Table of Contents

August 2008 Classifieds

Click Here to get the Southern Loggin' Times August Ironworks classifieds.

PDF file at 2.3MB

Get Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader

The Lighter Side of Logging

An 80-year-old man was having an annual physical. As the doctor was listening to his heart with the stethoscope, he began muttering, “Oh oh!” the man asked the doctor, “What’s the problem?” “Well,” said the doc, “You have a serious heart murmur. Do you smoke?” “No,” replied the man. “Do you drink in excess?” “No,” replied the man. “Do you have a sex life?” “Yes, I do!” “Well,” said the doc, “I’m afraid with this heart murmur, you’ll have to give up half your sex life.” Looking perplexed, the old man said, “Which half—the looking or the thinking?”

Changing With The Times by Jennifer McCary

Recently at a weekly Bible study group meeting, talk turned to various issues and concerns with the current state of the forest products industry, which is the livelihood of many in the group. Rickey Carnes, Alabama’s recently named 2008 Logger of the Year and a 25-year veteran in the profession, was among that assembly.

That morning the owner of R.L. Carnes Logging Contractor, Inc. made a stunning declaration. “As bad as it is,” he told the group, “I can’t help but be excited.” Naturally, they wanted an explanation. Carnes replied, “I’ve been through ups and downs before. I’ve been down where, in my human ability, I could not see how we were going to get out of it and this is one of those times. The only thing that I can pull from is that in the past the good Lord has answered my prayers in ways that I didn’t expect. So I know the Lord has an answer for this.”

New Biomass Plant by Tonya Cooner-Vots

Renewable resource energy is a hot topic across several industries in this country, with fuels made from renewable resources such as corn and other agricultural products seemingly being at the forefront of this movement, or at least getting the most media attention.

Wood pellets have been popular in Europe since the 1990s as a residential heating fuel as well as an industrial fuel source for electricity generation and heating. The U.S. market for wood pellets is growing, with some 800,000 homes currently being heated with wood pellets, according to the Pellet Fuels Institute. More than 80 pellet plants are operating in the U.S.

New Life by David Abbott

This could very well be a case of loggers to the rescue. Winn Forest Products, a chipping outfit, has been in operation for about 20 years, but was recently purchased by Mickey Hawkins and Travis Taylor. Both men are highly influential and well-respected members of the southern logging community, active in Louisiana’s industry for the past 40 years—Taylor started in 1968 and Hawkins in 1971. Their goal is to rejuvenate this important outlet for local loggers, and save it to protect hundreds of directly and indirectly related jobs in Winn Parish.

Although both men maintain their logging operations, Taylor and Hawkins are now focusing most of their time and energy on renovating their new venture, working from the Winn Forest office every day. Hawkins also maintains his own office in a separate location for his logging business.

Waiting In The Wings by Tonya Cooner-Vots

Four generations of Durhams have worked the forests of northwest South Carolina for nearly 100 years. Currently, Leon Durham represents the family’s second generation in logging. At 69, he’s witnessed sweeping changes to the industry, from the advent of logging machines through today’s increasingly tougher market, which have forced many loggers out of business.

Backed by decades of experience blended with loyalty characteristic of a tight-knit family and fueled by a hint of stubbornness, Durham feels his business will survive this market slump and he’s looking forward to brighter days ahead for his offspring.

Current Industry News by David Abbott

On May 26-29 John Deere held an international press event for its new E series of wheel-type cut-to-length machines in Sweden and Finland. Forty forest industry journalists from 13 countries attended. Timo Salomaa, Deere Forestry Communications Manager for Europe and Russia, and Dieter Reinish, Communications Specialist for John Deere Forestry AB in Sweden, led the festivities.

The group toured Deere’s Swedish retail office/parts warehouse in Marsta, just outside Stockholm, where Reinish gave an overview of Swedish forestry. Later that day, journalists watched a demonstration of Deere’s 1490D slash bundler, which gathers and prepares logging slash for bioenergy use. The group attended a World Bioenergy Conference in Jonkoping, taking in a variety of machines and information pertaining to the rapidly emerging biomass sector.

New Products & Technologies

The Cutting Systems Inc. DFH-3526 is a rugged and robust chain and bar dangle felling saw head designed for use on excavator type carriers. The head is expertly designed and built from the finest alloy steel to withstand the daily punishment of a felling operation.

The head is equipped with a 3⁄4 pitch chain running on a 37" bar. The model DFH-3526 will cut a 26" tree at a single pass or cut a 35" tree with multiple passes. The arms are designed to allow the operator to pick up the tree after it has fallen and remove the big limbs, top, and shovel log the tree stem into position where the skidder has easy access for skidding to the landing. Call 877-844-1274

Driver Injures Hand While Greasing Fifth Wheel by Courtesy Forest Resources Assn.

BACKGROUND: On a cool winter day in the South, a log truck driver was greasing his truck’s fifth wheel.

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: The truck driver was in his early 50s and had driven a truck for 25 years. He had been employed with the logging firm for 10 years and had never been injured on the job.

Operator Injured When Skidder Applying Chemical Overturns by Courtesy Forest Resources Assn.

BACKGROUND: On a clear, hot summer day in the South, a skidder modified for chemical spraying in site prep operations was performing an herbicide application in a three-year-old pine plantation.

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: The site prep skidder operator was in his late 20s and had been employed by the site prep contracting firm for six years. The operator was fully trained and was wearing his seatbelt.

Biomass Update by Tonya Cooner

The promise of biomass, plant-based materials used to make alternative fuels, is the biggest news to come down the pipeline for the forest industry in some time. While turning biomass into various energy sources is far from a new technology, modern processes seek to help create widely available energy sources from such renewable sources, unlike fossil fuels.

The implementation of biomass, specifically wood biomass, could mean many things to many parts of the forest products industry, from the way raw materials are priced, all the way down to how wood fiber is brokered, and the way some loggers will operate. Wood biomass spans a wide range of products, including chips, logging slash, naturally produced debris, pre-commercial thins, and of course pulpwood.