Veteran Quebec contractor Julien Lavoie talks of new iron, big forwarders, burnt wood, night work, and the challenges facing the future of the industry.
Major fires raged through thousands of hectares of commercial forest in parts of Lac St. Jean in June 2005, especially affecting the Crown cutting limits surrounding Abitibi-Consolidated's Camp Liberal near Girardville, QC. Logging contractor Julien Lavoie remembers the fires well - He lost his almost new Logset 8F forwarder in the blaze, alongside his Samsung LC210 harvester. The only gear he was left with was a Timberjack 101OB forwarder that was really too small for the work he does, and a service truck.
Still, Lavoie's luck was not all bad. By chance, the Direct 307 tracked harvester the logger had ordered to replace his 1998 Samsung had not yet been delivered when the fire struck. Moreover, the blaze allowed Lavoie to be the first in North America to try out Logset's 18-tonne forwarder, the 1OF.
As co-owner of Forpro 1995 Inc. with partner Jacques Doucet of nearby Chicoutimi, Lavoie has been in the logging game for 32 years. It is no surprise to him that the 24-hr logging operation he runs requires industrial-grade gear, and his gear is now 100% purpose-built. The Direct tracked carrier is fitted with an extended boom and Rotobec RSG-250B harvesting head.
When it came time to replace the logger's burnt Logset 8F 15-tonne forwarder, Wajax-Hydrofor's Donat Massie suggested the brand new 1OF, a machine that had just been introduced at the Elmia trade show in Sweden a few weeks ear lier after a year of testing in Finland. This would allow Lavoie to stay with the Logset brand, but get the larger machine he wanted. Still, the machine was not yet available in Quebec, so that Lavoie could only see it in video and brochures.
"It seemed well suited for my needs," Lavoie recalls, "and it had some interesting features. The price was also competitive, but still, investing in a new machine is always nervewracking, so we thought about it long and hard. In the end, we were satisfied with our "virtual" test drive, and we bought it."
King Kong arrives
The 1OF finally arrived in October of 2005, and was quickly named "King Kong" for its massive size, a nickname proudly displayed on the machine's doors.
"I wanted to get the operation down to just one forwarder, but a big one. That way I could get rid of the 101OB, which we needed from time to time but which was not efficient for our operation with its 10 m^sup 3^ bunk. The 1OF will carry 17m^sup 3^ without issue. And despite the imposing size of that machine, other costs like maintenance, repairs, insurance and transport are hardly any higher than for smaller models we've owned. That, in a nutshell, is why I went with the 1OF."
He adds that another motivator was mobility enough to match his new purpose-built Direct harvester.
"I also have to mention that once I got the much more powerful and mobile harvester, one with enough tractive effort to handle just about any slope we see, I needed a forwarder that could do the same. Between its power, and the strong loader (Loglift 111), that's exactly what I have. I sold the Timberjack in January just as the winter rush was starting, and King Kong has done the job solo since then. With these two machines, I now have a very balanced system with the capacity and durability to handle the job for many years. But then they should," he adds with a smile. "I paid over a million for the two!"
That's not to say the logger thinks he's on easy street. He's well aware that with the hours he puts on his machines, both harvester and forwarder will need major attention after three and five years respectively. Still, he says there are other savings over his old system aside from productivity and lower manpower costs. He notes that the electronic engine in the new Direct carrier consumes just 19 litres/hr as a harvester, and the Logset, despite it's big load, uses just 14 to 17 litres/hr.
"In contrast, the Samsung burnt around 32 litres an hour, and with the price of fuel these days, that's a major factor that my partner and 1 consider."
The forwarder is powered by a Sisu 74 CTA 243-hp engine and a hydrostatic-mechanical transmission that provides 47,000 Ib-ft of torque. The bunk can be both lengthened by 70 cm to over 20-ft long, and widened by 60 cm, allowing it to be adapted to loading and terrain requirements, and to carry either two or three tiers depending on sorts. Adapting for longer loads is a simple matter of controlling the hydraulic system from within the cab, while widening the load for rougher terrain is done via a simple bolt and sliding bunk system.
Support report
Lavoie told CFI that he has been pleased with the after-sales support he has received to date from Logset and Direct dealer Wajax-Hydrofor. Everything from technical assistance to training on the computer system and other operating functions has been excellent, he adds, despite the remote nature of logging operations in this part of the world. In fact, Logset took advantage of this first 1OF arriving in Canada to provide hands-on training to its Canadian dealers in late September 2005, so that dealer technicians would be up to speed before the first machine even hit the woods. There are now 10 of the 18-tonne forwarders working in Quebec and Ontario, as well as a smattering in other rugged markets like Scotland and Hungary.
