BREAKING OUT

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1: The company’s Hitachi log loader loading its T880 logging truck with magnum trailer. 2: Tyler Backer heads up Pro-Link Logging, a family-rooted business based in Quesnel in B.C.’s North Cariboo region. Pro-Link is a full stump-to-dump logging contractor with all the equipment needed to produce up to 250,000 cubic metres of wood a year. 3: Tyler Backer credits the success of Pro-Link Logging to its employees, many of whom have been with the company for years, and know their jobs inside out. Tyler’s uncle, Ed Backer (pictured with the John Deere 850J dozer), is 72 and still works with the company. 4: Tyler Backer Contracting’s Caterpillar D6T dozer at work. 5: The 870C fellar buncher doing its job.

IF THERE IS A NORMAL WORK WEEK for logging contractor Tyler Backer these days, it would be roughly organized into twos and threes. Two days in the office and around town tackling essential business there, and three days in the bush getting his boots dirty.

Tyler is owner of Tyler Backer Contracting, Pro-Link Logging and Quesnel Sand and Gravel, all based in Quesnel in British Columbia’s (B.C.) North Cariboo region.

At the age of 36, Tyler has grown up during a technological revolution within B.C.’s forestry industry. The results of that revolution embrace and direct many day-to-day activities. Tyler says he’s always got an eye open for new harvesting equipment developments and techniques Story: Jim Stirling Photos: Pro-Link Logging

that might enhance Tyler Backer Contracting’s efficiency.

The virtual world that technology makes so readily available is handy for many things –but Tyler still prefers reality when it comes to other parts of the logging contractor’s job. Checking out a new block prior to harvesting is an example. It makes more sense to Tyler to do that in person, slogging it out on the ground the old-fashioned way. It helps him to better understand the lay of the land and identify issues before they can develop into problems. “Being in the bush just helps clear the head out. It works for us,” he says.

Tyler Backer Contracting is a family-rooted business: “We’re a full stump-to-dump logging contractor with all the equipment needed to

produce up to 250,000 cubic metres of wood a year,” says Tyler.

That level of wood volume is a long haul from the company’s early days in Quesnel, back in the late 1980s. Tyler recalls one of his Dad, Rob’s, early jobs was running a small skidding contract for Weldwood of Canada, whose operations were later taken over by West Fraser Timber. Besides his Dad, other direct family involvement in the business included Tyler’s sister, Samantha, and his uncle, Ed, who at 72 still works with the company.

Tyler began his working career in the bush as a high schooler working with his Dad. But later fate was to derail the company’s development and equilibrium. Rob Backer was killed in a road traffic accident in 2009. The younger Backer found himself with a load of responsibilities at the toughest of times.

“I was so young at 25 and we had no secure contract at the time and we had people to find work for,” he relates.

Moving forward

The Backer family buckled down and regrouped. This process included forging a key business relationship with West Fraser Timber. Today, Tyler Backer Contracting has an Evergreen contract with West Fraser to supply 140,000 cubic metres of wood a year to the company’s sawmill in Quesnel. The balance of wood the company harvests—up to the 225,000 to 250,000 cubic metre range—is sourced through timber sales and private wood.

Most of the company’s wood is in the Barkerville area, hilly and broken country to the north and east of Quesnel.

“The logging logistics are changing there. We’re doing a lot more moving between smaller blocks and in steeper ground,” explains Tyler. “We have to build more new roads. All the easier blocks have gone.”

The company’s log harvesting activities are neatly complemented through a sister operation. Quesnel Sand and Gravel involves a gravel pit operation complete with all the material moving equipment and a batch plant. “We can gravel our own logging roads and that’s helped us keep the trucking moving,” he points out.

The logging company has an in-house low bedding capability. “There are some good low bedding contractors locally, but every company has its own approach and having our own has worked for us.”

The company-owned gravel pit operation has added benefits. “It helps keep our employees working during break-up or when we’re rained out of the bush. The graveling operation also helps when the logging industry is slow, as it has been for the last couple of years,” continues Tyler.

The backbone for any successful logging contractor is the people working for it and the equipment supplied and supported to get the job done efficiently. Tyler reckons he’s on solid ground on both those critical levels. “This business has been successful because of my

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dedicated employees,” he states. Many of the 50 or so people involved including the truck drivers, office staff and equipment operators have been with the company for years, he adds. They know their jobs. People like bush supervisor, Todd Lloyd, and head mechanic, Dustin Dick, help keep the operation’s core logging functions running smoothly, he says.

“And I feel it’s important to maintain a good relationship with our suppliers like the Inland Group which supplies us with Tigercat equipment and our Kenworth logging trucks. Wajax supplies us with our Hitachi equipment, that we use for our processing and log loading duties,” explains Tyler. “Both of those dealers offer us good service.” And both have full dealerships in Quesnel, making them readily available when required.

Equipment galore

Tyler Backer Contracting has assembled an interesting and versatile cast of production logging equipment for it to meet its obligations. There are three feller bunchers, a John Deere 959M and a 903K which are joined by a Tigercat 877C. Skidding duties are provided by Tigercat machines, a 635E and a 630D. A Tigercat 875 decking machine is joined by a Hitachi 240 log loader used as a decking machine. There are four processors: two Hitachi 260s with Waratah 623C processing heads; a Hitachi 240 with a similar Waratah head; and a Hitachi 210 with a Waratah 622B head.

Other key equipment includes a Hitachi 260 road builder; a John Deere 210G excavator; Cat D6T and D6D dozers; a Deere 850J dozer and a Case CX210B excavator. There’s also a Hitachi 370 log loader and a 976G Volvo grader for use on bush roads.

Tyler favours using Kenworth trucks in both his logging and gravelling operations, typically eight units and five respectively, with a couple of Western Stars complementing the fleet.

Adhering to preventive maintenance schedules and conscientious operators are key to getting the optimum performance from logging trucks and logging equipment, he says. Tyler says he looks to replace his logging trucks every four years or so. Replacement decisions for log harvesting equipment vary depending upon a number of factors, he explains. These include function. For example, if main production machines like processors and bunchers are regularly double shifted, the additional hours can influence the machines’ resale value.

These are volatile times for the forestry industry in general and no less so than in Central B.C. Tyler feels his logging company has weathered the storm relatively well so far.

“Our company is at a good size right now to operate in the most efficient way we can,” reckons Tyler. “We will always look ahead at what’s available for us to log and we will plan accordingly.”

First published in Logging & Sawmilling Journal January/February 2021 edition. NZL

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1: Most of Pro-Link Logging’s wood is in the Barkerville area of the B.C. interior – hilly and broken country to the north and east of Quesnel. The logging logistics are changing there, with the company doing a lot more moving between smaller blocks and in steeper ground. 2: Tyler Backer Contracting’s mechanic, Dustin Dick. 3: This John Deere 959 fellar buncher is part of the interesting and versatile cast of the company’s production logging equipment. 4: Supervisor, Todd Lloyd. 5: The company’s Tigercat 635E skidder with the 240 Hitachi log loader.