TimberWest Magazine

07/24/2024

Picture a cord of firewood, a stack four feet tall by eight feet long and four feet wide. Now picture 1,000 cords. Placed side by side, they would cover 32,000 square feet, more than two-thirds of an acre. That’s how much firewood Chris Ivester and his Utah company, Ivester Tree, produced last year.⁠
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Of course, they didn’t cut and split all that firewood by hand. They had the help of a DYNA Products SC-16 Rapid Split firewood processor.⁠
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The company, with six employees in addition to Ivester and his son, Noah, 17, is based in Duchesne in northeast Utah, about 115 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. Duchesne is south of the Ashley National Forest and the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest.⁠
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Ivester, 36, has done civil engineering, trucking, and tree service work. He began producing and selling firewood part-time in 2005, and it became a full-time business for him in 2021. He started his logging business in 2023.⁠
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Read about Ivester Tree in TimberWest Magazine 🪵
https://forestnet.com/utah-firewood-business-adds-logging-operations/

07/18/2024

06/20/2024

Mill Upgrades Boiler Plant: Steam production is a big deal for Cox Interior, which makes interior and exterior building products. The company has extensive lumber drying operations that require steam, and it also uses steam to heat its facilities and to produce electricity.

The company recently turned to Hurst Boiler & Welding Co. to make significant improvements to its aging boiler plant. The investment and upgrades are paying off in a number of ways.

Cox Interior manufactures interior and exterior home building supplies, including molding, solid hardwood doors, stair systems, and custom trim and millwork. The company’s sawmill and manufacturing facilities are located in Campbellsville, Kentucky, and it has warehouses and sales representatives in six states. Cox Interior has about 500 employees, including less than 400 who work in Campbellsville. Sales average more than $4 million per month.

The sawmill cuts all hardwoods. It can saw about 100,000 board feet of lumber each week. The company also buys some specialty lumber, such as mahogany.

Cox Interior also has 11 lumber kilns with a combined capacity of 1 million board feet to produce kiln-dried lumber products. It dries lumber for its own products and also dries material for a nearby cooperage that makes barrels for bourbon distillers.

Read more in the latest issue of TimberWest Magazine, https://forestnet.com/mill-upgrades-boiler-plant/

06/17/2024

Montana Mill Upgrades Boost Lumber Production: Marks Lumber has completed a major retooling of its sawmill. A refurbished combination gang-edger and other improvements completed in 2023 doubled production capacity. The company’s 15-20 employees now can produce 2 million board feet of specialty lumber products a year.

Located in Clancy, Montana, about 10 miles south of the capital of Helena, Marks Lumber manufactures siding, tongue-and-groove boards for paneling, trim and fascia, flooring, rough-sawn timbers, and other products – primarily of Douglas fir. It is both a manufacturer and lumber retailer. The company also has significant sales of mill residuals and firewood.

Read all about Marks Lumber in the latest issue of TimberWest Magazine, https://forestnet.com/montana-mill-upgrades-boost-lumber-production/

06/12/2024

Picture a cord of firewood, a stack four feet tall by eight feet long and four feet wide. Now picture 1,000 cords. Placed side by side, they would cover 32,000 square feet, more than two-thirds of an acre. That’s how much firewood Chris Ivester and his Utah company, Ivester Tree, produced last year.

Of course, they didn’t cut and split all that firewood by hand. They had the help of a DYNA Products SC-16 Rapid Split firewood processor.

The company, with six employees in addition to Ivester and his son, Noah, 17, is based in Duchesne in northeast Utah, about 115 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. Duchesne is south of the Ashley National Forest and the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest.

Ivester, 36, has done civil engineering, trucking, and tree service work. He began producing and selling firewood part-time in 2005, and it became a full-time business for him in 2021. He started his logging business in 2023.

Read about Ivester Tree in the new issue of TimberWest Magazine: https://forestnet.com/utah-firewood-business-adds-logging-operations/

DYNA Products

06/07/2024

06/06/2024

The NEW May/June 2024 issue of TimberWest Magazine is live on our website! 🌲🌲🌲

Featuring:

> Montana Mill Upgrades Boost Lumber Production - Marks Lumber
> Utah Firewood Business Adds Logging Operations - Ivester Tree
> Mill Upgrades Boiler Plant - Cox Interior / Hurst Boiler
> Tech Review: Firewood Processors
> Gem Chain Bar Focused on Innovation
> Intermountain Conference Recap
> Redwood Region Logging Conference Recap
& More!

Check it out here: https://forestnet.com/timberwest/

06/03/2024

Private Tree Farm Fuels Business for Nichols Logging: When Dan Kloppman was 16 and started working summers and school breaks for Teen Trees, a youth in forestry nonprofit program, he never imagined he would end up working in the woods full-time. Now, 41-years later, he is still there, but as president and CEO of Nichols Logging.⁠
⁠
Nichols Logging is a two-man outfit, Kloppman and his youngest son, Noah. He subcontracts other loggers for some tasks. Most of the company’s work is on Kloppman’s tree farm, which is nestled in the foothills of Oregon’s Coast Range. His tree farm is an example of how private landowners can be adversely impacted by Oregon’s new Private Forest Accord Initiative.⁠
⁠
Nichols Logging is based in Rainier, Oregon, which is bordered on the north by the Columbia River some 50 miles north of Portland and 50 miles east of the Pacific Ocean. The region is part of the largest temperate rainforest system in the world, stretching from Northern California to British Columbia. Northwest Oregon averages 54 inches of rain a year and has abundant forests of Douglas fir, Western red cedar, Sitka spruce, Western hemlock, and alder.⁠
⁠
Kloppman offers a wide variety of services, although he specializes in cut-to-length logging.⁠ He takes pride in operating all of his own equipment, and he’s teaching his son to do the same. When he was looking to hire during the pandemic, he found all the good workers were too busy, and some loggers went out of business, so he purchased his own feller buncher and is learning how to operate it himself.⁠

https://forestnet.com/private-tree-farm-fuels-business-for-nichols-logging/

05/28/2024

Freres Engineered Wood Blazes Trail for Wood Products: Freres Lumber successfully adapted over the years to changing market conditions, reinventing itself to move forward instead of succumbing to market shifts that might have left it withering on the vine.

Its latest adaptation was the result of developing an entirely new wood product for the building industry – mass ply panels (MPP). It manufactures mass ply building components with the aid of equipment developed and supplied by some of the leading machinery suppliers to the wood products industry.

“We’ve always been about reinventing our business and innovating when adversity hits,” said Kylel Freres, vice president of operations. “That’s what we did back in the 40s and 50s, when we switched from lumber production to veneer.” The veneer was supplied to plywood makers. The company made another transition when the industry developed laminated veneer lumber (LVL), supplying veneer production to manufacturers of LVL. To make better use of downfall material that didn’t make stress grades for LVL, Freres Lumber purchased a plywood plant and began operating it.

“There’s risk involved with a new product,” added Freres. “We look at it as: How can we stay relevant for the next 100 years?”

📸 : Manufacturing mass ply panels (MPP) begins with veneer. Veneer is still the primary product by volume for Freres Engineered Wood. About 30-50 percent is used to make plywood ‘blanks’ for MPP production.

Read more in the latest issue of TimberWest Magazine: https://forestnet.com/freres-engineered-wood-blazes-trail-for-wood-products/

05/18/2024

🌲 Exciting News! Registration for the unique forestry equipment show and technical conference at 2024 DEMO International opens in June! Get ready for a thrilling showcase of forestry innovation in action. Mark your calendars - Sept 17-21. Stay tuned for more updates! 🚜🍃 https://demointernational.com/registration-opens-in-june/
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🌲 Des nouvelles passionnantes ! L'inscription à l'exposition unique d'équipements forestiers et à la conférence technique de 2024 DEMO International ouvre en juin ! Préparez-vous à une vitrine passionnante de l'innovation forestière en action. Marquez vos calendriers - du 17 au 21 septembre. Restez à l'écoute pour plus de mises à jour ! 🚜🍃 https://demointernational.com/fr/les-inscriptions-ouvrent-en-juin/

Canadian Woodlands Forum
SBC Cedar
Master Promotions Ltd.
Logging and Sawmilling Journal
Université Laval
FPInnovations
Soleno
Canadian Forest Industries
Opérations forestières

05/16/2024

Rude Logging’s fleet of equipment includes three Tigercat feller bunchers: models LX-830E, LS-855E, and LX830D. For tethering machines working on steep terrain the company has a Tractionline winch system on a Kobelco 350LC-10 excavator.

Getting the wood to the landing is done with three Cat 525 grapple skidders and three Cat track skidders. Processing is done with two Link-Belt machines (4040 and LX240) and a 2954D John Deere swing machine, all matched with Waratah heads. The company also has three loaders for handling, sorting, and stacking logs and loading trucks: two Link-Belt 210 loaders and a Link-Belt 4040. Rude Logging also is equipped with an assortment of road-building equipment: Kobelco, Link-Belt, and Kubota excavators and two Cat motor graders. The company has five log trucks and five lowboy trailers.

Overall, the equipment consists of newer models. Rude added two of the Tigercat feller bunchers (the LX-830E with a hot saw and the LS-855E with a felling head) last year; they replaced an older feller buncher. He bought the Tigercat machines from the Triad Machinery dealership in Prineville, which is about 20-plus miles east of Bend.

We featured Rude Logging in the latest issue of TimberWest Magazine, Self-Sufficiency is a Key for Eastern Oregon Logger: https://forestnet.com/rude-logging/

05/06/2024

Private Tree Farm Fuels Business for Nichols Logging: When Dan Kloppman was 16 and started working summers and school breaks for Teen Trees, a youth in forestry nonprofit program, he never imagined he would end up working in the woods full-time. Now, 41-years later, he is still there, but as president and CEO of Nichols Logging.⁠
⁠
Nichols Logging is a two-man outfit, Kloppman and his youngest son, Noah. He subcontracts other loggers for some tasks. Most of the company’s work is on Kloppman’s tree farm, which is nestled in the foothills of Oregon’s Coast Range. His tree farm is an example of how private landowners can be adversely impacted by Oregon’s new Private Forest Accord Initiative.⁠
⁠
Nichols Logging is based in Rainier, Oregon, which is bordered on the north by the Columbia River some 50 miles north of Portland and 50 miles east of the Pacific Ocean. The region is part of the largest temperate rainforest system in the world, stretching from Northern California to British Columbia. Northwest Oregon averages 54 inches of rain a year and has abundant forests of Douglas fir, Western red cedar, Sitka spruce, Western hemlock, and alder.⁠
⁠
Kloppman offers a wide variety of services, although he specializes in cut-to-length logging.⁠ He takes pride in operating all of his own equipment, and he’s teaching his son to do the same. When he was looking to hire during the pandemic, he found all the good workers were too busy, and some loggers went out of business, so he purchased his own feller buncher and is learning how to operate it himself.
⁠
Read more about Nichols Logging in the latest issue of TimberWest Magazine: https://forestnet.com/private-tree-farm-fuels-business-for-nichols-logging/
⁠
⁠📸: Dan Kloppman felling with his Rottne SMV EGS harvester.

04/23/2024

Rude Logging is fairly self-sufficient for the most part. “I know many logging companies that depend on dealers and their mechanics, and other outside people to keep their business running,” said Rude. “Where we live, we’re isolated, and that is not an option.”

Rude Logging has to be ready to tackle anything in order to keep working. They are set up to handle just about any kind of breakdown, from machine work to in-framing truck engines.

“Keeping a great crew is very important,” said Rude. “We have several employees that have been with us for many years. Many are like family to us. Trying to keep morale up and treating them well has helped us stay strong in this day and age.”

The company’s fleet of equipment includes three Tigercat feller bunchers: models LX-830E, LS-855E, and LX830D. For tethering machines working on steep terrain the company has a Tractionline winch system on a Kobelco 350LC-10 excavator.

Getting the wood to the landing is done with three Cat 525 grapple skidders and three Cat track skidders. Processing is done with two Link-Belt machines (4040 and LX240) and a 2954D John Deere swing machine, all matched with Waratah heads. The company also has three loaders for handling, sorting, and stacking logs and loading trucks: two Link-Belt 210 loaders and a Link-Belt 4040. Rude Logging also is equipped with an assortment of road-building equipment: Kobelco, Link-Belt, and Kubota excavators and two Cat motor graders. The company has five log trucks and five lowboy trailers.

Read more in the article 'Self-Sufficiency is a Key for Eastern Oregon Logger', featured in the latest issue of TimberWest Magazine: https://forestnet.com/rude-logging/

04/17/2024

Freres Engineered Wood Blazes Trail for Wood Products: Freres Lumber successfully adapted over the years to changing market conditions, reinventing itself to move forward instead of succumbing to market shifts that might have left it withering on the vine.

Its latest adaptation was the result of developing an entirely new wood product for the building industry – mass ply panels (MPP). It manufactures mass ply building components with the aid of equipment developed and supplied by some of the leading machinery suppliers to the wood products industry.

“We’ve always been about reinventing our business and innovating when adversity hits,” said Kylel Freres, vice president of operations. “That’s what we did back in the 40s and 50s, when we switched from lumber production to veneer.” The veneer was supplied to plywood makers. The company made another transition when the industry developed laminated veneer lumber (LVL), supplying veneer production to manufacturers of LVL. To make better use of downfall material that didn’t make stress grades for LVL, Freres Lumber purchased a plywood plant and began operating it.

“There’s risk involved with a new product,” added Freres. “We look at it as: How can we stay relevant for the next 100 years?”

Read more in the latest issue of TimberWest Magazine: https://forestnet.com/freres-engineered-wood-blazes-trail-for-wood-products/

04/17/2024

When Dan Kloppman was 16 and started working summers and school breaks for Teen Trees, a youth in forestry nonprofit program, he never imagined he would end up working in the woods full-time. Now, 41-years later, he is still there, but as president and CEO of Nichols Logging.

Nichols Logging is a two-man outfit, Kloppman and his youngest son, Noah. He subcontracts other loggers for some tasks. Most of the company’s work is on Kloppman’s tree farm, which is nestled in the foothills of Oregon’s Coast Range. His tree farm is an example of how private landowners can be adversely impacted by Oregon’s new Private Forest Accord Initiative.

Nichols Logging is based in Rainier, Oregon, which is bordered on the north by the Columbia River some 50 miles north of Portland and 50 miles east of the Pacific Ocean. The region is part of the largest temperate rainforest system in the world, stretching from Northern California to British Columbia. Northwest Oregon averages 54 inches of rain a year and has abundant forests of Douglas fir, Western red cedar, Sitka spruce, Western hemlock, and alder.

Kloppman offers a wide variety of services, although he specializes in cut-to-length logging.

Read more about Nichols Logging in the article 'Private Tree Farm Fuels Business for Nichols Logging', featured in the latest issue of TimberWest Magazine, https://forestnet.com/private-tree-farm-fuels-business-for-nichols-logging/

04/15/2024

Self-Sufficiency is a Key for Eastern Oregon Logger: Tim Rude, owner of Rude Logging, has done almost every kind of logging, from shovel logging to tethered logging. He started with a chainsaw and a skidder and has done just about everything except helicopter logging. It’s this versatility and ability to adapt with the times that has kept him busy for the last 25 years.

Rude grew up in Grant County and has lived there most of his life. His company is located in Prairie City, which is in a remote area of east-central Oregon.

Rude Logging is fairly self-sufficient for the most part. “I know many logging companies that depend on dealers and their mechanics, and other outside people to keep their business running,” said Rude. “Where we live, we’re isolated, and that is not an option.”

Rude Logging has to be ready to tackle anything in order to keep working. They are set up to handle just about any kind of breakdown, from machine work to in-framing truck engines.

Read more about Rude Logging in the brand new issue of TimberWest Magazine: https://forestnet.com/rude-logging/ 🌲

04/11/2024

The latest issue of TimberWest Magazine is up on our website! Check out the articles and digital edition here: https://forestnet.com/timberwest/

📸: Freres Engineered Wood, cover image

04/05/2024

Lots to see at the Intermountain Logging Conference in Spokane this past week! 🌲

04/03/2024

Here at the Intermountain Logging Conference in Spokane this week, excited to see Tigercat’s latest development for steep slope safety🌲

Who’s checking it out?

Tigercat forestry equipment

03/26/2024

California Logger Keeps Focus on the Business 🌲 J&R Logging has 56 employees in all. The company operates four logging crews – a cable logging unit and three ground-based crews – plus a road-building crew, and two employees work in the yard in chipping operations. In addition, it has nine logging trucks on the road.
⁠
Since Bejac began representing Tigercat in California in 2020, J&R has purchased two Tigercat skidders, a harvester, a shovel logger, and a feller buncher. “My operators tell me they prefer to operate Tigercat,” said Jimenez. “They say the Tigercats are more controllable and drive better. They get less tired…If they are happy, I’m happy. If they are happy with the equipment and less tired, they are more productive.”

J&R also invested in a Tigercat 180 swing yarder. Previously working with a conventional yarder and an eight-man crew, the company could count on six to eight loads per day from the yarding side. Reorganizing the yarding operations with the Tigercat 180 enabled the company to improve safety, reduce the crew from eight to four men, and increase production to 10-12 loads per day.

“It’s versatile,” said D’Agostini. “It’s nimble, it’s powerful…The functions are very smooth. Being able to move every single drum independently from one another is a game changer for cable logging.”

Read all about J&R Logging: https://forestnet.com/california-logger-keeps-focus-on-the-business/

Tigercat forestry equipment

03/19/2024

Larry Heestacker, founder of A-1 Logging, and his sons, Ben and Jeremy, took a big leap with their business in 2014. They replaced their mixed fleet of old equipment with new Caterpillar machines.⁠
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Today, Ben and Jeremy credit their success to making that switch and investing in new equipment. They left behind the high cost of repairs and downtime for making regular payments on new, more efficient, productive, and reliable equipment.⁠
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The company has a fleet of Cat logging equipment. The workhorses are three Cat 558 forest machines configured for processing work – two with Ponsse attachments and one with a Waratah.

For their cable logging operations, the main yarder the company uses is a Madill 171 tower yarder paired with a new Boman Industries SkyCar carriage and an Eagle slack puller. The company also has a small Summit yoder with a grapple carriage. Older Cat D7 bulldozers are used for anchoring yarder equipment.

The Boman carriage is brand new; they decided to upgrade and replace an older Bomman carriage. “We’re trying to move to a more solid braking system, and the new one has a new band brake,” noted Ben. “Eventually we’d like to get to a fully mechanized cable system,”.
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Read more about A-1 Logging in the latest issue of TimberWest Magazine: https://forestnet.com/sons-taking-a-1-logging-forward-since-fathers-exit/

03/14/2024

03/14/2024

03/14/2024

Falcon Forestry Equipment
TimberMAX
ecoforst

03/11/2024

California Logger Keeps Focus on the Business 🌲 J&R Logging has 56 employees in all. The company operates four logging crews – a cable logging unit and three ground-based crews – plus a road-building crew, and two employees work in the yard in chipping operations. In addition, it has nine logging trucks on the road. The three ground-based logging crews may work together or split between jobs.⁠
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J&R logging harvests about 50 million board feet of timber annually. It also performs site preparation work 1,200-1,500 acres and builds or refurbishes about 100 miles of logging roads.⁠
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Read all about J&R Logging in the latest issue of TimberWest Magazine: https://forestnet.com/california-logger-keeps-focus-on-the-business/

⁠📸: Cat 336E shovel with Waratah attachment processes logs for J&R Logging. The company has relied on Waratah heads for processing for almost 20 years.

03/08/2024

Three days of winch assist demos at the West Virginia University Research Forest, coming up new week, March 11-13! Register to attend here: https://forestnet.com/wvu-steep-slope/

03/05/2024

The Appalachian Equipment Auction is coming up on March 14th! Featuring the S&W Logging equipment liquidation. Late model forestry equipment! dozers, cutters, skidders, trucks, trailers, and more!

Bid Online. Learn more: https://brightstarauctions.com/listing/appalachianequipment-jonesville-nc-031424/

Bright Star Auctions

02/26/2024

Three days of winch assist demos at the West Virginia University Research Forest, coming up March 11-13, 2024! Register to attend here: https://forestnet.com/wvu-steep-slope/

02/16/2024

A big development in steep slope harvesting is coming.

Don’t miss the reveal at Oregon Logging Conference

Visit the link below to register:
https://oregonloggingconference.com/

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