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Vol. 50, No. 9

(Founded in 1972—Our 588th Consecutive Issue)

F E AT U R E S

SEPTEMBER 2021 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

Lovorn Logging Tight Knit Family

Mississippi Expo Simulator, School Highlighted

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

out front: Third generation Georgia logger Jeremy Chapman (pictured) and his father Lee Chapman run their family business, Southeast Logging, with three crews, each with a different focus: pine thinning, fuel chipping and hardwood swamp logging. Story begins on Page 12. (Photo by Patrick Dunning)

Art Director Ad Production Coordinator Circulation Director Online Content/Marketing

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

Mid-South Preview September Starkville Show

D E PA RT M E N T S Stumpin’. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Bulletin Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 From The Backwoods Pew . . . . . . . 38 Industry News Roundup . . . . . . . . . 40 Machines-Supplies-Technology . . . 48 ForesTree Equipment Trader . . . . . 56 Coming Events/Ad Index . . . . . . . . . 62

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 ® 2021. 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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SOUTHERN STUMPIN’ By David Abbott • Managing Editor • Ph. 334-834-1170 • Fax: 334-834-4525 • E-mail: david@hattonbrown.com

Ralph Metcalf: Industry Icon ogging technology has progressed in just a few generations from mules and crosscut saws to the high-tech, high-production, highdollar operations of today. “I’ve logged many a day with mules,” recollects Ralph Metcalf, who has been a part of that technological evolution over the several decades of his career. “It has been interesting to see it develop and be involved from crosscut to high production hot saws. I have been really fortunate.” Metcalf, 82, is well-known in the industry for his involvement in sales and marketing for both CTR and Union Grove, NC-based CSI. I had lunch with Mr. Metcalf and his wife Annie and son Chris at Expo Richmond back in May. Ralph and Annie have been married for 21 years. Chris Metcalf owns RCM, an outdoor power equipment dealer for Scagg and Red Max in Asheville, NC. Ralph’s daughter Dorinda is a phlebotomist.

ber-tired skidders in these mountains,” he was told repeatedly. “Everyone was logging with something like an HD6 Allis-Chalmers or a TD9 International, a crawler tractor or farm tractor with winches, or in a lot of cases horses and mules.” Undaunted, Ralph had ideas for a better method. “My thought was to use the crawler tractors as setout machines and use the rubber-tired skidders to run the long skid roads up and down the mounFarm Equipment Co. tains because they were faster and running on rubAfter later selling that mill, Metcalf was talkber instead of slower and running on steel,” he ing one day to Ged Roberson, co-owner of Farm explains. “It was a new concept. That increased Equipment Co., a Ford tractor dealership in production tremendously and also cut down on Asheville. Roberson wondered what Ralph expenses, so the skidder was a big help to the guys planned to do next. working in the mountains, especially where they “I don’t know; maybe I’ll go in the equipment had long skids.” business,” Metcalf teased him. After the initial survey was completed, Rober“Really?” Roberson raised an eyebrow. son wanted to know how many Franklin skidders Ralph thought he could sell in the first year. “I don’t know,” Ralph considered. “I think I could sell Water Boy maybe four or five in a year.” Ralph didn’t just grow up in the “If you think you can do that, business, he chuckles; he was literalwe’ll take it on,” Roberson decided. ly born into it. “Actually, I was born That first year Metcalf sold eight in a sawmill shack,” he says. “That’s Franklins. where my mom and dad lived. They “Once the reps for Prentice, had a midwife, one of my great Ramey and some of the other loader aunts.” It was July 10, 1939, when manufacturers learned that we had his journey started. Franklin skidders, they started callJust about all of his family worked ing, wanting to set us up as a loader in agriculture and forestry. “They dealer too.” Soon, Farm Equipment logged in winter and fall and farmed was selling Prentice. “Nobody used in the spring and summer,” he remiknuckleboom loaders at that time nisces of those bygone days. “They basically. Prentice had no continugrew corn and wheat and kept cattle. Ralph Metcalf, left, at Expo Richmond in May with his wife Annie and son Chris ous turn loaders. They were all 180 One of my uncles had a sawmill.” degrees, or 90 degree turns to one “Because I’ve been thinking about hiring someWhen he was old enough, Ralph helped his dad side or the other. But it worked, the business body to set up an industrial division.” So Ralph and uncle in the woods. His first job was carrying grew and we did pretty good with them.” went to work for the company selling industrial drinking water to them while they worked a crosstractors and backhoes. When Farm Equipment cut saw in the summer heat. Soon enough, he’d go Bucking Trends on to man a crosscut himself, but in a way that first took on Bobcat skid-steers, Metcalf became the Metcalf recalls that a Minnesota man had first Bobcat salesman in western North Carolina. job of helping loggers do their job would set the While in this position he continued to further his patented a buck saw that was powered by a Brigpattern for the rest of his career: finding a way to gs & Stratton gasoline motor and worked in taneducation via correspondence courses in business be of service, to make someone else’s job easier. management with La Salle University in Chicago; dem with a knuckleboom loader. “It was electric Upon graduating high school, Ralph began a that took two and a half years to complete. He also over hydraulic, running a cord up from the saw four-year enlistment in the Navy, serving in the to the operator platform with a toggle switch to aviation division. He spent a year and a half on an attended annual sales and equipment operation run the bar up and down,” Ralph recollects. The training at Ford’s test farm in Valdosta, Ga. aircraft carrier, then the rest of his time at the By the late ’60s, Metcalf was successful enough Heikkinen family, who owned Prentice then, got naval air station in Norfolk, Va. While there he the marketing rights for that patent and started but didn’t especially care for industrial tractor attended some night classes at William and Mary building and selling the saws. sales; he wanted to get back in the woods. MeanTechnical Institute. “They gave a lot of trouble with the valve syswhile, Franklin skidder dealer Tidewater had When his time in the service was up he went tem,” Ralph reveals. “Every time it would rain signed Farm Equipment as a sub dealer for the home and back to helping his dad log while also those electric over hydraulic valves wouldn’t Franklin line. “You know a lot of loggers around looking for work through the employment office. work very well.” here; why don’t you stay with me and sell skid“They called and told me they had a job opening Some customers grew frustrated. One of them, ders?” Roberson persuaded him. “Take a few posted I might be interested in,” Ralph says. Bill McNeely, asked Ralph, “Why don’t you weeks to do a survey and see what they think “Actually they sent me a post card because we guys build a saw to run hydraulically off the about skidders.” didn’t have a phone. Since I had experience in loader system?” Ralph did talk to a lot of his friends in the logging they said they had a sawmill that was Metcalf wasn’t sure, so he asked the engineers at woods; they laughed at him. “You can’t sell rublooking for someone.” The sawmill, located in

Asheville, NC, was part of Wood Mosaic Corp., which had headquarters in Louisville, Ky. and Huntington, W.Va. It cut walnut, cherry and hard maple. When that yard closed he went to work for another company, Hardwood Corp. of America, for a few years before deciding to go in business for himself, buying a sawmill with a friend.

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Prentice. “We can’t run that saw off the loader’s hydraulic system because it would generate too much heat and ruin the packing in the loader cylinders,” they answered. When Ralph delivered this reply, McNeely laughed. “Them guys are nuts,” McNeely asserted. “I can build one that will run right off that hydraulic system, and it won’t build no heat.” “Well, why don’t you?” Ralph asked. “Well, I might, one of these days,” McNeely decided. “If this one here keeps giving me trouble, that’s what I’ll do.” About six months later, McNeely called Metcalf one night. “Ralph, I got that saw working.” Metcalf asked what saw he meant. McNeely continued, “I pulled that gasoline engine off mine and put a hydraulic motor on. I’m running it off the loader and it’s doing a fine job. You need to come look at it.” Metcalf did so. “Bill was sitting up on that little Prentice loader just sawing away and everything was running fine, but he had hoses running everywhere,” Ralph laughingly recalls. “Back then loaders only had a platform with a tractor seat, swing pedal and levers, not an enclosed cab. Bill added an extra valve section up on his loader operator platform so he could sit there and saw.” McNeely said he ran it for weeks with no heat problems. “The thing the engineers missed is that this is an intermittent load,” the innovative logger explained to Metcalf. “The saw is not running all the time building heat; they overlooked that. If it ran continuously then heat buildup might have been a problem, but it only ran intermittently, so it had time to cool.” Metcalf reported back to his colleagues at Farm Equipment: “This guy is on to something we need to look at.” After much discussion, Metcalf and others convinced Roberson to let them build a second prototype of McNeely’s concept from the parts department at Farm Equipment. Metcalf worked on it over the weekend with two others from Farm Equipment, parts/service manager Dick Morey and lead mechanic Bob Huskey. Another customer had expressed interest in trying it when they were finished. “We took it to his job and hooked it up to his loader,” Ralph says. The logger must have been pleased with their efforts. “He never would let it go. So we built another. In the meantime some of these guys who had bought the saws with gas engines started calling, asking could we put a kit together to change theirs over to hydraulic.” One of the first few such change-over jobs they did was in Richmond at McIntyre Equipment, a Timberjack dealer. “We started building the kits and then going to other Prentice dealers and switching them out.” They were working off the patent Prentice had for the original gas engine design; Farm Equipment paid Prentice a royalty on each one. “I told them I didn’t think the patent covered the hydraulic part, but we just kept paying that royalty and switching them out,” Ralph recalls. With the demand for skidders, loaders, and especially after the hydraulic slashers started taking off, Farm Equipment formed a separate branch division dubbed Forest Equipment Co. Metcalf designed a Forest Equipment logo featuring a hydro saw buck with logs in it. “When Prentice announced they were going to discontinue the saw buck, Forest Equipment got serious about manufacturing the hydro buck saw.” This was in the early ’70s, about the same time Southern Loggin’ Times was getting started. DK Knight, then a prolific young forest industry jour8

nalist who would go on to become the co-publisher of SLT, picked up on this innovation pretty quickly, Ralph says. “He started visiting and we started traveling and doing stories on the loggers, how it would take people off the ground, not bucking logs with a handheld chain saw anymore. DK has done more than anyone in informing loggers about recognizing and mechanization by doing stories and interviews on real time operators and how new products enhance their operation,” Metcalf adds.

A CTR Is Born Metcalf worked with Forest Equipment for 13 years, working his local territory as well as traveling to set up new dealers. “We went to Maine, Nova Scotia, all over, anywhere dealers called, I’d go set them up.” Eventually, Ralph wasn’t content to work for someone else, and decided it was time for him to move on to something new. He went to the competition, taking on the Timberjack line for western North Carolina. “The Forest Equipment guys didn’t like it much,” he admits. They probably liked the next part even less: “I had customers wanting to buy saws. I knew Calvin Johnson, or knew of him. He had built a couple of saws, but Farm Equipment had stopped him because of that patent.” Metcalf discussed it with Johnson, who after some consideration agreed to build a new slasher saw for Metcalf to sell his customers. “Forest Equipment didn’t like it so they sued us.” Long story short, after a period of some contention, they settled it with a gentlemen’s agreement. Later, when Farm Equipment liquidated, CTR bought its parts inventory. Johnson and his family formed a partnership with Metcalf; they named it CTR, from the initials for all their first names: Calvin Johnson, Tony Johnson, Ronnie Johnson and Ralph Metcalf. “We didn’t have two Rs but we understood that it represented me and Ronnie,” Ralph reflects. “We didn’t want it to be CTRR.” With another partner, Frank Queen, they created Blue Ridge Forest Products, which served as a distributor for Log Hog loaders from Louisiana, but its main purpose was to set up dealers and market CTR products. “We need to set up more dealers selling saws,” Ralph advised Calvin. “I agree,” Calvin nodded. “But I’m not interested in marketing; I’m interested in building. If you’ll do the marketing, I’ll do the building. We’ll set it up to make you part of the business. You take care of the marketing, we’ll do the building and go from there.” “Let’s go,” Ralph agreed.

Pulling Through It wasn’t too long before Metcalf was on to another innovative breakthrough, which came about in much similar fashion to the first. He was visiting a customer and friend, Tommy Hamby, who was working in a patch of pine with limbs from the ground up. Hamby wanted to know if anybody made a mechanism to remove limbs. “I think Timberjack makes one,” Ralph responded. Looking into it on Hamby’s behalf, Ralph contacted his friend Mal Crawford at Timberjack dealer McIntyre Equipment in Richmond. Crawford inquired for him about Timberjack’s limb stripper and sent him literature on it, which Ralph in turn delivered to Hamby. “There is no way anyone can pay that kind of money for something to cut limbs off a tree,” the

logger declared, dismayed at the price tag. Then he added, “I can beat that. I can make one a lot cheaper; all you gotta do is make a set of knives and put it on the front of the loader trailer, make it open and close and pull that tree through it and it will take the limbs off.” It’s funny how obvious some things are after someone thinks of it. The initial concept for what would become the pull-through delimber was entirely Hamby’s, Metcalf asserts. Again, as he had done with the hydraulic slasher, the salesman encouraged his customer to pursue the idea. Hamby pieced it together in a local machine shop in Wilkesboro over a period of several months, using motor grader blades for the knives. Finally it was ready. Hamby called Metcalf with a report after conducting the first test run. “Well, I hate to tell you, but the first tree I pulled through jerked the rig off and it fell on the ground.” On the second try he got maybe a half dozen pulls before it fell off. The third time was the charm that proved the concept. “He just needed to tweak the details,” Ralph says. “I told him he needed to take it to the next level because it would work.” Metcalf brought the idea to his partners and they reached a royalty agreement: Hamby got a patent on the idea, and CTR would manufacture and market it. “Calvin started working with Tommy to improve the delimber and he did a tremendous job,” Ralph says. “He was very instrumental in helping Tommy perfect it.” For instance, Hamby had used springs to open and close the knives; Johnson helped him redesign it to use hydraulic cylinders instead. “A lot of people, the first time they saw it, they’d say we gotta have that,” Ralph recollects. “One of the first guys that I took to see Tommy after we got it perfected was from Tennessee. Tommy was working up on a hill, and we started driving up there to the job. We could see Tommy pretty good from the road, and the logger said, ‘Hey, we don’t need to go any further; how quick can you get me two of them things?’” CTR now had a slasher and a delimber. Both had been birthed from a logger’s innovation in the woods. Later CTR designed and developed a three-wheel cutter called a Stumper. “The Stumper did a heck of a job,” Ralph asserts. All three products shared the same basic principle, Metcalf says: labor saving and production enhancement. With the Oregon, Prentice and Hydro-Ax brands already in its portfolio, Blount approached the CTR partners about a buyout sometime in 1992 or 1993; they came to an agreement and the transaction was completed in ’94. Blount discontinued the three-wheel cutter because they already had the Hydro-Ax. “I honestly think the Stumper out cut them and that’s why they did it,” Metcalf laughs. Later, when Caterpillar bought Blount, the CTR brand name and intellectual property passed to Cat, and later still to Weiler, where it remains today.

CSI: Carolina After Blount purchased CTR in 1994, Metcalf and the Johnsons worked under contract for the new owners for a year, then entered a five-year non-compete agreement. During that time, Calvin started CSI—Cutting Systems Inc.—for metal working equipment, while Ralph and his brother grew interested in a remote control crawler tractor on the West Coast. “Basically it was a forerunner of the House Tug, our mobile home moving equipment division,” Metcalf explains. They at first planned to call this one the “House Cat” but ➤ 61

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Ch-Ch-Changes ■ Father-son duo Lee and Jeremy Chapman expand their operations to reach new markets. By Patrick Dunning BRUNSWICK, Ga. outheast Logging, Inc. was established as a hardwood operation in the salt marshes of

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southeast Georgia in the late 1980s. Lee Chapman and his wife purchased the outfit to keep the family business going after his father-inlaw suffered an in-woods accident. They have continued to run the business ever since.

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Lee, 61, juggles his position as President of Southeast Logging with working on the company’s swamp crew and turning wrenches in the shop. His son, operations manager Jeremy Chapman, 39, has embraced his family’s heritage, working to further diversify Southeast’s markets by adding chipping and thinning crews to their portfolio in the last 10 years. “I’ve been in the woods since I was 18 years old,” Jeremy says. “When I started out of high school I was topping trees with a chain saw on the hardwood crew. They cut hardwood tracts back then. It was always about hardwood, that’s what my grandpa did.” Southeast Logging contracted for Plum Creek Timber Co. until

about 10 years ago when hardwood capacity diminished, forcing the Chapmans to transition to pine. “It got to the place where you couldn’t have a big crew and we had enough equipment to branch into two crews so we cut pine,” Jeremy explains. Not much later Plum Creek began marketing hardwood stands regularly again. “We were back cutting in the swamp but now had a pine crew.” Lee purchased a 500 HP Dynamic Mfg. Co. Cone-Head chipper to help clean up one or two loads of debris per day on their swamp jobs. Later they added a 2590 Bandit chipper. It still couldn’t quite handle what they hoped to accomplish, so in 2015 Lee and Jeremy bought a 4036 Morbark drum chipper and

From left: Charles Bacon, skidder operator; Don McIntosh, truck driver; Paul Lane, cutter operator; Jamie Overstreet, trim/ticket and fill-in operator; Tommy Bacon, loader operator; Jeremy Chapman, operations manager

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started hauling 35-40 loads of fuel chips per week to Rayonier Performance Fibers, LLC in Jesup. “All of a sudden the chip market fell out,” Jeremy remembers. “Rayonier switched over to mostly natural gas, which put a damper on us.” Fuel chip markets would return to some extent, and now Southeast was equipped with an 800 HP chipper and another crew.

Machinery Row

Southeast’s thinning crew contracts for Weyerhaeuser and averages 60-70 loads weekly.

Hardwood logs under 6 in. butt and pine tops less than 12 ft. are chipped as biomass.

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Today, Southeast Logging has three crews: one focused on thinning, one dedicated to chipping and one set up as a swamp hardwood operation. The crews use a range of equipment brands including Tigercat, John Deere, Caterpillar, a Hitachi shovel machine and the Morbark chipper. The Chapmans aren’t particular about make; they appreciate durable machines backed by dependable dealers. “We have a solid mix of equipment all around,” Jeremy acknowledges. “I’ve used Tigercat loaders for a long time. They build a good machine.” Aside from the 4036 Morbark, the chipping operation is exclusively Tigercat, featuring a ’17 720G rubber tire feller-buncher, ’15 620E skidder, and ’17 234B loader. “This

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crew isn’t married to a number each week so they get the hand-me-down equipment,” Jeremy says. The thinning crew runs a ’18 Cat 535 skidder, ’15 Cat 559 loader and ’20 Tigercat 720G feller-buncher. Jeremy says he also has an older John Deere loader he will sometimes use on smaller tracts. On the hardwood crew, Lee can be found in the cab of one of two Tigercat 234B loaders, ’19 234B and ’08 234 model. Two John Deere skidders, a 748L and 748H on dual tires, and ’05 Timberjack 560D skidder also work on the often swampy hardwood stands, alongside a ’19 Hitachi 210 shovel machine and 845 Tigercat track cutter. CSI delimbers work with the loaders. The Chapmans rely on the Brunswick branches of Tidewater Equipment Co. for Tigercat and Flint Equipment for John Deere, and the Waycross location of Yancey Bros. for Caterpillar machinery. The Southeast team handles routine maintenance and repairs in the woods or in-house at the company’s 50x75 shop. Every 350 hours oil is changed in woods machinery. Chevron Delo 400 SDE 15W-40 is used across the board. Truck oil is changed every 10,000 miles. Everything gets greased every

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Yancey Bros. Co., Waycross, supplies the company’s Caterpillar equipment.

Product sorts targeted include: hardwood pulpwood, pine chip-n-saw, pine sawtimber and pine pulpwood.

other day. Filters are purchased from the respective dealerships. Woods equipment is greased every 10-12 hours the machine runs. Engine overhaul, transmission work and other major servicing is done by the equipment dealer if under warranty.

Operations When Southern Loggin’ Times found Southeast Logging in May 2021, its chipping crew was conducting a thinning prescription on six acres in Glenn County for a private landowner. All water oak and live oak logs were separated before removing woody material. Hardwood logs under 6 in. DBH and 10-12 ft. pine tops were chipped as biomass material. Chip vans were filled in 15 minutes on average. Among the three crews, sorts include hardwood pulpwood, pine chip-n-saw, pine sawtimber and pine pulpwood. Jeremy buys all the company’s timber and tries to keep each crew working in proximity to the mills to which they deliver the various products. The hardwood crew contracts for Beasley Forest Products in Hazlehurst and the thinning crew for Weyerhaeuser in Brunswick. “We contract but nothing I buy is dedicated to one mill,” Jeremy affirms. “There’s security when you contract cut for someone and you’re going to pay for that in logging rates. I still have to handle all my timber tax paperwork, all the W9 tax forms for various landowners. You don’t have to do that when you cut for a timber company.” Southeast’s chipping crew averages 30-40 loads a week, the thinning and hardwood operations both turn out in the range of 60-70 loads weekly. Southeast Logging hauls roundwood to Georgia-Pacific in Brunswick, DS Smith in Riceboro, Rayonier Advanced Materials in Patterson, and Ace Pole Co. in Blackshear. Fuel chips go to Fram Renewable Fuels in Hazlehurst and Rayonier in Jesup. Eight company trucks haul to a variety of mills in a 70-mile radius. The fleet includes two Kenworth rigs, three 389 model 16

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Eight company trucks haul to a variety of mills in a 70-mile radius.

The hardwood and thinning crews use several Cat pieces.

Peterbilts, two Freightliner Columbias and a 9400 model International. Assorted trailer brands resemble the Chapmans’ melting pot of forestry machinery: Pitts, McClendon and Big John log trailers and three Dorsey chip vans are used to transport logs and fuel chips. Southeast Logging has six truck drivers and hires a few contract haulers as well. “We need some new markets for fuel wood,” Jeremy opines. “Those

crew, and realizes you can’t just pull any random man off the street and put him into a cab in the woods, not and expect good results. “Most of our guys are loyal,” he’s happy to report. “Several of our employees have been here 10-plus years. The problem is, it’s hard to get people younger than I am to work,” the younger Chapman laments. “Most of the guys out here, with the exception of a few, are older than me. It’s

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markets are cramped. We had a sawmill here in Sterling, one mile from the shop, that closed down two to three years ago. That took a close market away.” Overall, the Chapmans say they’ve been able to move wood and that markets remain consistent. Jeremy has noticed a few trends, some of them good and some bad, since expanding to three crews. He’s been lucky to have a loyal group of men working on each

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hard to get people under 30 years old to work out here, because at first they’d be the trim and set out man that catches the heat.” Tailgate safety meetings are administered by Safety On Site, Inc. on the stand. Bates, Hewitt & Floyd, Palatka, Fla., and Forestry Mutual provide insurance for the company. Lee and Jeremy are both Georgia master timber harvesters, having earned credits offered through the SLT University of Georgia.

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Family Unit ■ Lovorn cousins Kelley and Greg oversee multigenerational family business.

The Lovorn family, from left: Kelly, Greg (holding Dakota Charles), Stacy Williams, Suzye and Charles

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B&G Equipment in Philadelphia is Lovorn Logging's Tigercat source for sales and service.

Kelly’s crew, left to right: grandson KJ Shaw, Logan Carter, Bobby Joe Wooten, Kelly Lovorn, Ty Ward

By David Abbott SLATE SPRINGS, Miss. ★ ousins Greg and Kelly Lovorn, both 50, have been working together in their family’s logging business for almost 30 years. Born just five months apart, Kelly and Greg grew up like brothers. In fact, Greg notes, “Everyone thinks we are brothers, even folks in the logging industry.” After working for other loggers and farmers growing up, the cousins came on board at Lovorn Logging, Inc. right at the beginning, when Greg’s dad Charles started the company in 1993. They continued working for him ever since, taking on a more active leadership role after the

Greg’s crew, left to right: Shone Mulkey, Sherman Brown, Brad Liles and Greg Lovorn

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The Lovorns have been Cat fans from right out of the gate, nearly 30 years ago.

patriarch decided he was ready to slow down about a decade ago. Charles, 74, doesn’t work on the logging crews as much, but he still works every day one way or another. He runs dozers to build loading ramps for the logging crews or land for cattle pasture. He also has a portable sawmill and stores lumber he cuts under a shed near his house, selling small batch orders to local customers. “He is one of the most selfless, generous people you could ever meet,” Greg describes his dad. “He will help you in any way he can.” Greg’s mother, Suzye, 72, is also essential to the company. “We wouldn’t be where we are if not for her,” Greg is convinced. Her name is Brenda but she goes by Suzye. “She is the backbone of the company. She pinches pennies and makes dollars out of them.” Charles and Suzye still own the logging company, while Kelly and Greg own Lovorn and Lovorn Trucking and 3L Cattle. “Kelly and I are partners in everything,” Greg says. “We stay on the phone with each other all day every day making sure we fill wood orders.”

Equipment Each cousin supervises one of the two crews Lovorn Logging fields. Greg’s crew runs a 2019 Tigercat 724G cutter, two Caterpillar skidders

Barko loaders come from TraxPlus, Hickory.

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(’16 535D and ’11 525C), and two Barko loaders (’11 495 and 2021 595). Kelly’s crew also uses a Tigercat 724G cutter, this one a ’15 model, as well as two Cat skidders (’09 525C and ’18 545D) and two loaders (’14 Barko 495 and ’14 Prentice 2384C). Cat D5M and D6N dozers, 320 Cat excavator and 140G road grader help with building and maintaining roads and ramps. “We have always run Cat,” Greg says. “My dad started with Cat. We did try Timberjack for a few years, then we went back to Cat and have been running Cat ever since.” That ’18 model Cat skidder on Kelly’s crew would have been among the last built and sold under the Cat brand before Weiler took over production. Greg believes little has changed in the transition from Cat to Weiler. “It’s basically the same as what we run now,” he says. When the time comes to replace machines, he says they’ll decide whether to go with Weiler or try something else. Thompson Machinery in Tupelo is their dealer for Cat, Trax Plus in Hickory for Barko and B&G Equipment in Philadelphia for Tigercat. All three dealers are great, in Greg’s words. “They all offer great service. That’s the main reason we go back when we replace a machine is the service.” Breakdowns are inevitable in this

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business; machines can’t help but take a beating in the rough terrain and weather in which they work. The Lovorns send any major repairs back to their dealers. They handle minor repairs (blown hoses, etc.) and routine preventative maintenance for themselves. They change oil at 500hour intervals thanks to Schaeffer synthetic oil, a brand they’ve used for about 15 years. Their approach seems to work. For instance, the 2011 model 525 Cat skidder on Greg’s crew has racked up

14,000 hours, never needed any major work, and is still running. Lovorn Logging gets general liability through Renasant Insurance of Louisville, Miss. Workers’ comp is with Bridgefield. The crews hold tailgate safety meetings once a month, conducted by consultant firm Southern Safety Solutions.

Markets Greg’s crew cuts entirely on tracts purchased by Hankins Lumber, haul-

ing pine logs to its sawmill in Ripley. The Lovorns have been working with the Hankins company for going on three years now, dealing mainly with David and Blake Hankins and Jay Wolf. “They just are the most honest people we ever worked for,” Greg expounds. “When they tell you something, you don’t have to worry about them backing up on you; they will stand by what they tell you. And they keep us in good wood all the time.” Kelly’s crew, meanwhile, stays in timber the Lovorns buy for them-

selves. The best way to find jobs, in their experience: develop a solid reputation; it pays off over time. “Repeat business is most of it,” Greg asserts. “What we’ve thinned over the years, the landowners come back wanting us to do a second thinning or final harvest. Most of the thinning we do is word-of-mouth, because the pulpwood market has been so seasonal that you didn’t know when you could work and when you couldn’t, so if they gave us an opening we would take part of a crew and try to get part of it when we could work around the weather.” He calls the last year one of the wettest on record in their area. They don’t necessarily take every job that comes their way though, at least not right away. “If a tract is marginal where I know that if they let it grow a few more years it will bring better money for the landowner, then I will suggest they do that,” Greg says. Lovorn Logging already has more wood lined up than its two crews can cut in two years, he says. “I want to treat everyone’s land like it is my own.” Greg’s crew works from the Pontotoc County line north while Kelly’s stays in tracts from the Calhoun County line south. When Southern Loggin’ Times visited in August, Kelly’s crew was moving onto school board land, cutting a tract for Calhoun County. Greg’s crew averages 75-100 loads a week, most of it in pine logs to Hankins Lumber in Ripley. They send chip-n-saw to Weyerhaeuser in Bruce, Miss., and some smaller chip-n-saw to Holman Wood Products in Fulton. Pine pulpwood from this crew goes to the Packaging Corp. of America containerboard mill in Counce, Tenn. Everyone knows lumber prices were up this year; the Lovorns say saw log prices have gone up a little bit, too. Pine pulpwood, though, has been a challenge for several years, with tight quotas only recently loosening a tad. “The big thing everyone wants now is hardwood,” Greg says, both hardwood logs and pulpwood. “Those mills are all begging for wood. They’ll take all you can haul if you have it, but it’s hard to find good hardwood tracts, because everyone has grown pine.” Kelly’s crew hauls 50-75 loads weekly to many of the same markets as Greg’s: Weyerhaeuser in Bruce, Hankins in Ripley and the Counce, Tenn. mill. This job also hauls smaller chip-n-saw to STP (Southeastern Timber Products) in Ackerman, Miss. or to the old Georgia-Pacific mill in Belk, Ala.

Trucking Trucking is as much a challenge for the Lovorns as it is for most 24

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loggers. “This trucking is fixing to be a problem,” Kelly fears. “We don’t make anything off of the trucks; it’s just a cost to get the wood delivered. Fuel is a necessity but the insurance is ridiculous. You can’t find drivers and there are no more contract truckers because of insurance costs.” It’s more than tripled in the last 25 years, he says. “In 1994, ’95, ’96, you could insure a truck for $4,000 a year; now it’s $13,000.” Greg agrees. “I wish I had it figured out. Most of it is the insurance eating everyone up.” They blame much of the rising cost of insurance on the prevalence of staged accidents, with auto drivers fraudulently chasing an insurance check. “You go to some states, people can’t afford to be an owner/operator because of the

into several years ago,” Greg says. “A good friend was a sweet potato farmer who needed them hauled to market in Atlanta.” They added refrigerator units on some of their trucks with sleeper cabs. The trucks deliver to farmers’ markets within a 500-mile radius. They also used to reserve four trucks for hauling cattle. They no longer haul cattle long distance, but the family still has 3L Cattle, a commercial beef cattle business with a few hundred mama cows.

Now they sell at local auctions, like People’s Livestock in Houston, Miss. and the Cattleman’s Stockyard at West Point. Charles tends to the cattle with help from a few others, including his grandsons. “They have to learn to work when they are born into this family,” Greg says. “It’s a family unit; we all work together.” Kelly’s son Kel and Greg’s son Brandon both work on the farm and in the woods. Kelly also has a stepson, Klint

Byars, who is in the business with his own company, Byars Logging and Trucking. Brandon is also a history teacher and assistant baseball coach at Calhoun City High School. Greg’s daughter Charlesy is also a teacher and head softball coach at Water Valley High School; his wife Paula is a school nurse and daughter-inlaw Hillary is a kindergarten teacher. Much of the family all live right next to each other in a circle around

The youngest Lovorn has good taste in reading material, along with his great granddad.

staged accidents,” Kelly adds. “It’s not that bad in Mississippi but it’s bad enough; it’s worse in some other states.” Lovorn and Lovorn Trucking has installed dash cams and GPS in every truck, using HD Fleet systems out of Louisiana. “Kelly and I can punch it up and look at all our trucks to see where they are,” Greg says. It’s paid off. A car ran into one of their trucks, and the dash cam footage clearly showed the fault was the other driver’s. “The highway patrolman told him he’d have to pay for our damages,” according to Greg. Greg’s crew uses all contract trucks, while Kelly hauls with six Lovorn and Lovorn Trucking rigs. Kelly’s dad, Andy Lovorn (Charlie’s brother and Greg’s uncle) is one of their contract haulers.

Sweet Taters, Cattle Lovorn and Lovorn Trucking also owns four sweet potato trucks. “It’s a side business we got Southern Loggin’ Times

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the company shop and office, where Stacy Williams works with clan matriarch Suzye. Kelly’s wife Kim owns Southern Bell Originals, which makes printed t-shirts (www.followyourroots apparel.com/). Greg’s brother Charles is in marketing and manages Southern Coffee Co. “The good Lord has blessed us in a mighty way with a good crew, folks that will show up to work,” Greg says. The cousins are thankful

for that. “If one of these guys here doesn’t show up for work, you need to check the hospital or the morgue because they will be in one of the two. Kelly and I can leave our crews by themselves and they will still do their jobs; we don’t have to worry about them.” On Greg’s crew, Brad Liles is cutter man, Shone Mulkey drives the 535D skidder and Sherman Brown runs the 595 loader; Greg’s other son Bo runs the 495. On

Kelly’s crew, Logan Carter mans the Prentice, Bobby Jo Wooten (another family cousin) drives the 545D skidder and Ty Ward runs the cutter. Loader man Logan is engaged to Kelly’s daughter Karlie, which will make him stepdad to her kids KJ and Andi Grace, two of Kelly’s grandkids. Kelly and Kim’s other daughter Kenidy is a dental assistant, while their other son Klint and his wife Elizabeth have a baby girl,

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Mary Vivian, just over a year old. Greg also has grandkids: grandson Gatlin McGregor, 11; granddaughter Charlie Moore; and the newest addition, Brandon’s son Dakota Charles Lovorn, named for both Greg’s father and grandfather.

Giving Back The Lovorn family contributes back to their local community in a number of ways, with several members working in the schools. For his part, Greg does fundraising benefits to help pay medical costs for people with cancer and other conditions. He cooks and auctions off barbecue pork, with the meat donated by some of his friends. This service started with his father-in-law, Charles Lee McGregor, who was a brick mason. McGregor did it the first time for a young neighbor boy who was born with a heart problem; it grew from there. “He always used to say, we do it because the next one might be for us,” Greg recounts. For McGregor, that turned out to be true eventually. There was an auction to benefit him when he got sick before he died from stage IV pancreatic cancer in 2009. Greg then took over and carried on the legacy. They do it whenever people who need help ask for it, several times a year. “Sometimes it seems like it’s every week,” Greg says; he has two scheduled in September, back to back. “If folks get sick, we do it at no charge to help them with medical expenses and hospital bills while they are going through a trying time.” Though it hasn’t affected their business much, several of the Lovorns have had Covid-19. Kelly had it the worst; he spent a week in the hospital last October. “I passed out at home,” he says. He went to the local ER and learned he had pneumonia in both lungs. He was admitted to St. Dominic’s at Jackson. “The first day or two it was kind of scary,” Kelly admits. “But after that I saw it was all going to be ok.” He didn’t require a ventilator but they did put him on oxygen when they released him. He came back to work immediately after coming home, but could only work partial days for about three more weeks before he would give out. More than 10 months later, he says he is still not quite 100% back to normal, but he is close. Looking to their future plans, the Lovorns just hope to keep going like they are going. “If the good Lord lets us stay healthy, we’ll keep working,” Greg says. “Maybe the grandkids will take it SLT over one day.”

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“safe” according to the government...you might live in a country run by idiots.

The Trail We Are On

If you can get arrested for hunting or fishing without a license, but not for being in the country illegally...you might live in a country run by idiots. AMEN: The only part of a prayer that everyone knows. If you have to get your parents’ permission to go on a BULLETIN: Your receipt for attending Mass. field trip or take an aspirin in school, but not to get an CHOIR: A group of people whose singing allows the abortion...you might live in a country run by idiots. rest of the congregation to lip-sync. If you have to show identification to board a HOLY WATER: A liquid whose chemical formula is plane, cash a check, buy liquor, or check out a library H2OLY. book, but you don’t have to show ID for the right to HYMN: A song of praise usually sung in a key three vote...you might live in a country run by idiots. octaves higher than that of the congregation’s range. If the government wants to ban stable, law-abiding citRECESSIONAL HYMN: The last song at Mass often izens from owning gun magazines with more than10 sung a little more quietly, since most of the people have rounds, but gives 20 F-16 fighter jets to the crazy leaders already left. in Egypt...you might live in a country run by idiots. Never Be Afraid To INCENSE: Holy Smoke! If, in the largest city of the country, you can buy two Try Something New. JESUITS: An order of priests known for their ability 16-ounce sodas but not a 24-ounce soda because the Remember, Amateurs to find colleges with good basketball teams. government says a 24-ounce sugary drink might make JONAH: The original ‘Jaws’ story. you fat...you might live in a country run by idiots. Built The Ark; KYRIE ELEISON: The only Greek words that most If an 80-year-old woman can be strip-searched by the Pros Built The Titanic. Catholics can recognize besides gyros and baklava. For TSA but a woman in a burka is only subject to having non-Catholics it means “Lord have mercy.” ) her neck and head searched because of her MAGI: The most famous trio to attend a baby shower. religion...you might live in a country run by idiots. MANGER: Where Mary gave birth to Jesus because If your government believes that the best way to Joseph wasn’t covered by an HMO. (The Bible’s way of eradicate trillions of dollars of debt is to spend trillions showing us that holiday travel has always been rough.) more...you might live in a country run by idiots. PEW: A medieval torture device still found in Catholic If a seven-year-old boy can be thrown out of churches. school for saying his teacher is “cute,” but hosting a PROCESSION: The ceremonial formation at the sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is beginning of Mass consisting of altar servers, the celeperfectly acceptable and normal...you might live in a brant, and late parishioners looking for seats. country run by idiots. RECESSIONAL: The ceremonial procession at the If hard work and success are rewarded with higher conclusion of Mass led by parishioners trying to beat the taxes and more government intrusion, while not workcrowd to the parking lot. ing is rewarded with EBT cards, WIC checks, MediRELICS: People who have been going to Mass for so long they actually caid, subsidized housing, and free cell phones...you might live in a country know when to sit, kneel, and stand. run by idiots. TEN COMMANDMENTS: The most important Top Ten list not given by If the government’s plan for getting people back to work is to reward them a comedian. with 99 weeks of unemployment checks with no requirement to prove they USHERS: The only people in the parish who don’t know the seating applied for any jobs in between...you might live in a country run by idiots. capacity of a pew. If being stripped of the ability to defend yourself makes you more

Catholic Vocabulary Test

Get Up And Win The Race By D. Growberg

“Quit, give up, you’re beaten,” they shout at me and plead, “There’s just too much against you now, this time you can’t succeed.” And as I start to hang my head in front of failure’s face, my downward fall is broken by the memory of a race. And hope refills my weakened will as I recall that scene, for just the thought of that short race rejuvenates my being! A children’s race, young boys, young men, how I remember well. Excitement, sure, but also fear. It wasn’t hard to tell.

They all lined up, so full of hope, each thought to win that race, or tie for first, or if not that, at least take second place. And fathers watched from off the side, each cheering for his son, and each boy hoped to show his dad that he would be the one! The whistle blew and off they went, young hearts and hopes afire, to win and be the hero was each young boy’s desire. One boy in particular, whose dad was in the crowd, was running near the lead and thought, “My dad will be so proud.” But as they speeded down the field, across a shallow dip, the little boy, who thought to win, lost his step and slipped. Trying hard to catch himself,

his hands flew out to brace, and mid the laughter of the crowd, he fell flat on his face. So down he fell, and with him hope. He couldn’t win it now. Embarrassed, sad, he only wished to disappear somehow. But as he fell, his dad stood up, and showed his anxious face, which to the boy so clearly said, “Get up and win the race.” He quickly rose, no damage done, behind a bit, that’s all. He ran with all his mind and might to make up for his fall. So anxious to restore himself, to catch up and to win, his mind went faster than his legs— he slipped and fell again. He wished then he’d quit before, with only one disgrace. “I’m hopeless as a runner now,

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I shouldn’t try to race.” But in the laughing crowd he found his father’s face; that steady look, which said again, “Get up and win the race.” “To me you won,” his father said. “You rose each time you fell.” And now, when things seem dark and difficult to face, the memory of that little boy helps me in my race. For all of life is like that race, with ups and downs and all, and all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall. “Quit, give up, you’re beaten,” they still shout in face. But deep within a voice still says, “Get up and win the race!”

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Big Show ■ John Deere cutter simulator was among the attractions at Mississippi’s Ag/Outdoor Expo. By Patrick Dunning JACKSON, Miss. outed as the largest outdoor show ever ★ held in Mississippi, the inaugural Mississippi Ag & Outdoor Expo took place August 6-8, 2021 at the Mississippi Trade Mart Center in Jackson. The 110,000 sq. ft. venue featured more than 100 exhibitors representing the state’s agriculture, wildlife and forestry, from Red Stag hunting guides to Gulf Coast fishing charters, and farming equipment to turkey calls and everything in between. Hosted by the Mississippi Dept. of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks Foundation, the event drew a crowd more than 7,000 strong. Andy Gipson, Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, believes the expo was successful in connecting the public with wildlife and outdoor industries, and that the Mississippi Trade Mart building, completed in Spring 2021, is a reflection of the state’s beauty. “It was a great turnout,” Gipson says. “Every piece of lumber in the Trade Mart, the wood walls and exposed wood, was raised and harvested in the state of Mississippi. We did that to promote our forestry industry. That way people who come to the Trade Mart get to see the beauty of Mississippi wood products.”

Simulator Among the exhibitors was the Mississippi Loggers Assn., which showcased John Deere’s recently developed full-length rubber tire feller-buncher simulator. The prototype simulates an actual cab and is currently the only one of its kind. John Deere’s forestry divison in Tampere, Finland, began developing this simulator three years ago with plans to utilize it in the classroom and increase the number of skilled equipment operators in the woods. Berry Johnson, Deere’s U.S. Southeast forestry sales consultant, and Justin McDermott, John Deere forestry sales and tactical marketing manager for U.S. and Canada, worked in lockstep with David Liv34

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The Trade Mart Center, completed in Spring 2021, cost $30 million and features 63,000 sq. ft. of column-free space.

ingston, Executive Director of the Mississippi Loggers Assn., and Scott Swanson, President of Mississippi’s John Deere dealer Stribling Equipment, to get this technology to the logging workforce. “We were hearing from folks across the country: a lot of concern about the shortage of skilled labor and how are we going to help create the next generation of operators in the field,” McDermott says. “(We) kept getting asked if we had training aids or simulators and at the time we didn’t on From left: Wayne Withers, course instructor; David Livingston, Executive Director, MLA; Berry Johnson, the full tree side. We’ve Southeast forestry sales consultant, John Deere; Brandon Martin, southern Mississippi sales manager, had cut-to-length simu- Stribling Equipment lators for years for European markets. We told our way we designed these machines, says they applied some of John engineering group there’s a need in the ergonomics of it, we feel will Deere’s agriculture technology for the industry, a growing need, to shorten the learning curve. As an farm tractors and combines to their find new operators. Can we take operator by trade myself, it took me simulator design. the technology we have to date, several years to be proficient. You adapt it and make it available to the lose young kids that might have got- School market? And that’s what we did. ten into this career path so we found To further their mission of We adapted it for full tree.” a way to train these kids.” “The two biggest demands I see Timbermatic Maps is included on equipping students with little to no experience operating woods when I visit logging contractors is a the rubber tire simulator: tracking machinery, the Mississippi Logshortage of truck drivers and equiphours run, stems cut, log pile locagers Assn. and Mississippi ment operators,” Johnson adds. “The tion and boundary lines. Johnson

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Attendees stopped by MLA’s booth throughout the weekend and tried their luck harvesting a digital block of standing timber.

Axe Women Loggers of Maine showcased their skills with ax throwing, underhand chop, crosscut sawing and log rolling.

Forestry Commission partnered with Hinds Community College to offer the Logging Equipment Operator Academy, which will feature four John Deere rubber tire simulators: two wheeled fellerbunchers, two track feller-bunchers and several desktop models with joysticks. The 16-week workforce certificate course commenced August 23 at Hinds’ Raymond campus and will be offered twice a year. Mississippi logger Wayne Withers will be serving as logging equipment operator instructor. “It’s getting to the point now where equipment prices are $300,000-plus apiece and for insurance purposes it takes some kind of degree to get into a machine,” Withers explains. “The four-month course will include safety lessons, BMPs, simulator time, videos and PowerPoints, but our main discussion throughout the class will be safety.” Tuition and housing for the course will cost $5,470 for each student to participate in the program. Students will stay at the Eagle Ridge Conference Center during the course. Mississippi residents can qualify for grant funds to cover a portion or all of tuition costs and options are available for students wishing to commute. Stihl plans to send safety instructors for a one-day crash course, teaching enrolled students methods for safely operating a chain saw.

The course will also include Academy to use its site for heavy rubber tire simulators for use in forestry concepts, business manage- equipment training. similar logging equipment operator ment specific to logging, PLM qual“We appreciate all the help from schools. ifications, tree identification, equip- Stribling, John Deere and Hinds To be eligible, students must be ment maintenance and DOT regula- allowing us to have input on what 18 years old, pass DOT drug test, tions for tying down and hauling the industry needs,” Livingston says. have a valid drivers license and machinery and tonnage. “We worked closely with Hinds on provide their own transportation. “It’s going to be an extensive developing the program and Wayne For more information, contact course,” Livingston asserts. “When has done an outstanding job pulling Wayne Withers, logging equipment they graduate they will have the resources together. Most of the kids operator instructor, by email at knowledge to be a productive work- that come through this course want Thomas.withers@hinescc.edu or by er and have a grasp of what they to be hands-on. And that’s how phone at 601-741-3479. need to be doing in the woods.” Wayne is: hands-on. He’s going to The rubber tire simulator will be The MLA is working with Win Job be able to get across to these kids.” showcased at the Mid-South Center locations throughout the state The Missouri Forest Products Forestry Equipment Show, schedto prepare students for positions Assn. and ForestryWorks, among uled for September 17-18, 2021 in SLT with logging operations. If a logger others, have requested John Deere Starkville. elects to sponsor a student, the student is required to work for the company two years to fulfill his contract. Hinds Community College secured a $1.3 million grant from the Dept. of Labor and Delta Regional Authority to get the program off the ground. Stribling Equipment is one of the first forestry dealerships to carry the rubber tire simulators and will supply the logging academy program. Stribling will assist with woods equipment for field training with John Deere corporate involvement. The Mississippi Forestry Commission has partnered with the LogMississippi Barko dealer, TraxPlus, was among exhibitors present. ging Equipment Operator Southern Loggin’ Times

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Mid-South Returns ■ The Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show is back in Starkville this month, full steam ahead. By David Abbott STARKVILLE, MISS. ★ f all goes according to plan, on September 17 and 18, loggers in the deep South will again converge on Mississippi State University’s land to attend the Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show for the first time since 2018. Those who were at that show may feel inclined to pray for less blazingly hot temperatures this go-round. The show, (normally) a biennial event, was scheduled to take place in August of 2020 but was delayed until this year by the pandemic. Despite rising numbers of Delta variant infections throughout the country this summer, particularly in Mississippi, as of press time in late August, there are no plans to cancel the event this time. After all, it is an outdoor show, and vaccines are available to afford at least some protection to those who want it. Considering the pandemic and some continuing difficulties with international travels, first year show manager/Mississippi PLM (professional logging management) program coordinator John Auel expects numbers of both attendees and exhibitors to be a little bit down this year compared to the historical averages, but all indications are that the show will bring a healthy enough crowd. “Our room blocks filled up back in June, so I think people are expecting to come,” Auel says. “I believe people are ready to get back out and do things.” There are 67 exhibitors in all. Most of the usual suspects will be on hand exhibiting their latest and greatest. John Deere and Tigercat will offer live equipment demos. Tigercat and its Mississippi representative B&G Equipment will host a loader contest and the skidder contest will go forward as usual with Stribling Equipment/John Deere and B&G/Tigercat doing the honors. The show’s layout will be different this year. What was formerly the parking area will now be used for static sites, while the former static area will be used for parking, with the entrance to the north of the pavilion, which will not be used this year. Rather, a large tent will house booths adjacent to the new static sites. “We wanted to get everything closer together and make everything easier to walk around,” Auel says. Live sites will be south off the RV park. Also, food trucks will provide a greater variety of food that will reportedly be more convenient to purchase this time around. One change is that the usual Mississippi Loggers Assn. meeting will be held off site this year. Registration for loggers will be $25 at the gate and is good for both days of the show; your families can join for free. Loggers will of course have several opportunities to earn CE credits at Mid-South, including three hours of Category II credit for attending the show on Friday, September 17 and three hours of Category II credit for attending the show on Saturday, September 18.

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2021 Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show Continuing Education Schedule Friday, September 17

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Presenter

Location

Classroom Presentations 9-9:50 a.m. New MS Mills Dr. Shaun Tanger 10-10.50 a.m. 4 Loads/CFX-Helping Mr. Johnny Thompson Solve the Ticket Reconcilliation Puzzle 11-11:50 a.m. Maps, Apps, Tools, Mr. Johnny Thompson and Drones-Forest Technology Simplified 12-12:50 p.m. Team Safe Trucking Ms. Miranda Gowell 1-1:50 p.m. New Forest Products Mr. Marc Measells 2-2:50 p.m. Ethics Mr. Butch Bailey

CE Credits (Loggers)

CFE Credits (Foresters)

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Mr. Butch Bailey Mr. Brady Self

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Presenter

Location

Field Presentations 9-11:00 a.m. 1-3 p.m.

Pine Beetle Regeneration

Saturday, September 18

Time

Topic

Field Presentations

Regeneration Pine Beetle

Mr. Butch Bailey Mr. Brady Self

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CE Credits

(Loggers)

CFE Credits

(Foresters)

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FROM THE BACKWOODS PEW

I See You Who doesn’t love a good game of hide-and-go-seek? It perhaps is the easiest game to play: no batteries are needed, and the directions are pretty simple—you go hide, and then I will seek you. You may not have realized that this was the first game ever played, but no one thought of it as a game at the time. Adam and Eve had just messed up; they knew they had messed up; and they felt that they had to cover up. While looking through the clothes rack at the local FIGS-R-US, they heard the steps of the LORD God, as he came for a visit. So they hid. How many times have you tried to play hide-and-seek with a young child? You know the one, when they are only partially hidden, and they are desperate to be found. They giggle and watch you walk around as if they are covered with the best camouflage money can buy. As soon as you walk past, they shout out, “Here I am, Grandpa!” Of course, speaking for tired grandpas everywhere, sometimes we want them to stay in hiding a little longer; and for some of us who can’t see or hear as well as we used to, maybe we need the kids’ help after all.

That impulse to be found comes from that first event in the garden. Even as the Father came calling, asking where they were, Adam called Antill out, and explained to God that he was hiding. In the woods, hide-and-seek is often a daily activity, minus the counting. The forester seems to always be seeking something in the woods, and at times it seems the object of his search is actively hiding. Let’s look at some of the things the forester may be seeking, and how they hide. Boundary-line trees are ones that have been marked by a surveyor at some time in the previous century. These marked trees show the forester where the property line is. Unlike your yard where you may have a fence separating your yard from Mr. Wilson’s, timber tracts have designated trees. These are not to be confused with all the other trees; these specific trees serve as markers to show where your forest ends and Mr. Wilson’s forest begins. You don’t want to cut Mr. Wilson’s timber; that would be bad, and could include fines and one-piece jumpsuits. To find an old line-tree, to find the blaze of a hatchet from 50 to 60

years ago, or to find the remnants of old lead paint still clinging to the bark after 30 years, causes the forester to shout out with glee, “I see you!” Snakes love to hide; it is often what they do best. Their coloration gives them a natural camouflage that allows them to lie in wait for a frog, a mouse, or a forester. The observant forester knows where to look, especially if he has been in that swamp before. He scans the bank of the ditch, or along the water-line of the swamp, and there it is, coiled and waiting. “I see you!” says the forester, after he has finished screaming and jumping. My truck, at the end of a long hike through a swamp, often seems to be actively hiding. As I am slugging my way through the mud, swatting away flies and checking my pulse, I strain to see my truck through the dense foliage of the forest. It is considered bad form to get lost, being a forester and all. Momentarily displaced, however, that is always in play. Thus, when I get a glimpse of my truck, I know that search-and-rescue at least will be able to find me easier, and I whisper a greeting to my ride, “I see you.” Bee hives and hanging hornet’s nests also like to play the game, and hide from the forester. A few weeks ago, as I was looking for a bound-

ary-line tree, I could hear the buzzing. However, scanning the ground, I couldn’t find the nest. Finally, I looked up. “I see you!” The bees were pouring out of the very tree my hand was resting on as I was checking it for old paint. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”— Genesis 3:8-10 The LORD God came looking. The LORD God, the name that declares the essence of the God who saves us, came looking. He came looking for the two humans who just moments before decided to reject him and his love. And while their shame caused them to hide, their shame did not keep the LORD God from coming after them. Maybe as you read this, you are in hiding. Tucked away in a witness protection program that you designed, you hide in your shame. You rejected God; now you hide. You refused his love, and now you try to blend into your surroundings, hoping no one will notice your shame, that no one will see your agony. But be of good cheer, the LORD God comes looking for those he loves. Your rejection of his love does not put you on a list where he ignores you the rest of your life. Your rejection of his love doesn’t make you unfindable. In fact, you’re like the kid hiding behind the curtains, thinking no one can see his legs sticking out or the bulge in the fabric; but the LORD God is whispering, “I see you.” And because he sees you hiding in fear and shame, he sent Jesus. And Jesus, as they nailed him to a cross, looked across time and space, and he saw you! And he willingly took your shame and your pain, and died on that cross. While in pain and agony, he asked God the Father to forgive you. And with his last breath declaring, “It is finished,” he brought an end to the game started in the garden. His declaration is the call of, “Ally, Ally, in Free!”: the cry at the end of hide-and-seek, that says to come out of hiding, you are SLT free. Excerpted from Leaves, Lessons, and Lordship Brad Antill author, available at www.onatreeforestry.com

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INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP As We See It: ALC: A True National Voice for Loggers By Scott Dane In the last month the American Loggers Council (ALC), with our state association members, has represented the American logging Dane industry at White House

roundtable meetings; participated in the Pandemic Assistance for Timber Harvesters and Haulers (PATHH) announcement press conference; served as a witness in a Congressional hearing; and received national media cov-

erage of our opposition to the nomination of the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. First, after many months of working with the USDA, USFS and FSA as they developed the Pandemic Assistance for Timber Harvesters and Haulers, the program was unveiled.

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ALC was the primary organization that participated and provided input to ensure the program met the objectives of the target group. ALC was trusted to respect the confidentiality of the program development and was the timber industry’s primary stakeholder at numerous meetings. In fact, upon the public announcement, Zach Ducheneaux, Administrator of the Farm Service Agency (FSA), said, “We thank the American Loggers Council and its state association members for helping us better understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the timber harvester and timber hauler sectors…they provided insights on their industry that allowed us to develop an effective and efficient program that delivers the greatest benefits to businesses in need.” ALC was invited to be one of 20 participants at a virtual White House Summit meeting with Commerce Secretary Raimondo and other cabinet members and administration officials to discuss the homebuilding supply chain. ALC was the only participant representing the American logging industry. ALC took advantage of the opportunity to provide comments that the logging industry end of the supply chain has not derived any benefit from the record lumber prices and explained the need to maintain the Canadian softwood lumber duties. Henry Shienebeck, who serves as both the ALC Government Relations Chair and the Great Lakes Timber Professionals Assn. Executive Director, was a witness in the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry Congressional Hearing on The U.S. Wood Products Industry: Facilitating the Post COVID-19 Recovery. As one of four Congressional hearing witnesses, Henry represented the American Loggers Council. Again, Henry touched upon the fact that the loggers and truckers have not realized any benefit from the record lumber prices. In closing he provided recommendations that would facilitate the wood products industry’s recovery, such as the Future Careers in Logging and Safer Routes legislation that ALC has been advocating. He also encouraged the development of new forest products such as cross-laminated timber (mass timber) and biomass products derived from forest based feedstocks. Finally, ALC’s Board of Directors voted at the Summer Board Meeting in Minneapolis to oppose the nomination and confirmation of Tracy Stone-Manning as the Director of the Bureau of Land Management due to her documented in-

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volvement in eco-terrorist tree spiking incidents. The ALC opposition and request to the Senate to vote no on her confirmation was picked up by national news services across the country. These four examples, over the past month alone, demonstrate why American Loggers Council is “THE NATIONAL VOICE FOR LOGGERS.”

Scott Dane is the 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.

Hamilton Was Key Man For Scotch Marion Charles (Charlie) Hamilton of Grove Hill, Ala., who devoted his career to Alabamabased Scotch Lumber and Scotch Plywood while also Charlie Hamilton establishing other wood products business ventures, died July 18 following an illness. He was 83.

Born and raised in a logging environment near Fulton, the son of longtime logger and legendary Scotch logging superintendent M.C. Hamilton, Charlie served in a range of positions for Scotch and was always encouraged by Scotch owner Billy Harrigan. Hamilton graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1956 and continued his education at Auburn University, graduating in 1961 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry. Early in life Hamilton enlisted in the Federal Reserve and then joined the Alabama National Guard serving as an MP for 10 years. He started at Scotch Lumber and became responsible for land management and timber procurement, and was soon instrumental in the establishment of Scotch Plywood and its three facilities, becoming mill manager and general manager. In 1985, Hamilton co-formed Hamilton Timber Co. and in 1996 opened the Hamilton Woods Veneer mill in Grove Hill. During this time, Hamilton served on the Alabama State Forestry Commission as Vice Chairman for 12 years. He retired from Scotch Plywood in 2012. A year later he sold his interest in Hamilton Timber Co.

Hamilton was known as a man of his word, a person of honesty and integrity, and he expected likewise from his staff and co-workers. He had a giving nature and showed kindness to others. He loved to hunt, fish, camp and play hard with his buddies. He cherished the time he spent with his wife, children and grandchildren.

Forest Service Names Associate Chief USDA Forest Service named Angela Coleman as associate chief. Coleman, who has served as acting associate chief since January 2020, will be the Forest Service’s highestranking executive under incoming Chief Randy Moore. A native of Phenix City, Ala., Coleman brings 30 years of experience with the Forest Service. She has served in numerous senior executive roles leading the agency’s 30,000 employees, including a permanent role as chief of staff of the Forest Service, which she held from 20152020. Coleman began her career as a news reporter with the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer newspaper, Columbus, Ga. She is a summa cum laude

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graduate of Troy University. Coleman also served as a Senior Executive Fellow for Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

MSU Model Depicts Market Variables An assistant research professor in Mississippi State’s Dept. of Forestry, Starkville, is leading a collaborative team in creating a precision tool to help increase profits for timber producers and wood-mill consumers. Bruno da Silva, also a scientist in the university’s Forest and Wildlife Research Center, is studying timber supply modeling as part of a $100,000 grant awarded by International Paper. The team is working on a model to aid timber producers in better understanding the impact of market variables and streamlining decision making for forest sector stakeholders. “Our forestry market has become increasingly fragmented over the years,” da Silva says. “What we’re seeing is less room for error and the need for a more precise approach. Our goal is to make a model that can show how different variables like distance to the nearest mill, har-

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vest costs and management practices will affect the timber supply, so forest market players can make informed decisions.” The team aims to design a model that is user-friendly and freely avail-

able. Once the finishing touches are made to the model’s programming, the app will be available for download in QGIS, or open source GIS software, as well as in python. See https://www.qgis.org/en/site/ or

https://www.python.org/ for more information. “The model functions through mass amounts of regional data, both past and present, to predict future trends in the timber supply. Its out-

put is dynamic and inherently linked to the needs of its user,” da Silva explains. Shaun Tanger, assistant professor at MSU’s Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi, is also on the project and looks forward to seeing how the model will help him as a forestry specialist. “Part of my job with the MSU Extension Service is to make sure small forest landowners are able to keep a position in the market that remains sustainable and profitable. This model will show landowners how variables impact profitability based on their specific circumstances. This is precision timber production,” Tanger says. The team is collaborating with several faculty from North Carolina State University including Frederick Cubbage, Robert Abt and Rajan Parajuli. Jesse Henderson with the U.S. Forest Service also is a collaborator.

RoyOMartin Marks 14 Safe Years On Monday, August 2, 2021, RoyOMartin’s land and timber operations reached a significant

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safety milestone: 14 years without an OSHA-recordable injury. Given the statistics surrounding logging and forestry injuries, and the vast amount of company-owned timberland managed by RoyOMartin foresters—approximately 550,000 acres—this accomplishment is especially noteworthy. The land and timber division’s achievement follows RoyOMartin’s perseverance of its “IBiZ” (I Believe in Zero) safety program, which focuses on personal responsibility. President and COO E. Scott Poole added, “Our land and timber team are the example of what we can all achieve with a sustaining, dedicated focus on safety. Here’s to the next 14 years injury free!”

Power Equip. Takes On Komatsu In Arkansas Power Equipment Co., based in Knoxville, Tenn., will be appointed the authorized Komatsu distributor in Arkansas effective mid-September, 2021. The territory will be served by existing authorized Komatsu branches in Little Rock, Ark. and Springdale, Ark. Power Equipment is a member of the Bramco family of companies, one of the oldest and largest privately held equipment dealers in North America, and the Komatsu dealer for Tennessee, northern Mississippi and southwest Virginia. Power Equipment is solely focused on the distribution, support and

service of heavy equipment. Power Equipment will operate out of the existing H&E Equipment Services facilities in Little Rock and Springdale, retaining all current distribution business employees at these branches.

CLA’s Smith Leaves For US Endowment Position The Carolina Loggers Assn. (CLA) recently announced that Ewell Smith, Executive Director, is leaving to assume a full-time position working with the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities. According to a statement from the CLA board chairman Chip

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Capps, “We will lean on the NC Forestry Association, our brothers in the South Carolina and Virginia associations, and the ALC to continue the progress we all have made politically the last years.” The CLA has current staff in place, Jonzi Guill, Communications Director and Joanne Reese, Finance & Accounting, to continue the projects in place for 2021 and 2022. “With the speed we are seeing changes in our industry now this continuity and forward movement is critical,” Capps added, noting that Smith in his new opposition will continue to support the logging industry though programs such as the recently unveiled timberhauling.com.

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MACHINES-SUPPLIES-TECHNOLOGY Tigercat Shovel Logger

Tigercat has raised the bar with the introduction of the LSX870D shovel logger. Based on the popular LX870D series track carrier platform, the machine is designed for extreme duty steep slope logging. With the choice of attachments including the new Tigercat BG13 grapple with a live heel boom or the SC08 shovel clam grapple, the LSX870D is suited to

pre-bunching and shovel logging in challenging terrain. The addition of the LSX870D to the Tigercat lineup provides a higher power, closed loop drive alternative to the LS855E. Where the LS855E provides higher swing speed and lower ground pressure, the LSX870D allows for improved multifunctioning ability and quicker, more responsive travel speed. The Tigercat FPT C87

engine supplies 330 HP, which combined with the dedicated attachment pump provides plenty of multi-functioning power. Lift and reach capabilities for the LS855E and the LSX870D are identical. Tigercat’s leveling track machines use innovative technologies and systems optimized for a wide range of steep slope applications including shovel logging, felling and harvesting. Tigercat’s super-duty leveling undercarriage is longer and wider, providing exceptional stability on steep slopes. The patented leveling design uses two massive hydraulic cylinders and heavy steel sections for a solution that is simple, robust and reliable. The Tigercat leveling system leans into the hill when leveling to the side, which further improves machine stability and operator comfort. Visit tigercat.com for more information.

Bandit Track Grinder

Bandit Industries’ new Model 1425 track is a highly productive and compact horizontal grinder. It is equipped with many of the same features as the tow-behind version and the addition of tracks substantially increases the capabilities of this unit. By making it available with tracks, it can now travel over a variety of landscapes with the durable Caterpillar steel track undercarriage.

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The 1425 track is equipped with a 7' long x 24" wide steel or rubber belt infeed conveyor and a stationary discharge with a stacking height of 7'. To further enhance the machine’s capabilities, a grinder head or chipper drum can be

ordered, giving it the ability to produce mulch or a dimensional chip. When ordered with a grinder head, there are 14 cutter bodies with teeth, creating an aggressive yet smooth grinding action. The chipper drum features 4 chipper

knives that will produce a chip ranging from ¼" all the way up to 1". Like our larger horizontal grinders, the 1425 track is offered with a variety of tooth and screen options. Customers can now order this

machine with a Caterpillar C4.4, 174 HP Tier 4 final. Visit banditchippers.com to learn more.

Deere Smooth Boom

Further enhancing the machine operation in demanding forestry applications, John Deere adds its Smooth Boom Control technology to its M-Series tracked feller-bunchers and MH-Series tracked harvesters. Developed in global collaboration between the John Deere wheeled cut-to-length and full-tree forestry teams, the SBC system instantaneously responds to operator input while smoothing out the acceleration and deceleration of hydraulic functions on the machine, improving overall control. “Machine response is important to efficient machine operation, especially when working in challenging conditions day in and day out,” says Jim O’Halloran, product marketing manager, John Deere. “With SBC, we’re

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improving machine functionality, making operation easier on both the operator and machine. As a result, operators can control the machine movements more effectively, especially when reversing motions. SBC delivers a smoother experience for the operator and less wear and tear on the machine over time.” The SBC software further refines the motion of the boom, swing and travel functions using advanced signal control to keep the machine ready to go. This results in a signifi-

cant improvement in overall joystick and foot pedal response, reducing the signal delay at the start and end of each operator command. Visit johndeere.com for more.

Tigercat Telematics Tigercat offers new features on its powerful RemoteLog and LogOn telematics system. Using the same satellite connection as RemoteLog, machine operators or technicians may now send and receive simple

text messages when no cellular mobile network is available. There is no need for another messaging service—RemoteLog does it all. Work site supervisors can send messages to machine operators quickly and easily. Get direct support at the job site from your Tigercat dealer when your phone is out of coverage range. Optimize your forestry operations through better communication. Purchase a Pay-AsYou-Go text messaging data plan from your local dealer.

You can now access the “Data that Matters” from RemoteLog directly through a new web service using your IT servers. Now it is possible to share geographic position and production data for your machines with landowners and forestry operations companies. RemoteLog utilizes the well-documented ISO 15143-3 (AEMP 2.0) Web API that is widely used in mobile machinery applications. You can easily view production, activity timelines, and fuel consumption on your mobile device using LogOn at the work site. Now you can download formatted reports in PDF or CSV formats and save them to your mobile device. View the reports anytime, or share them through email. Visit tigercat.com for more.

John Deere JDLink John Deere is improving the ability for customers to maximize machine performance and uptime through updates to the JDLink platform. As of July 14th, 2021, customers no longer need to renew their JDLink connectivity service subscription and can enable their JDLink service on any compatible machine in their organization at no additional charge. Additionally, once customers enable JDLink connectivity, they can select to automatically activate all future JDLink compatible models, further streamlining fleet management. With this update to the JDLink service offering, it is easier than ever for customers to maximize machine productivity and minimize downtime. “John Deere has offered telematics for well over a decade and the boost in machine monitoring and machine uptime has been an overwhelming benefit to our customers,” said James Leibold, product marketing manager, connected solutions, John Deere. “With the next phase of our JDLink offering, we are making it easier for customers to manage their fleets. Instead of needing to keep track of renewal dates by each machine, owners and fleet managers can look at monitoring their equipment holistically and can focus on what’s important—keep their job sites running.” Available on most new models, John Deere’s JDLink telematics solution delivers valuable fleet insights directly into the hands of the machine owner or fleet manager. The JDLink service enables customers access to vital data, such as machine location and utilization, time in idle, fuel level, upcoming maintenance, machine alerts, and more, all from a web or mobile platform. Beyond machine 52

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monitoring, the JDLink solution also enables John Deere Connected Support, enabling the dealer to remotely identify critical issues and take action minimizing potential downtime or by remotely sending software payloads to ensure the machine is running efficiently. To learn more about JDLink features as well as the full line of John Deere construction equipment, visit johndeere.com or contact a local dealer. The specific services, tools, and features available may vary depending on location and machines.

Foley Take-Off Clutches Loggers operating wood chippers and tub grinders with twin disc style clutches no longer need to worry about downtime. Foley Engines specializes in Twin Disc/Rockford and WPT power take-off clutches. The clutches are often called “hand clutches.” Foley

now offers both new and factory remanufactured power take-off (PTO) clutches with upgraded severe duty components including 100% Kevlar composite discs. These proprietary Kevlar composite linings have as much as a 300% longer service life compared to the molded fiber friction discs commonly used, and avoid failures caused by broken teeth. Not only do their Kevlar plates last longer, Foley remanufactured exchange units eliminate the delay and downtime in having a PTO

clutch rebuilt locally. Additionally, the remanufactured units offer the clutch owner significant savings compared to buying a new unit. Given its more than century-long history, the company can also help people with obsolete units for which parts are no longer available. Foley Engines operates from a 20,000 SF facility with modern machine tools and equipment to fabricate new replacement parts. The company stocks approximately 200 new and remanufactured PTOs that are ready for same day shipment. Visit foleyengines.com to learn more.

Deere Track Cutters

Looking to meet the needs of the most demanding forestry applications, John Deere now offers a 330-horsepower option for the 853M tracked fellerbuncher and 853MH tracked harvester equipped with the optional Dedicated Travel System feature. The combination of the travel and horsepower options on the 853M and 853MH machines enables John Deere to deliver enhanced performance in harsh conditions. The Dedicated Travel System feature provides focused hydraulic functionality for the tracks, while providing independent hydraulic power and performance to the swing, boom, and attachment functions. This hydrostatic control of the travel function increases overall machine efficiency, especially during heavy multifunctioning. The additional horsepower is fully available for additional work, adding to the increased performance and productivity of the equipment. The horsepower update further adds to the customer-driven features found on the M-Series and MH-Series machines. The operator station was designed by loggers, for loggers, with maximum comfort in mind. Floor-to-ceiling windows maximize visibility, and ergonomically designed controls further enhance the operator experience. The Rapid Cycle System allows for low-effort joystick control of all boom functions, considerably reducing operator fatigue and increasing productivity. To learn more about the 853M tracked feller-buncher and 853M tracked harvester, as well as the complete John Deere lineup of forestry equipment, visit JohnDeere.com or your local John Deere dealer. 54

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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.

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RECONDITIONED DELIMBINATORS!! 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.

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8 ➤ Caterpillar told them they couldn’t use that name. They talked to a lawyer about it. “You can use that name if you want to spend about $400,000 to get Caterpillar off of it,” the lawyer advised them. “It wasn’t worth it, so we picked a different name,” Ralph recounts. “Calvin improved it and it’s still rolling today.” After the non-compete agreement expired in 2000, CTR’s founders were free to market new products, now competing against the company they had incorporated 20 years earlier. They were successful both times, soon overtaking the competition. CSI delimbers and slashers have since become nearly ubiquitous in the southern loggin’ woods. That success is no mystery to Metcalf. “When CSI designs and builds their product, a lot of soul is put into it, and it is built to do the job it is asked to do,” he explains. “If you ask something to do a job you have to put the guts in it to do the job or it won’t get the job done. Those guys have always been the type people that they put enough

into a piece of equipment that it can do its job efficiently and effectively and with longevity.”

Travel Ralph spent much of his career burning up the road. His son Chris often went with him: “I have been to every continental state in the U.S. We just stayed on the road for weeks at a time. We’d go out west and up into Canada and stay gone two or three weeks at a time. In Canada you can go in the woods for just miles and miles. They have signs up to make sure you have fuel before you go X number of kilometers because there wouldn’t be any more chances to get fuel. Some of it is very remote. But the thing about loggers is they are always very friendly, down home people; sometimes they’d invite us into their homes. Loggers have always been a great bunch of people to work with.” Ralph agrees: “It has been my experience that most loggers, if you treat them like you’d like to be treated, they’ll treat you back the same

way. You run into a few bad apples but by and large as a community they are a really great bunch of people.” “It’s like that everywhere you go,” Chris continues. “They were always friendly people. They have to be upbeat and positive to face some of the things they face. At one time logging was one of the most dangerous professions; I don’t know if it still is. There are lots of chances for accidents and I guess bucking the tiger like that every day gives them a different outlook on life.” The senior Metcalf adds, “It is a community and it has a certain amount of freedom attached to it. You have to get the job done but as long as you do that you can go to work when you want, work as hard as you want and quit when you want. It depends on your success and your personal management ability and not everyone is cut out to be an owner. And you learn by doing and by failing. You never know what to do but you learn what not to do.” His advice to newcomers hoping to bring the next big thing to market: “I would look for opportunities to enhance a person’s life. If you give

somebody what they want, you automatically get what you want.”

Today Calvin passed away in a car accident about a decade ago. CSI is still privately owned by the Johnson family, including Calvin’s children, Tony, Judy, Ronnie and Danny, and his widow Mary. Ralph traded his shares in CSI back to the Johnson family some years ago, but he still works for the company in sales and marketing, though he doesn’t travel much anymore. He is back in the same office he had at CTR 40 years ago; CSI bought back the old plant. “It’s like a full circle,” his son observes. He goes to the office several days a week and spends his weekends on his farm. “I never thought about retiring,” Ralph shrugs. “I enjoy it. It never seemed like work. I always liked helping people get something to enhance their operation. If I can help you get something that enhances your life or your occupation, it is a win-win for both of us.” SLT

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A D L I N K ●

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ADVERTISER American Loggers Council American Truck Parts Around The World Salvage Astec B & G Equipment Bandit Industries Big John Trailers BITCO Insurance Caterpillar Dealer Promotion Cleanfix North America John Deere Forestry Deltran USA Eastern Surplus Firestone Agricultural Tire Flint Equipment FMI Trailers Forest Chain Forest Pro Forestry First Forestry Mutual Insurance Forestry Systems G & W Equipment G&R Manufactured Solutions Hawkins & Rawlinson Hitachi America Industrial Cleaning Equipment Companies Interstate Tire Service Kaufman Trailers NC Mike Ledkins Insurance Agency LMI-Tennessee Loadrite Southern Star Magnolia Trailers Maxi-Load Scale Systems McComb Diesel Mid-South Forestry Equip Show Midsouth Forestry Equipment Mississippi 811 Moore Logging Supply Morbark Pemberton Attachments Pitts Trailers Ponsse North America Puckett Machinery Quality Equipment & Parts Smiths South-Central Sales Southern Loggers Cooperative Stribling Equipment Tidewater Equipment Tigercat Industries Timberblade TRACT TraxPlus Trelan Manufacturing Tri-State Auction & Realty Virginia Loggers Association VPG Onboard Weighing W & W Truck & Tractor Wallingford’s Waratah Forestry Attachments Waters International Trucks J M Wood Auction Yancey Brothers

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409.625.0206 888.383.8884 936.634.7210 800.269.6520 601.656.7011 800.952.0178 800.771.4140 800.475.4477 919.550.1201 855.738.3267 800.503.3373 877.456.7901 855.332.0500 515.242.2300 229.888.1212 601.508.3333 800.288.0887 434.286.4157 803.708.0624 800.849.7788 800.868.2559 800.284.9032 870.510.6580 888.822.1173 914.332.1031 910.231.4043 864.947.9208 336.790.6800 800.766.8349 800.467.0944 256.270.8775 800.738.2123 877.265.1486 601.783.5700 662.325.2191 870.226.0000 601.362.4322 888.754.5613 800.831.0042 800.393.6688 800.321.8073 715.369.4833 601.969.6000 386.487.3896 800.551.8259 318.445.0750 855.781.9408 912.638.7726 519.753.2000 519.532.3283 478.447.2893 601.635.5543 877.487.3526 800.334.4395 804.677.4290 800.237.0022 843.761.8220 800.323.3708 770.692.0380 601.693.4807 334.264.3265 800.282.1562

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COMING EVENTS September 8-10—Tennessee Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Westin Hotel, Chattanooga, Tenn. Call 615-883-3832; visit tnforestry.com. 9-11—Great Lakes Logging & Heavy Equipment Expo, UP State Fairgrounds, Escanaba, Mich. Call 715-282-5828; visit gltpa.org. 12-14—Alabama Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Perdido Beach Resort, Orange Beach, Ala. Call 334-265-8733; visit alaforestry.org. 17-18—Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show, Starkville, Miss. Call 800-669-5613; visit midsouth forestry.org. 17-18—Kentucky Wood Expo, Masterson Station Park, Lexington, Ky. Call 502-695-3979; visit kfia.org. 17-19—Virginia Forest Products Assn. Annual Conference, Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center, Roanoke, Va. Call 804-737-5625; visit vfpa.net. 22-24—National Hardwood Lumber Assn. Convention & Exhibit Showcase, Palm Beach County Convention Center, West Palm Beach, Fla. Call 901-377-1818; visit nhla.com. 28-Oct. 1—Virginia Forestry Summit, Hotel Madison, Harrisonburg,

Va. Call 804-278-8733; visit vaforestry.org. 29-October 1, 2021—North Carolina Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Grandover Resort & Conference Center, Greensboro, NC. Call 800231-7723; visit ncforestry.org.

October 5-7—Arkansas Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Embassy Suites, Rogers, Ark. Call 501-374-2441; visit arkforests.org. 6—TEAM Safe Trucking annual meeting, The Coeur d' Alene Resort, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Call 207-8410250; visit teamsafetrucking.com. 7-9—American Loggers Council annual meeting, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Call 409-625-0206; visit amloggers.com. 19-21—Texas Forestry Assn. annual meeting, The Fredonia Hotel & Conference Center, Nacogdoches, Tex. Call 936-632-8733; visit texas forestry.org.

November 10-12—Forestry Assn. of South Carolina annual meeting, Hyatt Regency, Greenville, SC. Call 803798-4170; visit scforestry.org.

March 2022 16-18—2022 SLMA & SFPA Spring Meeting & Expo, Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans, La. Call 504-4434464; visit slma.org. 29-30—Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo, Omni Hotel at CNN Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 334-834-1170; visit bioenergyshow.com.

April 2022 29-30—Mid-Atlantic Logging-Biomass-Landworks Expo, near Laurinburg, NC. Call 919-271-9050; visit loggingexpo.com.

August 2022 23-26—IWF 2022, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 404-693-8333; visit iwfatlanta.com. Listings are submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend.

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Articles inside

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Industry News Roundup

Coming Events/Ad Index

ForesTree Equipment Trader

From The Backwoods Pew