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May 2024

 

RIPLEY, Mississippi – Several months of pray­er and careful consideration weigh­ed into Brian Hickox’s decision to make the switch from conventional logging to Ponsse CTL machinery in October 2023. After 30 years as owner of HX2 Logging Inc., Hickox, 52, could just about operate rubber-tire cutters and skidders blind and harvest a tract of plantation pines seven ways to Sunday, but by late last year, he knew it was time to make a change and try something new.

 

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Inside This Issue

COVER: New Toys

RIPLEY, Mississippi – Several months of pray­er and careful consideration weigh­ed into Brian Hickox’s decision to make the switch from conventional logging to Ponsse CTL machinery in October 2023. After 30 years as owner of HX2 Logging Inc., Hickox, 52, could just about operate rubber-tire cutters and skidders blind and harvest a tract of plantation pines seven ways to Sunday, but by late last year, he knew it was time to make a change and try something new.

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Article by Patrick Dunning, Contributing Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times

SOUTHERN STUMPIN': Yee-Haw!!

One of the industry events I look forward to attending every couple of years is Expo Richmond in Virginia. I think I have been to most if not all of them since 2008. It’s a long drive for me from Alabama but I enjoy the trip, and the show, and I always get to see a lot of great loggers in and around Virginia before, during and after the event itself. Expo Richmond 2024, which occurred just a couple of weeks ago as I write this (see coverage beginning on page 14), continued the trend. After Expo wrapped up, I had the opportunity to visit several really exceptional logging operations in Virginia as well as Maryland and West Virginia; look for those to be featured over the next several issues of Southern Loggin’ Times.

Article by David Abbott, Managing Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times

EXPO RICHMOND 2024: Moving Time

Expo Richmond made the move to a new home for the 39th version of the esteemed show.

Article by David Abbott, Managing Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times

FROM THE BACKWOODS PEW: Topple

Have you toppled lately? Not to be con­fused with “tipple,” which is a struc­ture used for loading trucks or railcars at a mine; to topple is to fall over. Topple is what that old egg did, the one who liked to sit on the wall. But since it is hard to get “topple” to rhyme with wall, topple has become one of those old words, usually only associated with third-world dictatorships. In the forest, topple is still a common occurrence, if not a common word.  It happens as follows.

Excerpted from Trees, Traps, and Truth, Bradley Antill, author

INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP
  • As We See It: What’s Going Right!
  • Alabama’s Two Rivers Plans Second Sawmill
  • Mississippi Gets Interstate Hauling
  • ATPA Mourns Lawrence Loss
  • Drax Group Allies With Molpus Woodlands
  • FRA Names Stratton SE Region Winner

New Toys

There isn’t much terrain Mississippi’s Brian Hickox can’t handle now with his harvester, forwarder combo.

Article by Patrick Dunning, Contributing Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times

RIPLEY, Mississippi – Several months of pray­er and careful consideration weigh­ed into Brian Hickox’s decision to make the switch from conventional logging to Ponsse CTL machinery in October 2023. After 30 years as owner of HX2 Logging Inc., Hickox, 52, could just about operate rubber-tire cutters and skidders blind and harvest a tract of plantation pines seven ways to Sunday, but by late last year, he knew it was time to make a change and try something new.

Hickox was looking for a way to set himself apart from his local peers, the surplus of logging operators in the region all competing to deliver logs to mills currently under tight quotas. He began researching Ponsse’s cut-to-length machinery, talked with logging operators in Alabama and Florida who had al­ready been utilizing the equipment, and ended up on the phone with Ponsse sales rep Jim Charlier in Midway, Fla.

Charlier presented some quotes, answered every question and drove over to the Magnolia State to meet face-to-face with Hickox before a deal was finalized. After some delib­eration, Hickox was on board and hasn’t looked back since.

“We went from one extreme to the other,” the logger says. “Deciding to go with this type of machinery versus conventional logging was a big leap of faith.” Among the handful of reasons Hickox chose to pull the trigger on the Finland-based manufacturer’s forestry equip­ment, the deciding factor was ultimately Ponsse’s self-proclaimed motto as a logger’s best friend. “There was a lot of thought and prayer behind my decision but I went with Ponsse because of their reputation, and they’ve held true. Cut-to-length is Ponsse’s livelihood and they stand behind their product. They treat you like family and have been a very good company to work with.”

Eight months ago the folks at Ponsse delivered a 2016 Scorpion King 25-ton harvester from Michigan and a 2019 Elephant 20-ton forwarder from Wisconsin to a job site HX2 has been working on and off for the last two years in Tippah County. Along with the machines came an operator trainer from Ponsse who stayed the entire week to help Hickox get acclimated to his new machines. “We’ve gotten past most of the learning curve now,” Hickox confirms.

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