

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202.627.6961 888.383.8884 936.634.7210 800.952.0178 800.771.4140 800.475.4477 888.660.0662 919.550.1201 800.503.3373 804.737.5625 855.332.0500 229.888.1212 601.508.3333 800.288.0887 803.708.0624 800.849.7788 800.284.9032 870.510.6580 888.822.1173 864.947.9208 336.790.6807 888.285.7478 800.766.8349 800.467.0944 256.270.8775 800.738.2123 877.265.1486 601.783.5700 919.271.9050 870.226.0000 888.754.5613 800.831.0042 519.754.2190 800.321.8073 715.369.4833 877.563.8899 800.668.3340 386.487.3896 318.445.0750 855.781.9408 912.638.7726 519.753.2000 519.532.3283 601.635.5543 800.334.4395 843.761.8220 601.693.4807 334.264.3265 800.282.1562

ADLINK is a free service for advertisers and readers. The publisher assumes no liability for errors or omissions.

COMING EVENTS April 29-30—Mid-Atlantic Logging-Biomass-Landworks Expo, near Laurinburg, NC. Call 919-271-9050; visit loggingexpo.com.

May 3-5—Virginia Forestry Summit, Virginia Tech Inn, Blacksburg, Va. Call 804-278-8733; visit vaforestry.org.

29-September 2—Louisiana Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino Resort, Lake Charles, La. Call 318443-2558; visit laforestry.com.

30-September 1—Florida Forestry Assn. Annual Meeting & Trade Show, Omni Amelia Island Resort, Amelia Island, Fla. Call 850-2225646; visit floridaforest.org.

September

20-21—Expo Richmond 2022, Richmond Raceway Complex, Richmond, Va. Call 804-737-5625; visit exporichmond.com.

9-10—Great Lakes Logging & Heavy Equipment Expo, Resch Expo, Green Bay, Wis. Call 715282-5828; visit gltpa.org.

July

11-13—Alabama Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Perdido Beach Resort, Orange Beach, Ala. Call 334-265-8733; visit alaforestry.org.

25-27—Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Summer Conference, The Homestead Resort, Hot Springs, Va. Call 336-885-8315; visit appalachianhardwood.org.

29-31—Georgia Forestry Assn.

Annual Conference, Hilton Head Island, SC. Call 478-992-8110; visit gfagrow.org.

August 11-14—Virginia Loggers Assn. annual meeting, Williamsburg Lodge, Williamsburg, Va. Call 804-677-4290; visit valoggers.org.

23-26—IWF 2022, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 404-693-8333; visit iwfatlanta.com.

16-18—Virginia Forest Products Assn. Annual Conference, at the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront, Virginia Beach, Va. Call 804-7375625; visit vfpa.net.

22-24—American Loggers Council annual meeting, Branson, Mo. Call 409-625-0206; visit amloggers.com.

24—TEAM Safe Trucking annual meeting, The Hilton Branson Convention Center, Branson, Mo. Call 207-841-0250; visit teamsafe trucking.com.

28-30—North Carolina Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Grandover Resort & Conference Center, Greensboro, NC. Call 800-2317723; visit ncforestry.org.

October 11-13—Arkansas Forestry Assn. annual meeting, DoubleTree, Little Rock, Ark. Call 501-374-2441; visit arkforests.org.

26-28—Texas Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center, College Station, Tex. Call 936-632-8733; visit texas forestry.org.

Listings are submitted months in advance.

Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend.

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