November 2024
ARMUCHEE, Ga. In November, deer season will be well under way across the Southeast as cold fronts prevail and big bucks go lookin’ for love. A grateful group of club members on a hunting lease in north Georgia will be thanking a local logger for running a different kind of Deere in the woods this August to improve wildlife habitat and forest health.
Inside This Issue
COVER: Tested, Durable
ARMUCHEE, Ga. In November, deer season will be well under way across the Southeast as cold fronts prevail and big bucks go lookin’ for love. A grateful group of club members on a hunting lease in north Georgia will be thanking a local logger for running a different kind of Deere in the woods this August to improve wildlife habitat and forest health.
Article by Patrick Dunning, Contributing Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times
SOUTHERN STUMPIN': The Green Choice
There’s no need for commentary from little old me when someone else said it better. Bruce Vincent, author and third-generation logger from Libby, Mont., delivered the keynote address at the end of the American Logger’s Council’s 2024 annual meeting in California in early October.
I think Vincent hit several nails right on the head and I believe his words need to be shared with an audience beyond the attendees of that meeting. Though I don’t have space enough here to include it in its entirety, below is a partial transcript of the first half of his speech. Perhaps I can bring you the second half in a future issue. Enjoy.
Article by David Abbott
FROM THE BACKWOODS PEW: Side Roads, Snares, and Souls
When I first started in the timber business, the most critical piece of information I had to learn was the name of the local roads, and where to find lunch. Not all roads lead to lunch. I started in an area known as the Green Swamp, a massive expanse of industrial and natural forest in southeastern North Carolina. In this vast stretch of nature, you had to know where you were if you ever wanted to go to someplace in particular, like lunch, or home. With over 700 miles of dirt roads and logging paths, once you left the blacktop, traveling became an adventure.
Excerpted from Leaves, Lessons, and Lordship, Bradley W. Antill, author.
INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP
- As We See It: The Sport of Politics
- Full Helene Impact Becoming Clear
- Tuberville Tours Bama Forestry
- EU Delays EUDR Implementation
Tested, Durable
Matt Owens Logging tests out new John Deere machines amidst challenging markets.
Article by Patrick Dunning, Contributing Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times
ARMUCHEE, Ga. In November, deer season will be well under way across the Southeast as cold fronts prevail and big bucks go lookin’ for love. A grateful group of club members on a hunting lease in north Georgia will be thanking a local logger for running a different kind of Deere in the woods this August to improve wildlife habitat and forest health.
Matt Owens, 44, owner of Matt Owens Logging, Inc., has a long his- tory with the second kind of Deere. One of the first pieces of equipment Owens purchased after establishing his company in 2001 was a ’69 John Deere 440 cable skidder, followed by an ‘88 model 548D. Since 2008, Owens has worked closely with John Deere and its test engineers in the forestry department, providing constructive feedback on machine prototypes still in the development stage.
On a recent visit to Floyd County, where Owens’ solo crew was conducting an overdue first thinning prescription, Southern Loggin’ Times got a sneak peek at the newest skidder in John Deere’s L-III series (still in testing phase) working a dense, 250-acre tract of loblolly pines with ease. Matt Owens Logging (MOL) has been testing the unreleased 748L-III skidder the last three months. Owens says the machine has been trouble-free and that it boasts several new features while remaining as reliable as ever.
“I’ve always loved Deere,” Owens says. “We tested their entire L series of skidders and cutters and got to know some of the engineers and were a part of several customer groups. We maintain and run the machine for free, tell them what we like and what we don’t. Mechanically, these machines are the same. Most of the updates were to the seat and the monitor, more diagnostics and the ability to order parts from the cab.”
Have A Question?
Send Us A Message