BEND, Oregon – If there is one phrase that truly and literally describes Boulder Ridge Trucking and Logging, it is ‘all in the family.’ With 20 employees plus three owner-employees, all ground-based logging and trucking is done in-house. Using all company-owned equipment for everything done in the woods to trucking operations is what sets them apart from others in the industry.

The three owners of Boulder Ridge are a partnership between a father, Sean Mahoney, and his two sons, Matt and Tyler. The family connection contributes to the success of the business, said Matt, who spoke with TimberWest for this article. With the main focus on logging and a goal of producing 130-plus loads of wood per week, the business had revenue of $7 million last year.

The ability to have total control over all the operations – cutting, skidding, processing, loading and trucking – is an advantage that translates into efficiency and cost savings.

Boulder Ridge continually upgrades equipment to newer models with lower hours. In particular, owning trucks is important for hauling logs to mills that are a minimum of one hour away. “The cost of trucking is what can really handcuff you at different times,” said Mahoney. “That’s why we have made it important to run our own trucks.”

Boulder Ridge was recently named by the Oregon Department of Forestry as the 2025 Eastern Oregon Operator of the Year. The company was recognized for a thinning project on Shanda Asset Management property on the eastern slopes of the Cascades.

John Deere 2954 with Waratah 623C danglehead attachment processing ponderosa pine on a U.S. Forest service timber sale.

The department called the company’s logging of overcrowded ponderosa pine and white fir “exemplary.” Multiple benefits of the project were reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire and improving the health of the stand by carefully removing trees infested with dwarf mistletoe, which can kill or weaken trees and can spread more easily in crowded stands.

The company does a variety of logging. “We really do it all,” said Mahoney. “We have multiple standing timber contracts that we have purchased from the Forest Service, we do contract logging for the local mill and local private land owners. We have sold timber by both the ton and the board foot. I like the ease of selling it by the ton, but I feel that selling by the board foot is more fair for both us and the mill.”

Jobs vary quite a bit in terms of acres. “Some of the private stuff we’ve done has been as small as a couple hundred acres,” said Mahoney, “and Forest Service and mill contracts normally are a couple thousand acres.” The dominant tree species in the area is Ponderosa pine. The terrain allows them to do ground-based logging. “We have worked on some steep ground, but everything has always been done with ground-based equipment.”

Boulder Ridge runs three crews. They usually are split up but sometimes work together. Each typically is equipped with a Komatsu or Timbco feller buncher, a Cat skidder, and a John Deere or Link-Belt machine paired with a Waratah processor. “Each individual side is self-sufficient and self-contained,” said Mahoney. Beside a Timbco feller buncher it has three Komatsu feller bunchers and four Cat skidders. In addition the company has four John Deere shovels, two Cat dozers, and two Dresser graders.

The company also owns a fleet of eight Peterbilt log trucks, six long-log and two short-log trucks, and a handful of other Peterbilt trucks and brands of trailers.

The company’s most recent investment in equipment was a 2022 Link-Belt 4040 shovel with a 623 Waratah danglehead processor attachment. At the time Mahoney talked with TimberWest, it was working on a U.S. Forest Service stewardship project, a commercial thinning fuels reduction job at a site on the urban interface of Bend.

LOGGER’S TIP:  ‘Create and maintain good relationships. It is the backbone of our industry. You’ve got to make sure you have a good relationship with your customers, your vendors, and your employees.’

– Matt Mahoney, Boulder Ridge Trucking & Logging

The stewardship project is an effort to reduce the risk and danger of wildfire. It includes a major logging component of about 15 million board feet. The tract is 95 percent Ponderosa pine and 5 percent lodgepole pine. “It’s very overstocked, tree-wise and brush-wise,” said Mahoney.

The Link-Belt has “been really good, worked every day, minimal issues with it, and the operator – who has been with us for years – loves the machine,” said Mahoney. The engine has proven durable and more economical when it comes to fuel consumption.

The Link-Belt was purchased in used condition from Crowley Equipment in Eugene. “We are not committed to any one dealer but have purchased multiple pieces from our local Papé Machinery dealer here in Bend,” said Mahoney.

The company is subcontracting for mastication on the 7,000 acres. “Mastication is the one thing so far that is still a subcontractor item for us,” said Mahoney. “We have not endeavored into that yet, (but) I don’t think it will be long before we do because there’s a lot of these stewardship projects in the upcoming future.”

Caterpillar 525D skidder brings in a turn of ponderosa pine to a landing on a U.S. Forest Service timber sale; partly shown is John Deere 2954 machine.

Not every project will be a “home run,” noted Mahoney. Logging contractors need to know if they can work for less than their normal rate when things get tight or slow and what they really need to still make a dollar. “On the flip side,” he added, “you need to know how much you may be making and what you can do with that profit, whether it be buying new or upgraded equipment or paying off debt.”

Boulder Ridge has its own service truck to get to the woods to maintain equipment. The other Mahoney brother, Tyler, is a mechanic for the company; he also can operate equipment and drive trucks and often tows a lowboy when equipment is being moved to a new site.

“We fix or repair 95 percent of our equipment breakdowns and do 100 percent of our truck maintenance,” said Mahoney. “The only thing we don’t do in-house truck-wise is major engine repair.”

“Its not uncommon for any of the three owners to work late either repairing something or gathering needed tools or parts to keep the crew running the next day,” he added.

Each day, “We all wear whatever hat is needed,” said Mahoney. “No two days are the same for any of us owners.”

His father normally runs a self-loading log truck. When he’s not running the self-loader he stays busy picking up or delivering parts to the shop or the woods or running other errands as needed. When they move to a new job site he can drive a truck and haul a lowboy.

John Deere 3156 log loader filling a truck with wood.

Mahoney stays busy multi-tasking, too. “I try to spend at least one day a week in the office reviewing items. I also do the majority of the planning for the timber operations and truck dispatching. My passion, however, is being in the woods to some degree. I fill in running a shovel when we are shorthanded or hauling logs if we have extra loads available.”

The family partnership and the employees are the two factors that Mahoney emphasized have led to the company’s success. “We’re a partnership between my brother and dad and I, and we’re a family-owned, family-based company,” he said. “We pride ourselves in being family-run and that our families are involved in the company. That’s how we set this up and how we’ve built it.”

The Mahoney wives are in the business, too. “All of our wives are involved on varying levels. My wife, Christie, works full-time in the office. Tyler and I both have kids, and all three of them are always happy to lend a helping hand. My son, Sean, has helped the last couple of summers in the woods and really enjoys the work.” The company has an annual Christmas celebration, and Tyler’s wife, Shelly, is instrumental in gathering prizes for all the employees. Their mother, Lisa, steps in when she is available, too.

Mahoney was quick to credit Boulder Ridge workers for the company’s success, too. “None of what we’ve built could be done with the great employees that we’ve been able to hire and keep,” he said.

The Boulder Ridge staff includes 12 equipment operators and seven truck drivers. The company enjoys a low attrition rate. “Which we pride ourselves on,” said Mahoney. “We’ve had several guys with us from early on, since when we first started adding employees.”

The company started doing firefighting-related work. “We still do contract fire work,” said Mahoney, “but it’s not nearly the priority it was in the beginning.”

Market conditions have been a bit soft lately “with lots of logs on the market. We feel very fortunate to have a strong working relationship with the local mill, which has allowed us to keep moving in a soft market.”

Loggers and anyone else who drives a vehicle are dealing with fuel prices that spiked after the U.S. began military action against Iran. “Fuel prices are through the roof and having a very negative effect on the bottom line,” said Mahoney. It is frustrating as this industry does not have large margins to begin with, so a major change in fuel expenses shows up very rapidly.”

The best part of being in the logging business is working outdoors,” said Mahoney “A lot of people want to recreate outdoors…there are entire industries built around just being outdoors, and we get to do it for a living. We’re out here every day. Not every day is awesome, but we are in the woods every day, and that’s pretty hard to beat.”