SLTsept21pgs_cs.qxp_SLTtemplate 8/25/21 2:50 PM Page 22
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.
CLICK HERE IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY OPTED IN!
(’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
