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SOUTHERN STUMPIN’ By David Abbott • Managing Editor • Ph. 334-834-1170 • Fax: 334-834-4525 • E-mail: david@hattonbrown.com
Best In Show fter having been postponed due to Covid last year, the rescheduled Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show returned to Starkville, Miss. just a week ago as I’m writing this, on September 17-18, 2021. This year’s event was muggy enough but not, in my opinion, as blazingly, soul-crushingly hot as I remember the 2018 version was. Instead, the threat of rain loomed over us both days, but held off for the most part. The ground was muddy and there were occasional light showers both days, but not the torrential downpours we feared, at least not till the show was about over. The sun even peaked out a few times. All in all I’d call this year’s Mid-South a success, with bigger crowds on Saturday than I think many people expected. More importantly, many quality connections were made, according to the exhibitors with whom I spoke. In fact, what I heard over and over from exhibitors: “We could sell five machines right now on site, and we have the orders…but we can’t fill those orders because parts are on a six-month backlog.” Some variation on that was repeated to me a dozen or so times last weekend. Business is good…maybe a little too good, because the supply and delivery chain is just so backed up and understaffed at every level, seemingly in every industry. There are housing shortages, car shortages, labor shortages. Hopefully this will all even out soon as supply and demand regain a sustainable equilibrium. Look for pictures of the Mid-South Show starting on page 24.
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Cas Winstead proposed...
Decent Proposal Mid-South 2021 will certainly stand out in the memories of at least a few who attended. Not least among them will undoubtedly be the members of the Winstead family. Larry and Samantha (Sam) Winstead own L&S Logging, based in Philadelphia, Miss. One of their three kids, Cassidy Winstead, 27, was asked to run the skidder at Tigercat dealer B&G Equipment’s demo site at Mid-South on Saturday, September 18. “Cas has loved logging all his life and has worked his summers driving a skidder for us since he was 12,” according to his mom Sam. “After high school, we encouraged him to at least give college a try. That lasted ONE semester and he decided it wasn’t for him. He wanted to log!” Cas has worked for his parents at L&S Logging full-time since he was 19. He started out on the skidder before graduating to the cutter, and he can run the loader and drive a truck when he needs to, too. Cas met Sara Aultman, 24, last October and they’ve been dating ever since. Sara, from Seminary, Miss., is a registered nurse in the NICU at 6
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... and Sara said yes.
the University Medical Center in Jackson. When Cas got the invitation from B&G to demo at the show, he decided this was the perfect opportunity to put into motion a plan he’d had for a few months. You know where this is going. He had already bought a ring back in July. He asked his parents to bring the ring to the show. Sara was taken completely by surprise; no doubt her first logging show will be one she won’t soon forget. And yes, she said yes; the date is set for February 2022. Congratulations, Cas and Sara!
and had extra lights installed along both sides. “We wanted to display it as an example to show people how easy it is to make a log trailer visible to the public,” according to Swamp Fox sales exec Jeremy Barclay. The total cost of adding the lights was $80, plus the cost of the paint job— pocket change next to the cost of paying out damages in the event of an accident. This trailer itself was in an accident. It belonged to a Swamp Fox client. Early one morning while the sky was still dark, another vehicle drove right into the side of the loaded log trailer. The trailer at the time was painted jet black, Barclay says, and in the low light, low visibility conditions of the early morning, the driver couldn’t see the trailer in time. “The side impact caused some severe bodily injury to the other driver,” Barclay reveals. “Needless to say there was a significant claim and there was no question of liability on our truck. But after analyzing the wreck, we started asking what could have been done to mitigate the severity of the accident.” The insurance company decided that making the trailer more visible with brighter color paint and additional lighting along the sides of the trailer could have prevented or at least reduced the severity of the accident. “DOT requirements for lights are pretty minimal and only on the back,” Barclay points out. “If the driver could have seen this trailer a little sooner, it would have helped. Instead of saying this is what should be done, we decided to just do it to show everyone how easy it is to do.” One concern some loggers voiced: if they add extra lights and those lights go out, can they be ticketed for it? Barclay says no. “We talked to FMCSA; any light added beyond DOT requirements, if it becomes inoperable, will not be an out of service violation.” So, adding the extra lights to reduce the risk of an accident does not increase the risk of a fine. Prevention is pretty much always better than cure, so it all sounds like a good idea to me. SLT Till next time…excelsior!
Bright Idea Among the things that caught my attention at Mid-South: Swamp Fox Agency, a logging insurance company based in Moncks Corner, SC, displayed what it has dubbed “the visible trailer.” The trailer was painted a high visibility orange
Extra lights and brighter paint should make this trailer safer.
OCTOBER 2021 l Southern Loggin’ Times
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