Equipment & Supplier News

Set for June 6-7 near Starkville, Miss., the Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show is poised to repeat its strong performance of 2006, when more than 6,000 from 20 states and two Canadian provinces attended the event. Already, most major logging equipment manufacturers have booked space in the live exhibit area, and with the arrival of the new year, interest is expected to broaden and intensify, according to Charles Burkhardt, show manager.

In addition to two-acre live harvest sites, one-acre no-harvest sites have been made available for the first time. These are attractive to makers of attachments, tires, trailers, etc.

‘Jumping’ Into Biomass by Dan Shell

When Kevin Jump, President of John Jump Trucking, saw a logging season’s worth of work disappear in early 2006 when a helicopter logging company went out of business, he made a major “jump” into another line of work. Today, the longtime log trucker runs a biomass business, producing boiler fuel, mulch and other products from logging slash. He also operates a collection yard and a landscape applications business that applies mulch, chips and other material to development landscaping and for project erosion control.

Yet while he’s developed an innovative an efficient biomass production system, challenges remain to see biomass more widely utilized in the region.

Broken Ladder by David Abbott

Ted Frank, 47, owner of Ted Frank Forest Products, considers himself part of a dying breed: the independent logging contractor. He doesn’t mince words when it comes to his view on the industry. “Things aren’t right,” he says. “We are on the bottom rung of the ladder, and as far as I’m concerned, the ladder is broken.”

Frank recently resigned from the board of the Great Lakes Timber Professionals Assn. (GLTPA). He has been very active in industry associations since the 1980s, so he knows both the capabilities and the limitations of associations. He points out the greatest weakness of associations is lack of participation. He says only about 25% of the members of any industry get involved in associations that work to represent their interests. Associations are run, he points out, by those who show up.

Creating an Edge by Jennifer McCary

Competition for woodlots in southern Maine has intensified in recent years due to urban sprawl. With Portland just 40 miles down the road, L.E. Taylor & Sons are right in the thick of it. Vice President Gary Taylor estimates in his community alone there are probably eight or nine whole tree chipping (WTC) companies, all competing for a shrinking supply of timber.

“Southern Maine is getting really developed and the woodlots are starting to disappear,” Taylor observes. “That’s why we added the grinder to get in and around the Portland area here and do more on the land clearing end—not that we like clearing it. I mean once you cut it (for development), it’s gone and that’s not good for the woods business. But that’s happening whatever we do.” He’d prefer to see the woodlots continue to be thinned as his dad and brothers have been doing for nearly three decades.

Forest Industry Myopia by Blake Sullivan

Back in 1960, Harvard University professor Theodore Levitt published an instant business classic entitled “Marketing Myopia.” The premise of his article is that as businesses go from being growth oriented to mature, they often lose their emphasis on marketing and instead focus only on selling. When businesses adopt this view, they fail because the focus is on the needs of the seller instead of the needs of the buyer.

One of the best examples used by Levitt is the railroad business in the U.S. Railroads grew quickly in the late 1800s and early 1900s. By World War II, they had become a mature business focused on providing railroad service to individuals and businesses. They failed to see that they were not in the railroad business after all, but were in fact in the transportation business. So, when their customers demanded more and better service and products, the railroads viewed these as threats rather than opportunities. Hence, railroads eventually lost out to the new transp

Remembering Doc Walbridge

The forest industry lost a great leader and innovator on December 10 when Tom (Doc) Walbridge passed away. Doc was a leading forest engineer, researcher, educator and logger advocate for more than 50 years. Born July 11, 1919, Doc led a full life and earned great respect in the industry. Most deservedly, he took great pride in founding and leading the Industrial Forestry Operations (IFO) program at Virginia Tech. Even at 88 he could still occasionally be found in the IFO office on campus.

Doc was preceded in death by his wife of 46 years, Jean, who he loved dearly. After relocating to the West Coast for a short time after his “retirement,” he returned to Blacksburg to be close to his family and friends. Doc had survived one bout with lung cancer but it returned, causing him to be hospitalized with breathing problems.

New Products & Technologies

Bandit’s 1,000 HP Model 3590 transforms logging slash, land clearing waste, whole trees and brush into a uniform, saleable chip product faster and more efficiently than ever. The secret to the Model 3590’s power lies in its newly designed discharge system and one-of-a-kind feed system.

The feed system features a wide 38" x 40" opening that can accept material up to 30" in diameter. The four powerful feed wheels—two vertical wheels on each side and two top feed wheels set on a diagonal—work to effectively crush and compress limby material, guiding it to the oversized drum. Once at the drum, eight 12" long knives reduce the material into uniform, saleable chips, which are then ejected from the chipper through the high-velocity chip discharge system. This powerful system allows the Model 3590 to quickly pack a 48' trailer, meaning fewer trips to the dumpsite, saving time and money.

Altering Our Course

After much deliberation, we’ve modifed the name of this magazine to Timber Harvesting & Wood Fiber Operations and are adjusting its editorial course. Here’s why:

Changing forestland ownership patterns and objectives, the emergence of woody biomass as an alternative energy resource, urban sprawl, transportation issues, and a growing demand for vegetation management are reshaping the world of forestry. Boundaries that once separated forestry activities from land clearing and land grooming operations are often indistinguishable. Markets for traditional logging services are changing. Logging leftovers, once considered waste, are escalating in demand/value here and abroad. The prospect of commercial wood ethanol production appears realistic. All of this is ongoing against a backdrop of rapid globalization.

Industry News

While many politicians have been falling all over themselves to tout the promise of cellulosic biofuels and woody biomass energy in meeting the nation’s forest health and renewable energy challenges, the new energy bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in December, while giving due emphasis to biofuels and biomass, actually disqualifies biomass derived from federal forests, and excludes biomass from privately owned forests not actively managed and exhibiting “old-growth” characteristics, according to American Forest Resource Council.

Pellet Fuel Opportunities by Jennifer McCary

Not since the energy crisis of the late ’70s has the pellet fuel industry seen such robust growth in demand. Although he doesn’t have firm statistics, Don Kaiser, Executive Director at the Pellet Fuel Institute (PFI), can make an educated guess, backed by 25 years of serving the interests of U.S. pellet fuel and appliance manufacturers. PFI membership of late has more than doubled and Kaiser puts the number of production systems (new facilities or expansions) coming on line in the last couple of years in the neighborhood of 40. Several more potential producers are in various stages of development; some startups are projected later this year or early next.