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Vol. 44, No. 11

(Founded in 1972—Our 518th Consecutive Issue)

F E AT U R E S

November 2015 A Hatton-Brown Publication

Phone: 334-834-1170 Fax: 334-834-4525 www.southernloggintimes.com

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Deck Trevitt Back In The Game

ALC Highlights 2015 Annual Meeting

Co-Publisher Co-Publisher Chief Operating Officer Executive Editor Editor-in-Chief Western Editor Managing Editor Associate Editor Associate Editor Production Manager Ad Production Coordinator Circulation Director

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

ADVERTISING CONTACTS DISPLAY SALES

out front:

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Eastern U.S.

Roger Miller, who bases his operation in Lake City, Miss., started out as a timber buyer but added his own logging component several years back.

With a focus on building strong relationships—with mills, with landowners and with employees—Miller has survived the hard times and found the road to success.

Story begins on PAGE 10.

(Jessica Johnson photo)

Dustin Young Goes To Extremes

D E PA RT M E N T S Southern Stumpin’ .................................................................................................6 Bulletin Board .......................................................................................................26 Industry News Roundup......................................................................................38 IronWorks ..............................................................................................................45 At The Margins .....................................................................................................53 Coming Events/Ad Index .....................................................................................54

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 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 International Murray Brett Tel: +34 96 640 4165 Fax: +34 96 640 4022 Aldea de las Cuevas 66 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 nonqualified 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—TOLLFREE 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 ® 2015. 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

Arkansas-Alabama Connection ecently I was on my way back from a trip to Arkansas when, by accident, I nearly paralleled an incident written about by my editorin-chief almost 30 years earlier. The incident itself isn’t truly so remarkable, but since it’s football season in the South, it seems appropriate.

I’ve lived in Alabama all my life, but my family has its roots in Arkansas. Both my parents grew up in Cabot. They moved to Montgomery in the early ’70s, a few years before I was born.

We made trips to Arkansas to visit family several times a year. I became very familiar with the Highway 78/Corridor X/Future I-22 route from Birmingham to Memphis.

Obviously others have connections between Arkansas and Alabama. One of the guys in the (socalled) country band Little Big Town, as I understand it, grew up around Birmingham, but his older siblings and parents were from Arkansas—in fact, they were friends with my grandparents and aunts and uncles. My mom has gotten to go backstage at their shows because of this.

But there is a far more prominent Arkansas-toAlabama transplant. A certain college football coach was enjoying an impressive streak during the decade when my parents moved here. From 19711979, Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant led the University of Alabama to win the SEC football championship every year but ’76, as well as to the national championship in ’73, ’78 and ’79. Not bad.

My trip to Arkansas took place the week before this year’s Alabama-Arkansas game. That annual matchup holds personal significance for my family. My sister and I are big Bama fans (though I claim Arkansas as my #2 team), and our dad converted years ago. An uncle who still lives in Arkansas is a die-hard Razorback supporter, and my mom is somewhere in between.

It’s important for us to have bragging rights when Thanksgiving rolls around. Since Arkansas joined the SEC in 1992 until the expansion of 2012, the Alabama-Arkansas game had usually been played either the weekend before or after my birthday, so that added to its event status.

I was headed back to Alabama from Arkansas on Friday, October 9, the day before the Alabama/ Arkansas game. I knew I was near Fordyce—I’ve been there on SLT-related trips in years past, and seen the sign: “Welcome to Fordyce, where the legend began; Birthplace of Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant.” Coach Bryant, of course, was actually born in the nearby community of Moro Bottom, near the Moro Creek. Bear spent his high school years in Fordyce before playing for Alabama from 1933-1936.

I was driving along Highway 8, the only car in sight, listening to sports radio talking about the upcoming game, when I found my attention seized by a sign in a field: “Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant Birthplace.” I immediately hit the brakes, turned around, parked on the side of the road and stepped out.

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A man on a John Deere zero-turn was mowing the grass around the property. He told me it would be fine for me to move my car to his driveway and that people stop there all the time. He was gracious as we chatted for a few minutes about Bear.

“So this is where he was born?” I asked.

“Well, the house he was actually born in was torn down in the ’30s, but this is where it stood,” he said. He identified himself as Jake—Jake Bryant. “Any relation?” I asked. “Yes,” he answered—his grandfather was the Bear’s brother, and he now lives on the property.

That was it. I was only there maybe five minutes. On Saturday, Alabama beat Arkansas. When I got back to the office on Monday, I learned that Rich Donnell, the editor-in-chief here, had done nearly the same thing almost 30 years ago (except he went there on purpose). He stopped at the sign while on a trip for SLT, and by chance talked to the father of the Bryant I met.

Rich wrote an article about it then, excerpts of which I am reprinting below. He is a much more skillful writer than I am, and he brings a different perspective: he’s an Auburn grad, married to an Alabama grad; he actually remembers when Bear was alive (I was four when the coach died in January 1983, one month after coaching his final game); and he actually spoke to the man himself...

Back To The Past (with Rich Donnell) …I thought of the only two times I ever communicated with him one on one. The first time I was a rookie writer for the Birmingham paper and my editor informed me I was to call Bear and ask him to comment on a former player and assistant who now coached one of the teams coming into town to play in a bowl game. I remember my adrenalin boiling over as I waited for his voice to come on the line. “Yessuh, what can I do for you?” he grumbled. “Ah, Coach Bryant, sir, I was wondering if you had any special recollections of Maryland coach Jerry Claiborne, who’s bringing his team here for the bowl game Saturday.” After a long pause, he replied, “Jerry Claiborne’s always been a hard worker and a fine individual.”

I thought about when I was shooting a season opener against Georgia Tech in Birmingham, and I stood on the sideline and watched Bear leaning against the goal post during pre-game drills.

When the throng of photographers around him dispersed, I gathered my nerve and walked out and from only a few feet away shot the Bear from all kinds of angles. He never flinched, never took his eyes off his team, until I had shot up two rolls and expressed my appreciation, which he acknowledged with a gentle wave…

As I stood across from Bear’s birthplace thinking of these things, a navy blue automobile slowed to a halt in front of me. The window

rolled down and there was the face and voice of Bear Bryant asking me if I’d had car problems.

There were those same squinting, concerned eyes and that rough nose; the same grumbling drawl.

When I replied I was from Alabama and had stopped to take in Bear’s birthplace, the man with Bear Bryant’s face and voice said, “I’m J.B. Bryant, Paul’s nephew. I live in that house over there. Come on over.”

I talked with Jake Bryant in his front yard for 20 minutes. He didn’t have Bear’s height. He told me he had put up the sign as well as the fence around the vacant lot. He said the wooden posts supporting the fence were from Bear’s old house.

He paused a moment when I asked him to tell me about Bear’s character, then offered, “I knew long ago I could never be like him. I tried to take little bits and pieces of him and put them in my life.

He believed in planning and working. He taught his players to get an education, grow up and be a man and take care of responsibilities. He believed in never quitting.” Jake Bryant paused again and smiled. “And he was mean as hell.”

The nephew said Bear began to worry about becoming a hindrance to Alabama’s program the final years; that Bear used his pursuit of the alltime record in coaching wins to counteract other schools who were telling youngsters that Bear would retire before their four years were up at Alabama, so why go there and be disappointed.

But Bear convinced most of the recruits that as long as the record was before him he’d hang around. He broke Alonzo Stagg’s record by beating none other than Auburn in the final game of the 1981 season.

The nephew always kept in touch with his uncle and talked with him not long before he died. “He had a physical and everything checked out,” Jake said. “It really stunned us when he died. I miss him more than I ever thought I would. I still expect him to call in intervals or drop by like he used to.”

Back To The Future I am writing this on October 21, 2015—an important day in history. It’s the day Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett L. (Doc) Brown arrive in a DeLorean from 1985. There are no flying cars, hoverboards or “Jaws 19” and it doesn’t look like the Cubs are going to win the World Series (they’re down 0-3 to the Mets as of today).

Regardless, it has been 30 years since the duo first went back to (what was then) the future, when Doc famously said (in a line later quoted in a speech by President Ronald Reagan): “Roads?

Where we’re going we don’t need roads.”

SLT is also looking forward to its future; flip the page to see what’s on page 8, and keep your eyes open in coming months to find out where SLT we’re going…

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Road To Success ■ Mississippi timber buyer Roger Miller moved into logging and formed key relationships.

By Jessica Johnson ★ HOULKA, Miss. oger Miller, 46, is a good old boy from Mississippi. He loves his wife, he loves his children, he’s grateful for what he has and he loves spending his days in a piece of equipment.

Like many, he’s been in the woods all his life. He’s seen pretty much everything and while he’s very optimistic about the future, after surviving 2008 and 2009, he knows the key to success is being smart about his investments.

About 10 years ago, Miller was just buying timber on his own, rely-

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Giving credit where credit is due, Miller (inset) says he’d be nowhere without his crew.

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ing on contract loggers to get his wood cut. When he wasn’t getting the reliability and control he needed, he started his own logging crew.

From there, he grew to two crews.

The bottom fell out, and like nearly every other logger he felt the pinch.

“It really went south for us,” he remembers, “so we downsized and went to one crew.”

But Miller never quit pushing himself, and maintained a good relationship with his main market: Norbord OSB in Guntown, Miss. “Norbord has been good to us,” he says. In turn, Miller has done his best to be loyal to them. And it has paid off. When the mill had some work it needed done on the storage yard, Miller found himself with an additional contract.

The contract is to put in an additional storage yard, clean up the existing yards and tidy and build roads. Miller relies on a tracked knuckleboom loader to unload trucks and sort logs. Miller says that an excellent relationship with Norbord procurement head Martin Faulkner helped him get the chance to bid on this contract. “We have the equipment to get it done, so they gave it to us,” he says.

Timber Procurement Since Miller, at his core, is a timber buyer, he maintains strong relationships with landowners. He keeps his crew, typically, on pine plantations. Right now, he reports that it is pretty easy to find and buy timber. “This year, I don’t know why, we have more to do than we’ve ever had,” he says.

The crews mainly focus on thinning, which is easier on the equipment. He also finds thinnings are more readily available. “It’s easier to buy. It’s easier to do, we get better production,” he says succinctly.

He estimates that in the middle of the summer, the crew was sitting on probably 1,500 acres under contract, so much that they weren’t looking to take on anymore until after the first of the year. The crew moves about 15 loads per day.

Miller tries not to push production numbers on the guys. He recognizes that some days you move 12 loads and some days you move 20. He likes to average 15 loads a day to keep the bills paid.

Norbord is what Miller calls his bread and butter. Since the crew mostly focuses on pine plantations, he carries most of his volume to that mill, though he will take loads to PCA in Counce, Tenn., sporadically. There are lots of loggers in his area of Mississippi, and since Norbord is usually at capacity, Miller isn’t actively thinking about expanding. “They aren’t capable of taking the volume,” he says of Norbord. He realizes that he has a great

Miller is a loyal customer, using only John Deere machines in his harvesting operations.

The logger believes in keeping newer equipment at all times—under three years old.

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The crew aims to average 15 loads a day, though the boss recognizes that conditions can make that number vary from one day to the next.

relationship with the mill and doesn’t have the same trust and flexibility at other places.

Iron Lineup Miller is a John Deere man through and through. He doesn’t like to keep pieces more than three years.

For him, keeping new equipment with extended warranties is cheaper than making repairs. The lineup includes 843K feller-buncher, two 648H skidders, a 437D loader and a 700K Komatsu dozer. All pieces have been purchased in the last three years from Stribling Equipment in Tupelo, Miss. Using John Deere’s financing, Miller always purchases the extended warranty packages, which is three years or 5,000 hours. He says that

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typically his equipment comes up on 5,000 hours at the three-year mark, so it works out well.

He believes that after having the equipment for three years he’s “turned the equity curve pretty well and can get good trade numbers.”

Miller believes that it is cheaper to stay in warranty while making a payment on the equipment than trying to run older pieces because of the amount of wood they try to produce. “I’ve tried it both ways and I don’t have luck running old stuff. It stays broken down and when you are broken down you aren’t making any money,” he says.

As an added benefit, maintaining an updated fleet means he doesn’t have to worry about working on the advancing technologies. “With all

this computerized stuff, they are trained for it, it’s better to stay in warranty. If we have any issues, the only thing it costs me is a little downtime. Everything else is covered by warranty. But, if you’re making a payment, and you’re paying breakdown costs, plus a technician to work on it...the cost is too high,” he says.

Pieces are greased every other day. Routine maintenance, like changing oils, is performed every 500 hours. Miller is on a PM schedule with John Deere, so every 2,000 hours, a service tech will change hydraulics, pull oil samples and so on. “When you’re staying in new equipment you don’t have a lot of maintenance issues,” he reports.

Even though most maintenance is done by Stribling, Miller does have

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a 50x50 shop at his house in Houlka, Miss. At it he has torches and welders, but with everything being new, they don’t get used too often.

Miller has found that it is better to run his own trucks, instead of mainly using contractors. The crew makes use of five company trucks, a mix of Mack and Kenworth, and one contract truck. Miller says he likes Kenworths and for the money, he believes they are the better truck. All truck maintenance is handled by one of the truck drivers on the weekends.

In addition to the trucks, Miller has a Palmer dump trailer, two lowboys and five log trailers, some Magnolia and some built locally by Donnie Woods, who makes a quality trailer at a very attractive price, Miller says.

Tire work on the in-woods equip-

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ment, trucks and trailers is handled

by Calvin Young, who is on contract with Miller to do “whatever needs doing.” With that contract in place, Miller doesn’t have to take care of it, saving time and energy.

All the trucks except one older Mack use DEF fluid and Miller does not report any problems with it. “It works well for the trucks. I don’t know how the equipment is going to run on it. Time will tell,” he believes.

While his woods equipment does

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not use DEF fluid, they are outfitted with the JD Link technology—a feature Miller really likes. “We can call them and say we’re getting a code, and the dealer can help.” If it’s something major, Stribling does still have to come troubleshoot. But for the minor stuff, JD Link has cut down on troubleshooting time.

Miller says he does not have trouble with the equipment for the most part so he doesn’t have the app on his phone to look at all the time.

Like many, Miller says, “As long as

it is trouble free, don’t bother me.

But if we started having trouble, I would want to be able to look.”

Office Relations Nellie Miller, Roger’s wife, handles all office paperwork and bookkeeping. Roger says simply, “She does it all and she does great at it.

That’s the key to anyone’s business: you have to handle your finances in an orderly fashion. She does that very well.”

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Safety is very important to Miller and in the 10 years he’s had a woods crew, there has not been a recordable accident. Monthly safety meetings keep the crew on their toes, and thanks to the advancement in equipment and the fact they work in planation pine thinning, the only time a man is on the ground is when they are trimming a truck. Ledkins Insurance in Thomasville, Ala., provides the crew with workers’ comp.

Miller is very grateful for all he has and knows it would not be possible without a solid crew. Foreman Steven Churchill keeps things rolling in the woods, allowing Miller to form lasting relationships with landowners. “I have so many things to be grateful for but one of the things that makes me most proud and grateful is the long-term sustainable relationships built over the years with landowners by providing quality work and in return making my business successful and grow,” he says.

To keep his crew pleased, men are paid by the day and then have a production bonus available. He says the crew has blessed him, and he tries to return the favor in kind.

“As long as they are doing their jobs they don’t hear anything out of me. They know how to log, they are grown men. If you have to sit there and babysit them, you need to move on,” he says.

Which brings him to a small concern for the future of the labor force. “You don’t see a lot of the younger generation coming into the woods. I think one reason for that is this equipment. It’s hard to pay for if you don’t do a certain amount of production,” he thinks. Additionally, he believes it is hard to take the time to bring a young guy out to the woods to gain the experience he needs. He says, “When you put that machine in the woods it needs to have someone on it who knows what they are doing and is capable of producing. It’s going to get harder and harder to get help because you don’t have time to train these guys. You just can’t afford to.”

Logging is a hard business, and this year’s weather has not been favorable for Miller. He is very conscious of the cost of doing business.

“It’s harder now to make a living at this. What with fuel costs and the labor costs, you have to produce so much. Every three years when we go to trade, we’ve usually got good equity in the machines but now with the DEF fluid, that’s cost, that’s cutting into your equity. It’s getting more expensive. There are so many variables to overcome. You’re always forced to do more for less.

Mills do it as well. That’s why they all stay at full capacity, even in the winter months. Trucks sitting in line at the mill costs you as well.” SLT

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Comeback Trail ■ Deck Trevitt is back in logging and taking advantage of new markets.

By Jay Donnell FORSYTH, Ga. hen Deck Trevitt decided to ★ leave the logging business in 2007 he wasn’t sure if he would ever return, but he’s now back in it and taking advantage of new opportunities in the Peach State.

Trevitt, 63, a graduate of Mercer University, started Trevitt Logging in 1978 and later changed the name to Quality Forest Products to indicate the business was about more than just cutting trees. He quickly gained a reputation for being one of the most innovative loggers in the

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Southeast and was twice honored as Georgia’s Logger of the Year (1986 and 1997) as well as Timber Harvesting’s Logging Business of the Year in 2001. Trevitt was one of the first loggers to serve on the American Pulpwood Assn.’s Board of Directors.

In 1999, Trevitt turned some heads in the Southern ranks by converting one of his three logging crews into a cut-to-length operation to merchandise a growing number of log sorts more efficiently. CTL had its advantages and disadvantages for Trevitt. Many potential clients were unfamiliar with the logging system so they didn’t understand the benefits while others

The fuel chip market has been a major contributor to the success of Woodland Improvements. Inset, Deck Trevitt

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were willing to make price concessions for it because they understood CTL aesthetics and environmental benefits. One pitfall he had not counted on was the way underbrush hindered CTL productivity.

Trevitt had to assign a third member to the crew whose job was cutting brush and small saplings with a brush saw. While production improved, the extra expense proved costly.

In the 1980s, he was one of the first in the region to use on-board scales in order to keep load weights in legal check. He explored ways to make trucking more efficient by using special order trucks and lightweight trail-

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A 2010 Cat 559B loader gets the job done right for Deck Trevitt and company.

ers equipped with super single rear tires. In the late ’80s, Trevitt made efforts to improve trucking efficiency by eliminating more than 2,000 lbs. in tare weight. Many of the concepts he came up with became standard trucking specs today.

Here And Now For much of the 2000’s, Trevitt was managing three crews in Georgia and then he decided it was time for a change. Trevitt was starting to grow weary of all the responsibilities that come with managing that many crews so in 2006-2007 he sold each of the crews to the guys that were running them for him.

Trevitt and Quality Forest Products continued to operate as a timber dealer and timber buyer contracting with those three crews.

However, Trevitt began to have various issues with the three newly owned contract crews. One of the crew owners was from northern Minnesota and he returned home and took his CTL operation with him.

One of the contractors decided there was somewhere better to log other than Quality Forest Products and the third operation simply went under.

Quality Forest Products hired other contractors to replace the lost crews, Trevitt recalls, but as the recession wound down the number of loggers began to dwindle and it was tough to find good contractors. “All the contractors we’ve had are excellent contractors,” Trevitt says. “Sometimes things just don’t work out.”

Trevitt learned a lot during this period. “We were somewhat spoiled when we did all of our own logging because we owned the equipment and had the manpower,” he says. “When we got out of the logging business we lost some control over the quality of the work we were able to do and it’s a lot easier to get the quality work that

The 2009 John Deere 648H skidder is always a reliable piece of equipment for Woodland Improvements.

From left to right, Isiah Gibson, Ed Singleton, Jeffrey Alexander, Schyulor Fields and Deck Trevitt

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we want by doing it ourselves. That’s the biggest advantage of being in the logging business. When you tell a man you can do something, you can do it. When you tell a landowner you can do something, you can do it.

Sometimes it’s hard to get that done with a contractor.”

In January 2014, when an opportunity came up to buy some used equipment, Trevitt became a logger again. A company-owned logging operation was looking to shut down and Quality Forest Products bought everything they had. Trevitt decided to name his new logging operation Woodland Improvements, serving as a contractor for Quality Forest Products, along with four other contract jobs.

Operations Woodland Improvements usually clear-cuts and thins 40 loads a week (1,200 tons) on flat and gentle rolling terrain. They clear-cut 75% of the time. When Southern Loggin’ Times visited, they were half clear-cutting and half thinning a 140-acre tract.

The recently established crew was clear-cutting the upland ground and thinning the low ground. It was a mixed stand of natural wood and they were separating pine sawlogs, chip-n-

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Most of Trevitt's equipment was bought from a company logging crew, including this 2010 Cat 559B loader and military setout truck.

saw and pulpwood. For the hardwood they were separating grade logs, pallet wood, pulpwood and fuel wood.

“We’re thinning it and taking out fuel wood and some higher value product,” Trevitt explains. “They’re going

to replant the high ground.”

Pine sawlogs and pine chip-n-saw go to Interfor (formerly Keadle Lumber) in Thomaston, Ga. Pine chip-nsaw also goes to Jordan Forest Products in Barnesville, Ga. Pine pulp-

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wood moves to to Graphic Packaging in Macon. Hardwood grade logs go to T&S Hardwoods in Milledgeville, pallet wood to Southern Forest Industries in Forsyth and hardwood pulpwood goes to Rayonier in Bar-

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The company usually produces around 40 loads a week.

Woodland Improvements generally finds itself cutting a mixed stand of natural wood.

nesville. Fuel chips are going to Piedmont Green Power in Barnesville, Graphic Packaging in Macon and Weyerhaeuser in Oglethorpe.

The fuel chip market has been a major contributor to the newly established Woodland Improvements. “We got into chipping about a year ago and that’s worked well for us,” Trevitt says. “We’ve got three good markets for fuel wood in this area and it was definitely a good move. There ae a lot of chippers in the woods in this area because of those markets.”

When Woodland Improvements arrives on a new tract they build their

to get them to sign off on closing out a tract. Woodland Improvements puts in water bars and skid trails and has two portable bridges that they use whenever necessary.

Employees arrive on site at 7 a.m. and leave at 5 p.m. The company offers holiday pay as well as two weeks of paid vacation. They also grant time off for sickness and family emergencies.

Employees are Isiah Gibson, cutter operator; Ed Singleton, skidder operator; Jeffery Alexander, skidder operator; and Schyulor Fields, crew supervisor and loader operator. All of the employees have not only

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own roads and clear the landings with a 2006 model John Deere 700J dozer.

Trevitt runs it at times and also has a part-time employee who will run it as well. “We’ll cut them (the landings) out first, particularly since we’re chipping fuel wood,” Trevitt explains. “It makes a neater job if we can chip all that instead of pushing it up in a pile so we’ll try to have an area where we can get on the tract and get setup. When we’re working on a tract that has already been thinned, we’ll sometimes use the loading docks that are already there.”

When there is a consultant involved on a job the company has

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been with Woodland Improvements since its inception but they were also with Trevitt for 20 years before he got out of the logging business.

“I was very fortunate to get all four of them back when we started back up,” Trevitt says.

Christie Wheeler is the office manager. She takes care of payroll, insurance, payables and receivables.

Don Deckbar is the company’s timber buyer.

The company has had good luck with safety and hasn’t had any accidents since starting up in 2014.

Years ago, Trevitt started an inhouse safety training program for

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his employees before safety consultants existed. He decided to hire a full-time manager explicitly to focus on safety and training. Her name was Darlene McDonald.

Today, McDonald owns a safety consulting business known as Safety On Site and she handles Woodland Improvements’ safety program.

Equipment Almost all of Trevitt’s equipment was bought from a company log-

ging crew that worked for Interfor out of Thomaston. It includes a ’09 John Deere 648H skidder, ’06 Deere 648G-III skidder, ’10 Cat 559B loader, ’13 Tigercat 718E feller-buncher, ’13 Deere 700J dozer, ’14 Vermeer 2300XL chipper and two military setout trucks. A Tigercat 240B loader and ’06 John Deere 700J dozer were purchased later. Brantley Trucking does all of the company’s hauling. The company runs Primex tires and uses Kendall and Citgo oil.

Primary equipment dealers are Flint Equipment of Macon, Tidewater in Forsyth, Yancey Bros. in Macon and Vermeer Southeast in Marietta. Trevitt decided to purchase the Vermeer 2300XL chipper for a number of reasons. “I liked that they were local (Vermeer Southeast) in Marietta, Ga.,” he says. “At the time they were the only brand that had replaceable wear items like the drum belly pan, shute spout liner and infeed deck floor.”

The company does most of its

maintenance and repairs in the woods in order to keep costs down, but they also do some maintenance at their shop in Forsyth. Trevitt’s new shop is right next door to his old one. He had been renting the building out where his new shop is for quite some time, but lost the tenant during the recession so he decided to sell the old building and make the move. The company operates a 24 hour Cardlock fueling system on the same premises as the building he had been renting out so it made sense to move into that building and have everything on the same site.

Trevitt and company perform oil and filter changes every 250 hours and they drop all fluids at 1000 hours. Machines are greased at the end of each day. “I like greasing the machines when they’re hot because it won’t allow condensation to collect,” Trevitt explains. “Heating and cooling is what causes condensation so it’s not good to let it sit all night and cool.”

Challenges One of the biggest challenges for Woodland Improvements has been the recent development coming out of Interfor. The Canadian-based company implemented marketrelated downtime at several of its Southern U.S. sawmills, including the Thomaston mill, which is Trevitt’s main sawlog market. Woodland Improvements remains on quota with them and that will be a big issue moving forward. “We’re kind of in a dilemma right now as a result of them shutting down a shift,” Trevitt says. “We’re going to have to make adjustments in the types of tracts that we’re buying.

It’s going to be a challenge to get some of the new ones cut that we have in inventory now because we have a lot of sawlog inventory in what we have bought.”

There is some good news. Fuel wood markets are stable in Georgia and the company has been taking advantage of them. Trevitt wasn’t into the fuel wood markets at all before he got out of the logging business in 2007. The Vermeer chipper is the first chipper Trevitt’s business has ever owned and operated. “That’s probably the thing that has helped us the most because it’s really kept our production at a good level,” he says.

“It’s big to have another market that we’ve never had before.”

Quality Forest Products is a member of the Georgia Forestry Assn., Southeastern Wood Producers Assn. and the Forest Resources Assn. When Trevitt isn’t in the woods he enjoys spending time at St. Simons Island in Georgia. SLT 22

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ALC Highlights ■ 250-plus turn out for 2015 annual meeting along northwestern California coast.

ighlights of the 21st annual meeting of the American Loggers Council, held September 24-26 in Eureka, Calif., included the induction of two new state groups as members, informative technical sessions, a briefing on proposed federal forest management legislation, a resolution honoring a founding father of ALC, the presentation of various awards, and a logging operation tour.

Attending were more than 250 loggers, family members and ALC supporters.

Associated Contract Loggers and Truckers of Minnesota and the West Virginia Loggers Council were accorded full membership

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privileges by the ALC board. The Minnesota association is an established independent organization led

by Scott Dane, executive director; the newly formed West Virginia group is affiliated with the state’s forestry association and is headed

by Frank Stewart. Both organizations have appointed members to serve on the ALC board, which now serves professional timber harvesters in 32 states.

The board adopted a resolution in memory of Michigan logger Earl St. John, Jr., one of several loggers who helped form and shape the ALC in the mid ’90s and who served as the organization’s first president. St. John died on Septem-

ber 13, following years of declining health.

Technical sessions included the following: —Mike Rose, representing the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, addressed how the ALC and his organization could work together on similar issues when seeking to preserve jobs and promote domestic industry.

—Jimmie Locklear with Forestry Mutual Insurance, along with several other insurance representatives, focused on issues they confront in providing log and chip truck coverage, and stressed the need for heightened safety awareness and additional driver training. Locklear informed the group about the recent formation of TEAM Truck, an effort to stimulate additional driver training, and encouraged broad support for it.

—Nick Smith, founder and executive director of Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities described the work of his non-profit, non-partisan grassroots coalition that seeks to restore the health of rural communities and federal forest lands.

A panel, consisting of Keith Argow, National Woodland Owners Assn.; Dan Tomacheski, Sierra Pacific Industries; and Jim Dudley, Swanson Group (Sierra and Swanson own and operate lumber and plywood plants); dwelled on what their organizations look for in a logging contractor, and concerns they have with logger attrition.

Attendees enthusiastically supported the ALC’s annual auction, which raised a record $23,645 to further support its work.

Ladies’ events included a visit to the scenic Avenue of the Giants and a luncheon at Rosina’s vineyard, where Associated California Logger member Rosina Lewis hosted a tour of their vineyard. Ladies also explored historic downtown Eureka and enjoyed a luncheon at Carson’s Mansion on Humboldt Bay. At the Saturday luncheon, California U.S. Representative Tom McClintock, who chairs the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulations, discussed legislation working its way through Congress

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that would halt the Forest Service practice of using funds designated for forest management to combat wildfires and to otherwise provide better management on forest Service lands.

Also at the luncheon, logger Frank Myers, Vice President of M.M. Wright Inc., Gasburg, Va., was recognized as the ALC’s 2015 National Logger Activist of the Year. Myers has been involved in logging for 34 years and is a member of the Virginia Board of Forestry and the Virginia Loggers Assn. (VLA) Board of Directors.

Ron Jenkins, Executive Director of VLA, nominated Myers based on his tireless efforts to improve the logging industry at both state and federal levels. His nomination was endorsed by Todd Haymore, Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, and Bettina Ring, Virginia State Forester.

Outgoing ALC president Myles Anderson presented the President’s Award to Henry Schinebeck, Director of the Great Lakes Timber Professionals Assn. for his industry promotional efforts and accomplishments over the years.

During the concluding dinner on Saturday night, Floyd and Sandy Quiram, owners of Quiram Logging, Inc., Whitefish, Mont., received the prestigious Timber Harvesting Logging Business of the Year Award.

President Myles Anderson turned over the gavel to incoming president Richard Schwab of Florida, who pledged to continue moving the organization forward, citing these goals: 1) “increasing the visibility of the organization among our peers; 2) reviewing the five-year strategic plan and coming up with ways to make this organization even stronger, and 3) increasing our presence in Washington, DC by making an extra effort to bring more people to the Spring Fly-In to make visits to the Hill.”

Other officers include Mississippi logger Ken Martin, Oregon logger Mark Turner, and Alabama logger Chris Potts.

ALC’s 22nd annual meeting is set for September 29-October 1 in SLT Panama City Beach, Fla.

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Signs That’ll Make You Smile Behind the working area of a bartender: Please Be Patient With The Bartender. Even A Toilet Can Serve Only One A—hole At A Time l At the entrance to a coffee shop: If You Don’t Like Gay Marriage, Blame Straight People. They’re The Ones Who Keep Having Gay Babies l On a Mexican restaurant marquee: Nachos As Big As Your A— l On a chain link fence: Is There Life After Death? Trespass Here & Find Out l At the entrance to a bar: The Truth About Our Waitresses Is They Only Flirt With You To Get A Better Tip l On a chain link fence at an aircraft hangar: If You Find Yourself Walking Towards A Big Noisy Thing With Spinning Blades, Turn The Hell Around Einstein! l On a door to a plumbing supply store: PUSH, If That Doesn’t Work, PULL. If That Doesn’t Work Either, It’s Because We’re Closed l In a machine shop: Caution: This Machine Has No Brain. Use Your Own. l On a chain link fence to an electricity substation: DANGER! DO NOT TOUCH. Not Only Will This Kill You, It Will Hurt The Entire Time You Are Dying l On a tree at a residence: I Only Do What The Voices In My Wife’s Head Tell Her To Tell Me To Do l On the marquee of a bar: Our Beer Is As Cold As Your Ex’s Heart

Wide Load

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The Knight’s Best Friend?

A knight went off to fight in the Holy Crusades but before leaving he made his wife put on a chastity belt. After tightly securing it to her, he handed the key to his best friend with the instruction: “If I do not return within seven years, unlock my wife and set her free to lead a normal life.”

The knight then rode off on the first leg of his journey to the Holy Land, but had only traveled an hour or so when he was suddenly aware of the sound of pounding hooves behind him. He turned to see that it was his best friend.

“What’s the problem?” asked the knight. His best friend calmly replied: “You gave me the wrong key.”

He Asked For It A woman and her 12-year-old son were riding in a taxi in a big city. It was raining and several prostitutes were standing under awnings.

“Mom,” said the boy, “what are all those women doing?”

“They’re waiting for their husbands to get off work,” she replied.

The taxi driver turned around and said, “Lady, why don’t you tell him the truth?

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the power to screw itself in.”

A Non-Denominational pastor said: “None.

We don’t want to make the bulb feel unwanted or uncomfortable.”

This leads to one clear conclusion: It’s no wonder pastors are always in the dark.

Food For Thought

By J. P. Long

They’re hookers, boy! They have sex with men for money.”

The little boy’s eyes got wide and he said, “Is that true mom?”

His mother, glaring at the driver, answered, “Yes”.

After a few minutes, the kid asked, “Mom, if those women have babies, what happens to them?”

Without hesitating, she said, “Most of them become taxi drivers!”

Chinese Proverb If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.

Enlightened Pastors At a recent pastor’s retreat each minister in attendance was asked the following question: “How many people does it take to screw in a light bulb?” The answers were as follows: A Presbyterian pastor responded: “None. If God wants the bulb screwed in He is sovereign and will do it himself without human effort.”

A Charismatic pastor replied: “None. The bulb doesn’t need to be changed. We should pray that it be healed.”

A Pentecostal pastor said: “None. We simply need to cast out from the bulb the demon of darkness.”

The Fundamentalist pastor stated: “None. We shouldn’t even enter the room because we need to keep ourselves separate from all darkness.”

A Baptist pastor responded: “None. If we allow physical contact between a person and the bulb it might lead to dancing.”

The Wesleyan minister replied: “None. If we just show the bulb its need, it already possesses

Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Three old men are out walking. One says, “Windy, isn’t it?”

The second one says, “No, it’s Thursday! The third chimes in, “So am I. Let’s go get a beer.”

If you can get arrested for hunting or fishing without a license, but not for being in the country illegally, then you might live in a country run by idiots.

If you have to get your parents’ permission to go on a field trip or take an aspirin in school, but not to get an abortion— then you might live in a country run by idiots.

If you have to show identification to board an airplane, cash a check, buy liquor, or check out a library book, but you don’t have to show ID for the right to vote on who runs the government, then you might live in a country run by idiots.

If the government wants to ban stable, lawabiding citizens from owning gun magazines with more than 10 rounds but gives 20 F-16 fighter jets to the crazy new leaders over there, then you might live in a country run by idiots.

If, in the largest city of the country, you can buy two 16-ounce sodas but not a 24-ounce soda because the government says a 24-ounce sugary drink might make you fat, then you might live in a country run by idiots.

If an 80-year-old woman can be stripsearched by the TSA but a woman in a hi-jab is only subject to having her neck and head searched because of her religion, then you might live in a country run by idiots.

If your government believes that the best way to eradicate trillions of dollars of debt is to spend trillions more, then you might live in a country run by idiots.

If a seven-year-old boy can be thrown out of school for saying his teacher is “cute,” but hosting a sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is perfectly acceptable, then you might live in a country run by idiots.

If hard work and success is rewarded with higher taxes and more government intrusion, while not working is rewarded with EBT cards, WIC checks, Medicaid, subsidized housing, and free cell phone, then you might live in a country run by idiots.

If the government’s plan for getting people back to work is to reward them with 99 weeks of unemployment checks with no requirement to prove they applied for it, then you might live in a country run by idiots.

If being stripped of the ability to defend yourself makes you “safer” according to the government, then you might live in a country run by idiots.

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Dusty Roads ■ Young logger Dustin Young kicks up some dust in the dry woods of southwest Arkansas.

By David Abbott KIRBY, Ark. hen Southern Loggin’ Times ★ caught up with Dustin Young Logging, Inc., in early October, southwest Arkansas had gone from one weather extreme to another. The spring saw some of the most rain loggers in the area have seen; the fall brought talk of a record drought. While South Carolina was experiencing historic floods, Arkansas was bone dry.

The dust was so heavy in the woods that it was almost as bad as a thick layer of mud on the ground, and as slick as water. Boots sank down into it several inches deep with each step. Operators had to diligently blow air filters out every day, and take care with trucks and machines.

When truck tires lose traction in this loose sand and start bouncing, it

often causes catastrophic damage to rear ends and drivetrains, so extreme caution is a must.

“It’s been a couple months since we’ve had a good dust settler,” according to owner Dustin Young, 30. Before that, though, he experienced the opposite. The first half of the year was so wet, Young says, that at one point his crews worked only one day in two weeks. “That’s a huge loss,” he notes.

“Earlier in the year it was too wet to work. Now it’s so dry the mills are full,” Young continues. “Everybody is blowing and going wide open and we are starting to get put on quota.

We need some rain to even things out. That’s what it’s going to take to get our mills back in order.”

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Fresh Horses Rain—either too much or not enough—has been a challenge this year in Arkansas.

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Young has two crews. The first uses a Caterpillar 579 loader with

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CTR 426 delimber, John Deere 948L skidder and Prentice 2670 cutter. Crew 2 has a Prentice 2384C loader with a CTR 426 delimber, Cat 545D skidder, John Deere 848H skidder and a Deere 843L fellerbuncher. He also keeps a Cat 525D skidder as a spare. Equipment investment is over $3 million. Dealers are Stribling Equipment in Texarkana for John Deere, Riggs Cat in Texarkana for Caterpillar machines, and Suttle Equipment in De Queen for Prentice.

Half of these pieces have been bought within the last year to support the expansion into the second crew.

The oldest piece is the Prentice cutter—a 2010 model. The Deere 848H, a 2014 model, just turned a year old in September. The Prentice 2384 is a 2015 model. He bought the 843L in June, and the 948L is the newest machine, just added to the lineup this fall. Young says he was the first logger in Arkansas to buy one of Deere’s new L series machines, and so far the only one with the large model 948, as far as he knows. “I’m the only idiot in Arkansas who’s got one,” he laughs. “They’re pricey. The last skidder was $380,000.” Total equipment investment, including trucks, is over $3 million.

“Deere has come a long way with their technology,” the young logger says as to why he likes the new L series machines. “The skidder and the cutter have 50 less hoses, and they are so much more user friendly.” For instance, he notes, the skidder seat turns around completely, allowing an operator to drive the machine in reverse while facing that direction.

“It’s easier on my workers. And Deere stands behind their equipment 100%. So far—knock on wood—I’ve had no problem on either one, other than o-rings, and that’s minor.” He adds that the 843L cutter gets better fuel efficiency than the 2013 843K he traded for it.

Operators handle all maintenance, changing oil every 500 hours and greasing at least twice weekly.

They track hours by writing it down in the machine. Young’s personal preference is for Rotella products, which he buys from Charlie’s Petro-

Young uses a Caterpillar loader on one crew and a 2015 Prentice on the second crew, both paired with CTR 426 delimbers.

In The Blood

Young is among the first in his state to run a Deere 948L, his newest machine.

leum in Delight, Ark. “When I first started logging they gave me a credit line down there, so that’s where I have bought my diesel, grease and oil.” At least once a week, Charlie’s Petroleum fills a 3,000-gallon diesel tank at Young’s shop. Charlie’s also delivers bar and chain oil, hydraulic oil, motor oil, even delimber chains when needed. The shop is a 40x80 building, but the logger is currently expanding it, explaining, “I have too much stuff for one shop.”

Young owns seven trucks, ranging from ’95 to ’15 models—a Kenworth, three Western Stars and three Peterbilts, including one new Peterbilt just delivered the day before SLT’s visit. He runs mostly Pitts four bunk and pole trailers, and four

Bottom row, from left: Matt Martin (Deltic Timber), Brad Whisenhunt (cutter), Nathan Ward (skidder), Johnny Cochran (loader), Greg House (skidder), Mark Johnson (Deltic Timber); back row, from left, Dustin Young (owner) and Barry Wallace (Deltic)

shop-built pole trailers. He also has three contract haulers who pull their own trailers.

With so many new machines on which to keep up payments, Young states that he needs to haul an average 60 loads a week per crew to stay in the black. “In the winter you’ve got to make every lick count. In the summers, we’ve worked several Saturdays.”

The Young crews haul all their pine logs to Deltic Timber Corp. In Waldo, most pulpwood to Domtar’s paper mill in Ashdown and some to Ward Shavings in Murfreesboro, Ark. They perform both clear-cuts and first and second thinnings for Deltic, both on company-owned and private land.

Young comes from a family of loggers. “Many moons ago my uncles had a pretty big crew for Weyerhaeuser,” he recalls. His father, Gary, also logged. Sadly, the elder Young met his end in the woods in August 1995. Dustin was only 10 at the time, but the tragic loss didn’t extinguish in him a desire to follow his father’s trail.

“It’s in my blood,” he shrugs. “My mom said she would strangle me if ever got into it, but here I am. She hasn’t strangled me yet.”

Young tried studying forestry in college, but it only took a few semesters to convince him that wasn’t the path for him. In 2005 he started working as a contractor for one of his best friends, fellow logger Mark Deputy. “Mark Deputy is the reason I am here now,” Young states emphatically. Deputy financed a skidder for Young, and allowed him to work for him as a contractor.

While contract skidding for Deputy, Young saved up and eventually added a second skidder. He hired his first employee, Brad Whisenhunt, to drive the second skidder, still contracting for Deputy.

Whisenhunt still works for him today, driving a cutter. “We’ve been through some hard times and he has stuck it out with me,” Young says.

When the Potlatch mill in Prescott

First crew, left to right: Wayne Fant (skidder), Justin Fox (loader) and Dallas Simmons (cutter)

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Like most of Young’s equipment, the Cat 545 is a somewhat recent purchase.

closed in 2008, that left Deputy and Young hanging, and shut a lot of loggers down for a time. Deputy called Deltic, and by luck they needed another supplier, so the friends went to work for that company the very next day. By 2010 Young was ready to start his own crew. In September 2014, he started his second crew at the behest of Deltic.

Young and Deputy remain tight, hunting together and sharing lowboys when needed. “He backs me up 100%,” Young says gratefully.

“My buddy Mark helping me out, that was a real blessing. Not many people will take somebody under their wing like he did for me. He is like a dad to me.”

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Top Notch “My crew has made me and put me where I am right now,” Young says unequivocally. “I wouldn’t trade one of them for anybody. If not for them I’d have nothing.”

Woods crews include Brad Whisenhunt (feller-buncher), Johnny Cogburn (loader), Nathan Ward (skidder), Doug House (skidder), Justin Fox (loader), Wayne Fant (skidder) and Dallas Simmons (feller-buncher). Truck drivers are Roger Kesterson, Eddie Jordan, Russell Barrett, Justin Archer and Mike Whisenhunt (Brad’s brother).

Mike’s brother-in-law, Jerry Roan, is also one of Young’s contract driv-

Young also bought another L series machine, the 843 cutter, in June.

ers. The other two contract trucks come from CST Logistics in Ashdown, owned by Cody Tackett.

“My truck drivers are awesome,” Young continues. “Some of them work way more hours than they’re supposed to.” He points to one driver who had been hauling since 9 p.m. on the previous night—Ashdown takes wood 24/7—because he knew the mill would be backed up, so he delivered when there was no wait. His workday was finished by mid-morning. “We try to plan ahead and make every lick count,” Young says. “But I don’t expect that out of them, they do it on their own. There is not one guy that I have to worry about oversleeping.”

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Continuing to heap well-deserved praise on his men, Young points out that the other crew currently has a two and a half hour drive to its job site. “That takes a lot of dedication,” the boss notes.

“The loader man, Justin Fox—that dude right there is dedicated. He drives 45 minutes from Hot Springs, where he lives, to my shop to fill up the diesel tank, then another two and half hours south to the job site.”

Young takes care to show his appreciation by taking care of the men with production bonuses and a few holidays. “They’re all good workers. I have culled out all the bad workers and truck drivers—the

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people who don’t take care of their equipment.”

The crews hold safety meetings every week, discussing a wide range of topics and issuing reminders about the proper and improper ways to do every day

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tasks that can too easily be taken for granted—how to safely climb up and down machinery, for instance.

Young already gets his equipment and trucking insurance through Glass Insurance Agency, LLC, locally owned in Prescott by Wayne

Glass. He’s also swapping his workers’ comp insurance to Glass. “Most people have their insurance out of state, and they don’t know who or what. Mine is all through one guy and I can look him in the eyes and talk to him directly. He’s very rep-

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utable and he has the best rates. He is the go-to guy in south Arkansas.”

Separately from the woods operations, Young also owns a gravel business with a dozer, track hoe and dump truck. He does some road work for Deltic and hauls gravel for other

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A 2010 model, the Prentice cutter is the oldest piece in Young’s lineup.

The crews have to average 60 loads a week each to keep up with payments.

companies, and when needed, of course, he can have his driver haul rocks for the logging crews as well.

we have to contend with company roads and a bad spot in the road can halt production.”

“If we need a load of gravel to keep the crew going, I don’t have to wait.

That’s a big deal in the winter, when

In his off time, Young has a couple of hobbies. He likes to race in his boat, a Youngblood TX18 pickle fork jet boat. He is also an avid fisherman and deer hunter—so much so that he gives his employees the first Monday and Tuesday of every deer season off. “That’s kind of a big deal for all my crew,” he says.

Young has one son, Gavyn, who turned 6 in May. The father and son’s birthdays are just 10 days apart. “My boy is starting to get into (hunting) with me, and that is exciting. He is getting old enough that he is getting the fever for it, and he keeps asking me when deer season starts,” Gavyn’s dad says with a big grin.

Hunting isn’t the only thing Young wants to share with his son. “I hope to have something to leave for my little boy one day,” he says, noting that when his own father died, his family struggled.

“But that made me stronger, because I had to work hard for SLT everything I got.”

Email Dustin Young: Dd young_1985@yahoo.com

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INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP ship. As President, I plan to mainAs We See It: Life’s A Journey tain the course. These are my goals

By Richard Schwab he great pop culture philosopher Tom Cochrane once said, “Life is a highway.” We all are on a journey going somewhere. On this journey

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we are all going to arrive at our destination, either on purpose or off purpose.

Over the last few years the American Loggers Council has been moving forward, on purpose, because of its strong leader-

for the coming year: My first goal is to bring more awareness to this organization. The last survey that was taken revealed that only 46% of loggers in this nation understood what ALC is and does. We have got to change this. We are going to solve this by strengthening our message through

social media, word of mouth, and other ideas we are now brain storming. As loggers we are so busy doing our jobs that we forget the importance of our national voice. We can’t allow ourselves to be so busy that we personally don’t take part in sharing our voices. Join me in understanding what we are about and letting others know about this great profession. With the ALC as our national voice, we have to personally participate and let others know what we are about.

As you know, 2016 is an election year. It is extremely difficult to get any traction on issues in an election year. However, come next spring, I would like to see more loggers than ever participate in our Washington DC Fly-In. It’s a wonderful opportunity to get our story told of what we do professionally in the woods.

Let’s try some new things next year. Bring someone who has never been to DC. Set some appointments up with members that are generally not favorable to our industry. Don’t worry about what to say. We will have a strong legislative agenda. We will give you the opportunity to make it personal to suit your business and personality.

The American Loggers Council this year will also be taking the time to evaluate its five-year plan.

With the help of our corporate sponsors, we are going to evaluate our goals and we will derive an action plan to achieve those goals. As it develops, I will share details of these plans. In this process, we will measure our successes and failures for the past five years. Along with the executive committee, I will be looking forward to this retreat in the summer of 2016. We will share our fiveyear plan at the annual meeting in September.

As you can see, we have some aggressive plans for this next year. Together we are going to work hard. We will be further down the road...on purpose. “Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.” (Proverbs 4:25-27 (NLT) Richard Schwab is the procurement manager for M.A. Rigoni, Inc., a full service timber harvesting and forest management company located in Perry, Fla. The American Loggers Council is a non-profit 501(c) (6) corporation representing professional timber harvesters in 30 states. Visit amloggers. com or phone 409-6250206.

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Morbark Opens Door For Manufacturing Day More than 130 area high school students, parents, school officials and other guests visited Morbark in October for the company’s careerfocused Manufacturing Day event.

Titled “March into Your Future with Morbark,” the event featured a tour of the Morbark factory and presentations by numerous employees explaining their duties and personal

Morbark hosted 130 visitors to promote manufacturing jobs.

career paths in manufacturing.

Manufacturing Day, officially the first Friday in October, is a coordinated occasion during which U.S. manufacturers open their doors to demonstrate the potential of modern manufacturing and foster interest in the wide range of manufacturing career opportunities available upon graduation from high school, trade schools or college.

“Today’s manufacturing is not your grandfather’s or even your father’s manufacturing,” says Morbark President Jim Shoemaker, Jr. “Modern manufacturing is highly technical, requires a skilled labor force and provides well-paying careers with diverse opportunities for advancement. But we’re facing a skills gap, with as many as 60% of skilled production positions in the U.S. going unfilled, combined with misperceptions about what manufacturing is. That’s why it’s important to have events like this.”

Plum Creek Divests Hardwood Tracts Plum Creek Timber Co., Inc. has sold 98,000 acres of timberlands in west-central Florida to Hancock Timber Resource Group for $120 million.

Plum Creek stated that although the lands were well-managed, the significant hardwood component of the property didn’t fit well with the company’s broader Southern timberland portfolio.

Hancock Timber reported that the timberlands, stocked primarily with southern pine plantations as well as hardwoods, are largely contiguous blocks and located in Levy County.

More Biomass Power Plants In The Works Georgia Renewable Power, LLC (an affiliate of GreenFuels Energy) is reportedly building a $100 million 58 MW wood biomass power plant in Colbert, Ga. at the site of a former Weyerhaeuser engineered wood products facility. The new operation, which will be called GRP—Madison Renewable Energy Facility, is expected to be operational in May 2017.

Georgia Renewable Power is also reportedly building a 79 MW wood biomass power plant at Carnesville, Ga.

Canfor Buys Anthony Forest Canfor Corp. is purchasing Anthony Forest Products Co. 40

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based in El Dorado, Ark. for $93.5 million (U.S.) AFP operates six facilities producing lumber, engineered wood and wood chips with a combined capacity of 250MMBF equivalent.

AFP owns a sawmill in Urbana, Ark., which produces southern pine lumber and has an operational capacity of 150MMBF per year. It owns laminating facilities in El Dorado, Ark. and Washington, Ga., which produce beams, columns and other glulam products with an annual combined capacity of 75MMBF, and owns chip mills in Louisiana and Texas with a total annual capacity of 800,000 tons.

AFP also owns a 50% interest in Anthony EACOM Inc., a joint venture with EACOM Timber Corp., located in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario which manufactures Ijoists with an annual capacity of 54 million lineal feet.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter 2015 and is subject to customary closing conditions.

As part of Canfor, Anthony Forest Products will continue to operate with the same management, sales and manufacturing teams.

New Corrigan OSB Mill Appears On Schedule RoyOMartin reported in September that its construction of a new OSB plant in Corrigan, Tex., “is

gaining momentum every day,” according to Terry Secrest, VP of OSB and corporate safety director.

All of the major equipment contracts have been issued, much of the engineering is complete, most of the site has been cleared, and the ad-

ministration building and warehouse are under construction. The next major milestones are receiving the Corps of Engineers’ wetlands permit and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s air permit.

The hiring process for construc-

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tion and OSB team members has begun, with career fairs for maintenance employees upcoming. Startup for Corrigan OSB, L.L.C. is anticipated for the latter part of 2017.

Biomass Plant Planned In Perry, Florida Applied Gaia Corp. of Houston plans to build a $60 million wood biomass power plant that will use a pyrolysis process to create energy and biochar byproduct in Perry, Fla. A company spokesman said they chose the area because of its area supply of wood chips and has agreements with several suppliers.

The facility may also burn chicken

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manure.

The facility will operate as Perry Natural Technologies and could create and impact 300 jobs Pyrolysis is a high-temperature decomposition process for burning biomass in the absence of oxygen.

The company expects to break ground in February 2016 and complete construction in eight months.

Slow Recovery After SC Floods According to Crad Jaynes, the executive director of the South Carolina Timber Producers Assn., wood is moving again to mills in the Piedmont, but recovery is slow after his-

toric levels of rainfall in the state in early October. “According to one major mill in the Piedmont, the wood flow is getting close to normal, but some others are only getting six loads a day,” Jaynes says.

“But from Columbia to the coast, it’s slow due to the extreme saturated conditions and the number of roads and bridges still closed. It’s to be expected with the amount of water we’ve had in the last two weeks. East Columbia is just devastated. It’s been pretty ugly.”

Travis McDonald at Canfor Southern Pine in Myrtle Beach reported that operations are back in full swing after a few days when employees were unable to get to work due to road conditions.

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Although getting logs from the woods is still difficult in many areas, he says most of the mills in his area have enough inventory to keep going till conditions improve.

Meanwhile, the South Carolina Forestry Commission says that some mills elsewhere in the state are reporting inventory shortfalls that could threaten continued operation.

Jaynes says there have been no specific reports of timber damage, but that flooding in recently planted stands of one to three year old timber will undoubtedly be affected. As loggers are starting to get back to work, Jaynes is urging discretion.

“Just because you can haul 90,000 lbs. doesn’t mean you should. The road beds are saturated and there have been rollovers and shoulders collapsing. The rain has exacerbated pre-existing problems with some roads. But wood is getting to the mills, they are continuing to run and their appetite (for wood) should be strong now.”

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Want To Place Your Classified Ad In IronWorks? Call 334-699-7837, 1-800-669-5613 or Email: class@southernloggintimes.com

IRONWORKS

TOLL FREE: 1-800-669-5613

IRONWORKS RATES; Space available by column inch only, one inch minimum. Rate is $50 per inch, special typesetting, borders, photo inclusion, blind ads, $10 extra each.

Deadlines: By mail, 15th of month prior to publication.

Place your ad toll-free 24 hours a day from anywhere in the USA (except Alaska and Hawaii) 1-800-669-5613 ask for Classifieds 8:30-5 pm CST. After business hours our automatic ad taker will take your ads.

RECONDITIONED DELIMBINATORS!!

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2012 Deere 437D Knuckleboom Loader STK# LU225667; 6,080 hrs $128,000

2011 Deere 643K Feller Buncher STK# LU633291; 7,617 hrs $94,000

2011 Deere 648H Log Loader STK# LU636990; 8,742 hrs $88,000

2011 Deere 648H Skidder STK# LU633154; 7,988 hrs $115,000

Go to www.eebinc.com for details and pictures plus other equipment for sale

2012 Tigercat 630D grapple skidder, Cummins with 6569 hours; Turnaround seat and controls, Tires: 73 x 44 x32 ...................................Call for details

2014 Tigercat T250D Super Duty, 2005 Tigercat Track 822H Harvester w/ Tigercat FPT N67 engine, 1600 hours, Waratah 622B processor head, Cum36' boom w/ live heel & grapple, tri-rail mins engine, 9000 hours ...........$ Call U/C ............................................$ Call

2000 Tigercat 845B Track Cutter w/ Koehring 22" sawhead, Cummins engine, 8204 hours; 36" U/C ..............................................$95,000

2004 John Deere 2554 Track 2012 John Deere 437D Log Loader w/ Loader/Shovel; 4400 hours; 36' boom CSI Ultra 264 delimber & CSI 4400 with live heel and Rotobec grapple ground saw, 5400 hours.......$135,000 ............................................$125,000

2012 Deere 653K Feller Buncher STK# LU645108; 4,743 hrs $116,000

2011 Deere 643K Feller Buncher STK# LU633291; 8,499 hrs $94,000 1999 Hydro-Ax 611EX w/ 20" side cut 1996 CAT D5C Series III w/ 6-way 1998 CAT 928G & CAT IT28 wheel saw, Cummins 8.3 engine, 9911 hours, blade, CAT 90HP engine w/3262 hours, loaders, GP buckets, Tires: 20.5x25, Tires: 73x44x32 .....................$40,000 new 20" SALT rails U/C ..........$25,000 (log forks available for IT28 $4000) .....................................$40,000 each

2008 Deere 748H Skidder STK# LU616549; 9,791 hrs $175,000

2011 Deere 748H Skidder STK# LV637711; 6,402 hrs $139,000

2010 Deere 843K Feller Buncher STK# LU630318; 5,743 hrs $152,500

VISIT US ONLINE:

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2012 843K–22" Deere Felling saw; 30.5x32 tires; New saw teeth, hours: 5,307 ....................................$134,500

2011 TIGERCAT 724E–5700 Sawhead; 30.5x32 tires; Tier 3 engine; hours: 8,863; ..............................$134,900

2004 TIGERCAT T240B–High Rise Cab; Slasher Saw Package ..............................................................$99,500

2010 DEERE 648H–Dual Arch; Torque Converter; 60.5x32 Tires; hours: 9,300.................................$89,500

2013 tigercat 620D–Warranty good until July 2016; Dual Arch; 30.5x32 Tires; Turn around seat; hours: 3,065.................................................................$199,500

2007 PETERBILT 378–ISX Cummins eng; 11R 24.5 Tires; Aluminum wheels; Tandem axle; 40,000 lb. rear axle weight; 10 Fuller trans; Air ride susp; miles: 593,660 ............................................................................$57,500

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Want To Place Your Classified Ad In IronWorks? Call 334-699-7837, 1-800-669-5613 or Email: class@southernloggintimes.com

FOR SALE

• 94 Ford L9000 w/425 Cat, Hendrickson suspension, double railed, tri axle log truck, good condition .........$25,000 • 02 CSI IDT 3000 stand alone delimber with @10,000 hrs ...................$32,000 • 07 Cat 559 loader w/7100 hrs$65,000 • 89 Eager Beaver 40ft detached or drive on trailer, fully rebuilt ......$20,000 828-748-7440 call or text 13188

WANTED TO BUY

Cat 518 & Cat 518C skidders in TX, LA area Call Kent 936-699-4700 r_kentjones@yahoo.com

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FOR SALE

3 converted chip trailers, 1 steel box trailer.....$9,000 each Call Joshua Johns 770-363-7414 13187

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3664

Watch videos of some of our machines on YouTube

2011 Prentice 2384B Log Loader— 2010 Tigercat 234 Log Loader— 2007 Prentice 2384 Log— CTR 426, CTR 426 delimber, 8600 hours CSI 264 Delimber, Cummins engine Resealed the hydraulic collector, New ..........................................$115,000 ..........................................$105,000 radiator, Cold a/c.....................$79,500

2005 Hydro-Ax 670 Feller Buncher— 2010 Prentice 2670 Feller Buncher— 1997 Bell Ultra C Feller Buncher—CumTight & Dry, Cold air..................$65,000 7300 hrs., New disc, Fresh reman saw mins Diesel 4BTA 3.0 eng., Hot saw, 28Lx26

2005 John Deere 648GIII Log Skidder—Single arch, New center pins & bushings, New cradle pins & bushings, , New oil pump, rings and rod/main bearings, Tight & Dry throughout ....$60,000

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motor, 67x34x25 tires, Waratah FD22 saw head ........................................$125,000

tires with chains, Both drive assemblies are fresh reman...................................$35,000

2006 John Deere 335 Log Loader—Slasher hydraulics, Joystick controls, 7000 hours, Never used with a delimber .........................$59,500

2005 John Deere 648GIII Log Skidder—Torque converter, Reman head with new head gasket, New center pins, New cradle pins & bushings, New hyd pump, All hoses, cylinders & valve bodies dry ................................................$65,000

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SKIDDERS

KNUCKLEBOOM LOADERS

CAT 525C (052501516), 2012, 3917 HRS., CAB, AC, 30.5-32, DOUBLE ARCH GRAPPLE ............................................................$217,000

CAT 559B DS (00PR65029), 2011, 3789 HRS, CAB, AC, CTR DELIMBER, GRAPPLE ....CALL

CAT 545C (054500304),2006, 9787 HRS., CAB, AC, 35.5-32, DUAL ARCH GRAPPLE, WINCH ..............................................................$99,500

CAT 573C (0RJT00256), 2012, 3477 HRS., CAB, AC, 30.5L-32, SH56B SAW ......$208,500

CAT 559B DS (00PR65341), 2012, 6356 HRS., CAB, AC, PITTS TRAILER, CTR DELIMBER, GRAPPLE............................................$172,500

SCREEN DOPPSTADT SM720 (W0962121781 D07286), 2009, 2475 HRS., 7’ 20’’ DRUM W/ 3/4 ‘’ PUNCH PLATE, 435/50R19.5 ............$250,000

PET 4300 (43021679), 2006, 5598 Hrs.......................................$105,000

FELLER BUNCHERS

DEERE 843J (DW843JX623003), 2009, 3772 HRS., CAB, AC, 30.5R32, CENTER POST HEAD ........................................................CALL HYDRO-AX 321 (7121), 1998, 10000 HRS., CAB, AC, 24.5-32 TIRES W/CHAINS, 20’’SAWHEAD.......................................$33,500

PRENTICE 2470 (PB19355), 2007, 11342 HRS., CAB, AC, SH50 SAW .................$82,500 TIGERCAT 726 (7260852), 1997, 10000 HRS., CAB, AC, 30.5-32, 22’’ SAWHEAD ......$56,000 TIMBCO TL735B (13110408), 2008, 5669 HRS., CAB, AC, QUADCO HEAD HOT SAW ............................................................$289,500

CHIPPERS PET 4300 (43021679), 2006, 5598 HRS. ............................................................$105,000 PET 4300 (43-07-1704), 2010, 5500 HRS. ...........................................................$125,000

DOPPSTADT SM720 (W0962121781 Cat 545C (054500304), 2006, 9782 D07286), 2009, 2459 Hrs., 7’ 20’’ Hrs, Cab, AC, 35.5-32, Dual Arch Drum w/ 3/4" Punch Plate, Grapple, Winch .................... $99,500 435/50R19.5 ..........................$250,000

PRENTICE 2470 (PB19355), 2007, 11275 Hrs., Cab, AC, SH50 Saw ...............................................$82,500

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FINAN C AVAILA ING BLE

www.equipmentandparts.com

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Office : 903-238-8700 • Shane Fuller : 903-235-1147 Jason Bruner: 903-452-5290

SKIDDERS

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2012 Cat 563C – 4,592 hours, Prentice SH56B Bunching Head, Good 28L tires, C7.1 Cat engine, Cab with cold air, Tight pins, No leaks, Serviced and ready to work! .......................................$139,500

2011 John Deere 748H Grapple Skidder - 8,300 hours, Good 30.5 x 32 tires, Cab with air, Winch, Ready to work! .................................................$129,500

2012 Cat 535C Dual Arch Skidder – 5,800 hours, 3 New, 1 very good - 35.5 x 32 tires, Cab with air, Winch. Ready to work! ...................Reduced to $149,500 2014 Barko 930 Mulcher - 1,048 hours, Powertrain warranty, FAE 300U smooth drum mulching head, 28L tires, Cab with air, Rent to own W.A.C. ....$295,000

FELLER BUNCHERS

2013 Cat 563C – 3,900 hours, SC-57 Center post saw head, Cab with air, 30.5 x 32 tires, C7.1 Cat engine, Ready to work! ..............Reduced to $165,000

2011 Prentice 2470 Mulcher – “NEW” FAE smooth drum mulching head, “NEW” high pressure pump / hoses, Cab with air, 28L tires. Rent to own

LOG LOADER

2013 Prentice 2470C - 3,934 hours, Cat C6.6 Tier 3 engine, SC57 Center post saw head, very good 28L tires, Cab with air, Ready to work! Reduced to $165,000

2005 Barko 395ML Log Loader – 161 ORIGINAL HOURS, Mounted on base trailer, John Deere engine, Cab with air, This machine is in new condition. ...................................................$89,500

NOT PICTURED 2012 John Deere 843K Feller Buncher - 4,790 hours, FD22B Center post saw head, Good 30.5 x 32 tires, Cab with air, Ready to work! ........................$159,500 2012 John Deere 748H Grapple Skidder - 7,700 hours, 2 New, 2 very good 30.5 x 32 tires, Cab with air, Winch, .................................................$139,500 6288

2012 Cat 573C – 5,200 hours, SC-57 Center post saw head, Cab with air, 28L tires, C7.1 Cat engine, Ready to work! ............................Reduced to $149,500

Visa and Mastercard accepted

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TIGERCAT 6-SERIES AV005 FLOW DIVIDER ....................................$750 CAT 525B: 160-0241 LH DOOR..................................$750 JOHN DEERE: AH209813 115" GRAPPLE CYL ......................$1,250

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FOR SALE BY OWNER

I OFFER same day while you wait OR 2-day service on straightening and balancing all types of Feller Buncher sawdisks. Tooth holder repairs. Complex or severely bent sawdisks no problem, approx.

14years experience CALL CARLTON CARVER CARVER SAWDISK REPAIR Washington NC • (252) 945-2358

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FOR SALE

2002 Prentice 384 Loader m/o 1999 Volvo Truck ............$39,500

2000 Freightliner Service Truck with crane, welder and air compressor ...........................$32,500 Financing Available

Scott Christian 580-236-5358

1386

Tigercat 240T Track Loader...$78,000

(2) Olvedi Chip Vans - Open Top 42'....................................$8,000 each

Fuel Trailer w/3 high capacity tanks for fuel, hydraulic oil and water, or can be used for any other combination of fluids ............................................$8,000

Contact: 334-376-9707 Office 334-525-0372 Frank

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2004 John Deere 853-G Track Cutter .............................$75,000

TIDEWATER EQUIPMENT CO. MAC • 910-610-7029

Call or visit our website: www.tidewaterequip.com SKIDDERS 2011 CAT 535C..................................$114,000 2011 CAT 563 ....................................$104,500 2009 Deere 643J .................................$75,000 2012 Deere 643K...............................$115,000 2010 Deere 648H.................................$74,500 2005 Tigercat 620C.............................$66,000 2014 Tigercat 620E ...........................$230,000 2004 Tigercat 630C...........................$115,000 2005 Tigercat 630C.............................$65,000 2013 Tigercat 630D...........................$245,000

FELLER BUNCHERS 2005 Deere 748GIII .............................$41,000 2008 Deere 748H.................................$82,500 2007 Prentice 2384 .............................$75,000 2008 Prentice 2570 .............................$56,000 2002 Tigercat 718 ...............................$57,500 2006 Tigercat 718 ...............................$65,000 2008 Tigercat 718 ...............................$80,000

1998 Tigercat 720B .............................$28,000 2005 Tigercat 720D.............................$70,000 2007 Tigercat 720E .............................$80,000 2009 Tigercat 720E .............................$90,000 2010 Tigercat 720E ...........................$107,900 2011 Tigercat 720E ...........................$131,000 2005 Tigercat 724D.............................$75,000 2007 Tigercat 724E .............................$93,000 2010 Tigercat 724E ...........................$125,000 2014 Tigercat 724E ...........................$200,000 2004 Tigercat 822 .............................$135,000

LOG LOADERS 2013 CAT 559B..................................$132,425 2011 Deere 643K...............................$168,300 2002 Tigercat 230B .............................$50,000 2010 Tigercat 234CS ........................$125,000 2005 Tigercat 240B .............................$40,000 2006 Tigercat 240B .............................$52,500 2007 Tigercat 244 ...............................$72,900 2005 Tigercat 250 ...............................$60,000

INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT

2010 BANDIT 2590............................$157,500 2001 MORBARK 5600.......................$175,000 2009 MORBARK 40/36 NCL DRUM CHIPPER ........................................$219,500 2009 MORBARK 40/36 NCL DRUM CHIPPER ........................................$243,750 2010 MORBARK 40/36 NCL DRUM CHIPPER ........................................$225,000 2013 M0RBARK MICRO CHIPPER ....$41,000

MISCELLANEOUS

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View our web site for over 200 listings with newly reduced prices and pictures 2687

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AT THE MARGINS Negotiating for Success

By Tom Trone, John Deere Forestry ast month we explored the topic of taking control of your business by looking beyond the trees.

Loggers aren’t at the mercy of landowners and mills, but the prices and margins they receive for timber continue to be squeezed. Many loggers depend on a single or very few land owners or mills to sell their wood. Many don’t realize that there are options. You don’t have to sell your timber exclusively to a specific mill. There are other customers available in other markets. Loggers can reach out to more profitable markets, but also improve how they market their existing products and services. Once you’ve identified these opportunities, having strong business acumen, business savvy and negotiation skills are crucial to success.

Becoming an effective negotiator will help you in a variety of ways. It will help you strike business deals that are mutually beneficial for you and your customers, vendors, or

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business partners. It will help you build better personal and professional relationships that are based on mutual understanding. Most importantly, it will help you to be more successful in business.

You might think that negotiation is an innate skill that some possess and others do not. Or you might think that it’s something you can have others do for you. Or you might think you can get by on your wits. All of those perceptions are incorrect. Negotiation is a skill that you can acquire and develop with practice, and it’s something that you should become proficient at in order to enhance your success in business.

Here are a few ways you can improve your negotiation skills: Be prepared and set objectives.

A successful negotiation starts with a firm understanding of the other party’s interests. Take some time to think about their priorities and what they want to accomplish. Having this understanding will give you a better idea of what you can propose and what they are likely to accept.

That makes it easier to find common ground. You should also have a clear sense of what you want to achieve. It may sound obvious, but too often people enter a negotiation without really thinking about what they want and why it is important.

Also, think about your alternatives because negotiations do not always go as planned.

Price is not always the issue. A common misconception about negotiation is that price is always the most important issue. Often, price is a lower priority than you might think. There are many other issues that are part of a negotiation—volume, quality, and timeliness to name a few. If you are prepared and know what you have to offer, you might find your counterpart has some flexibility on price.

Don’t think in terms of winning and losing. Another misconception about negotiation is that there is a “winner” and a “loser.” In fact, neither party should feel dissatisfied. A truly successful negotiation builds a relationship for both short- and long-term, as the needs of both parties are met in a mutually beneficial solution.

Be calm, cool and confident.

Your demeanor might be the most important thing you bring into any negotiation. If you bring a positive tone and are confident in your position, your counterpart will get the idea that you are sincere and trustworthy. However, if you are overly aggressive and adversarial, or if you’re timid and unconfident, the negotiation will not end well.

Negotiation is a skill that can be learned, practiced and improved.

Look for opportunities to improve your abilities through training offered by consultants or through your local business groups like the Rotary Club or Chamber of Commerce. The more you learn and practice, the better you will become over time as you further your skills SLT as a savvy business person.

Trone is Director of John Deere’s North American forestry business, and is responsible for all sales and marketing activities as well as product development. Over his career, he has owned and operated several businesses. He is also a lecturer at the University of Illinois where he has taught the subjects of entrepreneurship, business strategy, organizational development and leadership.

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A D L I N K ●

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ADVERTISER American Logger’s Council American Truck Parts Bandit Industries Barko Hydraulics Big John Trailers Carter Enterprises Carter Machinery Caterpillar Forest Products Cleanfix Reversible Fans Cooper Forestry Equipment John Deere Forestry Doggett Machinery Service Eastern Equipment Brokerage Employer’s Underwriters Equipment & Parts Firestone Agricultural Tires Flint Equipment Forestry First Forestry Mutual Insurance Hawkins & Rawlinson Hydraulic & Pneumatic Services Interstate Tire Service Ironmart Jewell Machinery Kaufman Trailers Mike Ledkins Insurance Agency LMI-Tennessee Magnolia Trailers Maxi-Load Scale Systems Moore Logging Supply Morbark Nokian Tyres Oakley Equipment Ozark Machinery Pemberton Attachments Pitts Trailers Prentice Puckett Machinery Quadco Equipment Quality Equipment & Parts River Ridge Equipment S E C O Parts & Equipment Southern Insurance Southern Loggers Cooperative Southern Tire Mart Stribling Equipment Terex Environmental Equipment Tidewater Equipment Tigercat Industries TraxPlus Trelan Manufacturing Vermeer Manufacturing VPG Onboard Weighing W & W Truck & Tractor Wallingford’s J M Wood Auction Worldnet Auctions

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COMING EVENTS November

June 2016

6-7—Sawdust and Splinters, Shirard Gray Estates, Magnolia, Miss. Call 601-876-9635; visit sdsfest.com.

9-11—Southeastern Wood Producers Assn. Trade Show and annual meeting, James H Rainwater Conference Center,Valdosta, Ga. Call 904-845-7133; visit swpa.ag.

11-13—South Carolina Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Marriot Resort at Grande Dunes, Myrtle Beach, SC. Call 803-798-4170; visit scforestry.org.

February 2016 25-28—Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Annual Meeting, Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club, Naples, Fla. Call 336-885-8315; visit appalachianwood.org.

March 2016 9-11—Hardwood Manufacturers Assn. National Conference & Expo, The Worthington Renaissance, Sundance Square, Fort Worth, Tex. Call 412-244-0440; visit hmamembers.org.

April 2016 5-7—Kentucky Forest Industries Assn. annual meeting, The Brown Hotel, Louisville, Ky. Call 502-6953979; visit kfia.org.

May 2016 13-14—Expo Richmond 2016, Richmond Raceway Complex, Richmond, Va. Call 804-737-5625; visit exporichmond.com.

NOVEMBER 2015 ● Southern Loggin’ Times

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July 2016 23-26—Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Summer Conference, The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. Call 336-885-8315; visit appalachianwood.org.

August 2016 26-27—Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show, Starkville, Miss. Call 800-669-5613; visit midsouthforestry.org.

September 2016 19-21—Council on Forest Engineering annual meeting, Four Seasons Hotel, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Call 304-206-1884; visit cofe.org.

29-October 1—American Loggers Council annual meeting, Panama City Beach, Fla. Call 409-6250206; visit amloggers.com.

Listings are submitted months in advance.

Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend.

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