Equipment & Supplier News

continues to grow as more fabrication and assembly of purpose-built forestry machines is transferred from the Caterpillar plant in Aurora, Ill. This move supports a 2005 decision to consolidate the manufacturing of all forestry products in facilities dedicated to forestry. Assembly of all Cat wheel skidders and both Cat and Prentice track feller-bunchers has been moved into a new building constructed at the 73 acre site.

Biomass Spotlight by Dan Shell

Adapting to change through innovation weighed on loggers’ minds at this year’s Oregon Logging Conference in late February, where “Forest Biomass. . .Fuel of the Future?” was the theme. Outgoing OLC President Ed Hendrix of Longview Timber Co. noted that when he attended his first OLC in the early ’70s, all timber was felled by hand and loaders never left the roads. As larger and older public timber was locked up through the ’80s and ’90s, “Industry responded with innovation such as delimbers and mechanical harvesters to handle smaller timber. Nowadays, the biggest logs are the ones you have trouble selling. The same story may be told about biomass 35 years from now—how this was just the beginning.”

Moving Ahead

Early last year, Roger Cunningham, 52, and his son Tommy, 33, owners of Cunningham Logging LLC, added to one of their two clear-cutting operations a John Deere 2954D forestry swing machine fitted with a Waratah HTH 624C Super processor head. They did so in hopes of increasing production by speeding up the delimbing phase. That hoped-for production uptick had not quite materialized by the end of the year, not because of any problem with the machine, but due to a truckload of outside factors limiting the amount of fiber the operation can get to it.

New Beginning by Jennifer McCary

Four decades in the wood business has taught Billy Corey one thing: the only true constant in the craft is change. The owner of Tim-Con Wood Products has grown quite adept at assessing options and making adjustments.

Take the current situation in hardwood fiber markets in his area for example. Within a month’s time last fall, Corey, who primarily works in hardwood swamps, received news that his hardwood fiber markets were disappearing, leaving him with no fiber outlets within 150 miles. International Paper an­nounc­ed it would permanently shut its large Frank­lin, Va. mill this spring. Also, Domtar announced plans to convert its Plymouth, NC mill to a fluff pulp product and will no longer use hardwood fiber.

New Products & Technologies

Upgrades to the hydraulic system and other enhancements have improved the productivity and reliability of the 173 HP Cat 553, 197 HP Cat 563 and the 225 HP Cat 573 wheel feller-bunchers. Multi-functioning has been enhanced with improvements to the front control valve. Simultaneous lift-tilt and lift-steer functions are over 60% faster than major competitive machines. The saw pump flow capacity has been increased, resulting in improvement in saw recovery time.

Developments, Meetings

As the U.S. and the world economy struggle to overcome their self-induced trauma, the role of government on all levels is called into question. Extremists on both sides rail for alternatives of “let the economy run its course” to “government control is the only solution.” Pragmatists on both sides eloquently defend their positions, leaving little room for compromise.

If decision makers would get their fingers out of their ears and listen to the real emissaries of the economy, the small business owners that make tough compromising decisions every day, they would hear an entirely different scenario than the blather they hear from their personal yes-men.

Observations of Changing Markets by DK Knight

Going forward, the outlook for the U.S. forest industry is more optimistic as the economy tries to find solid footing. Here are some thoughts to chew on:

After falling 60% last year from peak production in 2006, wood products manufacturing should gradually improve. Analysts expect housing starts to begin inching up again, slowly lifting lumber, plywood and OSB production. News of sawmill shuts is quietly being replaced by news of scattered sawmill and structural panel plant re-starts and additional operating hours/shifts. And late last year, lumber and panel prices began slowly advancing again as capacity and demand became more synchronized. Now, log supply is a problem for many, particularly in the South, where ground conditions are soggy.

Saturated Site Delays Timber/Biomass Expo SE

A waterlogged site has caused sponsors of Timber & Biomass Expo Southeast to delay the show until June 11-12. Exceptional rainfall over the last several months, combined with unseasonably cold to cool temperatures, has resulted in soft underfoot conditions, causing vital site preparation work to be put on hold.

Provided courtesy of The Langdale Co., the site is located a dozen or so miles east of Valdosta, Ga. and four miles south of the intersection of U.S. highway 84 and Georgia highway 135