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Vol. 47, No. 10
(Founded in 1972—Our 553rd Consecutive Issue)
F E AT U R E S
October 2018 A Hatton-Brown Publication
Phone: 334-834-1170 Fax: 334-834-4525
www.southernloggintimes.com
Jimmy Williams Logging Urban Sprawl Challenges
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Bandit Celebrates 35th Anniversary Event
Co-Publisher Co-Publisher Chief Operating Officer Executive Editor Editor-in-Chief Western Editor Managing Editor Associate Editor Associate Editor Art Director Ad Production Coordinator Circulation Director Marketing/Media
David H. Ramsey David (DK) Knight Dianne C. Sullivan David (DK) Knight Rich Donnell Dan Shell David Abbott Jessica Johnson Jay Donnell Cindy Segrest Patti Campbell Rhonda Thomas Jordan Anderson
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 Midwest USA, Eastern Canada John Simmons Tel: 905-666-0258 • Fax: 905-666-0778 32 Foster Cres. Whitby, Ontario, Canada L1R 1W1 E-mail: jsimmons@idirect.com
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John Deere Rolls Out New L-II Machines
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Mid-South Show Review In Pictures
Southern Stumpin’. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
out front:
The Whittmore family (from left, dad Jerry and mom Patty, daughter Jerrica and mill manager Steve Cooksey; sons Justin, Jeron and John not pictured here) has built up perhaps the highest production logging crew in northwest Arkansas, and recently added a mill to their company, Jerry Whittmore Timber. Story begins on Page 8. (David Abbott photo)
Bulletin Board. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Pat Crawford Remembered. . . . . . . 36 Industry News Roundup. . . . . . . . . 38 Safety Focus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 ForesTree Equipment Trader. . . . . 47 Coming Events/Ad Index. . . . . . . . . 54
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 ® 2018. 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
Small World I
t’s official: we owe Al Gore an apology. Global warming is for real legit…as anyone who attended the Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show in Starkville, Miss. on September 21-22 might attest. It was HOT, by most accounts at least as hot as the 2016 version of the biennial event, which was held in August that year. Ok, so the global warming part might be debatable, but what’s not at all debatable is that more details about the show, and a whole mess of pictures I took there, are included in this very issue on page 32. In the meantime, for this spot, I thought I would share with you some of my experiences at the show.
manager for Cat dealer Puckett Machinery. Sean was one of the first industry people I met when I started here in early 2005. At the time, he and his dad, Pat Doyle, were running their own company down in McComb, D-M Equipment. I wrote an article about D-M, and they helped me get some of my first stories for SLT. Now, completely coincidentally, when I was on my way to Starkville, my dad, retired Alabama logger Bill Abbott, had actually reminded me of something. Way back in the early ’90s, when I was maybe 14 or 15, he actually took me on a trip to McComb to look at a loader he was considering buying from D-M Equipment (he had seen the ad in SLT). Though daddy ended up passing on the loader (Abbott Logging Co. instead replaced its old Timberjacks with a used Prentice 210C from Familiar Faces the late Kit Avery at Warrior Tractor in Tuscaloosa, Hatton-Brown Publishers, my employer and and a Franklin skidder and three-wheel cutter from the parent company of Southern Loggin’ Times Hennon Davis at Bama Logging Equipment in and other forest products journals, was among Montgomery), Pat Doyle had made an impression the sponsors of the Mid-South Show and, as in on him as an honest and likeable personality. It years past, members of our staff manned the reg- was the same impression he made on me more istration tables. So, if you attended the show, than a decade later. when you came in the front line to get your About a year after I did the story on D-M, I badge, those were people from our office helping attended my first Mid-South Show in May 2006, you. For the most part, editors stay out of that and brought my dad, by then retired, with me. We side of things, as we are ran into Hennon Davis out talking to people (Franklin was still and taking pictures. exhibiting), and we However, on the Saturended up sharing a tracday morning of the tor-pulled shuttle with show, I offered to help Pat Doyle. Now, 12 out for a bit, to free up years later, I had hoped one of my colleagues, my dad would be able to Jordan Anderson, to go come to the show with film an interview beme again. At 76, he tween logging YouTube decided he wasn’t up for personality Tim the walking, or the heat O’Bryant (cotontop3) Hatton-Brown handled registration (above), while SLT co- (good choice on his part, publisher DK Knight (below) spoke with attendees. SLT and our executive ediI realized after sweating was right next door to Danny Dructor (left) and the ALC. tor, DK Knight. So I out half my body weight stood up there handing in an hour). When I ran out badges for about into Sean at the Puckett two hours, and I really tent (he offered me a enjoyed it because I got much appreciated ice to meet a lot of new cold bottle of water), I people as well as say hi asked about his dad. He to many loggers I’ve said Pat was enjoying met in the past, from retirement and, like my Mississippi, Louisiana, dad, had opted not to Arkansas and Alabama. attend the show this One of the great year, even though he’d things about going to a show like this is that it have very much liked to. But, he added that, also affords me the opportunity to catch up with some like my dad, Pat still reads SLT every month. So, if of the wonderful people in this industry that I these two fine gentlemen are reading this: we haven’t seen in years, or that I may only see once missed you both at Mid-South. Your absence is the or twice a year at such events. Case in point: I got industry’s loss, BUT…trust me, you were smarter a chance to visit with Sean Doyle, forestry sales than us by staying home with the AC on. 6
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At the MLA banquet, funny man Jerry Carroll (left) brought the laughs, and I ran into a high school teammate (right).
I got an even bigger, and far more unlikely, blast from the past on Friday night, at the annual awards banquet of the Mississippi Loggers Assn. While I was taking pictures of the event, I saw the people I would expect to see seated at or near the front table: current MLA executive director David Livingston, former director Cecil Johnson, assistant director Stacy Benefield, president Ken Martin, and Danny Dructor, head of the American Loggers Council. I didn’t recognize one younger guy at the far end of the front table as anyone I knew from the Mississippi logging community, and wondered briefly who he was to be sitting up there with all the big shots. Gradually throughout the night it dawned on me that he did look terribly familiar. Finally, not long before he got up to speak, I caught a good view of his name tag, which confirmed what I by then suspected: it was none other than one Donny Wheeler, the starting quarterback of the New Life Christian Academy Eagles (Millbrook, Ala.) in 1994, my sophomore year in high school. I honestly don’t remember if I have seen Donny since he graduated the following spring, and, like some barbarian, he’s not even on Facebook. What in the world was he doing here? Turns out he works for Cintas, supplier of work uniforms, and sponsor of the banquet. Now, to be honest, Donny and I never knew each other that well, even though we played on the same team (well, he played, I mostly stood on the sidelines that year). But I knew his family well and spent a fair amount of time at their house after he had moved on to Tuscaloosa (like all Wheelers that I know of, he received at least a portion of his college education at the University of Alabama). His mother was one of my favorite teachers for six years. I tried my awkward best to go out with one of his five sisters (she had better sense than that and friend zoned me quick). And I used to hang out with one of his two younger brothers; I think I took him on his first deer hunting trip. Now, it turns out (I learned at the banquet), Donny’s niece attends the same college as my nephew, and his sister is a professor there. SLT You just never know who you’ll run into.
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Blues Man ■ Jerry Whittmore keeps his eyes on the horizon and never looks back in the northwest Arkansas woods.
Whittmore's daughter Jerrica nicknamed his newest Peterbilt "Blue The Budget." The color scheme is prevalent on Whittmore property.
By David Abbott ★ HUNTSVILLE, Ark. erry Whittmore Timber, Inc., is probably the biggest timber producer in northwest Arkansas, in terms of number of loads hauled. So believes the company’s owner, Jerry Whittmore, 49. Most loggers in his area, he says, field smaller operations hauling maybe two loads a day, some only one. Many are running older equipment, and some don’t have a loader. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but by contrast, Whittmore has a fully mechanized operation averaging six loads a day, sometimes more. In ideal conditions, they have hauled as many as 14 loads in a day. Whittmore and his younger brother Conley, without any background in the industry, decided to start a logging business together in 1993; Conley was 20 then and Jerry, 23. At the time their dad, Vernon, was an overthe-road truck driver, hauling crosscountry for National Carriers; the family wanted him to be home more. “So we talked him into selling his truck, and he came home to help us,” Whittmore recalls. They started out with a one-ton truck and an International Harvester S-7C skidder. Jerry, Conley and Vernon worked together in the woods under Whittmore Logging for a few years. In 1997, Jerry decided to branch off with his own separate company, thus birthing Jerry Whittmore Timber. Conley and Vernon still run Whittmore Logging together, headquartered just a half
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mile down the road from Jerry’s home base. With his wife Patty, Whittmore has three sons and a daughter: they are Justin, Jeron, Jerrica, and John (John Boy). The boys work on the crew, while Jerrica, a dental assistant at McAlister Dental Clinic in Huntsville, helps out in the office, taking care of payroll on Fridays. “The kids have it deep in the their roots,” according to Patty. “They don’t know anything else.” Whittmore recalls, “Our oldest, Justin, used to ride in a log truck with his granddad. He was still in diapers and dad wouldn’t change diapers, so he’d stop at a local store and have a lady there do it.” He’s always had a love for big trucks,
too; he took his CDL test the day after his 18th birthday, only waiting that long because his birthday fell on a Sunday that year.
Mill The logger expanded his business by taking over an existing sawmill on March 7 this year (it operates now under Jerry Whittmore Timber, Inc.). “He’s wanted one for years,” Patty says. Her husband explains, “We had mills that couldn’t always handle the volume we hauled, and so we took it upon ourselves to buy a place to handle our volume, to have another outlet.” The mill was still active when Whittmore took over, so he simply kept the employ-
ees already there, as well as the mill manager, Steve Cooksey, who has been there since September 2003. That was helpful, since the Whittmores had no prior experience operating a sawmill at all. The mill employs seven and makes 7x9, 7x8 and 6x8 ties, cants, and 4/4 lumber from white oak, red oak, and miscellaneous hardwood. Equipment at the sawmill includes HMC circle saw, Morbark Stac Trac, a Prentice 280 knuckleboom for unloading log trucks, two John Deere wheel loaders (54H and 444), and a new Hyundai 940 wheel loader. The mill crew is able to handle most of the routine maintenance there, though they have occasionally had to hire an outside specialist for certain things.
Crew, from left: Daniel McComas, Justin Whittmore (standing by door), Jeron Whittmore, John Whittmore (sitting on fuel tank), Jerry Whittmore, Patty Whittmore, Sam Couch, Harold Miller
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The crew works mostly on private hardwood stands and aims for up to 40 loads a week.
Though he misses working in the woods, Whittmore expects to devote most of his time to the sawmill for the time being. He trusts Cooksey and crew, but, as he says, “I am kind of a hands on type guy. I am not one to be in the office much. I’m just not an indoor person.” Agreeing with him, his wife interjects, “Even at the house he has to find something to do. Every weekend we’re working on trucks or equipment.” Working in the woods or at the mill, that’s how the Whittmore family spends time together. “I don’t believe in downtime at all, so weekends are for washing and checking tires and such,” Whittmore continues. “And the same thing goes for the mill. We haven’t had a day off since we bought the place.” Still, don’t mistake them for workaholics who don’t know how to have fun; their vacation-less streak ended the last weekend in September, when the family made its annual trip 100 miles northwest to Joplin, Mo. for the Guilty By Association truck show (that’s one of their main hobbies).
Whittmore's Ford pickups are also all blue.
SLT SNAPSHOT Jerry Whittmore Timber, Inc. Huntsville, Ark. Email: Jerrywhittmoretimberinc@gmail.com Founded: 1997 Owner: Jerry Whittmore No. Crews: 1 Employees: 12 Equipment: 2 skidders, 1 cutter, 1 loader, bulldozer, 7 trucks and trailers Average Production: 30 loads weekly Average Haul Distance: 60 miles Tidbit: Whitmore’s is reputedly the largest logging operation in his part of the state. He’s also a big fan of the color blue; all the company pickups are an identical blue, as is his sawmill, and his newest Peterbilt, which his daughter named “Blue The Budget.”
Born To Be Blue Since buying it, the family has been actively renovating the sawmill, including painting all the buildings to the same blue and gray color scheme. Whittmore is known for his use of the color blue—it’s on his trucks, his house, shops, garage, and now the mill. “If it wasn’t blue, it wouldn’t be mine,” he admits. “It has to be blue.” All of his company pickups are the same beautiful, brilliant blue, as is his newest truck, a 2018 Peterbilt 358. Jerrica nicknamed it “Blue The Budget,” and so it has been officially dubbed. “We went to watch it be built in Denton, Tex.,” Whittmore says. Whittmore bought Blue The Budget intending to drive it himself as his own full-time truck for hauling logs, but when he bought the mill, he realized he’d have to spend most of his time there, so he relinquished the cab to driver Garry Hatfield. The truck is now reserved exclusively for hauling products from the mill. Whittmore notes how important it
The Deere skidder is the only non-Cat machine in the bunch.
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Morbark Stac Trac is a big help at the mill.
is to him that his trucks be, more than just identically blue, well maintained and cleaned regularly, and that goes for logging equipment as well. “It is too big an investment to let it be run down,” he believes. “I have a reputation for running clean equipment and I aim to maintain that reputation. You can’t stay in business with a bad reputation.”
Operations “Downtime is a killer, so you just don’t run an operation like this without help,” the logger says, referring to dealer support. Although operators
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Whittmore bought the mill earlier this year, needing more outlets for his production.
handle routine maintenance and minor repairs in the woods or at the company shop, more serious breakdowns go back to the dealers: Riggs Cat and Stribling Equipment (for John Deere), both in Springdale. Equipment on the company’s lone logging crew is mostly from Caterpillar: a 2015 Cat 525D skidder, ’14 563C feller-buncher, ’14 579C loader and ’08 D6R dozer. The exception is a ’13 John Deere 848H, which is the main skidder. Often it and the Cat 525 both skid to the loader, but on days when only one is needed, the boys prefer to run the Deere. The loader, mounted on a Pitts trailer,
works with a CTR 426 delimber and CSI 4400 classic slasher saw. The company buys DEF in bulk, with a tank at the shop and another at the mill, delivered by Peterbilt of Northwest AR in Lowell. Anderson Gas & Propane in Hindsville supplies fuel to the shop, and the crew carries a tank to the woods; trucks fill up at local stations. Skidders and cutters run on Firestone forestry special tires, sizes 30.5 or 35.5. Northwest Tire Service in Springdale is the supplier. “We won’t run chains on the tires and beat the paint off the side of the skidders,” Whittmore says.
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For truck sales, service and support, Whittmore turns to Peterbilt of Northwest Arkansas in Lowell, part of The Larson Group, which is based in Missouri. Shawn Smith is Whittmore’s contact there; Smith, and The Larson Group Peterbilt, also sponsor some of the community events in which Jerry Whittmore Timber is involved. Including Blue The Budget, the Whittmores have seven Peterbilt trucks (2015-19 models) and trailers (Magnolia and Pitts log trailers with Pitts, ITI and Peerless chip vans). Some haul lumber, some logs and some haul chips (for another
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sawmill; Whittmore does not produce chips in woods or at his mill). “Whatever it takes to make the world go ‘round,” he says.
Markets Most hauls are 60 miles or under, but the Whittmore drivers do sometimes haul loads 100 miles. Primary markets include Willhite Forest Products, Inc., in St. Paul, Parker Wood Products in Combs, and Boston Mountain Dry Kiln in Huntsville. Wayne Capps Sawmill in Rogers and White Valley Lumber Mill in Mulberry are also occasional destinations instate. They do haul some walnut logs out of state to D&D Hardwood Products in Racine, Mo., Hardwood Lumber, Inc., in Exeter, Mo., Ozark Stave LLC in Pierce City, Mo., Sun Forestry in Noel, Mo., and Triple E Sawmill in Stilwell, Okla. The crew turned out 1,541 loads in 2017; they shoot for 36-40 loads a week. Demand has been strong and steady since at least April this year, Whittmore reports. The mill has its own set of customers: McClain Forest Products in Western Grove, Ark., and, overlapping with the logging side, Boston Mountain Dry Kiln in Huntsville. Ties go to Gross & Janes Tie Co. in
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Most of the tracts Whittmore works are under 50 acres.
Trucker Gary Hatfield drives Blue The Budget.
Springfield, Mo., while pallet material and cants head to Smith Pallet Co., Inc., in Hatfield, Ark., North-
west Pallet, Inc., in Elm Springs, Ark., and to Chouteau Pallet in Chouteau, Okla.
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The company buys its own timber, working mostly privately owned hardwood tracts of 40-50 acres. In the woods, Whittmore has five employees, three of them his sons. Justin mans the cutter, Jeron runs the loader, and John Boy drives the Cat skidder. Daniel McComas operates the Deere skidder, while allaround man Chandler Hargis takes care of greasing and other maintenance or takes up a chain saw to knock a few limbs off, whatever the delimber can’t get. Truck drivers are Garry Hatfield, Richard Corsey, Harold Miller, James Millsap, Bill Critchfield, Gary Whittmore and Jeremy Miller (part-time). The crew holds safety meetings often at the tailgate, with the mill crew having its own meetings there. “We usually like to have food involved to make everyone happy about going,” Jerrica says. Huntsville Insurance Services covers most of Whittmore’s needs, though trucks are insured through Progressive and workers’ comp is through The Travelers Companies.
Community Huntsville Insurance agent James Eaton is also one of Whittmore’s
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best friends. Another is Travis Dotson, who is running for Madison County Judge this year. Dotson is also the owner of 4D Sanitation, which provides dumpsters to Whittmore's shop and sawmill. With a population just more than 2,400, Huntsville is that kind of nice, tight-knit community where everybody knows everybody and everybody calls you friend—the allAmerican place with the classic small town square and only one stop light (it’s at the corner of Har-
ris Street and Main). Whittmore was born and raised in Madison County, and has lived here all his life. He briefly lived on Whittmore Mountain, part of the Ozark range, where his family has a connection to the land going back generations, but he says he knew he had to get back home to Huntsville, and has lived here since. He and all his kids went to the same Huntsville High School, and cheer for the same Huntsville Eagles teams. “Huntsville is all about the com-
munity,” Whittmore says, and his company is, too. Jerry Whittmore Timber is active in the Madison County Fair, and Jerry Whittmore personally serves on the boards for Madison County Youth Baseball and the Farm Bureau of Madison County. The company also holds saw competitions to raise money for the Madison County Health Coalition and Arkansas Cancer Coalition. “Loggers in Madison County are all very generous in giving to charities and fund raisers for different causes.”
Whittmore recently held what is meant to be its first annual Timber Fest at Huntsville, in support of a new fund to benefit injured loggers in Madison County. “It might not be a lot but it could help pay for gas and meals during their recovery,” Whittmore says. The logging industry is an indispensible part of the local economy, directly and indirectly. “People don’t realize it, but if you took logging away from Madison County, it would kill it,” Whittmore attests. “With the insurance, the fuel, the work force, 12 or 13 sawmills and 30 or so logging companies, it would have a big impact.”
Eyes Ahead “Work is a hobby for me,” Whittmore says. “I do it for fun.” He would do it even if he didn’t get paid; and in truth, he laughs, he never really has gotten paid for it anyway. “Work comes first; it always has,” he says, then immediately corrects himself: family comes first, but work is close, and the family works together to take care of the business that has always taken care of them. As mentioned earlier, Whittmores’ major hobby is entering truck shows with a rebuilt ’91 Peterbilt. It was the first truck he bought; he later sold it to his dad, who in turn sold it to someone else. Jeron tracked down the VIN (he found it in Olton, Tex., west of Plainview) and bought it back 26 years after his father first bought it. The family had it completely restored, a process that lasted a year and two days. It would have been a flat year, Whittmore says, but they blew an AC line and had to order a part and wait two more days for it to arrive. “It has 2.6 million miles on it and looks brand new,” the logger says proudly. As evidenced by the Razorbackshaped table at the mill office, the Whittmores are big Hog fans, though they’re more interested in basketball and baseball at the University of Arkansas than in the school’s currently beleaguered pigskin prowess. Whittmore himself coached all his kids from their T-ball days on up. The Whittmore plan is simple and straightforward: keep growing. “I don’t ever look back; I am always looking ahead, looking forward,” he says. “I have four young’uns who will be in this business, and it will take care of them like it’s taken care of me.” His expectation is that, when he retires—not anytime soon—Justin and Jeron will take over the logging and Jerrica and John Boy will SLT take over the mill. 14
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Jimmy Williams
City Meets Country ■ Jimmy Williams works in the bustling Research Triangle area of North Carolina—and gets it done.
By Jessica Johnson APEX, NC ★ or Jimmy Williams, 42, the booming economy of the Research Triangle portion of North Carolina (the metropolitan areas of Raleigh and Durham, and to
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some extent Chapel Hill) hasn’t slowed his operation, JM Williams Timber, as much as you would think. Five miles from his house, which also houses a 40x50 shop with 20x30 metal shop, a significant amount of houses are being framed. But landclearing and aggressive management by the Forest Service, Army
Corps of Engineers and the state of North Carolina is keeping the pine growth healthy. Williams’ markets are at least 50 miles away, but he’s able to work close to home. However all that population growth is not without its drawbacks. “You can’t build a sawmill anywhere near here. Way too many
Production is handled by one company driver and two contract haulers.
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eyes on you,” he says. A few months ago, Williams’ crew was working near Chapel Hill—and a machine was vandalized with spray paint and permanent marker. Thankfully, no windows were knocked out or any other physical damage to the machine, but the vandals did share a message for the logging crew. It
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was, at best, an incorrect take on the industry. At worst, it was laughable. According to Williams, “I’m entertained by it,” he says. “I don’t want to take it off, because it just shows the ignorance. If you really think about all of it, it is really unbelievable.” Working so close to the land he grew up on is really a blessing for Williams. “This is home to me,” he says. The lake around which the crew was working the day of Southern Loggin’ Times visit had wild bald eagles flying overhead—not an unusual sight. Just 17 miles from a major metropolitan airport, the crew also sees a fair share of 747s. Doesn’t get more country mixed with city than that. Williams says that while he won’t have issues in Apex like he did in Chapel Hill, he still likes to do the job as if all eyes are on him. And he believes his work ethic is how he became a very valued contractor for Canfor Southern Pine. Since 2008, the crew has spent summers cutting game land surrounding the lakes of the Apex area—Williams says he likes going back to the same places because he knows what to expect from the foresters and, in turn, the foresters know what to expect from him. Williams confesses he’s “funny” about his roads and it is not unusual he spends money out of his own pocket to rock a road that isn’t up to his standards. He likes to operate with at least two service trucks on the landing at all times, as well as his “baby”—a ’99 jacked up cherry red F250. Over the years he’s learned the hard way that having a good road can make all the difference. Because of Canfor’s participation in SFI, Williams is very cognizant of rutting, another reason for his rocking of roads. But he can’t stop rutting completely thanks to machines just having to get the job done sometimes. However, he’s discovered by using a six-way blade dozer, he’s able to keep a tighter grip on conditions. Fifty percent of the time Williams estimates he’s on a pine select-cut, and while he owns a set of duals for
Williams’ sorts are fairly straight forward: pulpwood is all pulpwood, not chip-n-saw trying just to make the load, he says.
the skidders, he never uses them. Instead, he leans on the dozer. “What I like about it is I can still pull a drag of wood in a select-cut when it’s wet ground. I can’t do that if I am dualled up 14 feet wide,” he explains. “I like having them in case the event arises. It is better to have it and not have to use it, then need to use it and not have it.” The crew makes use of two sets of equipment, usually kept separated. One set is kept on a tract where Williams has good access; the other on poor access, so when it rains the wheels keep turning. “The key is just never losing momentum,” Williams believes. “I was so frustrated because we would be a mile or so off the road and you get the ‘right’ rain on a Sunday night: your whole week is trashed.” Williams figures of the 52 weeks in a year, two of those weeks he is not going to do anything—Fourth of July and Christmas—knocking him to 50 weeks. When he calculates moving, mill schedules and quota, he tries to not move the most wood, but stay consistent. With one crew operating three pieces, Williams’ sweet
SLT SNAPSHOT Jimmy Williams Logging Apex, NC Email: cat535man@gmail.com Founded: Sept. 1995 Owner: Jimmy Williams No. Crews: 1 Equipment: 3 skidders, 2 loaders, 2 feller-bunchers, 1 truck, 4 trailers Production: 30-40 loads per week Haul Distance: Long; pulpwood maxes out at 132 miles Tidbit: When Jimmy’s father was still alive and active in the business, he purchased the very first Prentice 384 loader, serial number 1. The day it was delivered, the grapple failed, the buck saw wouldn’t crank and there were multiple leaks. Prentice later discovered it was poor quality machining in the valve house, but right then and there Jimmy swore he would never buy the very first of anything again.
Crew, with Canfor Forester Mike Cheston (far left), Steve Lambert, Jimmy Williams, Ken Campbell and Matthew Lambert
Contractor Greg Jones
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spot is somewhere between 30 and 40 loads at 30 tons a load.
Iron Lineup Some things have changed since Williams and his dad started the company 23 years ago, but one thing hasn’t: Williams is and has always been “a Cat man.” Citing dealer Gregory Poole’s proximity to him, Williams says he’s been with Caterpillar since they first got into forestry. Equipment is a mix of newer pieces and some vintage. Williams keeps an aggressive financial hold on the logging company. Every piece of iron he has is paid for. And when a new machine is purchased, he pays for it completely in 12 months. He figures that if he can’t pay for the machine in 12 months, he must not need it. “It saves you a boatload of money. Right now the interest rates can entice you, but you don’t have any negotiating power on price. When I bought that skidder and that loader, you can’t get one for less than what I paid. I don’t have to have a machine; I’m going to pay what I want to pay for it. I am not going to wait until mine is wore slap out or burned up,” he says. This philosophy also helped
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Williams when it came time to sell machines back. “I kept getting frustrated with going down and not having a backup machine,” he laments. When weighing his options of selling pieces as they wore out or keeping them, Williams decided to keep them. Before he realized it, he had two full sets of equipment and never really struggled with downtime due to weather. Williams loves the newer equipment, saying his 2015 535D, unless it is running over branches, is a quiet remote control toy. Williams has two more skidders—an ’08 535C and a ’00 527. Similarly, Williams says the Day in and day out, Williams runs the tree cutter. ’15 559C loader is also a very quiet machine. It shares the job also has to hand fell from time to of merchandizing and truck loading time. “I don’t care who you are, with a 2012 559B. Grapples are Cat. you’re going to have to cut some Bunching is handled by Williams trees out of an SMZ.” himself using a 2014 563C or a 2005 Maintenance is handled at 670 Hydro-Ax. “I’d rather run that Williams’ home shop, either the Hydro-Ax than anything else I’ve 40x50 original shop, or the 20x30 got. I guess after 11,000 hours it’s metal building that was added on. like a broke-in pair of gloves,” he He tries to purchases support prodadmits with a chuckle. ucts in bulk, so the add on building The crew has a Husqvarna chain helps with storage. Williams and the saw for trimming up trucks. Williams crew do the lion’s share of the rou-
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tine maintenance every 250 hours. Two contract mechanics handle anything they can’t. Though all of Williams’ machines are out of warranty, he’s only 14 miles from a Gregory Poole forestry focused satellite location; 20 miles away is a full service location. Combining those convenient locations to Williams with the parts distribution out of Atlanta, Williams has no complaints about his service from Gregory Poole. “I can usually get any part I want by 7 the next morning,” he says. Williams’ cousin owns LG Jordan Oil in Apex, so naturally he leans on them for gas and diesel fuel. All oils, grease, filters and parts are purchased from the Gregory Poole satellite location. “I’ll buy in bulk to get the price down. It’s a one-stop shop,” he explains. Herman Fowler with Raleigh’s Black Tire earned Williams’ business a long time ago with fair pricing and excellent service. Quadco teeth are purchased by the 50-count box. Williams made certain to order both sawheads with the same discs so he’s
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able to use the same kind of teeth on both, maximizing his bulk purchase. This also helps with damage. He explains, “So if you graze a rock, you’re only damaging eight of the teeth. The disc is really expensive because of the all the extra machining for these teeth. But it is so worth it.”
Trucking Williams only uses one company truck, driven by his cousin Steven, who’s been with him for 18 years.
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All other production is hauled by two contractors. The company truck is a Fitzgerald glider kit fitted into a ’15 Western Star. For Williams it was “the biggest no-brainer.” He adds he just didn’t have the ability to keep up the expense of adding DEF to his already long list of needed support products coupled with the fuel mileage. “I’ve been trying to avoid DEF as long as I can.” Only his new Cat skidder runs DEF, as the C model Caterpillar machines were
able to pass with regen on them. Williams believes the trick for him with trucking is controlling the trailers. Contract haulers pull company trailers—two lightweight Big John trailers with Vulcan onboard scales and one Pitts with Vulcan onboard scales. Williams worked with Casey Carter of Carter Enterprises to get the scales mounted to the trailers. Because of the frequency Williams moves (his average tract size is 20 acres) he decided onboard scales were the best fit for his
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needs. Working with Carter he was able to handle wiring the onboard scales and bolting them on himself, which greatly helped him maximize his loaded miles. “I actually gain a load every five loads because of the weight carried,” he says. “The truck and trailer are 27,000 lbs. The Freightliner is 25,000 lbs. full of fuel. That one thing I think has benefitted me more than anything: the light trucks and trailers. Yes, the life is going to be less, but it pays for itself tenfold. The old Big John we had, the heavy duty one, it would’ve lasted forever, but it was 12,000 lbs. You’re carrying steel. The key is to have a good road system going in and out.” He says this year he plans to invest in log trailers—looking at purchasing two or three used ones. “Being able to weigh the truck and getting it right to the max every single load is the trick,” he adds of his longer hauls for cheaper products like pulpwood. Generally, Williams doesn’t have to truck sawlogs farther than 50 miles to Canfor Southern Pine’s mill in Graham, NC, but pulpwood does go as far as 132 miles to International Paper or 150 to Domtar, with the closest market being 68 miles to LP in Roxboro. Between soft prices on chips and physical location, pulpwood has to go a pretty good distance. Williams is putting on extra trailers to try to stay at a consistent wood flow pace even though hauls are long. He would rather stay with his current setup, and haul on the weekends or later in the evenings than add pressure during the day. Pulpwood is often loaded in the afternoons so trucks are ready to roll as early as possible the following morning. But the long hauls can come back to bite him now and then. “I sent a truck the other day because I didn’t have a load of anything else. If I had a spare trailer I would have loaded it and dropped it at the shop,” he remembers. “The truck got down there, and both cranes were down. They were unloading treelength at the wet deck. He sat there two and a half hours. So a three hour ride to the mill, sat there two and a half hours then a three hour ride back. That was a nightmare.” Nevertheless Williams tried to maintain a smile that day. He believes firmly that a happy crew is a productive crew and he strives each day to treat his guys the way he would want to be treated. “It is hard because you’re managing people and handling a lot of money that you don’t get to keep,” he says. But as the old saying goes, you get more flies with sugar than you do with SLT vinegar.
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Big Crowd Marks 35 For Bandit
By Jay Donnell REMUS, Mich. andit Industries held its 35th anniversary celebration and equipment demonstration on September 11-12 at its headquarters here. More than 350 dealers, end-users and special guests observed ongoing modifications to Bandit’s manufacturing facilities and enjoyed a full day of live equipment action. Attendees were treated to a big reception at the Sleepy Hollow Hideaway where a casino night and dinner was held to kick things off on day number one. On day two dealers and customers bussed over to Bandit’s headquarters, where Bandit employees stationed around the plant provided visitors information about recent improvements and new machines in prototype stage. Bandit is investing considerably in two major building additions to increase production capacity and add a state-of-the-art parts and serv-
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The event combined dealers and end-users.
ice facility. The new parts facility houses a central receiving and distribution area, improving the flow of parts and materials to the six major manufacturing facilities. That project frees up additional space for more production expansion. Bandit added three-quarters of a
million dollars of new cutting and steel processing equipment in 2017 in anticipation of the current expansions. After the factory tour attendees went out to the Bandit demo site and had a chance to see a variety of Bandit machines in action—more than
Machinery was everywhere but Bandit’s Beast grinders commanded everybody’s attention.
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two dozen in total—on wheel and on track, large and small chippers, big grinders, and even a shredding machine that devoured automobiles. Bandit has partnered with Germany-based Arjes on a line of slowspeed industrial shredders and crushers. In action was the Arjes VZ 950 Titan shredder, which features a Volvo 750 HP engine. From the giant crusher to the smaller offerings, Bandit showed its popular 250 brush disc-style chipper and the 200UC which has a large 14 in. by 17 in. chipper throat opening. Bandit also showed its new Intimidator line of hand-fed drum style chippers, including the 12XPC, which is mainly for professionals focused on trimming, the 15XPC, and the 19XPC, which is Bandit’s most powerful feed system in the line and outfitted with a Kesla loader. Bandit’s well known product line of The Beast horizontal grinders was also in action, including the 2460, 2680, 3680 and 4680 models. The
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Bandit brought in Kevin Clare Logging to assist with the live demo.
3680 model is one of Bandit’s most popular machines. With a 35 in. by 60 in. opening, customers can choose between the patented cuttermill with either 60-tooth or 30-tooth configurations, or opt for a chipping drum to produce screened wood chips for biomass markets. One of Bandit’s newest offerings is the 2460XP available as a towable or track machine. Several whole tree chippers also had the chips flying, such as the high-yield, high-speed 3090 model. Bandit’s new BTC-300 landclearing track carrier with interchangeable forestry mowers and stump grinding
heads contributed to the action and exemplifies Bandit’s move into landclearing markets. President and co-owner Jerry Morey believes that bringing everybody together is important for a company like Bandit. “This is the first time we’ve combined dealers and end users and we learn so much from them,” Morey says. “We learn what their needs and concerns are and it’s a great exchange because we’ve got several hundred customers and dealers here. It’s also neat to see the mix between all of our international dealers and domestic dealers.”
The day concluded with a dinner and live music back at Sleepy Hollow Hideaway. New faces were in the crowd compared to previous Bandit events, as the company has added more than two dozen dealers with more than 30 locations in the past two years. Another development that maintained a buzz in the crowd was the upcoming closing of the 100% sale of Bandit Industries by owners Mike Morey Sr., Dianne Morey and Jerry Morey to their employees in an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). “We felt like it
Visitors saw machinery in various stages of manufacture...
President Jerry Morey meets the press.
...as Bandit prepares for another expansion.
Bandit has a new alliance with Arjes shredders.
was best for our employees to own it,” Morey says. “We looked at trying to sell it to a strategic buyer and we looked at an investment banking company, but we weren’t really happy with either of those scenarios because of the risk that they might move the plant or they might come in and change the culture of Bandit.” It will be interesting to see how Bandit continues to expand with the new management structure, but it is clear that the founders through the first 35 years have built a giant SLT foundation.
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Deere Stays Focused On Logging By Rich Donnell MOLINE, Ill. ohn Deere Vice President of Worldwide Forestry Tom Budan kicked off the company’s Forestry Media event on September 17 by announcing the launch of the LSeries II skidder and wheeled fellerbuncher line. The first units had shipped just the previous day. Budan, addressing the gathering at the John Deere World Headquarters, said the new products represent major enhancements to the original L-Series introduced in 2015. He said they exemplify Deere’s ongoing and total commitment to the forestry industry, and he noted substantial investment in the nearby Deere Davenport Works plant in Iowa, where the new units are built, assembled and prepared for shipment. The next day Deere officials hosted media representatives at its Coal Valley training and equipment operation grounds, discussing and demon-
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Budan: serious about forestry
O’Neal: significant improvements
strating products such as the CTL eight-wheeled harvester and forwarder, Waratah processing head, track feller-buncher and knuckleboom loader, but on this day most of the attention centered on the newest offerings—specifically the 640, 648, 748, 848 and 948 skidders, and 643
and 843 feller-bunchers, all with an L-II attached to them. Brandon O’Neal, product marketing manager, John Deere Construction and Forestry, spoke on the development of the original LSeries, further refinements to it in the past three years, and the intro-
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duction of the L-Series II, built on the L-Series platform and impacting 1,600 machine parts. He pointed to overall improvement in reliability and customer experience, more specifically to the simplification and improvement of the electrical and hydraulic systems through routing improvements, enhanced and simplified electrical harness design, relocations for easier servicing, new articulation sensors and improved hydraulic cooling. He also noted the grapple rotate valve is placed in the boom for up to 10% increase in grapple squeeze, and a two-speed motor is on the 4000 series winch. Other improvements include the engine air precleaner, reinforced arch, and pocketed tong teeth design to reduce stress at the weld toe. “Listening to our customers, we reworked the machines, making significant improvements under the hood,” O’Neal said. The machines carry forward numerous features appreciated in
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the original L-Series. The skidder maintains the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT), and the wheeled feller-buncher offers the Quick Dump feature. Tim Flowers and Travis Woollbrink, product instructional specialists for Deere, provided a show-andtell at a new 748L-II skidder and 643L-II feller-buncher, respectively. A demonstration period followed during which many members of the trade press operated the machines. The group then traveled to Deere’s Davenport Works plant for a riding tour of a significant portion of the plant. It was noted that the plant has received a $200 million investment in recent years, includes 2.2 million SF (the likes of 37 football fields under one roof) and cuts 500, 000 lbs. of plate steel each day—the most steel used by any Deere factory. The press then walked through the assembly line for the L-II series and observed several skidders in various stages of assembly while Deere assembly engineer Rom Rosario provided great detail on the process. The press event continued with a presentation from Matt Flood, ForestSight product manager at Deere, on the introduction of Deere’s TimberMatic Maps and TimberManager software designed to enhance machine connectivity and communication for loggers, and currently available for JD wheeled cut-tolength equipment. Flood said the next generation technology represents a move into an “easier, smarter and precise (ESP) era” from a “bigger, stronger, faster (BSF)” era. Flood said they’ve found a 40% variation in production between experienced operators and average operators, and the new technology will help to close that gap. The TimberMatic Maps system utilizes a mobile network to share real-time production information between the harvester and the forwarder, as well back to managers in the office. The software provides complete visibility to the operation from land harvested to the machines at work. One of the key benefits of TimberMatic Maps and TimberManager is the ability to plan ahead. The map provides the precise location, volume and species of timber with the network of logging routes. As timber is transported, the operator can mark the map to indicate the action has occurred, providing an exact volume count of the timber taken to the storage area. Additionally, the map allows all operators to add markings and point out challenging terrain conditions. The press event closed with a dinner at the TPC Deere Run, which hosts the annual John Deere Classic golf championship along the Rock SLT River in nearby Silvis, Ill.
Product instructional specialist Tim Flowers (also shown opposite page) does skidder walk-around...
...while Travis Woollbrink does likewise on the new feller-buncher.
Grapple is attached at Davenport assembly station.
Final in-plant inspection before heading outdoors
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Signs That Tell A Story (Sort Of)
Kitten Knockout!
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Hot Time ■ Summer in Mississippi went out with a bang at the Mid-South Show.
By David Abbott STARKVILLE, Miss. he Bulldogs might ★ not have been on fire up in Lexington that Saturday, but it was a hot one down in Starkville. The calendar called Saturday, September 22 the first official day of fall, but summer had no plans to go down without a fight. The 2018 Mid-South Forestry
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Equipment Show opened on Friday, September 21, which was technically the last day of summer—and it was a scorcher. Of course, that’s nothing new in the South, so the temperature did nothing at all to dissuade the hardy members of the logging community from showing up, like they do every day. In fact, the woman behind the madness, show runner Misty Booth, reports that this year’s crowd was right up there with the biggest
MSFES has ever seen. The record high for two-day attendance (7,165) was achieved at the last show in 2016; this year, the number was neck-and-neck at 7,048. Also a close second to the record set in ’16 was the number of exhibitors: 91 this year to 93 two years ago. Across the twoday show, 1,110 loggers and foresters earned a total of 4,191.5 credit hours of continuing education. As it is every other year, the MidSouth Forestry Equipment Show
took place at the Charles E. Burkhardt Pavilion and Site on Mississippi State University’s John W. Starr Memorial Forest, seven miles south of Starkville along Highway 25. Partners in MSFES are Mississippi State University-Forest & Wildlife Research Center, Mississippi Loggers Assn., Mississippi Forestry Assn. and Hatton-Brown Publishers, parent company of Southern Loggin’ Times and Timber Harvesting.
According to show management, attendance over the two days of the 2018 Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show, held September 21-22, was almost as high as that of the show's record high year in 2016.
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Show fixture Bobby Goodson was on hand to sign autographs at B&G's site.
From left, Cat product specialist Matt McDonald with the winners of Cat's loader contest: in 1st place, Jon Dickerson, Louisville, Miss.; 2nd place, Chris Davis, Franklin, Ala.; 3rd, Ryan Taylor, Duck Hill, Miss.
MLA's Livingston with Mississippi's '18 Logger of the Year, Sam O'Bryant/TDK Logging
Pat Weiler, left, and Bill Hood, right, introduced themselves to the Cat crowd.
TraxPlus exhibited DelFab's three-wheel Phoenix with mulcher attachment.
Fund Raising, Cash Prizes Money collected for Log-A-Load for Kids at MSFES set an all-new show record: $26,990.82. Among the contributors were Stribling Equipment, TraxPlus, FMI and Caterpillar. B&G Equipment auctioned a fire pit and matched donations received at their site during a catfish lunch on Saturday. Sales and raffles coordinated by the Mississippi Loggers Assn. also factored into the total, as did a $6,000 contribution made by Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show, Inc. in memory of W. J. Bates, co-founder of B&G Equipment. Bates served on the MSFES, Inc. Board of Directors for eight years. MLA coordinates the Log-A-Load for Kids program in Mississippi, which benefits the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children in Jackson. The Log-A-Load total also included proceeds from entrance
fees to the Guess-the-Weight Contest, in which the closest guessers won cash prizes. Of 64 participants, Patrick Stanby of Aliceville, Ala., won $100 for his guess (78,700 lbs.) on the hardwood pulpwood truck (actual weight: 78,760 lbs.) provided by Billy Sanford of S&F Logging in Mantee, Miss. Glen Henderson of Richton, Miss. also took home $100 for guessing that a pine log truck (belonging to Johnny Black of Johnny Black Logging, Ackerman, Miss.) weighed 83,500 lbs. (actual weight: 83,520 lbs.). A total $1,000 in prizes went to the winners of the show’s skidder contest, in which operators competed a John Deere machine against a Tigercat. B&G Equipment (Tigercat) and Stribling Equipment (John Deere) sponsored the contest. Only the three best times of the 62 contestants won. First place winner Grant Lofton of Perry Lofton Log-
Artistry In Wood got a lot of attention, as usual.
Deere showcased its newest offerings, the L-II series.
ging, Mt. Vernon, Ala., took home $500 for his time of 1:30.34 on the John Deere skidder. Trent Magee of Star Timber in Brookhaven, Miss. took second place and $300 with his 1:31.46 time using the Tigercat. Rounding out the winners in third
place was Jacob Henderson of Henderson Timber Felling, Inc., Richton, Miss., winning $200 for finishing the course with a time of 1:37.16 on the Tigercat skidder. Two more got cash by way of door prize drawings: James Ses-
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Cat dealers Puckett and Thompson shared a site.
sums of Lena, Miss., and Sandy Martin of Mendenhall, Miss., both won $1,000. MaxxSouth Broadband and Taylor Machine Works each sponsored a door prize.
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Mid-South continues to be a family-friendly event.
Highlights John Deere showed off its new LII series skidders and wheeled feller-bunchers, which had only just
debuted earlier that week (more can be read about that on page 26). Justin McDermot, Forestry Sales Manager for John Deere in the U.S. and Canada, said, “We’re excited to
OCTOBER 2018 ● Southern Loggin’ Times
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roll these out. The reality is that the late-model Ls are not the same as the ones in 2015. It has been a continuous process of improvement. Customers tell us what we need to do better and we incorporate that.” Of course the big news at Caterpillar is the sale of the forestry division to Weiler Equipment, Inc. At the Puckett Machinery/Thompson Machinery site, Caterpillar customers had a chance to meet Weiler owner Pat Weiler and VP of Sales Bill Hood, who were on hand Friday to give a brief background on their company, and a glimpse of their vision for the future. Both dealers and customers seem optimistic about the change. “I think this is the path,” said Puckett’s Sean Doyle. “I think that Weiler being a small, family-owned manufacturing operation that’s focused on engineering gives it a chance to take this niche product and become a leader in the industry. Their track record indicates that they’re capable of doing just that.” A logger who runs all Cat equipment, Byron Baggett of Elite Forest Products in Chatsworth, Ga., sees it the same way. “I spoke with Mr. Weiler yesterday, and was very impressed,” Baggett said. “I was upset at first, but not now. I’m on board, and I’m looking at buying a new Cat cutter right now.” At the MLA Awards Banquet, held Friday night, jokester Jerry Carroll, who grew up on a farm in North Carolina, brought entertainment in the blue collar/country comedy tradition of Jerry Clower, Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall. Executive Director David Livingston presented MLA awards and recognitions, including to the 2018 Mississippi Logger of the Year, TDK Logging, based in Columbus. President Sam O’Bryant accepted. Speaking of TDK Logging, Sam’s son Tim O’Bryant, who goes by the handle cotontop3 on YouTube, interviewed SLT executive editor and co-publisher DK Knight during the show. See the SLT social media sites for that and other videos of the show. Mid-South will return in 2020, but a date has not been set yet; it has to be scheduled around MisSLT sissippi State home games.
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Pat Crawford Left Deep, Wide Imprint By DK Knight
O
ne former logger who will long be remembered for advancing mechanical timber harvesting was Pat Crawford, eminent founder of the Timbco and TimberPro brands that originated in northeastern Wisconsin. His life ended on August 19 at age 92 at his home in Shawano, Wisc. Hundreds of family members, friends, customers, business affiliates and others from multiple states and countries turned out for his memorial service on August 25. Even though his health was failing, Crawford regularly peeked in at the goings on at TimberPro until the end. Being at the plant, watching machines come together, and interfacing with his family and employees, not to mention customers and dealers, was what it was all about for him. Ever humble and outgoing, Crawford led a most interesting and inspiring life, one marked by many ups and downs. Born in 1926 in a logging camp where his father was a logger and his mother the cook, and being brought up in the Great Depression, left a deep imprint that manifested itself in frugality, perseverance, compassion, and an enormous work ethic. His love for the woods became stronger after he and some young friends went to Montana to cut timber for a season. After returning to Wisconsin and deciding not to continue college studies, he married and again headed West, settling for a year in Oregon where he sharpened his timber falling skills before the couple returned to Wisconsin to join his father and brother, Richard, in the woods. His knack for coming up with a better way surfaced in the late ’50s when he had a cable loader mounted on the rear of a truck instead of behind the cab, the common position. That arrangement enabled him to load both the truck and a pup trailer, and thus to deliver more per trip at little additional cost. As Crawford’s family grew, so did his business interests. Around 1960 the brothers embraced the lumber trade, operating a small sawmill as they continued logging. That led them to buy a struggling furniture component manufacturing operation, a move that led to business and personal bankruptcy. He and wife Ruth had seven kids at the time. “You want to eat humble pie? Go bankrupt,” he told writer Dave Wester, who years ago wrote a history of the innovator and his companies. According to Wester, Crawford did not give up; he simply worked harder.
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An older friend who had faith in him co-signed a loan for $15,000 so Crawford could get back into logging. “I never worked so hard in my life,” he recalled, “but there’s one thing I learned. When you’re flat on your back there’s only one way, and that’s up.” A year or so later, Crawford had paid back the loan and had $5,000 in the bank. The logger credited the Menominee Indian Tribe, which controls a 235, 500-acre reservation in northeastern Wisconsin, for helping him along the way. At the invitation of the Menominee, he began logging on the reservation in 1963, earning a reputation as “the hungry white man.” That development led to the relocation of the Crawford family from northwest-
drawback. He designed a new type of boom that folded over the top of the machine, greatly reducing its tail swing and making it much more productive. The threesome fitted the shop-built wheeled buncher prototype with the boom, but encountered hydraulic troubles, so they switched to a tracked carrier and it worked well. Wester wrote that Crawford considered the boom design his top innovation, the real beginning of Timbco. The year was 1978. At that time he was not interested in becoming a manufacturer, preferring to build machines for his own use, but local and area loggers kept urging him to build them. He sold his share of the Polar Welding Shop to
Pat Crawford, circa 1992
ern to northeastern Wisconsin, where he continued to tinker and innovate. In the mid-1970s he hooked up with Ed Kosinski in a small fabrication shop in Polar, Wisc. that facilitated his tinkering. They developed a large forwarder, using the chassis of a military tank retriever, and Crawford put it to work on his job. Other loggers in the area wanted one. The shop eventually turned out about 35 of the machines, dubbed the Polar Prehauler. Crawford and Kosinski, along with employee Larry Klement, continued trying things, including a tree shear, and a wheeled feller-buncher prototype that featured a swinging boom with a shear. Crawford owned a Drott track-type buncher and was using it to select cut in a national forest, but its wide tail swing was an operational
Kosinski and invested in a place of his own in Shawano, making Klement his partner and turning over his logging job to two of his sons. At 55, his career entered a new orbit. Despite the financial constraints and challenges that accompany startups, Crawford and his team endured, producing the first Timbco self-leveling track-type buncher in 1980 and improving the product—going from two-way to four-way leveling in 1982 was one example—and added more dealers and customers. The machine caught the attention of Timberjack, which in the mid’80s worked out a general assembly and marketing agreement with Timbco that lasted for several years and helped make his financial condition more secure. The companies parted ways when they could not reach
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accord on ownership of design changes, so Timbco resumed total production, going with an ‘engine up’ design that Crawford believed would help broaden its appeal, and Timberjack introduced its own machine with the unit’s original ‘engine down’ design. With Timbco’s business booming in the ’90s, several manufacturers made overtures to buy the company. In 2000, about the time Crawford had renewed his interest in wheeled machines, he agreed to sell Timbco to Partek Forest of Finland. Crawford worked out an option to buy back the wheeled division in two years, which he did. At age 77 he formed TimberPro, which initially focused on making large wheeled harvesters and forwarders and robust heads. Tracked machines were added later. Today TimberPro products are found around the world, and some are used in non-forestry applications Always a logger at heart, Crawford drew lots of attention from forest industry publications and associations, including Southern Loggin’ Times, Timber Harvesting, and The Northern Logger. In November 2016, The Shawano Leader newspaper interviewed him for its ‘Bountiful Blessings’ feature wherein local residents could enumerate what they were thankful for. Here are two things he listed: —“I’m thankful for finding a vocation that I love, starting a company that I’m proud of and having it thrive. I often say that I’ve never worked a day in my life. I’m thankful for all of my employees, past and present, who have helped make it a reality.” —“I’m most thankful for marrying the right woman and having eight wonderful kids. They have enhanced my life in immeasurable ways. They are a source of joy and pride. I could not have done it without them.” Among other qualities, Crawford was known for his compassion and generosity. He and his wife founded the Ruth and Pat Crawford Family Foundation, Inc. (N5873 Old Keshena Rd., Shawano, WI 54166) and through it quietly donated liberally to local schools and charities. Wester noted that Crawford once shared the proceeds of a substantial patent infringement lawsuit settlement with his employees and did likewise when he sold Timbco. Survivors include Ruth Crawford—they were married for 67 years and she worked in the business as well—eight children, 16 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Memorials may be made to the family foundation mentioned above. SLT
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INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP
As We See It: Steve Southerland Hired To Represent ALC In DC By Danny Dructor American Loggers Council (ALC) has retained former U.S. Congressman Steve Southerland and his firm, Capitol Hill Consulting Group, to represent Dructor the loggers group on legislative and regulatory affairs in Washington. We are pleased to bring Steve Southerland on board to promote and protect the interests of America’s loggers. Since it was established in 1994, ALC has continued to grow and gain effectiveness in impacting issues affecting professional timber harvesters and their businesses. We are loggers working for loggers and our members are frequent visitors to Capitol Hill, but Southerland and his team will provide consistent and strong advocacy for our industry. Southerland is senior vice president of Capitol Hill Consulting Group. He was first elected to Congress in 2010 to represent Florida’s Second District and was its first elected Republican since Reconstruction. While in office from 2010-2014, he served on the Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Transportation and Infrastructure committees. Southerland was chosen by the class of 2010 to be its representative at the Republican Leadership Table for the 113th Congress and also served as a Republican conferee for reauthorization of both the Transportation and Farm bills. Prior to serving in Congress, Southerland helped operate his family’s mortuary business. “I consider it a great honor to represent such a time-honored industry, made up of some of the hardest working people in America,” Southerland says. “American loggers provide such an incredible value to our society. They are frontline conservationists, delivering wood, fiber, and energy resources for the world. I’m proud to represent ALC and share their story directly to policymakers and their staff in Washington.” Southerland and his firm will work with ALC on a variety of issues, including regulatory reform, transportation, federal forest management and biomass. ALC’s priorities include workforce development and recruitment, increased timber harvesting on national forests, uniform and predictable truck-weight standards, and
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the alignment of timber harvesting with agriculture under federal laws and regulations. American Loggers Council is a 501 (c)(6) not for profit trade association representing professional timber harvesters and log truckers in 32 states. Visit amloggers.org or phone 409-625-0206.
Weiler Plans Purchase Of Cat Forestry Line Weiler, Inc. of Knoxville, Ia. has entered into a preliminary agreement with Caterpillar, Inc. to purchase the Cat purpose-built forestry business. The sale is subject to negotiation of a final agreement, which is expected by early 2019.
Weiler Inc. President Pat Weiler, second from left, was promoting his soon-to-be finalized purchase of the Caterpillar logging business during the 2018 Pacific Logging Congress equipment demo in September near Corvallis, Ore.
The proposed sale includes wheel skidders, track feller-bunchers, wheel feller-bunchers, knuckleboom loaders, and related operations facilities including a manufacturing plant and warehouse in LaGrange, Ga., a demonstration and training center in Auburn, Ala., and the Prentice parts distribution center in Smithfield, NC. Weiler has been manufacturing purpose-built equipment for the asphalt paving market since 2005, with sales, service and support exclusively through the Caterpillar dealer network. “We believe that the purpose-built forestry product line is the ideal addition to our current product portfolio,” comments Pat Weiler, owner and founder of Weiler, Inc. “We are confident that our existing product line up, our flexible manufacturing strategy, and our unrivaled customer focus will differentiate us within the forestry segment.” Weiler anticipates retaining the approximately 270 employees supporting the Cat forestry business,
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adding to the nearly 500 employees employed at the Iowa-based manufacturer’s corporate office and manufacturing facility. Caterpillar will continue to provide forestry excavators designed for log loading, processing and other forestry applications, in addition to supplying core Caterpillar equipment to the forestry industry. Weiler will design and manufacture purpose-built forestry products, which will be available through the Cat and Prentice dealer networks. Cat dealers appear to be excited about the opportunity that the transaction provides: an engineering-dri-
ven smaller company known for taking underperforming products and pushing them to a new level Pat Weiler has appeared in recent weeks at the Pacific Logging Congress demo in Oregon and at the Mid-South show in Mississippi. Weiler may bring back some products that Cat had stopped making or sold off in recent years. Weiler’s existing plant has 400,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space. The base designs for its self-propelled road wideners and asphalt windrow elevators were created by BarberGreene, a company that was purchased by Caterpillar in the early
1990s. Weiler purchased the designs from Cat in 2005 and established the Weiler brand name. Since then, Weiler has expanded the Weiler line by adding self propelled material transfer vehicles, a commercial paver, split-drum compactors, tack distributors and highway class front mount screeds. Pat Weiler founded the company in 2000 and began producing equipment for major OEM manufacturers. He began his career at Vermeer as a design engineer and became director of engineering. He held multiple roles in senior management until he retired from Vermeer in 1999.
Anthony Timberlands Purchases Watson Mill Anthony Timberlands Inc. is purchasing the hardwood sawmill and chip mill facility in Mt. Holly (Union County), Ark. that has been owned and operated by Watson Sawmill Co. Inc. “The Watson mill is a modern, state-of-the-art facility in all respects,” Anthony Timberlands President Steven Anthony says. “Its location and product mix fit almost perfectly with our existing hardwood facilities and recent acquisi-
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2019 Mid-Atlantic Event Shifted To May 3-4 Citing their concern for disruptive tropical systems that often occur from July through October, sponsors of the Mid-Atlantic Logging & Biomass Expo have opted to move the 2019 show date to Friday and Saturday, May 3-4. The 2017 show, planned for September, was cancelled because of a threatening tropical system. The 2019 event will take place on a mature pine stand located near Laurinburg, NC. More details will be available in coming weeks, according to Jack Swanner, Show Manager (828-421-8444).
tions we have made in southwest Arkansas, and will complement those operations.” Watson has 75 employees. Watson Sawmill President Donald Watson states, “After 35 years in the hardwood sawmill business, we are proud to pass on our family operation to the Anthony family, and wish them much continued success.” Anthony says they are hoping for a near seamless transition while
operations continue unabated, with some minor changes. Current employees will be given an opportunity to continue their employment with ATI.
Last Rites Held For Brad Massey Memorial services for wellknown logging equipment personality Brad Massey were held August 31 in Zebulon, NC, his hometown. Massey, 62, died August 28 after a brief illness. A native of North Carolina known for his outgoing personality, wit, and sense of humor, Massey worked in Blount’s Forestry Equipment Div. for many years before joining the sales team of Barko Hydraulics. In his last position with Barko he served as Sales Manager for the Southeast region. Survivors include his mother and one sister. The family requests that any memorials be directed to Union Hope Baptist Church, 12712 Hwy. 97 W, Zebulon, NC 27597 or a charity of the donor’s choice.
Vermeer SE Earns Pinnacle Award Vermeer Southeast celebrated a Vermeer Pinnacle designation in recognition of providing a superior customer experience for its customers. The Pinnacle Award is earned for performance in sales and marketing, providing excellent after-market support, as well as for training their employees. The Pinnacle awards are presented annually by Vermeer Corp. Vermeer Southeast has 10 locations covering Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
TEAM Safe Trucking Offers Sponsorships TEAM Safe Trucking is offering educational sponsorship opportunities to those that have an interest in offering TEAM Safe Trucking classes to drivers and forestry transportation owners. These sponsorships support TEAM Safe Trucking’s development of future trainings and support the monthly investment for the online training learning management software. Companies will have access to the Module One and Module Two trainings and an additional 26 classes. Each class ranges from 15 minutes to 30 minutes in length. If you take the trainings online, you do not need to finish the training in just one session. The online training program remembers where you left off when you log back in. 40
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These classes can be used for new employee safety training, basic skill training, refresher trainings, monthly training requirements and discipline training. Additional classes will be available each year for educational
sponsors. These sponsorships are good for one year. Renewals are available each year. Go to www.teamsafetrucking.com or e-mail: info@teamsafetrucking .com.
Rotochopper Hosts Demo Day #8 Rotochopper hosted customers and prospects from around the world at
its 8th Annual Demo Day. Approximately 200 guests from four countries attended the event with the theme “Mission Possible.” The day began with tours of the state-of-the-art manufacturing facili-
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ty, providing attendees with the opportunity to see Rotochopper grinders in every stage of manufacturing, from cutting to final inspection and testing. The facility tours also provided guests the opportunity to meet the various on-site teams who design, build and support their Rotochopper equipment. David Polser from Land Development Services in Liberty Hill, Tex. comments, “I truly enjoyed seeing the facilities and witnessing the
More than 200 attended Rotochopper Demo Day.
amount of pride and workmanship that go into these machines.” President/CEO Art de St. Aubin welcomed attendees with remarks focused on the partnership Rotochopper forms with its customers, saying, “It is your partnership that we strive
for; your success is our success. Our platform and mission today is, it is possible and your continuous dialouge will always be our main conduit to success.” The demonstrations kicked off with the new B-66 L-Series track and
dolly grinder unveiled to the “Mission Impossible” theme song. The B-66L and FP-66, both equipped with the Generation II Colorizer, did a head-to-head grind off showing each of their production capabilities. Also included in the demos was the MP-2, producing colored mulch, the CP-118 chip processor, Erosion Sock attachment for the GB-250, RotoLink monitoring system and preventative maintenance program, Rotochopper’s patented screen installation system and replaceable mount rotor. The EC-266 electric grinder ground pallets and sorted C&D debris directly into the RMT hammermill. The day ended with the B-66 L-series grinder devouring logs and whole trees.
Westervelt Sells 70% Of Pellet Operation Pinnacle Renewable Holdings Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire a 70% interest in Westervelt’s industrial wood pellet production facility in Aliceville, Ala. Westervelt will retain a 30% interest. The Aliceville Facility has an annual production capacity of 270,000 metric tons. As part of the transaction, the Aliceville facility has entered into long-term wood fiber supply contracts for residuals with several large local sawmills. Westervelt’s sawmill, located in Moundville, Ala., will remain an anchor supplier.
Enviva Remains Bullish On Wood Energy Enviva reports three new 15year market contracts with Japan-
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ese customers totaling 700,000 metric tons of pellets per year and a 650,000 MTPY, five-year contract extension with Drax, meaning the company expects to continue substantial investment in new wood
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pellets plants in the U.S. Enviva continues to construct the 600,000 MTPY production plant in Hamlet, NC, which is expected to be operational in the first half of 2019.
Enviva is studying the development of a deep-water marine terminal in Pascagoula, Miss. and a wood pellet production plant in Lucedale, Miss. Enviva expects to make a final investment decision on these
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facilities in late 2018 or early 2019. In addition, Enviva continues to consider building wood pellet production plants in Epes, Ala. and Taylorsville, Miss.
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Logging Equipment No Match For Locomotive BACKGROUND: It was midmorning on a clear, cold December
day in the Lake States region. Markets for forest products were strong,
and loggers were busy moving their crews into winter timber sales, hop-
ing to take advantage of rapidly improving logging conditions. GENERAL FEATURES: A logger instructed his truck driver to move his mechanized harvester to a timber sale that could only be operated in the winter. Access to the timber sale was off the end of a public road that featured a well marked, but seldom-used, railroad crossing. UNSAFE ACTS AND CONDITION: The truck driver tasked with moving the logging equipment was familiar with the normal train schedule and knew the train would not be running that day. He also knew how eager the logger was to get started on this new job. As a result, he slowed down at the rail crossing instead of coming to a complete stop, assuming he could stop if necessary. ACCIDENT: By the time the truck driver saw the locomotive, it was too late to stop on the icy road. The truck cleared the tracks, but the trailer carrying the logging equipment took the full impact of the locomotive. The logging equipment and trailer were destroyed. The locomotive sustained significant damage, there was minor damage to the truck, and the driver was unscathed. The truck driver was correct in that there would be no train running that day, but failed to consider the possibility that a replacement locomotive might be passing through at exactly the wrong time. CAUSUAL FACTORS: Rushing: The truck driver felt pressured to get the logging equipment delivered. As a result, he took a chance on crossing the railroad tracks with the truck loaded with logging equipment. Complacency: The truck driver’s complacency was also a factor, as he felt his knowledge of the train schedule was all he needed to be concerned with. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CORRECTION: l Never ignore railroad crossing signs. l Always expect the unexpected. Supplied by Forest Resources Assn.
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2004 Tigercat 640C Clambunk. 8200 actual hours, 30.5 front with 24.5 duals, 28Lx26 on rear including duals, bogies in excellent condition, runs great, just don’t need anymore........................................... $140,000 obo
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APPROACHING RETIREMENT LIQUIDATING INVENTORY Call: Ted Smith
2016 Caterpillar HF201B sawhead. Full rotation wrist. Approximately 400 hours. Like new $60,000 obo
5840 Hwy 36, Russellville, AL Home: 256-766-8179 • Office: 256-766-6491 Fax: 256-766-6962 • Cell: 256-810-3190 13289
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2008 Tigercat 630C. Good 30.5 tires. • 2006 Tigercat 822 Brand new engine SWEDA axles. Dual (under warranty), brand new pump, 70% arch. Less than 1000 hours on totally rebuilt undercarriage, with 110 tigercat head engine and Tigercat reman hydrastats ................................................ $120,000 .................................................$55,000 obo • 2010 2384 Prentice loader with delim-
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2013 Deere 643K Feller Buncher STK# LT651913; 8905 hrs $40,000
2015 Deere 437D Knuckleboom Loader STK# LT272830; 8989 hrs $89,000
2012 OT CD1 Delimber STK# LUD10329; 5587 hrs $42,000
2015 Deere 748L Skidder STK# LU670157; 4624 hrs $205,000
2015 Deere 948L Skidder STK# LT668850; 3455 hrs $190,000
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2014 John Deere 843K, FD55 saw, 28Ls, 6800 hrs, nice machine......................................P.O.R.
2015 Deere 643L Feller Buncher STK# LT672506; 3647 hrs $162,000
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409.625.0206 888.383.8884 936.634.7210 800.952.0178 800.771.4140 800.475.4477 919.550.1201 603.382.0556 800.503.3373 214.914.0132 225.368.2224 855.332.0500 256.341.0600 404.859.5790 800.288.0887 803.708.0624 800.849.7788 800.284.9032 888.822.1173 910.231.4043 864.947.9208 800.997.2248 888.561.1115 866.497.7803 800.766.8349 800.467.0944 800.738.2123 877.265.1486 888.754.5613 800.831.0042 519.754.2190 800.269.6520 912.925.5007 800.321.8073 601.969.6000 800.668.3340 386.754.6186 855.325.6465 251.578.4840 318.445.0750 855.781.9408 910.733.3300 912.638.7726 519.753.2000 912.283.1060 601.635.5543 877.487.3526 800.334.4395 800.845.6648 800.323.3708 770.692.0380 334.264.3265
COMING EVENTS October
January 2019
2-4—Arkansas Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Hot Springs Convention Center, Hot Springs, Ark. Call 501374-2441; visit arkforests.org.
8-9—Missouri Forest Products Assn. winter meeting, Capitol Plaza, Jefferson City, Mo. Call 573634-3252; visit moforest.org.
3-5—Southern Forest Products Assn. annual meeting, The Greenbriar, White Shulpher Springs, W.Va. Call 504-443-4464; visit sfpa.org.
February 2019
10-12—North Carolina Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Sheraton Hotel, Raleigh, NC. Call 800-2317723; visit ncforestry.org. 11-13—American Loggers Council annual meeting, Shilo Inn, Seaside, Ore. Call 409-625-0206. visit amloggers.com. 16-18—Mississippi Forestry Assn. annual meeting, BancorpSouth Arena, Tupelo, Miss. Call 601-3544936; visit msforestry.net.
20-24—Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers annual meeting, W Hotel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Call 336885-8315; visit appalachianwood.org. 22-24—Carolina Loggers Assn. annual meeting, Hotel Ballast, Wilmington, NC. Call 828-4218444; visit ncloggers.com.
March 2019 7-9—Southeastern Wood Producers Assn. annual meeting, Okefenokee Fairgrounds and Exchange Club, Waycross, Ga. Call 904-845-7133; visit swpa.ag.
17-19—Texas Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Moody Gardens, Galveston, Tex. Call 936-632-8733; visit texas forestry.org.
20-22—Hardwood Manufacturers Assn. National Conference & Expo, Hyatt Regency Savannah, Savannah, Ga. Call 412-244-0440; visit hmamembers.org.
November
April 2019
7-9—Forestry Assn. of South Carolina annual meeting, The Westin, Hilton Head Island, SC. Call 803798-4170; visit scforestry.org.
2-4—Kentucky Forest Industries Assn. annual meeting, Embassy Suites, Lexington, Ky. Call 502695-3979; visit kfia.org.
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30-May 3—Virginia Forestry Assn. Summit, Sheraton Norfolk Waterside, Norfolk. Call 804-2788733; visit vaforestry.org.
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June 2019 26-28—Forest Products Machinery & Equipment Expo, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 504-443-4464; visit sfpaexpo.com.
August 2019 23-24—Southwest Forest Products Expo (SWFP) 2019, Hot Springs, Ark. Call 501-224-2232; visit arkloggers.com.
September 2019 20-21—Kentucky Wood Expo, Masterson Station Park, Lexington, Ky. Call 502-695-3979; visit kfia.org. Listings are submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend.
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OCTOBER 2018 ● Southern Loggin’ Times
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