June - July 2001 - Logging and Sawmilling Journal -

Saskatchewan contractor Rob Budargham has found the transition to cut-to-length logging difficult but steady, thanks to good equipment support.

Ask Saskatchewan logger Rob Buckingham about his transition from conventional to cut-to-length (CTL) logging over the past year and he'll tell you right up front that it was "very difficult". However, there is something decidedly different about Buckingham's story versus the experiences of Canadian CTL pioneers of a decade ago: there is now a higher level of commitment evident from both industry and equipment suppliers. Ten years ago, CTL was still trying to find its place in Canadian forestry. Now, it appears that CTL has arrived at last as a national influence.

Larsen Logging's Rob Buckingham and Deb Buckingham (front) with harvester/processor operators Jeff Swanson (middle) and Jaysan Marsh (top). The operation has made a significant commitment to cut-to length, purchasing two Timberjack 1270B harvester/processors and a 1410 forwarder.

Equipment advances and a diminishing fibre supply have finally opened a permanent door to the technological promise that has always existed with harvester/processors. Industry has come to terms with the fact that CTL will likely never completely replace feller bunchers and skidders. In a country as vast as Canada, dominated by large tracts of homogenous hardwood or softwood, responsible clearcut or mosaic harvesting is still the preferred prescription for effective forest and ecological management. Within that vastness, however, many areas require the surgical precision of a harvester/ processor for a variety of reasons, ranging from ecological, to political, to socio-economic. That is where CTL has primarily found its niche.

The other hard lesson that the Canadian CTL experience has taught us is that the transition to CTL at ground zero requires the full support of both industry and equipment suppliers. And it is particularly suited to a certain type of logger. That is Rob Buckingham's story-a story that might not have been told 10 years ago. His company, Larsen Logging Ltd, is headquartered in Big River, Saskatchewan. He harvests approximately 70,000 cubic metres of both softwood and hardwood for Weyerhaeuser's sawmill in Big River and pulp mill in Prince Albert, as well as for the Wapawekka sawmill in Prince Albert. Buckingham began logging in 1988 and, after more than 10 years working in a conventional logging environment, he accepted Weyerhaeuser's proposal to become a CTL contractor.

Over the past two years, Weyerhaeuser has strongly encouraged him to make the transition and provided considerable internal support with equipment selection and training. Buckingham is currently Weyerhaeuser's only CTL contractor in its Big River operations and plays one part in the company's transition to an environmental management system within its woodlands operations. "There are a lot of protocols that go along with this management system," says Buckingham. "We're going to have a lot less ground disturbance than used to be acceptable. I think our target is to be below three per cent company wide." That support from Weyerhaeuser was essential because Buckingham has made a significant financial commitment.

He has purchased two Timberjack 1270B harvester/ processors and a 1410 forwarder. He says Weyerhaeuser was behind him 100 per cent, suggesting questions that he should pose to equipment suppliers and offering a level of commitment to keep him viable through the initial training period. That included input and support right from Weyerhaeuser on an international basis. "All that helped when we were setting up our initial deal to buy the equipment," he says. Larsen Logging's objective is to capture timber in sensitive areas of mixed wood stands, whether it is in riparian areas or where aesthetic appearance is an important consideration. The company has also tackled understorey protection, harvesting poplar and leaving the remaining white spruce to flourish.

Although the learning curve has been steep, Buckingham was enthusiastic about the challenge. "One of the reasons we were asked to take on CTL harvesting was because we were interested in this sort of thing," says Buckingham. "I belong to the local stakeholders' advisory group, and we'd like to see alternative ways of doing things, not just conventional heavy commercial logging. Cut-to-length is something that can be done in the proper place. I know that it can't be done everywhere because the costs are higher." He adds that his feller buncher operators were equally enthusiastic about making the switch to CTL harvesting. "All of my operators are people who adapt well to an environmental management system," says Buckingham, "because that is the way that they live their lives.

They are the kind of people who like hunting and fishing, so it was not hard to convince them to accept this system. It's part of what we look for in a person when we hire them." Being a CTL pioneer in the Big River area, Buckingham also has the opportunity to help develop and direct harvesting guidelines in sensitive logging areas. For example, university researchers will be testing two areas that he will log this coming season. "They will be doing some studies for song birds, their habitat and the way the birds travelled through the area before we went in and logged," says Buckingham. "Then after we've logged the area, they will go back and do some comparative testing. That's the stage we are at this year. From that, they hope to set some guidelines for riparian zone management." He and his operators discovered right away that there is a considerable difference between operating a feller buncher and a harvester/processor.

"Falling and processing at the stump with this type of equipment takes a lot more finesse," he says. "There's less brute strength in the equipment, so you have to learn to work with it, especially when you get into big timber." He adds that the operator has to know how he is going to gain access to a tree, fall it and process it before he cuts it. "You can't pick it up again once it's down." Then there is the issue of processing accuracy when the sawmill has only a three inch tolerance, although Buckingham had plenty of praise for the Timberjack measuring system. "We're probably within one inch most of the time," he says. "It seems to be very easy to hit the three inch tolerance that we are shooting for. Part of the learning curve is understanding how to calibrate the machine, do your daily checks and make sure that it is measuring properly." So Weyerhaeuser and Larsen Logging were on board with the transition.

The third piece of the puzzle was the equipment supplier. Buckingham says he considered a number of CTL equipment suppliers and all the equipment was competitively priced. What his decision came down to was parts and service support. "Timberjack guaranteed that we would be able to get all the parts in North America that we needed for the equipment," says Buckingham. "They may struggle with that a little bit, but they are committed to it, so hopefully in the long term it works out." Learning how to operate and trouble-shoot the equipment has been no walk in the park. Luckily Weyerhaeuser understood that there would be a learning period and did not put too much pressure on Larsen Logging to tackle sensitive areas and achieve high production numbers right off the bat.

During the first year of operation, Timberjack provided about one month of operator training that included three days in simulators before the operators even got into the machines. Buckingham says it appears that the best way for operators to fully understand the harvester/processor's capabilities is to allow them to operate the machine between training sessions, then prepare a list of questions for Timberjack to answer based on their experiences. At the start, Larsen Logging achieved between seven and eight cubic metres of production per hour. At present, they are over 20 cubic metres per hour.

They have negotiated a rate structured around a target of between 16 and 18 cubic metres per hour. "Of course, as we get into more sensitive sites and maybe longer forwarding in the riparian zones, our production numbers might go down," says Buckingham. "But because we're not going to have the learning curve this year, we figure our production numbers will stay fairly consistent, even with the additional effort that we will have to put into logging with longer forwarding and selective cuts." He adds that CTL equipment is still complicated, but having the past year to become familiar with the mechanical and electronic operation of the equipment has been a tremendous asset. Buckingham handles most of the mechanical work on the equipment himself.

He is resigned to the fact that because his CTL equipment is more complicated, he will likely depend on the dealer more often for service support. He emphasized, however, that having good resource material for trouble- shooting is essential to minimize excessive downtime. "Getting our hands on a good trouble- shooting book was key to having the procedures to go through to find the problem," he says. With a year's worth of experience under its belt, Larsen Logging is well positioned to take on additional quota that will likely become available now that Weyerhaeuser has completed its $90-million expansion of the Big River sawmill. It is now the largest sawmill in the province.

Buckingham may expand his fleet by adding another forwarder to ensure that he meets any additional quota commitments. "There's also some opportunity to harvest wood for small woodlot owners that possibly would like to commercially thin their forest," says Buckingham. While the journey has been difficult to date, it's possible Buckingham can now look forward to setting a standard for others logging sensitive areas throughout Saskatchewan.

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