Equipment & Supplier News

There is a “gate change” for Timber & Biomass Expo Southeast, the large-scale logging equipment demonstration set for April 16-17 in south Georgia. The new location is now Lowndes County. Specifically, it’s a pine plantation situated 15 miles east of Valdosta, adjacent to state route 135 and four miles south of the Naylor community.

The show was previously set for Toombs County near Vidalia, Ga., but a communications breakdown among several parties nullified that arrangement. Show sponsor Hatton-Brown Publishers subsequently approached The Langdale Co. about hosting the event and its management stepped up with the new site. Headquartered in Valdosta, Langdale is a diversified timberland and forest products company.

Broader Base by Frank Samuel

Dupuis Logging Inc.’s decision to establish a small sawmill on the family ranch a few years ago has worked out well in that it adds value to logs the company harvests and dampens the impact of market swings. Third generation logger Kendall Dupuis comments: “Adding the Wood-Mizer thin kerf mill to our operation just before a major industry downturn has tested the wisdom of the decision and so far the mill is proving its worth.”

Dupuis and his son, Daylen, 27, for years had discussed adding a sawmill to compliment the company’s well established logging operations. Today Daylen manages the mill, which cuts high value timbers and beams in addition to decking, fencing, paneling and siding. “The saw­mill helps the overall business because the market for lumber fluctuates independent of the market for logs,” Daylen comments. “Last spring logging operations were delayed significantly because of the long spring break up here. However, we had lots of orders for timbers and that income

Bumpy Ride by Jennifer McCary

For years Carey Logging & Excavating’s three cut-to-length crews and two subcontractors piled slash at roadside. Another contractor followed behind them to grind the residue for wood fuel markets.

“We thought biomass markets were going to keep expanding, so we went to NewPage to get a contract as a direct biomass supplier,” states owner Jim Carey, a 25-year logging veteran. In 2006 he invested a million dollars in his own fuel grinding operation and bid farewell to the grinding contractor.

Logger Certification: Why? by Crad Jaynes, Chairman, ALC Master Logger Committee

While promoting a program such as the American Loggers Council Master Logger Certification© program, it is difficult to figure out what all of this certification business is really all about. Initially, the driving force was an attempt by forest industry heavyweights to appease complaints from environmental organizations, which often practice extortion through boycotts and misrepresent the forest industry to the public. Where has that gotten us?

I wonder if the millions of dollars that have been spent by our industry on certification programs would have been better invested in public relations campaigns that emphasized the good job we are already doing.

Searching for Biomass Answers

Ask almost any logger about the potential of biomass and a high-interest response usually follows, along with concerns about efficiently integrating biomass into existing operations and collecting, processing and hauling it cost-effectively.

Addressing these concerns are Komatsu Forest and one of its key western dealers, Modern Machinery, which are bringing leading-edge European biomass technology and concepts to North American logging sites. Late last November loggers were invited to observe equipment at a biomass harvesting demo in Idaho that won’t be completed until spring.

New Products & Technologies

Vermeer Corp. introduces an attachment for its horizontal grinders that will help customers produce biomass feedstock for this growing market.

The Vermeer Fuel Chip Attachment (FCA) offers customers more versatility, allowing the use of one machine to process wood into mulch one day and biomass the next simply by changing the cutting mechanism. The attachment helps customers enter the biomass market without investing in a separate machine.

Equipment Financing Emerging As Issue by Jennifer McCary

The economic assessment that “the worst is behind us” has almost become a mantra among economists, politicians, financial analysts and many CEOs. One can only wonder how much is wishful thinking and how much is reality.

Yes, there are signs of recovery, even in wood products. For example, two shuttered sawmills and a plywood plant near my home in southwest Alabama have begun taking logs and plan to reopen soon and elsewhere new biomass power and biofuel projects will also be coming on line this year.

Industry News

Thanks to a provision embedded in the fiscal year 2010 Transportation Appropriations Bill signed by President Obama on December 16, trucks previously traveling on Maine’s secondary roads are now rolling on federal highways in the state.

The one-year pilot project exempts Maine’s federal highways from the 80,000 lb. federal truck weight limit. Maine’s state weight limit exceeds 100,000 lbs. A corresponding study will measure the related impact on safety, commerce and road wear and tear.