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May 2019

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SHOW GUIDE

DAM LOGGING for B.C.’s $10 billion Site C hydro project With this issue…

The Edge!

NEW PELLET PLANT delivering polished performance FIRST NATIONS bridge building with wildfire wood

COME SEE US AT THE CNRE! Celebrating

Years!

We are thrilled to return to the Canada North Resources Expo in Prince George this May! Visit our booth to view the brand-new Kenworth W990 - a new take on an old classic. Also, witness a live demonstration of a Case excavator digging using SiteSolutions machine guidance technology at area G-5. Hope to see you at the show!

• Burnaby • Campbell River • Chilliwack (Parts) • Cranbrook • Dawson Creek (Parts) • • Fort St. John • Kamloops • Kelowna • Langley • Nanaimo • Pentiction • • Prince George • Quesnel • Terrace • Vernon • Whitehorse • Williams Lake •

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FEATURES May 2019 Volume 50 • No. 3 Editor Paul MacDonald Contributing Editors Jim Stirling Tony Kryzanowski George Fullerton Tech Update Editor Tony Kryzanowski

Publisher Rob Stanhope • (604) 990-9970 E-mail: stanhope@forestnet.com

On the Cover: From mill loaders to trucks to logging equipment, it will all be featured at the upcoming Canada North Resources Expo, taking place May 24 to 25 in Prince George, B.C. Read all about the show, and who is going to be there, beginning on page 30 of this issue of Logging and Sawmilling Journal, the Official Show Guide (Cover photo of Tolko mill operation by Paul MacDonald).

30 Official Show

Guide — Canada North Resources Expo

Associate Publisher Anthony Robinson • (604) 990-9970 E-Mail: robinson@forestnet.com

As the Official Show Guide, Logging and Sawmilling Journal has the full scoop on the Canada North Resources Expo— coming up May 24 to 25 in Prince George, B.C.—from feature editorial to a site map to the full listing of exhibitors at this great resource industry show.

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sanitation logging—from the air A targeted sanitation logging program— including heli-logging—of beetle-infected Douglas fir is underway in the B.C. Interior, and it looks like it’s having an impact on controlling the rate of spread of the beetle.

8 Dam logging!

There is a heckuva large log salvage project going on in B.C., but it’s got nothing to do with beetle salvage or fire-salvage—this kind of salvage involves logging green merchantable timber as part of building the massive $10 billion Site C dam in northeastern B.C.

First Nations bridge building—with wildfire wood A First Nations-owned company in the B.C. Interior, Cariboo Aboriginal Forest Enterprises, is building bridges—and soon will be building homes—with lumber they’re producing from wood burned in a 2017 wildfire.

20 Protecting a

community (forestry) asset

The Williams Lake Community Forest in the B.C. Interior is working to both manage an expanding Douglas fir beetle infestation and put in place wildfire mitigation strategies to protect and enhance what has become a valued and well-used asset.

24 Pellet plant delivering polished performance

Bringing new manufacturing plants online can be a challenge, but the Smithers Pellet plant in the B.C. Interior is clicking right along, thanks to a team effort on its startup in late-2018.

50 Jack of all trades logger

David Craig is truly a jack of all trades when it comes to equipment and logging, doing everything from timber harvesting to log clean-up at a lake for one of B.C’s largest dams.

58 Finding their logging niche…

Family-owned C&H Logging has found their logging niche in B.C.’s Fraser Valley, and these days three generations of the Carter Family are carrying on operations, with safety and sustainability top of mind.

68 The Edge

Included in this edition of The Edge, Canada’s leading publication on research in the forest industry, are stories from Alberta Innovates and Canadian Wood Fibre Centre.

74 The Last Word

Columnist Jim Stirling asks the question: Will the forest policy review for the B.C. Interior yield a new vision for the forest industry?

DEPARTMENTS

Calendar............................................... 6 Tech Update: Skidders........................ 64 Suppliernewsline................................ 70 Classifieds.......................................... 73 Subscriptions...................................... 73 Ad Index............................................. 73

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

spotlight

STRATEGIC sanitation logging— from the air A targeted sanitation logging program— including heli-logging—of beetle-infected Douglas fir is underway in the B.C. Interior, and it looks like it’s having an impact on controlling the rate of spread of the beetle.

By Jim Stirling

he thwack of helicopter blades in the cold Cariboo air is becoming a familiar sound to Williams Lake area residents. For the last three winters, a targeted sanitation logging program of stands infected by the Douglas-fir beetle has been underway. The aerial component is part of a suite of control efforts jointly designed to contain the beetles’ spread around susceptible fir stands on Crown land in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region of south central British Columbia. Annual survey interpretation indicates the strategies are having an impact and proving effective in helping control the rate of spread of the beetle into new Douglas-fir stands. The how and where decisions about deploying the varying beetle containment methods can be distilled into a single word: collaboration. “It’s a very collaborative process and involves lots of people sharing information and viewpoints,” summarized Jennifer Bowman, resource manager for the Cariboo-Chilcotin Natural Resource District of the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development based in Williams Lake, B.C. The catchment area for collaboration includes a wide representation from the regional forest industry. It includes tenure holder representatives, log harvesting contractors, forest health experts and the managers of the community forest. The Douglas-fir beetle typically focuses its attack on small groups of susceptible trees. The location of these small groups of beetle-infested trees helps indicate what type of treatment method or approach is likely to prove the most effective control. The selective heli-logging of beetle-infected fir trees, for example, is a treatment option for steeper slope sites with regulated access. The treatment method gains traction in areas of high outdoor recreation value—which are common in the greater Williams Lake area—and where there are visual impact issues, explained Bowman. The helilogging of infected stands help protect adjacent fir stands from the beetles. Sarver Wood Fibre Ltd., is the forest ministry’s heli-sanitation logging contractor. The firm is owned and operated by the four Sarver brothers and offers a range of logging services from its base in 100 Mile House, B.C. to page 6

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

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spotlight

The Douglas-fir beetle typically focuses its attack on small groups of susceptible trees.

from page 4 The Douglas fir beetle is endemic to regional forests and the forest ministry has tracked past infestation surges and trends, noted Bowman. The last major Douglas fir beetle outbreak in the Cariboo-Chilcotin Natural Resource District peaked in 20089 and affected about 68,550 hectares. Aerial surveys made during the summer of 2018 indicated Douglas fir beetles were affecting about 48,584 hectares in the regional natural resource district. Whatever is happening on the regional landscape base can influence beetle populations. It sounds contradictory that a landscape ravaged by the worst forest fires in its recorded history during 2017 might have caused the Douglas fir beetle populations to track upwards. But that may well be the case. “The beetles stick around because the pine trees have become weakened by the forest fires’ intensity,” believes Alex Tranq, senior silvicultural resource technologist with the forests ministry in Williams Lake. The Williams Lake beetle management unit treatment plan for 2018 included several other initiatives. An interesting one was the application of an anti-aggregate

pheromone called methyl cyclolexnone. The substance transmits the message to other Douglas fir beetles that a tree is already fully occupied by beetles. It’s used to help disrupt beetle attacks in vulnerable areas including parks and protected areas, residential properties and old growth management areas. Trap tree felling is another useful tool in the beetle containment arsenal. It’s used in the spring to attract adult beetles to a prime habitat for disposal. The falling and burning of specific beetleinfested stems is also a control option when others aren’t readily available. Use was also made in 2018 of funnel traps installed in regional log yards. The Douglas fir beetle populations will dictate future control strategies in the region. “I would hope the heli-logging control program will continue at least through 2020,” said Tranq. “After that we will have to wait and see.” Landscape management is a volatile subject during a warming climate period. It’s also one with worrying implications for the regional forest industry. It’s facing high fibre costs driven by a shrinking working forest land base on which beetle attacks and wildfires play significant roles.

The how and where decisions about deploying the varying beetle containment methods can be distilled into a single word: collaboration.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

CALENDAR May 24-25

Canada North Resources Expo, Prince George, BC 888-454-7469, www.cnre.ca May 27-31

LIGNA, Hannover, Germany 49511 89-32148, www.ligna.de June 5-6

Private Forest Landowners of BC Assoc. AGM, Sooke, BC 250-642-4300, www.pfla.bc.ca June 6-8

SkogsElmia, Jönköping, Sweden

4608 441 70 80, www.elmiawood.com June 16-18

Interior Lumber Manufacturers’ Assoc. Annual Convention, Osoyoos, BC 250-858-3466, www.ilma.com June 18-20

Maritime Lumber Bureau 80th AGM, St. Johns, NF 902-667-3889, www.mlb.ca

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© 2019 Caterpillar. All Rights Reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, LET’S DO THE WORK, their respective logos, “Caterpillar Yellow”, the “Power Edge” and Cat “Modern Hex” trade dress as well as corporate and product identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission. www.cat.com / www.caterpillar.com

BClogging

DAM LOGGING! A well-co-ordinated program of land clearing is now underway for BC Hydro’s massive multi-billion dollar Site C Clean Energy Project near Fort St. John, B.C., and it includes the salvage of green merchantable timber, (rendering shows the dam).

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

BClogging By Jim Stirling

og salvage harvesting has become what forest companies in the British Columbia Interior simply do, on a regular basis. They’ve become very good at it as a result. Years of chasing the mountain pine beetle to rescue volumes of merchantable timber became the definition of normal operating procedure for the region. The warming climate that helped create the pine beetle disaster is now triggering population surges in other endemic forest pests. The spruce bark and Douglas-fir beetles are examples. B.C. recorded its two worst forest fire seasons on record in 2017 and 2018. There are similar fears for 2019. The

fires have added huge swathes of burned wood to the landscape—and to the wood salvage priority menu. Now another type of wood salvage is gathering momentum in the province’s northeast. A well-co-ordinated program of land clearing is underway and included in it is the salvage of green merchantable timber. The program is part of BC Hydro’s multi-billion dollar Site C Clean Energy Project near Fort St. John, B.C. Everything about Site C is on a giant scale. BC Hydro says the project will create the third largescale hydroelectric dam and generating station on the Peace River. Site C will provide 1,100 megawatts of capacity and about 5,100 gigawatt hours of energy each year into the provincial electricity system. That’s enough energy to power

the equivalent of about 450,000 homes per year in B.C. The beetle-killed and fire-damaged wood volumes come with uncertain shelf lives for their conversion to dimension lumber. The wood’s suitability depends mainly on site growing conditions and degrees of damage. Log salvage in the Peace River valley and its affected tributaries, on the other hand, have a more definitive best before date. If merchantable volumes aren’t safely harvested and removed before the waters rise, much of the wood will be submerged under a narrow 83-kilometre long reservoir stretching from Site C toward the town of Hudson’s Hope. to page 10

Logging and land clearing are two different activities, each with its own set of variables and challenges. Land clearing is about hectares cleared—not cubic metres harvested, for example.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

BClogging from page 9 All the component parts of the Site C project are tightly choreographed as a result, with the prime objective of coming together on time and with technical precision. From Rod Brooks’ perspective, there are two key milestones influencing his work schedule. The first is set for the fall of 2020 when BC Hydro is scheduled to begin the process of diverting the Peace River from its present course to permit construction work on the earth-filled dam. The other significant date for Brooks will follow in 2023 as the reservoir begins filling, a process that will take approximately three months to complete. Brooks is senior forester and program manager for Site C vegetation and access. On the debris management side and in simple terms, that means all wood has to be cleared from the reservoir area and the other locations that will be affected by the Site C project. Merchantable trees of sufficient size, quality and volume are being hauled to local mills in the Fort St. John, Chetwynd and Dawson Creek areas for processing.

As part of the wood management process for the Site C project, BC Hydro contacts wood buyers from regional mills to learn their fibre requirements. A price is agreed upon, and the mill’s log bucking specifications are relayed to the appropriate logging contractor in the bush. BC Hydro says the remaining wood may be chipped, mulched and spread as coarse woody debris or burned on site. For Brooks, the challenges of his position represent “a unique opportunity in an area that’s near and dear to me.” As the land gradually unfolds from the

upheaval of the northern Rocky Mountains, the Peace River Country smoothens out to resemble Alberta more than the rest of B.C. to page 12

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BClogging from page 10

“Northeastern B.C. is unique geographically,” says Brooks. “The boreal forest grows in fine textured soils. There is less rock.” But it can provide demanding log harvesting conditions. “It calls for practically every type of logging that you find in B.C. There is the use of groundbased systems, cable logging, hand falling and aerially-based systems.” There are steep slopes and gullies and river bottom areas, many of which have long been cleared to reflect the valley’s

agricultural heritage. The Peace was occupied by native groups thousands of years before the European arrivals. Site C has been and remains a controversial issue. Land clearing operations associated with the project had to step aside in 2018 while the courts ruled on an injunction application to stop work regarding land use concerns raised by the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations. Brooks explained that BC Hydro acts like any forest company licencee operating on Crown land, and is bound

Northeastern B.C. is unique geographically, and can provide some demanding log harvesting conditions. It calls for practically every type of logging found in B.C.— ground-based systems, cable logging, hand falling and aerially-based systems. 12

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

by the same conditions. That means it has to follow the same procedures, pay stumpage fees and adhere to the same environmental standards and practices as other log harvesting operations in B.C. If anything, suggested Brooks, BC Hydro has to adhere to more stringent environmental standards. The Site C project had to undergo an environmental assessment by the federal and provincial governments, including a joint review process, before permission to proceed was granted. The reservoir site is divided into thirds for land clearing management purposes: the eastern, middle and western divisions. Clearing work in the eastern and middle reservoir sites began in the winter of 2018-19, once all green lights to proceed had been received. Work also began during the same winter on additional clearing work on the approximately 75-kilometre long transmission line corridor. BC Hydro is using the existing transmission corridor, but it will be widened to accommodate the new 500 Kv lines connecting it to the Peace Canyon Generating Station. Harvesting of merchantable trees is also underway along six sections (60 kilometres) of what will be a realigned Highway 29. The process is complex and involves considerable dialogue with First Nations and property owners along the route. It soon became apparent that the original estimate of recoverable merchantable timber was based on old inventory data, continued Brooks. The original estimate of 1.4 million cubic metres appears inaccurate, he said. Brooks said that about a dozen loads a day of merchantable wood were being trucked to area sawmills and processing plants in late-January/early-February of 2019. The species mix was approximately 60 per cent deciduous and 40 per cent conifers, but that is expected to vary between salvage sites. BC Hydro contacts the wood buyers from regional mills to learn their fibre requirements. A price is agreed upon, and the mill’s log bucking specifications are relayed to the appropriate logging contractor in the bush. The processed logs are delivered by truck to the mill. BC Hydro’s objective is to make the salvage logging portion of its project proceed as smoothly as it can. And that’s a common theme. Be the fibre the result of fire, flood or pestilence, salvage logging is ultimately about getting the best returns possible in terms of jobs created and values earned from the publicly-owned timber resource.

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BClogging

Dam logging brings its own set of challenges

am logging brings its own set of challenges, as Frost Lake Logging is finding out in northeastern B.C. with the work it is doing as part of the Site C project. Logging and land clearing are two different activities, each with its own set of variables and challenges. Scott Kirschke was reminded of that fact this past winter. Kirschke is president of Frost Lake Logging Ltd, part of the Frost Lake Group of companies based in Prince George, British Columbia. Crews from Frost Lake Logging got a first-hand taste of the differences early in 2019 while working on BC Hydro’s massive Site C Project in northeastern B.C. Lands along the Peace River and its tributary valleys will be flooded after the construction of a third dam on the river to accommodate new hydro electric generating capacity. In the meantime, the rush is on to clear the targeted land of brush and salvage the merchantable timber for the use of log processing operations in the Peace River country.

The differences between land clearing and logging begins with the basics. For example: “Land clearing is about hectares cleared—not cubic metres harvested,” points out Kirschke. And land clearing includes ensuring the safe, highly regulated and environmentally compliant disposal of non-merchantable wood material. Frost Lake Logging was working in the project’s Cache Creek drainage. It’s part of the Highway 29 re-location project between the communities of Hudson’s Hope and Fort St. John. Sections of the present highway are scheduled to become part of the Site C reservoir. They could use conventional bunchers, skidders and excavators at lower levels, says Kirschke. But the ground quickly becomes more rugged, requiring bridges for access (to be removed on the way down), and then hand falling and helicopter logging at higher elevations. “We had up to about 35 pieces of equipment in there. We used mainly locally-based logging trucks, but shortages of trucks meant we had to bring in some Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

of our own,” he explains. About 20 per cent to 30 per cent of the merchantable size and quality wood Frost Lake salvaged was conifer timber, delivered to the Canadian Forest Products sawmill in Fort St. John. Deciduous wood, including cottonwood, was shipped to Louisiana-Pacific’s newly reconfigured SmartSide Lap Siding and OSB plant in Dawson Creek, B.C. Next up, Frost Lake is scheduled to begin land clearing in the Halfway River valley. The logging company already has a formal business relationship with the Halfway River First Nation through the Halfway River Frost Limited Partnership. “Our commitment to the Halfway River First Nation is to respect their land,” says Kirschke. The Halfway River is a major waterway and the land clearing work there will present a raft of new challenges, he anticipates. “Land clearing work is different and it’s not easy. But we like it.”

BCloggingsawmilling

First Nations

bridge building

A First Nations-owned company in the B.C. Interior, Cariboo Aboriginal Forest Enterprises, is building bridges—and soon will be building homes— with lumber they’re producing from wood burned in a 2017 wildfire.

Cariboo Aboriginal Forest Enterprises has assembled a wide range of sawmill equipment which, in tandem, is designed to create the maximum value products from the available raw material.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

BCloggingsawmilling

CAFE an award-winning enterprise

By Jim Stirling

iley Rosette’s drill positions the holes needed to fasten the upper deck to the wooden members beneath. As it does, another portable bridge unit takes tangible shape—and a step toward completion. Rosette is part of the team at the First Nations-owned operation which cuts the components and assembles an average of four completed bridge panels per working day. Each one is constructed to precise forest industry specifications. The timber for the bridge construction is harvested—also by First Nations logging crews—from wood burned in a recent wildfire on the federally-owned Chilcotin Military Training Area near Riske Creek, British Columbia. Devastating fires roared through wide swathes of the Cariboo and Chilcotin areas of central B.C. in the

summer of 2017. They caused extensive damage and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents. At one point, the wildfire came too close for comfort threatening Riske Creek and the bridge construction site. The community is home base and operating area for Cariboo Aboriginal Forest Enterprises (CAFE). The Esk’etmc (formerly the Alkali Lake Indian Band) and the Tl’esqox (Toosey Indian Band) formed CAFE about three years ago. It represents a fine example of two independent First Nations groups with a shared territory working together for their mutual benefits. Salvaging burned wood that might otherwise go to waste and creating valuable wood products from it represents one of the enterprise’s benefits. A second is training. It’s providing a safe operational and skills enhancement experience in small sawmill operation. A wide range of portable sawmill equipment has been assembled which in tandem is designed to create the maximum value products from the available raw material, just as in the most sophisticated large scale commodity lumber sawmills. For some years, they’ve been gradually gathering the background and infrastructure to build a foundation for the future, outlined Craig Kennedy, forestry and economic development manager with the Old School Training and Recreation Complex. The old school reference dates back to 2014, when the Toosey applied to assume responsibility for the provincial community school which had been sitting around unwanted for the previous eight years. They could see the old school becoming the nucleus for a range of aboriginal training and employment uses, continued Kennedy. And that’s the way it’s turning out, from the old gym to the classrooms. In the spring of 2019, Kennedy is planning to temporarily shift the focus from to page 18 Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

pproximately 11,000 hectares of timber were burned on the Chilcotin Military Training Area at Riske Creek in British Columbia during the devastating wildfire season of 2017. The salvage effort has been underway ever since by logging crews from Cariboo Aboriginal Forest Enterprises (CAFE). CAFE is 100 per cent owned by the Esk’etemc (Alkali Lake) and Tl’esqox (Toosey Riske Creek) First Nations and it manages a total of 41,000 hectares of the federally owned forest and range lands. The three main logging contractors active in salvage logging the military reserve area are Ecolink Forest Services, from Alkali Lake with a cut of 180,000 cubic metres; Green Gold Contracting with 80,000 cubic metres and Deadwood Harvesting (60,000 cubic metres), said Gord Chipman, CAFE’s forest manager. CAFE used satellite and LIDAR technologies to create a burn severity index and pinpoint the most heavily damaged areas in the military training area. “We totally embrace technology and are concentrating our salvage in those area the process rated high,” added Chipman. Although CAFE crews were quick off the mark starting salvage work in October, 2017, the weather wasn't particularly cooperative in 2018. More hot dry weather caused shutdowns in July and August, quickly followed by wet and muddy conditions preventing logging equipment access. Harvesting wood burned by wildfires brings specific challenges. “On the hazard side there’s the charcoal and black dust. And it means much more equipment maintenance is called for and work stoppages for machine cleaning.” Chipman said although West Fraser can’t accommodate burned wood volumes for plywood manufacturing at its Williams Lake plant, the harvesting of saw log material is continuing. “When we salvaged wood in the area after a 2010 forest fire, the quality held for about four years. We’re hoping to get at least three years salvage out of this fire,” he said. CAFE’s collaborative approach to its forestry activities was officially recognized recently. The Cariboo Aboriginal Forest Enterprise was presented with the 2018 Indigenous Business Award by the B.C. Achievement Foundation partnership at a ceremony in Vancouver. 17

BCloggingsawmilling from page 17

An impressive arsenal of sawmill equipment is on site to get the job done for Cariboo Aboriginal Forest Enterprises, including a Wood-Mizer LT70 super hydraulic sawmill.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

building bridges to houses. The muchneeded program will see construction of new two- and three-bedroom homes on the Toosey reserve. “All of the logs for the homes will come from the Toosey’s own forest wood licences and the military reserve,” he explained. “However, the core business remains the bridge panels,” he affirmed, “and we expect to build about 300 this year.” They are delivered for use to B.C.’s Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development; West Fraser Timber and Tolko Industries, the two largest regional forest companies; and BC Timber Sales. Kennedy said the key bridge stock is in the form of 4 x 10 timbers, 10 x 10 and 8 x 10 and 12, along with stringer and decking material. An impressive arsenal of portable sawmill equipment is on site to get the job done. This includes two Peterson Winch Production Frame (WPF) swing mills manufactured in New Zealand; a Wood-Mizer LT70 super hydraulic sawmill; a Wood-Mizer LT40 hydraulic mill; two Wood-Mizer twin blade edgers; two Wood-Mizer re-saws and a Wood-Mizer kiln. There’s also a Logosol PH360 planer/ moulder machine. The saw filing and band saw sharpening facilities are also supplied by Wood-Mizer. The higher grade material is re-sorted and scheduled for drying and planning. A couple of buildings have been built as show homes at the Old School Training and Recreation Complex site. One is a regularly framed construction structure and the other features dovetailed timbers. Kennedy said the operation has two firewood processing machines. A 2017 Bell’s Machining 3000 series firewood processor is fitted with an Oregon saw bar and powered by a 50 h.p. Cat diesel engine. It can handle 22-inch diameter wood and is fitted with a 24-foot conveyor. The second unit is a Bell’s 4000 firewood processor with a Simmonds 42-inch cut off saw, which can handle 20-inch diameter logs and is attached to a Bell’s 32-foot conveyor. The unit was set up at West Fraser’s plywood plant yard in Williams Lake. Kennedy said it creates firewood from downfall logs that won’t meet other manufacturing specifications. The two CAFE First Nations partners will be supplied with winter wood, he added, with surpluses available for public sale. “We plan at some point to take one of the firewood processors into the bush to

BCloggingsawmilling work on slash piles,” he said. “We want to utilize as much fibre as feasible.” Tolko Industries recently donated a surplus 40-man camp to the Old School Training complex. “We plan on setting it up to provide training to other First Nations in small scale sawmill operation.” Kennedy has a broad experience base in the regional forest industry, having worked for the provincial forest service in the Chilcotin, and since 2008 has offered SAFE certified training for forest contracting companies, along with other related safety and forest consulting work. The Old School Training complex has more on-site experience with teacher/ supervisor Darryl Fincham. “I’ve worked in sawmills all over Western Canada but I’ve stepped away from working in the large production mills,” Fincham explained. Latterly, he’s gravitated towards small scale sawmilling partly because they employ more people per cubic metre of wood consumed. “That’s why this project is very heartfelt.” Fincham believes what’s happening in Riske Creek represents a blueprint of sorts. “This could happen in any First Nation in Canada where there’s a fibre

base the First Nation owns. There’s a huge problem with housing on reserves. We can teach how to safely break down the logs and make the wood products needed,” he said. “Our vision is to teach all the ramifications of how to run a small sawmilling business. We want to teach people the skills that work in the real world.” Fincham is an unabashed fan of Wood- Mizer sawmilling equipment. “The LT70 is the biggest, meanest portable,” he said with an appreciative smile. It can produce around 10,000 board feet during a 10 hour shift, while maintaining the important portability factor. Fincham also appreciates Wood-Mizer’s dehumidifying dry kiln. “It takes time to gently reduce moisture content to around the 10 to 12 per cent level, resulting in a higher quality product.” Like many of the influences and attitudes around the Old School Training and Recreation Complex, the emphasis is not on speed or throughput, but rather in doing the work safely and efficiently while keeping options open for further improvement and innovation.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

forestmanagement Money raised through log harvesting at the Williams Lake Community Forest is distributed back into the community through the support of local groups and organizations which successfully apply for funding.

Protecting

a community (forestry) asset The Williams Lake Community Forest in the B.C. Interior is working to both manage an expanding Douglas fir beetle infestation and put in place wildfire mitigation strategies to protect and enhance what has become a valued and well-used asset. By Jim Stirling

ugs and fires. Insect infestations and wildfires in the British Columbia Interior have dominated the forest industry’s headlines for the last couple of years. It’s not surprising, therefore, that the same two inter-related byproducts of a warming climate are influencing the on-the-ground management decisions undertaken in the Williams Lake Community Forest (WLCF). Dealing with an expanding Douglas fir beetle infestation while simultaneously instituting wildfire mitigation strategies are actions designed to protect and enhance

the forest in what has become a valued and well-used asset in Williams Lake. The community forest represents a partnership between the Williams Lake Indian Band and the City of Williams Lake. The community forest recently completed its initial five year management and stewardship plan. The WLCF consist of two distinct blocks. The Flat Rock or NeSextsine block between the Fraser River and Williams Lake in B.C.’s central Cariboo region covers about 9,000 hectares. The Peskwenkwinex or Potato Mountain block covers about 23,000 hectares east of the city of Williams Lake in the Horsefly area. Combined, the two blocks

Each year, about 200 school kids come through the Williams Lake Community Forest, from kindergarten to grade eight and nine students, seeking work experience. 20

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

support an annual harvest of 40,000 cubic metres. About 98 per cent of the 200,000 cubic metres harvested during the WLCF’s first five year program was sold into the Williams Lake and Cariboo market, reported Hugh Flinton who with Kent Watson represent the C&P Management Group Inc. Much of that timber from the community forest—harvested by locally based logging contractors and log haulers—was delivered to West Fraser and Tolko Industries, the two major forest companies with lumber manufacturing facilities in Williams Lake. But additional WLCF volumes were used by other local wood consumers including both large and small scale log home and timber frame construction companies. C&P Management was appointed by the WLCF board to assume direction of the community forest at the end of 2017. The C&P Management team took over the WLCF’s helm from a retiring Ken Day of the UBC Alex Fraser Research Forest. Flinton, who is a lifetime Williams Lake resident, had previously worked with Day to page 22

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forestmanagement from page 20 in the community forest. “We’ve had a good level of continuity (with the management),” he said. Williams Lake area residents have good reason to remember the summer of 2017. The threat and smoke from wildfires surrounded the city for weeks, and at one point in July of that year, up to 24,000 people in the region were subject to evacuation orders or alerts. In the summer of 2018, hot, dry and windy conditions returned but mercifully not with the numbers or intensity of fires the previous year. Flinton credits the Big Lake Volunteer Fire Department and community members who took fast initial action on a fire near the community forest’s Potato Mountain flank, and succeeded in restricting it to about 20 to 30 hectares in size. Fuel treatment actions around the community forest’s borders are continuing. “They don’t prevent wildfires but they do mitigate risks,” explained Flinton. The fuel treatment activities can buy valuable time for firefighters and planners. “And hopefully they can then manage the fire more efficiently.”

Managing more efficiently is also an appropriate term for dealing with the Douglas fir bark beetle within the WLCF. But the containment situation is further complicated as the beetles move into fir-leading stands in old growth management areas, which provide prime winter habitat for mule deer. Standards in such areas require tree cover for the deer, which it turns out, are fussy eaters. They prefer needles from higher up in the trees and wait for them to drop from the canopy by wind or snow conditions, outlined Flinton. Not caring too much for the lower growing needles, however, assists overall stand management. “We try to reduce fuels close to the ground, which limits a fire’s ability to climb into the canopy and spread.” Meanwhile the Douglas fir attacked and killed by the beetles are subject to a program of single tree salvage and removal. “We anticipate removing about 20,000 beetle-attacked and killed trees in the next year,” predicted Flinton. Harvester/ forwarder machine combinations tackle the wood in lower elevations with hand falling on the steeper terrain. The events of the last couple of years have helped local residents understand

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

and appreciate the work going on next door in their community forest. “We enjoy an extremely good level of collaboration with the community.” The WLCF’s recreation sites and trails are extensively used by local groups and organizations, including an active mountain biking community. “We also have about 200 school kids coming through the community forest each year from kindergarten to grade eight and nines seeking work experience,” he added. Money raised through log harvesting is distributed back into the community through the support of local groups and organizations which successfully apply for funding, pointed out Flinton. “The WLCF employs 20 to 50 full time equivalent positions a year ranging from work in forest planning through harvesting to silviculture. It makes the community forest a significant generator of revenue which remains in the Williams Lake area.” The WLCF has received an additional benefit from an unexpected source to help counterbalance fibre losses due to insects and fire. Mother Nature has contributed a bountiful cone crop in 2018 to help renew the forest. The same phenomenon is anticipated for 2019.

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delivering polished performance Bringing new manufacturing plants online can be a challenge, but the Smithers Pellet plant in the B.C. Interior is clicking right along, thanks to a team effort on its start-up in late-2018. By Jim Stirling

ew wood manufacturing plants are often finicky creations. Their start-ups are frequently fraught with delays and troubleshooting issues as they gradually evolve into full production mode. But by all accounts, the new Smithers Pellet plant was purring like a kitten right from its commissioning late in 2018.

“It was a real team effort that contributed to our successful start-up,” said Mike Cooper, plant manager at the newly minted facility in the town of Smithers, in west central British Columbia. Smithers Pellet had several positive factors on its side contributing to the smooth start-up. The new Smithers plant is compact in size, with a straightforward design and an easily processed fibre base.

Smithers Pellet had several positive factors on its side contributing to the smooth start-up. The new Smithers plant is compact in size, with a straightforward design and an easily processed fibre base. 24

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

The pedigree of parent company, Pinnacle Renewable Holdings Inc., doesn’t hurt either. From modest beginnings in B.C.’s Cariboo country in the mid-1980s, Pinnacle has steadily grown into one of the world leaders in the manufacture and distribution of industrial wood pellets. Pinnacle now has eight production facilities in Western Canada and one in Alabama delivering a green renewable energy source to large scale power generating customers in the U.K, Europe and, more recently, Japan and Korea. The Smithers Pellet Limited Partnership has Pinnacle holding a 70 per cent stake in the operation and its partner, West Fraser Timber Co Ltd, the remaining 30 per cent. It represents a good mix, converting under-utilized wood fibre from varying sources and using it for green energy production. Smithers Pellet’s production capacity is estimated at 125,000 tonnes a year, which the company anticipates reaching in the third quarter of fiscal 2019. to page 26

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West Fraser Timber supplies spruce, pine and fir sawmill residues in the form of chips, sawdust and planer shavings to Smithers Pellet, with all the furnish arriving on site by truck. Raw material volumes also come from Seaton Forest Products Ltd’s export sawmill operation near Wiset, north of Smithers. from page 24 The new Smithers Pellet plant is strategically located adjacent to West Fraser’s Pacific Inland Resources Division’s sawmill and planer complex. The pellet mill creates a new profile at the site which was occupied for years by Northern

Engineered Wood Products Inc (Newpro). In its most recent- and final-incarnation, Newpro was manufacturing medium density fibreboard on the site. One large building currently used primarily for storage has been retained by Smithers Pellet, said Cooper, with the majority of the complex creating its own footprint on site.

West Fraser supplies spruce, pine and fir sawmill residues in the form of chips, sawdust and planer shavings. Cooper explained that all the furnish for Smithers Pellet arrives on site by truck. A portable chipping contractor converts the solid wood piles of material retrieved from the bush after logs suitable for conversion to dimension lumber have been harvested and processed. Raw material volumes for Smithers Pellet also come from Seaton Forest Products Ltd’s export sawmill operation near Wiset, north of Smithers. Seaton’s main business is processing dry balsam fir typically unwanted by the large licencees in the region. A small mill creates cants for export to Asia. The slabs produced are chipped for use at Smithers Pellet. Seaton also utilizes wood fibre from wood piles left in the bush and burned in wildfires. Finding productive uses for the material helps reduce fuel build-up on the landscape and mitigates future wildfire risk. Jeff Johnston is general manager of operations for Smithers Pellet and he outlined the wood pellet manufacturing process at the new plant. The initial major step sees sawmill residues go through a drying process. The objective is to reduce the temperature of the material mix down to the required eight to 10 per cent range. The Stela dryer is manufactured in Germany and has two 12 MW gas burners supplied by Roses & Wayler, said Johnston. The previously dried planer shavings from West Fraser are delivered into the system separately. A Bliss Industries 4460 hammer mill to page 28

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

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reduces all particle sizes to a 3/8” minus category, added Johnston. The final major stage in the manufacturing process is pelletizing and the plant has installed three Andritz LM2 pelletizer machines. A Continental Conveyors system is responsible for the bulk material conveying around the plant. The Brampton, Ontario-based company’s crews also installed explosion hatches on all dry fibre conveyors for isolation, pointed out Johnston. Preventative safety measures and monitoring systems are high priorities in wood pellet mill design and function. Johnston cited an additional couple of examples. “We have a CV tech explosion suppression system installed on transition points and air max fans to keep dust down and away from the rafters.” Smithers Pellet benefitted during the project planning and construction phases from being part of the larger Pinnacle Pellet family of plants. A Stela dryer was installed in the company’s Lavington, B.C. wood pellet manufacturing facility in 2016. The dryer had performed well and the corporate decision was made to install a similar unit in the smaller Smithers plant. One of the features of the dryer is its ability to slow dry fibre and improve air circulation. A team from Lavington was on hand to help with the Smithers installation. “The Stela dryer had multiple modifications,” recalled Johnston. They included installing larger burners and positioning Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

them at each end of the dryer. “The larger burners and better position will increase drying efficiency and larger exhaust fans will also allow for increased dryer evaporation.” Smithers Pellet made use of local and regional contractors where possible throughout its project. The list of major contractors includes: Kaynic Construction of Grande Prairie, Alberta as the main mechanical contractor with additional work from Black Fox Enterprises of Valemount, B.C. Service Electric of Quesnel was the main electrical contractor. For the foundations and civil work, Hausi Contracting and North Central Plumbing and Heating of Smithers were the contractors. Allied Blower did the baghouse and ducting work. The finished wood pellets are loaded into Pinnacle Pellet’s own fleet of rail cars. CN Rail’s main line is adjacent to the plant for the journey to tidewater at Prince Rupert. The pellets are unloaded at Pinnacle’s own customized Westview Port Terminal in preparation for shipment to customers in Japan and South Korea under long term contracts. Smithers Pellet plant manager Cooper said there are 19 employees at the operation including supervisors. Their immediate task is to keep the Smithers Plant on its smooth track toward design potential. As familiarity with the process grows so do the opportunities for improvement. “There are always ways to get better,” added Cooper.

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n behalf of the entire show management team at Master Promotions Ltd., I would like to welcome you to the fourth edition of the Canada North Resources Expo in Prince George, B.C. Prince George offers the ideal location for an industry event of this nature .There’s no better way to pay tribute to the many sectors that support the region’s economy, including mining, oil and gas, forestry, bioenergy, education, health care, transportation, and professional services. The Canada North Resources Expo will showcase leaders and rising stars of each of these industries in a celebration of all things north! Each edition of the show raises thousands of dollars to support the education of local students going into resource

industry professions. Intended to make an impact on the industry for years to come, the scholarship is a long-lasting part of CNRE’s legacy. Every year we look forward to making ties in the community through charitable benefits to help create our industry leaders of tomorrow. This year will feature tons of big iron, inside the CN Centre and featuring a massive display of outdoor exhibits. At the show you’ll find the best products, equipment and services needed to get jobs done on time and on budget—it’s the place to be for planning major projects in the region. Enjoy the Demo Zone; the Health, Wellness & Safety Zone; and the Interior Safety Conference, as well as all the other features the Canada North Resources Expo has to offer.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

We would like to thank our media sponsor: the Logging & Sawmilling Journal. Thank you for helping us make 2019 the best year yet—let’s get building! Mark Cusack National Show Manager Master Promotions Ltd.

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ark Cusack has got all the pieces he likes to see assembled to make a successful show. All the Big Iron is coming to town. And it will be on display rain or shine at the Canada North Resources Expo (CNRE) in Prince George, British Columbia May 24-25. “All the major dealers and manufacturers will be represented at the 2019 CNRE and the whole show has come together really well,” reports Cusack, who is national show manager with Master Promotions Ltd., the event’s organizer based in Saint John, New Brunswick. This will be the fourth biennial edition of the CNRE. It features the largest shop window in the West for the equipment

and machinery used by the natural resources and transportation industries— and all the ancillary services required to keep them all functioning smoothly. Prince George is at the geographical heart of the province and is B.C.’s natural resource industries service centre. The CNRE reflects Prince George’s roots, as well as its future. To give an idea of the physical impact of the show, the most recent CNRE—held in 2017—was host to more than 250 exhibitors and 8,000 visitors during its two opening days. There’s more than four acres (1.6 hectares) of space for outdoor exhibits, equipment displays and demonstrations at Prince George’s Exhibition Park, the CNRE’s traditional home. The cavernous on-site CN Centre is home for

the indoor exhibits. Cusack reckoned the way things were shaping up, the 2019 CNRE could write new numbers for exhibitors and visitors of 300 and 10,000 respectively. People flock to the CNRE for two main reasons: it’s a great place to do business and it’s a great place for a day out so families and casual visitors can better understand the importance of maintaining the vitality of the province’s resource industries. Even on the business side of the equation, there’s a casual, almost country fair atmosphere that appears contradictory for a workplace. But don’t be fooled. Behind the meetings of old friends and the b.s. there’s a very real sense of purpose. The exhibitors and equipment dealers know that. It’s why

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and functions. Portable mills can add profitability for private land owners and woodlot operators. But they can also be instruments of social change. Portable sawmills put to work in First Nations and rural communities are teaching new skills and contributing to much-needed and improved housing and infrastructure. Latterly, the CNRE has discovered an additional role. The breadth and diversity of its exhibits creates a unique employment exchange. Everyone knows about the ageing workforce. It’s become particularly acute within B.C.’s natural resource industries. “The resource industries are crying out for equipment operators and mechanics,” says Cusack. Important as those professions are, the skilled labour problems stretch deeper and wider. B.C.’s natural resource industries today are about applying technology in everything from fuel management to artificial intelligence. So walking around Exhibition Park and the CN Centre May 24 and 25 might lead to a new career. LINKBELT

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Organizers of events relevant to the natural resources sector in the region have discovered the CNRE is a good vehicle to reach the audience they seek. An example is the Interior B.C. Safety Conference which is again part of the CNRE in 2019. The 2017 event attracted more than 150 participants. On day one, the safety conference’s focus was on manual tree felling and log hauling. Safety and leadership considerations were analyzed during the following day. At the time of writing, Cusack said the 2019 agenda details were still being finalized. Cusack says Master Promotions is always looking for ways it can say thank you and give something back to the communities and regions with which it works to stage trade and consumer shows across Canada. The company and the Prince George-based Resources Expo Society presented $10,000 to Terrace’s Northwest Community College after the 2017 CNRE, along with donations collected for the Prince George Salvation Army.

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they are there. Make no mistake, there can be big dollar deals riding behind the smiles and seemingly offhand questions. The nature and effectiveness of the business forum created throughout the CNRE is why some of the largest equipment dealerships choose to launch their new models during the show. And that will be the case again in 2019 It’s why calendars all across town have a ring drawn around the CNRE dates. Loggers love new equipment. Partly because running it is what they do and it’s at the core of their business. But new equipment or machine capabilities can present the opportunity for the logger, roadbuilder or trucker to do his or her job more effectively. Examining new equipment can also trigger related ideas of how certain aspects of their business can be made to work better. A perennial favourite at the CNRE is the displays of portable sawmills. Through the years, the mills have become much more sophisticated both in their features

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Exhibitor List ALBACH NORTH AMERICA Booth # 330 www.Albach.us ALL-WEST GLASS Booth # 706 www.All-WestGlass.com ALLIANCE TIRE AMERICAS INC. Booth # G-7 www.AtgTire.com APEX SPECIALIZED RIGGING & MOVING Booth # 708 www.ApexSpecialized.com ARGO WORLD Booth # 425 www.ArgoWorld.ca ARMTEC INC. Booth # 704 www.Armtec.com ARTIC MACHINERY LTD. Booth # P-16 www.ArticMachinery.com AXIS FORESTRY INC. Booth # P-9 www.AxisForestry.com BABINE TRUCK AND EQUIPMENT LTD. Booth # P-19 www.BabineTruck.com

Showguide listing information provided by Master Promotions Ltd.

CANADIAN FOREST INDUSTRIES ANNEX MEDIA Booth # 524 www.WoodBusiness.ca CANADIAN MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION Booth # 422 www.PrinceGeorge.CMHA.BC.ca CAPITALNOW Booth # 332 www.CapitalNow.ca CASTER TOWN Booth # 525 www.CasterTown.com

BC FOREST SAFETY COUNCIL Booth # 522 www.BCForestSafe.org

CENTRAL INTERIOR CATERING AND CONSULTING Booth # 523 www.CICamps.com

BGE SERVICE & SUPPLY LTD. Booth # 521 www.BGECleanAir.com

CERTIFIED LABS Booth # 303 www.CertifiedLabs.com

B.K. TWO-WAY RADIO LTD. Booth # 333 www.BKTwoWay.ca

CLEANFIX NORTH AMERICA INC. Booth # 702 www.CleanFix.org

BRANDT TRACTOR LTD. Booth # P-4 www.Brandt.ca

COLDFRONT Booth # 307 www.Cold-Front.com

BRIKERS Booth # G-3 www.Brikers.com

CONNEXUS INDUSTRIES INC. Booth # 301 www.CnxsInd.com

BRUNETTE MACHINERY CO. Booth # P-47 www.BrunetteMC.com

COAST LUBRICANTS LTD. Booth # 526 www.CoastLubricants.com

BRUTUS TRUCK BODIES Booth # P-31 www.BrutusBodies.com

CRUSHING MECHANICS Booth # P-25 www.CrushingMechanics.com

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

D&L TIMBER TECHNOLOGIES LTD. Booth # G-4 www.DLTimberTech.com DE-ON SUPPLY INC. Booth # 405 www.DeOnSupply.com DES VANCOUVER Booth # 312 www.Des.Direct DUZ CHO GROUP OF COMPANIES Booth # 408 www.DuzCho.com DYMIN MECHANICAL AND REFRIGERATION INC. Booth # 309 www.Dymin.ca DZ GRINDERS, LLC Booth # 417 www.DiamondZ.com EASY KLEEN PRESSURE SYSTEMS LTD. Booth # 322 www.EasyKleen.com FACTORS WESTERN INC. Booth # 404 www.FactorsWestern.com FALCON EQUIPMENT Booth # P-45 www.FalconEquip.com FASTCOVER FABRIC STRUCTURES LTD Booth # 520 www.FastCoverBuildings.com FBC-CANADA’S FARM & SMALL BUSINESS TAX SPECIALISTS Booth # 308 www.FBC.ca

Exhibitor List FINNING (CANADA) Booth # P-12 www.Finning.com FLASH FIRE & SAFETY Booth # P-1 www.FlashFireSafety.com FLEXXAIRE INC. Booth # 419 www.Flexxaire.com FMDC WATERMIST CANADA LTD. Booth # 528 www.FogMakerCanada.ca FOREMAN EQUIPMENT LTD. Booth # P-18 www.ForemanEquipment.com FOREST POWER SPORTS Booth # P-21 www.FPSBC.com FORESTRY TRADER Booth # 320 www.ForestryTrader.com

INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS AND BUSINESSES ASSOCIATION Booth # 413 www.ICBA.ca INLAND GROUP Booth # P-34 & # P-35 www.Inland-Group.com INNOVATIVE TRENCHING SOLUTIONS Booth # 518 www.ItsEnergy.ca INTEGRAL EQUIPMENT LTD. Booth # 304 www.IntegralEquipment.ca INTERIOR HEAVY EQUIPMENT OPERATOR SCHOOL Booth # 336 www.IHEShool.com IRL INTERNATIONAL TRUCK CENTRES Booth # P-27 www.IRLTrucks.com

KASCO CANADA Booth # 318 www.KaskoCanada.ca KINSHOFER Booth # 305 www.Kinshofer.com LAWSON PRODUCTS INC. Booth # 513 www.LawsonProducts.com LEASE LINK CANADA CORP. Booth # 357 www.LeaseLink.ca LEAVITT MACHINERY Booth # P-13 www.LeavittMachinery.com LITEWAY SYSTEMS INC. Booth # 403 www.PremiumTruck.ca LOGGING & SAWMILLING JOURNAL Booth # 700 www.ForestNet.com

JAMES WESTERN STAR Booth # P-7 www.Jamesws.com

MARLIM ECOLOGICAL CONSULTING LTD. Booth # 420 www.MarlimEcological.com

FRASER VALLEY TARP AND TIE LTD. Booth # 416 www.FraserValleyTarp.com

JEPSON PETROLEUM Booth # 710 www.JepsonPetro.com

MASONLIFT LIMITED Booth # P-33 www.Masonlift.com

FREFLYT INDUSTRIES INC. Booth # P-36 www.FreFlyt.ca

JIM PATTISON LEASE Booth # 511 www.JimPattisonLease.com

MNP LLP Booth # 311 www.MNP.ca

FRONTIER POWER PRODUCTS LTD. Booth # 510 www.FrontierPower.com

JT EQUIPMENT CORP Booth # P-25A www.JTEquip.ca

MORFCO SUPPLIES LTD. Booth # 401 www.MorfcoSupply.ca

FORT GARRY INDUSTRIES Booth # P-5 www.FortGarryIndustries.com

to page 42

GLOBAL TROXLER Booth # 314 www.GlobalTroxler.ca GROENEVELD LUBRICATION SOLUTIONS Booth # 514 www.Groeneveld-Lubrication-Solutions.com HEATMASTER SS/STEELTECH INC. Booth # G-9 www.HeatmasterSS.com HEAVY EQUIPMENT GUIDE Booth # 323 www.BaumPub.com HUNTER ENGINEERING COMPANY Booth # 407 www.Hunter.com Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

Exhibitor List from page 41

MYSHAK CRANE & RIGGING LTD. Booth # 418 www.MyshakGroup.com NORTHERN MAT & BRIDGE Booth # P-17 www.NorthernMat.ca NORTHERN METALIC LUBRICANTS LTD. Booth # P-20 www.NMlubricants.com NORTHLAND DODGE Booth # 450 www.NorthlandDodge.ca NORTHLAND NISSAN Booth # P-6 www.NorthlandNissan.com

PREMIUM TRUCK & TRAILER INC. Booth # P-10 www.PremiumTruck.ca PRIME TECH SHREDDING EQUIPMENT Booth # P-24 www.Fae-Group.com PROGRESSIVE AUCTIONS & EQUIPMENT SALES INC. Booth # 325 www.ProgressiveAuctions.ca PROLENC MANUFACTURING INC. Booth # P-2 www.Prolenc.com PROMAC MANUFACTURING LTD. Booth # 527 www.PromacGroup.ca

SKILLED TRADES EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM Booth # 414 www.StepBC.ca SMS EQUIPMENT Booth # P-15 www.SMSEquip.com STAR WEST PETROLEUM LTD. Booth # 302 www.SWPetroleum.ca SUMMIT TRAILER LTD. Booth # P-11 www.SummitTrailer.ca SUPPLY POST Booth # 410 www.SupplyPost.com SURESPAN CONSTRUCTION Booth # 515 www.Surespan.com

NORWOOD SAWMILLS INC Booth # G-1 www.NorwoodSawmills.com

QUADCO INC. Booth # P-42 www.Quadco.com

OCEAN TRAILER Booth # P-38 www.OceanTrailer.com

QUALITY CHAIN CANADA LTD. Booth # P-44 www.QCCanada.com

TABOR MOUNTAIN RECREATION SOCIETY Booth # 423 www.TMRS.ca

OLOFSFORS INC. Booth # 398 www.Olofsfors.com

QUANTUM FOAM Booth # 452 www.QuantumFoam.ca

TAIMI HYDRAULICS Booth # 448 www.Taimi.ca

PACBRAKE COMPANY Booth # 310 www.Pacbrake.com

RITCHIE BROS Booth # 315 www.RBAuction.com

PALADIN ATTACHMENTS Booth # P-32 www.PaladinAttachments.com

R.L. RURKA SALES & SERVICE INC Booth # 300

PEERLESS Booth # P-39 & # P-40 www.Peerless.ca

ROTOBEC Booth # P-37 www.Rotobec.com

PETERBILT PACIFIC INC. Booth # P-22 www.PeterbiltPacific.com

SECURE-RITE STRUCTURES Booth # 533 www.Secure-Rite.com

PIONEER OFFROAD Booth # 327 www.PioneerRentals.ca

SHAW BUSINESS Booth # 415 www.Business.Shaw.ca

PIONEER PARTS REBUILDING Booth # 411 www.PioneerParts.com

SHILOH ENTERPRISE LTD. Booth # P-48

POLYMERSHAPES Booth # 402 www.Polymershapes.com

SHOCKER POSITIVE AIR SHUTOFF SYSTEMS Booth # 321 www.HeadwindSolutions.ca

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

TELEFOREST Booth # 519 www.Teleforest.com TERO CONSULTING Booth # 516 www.Azzier.com THE GEAR CENTRE OFF-HIGHWAY DIVISION Booth # P-46 www.GearCentre-OffHwy.com THERMEX ENGINEERED SYSTEMS Booth # 331 www.Thermex-Systems.com TIMBERNORTH CONSULTING LTD. Booth # 409 www.TimberNorth.ca TUFPORT INDUSTRIES LTD. Booth # P-41 www.Tufport.com TURBO MS CANADA Booth # 446 www.TurboMSCanada.com

Exhibitor List TYCROP TRAILERS Booth # P-29 www.TycropTransport.com

WAJAX INDUSTRIAL COMPONENTS LP Booth # P-8 www.Wajax.com

WESTERN OIL SERVICES LTD. Booth # 505 www.WesternOilServices.com

VALID MANUFACTURING LTD. Booth # P-43 www.ValidManufacturing.com

WALLINGFORD’S INC. Booth # 503 www.Wallingfords.com

WILLIAMS MACHINERY Booth # G-6 www.WilliamsMachinery.com

VALLEN Booth # 316 www.Vallen.ca

WARATAH FORESTRY CANADA Booth # P-3 www.Waratah.com

WILLIAMS PETROLEUM Booth # 444 www.WilliamsPetroleum.ca

VANDERVELDT EQUIPMENT PARTS LTD. Booth # 306 www.VeldtParts.com

WELDCO-BEALES MFG Booth # P-14 www.Weldco-Beales.com

WOOD-MIZER CANADA INC. Booth # G-2 www.WoodMizer.com

VISHAY TRANSDUCERS LTD Booth # 509 www.VulcanScales.com

WESTCAN BULK Booth # 426 www.WestcanBulk.ca

WURTH CANADA LIMITED Booth # 326 www.Wurth.ca

W.G. DAVIS & SONS TRUCKING Booth # P-23 www.WGDavisTrucking.ca

WESTERN EQUIPMENT LTD. Booth # 517 www.WesternEquipmentLtd.com

ZENCO HYDROVAC EXCAVATION LTD. Booth # 412 www.ZencoHydrovac.com

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

Keeping rural B.C. in the loop... The B.C. government could step up its communications with forest-reliant communities in the B.C. Interior—especially as the government is scheduled to undertake a review of the forest industry in the Interior.

he issue is the rural forest community’s version of the air traveller’s vacuum. Everyone who has ever flown into or out of a major airport has been subject to the traveller’s vacuum. It’s the all-too-familiar situation where nothing is happening on schedule and suddenly no one in authority is available to explain why. Rumours became rampant. Tempers become frayed. From beetles and wildfires to sawmill production curtailments and trade wars, these are worrying days for the forest industry in the British Columbia Interior. Brad Layton reckons it’s time for the provincial government to fill its information vacuum with forestry’s rural and northern communities at its ground zero. “Our towns and communities need regular information from the provincial

government about developments in the forest sector to help us plan in a proactive way,” pointed out Layton, the mayor of the village of Telkwa. “Right now we’re all on our own. We need to be more a part of the system,” he said. “We have sawmills on either side of us (in Smithers and Houston) and they have a major impact on our tax base. My immediate concern is this region—but it’s the same situation all around rural B.C.” Layton isn’t suggesting the wheel needs re-inventing or a new level of ministerial bureaucracy added to turn on the flow of updated forest information from the government. He said having senior government forestry officials visit the region occasionally to talk at council meetings would be a helpful first step. Local government could be kept in the loop about

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

provincial government forest policy intentions while the government’s representative could hear community concerns and feedback. Small B.C. communities in the region used to be better informed of the provincial government’s forestry related plans and policies, said Layton. Government speakers were regular participants in meetings of the Omineca Beetle Action Coalition. The coalition was established to help forest-reliant communities make the necessary economic transitions to compensate for the effects of the mountain pine beetle epidemic. But government cut funding to the coalition in 2017. Layton, like many in the region, works in the forest industry and is dependent upon it. He is a long term employee with Pro-Tech Forest Resources Ltd., in Telkwa, a full service forestry consulting firm. Layton’s forest industry background holds him in good stead as chair of the forestry committee for the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako. It represents an area from Fort St. James and Vanderhoof in the east to Smithers in the west. Layton believes the time is right to improve forest industry communications between the provincial government and its municipal and rural counterparts. The provincial government recently completed a blueprint designed to rejuvenate the B.C. coastal forest industry. A similar review for the Interior was scheduled to begin in April. Layton said knowing more about the provincial government’s intentions would greatly assist the planning work of local governments. Layton cited one change he’d like to see evolve from the provincial government’s Interior forest review process. Increasing the amount of small scale log harvesting licences and salvage work opportunities would put more people to work throughout the Interior, he said.

New simulators help train operators Want-to-be equipment operators can now train on heavy equipment simulators at Prince George’s O’Brien Training, with a line-up that includes simulators of a feller buncher, a dangle head processor and a wheeled harvester. By Jim Stirling

ike other log harvesting contractors, Dan O’Brien realized years ago that the forest industry in central British Columbia was facing a labour crunch. There simply weren’t enough qualified

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

machine operators and logging truck drivers available. The experienced ones were retiring—and they weren’t being replaced in sufficient numbers. Unlike other log harvesting contractors, O’Brien decided to do something about it. He branched out into the training business. That was in 2005. Today, O’Brien Training, one of his group of companies based in Prince George, B.C., continues to develop operator recruitment and training strategies. And the problem has become more acute through the years. “It’s a huge problem and there’s still a void to be filled,” said O’Brien. “It’s got to the point where there aren’t the people to deliver the product.” The severity of the skilled worker shortage in the sector is a general one with regional fluctuations, but it has led to the development of a positive side. The large forest companies have become involved with supporting training programs. In the Prince George area, Canadian Forest Products is leading the way, and it’s West Fraser in other parts of the Central Interior. One of O’Brien’s recent upgrades— and a first for the Prince George region— is the installation of heavy equipment training simulators. Forest machine simulators are the next best thing to being on board the actual machine. Their advantages include providing a safe, real time environment in which to learn the basic machine functions. Students get a true feel for how the machine’s processes are intertwined and how to properly use and co-ordinate hand controls and foot pedals. The simulators also provide the

would-be operator with some essential experience understanding and operating the machine’s on-board computer systems. O’Brien has simulators for four pieces of construction equipment, including excavators and dozers. There are three for log harvesting equipment; a feller buncher simulator, one for a dangle head processor and for the operation of a wheeled harvester. The simulators are handy to indicate where a student’s skills and aptitudes really lay, added O’Brien. That’s often not where the student might think at the beginning of the process. O’Brien Training has no education requirements. “If you come here, we’ll guarantee you a job if you want to work,” said O’Brien. His company does a lot of work with First Nations, a neglected resource when it comes to forest work recruitment although ground is being made up. “We have two mobile classrooms each equipped with a driving simulator and six work stations to take training on location,” he explains. “This ability allows taking the classroom to the students’ homes, be they in a rural community or on a reserve.” The mobile classrooms offer an introduction to Class 1, 2, 3 and 4 professional driver training. The introduction doesn’t make assumptions, which is why the curriculum includes pointers about the small but important details like the right way to drive on resource roads and even how to properly throw wrappers on a load of logs. Beginning in 2019, O’Brien Training hired an assistance skills person. Navigating the lengthy handbook for a Class 1 driver’s licence, for example, can be a pretty daunting challenge without some explanatory help along the way. O’Brien believes practical, hands-on experience is the best way to learn good work habits right from the get-go. “We have a new 120-acre construction training site west of Prince George with 15 pieces of construction equipment available for training purposes. On the forestry side, when trainee operators are ready they can hone their skills in the bush under supervision at a live logging show northeast of Prince George.”

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

Thinking about forestry’s future—with a Forestry Think Tank

Quesnel Mayor Bob Simpson

The B.C. Interior city of Quesnel—which has been hit hard by the mountain pine beetle and recent wildfires—has set up a Forestry Think Tank to generate ideas on re-defining forest management approaches, and how manufacturing can be adapted to the fibre base now, and in the future. By Jim Stirling

hrough the years, a natural patchwork of forestlands has given way to more contiguous forests of even-aged stands in B.C. We’re now experiencing more extreme climatic conditions with repercussions like the mountain pine beetle epidemic and wildfires that have become more severe. As a result, “the landscape has taken a beating,” declares Bob Simpson. What’s required to help it recover is a forest with more natural resiliency to pests, disease and fire. And that, in turn, says Simpson, requires a broader management perspective than the stand by stand approach generally practiced in the B.C. Interior. 48

Maybe we need to put ecosystem management considerations first and economic considerations second, suggests Simpson. “We need to assess the management options for doing something different.” Conversations about re-defining forest management approaches in the region are what Simpson wants to encourage among forest professionals. Simpson is the mayor of the City of Quesnel, in the north Cariboo region of B.C. He also has a broad background and interest in the forest industry. He was the NDP’s forestry critic in B.C. between 2005 and 2009. Quesnel is one of the most forest industry-dependent communities in B.C. It is home to a range of large and small forest industry plants and has a strong Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

expertise base in both the log harvesting and processing sectors. But the reliance on the forest industry is both Quesnel’s strength and its Achilles heel. The region has been especially hard hit, first by the mountain pine beetle epidemic, and recent wildfire seasons have exacerbated a declining timber availability base. Simpson reacted proactively to what’s been happening on the landscape and with the agreement of Quesnel City Council established a Forestry Think Tank. “The basic premise was to use Quesnel as an incubator of generating ideas about how forest management in B.C. can be adapted to address issues like climate change and how manufacturing processes can be adapted to fibre now and in the future,” relates Simpson.

The Quesnel Think Tank kicked off with a two-day technical workshop session in Quesnel in 2018. It was oversubscribed, which was a positive sign, says Simpson. The issue had hit a nerve. “We need to show leadership and ask questions about what’s needed for a new forestry game plan,” he says. Dr. Paul Hessberg was a participant in the technical workshop and remains involved with the continuing process of how a change in forest management philosophy might best be achieved. Hessberg is a research landscape ecologist based in Wenatchee, Washington. He argues that a better understanding of how a landscape naturally functions can provide the signposts for the forest industry to better manage the forests. Simpson has been busy keeping the Forestry Think Tank momentum and the cross pollination of ideas alive. The process has involved communication by various means with other forest-reliant communities in

the B.C. Interior. Ideas or approaches generated in Quesnel can be transplanted to other similar B.C. communities, he adds. Late in 2018, Quesnel received a $367,000 Rural Dividend Grant from the B.C. government. The money is to be used to investigate the new opportunities for forest land management and forest products manufacturing. By council resolution the City of Quesnel has hired a Forest Initiative Manager, Erin Robinson. She is helping co-ordinate treatment work for land near Quesnel, with representatives from the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, local property owners and major forest licencees, continues Simpson. Robinson has also set up a Forest Innovation Centre in Quesnel’s city hall to explain the city’s forest initiatives On a larger landscape base, Simpson says Robinson is working with the Ministry of Forests and Hessberg. In cooperation with other parties, including

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

the University of Northern B.C. and UBC, planning was underway to establish a pilot project on lands ravaged by beetles and fire west of the Fraser River. Quesnel is also interested in the concept of becoming a tenure holder. “We are definitely in need of a community forest licence of some sort to be a true player along with the Ministry of Forests and BC Timber Sales in particular,” reckons Simpson. “In partnership with the Lhtako Dene First Nation, we’ve asked for an interface community forest licence.” Finding ways to get through forest management changes to address climateinduced challenges has to be coupled with a business case for the manufacturing side. Processes may need to be refined to take advantage of the kind of fibre B.C.’s Central Interior forests will be able to provide in the future. Simpson is optimistic: “There is a range of opportunities. We just need creativity and partnerships to make them happen.”

contractorprofile

Jack of all trades logger David Craig is truly a jack of all trades when it comes to equipment and logging, doing everything from timber harvesting to log clean-up at a lake for one of B.C’s largest dams.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

By Paul MacDonald

avid Craig of Valemount, B.C., in the province’s Robson Valley region, is one heck of a busy guy when it comes to equipment and logging, wearing a number of different hats at any point over the course of a given year. One of Craig’s major projects during the year involves managing log clean-up in the spring and fall on the 220-kilometre long Kinbasket Lake, southeast of Valemount. The very scenic Kinbasket Lake was created when the Mica Dam, a hydroelectric dam spanning the Columbia River, was built north of Revelstoke, B.C. as one of three Canadian projects under the terms of the Columbia River Treaty. Even in a province known for its dams, the Mica Dam is huge—its underground powerhouse was the second largest in the world at the time of its construction. The Mica powerhouse was upgraded several years ago and now has total capacity of 2,805 megawatts. Mica is the cornerstone of BC Hydro’s Columbia River generation system and now accounts for about 22 per cent of BC Hydro’s generation capacity—which means it generates enough power for a staggering number of B.C. residents, about 650,000 homes.

contractorprofile So all this said, it’s important that the reservoir for this mega project, Kinbasket Lake, be kept reasonably clear of logs. And that’s where David Craig and his crew enter the picture, doing their part to do log clean-up at the reservoir. “When the level of the lake is down, wood debris gets trapped up high,” Craig explains. “We get our excavators in there, and pile up the wood debris along the shoreline, and then burn it.” When the dam was built in 1973, the area where the Kinbasket Lake reservoir is now was extensively logged, with a number of on-site sawmills processing the logs into lumber (see sidebar story on page 52). Much the same is being done with the Site C project currently being built by BC Hydro, though the logs are being processed at mills off site (see story on page 8). But there is still log debris at Kinbasket Lake. “We’ll get out there for a couple of months in the spring, and then again in the fall,” explains Craig. And it’s demanding work, since their customer is BC Hydro. Even though Craig’s company is certified under the BC Forest Safety Council’s SAFE Program, and the operation itself is very safety conscious, they also have to meet the very stringent requirements of BC

Hydro’s safety program. “You’re basically adhering to the same safety program as the people who are building Site C, even if certain parts might not apply to you,” he says. The Kinbasket Lake work is just part of what he does in a given year. Craig, through his company Spaz Logging, does logging, construction and other related work—even snow removal. But the focus is on logging in this rugged part of B.C. Craig has lived most of his life in the Valemount region, and knows it well. Logging came naturally to him—both his Dad, Gerald, who recently turned 80, and his grandfather, were loggers. And most of his Mom’s seven brothers were loggers, too. “I had some very good logging teachers over the years,” says Craig. “My Dad is really my mentor, when it comes to logging,” he explained. The two logged together for a number of years, doing ground-based work, hand falling, and using line skidders, and tower work, with yarders. “I’ve kind of run it all,” says Craig. His Dad had his favourites back then, with a focus on Cat and Clark equipment. to page 52

David Craig’s logging operation is generally working in mixed forests in B.C.’s Robson Valley Region. They could be harvesting poplar, hemlock, spruce, balsam, cedar, white pine or fir. Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

contractorprofile from page 51 Gerald eventually sold the business, G. Craig Logging, and David moved on to do contract hand falling for about eight years. “After that, it was really my Dad who talked me into buying my own gear. So I did that in 1995—and have never looked back.” Craig started out with a single feller buncher, a Tigercat 853E, and has since expanded his equipment line-up substantially. In terms of equipment, Craig’s favourites depend, all things being competitive with the quality of the equipment, on who’s offering the best deal. “I like keeping as much of the money in my pocket as I can, so it’s usually comes down to who is going to give me the best deal,” he says. Spaz Logging uses its equipment to log and build road for local mill, Cedar Valley Holdings Ltd., which runs a shake and shingle mill, and recently set up a post and beam operation. They also do bunching and roadbuilding work for local contractor, Vern Mickelson, and for Gilbert Smith Forest Products, to the south, in Barriere. Craig reports they are generally working in mixed forests. “Depending on where we are, we could be harvesting poplar, hemlock, spruce, balsam, cedar white pine or fir,” he says. “It all depends on the block. We have to do quite a few sorts out in the bush.” With the cutting he does for the Valemount Community Forest, most of the cedar goes to the Cedar Valley mill, but other logs could be going to the sawmills of Canfor, Carrier, Dunkley, Norbord or Interfor, depending on the type and size of the timber, and who needs it. And the condition of the wood can vary, especially with the cedar. “Interior cedar can be pretty patchy,” he says. “You can cut 10 cedars, and they’ll have a lot of rot, and the next 10 you cut will be sound.” While the focus is on mechanical harvesting, Craig says they still do some hand falling, in steep slopes, and in the large cedar, which can be seven feet around. His buncher of choice up until recently was a Tigercat 870, which he purchased new. “I usually go more for used equipment, just because of the smaller volume of work that we do. It’s tough to afford the payments when you buy brand new.” But the 870 was an exception to that because they wanted a machine that was to page 54 52

B.C.’s Mica Lake Dam

Industry people assist in clean-up efforts at B.C. lake

n addition to the clean-up of timber debris at Kinbasket Lake near Valemount, B.C., logger David Craig is also involved, on a volunteer basis, with some of the clean-up that is going on, sawmill-wise. This past spring, Leona Mintz and Ryan Smith, operators for Craig’s company, Spaz Logging, were at Kinbasket Lake, a reservoir for the Mica Lake Dam, removing woody debris from the lakeshore. But they were also helping with removing some rusty scrap metal, from the site of an old mill on the shores of the lake. The mill was originally built in 1978, and it was used to salvage trees and pieces of wood that were floating in the lake after the Mica Dam was built in 1973. The mill ran for a while, but ceased operations. It was started up again in the 1980s as a cedar shake and shingle mill, before being shut

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

down permanently. This particular area is popular as a recreational site. But as the lake fills up over the summer, the metal from the old mill is covered by water, and could potentially injure swimmers. Mintz and Smith decided to do something about it, even if it meant doing it on their own time—and Craig’s equipment was put to work. Mintz and Smith recruited local sawmiller Jason Alexander, of Cedar Valley Holdings Ltd., to volunteer his time and dump truck and got permission from Craig to use his Cat 324 loader. Mill chains, blades and metal sheeting were collected off the beach and placed in a bin. It’s expected to take a lot more work to fully clean up the beach of the sawmill debris, but local volunteers from the forest industry are certainly doing their part.

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contractorprofile from page 52 solid, and would deliver good uptime. They had about 9,000 hours on the 870, before it was lost in a forest fire this past summer. Getting parts can be an issue in this part of the B.C. Interior; the closest dealers are either in Prince George or Kamloops, which are equidistant from Valemount—about 200 miles. “It can take a day or two to get some parts in,” says Craig. To account for that,

they keep extra parts on hand. But Craig has also done his share of driving the Yellowhead Highway to Prince George, and Highway 5 to Kamloops. to get parts, and keep things moving. “I know both of those roads pretty well,” he says. “Sometimes, it’s just easier to do it that way—you know you are going to get the parts you need.” And get them the same day. Craig added that Tigercat dealer Inland Equipment is usually good about having most parts on the shelf at their dealer

One of David Craig’s major projects during the year involves managing log cleanup in the spring and fall on the 220-kilometre long Kinbasket Lake, southeast of Valemount, B.C. The lake was created when the Mica Dam, a hydroelectric dam spanning the Columbia River, was built north of Revelstoke, B.C. The Mica Dam is huge—with total capacity of 2,805 megawatts. 54

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

location in Kamloops. Spaz Logging has a shop in Valemount, where Craig does most of the maintenance and repairs. “If I need to, I have a mechanic from McBride give me a hand,” he says. “I do the major equipment maintenance at break-up, and go through the equipment from end to end, looking for problems, and trying to get work done while it’s in the shop,” he adds. At one time, Valemount was a pretty bustling place, in terms of the forest industry. Forest giant Canfor used to have a sawmill in the community, but it sold the operation to Northwest Specialty Lumber in 2005. Northwest operated the mill for several years. Prince George-based Carrier Lumber then purchased the mill, but never operated it. All of this left local loggers, such as Craig, scrambling for work at times. At one point, he ran buncher up in Fort St. James for two years, for another contractor. He’s also been involved in some other ventures over the years in Valemount, to keep his equipment busy. “I used to be a partner in a snowmobile business, and some people were renting equipment for a mining operation,” he explained. Craig, who had a Cat D6 at the time, ended up doing work for the mining company, Commerce Resources, for about six years. “It went well,” he says. “I ended up getting a Cat D8, and a Volvo 290 excavator and a Link-Belt excavator. That’s really what kicked my business off.” The diversification of the business is a necessity, says Craig, but it was not planned out. “I kind of just winged it,” he says. “I just thought it was a good idea. It’s hard to make it, doing logging alone, in this part of the province.” His equipment line-up includes a Cat D7G, a D8R, a Cat 324 log loader, two Cat 320 excavators, the Volvo 290 excavator, Clark 668D and 668F skidders, a Tigercat 630D skidder, a Cat 300 carrier with a 2200 Lim-mit, Cat 272C and 299C skid steers, and a Cat 150 fork lift. “With all that equipment, I can go from having two people up to 10, depending how busy I get.” Craig says it can be a bit of a juggling act for him at times, when demand is high for services, logging and otherwise. “I just try to make sure I have enough operators to run my equipment.” When they get

to page 56

contractorprofile from page 54 heavy snowfalls, and the logging side is shut down, Craig will be out there doing snow removals himself, putting in upwards of 18-hour days. “But the logging keeps me busy most of the year—10 months or so,” he says. “The other things fill in, and bring in some extra revenue.” Aside from now looking for a feller buncher, he says they are pretty well set up, equipment-wise. If he was to add anything, it might be a grapple skidder. “It’s a possibility,” he says. Over the last several years, Spaz Logging has been busy, but Craig said it’s an ongoing issue to find operators. “I’ve had an ad running out there for a while for operators and the guys will contact me, and ask me where I am. As soon as I say, Valemount, the response is, nope, not interested.”

Both David Craig’s Dad, and his Grandfather, were loggers. “I had some very good logging teachers over the years,” says Craig. “My Dad is really my mentor, when it comes to logging.” Operators seem to like being closer to larger centres, and the easier ground. “If you’re logging around Prince George, it’s usually flat and easier to work in. Where we are, the ground is steeper—there’s a lot of ups and downs.” Another challenge is that the compensation rate for equipment operators has been set high, with direct influence from the oil patch. Craig noted operators went to the patch when things are booming. And when they came back, when the downturn hit the patch, they were expecting oil patch level wages. “It’s hard to match that.” The reality, he says, is that the forest industry can’t match the oil patch’s wages. Craig notes that logging can involve long hours. But he voices a comment heard from other contractors these days about the difficulty finding workers with a good work ethic—that they are more likely to want to collect a paycheque, than earn it, he says. The running joke with the millennial generation is that their first question about a job is how many weeks of holiday they get. Of course, there are plenty of exceptions to that. Though Craig has three older sons, at this point they all seem destined for good careers outside the forest industry, and he is just fine with that decision. “It was different for me—it’s in my blood. I started running skidder on weekends for my Dad when I was a kid,” he says. Craig said he would gladly take one of his sons into the business, if they asked him to. “They could start the very next morning,” he says. But they have started on the path to other careers—and Craig is proud of that, and them. The industry faces a challenge now finding people, but it’s going to have even a bigger challenge as contractors retire, Craig notes. “I’d like to see what this industry is going to do in 10 or 20 years—many of us are in our 50s or older, and we are not going to do this forever. And there are very few young people coming up behind us.”

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

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B.C.logging

FINDING THEIR logging niche… Family-owned C&H Logging has found their logging niche in B.C.’s Fraser Valley, and these days three generations of the Carter Family are carrying on operations, with safety and sustainability top of mind. By Paul MacDonald

n an ongoing basis, three generations of the Carter Family, Herb, Cal and Lee, are on site at part of the BC Institute of Technology (BCIT), but the work they are doing does not involve taking any classes—though they could certainly give classes on how to log. Instead the trio, who make up the crew at C & H Forest Products in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley, are harvesting timber

Three generations of the Carter Family, (from left, in photo) Lee, Cal and Herb, make up C & H Forest Products, a family-owned and operated logging operation. Lee, Cal’s son, represents the fourth generation of the Carter family to be in the forest industry. 58

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

B.C.logging on BCIT’s woodlot in Maple Ridge, B.C. Woodlot 0007 is Crown forest land that is managed by the BCIT Forest Society. The society has managed the land since 1985, and its mandate is to practice and demonstrate sustainable forest management on the woodlot, for the benefit of BCIT Resource Management students and the public at large. At the 275-hectare woodlot, students take part in a variety of forest management operations including planning, vegetation inventory, wildlife inventory, block layout, and silviculture. And it’s one of the woodlots that C & H Forest Products, a family-owned and operated logging operation, harvests on a sustainable basis. The C & H in the company’s name is for Cal and Herb (son and father). And they may need to soon add another letter, with the full-time addition of Cal’s son, Lee, to the logging crew. Lee’s skills definitely come in handy, both operating equipment, and being a Red Seal welder. Lee represents the fourth generation of the Carter family to be in the forest industry. Herb’s father (Lee’s great-grandfather) started out horse logging in Saskatchewan, before moving the family to B.C. in the 1940s. Herb himself had an early start in the industry, doing falling. Herb’s son, Cal, started out running dozer when he was still a youngster, before he was promoted by his Dad to the loader. Cal has been involved in industry for more than three decades, though he’s got a ways to go to match his Dad’s track record of being in the industry for more than 50 years. In the work they have done in the Fraser Valley, Herb and Cal have developed an extensive knowledge of the region— and its forests. And they have carried out harvesting operations professionally, with safety and sustainability top of mind. Clearly, they take pride in the work they do. C & H Forest Products is a modestsized operation, with a handful of equipment—and that is just the way Cal and Herb like it. They have no interest in ramping up their equipment fleet, and having to compete with other loggers for what seems like an extremely limited number of experienced equipment operators in B.C. Not only are B.C. logging contractors competing with each other for operators—they also have to compete with major mega construction projects in the province, such as the $40 billion pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant at Kitimat, and the expansion of the Trans

Mountain pipeline, from Alberta through to the Coast. Most of the work now for C & H Forest Products is on woodlots in the Fraser Valley area, including their own woodlot, and BCIT’s woodlot. Herb, who recently turned 80 and still gets out as needed to operate their John Deere 648 GIII skidder, started out working for the major forest companies on the Coast, and at one time had upwards of 10 men, and plenty of equipment, including cable yarders. Herb recalls it was tough finding good equipment guys back then, too. “Even when we were doing a lot of work with yarding through the 1980s and 1990s, it was still hard to get good men. That was the biggest problem,” says Herb. So, as the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same—at least in terms of finding good, reliable hard-working people. Fortunately, all three generations of the Carter Family have a tremendous work ethic, that keeps

them moving forward. Prior to setting up C & H, Herb and his brother operated up and down the coast, doing falling work for the then-major companies, MacMillan Bloedel, Canfor, and Weldwood in the 1960s. “They were mostly good to work for, and there was plenty of work,” he says. When Herb set up business in the Fraser Valley, he was operating almost the full year around Sumas Mountain. And deals were often done on a handshake. “It was a situation of when do you need the logs by?” Herb notes that they invested some major money in equipment back then. But he is quick to add that although there were busy times, they were still very subject to sudden swings in the market. “You can be up and then the market can go south. It can be like a toss of the dice.” And as all loggers know only too well, to page 60

These days, C&H has a modest-size equipment line-up, and that helps to keep things manageable. They pretty much make use out of every piece of iron they have, and nothing is wasted. Their major machines include a Volvo 290B and a John Deere 2554 that does their processing work (equipped with a Keto head).

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

B.C.logging from page 59 the payments meter on equipment continues to run, whether you are operating or not. These days, C&H has a modest-size equipment line-up, and that helps to keep things manageable. C & H has upgraded equipment, whenever they could. And they have been resourceful. They pretty much make use out of every piece of iron they have, and nothing is wasted. C & H Forest Products now has only what it needs, equipment-wise, with their major machines being a Volvo 290B excavator, that they use for hoe chucking, a John Deere 2554 machine that does processing (equipped with a Keto head), a Tigercat L870 tilting buncher, a Volvo A25 rock truck, and the Deere 648 GIII skidder. Pretty much all of their equipment was purchased used. The buncher has come in particularly handy. “We’ve had a harder time getting fallers as the wood has gotten smaller, and there has been less wood to harvest,” says Cal. The operation had a good equipment operator who showed Cal the ropes on the Tigercat. “He was great—he trained me on the buncher, and showed me all the tricks, so I now do the bunching. And it’s helped to be able to do the processing by machine, with the Deere/Keto combination. “Before we got the Deere, we were still limbing and processing by hand, and we were working like crazy to keep up,” explains Cal. While their equipment has required some work, their used iron approach has been helpful at keeping their costs down. “We own everything we have,” says Cal. In total, he says they now have about 10 pieces of equipment. Not all of that equipment, some of it in their yard, is used all the time, he adds. But used equipment can sure come in handy—and

In the work they have done in the Fraser Valley, the Carters have developed an extensive knowledge of the region—and its forests. And they carry out harvesting operations professionally, with safety and sustainability top of mind. the price can be right, at auctions. “We do whatever we can to save money,” Cal adds. “You have to do that, to survive these days.” It’s a solid business approach that works very well for C&H. “We’re going to carry on the way we are, keeping our equipment in good shape, and buying equipment when we can that has low operating hours, that will do the job for us.” And since most of the equipment is older, it means less in the way of technology to go wrong. They have a good supply of parts on hand to keep things moving, and try to do most of the maintenance work themselves; they hire a local heavy duty mechanic when it’s major work, like an engine rebuild or major hydraulics work. “We look after our equipment—it’s important to spend the money on maintenance,” says Cal. “A major component can

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

be the third of the value of a machine, so if you need a couple of major components replaced, your machine can be done.” Their focus is on value, rather than volume, with the timber they harvest. “We’re fortunate in that where we work, the wood is good, with a lot of different grades. We specialize in peelers, pilings and poles. “We do a lot of poles—they take time out of your day, and they can be hard to work with, but they are a high value commodity,” he notes. The pole wood is handled carefully, from the woods on out. “Some of the 100-footers, they can be hard to get out of the bush,” explains Lee. “You might have to spin them around a bit when you are hoe chucking, but you want to keep them whole. to page 62

B.C.logging from page 60 “They are valuable, so they are worth the extra effort,” he says. In addition to hoe chucking, Lee also loads the logging trucks, and handles the logs carefully throughout. Their Keto processing head also handles the logs carefully, helping to add value, and that’s crucial, says Cal. “If a tree were to get hung up as it’s going through a head, the head can cut the fibre too deep, then it’s not a pole any more, it’s a sawlog,” notes Cal. “And it can lose three-quarters of its value right there.” A lot of their wood goes to Andersen Pacific Forest Products, a specialty wood products mill in Maple Ridge, in the Fraser Valley. C & H is dealing with fewer customers these days, a reflection of what has gone on in the industry. Land values alone in B.C.’s Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley have done their share of setting things askew. Areas along the Fraser River that were once home to massive sawmills are now home to condominiums. “It’s a vastly different industry—the land that a sawmill is on can be worth more than a mill that is running,” says Herb. The major companies have moved out of the Fraser Valley region over the years. The players, and the business, have changed a lot, he says. In addition to skidding, Herb also operates their dozer and grader, helping out building road, as required. They also used to have rock drills, to help out. “But now we hire a guy with his own drill to pop a few holes for us, when we need that,” says Herb.

Most of the work now for C & H Forest Products is on woodlots in the Fraser Valley area, including their own woodlot, and the BC Institute of Technology (BCIT) woodlot in Maple Ridge, B.C. Herb’s a big fan of the technology on equipment these days—at least to a point. “The computer systems are wonderful— when they are running, they are amazing. They are deadly accurate, and make a nice log.” Herb has seen a lifetime of change, especially in terms of technology, since he started logging. “With grapple yarders, we had a tool box made up of a crescent wrench, a three-pound hammer, a pry bar—and a roll of haywire,” he says. Equipment was mechanical, rather than high tech, he notes, and could often be repaired quickly, cheaply—and with a little elbow grease. Getting a flashing red light on the dash of the equipment these days can mean some pretty expensive trouble.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

The nature of the work has changed, too. Herb looks with wonder at the current crop of tethered steep slope equipment being used now, and their big prices. Herb seems happy as a clam to be in seat of the skidder these days. He tried retiring at one point, and bought a motor home. “We did a lot of travelling,” he explains. “One time we were going through Oregon, coming back from Arizona.” A truckload of logs went by—and he decided to become un-retired. “So I went back into the bush—it’s in your blood.” And proudly runs in the family, with son, Cal, and grandson, Lee.

TECHUPDATE

By Tony Kryzanowski

Skidders Tigercat

The Tigercat 632E is the industry’s highest production fourwheel drive grapple skidder, suited to the toughest jobs, the most demanding terrain, heavy loads and around-the-clock operations, says the company. The 632E can be equipped with the largest grapple offered on any four-wheel skidder on the market. The larger 2.1 square metre (23 square foot) grapple option has a tip-to-tip opening of 3860 mm (152”). Several components and structures have been upsized for improved durability.

ergonomic controls and storage space offer the creature comforts loggers are looking for on their equipment. Joystick steering and an optional rotating seat reduce strain on the operator’s body. The Continuously Variable Transmission feature combines the smoothness of a hydrostatic transmission with the benefits of a lockup torque converter, offering excellent fuel efficiency, longer engine life and enhanced operator comfort. www.johndeere.com

Cat

A newly enhanced EHS transmission produces more torque— with the same top speed as the previous generation of EHS. Tigercat’s OB20 rear axle—specially designed for the 632E— provides 47 per cent more torque capacity and nearly twice the life on all bearings. The Tigercat 635G builds on the capabilities of Tigercat’s sixwheel skidders along with the technology introduced with the 632E. The 635G features the enhanced EHS, load sensing hydraulics, and larger hydraulic cylinders found on the 632E. Also, the 635G is equipped with the new Tigercat bolt-in WOB17 bogie or the optional high clearance HOB17 bogie. The largest grapple in the industry at 2.32 square metres (25 square feet) with a maximum opening of 3835 mm (151”) is available on the 635G. www.tigercat.com

John Deere

The John Deere L-Series II skidder models have been simplified to enhance customer experience. Streamlined electrical and hydraulic systems increase uptime and have been redesigned to ensure better guarding and protection of key components. Increased grapple squeeze pressure and a two-speed winch enhance productivity and tackle tough terrain with ease, says the company. Articulation steering sensors improve the operator experience, ultimately increasing productivity. The durable axles, including the Outboard-Extreme axles, standard on the 848 and 948 and optional on the 748 machines, maximize durability and boost stability. Cab amenities like the efficient HVAC system, improved 64

The Cat D Series wheel skidders allow loggers to operate more profitably by getting to the harvest area and landing faster, increasing production, and reducing operating costs. A new rotating seat and innovative seat suspension technology provide unmatched comfort to keep operators working productively. Cat D Series wheel skidders feature a six-speed transmission with more gears in the working zone, lock-up torque converter,

and independent front and rear differentials for more pulling power and control. Other features include a high-capacity cooling system and reversing fan and high-performance hydraulics. The machines offer a roomy, quiet, and cool operator station and tilting cab for servicing. The most powerful models are the Cat 545D at 186 kW (250 hp) and with 1.77 cubic metres (19 cubic feet) of grapple capacity; and the Cat 555 D, 205 kW (275 hp) and 2.04 cubic metres (22 cubic feet) of grapple capacity. www.cat.com/forestry

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

to page 66

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techupdate from page 64

KMC

Several decades ago, the West Coast forest industry initiated a replanting program. Today’s results are an abundance of mature timber and a large wave of commercial thinning. KMC manufactures a machine that is prepared to tackle the task. The KMC 2600 High Speed Steel Track Vehicle is said to be a more versatile skidder, equipped with a swinging boom skidding grapple. Able to pick up loads on either side of the machine as well as to the rear, the KMC 2600 is particularly effective on steep slopes, wet and boggy areas, or on sensitive soils.

The swing grapple can help maneuver logs around standing trees and be used to shift the weight of the machine when working on very soft ground or steep slopes. Bringing the load forward on to the machine aids in balancing the weight distribution which results in better traction, higher speeds, greater productivity and consistent low dynamic ground pressure. www.kmc-kootrac.com

TimberPro

machine equipped with a quick detach boom to allow conversion from a forwarder to a harvester in about 10 minutes. The 840D is available as an optional clam bunk skidder. www.timberpro.com

Awassos

Awassos manufactures compact skidders for low impact. Developed to meet the needs of those seeking a skidder comparable in size to the JD 440-B, the MD 80 offers a modern design and superior capacity. With a reversible workstation, a hydrostatic transmission, and a rugged cast iron chassis, Awassos says that it’s the ideal machine for big jobs without sacrificing the low-impact benefits to the environment. Awassos believes that forests are treasures to be preserved.

This is why it strives to design and manufacture a line of forestry equipment that can handle challenging work situations, but are gentle in execution. It also offers additional options to equip its machines to accommodate various types of forestry work. www.awassos.com

Tanguay

TimberPro is all about versatility and getting the most for your money from equipment, says the company, and the TF840D clam bunk skidder is no exception. The TimberPro 830D and 840D are the most versatile wheeled machines in the world today, says the company.

The Tanguay TG88E skidder is available as a clambunk or “L Boom” grapple configuration with a huge payload capacity of 35 tons. Powered by a 400 hp engine, the eight-wheel drive TG88E comes with a choice of track width up to 60”, for low ground pressure. The reliable and proven 100 per cent hydrostatic drive provides incredible manoeuvrability and good traction, for minimum ground disturbance, says the company.

The TimberPro line of machines come standard with 360 degree continuous rotation allowing the operator to always face his work. This feature also gives the operator the ability to remove or place timber 360 degrees around the machine, including the option to work over the front of the machine just as well as the sides and rear. TimberPro machines have been proven effective in many other applications other than forwarding logs in the forest. Its machines can be used to move logs in mill yards, set mats in the pipeline industry, and most importantly as a combo

The TG88E clambunk and its powerful loader are said to be the machine of choice to economically load and skid tree length to roadside on long distances. The “L Boom” grapple skidder has proven very productive on shorter distances and longer timber stands. Designed and manufactured in Canada, the TG88E is by far the world largest forwarder and a solution for year ‘round operations. www.tanguay.cc

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

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May 2019

The Edge Alberta Innovates’ support for cellulose nanocrystals commercialization bearing fruit BY TONY KRYZANOWSKI

lberta Innovates’ long-term and ongoing support for cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) research and commercialization has yielded a made-inAlberta discovery involving CNC-infused biofilm that could revolutionize treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in medical facilities everywhere. This was just one of several announcements at a recent workshop hosted by Alberta Innovates (AI). Participants shared updates on numerous advances being made through AI’s longstanding support for CNC and lignin research and commercialization—part of the provincial research and innovation corporation’s strategy to advance economic diversification in Alberta “Alberta Innovates has long seen the research, development and commercialized production of CNC as key to adding value to Alberta biomass and in turn strengthening the forestry sector, an industry that so many rural Alberta communities and workers rely on,” says Steve Price, Executive Director of Bioindustrial Innovation at Alberta Innovates. CNC is a novel biomaterial derived from wood fibre, often touted for its remarkable characteristics. For example, it has valuable optical properties, as demonstrated by this biofilm breakthrough. A team of University of Calgary researchers, under the guidance of Prof. Belinda Heyne, has applied for a patent related to technology where very small dosages of CNC are applied to paint used in medical facilities. When the CNCinfused paint is exposed to light, it has the effect of killing all known antibioticresistant germs on hospital walls. They have also developed a coating for hospital bed curtains. Moreover, it is highly unlikely the micro-organisms could evolve to survive this exposure, since destruction by light is an entirely alien approach to what bacteria usually encounter, Heyne explains. 68

Alberta Innovates supports research related to opportunities to commercialize both cellulose nanocrystals and lignin. This has spurred several university research projects related to these novel biomaterials. Alberta Innovates provided a seed grant of $25,000 to help develop the product at the U of C. It then contributed a matching grant of $403,750 under its Alberta Bio Future research and innovation funding program so that researchers could pursue development of a commercial product within three years. The researchers have succeeded as they are now seeking a patent. Pulp producer Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries (Al-Pac) is an industry collaborator with AI on CNC research and development, and sees the business opportunity that this advanced biomaterial offers. Through work being conducted at the CNC pilot plant at InnoTech Alberta, an applied research subsidiary of Alberta Innovates, scientists have been able to improve CNC yield from 15 per cent in 2014 to 68 per cent in 2019. This has lowered production costs considerably. Even better outcomes are expected within the next two years. Given these results, Al-Pac is proceeding with the design and engineering of a CNC production plant at its pulp mill near Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

Boyle, Alberta, with the aim of beginning to produce this material by 2021. Workshop attendees were informed that there are already 10 products containing CNC in the market in Japan, and there is ongoing investigation into its potential uses by 38 corporations and 14 pilot plants. Alberta researchers are also investigating other medical uses for CNC to infuse it into bioadhesive hydrogels to aid in the delivery of drugs in the treatment of esophageal cancer. Scientists have generally known about CNC’s potential to enhance the performance of existing commercial products for some time. But over the past decade, considerable effort has been made to test whether CNC is safe and how easily it can be manipulated and incorporated into existing products. Conventional cellulose, from which CNC is derived, already has widespread use. But CNC, as a new biomaterial, still requires significant scrutiny for potential toxicity. That work is ongoing, but according to Dr. Jo Anne Shatkin with Vireo Advisors, a company testing CNC in a variety of applications, “there are no red flags yet.” Efforts to realize CNC’s full potential across all its functionalities have been mixed. While it is believed to be as strong as steel at one-sixth the weight, U.S. Forest Service scientist Dr. Alan Rudie told workshop attendees that “no one has gotten the strength out of the (CNC) crystal yet,” and achieving that breakthrough seems quite far off. However, research and application development supported by Alberta Innovates is leading to discoveries that take advantage of CNC’s many other attributes.

For more information, contact Julia Necheff at Julia.Necheff@albertainnovates.ca.

The Edge

Partial harvest, commercial thinning and silviculture strategies available to the industry for managed forests By Tony Kryzanowski

anada’s commercial forest is changing where managed, or second growth, forests are becoming more prominent. The challenge now is how to maximize growth response over the shortest time period from this wood fibre in a sustainable manner, while developing a resilient and where applicable, multi-species and multi-aged forest, that maintains an ecological balance and manages risk. Over the past two decades, the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre (CWFC) has developed, validated, and demonstrated a variety of successful partial harvest, commercial thinning and silviculture techniques in natural stands that can help forest companies achieve these goals. These techniques can be applied in both coniferous and mixed wood managed stands, using conventional logging equipment and applied in a manner to address specific local industry and/or landowner management objectives. “There needs to be an adaptation in our approaches simply from the perspective that managed stands have specific designs that are more systematic than a natural forest, and promote specific species or crop trees that are given preferential treatment in the management,” says Derek Sidders, Project Manager, Technology Development and Transfer at CWFC. “So there should be an expectation of an increase in efficiencies like reducing rotation ages and maximizing site productivity.”

Based on its collaborative development and applied research with industry, provincial governments and academia conducted within existing Crown forest allocations, CWFC can advise on how to effectively deploy partial harvest systems that use parallel machine corridors in the cutblock to intermittently harvest the merchantable overstorey while protecting the valuable understory. It is left to grow to maturity and then harvested, when deemed appropriate, by using a new machine entry corridor. The process simply becomes a perpetual forest management cycle that maximizes the site’s commercial potential. “A dedicated machine corridor allows you to minimize ground disturbance, while accessing all the commercial timber, yet maintaining or establishing new growing stock, thus increasing values on the site long term,” says Sidders. In concert with a partial harvest plan, CWFC can recommend commercial thinning techniques in high density stands to enhance piece size of remaining stems over a shorter time horizon, maximize health and values, and where applicable, achieve variable species and age retention to address ecological or environmental issues. This is all in response to achieving objectives related to sustainability, diversity in fibre and stand values, and building forest resilience in response to a changing climate. Within this partial harvest scenario, CWFC is also able to present industry with a variety of selective site preparation

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

techniques and tools, as well as regeneration systems. These reduce the number of trees required to establish fully stocked stands, reclaim corridors, stagger stand age, and both enhance and maximize stand productivity where either an understorey or overstorey has been retained on the site. Techniques include high speed mixing, horizontal bed mixing, elevated bed mixing and mounding, using site prep tools that can be installed on either a standard excavator or on a small prime mover that can maneuvre within a partially harvested block. This is followed by the planting of seedlings of preferred species to enhance the stand. “We have completed a variable retention program in stands representing a variety of different mixed wood complexes, followed by site preparation, planting, and monitoring of the growth response,” says Sidders. “We have 15-year research results that show phenomenal tolerate softwood growth in the understorey of hardwoods.” Overall, these techniques have been demonstrated in six Canadian provinces and territories, in eight different biogeoclimatic zones, in both pure softwood and mixed wood stands.

For more information about these partial harvest, commercial thinning, and site preparation techniques and tools, as well as related results, contact Derek Sidders at derek.sidders@canada.ca or Tim Keddy at tim.keddy@ canada.ca.

SUPPLIERNEWSLINE PrimeTech offers tough carrier for land clearing and mulching in the PT-475

The PrimeTech PT-475 is a powerful tracked carrier featuring a Cat C13 Acert 12.5 l engine producing 475 hp. The machine is available both with Tier 3 and Tier 4 Final engine technology. Regarding Tier 4 Final, the machine achieves its compliance through an innovative combination of particulate filter (DPF), selective catalytic reduction (SCR)

and diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) technologies, which helps maximize uptime and performance, all with minimal maintenance, says the company. Like all PrimeTech models, the PT475 is characterized by great versatility. Depending on the job, the PT-475 can be equipped with mulching head, subsoiler, rock crusher and stump cutter. All the attachments, made by FAE, can be switched easily and quickly, allowing the use of a PT-475 for land clearing and mulching applications (right-of-way, utility lines, fire breaks, vegetation management, etc.), as well as for land conversion (removal of stumps and roots, site preparation) and for road construction/maintenance. The engineers at PrimeTech always strive to improve and refine the PrimeTech tracked carriers to meet the highest standards, says the company. For this reason the new 2019 model PT-475 includes a number of improvements. To ensure utmost reliability, the undercarriage of the PT-475 is reinforced and major components like track chains, rollers and rock guards are beefed up, meaning longer life-time and reduced maintenance costs. The new undercarriage features: • new sealed and lubricated track chains • new “dozer-style” rollers • new track chain guides • new split master link on track chains 70

More durability, stability and strength are also provided by the reinforced structure of the main frame of the PT-475, while the attachment frame has been redesigned to make it stronger and more durable for work in severe conditions. www.prime-tech.com

Caterpillar finalizes agreement to sell purpose-built forestry business Caterpillar Inc has entered into a definitive agreement with Weiler Forestry Inc to sell its purpose-built forestry business. The closing is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2019. With this agreement, Weiler will acquire Caterpillar’s purpose-built forestry product line consisting of wheel skidders, track feller bunchers, wheel feller bunchers and knuckleboom loaders, and operations facilities in LaGrange, Georgia; Auburn, Alabama; and Smithfield, North Carolina. Founded in 2000, Weiler currently produces an extensive portfolio of products and has a longstanding history of successfully manufacturing purpose-built equipment distributed through the Cat dealer network. Upon the closing of the sale, Weiler Forestry will design and manufacture purpose-built forestry products, which will continue to be available through the Cat dealer network. www.cat.com

Logset sets up Canadian subsidiary

Logset Oy will be establishing a subsidiary named Logset Inc, in Ottawa. The Finnish-based company manufactures harvesters, harvester heads, and forwarders. The new office base will offer sales help and technical support to Logset dealers based in North and South America, Japan and Australia. Through Logset Inc, the company says it can better work in the time zones of its dealers.

By Tony Kryzanowski In the beginning, Logset will send three people to work for Logset Inc: Pascal Réty, Vice President of Sales and Marketing (acting as a CEO for Logset Inc), Jari-Pekka Ylikoski, Technical Support, and Johanna Sereda, Administrative Co-ordinator. Logset has sold machines in Canada since 2002. In 2010, Logset signed a dealer agreement with the current dealer, LN Machinerie, based in Quebec. www.logset.com

B.C.’s Dunkley Lumber purchases two sawmills

Dunkley Lumber has purchased two sawmills from another B.C.-based lumber producer, C & C Resources. Dunkley now owns the Foothills Forest Products sawmill in Grande Cache, Alberta and Edgewood Forest Products sawmill in Carrot River, Saskatchewan. Dunkley Lumber’s B.C. mill is located in the Interior, between Prince George and Quesnel, in the community of Strathnaver. Former C & C Resources owner Callidus Capital Corporation says that the approximate sale price was $100 million, which includes certain assets of Westside Logging Ltd associated with the Edgewood sawmill. A total of $55 million was used by the company to pay off debt. Publicly-traded Callidus Capital Corporation describes itself as a specialty debt fund that provides capital on a bridge basis to meet the financing requirements of companies that cannot access traditional lending sources. According to a Callidus case study, it had provided $35 million in credit facilities to C & C Resources. It then acquired C & C Resources in November, 2017. A new CEO for C & C Resources was hired as part of a turnaround strategy, which included the pursuit of value-added products not subject to new U.S. softwood lumber tariffs. After taking ownership of C & C Resources in November 2017, less than a year later, in September 2018, Callidus announced that it had entered into a letter of intent with a strategic acquirer for the C & C Resources commodity division, which essentially was the Foothills and Edgewood sawmills. to page 72

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

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suppliernewsline from page 70 The sale was finalized to Dunkley Lumber on February 1. Before Callidus took ownership of C & C Resources, the company had made a significant investment of $25 million into the Edgewood sawmill in early 2016 which was expected to result in a 20 per cent increase in wood recovery. That project included the installation of a German-based LINCK breakdown line and a new Wellons dry kiln. Recent upgrades to the Foothills sawmill include the production of wood pellets and the installation of a VAB linear grade optimizer, two Linden log ladders, and two Nicholson debarkers. While it has sold the Foothills and Edgewood sawmills, the company has retained ownership of a sawmill in Quesnel, B.C. and a manufacturing facility in Cranbrook, B.C. Tony Mogus, General Manager at Dunkley Lumber, says that the company fully intends to continue to operate both the Foothills and Edgewood facilities. According to Dunkley Lumber, its Strathnaver sawmill in B.C. is able to produce 560 million board feet of softwood lumber annually. The purchase of the Foothills and Edgewood sawmills will add substantially to that amount, with Foothills having a capacity for 130 million board feet annually, and Edgewood rated at 150 million board feet annually. Former C & C Resources senior managers are now working for Dunkley Lumber. Kris Hayman is now Vice-President for Solid Wood and Finance Alberta/Saskatchewan, and Ron Dunn is Vice President of Fibre and Corporate Development.

SAWMILL CLOSURE

AUCTION! All Production Assets of the Former

GREEN LAKE SAWMILL WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5TH – 10AM Preview: Tuesday, June 4th, 9am – 4pm Green Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada

Mill Infeed: 4 Run Log Transfer, 20’L • Cambio 75A Debarker, S/N 66203; 75 HP • 60’ Chain Conveyor, 10 HP • Belt Conveyor, 2’W x 22’L, 10 HP • 4 Run Log Transfer, 20’L x 13’W, 10 HP • 30”W x 88’L Spiked Hourglass Rollcase; 25 HP • 5 Run Log Transfer; 14’L, 20 HP • Sawmill: Morbark Circular Saw Head Rig, Modular; 52” Blade; 16’ 4 Bunk Carriage; 150HP • PHL Horizontal 2 Saw Scragg Saw, Model S-110, 75HP • Salem Gang Saw, S/N 91695, (2) 200 HP Drives; Lube • Incline Pocket Edger, Single Arbor; (2) 24” Saws • Double Valley Trim Saw System, (10) Run 40’L Transfer, 20 HP; (8) 9’ & (5) 24” Even ending rolls • Chipping: Morbark S48 Chip Pack, 150 HP, Screen & Cyclone • 50HP Blower w/ 12” x 125’L Pipe • (2) 16 Unit Sawdust Bins, Cyclone; Top Transfer Belt • Clarke Industries CA 36 Air Lock • 200’ Incline Chain Conveyor to Burner; 15HP motor • Wigwam Burner, 30HP • More… Compessors: Sullair LS16 100HP • Airtek TW400 Air Dryer, 400 CFM • 10 & 15HP Air Compressors, 80 Gallon Air Tanks • Electrical: 7 Section MCC, 21 Full Buckets • 2 Section MCC, 2 Sided • Allen-Bradley 3 Section • (5) Twin 40HP, 25 & 20HP HPU’s • (13) Transfer Decks, 4, 5, 6 & 7 Runs to 38’L • (2) Unscramblers • Green Chains: 4 Run, 50’L • 5 Run Lumber Transfer, 29’L, 20 HP, H78 Chain • (9) Belt Conveyors; From 24” x 10’ to 36”W x 95’ • Chain Waste Conveyor, 214’L, 15 HP • (4) Rollcases: Infeed Rollcase; (2) Runs 27” & 43” Splined Rolls x 19’6”L • Outfeed Rollcase, (2) Runs Offset Rolls, 48”W x 19’6”L • 52” x 30’ Rollcase • 16’ Rollcase • (5) Laser Lights • Yard Equip: Nicholson A4 Debarker • Inland Foundry Bucking Saw • Nicholson Debarker Infeed • Armstrong 1772 Circ. Saw Sharpener • Torit Model 90 Air Filter • Rolling Stock: 20’ Sea Can Shipping/Storage Container • (2) Straddle Carriers, Kalmar Type Shop: Reform 10L Flat Knife Grinder • Carolina 55 Ton Shop Press • Westward Drill Press • Krushel Welder • MH-32C Pump, 3HP 115/230V 1Ph • 5 Ton Gantry Crane • Inventory of parts, bolts, fasteners, fluids, etc. Terms of Sale, descriptions & photos on-line.

WWW.TRADEWESTSALES.COM • 604.530.9351 72

Peterson introduces 1700D horizontal grinder

Peterson Pacific Corp, a manufacturer of industry leading wood grinding and chipping machines, now offers the new Peterson 1700D horizontal grinder. “The new 1700D is smaller and lighter than our other grinders, but still packs impressive performance,” says Jody Volner, President of Peterson Pacific Corp. “The 1700D is ideal for small mulch, compost, or pallet grinding operations, as well as municipalities looking for a smaller machine, but still needing excellent throughput for a grinder of this size.” Heavy duty and mobile, the 1700D can readily reduce a wide range of materials. Its large feed opening measures 54” x 27”. When boosted by Peterson’s high-lift feed roll, the feed opening’s maximum lift of 41.5” can tackle the largest of feedstock, and allows excellent accessibility to the rotor for maintenance. The 1700D horizontal grinder is equipped with a Caterpillar Tier IV C9.3 455 hp engine, or an optional, export-only C9 Tier III, 350 hp engine. At 41,000 lbs, it is the lightest of Peterson’s grinder series, and is easily transportable, says the company. www.petersoncorp.com

John Deere Forestry marks manufacturing milestone

John Deere recently commemorated the production of its 5,000th forest swing machine, a 2656G log loader, with a special ceremony at the John Deere-Hitachi Specialty Products (DHSP) factory in Langley, B.C. “This is a paramount moment for the DHSP factory and our employees,” says Jarvis de Groot, DHSP product marketing manager, forestry swing machines. “As a company, we are committed to producing high-quality, reliable equipment, and the achievement of this milestone is a nod to our hardworking, dedicated committees, both in the DSHP factory and worldwide. Our customers are the heartbeat of the company and the reason we are able to do what we do every day.” Bighorn Logging was presented with a plaque and the 5,000th swing machine was revved up for the very first time in celebration. The day concluded with a factory tour and small reception. www.johndeere.com

Fecon adds FRS15 rotating shear attachment to line-up

The Fecon FRS15 rotating shear attachment is the latest addition to the company’s line-up of attachments for 16 to 24 ton excavators. Made of hardox steel, this shear attachment provides a 360 degree rotation, which gives operators more reach and access to trees and reduces repositioning of machines. A 29.5” blade opening allows the FRS15 to shear trees up to 18” in diameter, while an accumulator arm allows gathering and continuous shearing of smaller materials. At a weight of 3420 pounds, this rugged attachment can reach up and down slopes and other hard to reach areas with as little as 34 GPM and 4350 PSI hydraulic pressure. Shear rotation requires just 11 GPM, making it easy and fast to shear, bunch and gather materials, says the company. www.fecon.com

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

classified

AD INDEX ADVERTISER

PAGE

Brandt Tractor.......................... 57 Brikers..................................... 33 Brunette Machinery................. 28 Brutus Truck Bodies................. 22 Cannon Bar Works................... 10 Caterpillar.................................. 7 ContiTech................................ 25 Crushing Mechanics................ 10 Ford......................................... 11 Globalstar.................................. 5 Hyundai Dealers...................... 15 Inland........................................ 2 John Deere.............................. 13 Liebherr................................... 53 Linck....................................... 27

Northern Mat & Bridge............. 32 Northern Metalic Lubricants..... 43 O'Brien Training....................... 18 Ocean Trailer........................... 41 Olofsfors.................................. 65 Peerless Trailer........................ 35 Peterson.................................. 61 Pioneer Parts Rebuilding.......... 35 Ponsse..................................... 23 PrimeTech............................... 34 Quadco/Southstar/Log Max...... 37 Rawlings................................. 62 Rotochopper............................ 21 Royal Cylinders........................ 26 Scandinavian Forestry............. 63 Sennebogen............................ 29

SMS Equipment....................... 75 Summit Attachments & Mach. .55 Summit Trailers........................ 56 Teleforest................................. 46 Tigercat................................... 76 Tracbuster............................... 60 Tradewest................................ 72 Tsubaki................................... 71 Volvo Trucks............................ 31 Wallingford's............................ 67 Weldco-Beales......................... 49 Wesgroup Westerra.................. 19 Western Equipment................. 45 Wood-Mizer............................. 47

MAY 2019

NAME:________________________________ TITLE/POSITION:__________________

Progressive equipment company with a 40 year history serving western Canada’s forest industry is looking to expand! We currently have career opportunities in the following areas: • Heavy Duty Mechanics • Territory Sales Managers • Parts Personnel & Administration

COMPANY NAME:_______________________________________________________ ADDRESS:____________________________________________________________ PHONE: ______________________________

FAX:___________________________

EMAIL:______________________________________________________________ WEBSITE:____________________________________________________________

Please check out our careers page at www.woodlandequip.com

or e-mail us at careers@woodlandequip.com

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

thelastword

Will the forest policy review for the B.C. Interior yield a new vision for the forestry industry? By Jim Stirling

t’s not usually a signal for unbridled optimism when governments embark on policy reviews. There is a sense however—and a hope—that British Columbia’s review of its Interior forest policies might prove different. The government’s stated objective is to revitalize the provincial forest industry. The process began with a review and recommendations to help kick-start a moribund coastal forest industry. Now the attention has switched to the Interior at a time when the engine of the provincial forest industry is sputtering in ways it rarely has before. The wood fibre crunch is one of the reasons. First, the mountain pine beetle and now other beetle infestations are taking their toll. B.C.’s worst two recorded wildfire seasons back to back have further eroded the industry’s available fibre base. Just for good measure, the marketing scenario for B.C.’s traditional wood products is extremely volatile. We have Trump protectionism, Chinese belligerence and new lumber competitors like Russia adding their influence to the mix. The NDP government’s point man for the Interior forestry review is John Allan. He’s presently deputy minister for B.C.’s Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. Allan has a wealth of forest industry experience at influential levels including stints with the B.C. Forest Safety Council, B.C. Council of Forest Industries (COFI) and the B.C. Lumber Trade Council. This assignment is potentially a different animal. It represents an opportunity to set new ground rules for B.C.’s Interior industry. The question is what does that vision look like—or is a new vision even on the government’s agenda? Observers seeking hints had the opportunity recently to fuel their speculation. The occasion was a forestry session at the recent BC Natural Resource Forum held in Prince George, B.C. Allan was participating in a panel discussion fittingly titled “Charting Forestry’s Future.” He

spoke about B.C.’s business climate and emphasized the need to work together. But some of Allan’s more interesting comments—interpretation-wise that is—came during an audience question period after the panelists’ formal comments. Given the background of a fibre gold rush underway in the B.C. Interior, Allan said: “We can’t be eating each other’s lunch,” and “some will have to make do with less.” He talked about the need for a rational policy. “We can’t keep on fighting with each other. We need an approach to (better) understanding each other.” Perhaps there really are some interesting changes on the horizon. It’s probably not coincidence there are other stories in this issue of Logging & Sawmilling Journal that reflect the stir for change. A story out of Quesnel, for example, where the regional forest industry and academics are co-operating to find workable ways to better manage a forest landscape that’s recently been ravaged by insects and wildfires. They believe continuing the status quo type of management is not a viable option. Instead, forest land management in their areas requires a broader perspective and more applied silviculture than treating a forest stand just as 2x4s in waiting. Possible answers to the types of questions the Quesnel group are asking are sure to be closely followed in other regions of the Interior. Allan’s pleas for a more co-operative and understanding approach among the players in the B.C. Interior forest industry resonates on several levels. Forest companies, large and small, have become excellent collaborators. They’ve proven they can set aside the competitive aspects of their relationships when it comes to furthering the reputation and influence of the forest industry as a whole. The marketing file contains several recent examples. The methodical and patient work to develop new offshore markets for wood products has been hugely successful and continues on several fronts. Japan, Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May 2019

China, South Korea and other Asian markets are examples of just how effective a co-ordinated approach between levels of government and the forest industry can be in practical business terms. It doesn’t garner a lot of headlines but the slow steady work of altering building codes to include a wider acceptance and scope for wood product use has and will continue to open the doors of opportunity for new primary and secondary wood product manufacturers. From the horrors of two sawmill fires in central B.C. during 2012 came another example of the regional industry coming together. The galvanized sector co-operated with speed and efficiency to formulate new industry-wide standards to help forest companies mitigate the dangerous accumulations of sawdust and wood debris within their wood processing environments. A common denominator in all these examples of the forest industry’s ability to work co-operatively is the commitment to do so came from the top of the largest forest companies in B.C. The CEOs made sure things got done, from a commitment to building code changes in foreign lands to containing flammable sawdust in the local mill. Co-operation and understanding as Allan encourages is always preferable long term to confrontation. But there’s one ritual within most forest companies where confrontation tends to overrule co-operation. It surrounds the fractious relationship between licencees and their log harvesting contractors. The pair are part of the same supply chain. They are—or should be—on the same team and they need each other to succeed. Yet the sparks still fly at rate negotiation time. Some licencees have tried log harvesting only to revert to using contractors. Perhaps some smart company can solve the conundrum by putting into practice some of Allan’s co-operation. And in the process, convert all that negative energy into a competitive advantage.

H I G H

I N D U S T R Y

STANDARDS OF

E X C E L L E N C E

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STEEP SLOPE HARVESTING. T H E P E R F E C T C O M B I N AT I O N. Don’t settle for anything less than the perfect combination for steep slopes. The robust Tigercat 5195 directional felling saw is a perfect match for the quick, agile and powerful LS855E shovel logger. This versatile carrier-head combo is much more than a shovel logger. It can fell and pre-bunch oversize timber in steep terrain and can shovel log the most challenging parts of the cut block – forwarding wood to easier ground at the lowest cost per tonne. Contact your Tigercat dealer today to learn more about the benefits of owning a 5195 equipped LS855E shovel logger.