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SOUTHERN STUMPIN’ By David Abbott • Managing Editor • Ph. 334-834-1170 • Fax: 334-834-4525 • E-mail: david@hattonbrown.com
Odds And Ends
s we do in every December issue, to end the year, let’s take a look back at some of the best quotes we’ve printed throughout 2021. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and see you in 2022. Excelsior!—Dave
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“I had a fellow who worked on my stuff as long as I have been in business, an independent contractor. But he died in 2018, and I realized then there are no more mechanics out there. It dawned on me that I had to start keeping everything under warranty.”—Charlie Carden, Carden Timber Harvesting, LLC, Orchard Hill, Georgia, page 10, January issue “If a man will work then he’s all right in my book, or it will give him the opportunity to be around me long enough for me to find out if he’s all right. The way these guys work reminds me of how people used to work when I was growing up. These boys look after me; if I had a crew like this when I started there’s no telling where I’d be now.”—Carden again, page 14, January issue “When I get to where I can’t get up and do what I need to do, I’ll retire. I can still run with the best of them, but Mother Nature will let my body know. I don’t ever want to not do anything.”—Robert Kirby, Kirby Sawmill, Inc., Doniphan, Missouri, page 16, January issue “Some of these guys seem like they make pretty good money buying their own wood, but I tell you, this business, you ain’t gonna get rich doing it the way I’m doing it. I love it, I reckon. I’ve thought about it and I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing. If I had to do it the way my dad and uncle and papaw had to do it, I wouldn’t be doing it or I wouldn’t love it near as much, I promise you.”— Chris Cates, W. Cates Logging, Bremen, Alabama, pages 12 and 14, February issue “One thing I try to do is take care of my men. God told me one day, ‘If you take care of your men, I’ll take care of you.’ And for the most part I have had some good workers over the years.”—Dennis Wiseman, Wiseman Logging, Niota, Tennessee, page 9, March issue “You’re still going to have wear and tear on the machines, either way. I am not going to make payments and work on the machine. I am going to pick one of the two.”—Russell Scott, Coastal Forestry Services, Marianna, Florida, page 8, May issue “We purpose to work. Our dad taught us two things can never be taken away: faith and work ethic.”—Chad Schwab, M.A. Rigoni, Perry, Florida, page 20, May issue 6
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“An old school logger mentality would be, you have a log truck and you drive it till the doors fall off. We just got rid of a 1986 chipper. We had parts in here for that, and we haven’t run that chipper in 10 years. You can’t afford it today. It’s overhead, and it’s overtime sometimes. If you think you might need three mechanics one day but you really only have work for one mechanic, you still got those other two you’re paying just because of that one time you might need them. You have to cut all that out to make it work.”— Chad Schab again, page 21, May issue “We haven’t been one dimensional in many years. We were raised not to be and have taught everyone under us to be flexible. We try to keep as much diversification with our footprint as we can, and we have a huge footprint today.”— Chad’s brother Richard Schwab, also of M.A. Rigoni in Perry, Florida, page 22, May issue
“You start off Monday morning with Plan A, by the time Friday gets here, you’re working on Plan AAA; you’ve been through the whole alphabet, A-Z, twice. How often do you have to reinvent yourself? Almost daily.”—Chad Schwab again, page 24, May issue “Our passion, and who we are, we were trained in school to make a difference, not just for our little kingdom but to make the world a better place. Our company spends a lot of time and money being involved with making policy for the industry nationwide. But I see that as an investment for loggers everywhere. I wouldn’t put a price on it. The commitments I have with all these organizations, you would be surprised how much business value I get out of that. I’m out developing new business.”—Richard Schwab again, page 28, May issue (still) “I was freaked out. I was scared. I didn’t know anything about what goes on out here in the woods. I was nervous about it. You have to have a confidence in the people who are running the machines. It is hard to get good people who want to do anything. To have a good crew is essential to running a logging operation, and I feel like I have some of the best.”—Samantha Bull, Bull IV Logging, Fouke, Arkansas, pages 8-9, June issue, on taking over the business after her husband’s death “We were just trying to survive. Our production was down about 60% in the middle of March (2020). I just tried to maintain and keep our workers on the payroll with some cash flow. It was hard to make it each week and a big difference in volume when you’re used to pushing 60,000 ft. weekly. We should have been in high production putting back for the winter
months, but it wasn’t there. I have a feeling things are going to get better and I’m going to be ready when they do. We’re going to put the hammer down.”—Brandon Brock, BBrock Enterprises, LLC, Mayking, Kentucky, pages 14-16, June issue, on the pandemic-related difficulties he faced in 2020 “It won’t take but one thing to move me and that’s money…I don’t mean this in a smart aleck way, but I’m not going to work if I can’t make any money. If people see me going there, they know there is money there. All I am interested in is dollar bills with ‘In God We Trust’ on it.”— Donnie Reaves, Donald E. Reaves, LLC, Coleman Falls, Virginia, page 19, July issue “I think you either have to be pretty small or pretty large. The middle man has a whole lot of the same expenses as the big man but doesn’t have the income. If I pay too much for the timber then I’ll be out of business. If you price yourself so close you can’t make any money, whose fault is that? We don’t need twice as much money as we are making, but the industry needs to pay us 10-20% more. But as long as somebody will work for nothing, they’re not going to do it. So we are kind of our own enemy. There is plenty of work out there for all of us. I wish for anybody working hard and trying to treat people right to do well.”—Reaves again, page 22, July issue “I look at it in the long run: if we destroy the Earth, what are my boys going to cut 40 years down the road?”—Michael Hutchins, Hutch Trucking, Inc., Livingston, Alabama, page 8, August issue “We prefer to buy our own wood; that way we can control where we haul our wood to maximize production. Some of the bigger timber companies beat prices down so much there’s not much skin left. You can make a living contracting but you’re not going to make money.”—Rickey Pitts, Pitts Logging, Inc., Waycross, Georgia, pages 13-14, August issue “She pinches pennies and makes dollars out of them.”—Greg Lovorn, Lovorn Logging, Slate Springs, Mississippi, page 22, September issue, on his mother Suzye “My motto is that I try to make the money in the woods and keep it in the office. Always try to find a better deal on things.”—Bradley McDowell, Pineland Contracting, Jena, Louisiana, page 9, December issue
Happy Holidays from SLT
DECEMBER 2021 ● Southern Loggin’ Times
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