Logging Conference

 An Overview of the 63rd Annual Oregon Logging Show 

(3 minute download on 28.8 Modem)

By Don Pravitz, Publisher 

Since it always mirrors the present and gives us a clear look into the future of our regional industry market, it's important for us to develop an honest retrospective of each annual Oregon Logging Conference & Equipment Show. Before we do this, however, we should decide on what the best possible yardstick would be to accurately measure the success or shortcomings of an event such as the 63rd Annual OLC Show. 

The tendency by some people is to simply tally up the visitor attendance and exhibitor participation at that year's show. When numbers are up, the show is a success and the future looks rosy. If the numbers are down… time to dig a hole and crawl in. Numbers may be a valid measure of viewers for the Nielsen Ratings - especially if they are being used to justify those milliondollar Super Bowls ads. Numbers are also a sound method to measure a movie's success at the box office. 

Quickly add up ticket sales and Hollywood knows instantly if it has a hit or a bomb. But, numbers no longer work for an industry downsized by a political administration, environmental regulations, new technology and ongoing consolidations. Based on the numbers premise, each year guarantees fewer people attending and fewer suppliers exhibiting at all the annual logging conference and equipment shows throughout North America. Let's face it. There are fewer people in the industry today than in years past. Therefore numbers, taken by themselves, are no longer a valid or accurate measure of a industry trade show or of how the industry is doing. 

If we can't use visitor attendance or exhibitor numbers, how do we accurately evaluate these annual industry events? It may sound like an overused cliché, but instead of quantity we really should shift our focus to the quality of those in attendance. Example: Everyone agrees that this year's numbers were down a little over 2000. But a thorough canvassing revealed that a large consensus of exhibitors felt that 2001 was the best OLC Show of the past 5 years, possibly even the past 10 years. 

The reasons most cited boiled down to these: 1. Attendees were confident that everything they needed could be found in the equipment portion of this year's conference. And it did not escape their notice that those exhibitors were the leading manufacturers and regional distributors who are deeply vested in this industry. For loggers lying down hundred of thousands of dollars on the line at a pop, this assurance means everything! 2. Suppliers who noticed lighter attendance are the same people who also acknowledged that they saw more highly qualified prospective buyers than ever before. 

Forestry companies that used to send their entire crew to the show are now only sending the few select employees who have the authority to buy. With the noticeable absence of the usual tire kickers of past shows, sales reps were able to spend more quality time with serious buying prospects. Most exhibitors reported picking up more business cards and coming away with more solid sale leads to followup that ever before. 3. Conferences usually have a hard time pulling attendees away from all that shiny iron and enticing exhibitor offerings. 

After all, the equipment show is the glamour part of these events. It was interesting to note that one of the biggest challenges at the 2001 OLC was finding an empty seat at any of the educational and informative Seminars and Panel Discussions. This again points to the quality and professionalism of the folks attending this year's OLC Show. A successful show is no longer about how many people pass through the gates. When all the right people see all the right suppliers and visitors attend all the right meetings for all the right reasons, it's only then that you have a truly successful event. Using this as a yardstick, it's obvious the 2001 Oregon Logging Conference & Equipment Show hit its mark. 

And since this show has always been a reliable bellwether for a season's worth of business in the West, even in the face of a possible economic slowdown, a vast majority of participants of the 2001 OLC are still optimistic about the immediate future of this constantly evolving regional forestry market. So hats off to all those who made this year's show a success - from the OLC officers, directors and staff who put it all together, to the industry suppliers who invested their time and laid out the cash to exhibit their wears. And thanks to all the forestry companies who set aside time for their employees to attend this important annual event. You can all give yourselves a pat on the back for a job well done. 

PARTEK / PB
PBI Machinery displayed products from three of Partek Forest's brands; Timbco, Valmet, and Cranab. Pictured here is the Valmet 890 20 ton forwarder with Cranab 1250 crane and new generation G40 grapple. Behind it is the largest rubber tire harvester in the Valmet fleet, the Valmet 921. With a Valmet 965 harvester head, it's designed for tough final felling with the unique cab leveling system and tilt platform. Other Valmet products on site were the 500T and the 3 wheel 603. Timbco displayed their 820 clambunk and 445 feller buncher. Both are wellknown and wellproven for Northwest conditions. 

CONTINENTAL BIOMASS  
CBI's horizontal feed 4800 Series Magnum Force on display at this year's OLC is the ultimate land clearing machine for grinding full length trees, stumps and brush at an unbeatable throughput rate. Its powerful upper and lower feed rollers will continuously feed high volume, large diameter material to the solid steel rotor. The heavyduty rotor design allows the machine to turn at less than half the rpm of a conventional hammermill rotor, which means you grind up to 20 times as much between scheduled maintenance. 

FEENAUGHTY MACHINERY  
With all the mergers and acquisitions of forestry suppliers over the past several years, for a family owned dealership to celebrate 100 years of continuous business is something short of miraculous. Feenaughty Machinery showed why it continues to be a leader in this regional industry market by offering a full range of powerful and precise Kobelco loaders that are equally at home in the brush as a shovel logger, handling every log movement requirement at the landing, or sorting, decking and loading in the sort yard. 

PIERCE PACIFIC MFG.  
In their usual inside and outside locations, Pierce Pacific Manufacturing featured their expanding line of logging attachments. In the Exhibit Hall, visitors could check out Pierce booms, grapples and turnkey logger packages. Outside featured the PMD 3348 DeLimbinator stroker, the 630 directional felling head, the PTH 24 harvester/ processor and the newest addition to the Pierce line, the PTH 20. A 4,500lb harvester/processor head designed to cut up to 20" diameter, the PTH 20 is perfectly suited for 20 to 25 ton excavator carriers. 

LETOURNEAU  
LeTourneau Sales & Service displayed the LeTourneau SL. The thirtyfive ton capacity SL is the latest in a long line of LeTourneau log stackers that have moved the logs of the Pacific Northwest timber industry since 1955. The SL featured the latest developments in LeTourneau stackers including a powered rotating control station with joystick controls. LeTourneau Sales & Service says that the SL is their largest selling stacker because it meets customer demands for high productivity, low operating cost, ease of maintainability, safety, and environmentally friendly operation. 

T&J EQUIPMENT/LAKO 
The most advanced harvester technology available on the world market today is now available to the Western U.S. timber market through T&J Equipment in Spokane, Wash. The Lako 650 harvester head, as a 2 or 4 feed roller of either rubber or steel and available with an optional top saw, is perfectly suited for carriers in the 122 to 136 hp range and will cut and process trees up to 30" dia. The head is controlled by the versatile MOTOMIT computer program that includes many different measuring and scaling features.  

TRIAD MACHINERY 
When your logging needs span the full range of forestry techniques, Triad Machinery has the iron and sales professionals to put the right machine in your hands: from loggerized LinkBelt loaders and stroke delimbers, state-of-the art Prentice leveling fellerbunchers and harvester/processors, plus the newly acquired Fabtek harvester/forwarder line from Blount, to a complete line of wood chippers, recyclers and debarkers from Peterson Pacific, Triad is a virtual onestop shopping center for mechanized harvesting.

GCR/WOODY FROOM 
You could check out all the latest and greatest in Firestone forestry tires at GCR/Woody Froom Truck Tire Center's exhibit in the Expo Hall at this year's OLC Show. In addition to the newest Forestry Special CRC® with Firestone's cutresistant compounds that claims 10% better wear and up to 9.5% more strength for heavier loads, GCR/Woody Froom also featured some very special sale prices on 28L X 26 14 ply and 23.1 X 26 14 ply forestry tires while supplies last.  

LOG MAX, LTD. 
From their 2001 OLC exhibit in the Expo Hall, the distributor for the Western U.S., Log Max, Ltd. had on hand their complete line of stateofthe art Log Max harvester/processor heads. With their primary goal to support dealers and end users (by working through the dealers), Log Max, Ltd. will be offering classes and field assistance through factory trained technicians. A comprehensive spare parts program in Portland will keep operators up and running, and Log Max harvesters "heads above the competition ." 

PETERSON PACIFIC 
At the 2001 OLC, Peterson Pacific exhibited machines displaying the range of their product line. The DDC 5000G whole tree processor, a delimber/ debarker/chipper with loader is designed for infield processing of whole trees into chips used to create paper products. The HC 2400A and HC 5400 Recyclers are portable grinders that have wide use in the waste wood recycling industry. The HC 2410 Mobile Recycler is the first track mounted horizontal feed recycler in the industry. Introduced at the 2000 OLC, this recycler has found wide acceptance in the wood recycling industry. 

QUADCO 
Quadco showcased several new products, including the model 6000 from its new line of harvesters/processors with its 24" capacity swinging disk saw. The 24" head and its 30" counterpart (Model 7500) come with a choice of three mount yokes that turn the head into a harvester and/or process, rubber or steel feed rolls, and more. Premiering also was Quadco's new line of Bogie Tracks, sized to fit most machines on the market. And also the new model 750 snubber- registered trademark "Prolenc" - made for smaller imported an domestic dangle harvesters and grapples.  

PETERSON MACHINERY 
25 Serving loggers over the past 14 years, Peterson Machinery continues their leadership in the timber harvesting industry from their headquarters in Missoula, Montana. A prime example of their forestry product line that includes Timbco, Timberline and Franklin/Tree Farmer, were the Daewoo 250 mounted with a Denharco delimber and a turnkey Daewoo 220LL in their outside exhibit at the 2001 OLC, where they warmly welcomed the opportunity to talk about the perfect ground based harvesting machines.

FETERL, MFG. CO. 
Once again prominently featured in the Livestock Arena building at the 2001 OLC Show was Feterl's Model 8000 with an 11' heavy duty crane body. Feterl's commercial bodies are designed for 2 ton trucks with a clear 84" CA, 21,000 GVW33,000 GVW. The heavy duty crane body compartments are 24"D X 56"H, all built of 10ga. steel with 10ga. reinforced doors. Stainless steel hinges and "D" handles are also used. Compartments are pressurized and have automotive weather stripping, plus the "Gang Lock"TM is featured on all models. 

WESTERN POWER  
When it comes to handling wood, the forestry specialists at WP&E put it all together for today's loggers. The full spectrum of budgetfriendly turnkey shovels from Daewoo, powerful Case 9000Series log loaders and road builders, to Case dozers and backhoes, Champion motor graders, and light on the ground CTL harvesters/ forwarders from Bell Equipment USA. Whether loading, shovel logging, selective thinning or pioneering roads, Western Power & Equipment has the machines with the muscle and precision required for any job. 

RAYCO/WESSPUR 
Mounted with FM7260 Forestry Mower/Mulcher, the very latest and most efficient method for fuel load reduction, the Rayco T275 Hydra Stumper was featured in WesSpur Tree Equipment's outside exhibit. Fresh off some eyepopping demonstrations for the Forest Service, WesSpur showed how the Rayco could grind unwanted vegetation into a mulch that provides a nutrient for the forest floor while removing the potential for catastrophic fires, and avoiding the high cost of extracting and hauling waste to landfills. 

BLONDIN/ROTTNE
 Blondin, Inc. used the 2001 OLC Show to announce the recently opened West Coast facility conveniently located near Salem, in Turner, Oregon. This will enable Blondin to effectively serve Rottne customers throughout the West with technical service and immediate parts support. In addition to full line of stateoftheart Rottne Rapid harvesters and forwarders, the new facility will also handle the Neuson line of Austrian harvesters. This signals a major commitment for Rottne in the Western CTL market.  

PLC 
The Pacific Logging Congress was on hand at the 2001 OLC to display the Chev 4X4 3/4ton PickUp truck 1st Prize and the Grizzly ATV 2nd Prize rewards for their 2001 Raffle, with proceeds to benefit the PLC education programs. Since this year also marks the 4th PLC "InTheWoods" Active Equipment Show scheduled for September 19 22, 2001 on Longview Fibre Timberlands, 35 West of Portland, Oregon on Hwy 26, plenty of exhibitor and visitor registration information was also available at their booth in the Exhibit Hall. 

CMI/VOLVO 
The new player in the working man's game of pickup sticks, the Volvo EC290 logger, attracted lots of curious onlookers at Construction Ma Machinery's outside exhibit at the 2001 OLC Show. Billed as one of the toughest, most reliable logging machines ever built, this fast, strong, powerful and fuel efficient loader delivers everything a logger needs for maximum productivity. Superbly engineered, the VolvoEC290 logger is built to the highest standards of performance, operator comfort, efficiency and safety.  

TRANSGESCO, INC. 
TransGesco proudly displayed the high production, extreme service, TG475 Feller Buncher featuring the new 24 inch Quadco disc saw felling head. The TG475 is a highly efficient 315 hp engine with oversize cooling capacity and gull wing enclosures for easy serviceability. The TG475's balanced weight distribution provides maximum stability. An immense 285 gpm of hydraulic power is controlled by stateoftheart load sense controls to suit a variety of forestry attachments. TransGesco is also the manufacturer of the worlds largest and powerful skidder and forwarders, the TG88C. 

YOUNG CORPORATION If booms and grapples were your game, then Young was the name at the 2001 OLC Show. With years of proven quality and experience, as well as a complete selection of styles and sizes to fit just about any forestry application, today's loggers know and appreciate the Young name. Featured in their booth in the Exhibit Hall was Young's newest LG60 log grapple. Capable of handling small logs and the ability to extend grapple life under the most demanding conditions, it also features heavy duty construction for shovel logging. 

JOHN DEERE 
With the capable help of their Oregon dealer, Hessel Tractor & Equipment, John Deere proudly displayed their complete line of mechanized harvesting equipment including Deere's 330LC Logger, engineered and built, not as a converted dirtdigger, but to move wood. These complete logging packages are designed with the forestry professional in mind. The machines perfectly mate proven Deere technology with the options necessary to work productively in today's demanding forestry market. 

UNIVERSAL REFINER
The Bantam and Rascal models are both ideal for the timber/logging industry. They are street legal and easy to transport yet can easily grind stumps and log chunks up to 70" diameter x 3000 pounds. They are tough and affordable and are ideal for log yard waste, green waste, asphalt shingles, construction waste and any difficult/dirty material. Both will make a finished product in one pass… even pulp chips. Contact Universal Refiner Corporation (800) 277-8068.   

PFERD, INC. 
Experienced chain saw operators who recognize that a sharp chain is critical for safety and performance found answers to their questions in Pferd's booth in the Exhibit Hall at this year's OLC Show. Also featured in the exhibit was the new StumpVise that stabilizes the guide bar so filing is easier and more accurate, and ChainSharp® that sharpens saw tooth and corrects height of depth gauge all in one, handheld operation. No wonder professional loggers prefer Pferd chain saw files and accessories to achieve optimum results.