June 2019
COVER STORY – North Carolina’s Keating Stands Tall –
After getting bitten by the timber bug, and graduating from NC State with a forestry degree, A.J. Keating worked as a procurement forester before starting his own company. Now, his Summit Logging crew works a mix of stands, both that Keating buys for himself and those he’s on contract with from Campbell Global.
The Elizabethtown, NC logger has huge aspirations and is one to watch in coming years.
“I’ve been blessed,” Keating shrugs. “There’s always room for improvement, and I learn something new every day I am out here.”
Finding help is a bit of a challenge Keating is already starting to worry about as age is going to eventually become a factor. He says, “My guys are starting to phase out. I lost a key guy in January 2019. That devastated me, but I jumped on the loader the next day to keep trucks moving.”
Article by Jessica Johnson, Associate Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times
Southern Stumpin’: Sunken Treasure
Taylor Allen of Swainsboro, Ga. sent in pictures of the biggest cypress log he’s ever seen. You might say Mr. Allen is a different kind of logger. Working from the water instead of the woods, he makes his living pulling long-submerged logs from river bottoms, left behind from days gone by, when early timber harvesters transported logs via nature’s downstream highway. The cypress log Mr. Allen mentioned was pulled from the Savannah River weighed 46, 500 lbs. and measured 8 ft. wide at the base. Allen operates The Southern Sawmill on a custom-order basis. Article by David Abbott, Managing Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times
Keeping It Simple
The owner of Michael Looney Logging says that it was his dad, Michael Sr., who gave him the nickname Doc. His dad started a logging company back in the ‘80s, and it was on that crew that Doc grew up working. By age 20 he decided he wanted to go his own way, so he bought a log truck. “Dad helped me with that so I could step out on my own,” he recalls. “I just wanted to grow; he was at a point where he didn’t want to grow. He was happy with 25-30 loads a week and I wanted to update.” In 2017, Michael was killed instantly in a head-on collision. “It was hard to go back to the woods without thinking about him. It really was. I lost interest in it for a little while. But then it hit me one day: I know he would want me to keep carrying on," says Doc. Article by David Abbott, Managing Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times
Bulletin Board
SuperExpo 1979: A Remembrance; Life Explained; On Growing Older; Embarrassed Ventriloquist
M-A Expo Finished With Saturday Surge
Vendors and visitors from at least 24 states and two foreign countries turned out in good numbers to take in the fourth Mid-Atlantic Logging & Biomass Expo May 3-4 in Scotland County, North Carolina. A very strong surge on the second day put smiles on the faces of vendor personnel, several of which reported making deals and/or establishing strong sales leads. By DK Knight, Publisher/Editor Emeritus, Southern Loggin’ Times
Industry News Roundup
As We See It: It’s Not All Politics; Logging BMPs Are Strong In Texas; Rotochopper Names Brinkerhoff As CEO; Lumbermen Aren’t Quite As Upbeat; Underwriters Firm Offers Coverage; Nacogdoches Facility Isn’t Done Yet; C. Arthur Howard Jr. Dies In Statesboro
Machines-Supplies-Technology
Barko Offers Feller-Buncher; Vermeer Damage Defense
