June 2024
LEWISBURG, West Virginia – It’s natural that younger generations want to try new and different methods while building on the foundation left by their parents and grandparents. So it’s no surprise that when fifth generation logger Zach Hubbard, 30, bought the family company from his parents, Rodney and Dinah, 18 months ago, he had high ambitions of adding his own vision to the Hubbard legacy.
Inside This Issue
COVER: Uphill Climb
LEWISBURG, West Virginia – It’s natural that younger generations want to try new and different methods while building on the foundation left by their parents and grandparents. So it’s no surprise that when fifth generation logger Zach Hubbard, 30, bought the family company from his parents, Rodney and Dinah, 18 months ago, he had high ambitions of adding his own vision to the Hubbard legacy.
Article by David Abbott, Managing Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times
SOUTHERN STUMPIN': Alarming Bells Toll
For whom does the bell toll? It might be tolling for you, or for a mill you supply. For more on tolling bells, see this month’s “From the Backwoods Pew”, but right here, a different kind of bell is ringing: an alarm bell, a wakeup call.
In March, the American Loggers Council issued this press release about an alarming trend of mills closing or scaling back. I thought it was of sufficient importance that we should reprint it for our readers. ALC wants to sound the alarm and inspire action to stop the decline, develop new markets, and reverse the trend. “This will require public partners to understand the scope of the threat and the options to work with industry to collaboratively identify and implement solutions,” according to ALC’s Scott Dane
Article by David Abbott, Managing Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times
DEMO DAYS: Home Run
Tigercat dealer Tidewater’s Demo Day 2024 saw big turnout.
Article supplied by Tigercat; photos by Tidewater customers
FROM THE BACKWOODS PEW: For Whom the Owl Hoots
John Donne wrote a poem, For Whom the Bell Tolls, back in the neighborhood of the 16th century, in which he asked a question about a ringing bell. Properly stated, the poem concluded with this line: “Therefore, send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.”
Excerpted from Trees, Traps, and Truth, Bradley Antill, author
INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP
- Big John Turns 50
- SFPA Receives USDA Grant
- Miss. Logger Barrett Dies
- Titan Upgrades Tire Mfg. Facility
- Canfor Purchases El Dorado Sawmill
Uphill Climb
Taking over from his parents, Zach Hubbard invests in tethered steep slope logging.
Article by David Abbott, Managing Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times
LEWISBURG, West Virginia – It’s natural that younger generations want to try new and different methods while building on the foundation left by their parents and grandparents. So it’s no surprise that when fifth generation logger Zach Hubbard, 30, bought the family company from his parents, Rodney and Dinah, 18 months ago, he had high ambitions of adding his own vision to the Hubbard legacy.
Specifically, Zach added a winch-assisted or tethered component to the company’s steep slope logging operations in West Virginia’s Appalachian Mountain range. When he transitioned what was formerly Rodney Hubbard & Son Logging, Inc. into Zach Hubbard Logging, Inc., Zach also changed how he harvests hard-to-reach hardwood in rugged high elevation terrain.
To replace chain saw felling, he upgraded to a West Coast package TimberPro TL755D tracked feller-buncher (purpose built for steep slope operations) and a new Tigercat 635H bogie skidder. He also added a TimberMax T20 cable winch tethering head on a John Deere 350 excavator to anchor the new cutter and skidder when they’re working downhill. The skidder and cutter take turns tethered to the TimberMax winch with the excavator parked firmly on level ground. Tethered for stability, the TimberPro fells on steep inclines; when it’s finished, the Tigercat hooks up to the cable line and skids everything uphill.
The new owner’s aim was simple: to get more production on steeper ground, and to do it more safely. And he’s not just paying lip service to safety (especially considering he’s the one doing the cutting); it might have been his chief motivation. “I’ve got four kids at home; I want to make it home to them every night,” Zach explains. He has no intention of orphaning his children (ages 9, 7, 5 and 3) or widowing his wife Cherie.
There’s also the fact that Hubbard Logging contracts exclusively for Weyerhaeuser, a company well known for its emphasis on safe practices. “They don’t like to see people on the ground with chain saws,” Zach notes. Before tethering, the Hubbards cut steep hillside timber with chain saws and pulled out with a shovel machine, and before they bought the shovel they just used a TimberPro to shovel uphill.
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