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One of the toughest aspects of a job like the one pictured is groundwork says Stone. His crew took a couple weeks doing profiles, marking the tall trees and mid-support trees along the ridge.

Stone’s Extraordinary High Wire Side

Wayne Stone Logging of Sandy, Ore.

By Lindsay Mohlere

Known throughout the industry for taking on difficult logging jobs, Wayne Stone Logging Inc. out of Sandy, Ore., is at it again. And not many have seen anything like this before.

Tucked into the 200-acre Columbia Vista Corporation’s Boulder Sale, one of Stone’s yarder crews has stretched a skyline 3600 feet down a ridge line to the company’s newly overhauled 1969 110-foot Skagit BU 99 tower. Justin Snyder, the head logging mechanic, and his crew were instrumental in putting the BU 99 back into top operational shape, along with other similar projects.

“This is a unique job,” Stone says. “It’s by far the toughest we’ve ever done.”

The BU 99, beefed up with a new Cat C18 800 hp engine and Allison 6061 transmission, growls as turns make a 3000 ft. run from the top to the landing below. A Link-Belt 240 log loader stacks the decks and loads Stone’s trucks, keeping production at a brisk pace.

“A lot of preparation went into this job,” Stone adds. “I asked the crew if they wanted a helicopter to fly in some tree rigging and haywire and stuff. They ended up doing a lot of hard packing up the hill to the back end to get going. In hindsight, they’d probably take me up on getting that helicopter now.”

Stone’s Link-Belt 300 and a Cat 568, are busy loading trucks and stacking decks.

Preparation

Stone says that one of the toughest parts of the job was the groundwork to prepare the site. Prior to humping cables to the top, Stone’s crew took a couple weeks to do profiles and mark the tail trees and mid-support trees along the ridge. Nate Ives, the hook tender, and Stone’s son Zach, did the profile by using a hip-string to measure distance, a clinometer to measure the slope, and a compass to go on a straight line to create a computer generated picture of the site and terrain. “It was a team effort, from the bottom to the top,” Ives says.

“You can know a lot about what you’re going to do with the profiles,” Stone adds. “They give you a picture of the terrain. You can know a lot about the site. The profiles help you know where to put your mid-support and tail trees and how high you need to make them to get enough deflection. From that information, Nate and crew were able to figure out what to do.”

Stone explains that one of the more difficult aspects of this particular job was maintaining elevation to keep the turns running smoothly to the landing. “The major challenge of this job is to get enough lift to get over these rock knobs and ridges. We’re using the biggest trees we can as mid-supports, but you have to figure out if you’re going to take the time to yard a bigger tree to a spot and raise it up. We try to use existing trees, but sometimes it doesn’t work out.”

Left to right: Ben Reed, Ben Norgren, Hook tender Nate Ivies and Chance Mayner take a break from flying logs down the hill.

Equipment for Multiple Sides

Wayne Stone Logging Inc. typically logs about 35 MMBF annually. The entirety of the Boulder Sale will net about six MMBF, with the high wire act estimated to bring in 1.5 MMBF. Currently, the company is running the Boulder side, a cable thinning side, and a mechanized/shovel logging side.

To keep up with demand and the various jobs the company contracts, it fields an assortment of new and used iron. The equipment stable includes five yarders, of which only two are in use at any given time. There are two Skagit towers, a BU98 and BU99, and two Madill towers, a 172 and 071, as well as a Diamond 210 swing yarder. They are paired with Eagle Carriage and Boman Industries sky cars as dictated by the job they are on.

Processing is handled by two Tigercat 830s, a Link-Belt 350 that sits under the yarder or works with a shovel, and a Timbco 445 that doubles as a buncher and a processor. All processors are equipped with Waratah heads.

Working on the mechanized side, Stone’s two new shovels, a Link-Belt 290 and a Cat 568, are busy loading trucks and stacking decks. A new Link-Belt 240 is assigned to the thinning side, and the company’s oldest Link-Belt 240 is paired with the BU99 at the Boulder side. Two older shovels, a Kobelco 220 and a Link-Belt 290, finish up the log loader list.

The Stone equipment roster is rounded out with two John Deere 648G grapple skidders, an older Franklin grapple skidder, and a Cat 517 tracked skidder with a swing grapple.

Stone says he is not married to any one manufacturer when it comes to equipment. “We do a lot of business with Triad Machinery. What matters to me is price, quality, and how good the dealer takes care of us.”

Stone has three cutters on payroll and contracts falling as needed. Schroeder Cutting, along with Chandler Burke, did the contract falling for Stone at the Boulder side. The company runs a fleet of ten log trucks that do most of the hauling, with a contract hauler stepping in to help when the situation arises. Most of the trucks in Stone’s stable are Kenworth, with three Petes and a Western Star thrown in.

Above: Gerald Warren releases chokers at the Boulder landing. Right: Riley Lemons operates the Skagit BU99 with expert precision, keeping the turns moving from top to bottom.

Good Benefits Keep a Quality Crew

Wayne Stone Logging employs 40 people in its different operations. The logging mechanic shop has three mechanics and an office manager. The trucking side has ten drivers. A.J. Becker doubles as dispatcher and lowboy driver. Chris Haughten handles the mechanic duties. On the logging side, most of Stone’s crews have been with the company an average of ten years.

The company offers a good wage package, usually called a family wage. “I try to pay up there with the best of them,” Stone says. “It helps getting guys and keeping them on.”

In addition, Wayne Stone Logging offers a simple retirement plan fashioned after typical 401K plans. The company matches employee contributions to three percent if the employee elects to participate.

Paid employee health insurance is offered, including a safety bonus if no one gets hurt. Full family dental insurance is also available.

“We also have an end-of-the-year bonus,” Stone says, “when we make money; and they’ve gotten one almost every year.”

The company has four towers at its disposal —two Skagit towers, a BU98 and BU99, and two Madill towers, a 172 and a 071. Also part of the line up is a Diamond 210 swing yarder.

Keep on the Challenge

While others might think Stone’s propensity for taking on the difficult and challenging job is a little crazy, he is quite satisfied with the work. Taking the tougher jobs has been an integral part of Stone’s business philosophy since he started out in 1983. Now, with five yarders in his lineup and a variety of other machines, Stone sees taking on difficult jobs as the future for his company.

“Logging is competitive. We started doing some of these tougher jobs when we saw we could make a little more money. It’s where the money is,” he says. “It’s one of the reasons we don’t do much shovel logging. Guys bid too low on shovel logging contracts.”

No question about it; Stone is proud of his success. “Being able to do a job like the Boulder Sale is a pretty good reward. It’s just us against the mountain.”

 

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