BANKS, Oregon – Put another feather in the cap of Turner Logging, the Oregon company owned and operated by brothers Mark and Greg Turner. The company recently earned recognition from the Forest Resources Association.

Turner Logging is a partnership of two brothers, Mark, 64, and Greg, 61. “Each day can be different,” said the elder Turner, who talked to TimberWest for this article. He usually prepares bids for jobs and does most of the layout. He also operates a cutting machine, moves equipment with the low-boy trailer, and drives the dump truck. He does “a few other things here and there,” including some paperwork and overseeing the office.

Greg usually runs the loader or anything else as needed, and he is the key operator of the jammer. “He’s very good at throwing it,” said Turner. His brother also does a lot of the company’s mechanic work.

Their sister, Diane, runs the office, although she usually works remotely from home, coming to the office about one day per week. The office is located on Turner’s property near his home in Buxton, which is less than 30 miles northwest of Portland.

The Turners employ three other men as equipment operators; all of them have worked for Turner Logging more than 20 years. If they are running the jammer or yarder, one of the men will act as the hook tender and another as the choker setter.

“We shoot for 25 loads per week,” said Turner, although production can vary. They do a variety of jobs that are quite different.

When Turner talked to TimberWest, they were working on a job of about 260 acres for Stimson Lumber, which bought a timber sale on the Clatsop State Forest. One unit is being clear-cut for final harvest and will produce an estimated 72,000 board feet per acre, said Turner. Another unit will be an extremely small commercial thinning.

“We do a lot of thinning,” said Turner. “That’s kind of our main mode of operation. However, we do everything, clear-cuts as well.” The thinnings on the current job are big enough for long saw logs. “The mills don’t want short logs. Part of the reason they hire us is because we’re able to produce long logs.”

The terrain varies from flat to extremely steep ground and everything in between. The site is a little over 30 miles from Buxton, in the Northern Oregon Coast Range. “That’s where we do most of our work,” said Turner. The job is mostly Douglas fir but the acreage also contains western hemlock and a small amount of Sitka spruce and alder.

They get paid by the board foot for thinning while trucking is paid by the ton. In northwest Oregon, loggers usually are paid by the board feet or ton, he indicated.

They also do a lot of work for Hampton Lumber and some work for Interfor and Boise Cascade. “There are quite a few mills” in the region, noted Turner. The average haul distance is about 60 miles.

Over the years Turner Logging has been a relatively small business. However, it had grown to about 20 employees until the Turners decided to downsize a few years ago.

Their father, Bill, started the business in 1959 with a chain saw and “an old, worn-out” Cat dozer for skidding. He was one of the first loggers in the region to transition to skidders with wheels in 1963. Their father was a bit unusual in that he had a portable sawmill and used it to cut cants out of the logs, selling the cants to lumber mills with a resaw. He later teamed with another logger and together they worked mainly jobs on private land.

Before joining his father and brother in the business, Turner earned a degree from the Oregon Institute of Technology and worked as an engineer in California.

The brothers took over the business when their father died of cancer in 1995 and expanded it. They began doing thins, working on the Tillamook State Forest, which was replanted and recovered from extensive fires – collectively known as the Tillamook Burn – between 1933-51. They realized they needed to invest in more equipment and added yarders and loaders.

A few years ago they decided to downsize. “We used to run the yarder every day,” explained Turner, but decided to reduce the amount of yarder work. “Profitability was marginal, and finding labor was hard.” Most of the work they perform now is conventional mechanized logging with a minor component of work using the jammer and yarder.

Their newest machine is a Doosan (now DEVELON) 300 log loader with a Southstar grapple processor attachment purchased in 2021, replacing another piece of equipment. “That allowed us to move one machine in to log, process, and load the timber,” noted Turner. They bought the DEVELON and attachment from Feenaughty Machinery Company, which mounted the Southstar on the machine.

DEVELON’s newest 300 model, the DX300LL-7, is powered by a 266 hp engine. The high-pressure common rail fuel injected engine teams with the EPOS (Electronic Power Optimizing System) for optimum power and fuel savings. With increased lift capacity, it can easily pick up heavier logs. The fine swing feature minimizes unwanted movement when working with heavy loads, enhancing control and precision. The radiator with reverse fan comes standard and automatically helps prevent debris buildup, keeping the cooling system clean and increasing engine uptime. A standard 8-inch color LCD screen provides helpful maintenance and monitoring information; it displays video from standard rear view and side-mounted cameras for enhanced visibility. The optional side-entry forestry cab is certified for Oregon OSHA standards. It is equipped with standard LED front and rear working lights.

Southstar grapple processors are designed to sort, shovel and load like a grapple and process and measure and cut with all the advantages of a Southstar processor. The attachments enable loggers to utilize one machine for both functions: processing and loading. Southstar offers three models. Turner Logging has a Southstar QS505, which is designed for an optimum operating size of 18-24-inch timber.

“It’s worked out pretty good,” Turner said of the combination.

They have been doing business with Feenaughty since 1994. They also have purchased equipment from Triad Machinery and Papé Machinery. Over the years they have usually bought new equipment – sometimes used if they found a good deal.

The jammer is a modified Hitachi 210, purchased from Pape, that can double as a yoder. “We’re one of the very few in this part of the country now,” said Turner, with a jammer. Greg can throw it a couple hundred feet, depending on the terrain.

The jammer is the same type of log loader modified as a tong tosser, Turner noted; the only difference is the jammer tosses a cable and chokers to be attached to the logs, not tongs. “The good thing about the jammer is you don’t need big landings and you don’t need any guy lines,” said Turner.

LOGGER’S TIP:
“Logging is not for the faint of heart.” – Mark Turner

“You’ve got to put everything into it. You can’t be half-hearted about it” – Greg Turner

They have two Tigercat 830 track machines, leveling track harvesters, with Waratah heads for processing work and also a TimberPro 735 leveling track harvester with an old Rollie II fixed processor head that Turner operates, particularly on steep ground. Because the Rollie II is a fixed attachment, he can use it effectively for pushing or pulling the machine around. “It’s a really tough head,” said Turner. They may be upgrading in the future to a Log Max fixed head processor.

They also have a Cat high-track skidder. For cable logging operations they are equipped with an old West Coast yarder and an Acme carriage.

For building and maintaining roads they have a Cat D7G dozer and a John Deere 6-wheel driver grader, which they also use for plowing snow.

They do a lot of the service work on their equipment, sometimes using the services of a mechanic.

They typically spread the slash on the ground in front of the machines to reduce soil compaction and rutting. For clear-cuts, they pile it for the owner to burn later or to simply let it decay. Occasionally they sell some firewood logs from a sale on private land.

For hauling logs the Turners primarily use Daniel E. Koch Inc. and RJ Stephens Trucking.

Market conditions are steady, said Turner. “But the market is definitely down. Mills are pretty plugged” with wood, and some have curtailed operations. Earlier this summer they were on mill-imposed quotas while working on private land.

“We have very little pulp market left in the area,” he noted.

All the employees have been with the Turners for more than 20 years. Some that recently retired had been close to 30 years. “We treat our employees like family,” said Turner. “We provide them with good health insurance, good bonuses. If they have issues they know they can always come to us for advice.” The Turners also “preach safety,” he added.

Both men like to hunt – deer and elk – and fish as time allows. Turner also likes to take a mountain hike with his son, John, 21, each summer and camp around a high elevation lake and do some fishing; he and his wife, Claire, used to enjoy dancing quite a bit.

Over the years they have purchased timberland and now own about 250 acres they are managing. They are thinning some of it now, preparing it for final harvest that will help them transition into retirement. “Our goal is to get into retirement…at some point probably just manage our own property.”

The Turners have been active in Associated Oregon Loggers for many years and also in the American Loggers Council. The company also is a member of the Forest Resources Association.

Turner was honored with the 2024 Associated Oregon Loggers Logger of the Year Award. He has been active in AOL for many years and is a past president. He also served more than a decade on the American Loggers Council board, including as president in 2018.

Turner Logging was recognized by the Forest Resources Association with the 2025 Western Region Outstanding Logger Award in September. In his acceptance remarks on behalf of the company, Turner expressed gratitude to Greg, whose partnership made it possible for his brother to dedicate time to serving the American Loggers Council and Associated Oregon Loggers. At the Western Region/Montana Wood Products Association fall meeting in Montana, Turner also accepted a plaque and check for $1,000 from John Deere.

In remarks at the award ceremony, Amanda Sullivan-Astor, AOL forest policy manager, said of Turner, “He recognizes that engaging and speaking out garners the respect and understanding that loggers need to obtain the necessary political and social capital to keep doing vital forestry work across Oregon, the West, and the nation.”