Sometimes with logging operations, it all starts with the family. Logger Kevan Ouellet knows all about that. He worked alongside his father, Normand, in the family contracting business which had grown to twelve chainsaw skidder crews, before they formed the company Multi Ouellet & Fils, and bought a Ponsse Ergo in 2000, and began cut-to-length production.

In 2002, the business invested in a 15 tonne Ponsse Buffalo to handle forwarding wood to roadside, and also added a second Ergo to their harvesting team.

The decision to buy Ponsse CTL machines was a reflection of a long association with ALPA Equipment based in Balmoral, New Brunswick, which is just an hour-and-a-half drive from their Multi Ouellet base in the town of Amqui, in eastern Quebec.

“We built a business relationship with ALPA when we were a skidder operation,” explained Kevan. “ALPA provided comprehensive parts and service support in our early years.

“When it came time, we moved to cut to length and multifunctional harvesters and we knew we could continue to count on ALPA for the same service and also for technical support as we learned how to work with the new machines.”

It’s been through ALPA that they have developed a productive relationship with Ponsse equipment, he noted.

 

“Ponsse builds very productive and reliable equipment, which has been straightforward to do maintenance on, and work with the electronics. Our relationship with ALPA and Ponsse is more than a business relationship—we also consider them our friends.”

In 2015, Multi Ouellet purchased a Landrich 1.0 tracked harvester with a Ponsse H7HD harvester head, which was manufactured by A. Landry Fabrication, an affiliated company of ALPA, also based in Balmoral, New Brunswick.

In 2021, they added a Landrich 2.0 with H7HD head, and then followed that with the addition of a new Ponsse Elephant King forwarder in 2022.

In 2023, a Ponsse Scorpion harvester with H7 head was added to the harvester team. The Elephant King has the capacity to handle the production of both the Landrich and the Scorpion.

Kevan operates the older Landrich 1.0 when his mechanical talents are not required by the other machines, and Normand, while technically retired, fills in on the Buffalo forwarder and helps out with other tasks like floating, when needed—although he tries to keep his Wednesday mornings free to participate with his bowling league.

The Multi Ouellet team includes four full time operators and Normand on an ‘as needed’ basis. They work four twelve-hour shifts one week, and for the second week, add an eight-hour shift on the Friday.

Multi Ouellet provides pickup trucks for operators as well as renting living quarters for operators who live a distance from the harvest operations. The operators seem to like working with the Ouellet Family; operator Maurice Landry retired in 2024, after 32 years, and current operator Pierre Luc Gagnon has worked 19 years for the Ouellets.

Weekly production goal for the crew is 1,600 to 1,800 cubic metres, with annual production of 50,000 cubic metres.

Over the past number of years, harvest assignments have been increasingly directed to salvaging softwood blocks damaged by spruce budworm, while 2023 also saw harvest operations targeting blowdown areas resulting from a severe windstorm which occurred in December 2022.

“It was a very unusual storm—we don’t normally see such extensive wind damage,” commented Kevan.

Kevan described the size and location of blowdown blocks as irregular. He pointed out that production in blowdown salvage was reduced by 30 per cent on average. Forestry operations in the Bas St. Laurent region focused on blowdown to capture the fibre before it degraded.

In the March 2024 budget, the Quebec government budgeted $8.5 million over two years to support harvesting in blowdown areas. It’s estimated that 17,000 hectares were impacted with blowdown, which represents some three million cubic metres of wood fibre. That’s about three years of mill consumption in the Bas St. Laurent and Gaspésie regions of eastern Quebec.

Earlier this year, Multi Ouellet was operating in a mature balsam fir dominated harvest block in the Reserve Faunique Duniere, east of the Village of Causapscal on the Matapedia River. Reserve Faunique Duniere has an area of 578 square kilometres, and is managed for timber production and wildlife habitat. The reserve is noted as having the densest moose population in all of Quebec, at more than 33 moose per 10 square kilometres.

The forest type in the reserve is dominated by balsam fir, along with spruce, cedar and a small percentage of hardwood species. The timber production on the reserve is ISO 140001 and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.

Multi Ouellet staff do annual training with FSC instructors during mud season. Training includes first aid, fire control, workplace safety and environmental standards. The Multi Ouellet operation is subject to two field audits through the harvesting season.

In addition to staff taking the annual one-week summer vacation (Quebec Construction holiday), the Multi Ouellet crew also shut down operations for a week in the autumn for the moose hunt. Halting forestry operations for moose hunting is a time-honoured tradition, and most forestry workers use the time to do their own hunting.

Harvested wood, eight- and nine-foot logs, from the Multi Ouellet logging operation are transported to Bois D’Oeuvre Cedrico mills at Causapscal on the Matapedia River, and at the company’s mill in Price, which is situated close to the St. Lawrence River.

Cedrico produces around 210 million board feet of lumber annually, and directly employs 200 workers in its two operations. The Causapscal mill saws 180 million board feet, about 30 million board feet of that production going on to value add/ secondary manufacturing. The Price operation also saws logs, but has extensive secondary processing directed to the furniture and pallet industries.

Cedrico handles harvest planning with the approval of the owners of Reserve Faunique Duniere and the guidance of the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks and Quebec’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.

Cedrico staff map the harvest blocks, and then supply digital maps to Multi Ouellet machines. Additionally, Cedrico forestry staff flag boundaries and other features in the block. Maps also outline the type of harvest in the block. In recent years, about 10 per cent of the harvest has been some sort of partial cut system.

As noted, a lot of the harvesting for Multi Ouellet is done with ALPA-related equipment.

“We have been customers of ALPA since 1989,” notes Kevan. “They maintain an extensive parts inventory at Balmoral, and other stores in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and we can receive parts within one day. We get exceptional parts service—and we also get great technical support if we are working to fix a problem. They have great staff who can troubleshoot over the phone and quickly help us get a solution—and get us back into production.”

Working with such solid iron, Multi Ouellet operators are committed to doing the very best harvesting job possible, and that extends from first entry into the block through to loading equipment, and moving on to the next block. “I like to look at our wood piles and see a very uniform and neat pile,” says Kevan. “Our supervisors appreciate that level of work and those neat piles are also appreciated by the truckers.”

On the harvesting side, they like the Landrich for its power for swing and travel, and stability when harvesting. The fuel consumption for the Landrich ranges from 17 to 21 litres per hour, depending, of course. on the terrain, tree size and the operator.

For track machine applications, Ponsse recommends the H7HD harvesting head, because it is manufactured with a heavier frame and sawbox, which fits well with the added stresses that are common to tracked machines.

Landrich harvester development began in 2005, and they launched a prototype harvester in 2008, and went into production in 2010. In 2020, Landrich began manufacturing the upgraded Landrich 2.0, and shortly after moved into an expanded facility at Eel River Crossing, NB.

“We had a lot of feedback from Landrich owners and operators and that led to the many upgrades and improvements into the second generation Landrich,” explained Landrich’s Director of Operations and Chief Engineer, Yves Michel Thibeault. Thibeault has worked on the Landrich since the early development stage.

The Landrich 2.0 features a 20 per cent larger cab with larger windows providing the operator with 180-degree visuals of their work site. The hydraulics have been optimized for smoother operation. The Tier 4 Mercedes-Benz engine is rated at 280 hp, and is remarkably fuel efficient, allowing the 750 litre fuel tank to run the harvester for three shifts. Hydraulic pumps include a 175cc unit dedicated to harvester head functions, a 175cc unit dedicated to crane function and a 190cc unit for travel power.

Landrich co-operated with Ponsse to adapt their proven Opti4 control technology for measuring, diagnostics and machine control for the Landrich 2.0.

During the spring mud season shutdown, the Multi Ouellet fleet is brought to their home shop, for a thorough cleaning and obvious repairs. During the detailed maintenance, ALPA technicians may also come in if there is any need to check hydraulic pressure for components and set them to spec’s.

Following the spring maintenance, it is not unusual for Multi Ouellet to contract a private woodlot harvest operation in the Bas St. Laurent region, until operations with Cedrico get underway.

Summarizing their operations, Kevan says that the success of Multi Ouellet is due to support from his father Normand, a consistent and conscientious crew of operators, and from his wife, Sonia Rouleau, and their daughters, Audréa and Elodie.