Subscribe Archives Events ContactTimberWestMadison's Lumber DirectoryAdvertiseMedia Kit LSJ Home Forestnet

 

Logging and Sawmilling Journal November 2014

June/July 2015

On the Cover:
British Columbia has been slammed with forest fires this summer, with more than 200 wildfires burning around B.C. in mid-July. For an update on the current wildfire situation, please go to Logging and Sawmilling Journal’s website at www.forestnet.com (Photo of helicopter working on a controlled burn at the Cisco Rd. forest fire near Lytton, B.C. courtesy of BC Wildfire Service).

B.C. sawmill explosion, fire ruled accidental
A coroner’s jury has ruled the explosion and fire at the Lakeland Mills sawmill in Prince George, B.C. in 2012 as accidental, and it made a number of recommendations to help prevent such a tragedy from occurring again.

Business-minded logging
Long-time coastal logging contractor Ted Arkell of Dyer Logging has found the challenges of logging have changed over three decades in the business, with a need to be far more business-minded to make a return on your equipment investment these days.

A Re-start for Rough and Ready Lumber
A significant investment in the small log line at Oregon’s Rough and Ready Lumber has resulted in better aligning production to the local log supply—and delivered solid economic benefits to a hard-hit part of the state, with the re-started sawmill.

Successful move into log hauling for Valley Carriers
A long-established, family-owned B.C. trucking firm, Valley Pulp & Sawdust Carriers, has recently expanded into log hauling, and is finding their already established trucking base—and their focus on their customers—gives them an edge in this competitive business.

Building operator loyalty
Alberta logging contractor Ted Freake finds that when it comes to the people who run his equipment, it pays to take the time to train operators—sometimes from scratch—with the goal of building loyalty and long term employee relationships.

Avoiding logging equipment fires
Nate Burton, Technical & Safety Services Manager of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, on the top five causes of forest equipment fires, and how operators can avoid them.

Returning to logging
The ongoing recovery has seen some contractors returning to the forest industry—New Brunswick’s Greg Davis and Wade Regan have now returned to the industry, and moved from a chainsaw/cable skidder operation to mechanical harvesting and a harvester/forwarder set-up, to better ensure their success.

DEMO show is on the way
Planning for the largest live equipment logging show in North America next year—DEMO 2016, to be held at the UBC Research Forest near Vancouver—is well underway, with recent planning meetings firming up the details for DEMO.

Canada North Resources Expo: another winning show
The Canada North Resources Expo, held in Prince George, B.C. at the end of May, was a huge success, thanks to features like a 30 per cent boost in outdoor exhibition space and the show hosting the first Northern B.C. Safety Conference.

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

The Last Word
Given the changes that have occurred in the Canadian forest industry—and what’s to come—Tony Kryzanowski says it’s time for the Canadian forest industry to refresh its research and development priorities.

DEPARTMENTS

Supplier newsline

 

 

 CLICK to download a pdf of this article

SUPPLIER NEWSLINE

By Tony Kryzanowski

WallingfordNew chains from Wallingford’s

Wallingford’s Inc has introduced additions to their line of BABAC Traction Products.

The product line now includes an extremely aggressive 7/8” Multi-Ring and 1” Multi-Ring, as well as 7/8” Single, Diamond and a half and Double Diamond chains.

Designed with today’s larger machines and rugged terrain in mind, BABAC Forestry and Heavy Equipment tire chains are made of the highest quality boron alloy steel available, says the company. This American-made product is built by hand in Winslow, Maine. The process of manual welding provides the best results in quality control and customer satisfaction, according to the company.

Exclusive to BABAC chains is their exceptional through hardening process which provides a uniform hardness and tensile strength throughout the steel. Extensive tests and field experience have shown that BABAC tire chains wear longer, more uniformly, and without the breakage that is associated with the alternative, case hardened products, says the company.

BABAC offers a full line of standard tire chain patterns for skidder, forwarder, harvester, tractor, and heavy equipment applications through Wallingford’s Inc. BABAC also offers a computerized custom design capability and they specialize in custom tire chain applications for odd tire sizes.

www.babactirechains.com


EnvirobridgeEnviroBridge makes crossing easy

EnviroBridge crossing systems are designed to rapidly get crews and equipment across streams and underground utilities on one job site or on many job sites. Based on years of experience in the resource and construction industry, the company has designed medium and short span modular bridge products that stand up to the rigors of temporary use and reuse, as well as the functional requirements of long term installations.

The company’s bridges require no special tools or fasteners to install, use local fill or gravel as bridge decks, and can be transported easily without the need for special permits or pilot cars.

Support staff at EnviroBridge have been building roads and installing bridges for decades across Western Canada and they ably lend expertise to the specific project needs of customers. Their goal is to help customers get across streams and underground utilities in the most efficient manner possible while respecting the sensitive ecology of areas under and around bridges.

www.enviro-bridge.com


Brutus ETV2Brutus ETV2 emergency transportation vehicle approved by WorkSafeBC

With forestry workers employed often in remote locations, transportation to medical care in the event of an injury is critical. The Brutus ETV2 emergency transportation vehicle, an insert that is designed to fit GM, Ford and Dodge trucks with 8” pickup boxes, has been approved by WorkSafeBC. It has also been certified to meet Transport Canada and WCB requirements.

The unit is tubular aluminum that is structurally framed for rollover protection, with an aluminum entrance door with stainless handles and quick release hinges. It has an aluminum stretcher door with stainless handles equipped with quick release hinges, an aluminum stretcher platform with rubber matting, three stretcher belts, and an EVS 1760 padded attendant seat with seat belt.

www.brutusbodies.com


Madill appoints Matdil Parts & Service as Alberta representative

Madill has appointed Matdil Parts & Service as the authorized Madill representative for the territory of northern Alberta, effective June 16, 2015.

“We are very excited to be representing the Madill brand of purpose built forestry equipment in northern Alberta,” said Matt Swenson, President of Matdil Parts & Service. “There are plenty of older Madill machines still working in this area and customers will now have local access to new Madill equipment and OEM parts.”

In turn, Madill is pleased to be represented by Matdil Parts & Service, who have been providing services to forestry customers in the Grande Prairie region since 2008, said Doug Jeffrey, President of Nicholson Manufacturing, the parent company that owns the Madill brand.

“Madill previously had a very successful branch office in Grande Prairie up until 2008 and Matt Swenson was part of that success as the parts and service manager for the branch,” said Jeffrey.

“Following the closure of the Madill office in Grand Prairie in 2008, Matt established his own business to service the many forestry customers in the region and continues to do so today. Matt’s past experience with the brand ensures a perfect alignment with Madill’s philosophy and commitment to maximum uptime and productivity of its forestry machines,” Jeffrey added.

Madill is a leading independent supplier of services to forestry and other heavy equipment customers in Northern Alberta. It has experience servicing Detroit Diesel, Cummins, Bosch-Rexroth, and Linde, all of which are common to Madill equipment.

Madill is a premium quality purpose built forestry brand designed and manufactured in British Columbia with distribution in Canada, the U.S., New Zealand and Australia. The Madill brand of logging equipment is designed with experience developed from manufacturing over 4,000 machines over a 60 year period, and it has a well-earned reputation for its solid construction and simplicity of design which provides superior performance, productivity and long service life, says the company.

www.madillequipment.com


Olofsfors ECO-Wheel TracksOlofsfors upgrades ECO-Wheel Tracks for CTL machines

Olofsfors has announced that an upgraded version of ECO-Wheel Tracks for cut-to-length machines is now available in North America.

There is a new cross member design based around the proven EVO model, and the addition of side supports make ECO-Wheel Tracks available for more tire sizes and brands. The EVO cross member is said to offer excellent strength and anti-slip properties with a unique sunken cleat position which reduces the stress in the cross member, making it user friendly when re-cleating.

ECO-Wheel Tracks ‘CTL’ are suitable for harvesters and forwarders where traction and stability are the primary requirements. Wheel tracks are an economical alternative to conventional tire chains for the metric sized tires.

www.eco-tracks.com


LinckLINCK introduces compact processing centre

LINCK has introduced a newly-developed compact processing centre. With this machine, four-sided cants can be produced, with minimum space required.

The components used in the processing centre—such as log rotation, log guiding and cutterheads—have been tried and tested for years, says LINCK.

The compact design allows the application of LINCK technology in areas where it had not been possible until now, due to space restrictions. LINCK says new sawmills can be designed with noticeable reduced building length.

All established processing methods are supported. Whether the logs are to be processed split taper, diagonally aligned or curve sawn is determined through the LINCK process control software.

Through additional units for profiling and sawing, a complete production unit can be realized with minimum space required.

www.linck.com


SPRINGER Group buys WoodEye

With the purchase of the Swedish lumber-scanner producer WoodEye, the SPRINGER Group is expanding its product portfolio with camera-based image-processing systems for the lumber industry.

“In WoodEye, we will gain a very well established, innovative team,” said Springer CEO Timo Springer. “WoodEye is a specialist in measuring and detecting all kinds of defects in lumber. This means we can keep the share of waste lumber in the valuable raw material down to a minimum, while raising profitability in wood processing.”

The Swedish company WoodEye is a leader in optimization systems in software and optical image recognition.

SPRINGER has been successful in the field of lumber measuring with the South Tyrolean subsidiary MiCROTEC since 1990.

www.springer-microtec.com


BID Group acquires Miller Manufacturing

The BID Group of Companies has acquired Miller Manufacturing Inc, of Washougal, Washington, which does business as A&M Manufacturing.

“Adding A&M Manufacturing expands our equipment and service product lines including the new Miller Planer Machine,” says Alistair Cook, Chief Executive Officer of The BID Group.

“This new line of products will further enhance The BID Group’s abilities to offer a complete solution to our highly valued customers. We want to serve our customers throughout the industry with a full range of equipment, installation, and after-sales service.”

The privately-owned BID Group family of companies has 32 years of experience in providing solutions for its customers. With Comact, PHL, Deltech, SEC and BID Group Construction, the group of companies provides innovative, efficient and reliable equipment. The company has offices in 14 locations across continental North America.

www.bidgroup.ca


WaratahWaratah brings tough felling head to market

The new Waratah FL-85 series 2 felling head offers increased durability with a heavier frame. It includes a larger saw box design and improved heavy duty guarding protection.

It comes with full 360 degree continuous rotation and a unique hydraulic link-brake for improved control. A strong upper-boom link system provides simple installation on log loaders, excavators, and feller bunchers.

Weighing 3844 lbs, Waratah says customers can even toss in a heel rack. It has a new larger 3/4 saw unit with auto tensioning that provides a single pass cut capacity of 37”. It can be used for picking, sorting, or piling, and is said to be ideally suited to harvest steep slope timber. It requires fewer cuts on larger timber and minimizes the need of manual hand falling.

www.waratah.com


trelleborgTrelleborg launches innovative forestry tire range

Trelleborg has introduced an all-new Twin Forestry tires series, which is said to combine the best attributes of the previous range with innovative performance-enhancing technology.

The new design, including ProgressiveTraction and inter-lug terraces, delivers the next generation of self-cleaning, track-compatible tires with superior traction for tough forestry applications, says the company.

“With a combined tradition in forestry and agriculture, Trelleborg can bring together the best from both worlds,” said Susanna Hilleskog, Managing Director of Trelleborg Wheel Systems for the Nordic countries. “Our completely new range draws on all our experience and know-how from forestry and adds award-winning innovations from Trelleborg’s agricultural tires. The result is an enhanced tire range that is ideally suited for the tough demands of forest terrain, providing improvements in traction, resistance properties, stability and accessibility.”

ProgressiveTraction was specifically developed to increase tire efficiency and performance based on the action of a double lug. Operating on the soil at different times, the double lug progressively releases higher traction when required. The double lug also provides the tire with better floatation capability, producing even pressure distribution over the extra wide footprint and less impact on the forest floor.

Inter-lug terraces, another proven Trelleborg concept, have been integrated into the new tread design. By preventing the tread from clogging, inter-lug terraces ensure a self-cleaning tire that can always work at maximum efficiency.

The tires, made from a newly developed enhanced rubber compound, have also been redesigned to improve track compatibility, so that maximum grip and maximum performance is achieved with and without tracks.

The new Twin Forestry tire range consists of the T440 and T480 series, complemented by the existing skidder range, T418.

Twin Forestry T440:

  • Said to be ideal for clay, mud, ice and snow—maximum traction design means there’s nowhere you can’t go
  • Unmatchable traction and accessibility in its class, says the company
  • Exclusive Progressive Traction technology for proven better grip and self-cleaning with less impact on forest floor
  • New lug design with heavier shoulder, lug heads and transverse edges for an effective track

Twin Forestry T480:

  • A perfect fit with tracks for exceptional grip
  • Transverse grooves and a wide flat tire profile for optimized track usage performance
  • Unique tread design with inter-lug terraces for effective self-cleaning and added pulling power
  • Large contact area with low ground pressure for less impact on forest floor.

www.trelleborg.com/wheelsystems