January 2025
Brothers Ben and Jay Walton are partners and co-owners at Big Bend Timber Services, LLC, based in Monticello, Fla. When Southern Loggin’ Times caught up with Big Bend in November, the Walton brothers had two of their five crews engaged in storm cleanup work around Valdosta, Ga., just north of the state line, in the aftermath of September’s Hurricane Helene. The crews were using a mix of TimberPro and Tigercat tracked or dual-tired machines in an effort to remove damaged timber before blue stain and bug infestations can set in.
Inside This Issue
COVER: Salvage Effort
MONTICELLO, Florida — Timberland owners impacted by Hurricane Helene across the South east are still scrambling to salvage as much merchant – able wood as possible before decay and pestilence set in after the Category 4 storm made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida last September and damaged more than two million acres of forest across five states.
Article by Patrick Dunning, Associate Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times
SOUTHERN STUMPIN': Remembering Johnny Boyd
Our retired publisher, DK Knight, sent me a text on November 26 that Tigercat man Johnny Boyd had died (see obituary on page 18). I was surprised and saddened to hear the news. I of course had seen Mr. Boyd many times during the last 20 years that I’ve been with Hatton-Brown, most recently at the Mid-South show in Starkville, Miss. in September 2023, but he had a much longer history with other editors who have been here a long time before I joined the team.
Article by David Abbott
TRUE CALLING
RAYMOND, Miss. – On a cold, damp November day, a service truck winds its way toward a logging site near Winona, Miss. It’s another early start to another long day full of purpose and rewarding work. On a typical day, Tyler Giles, field technician, Stribling Equipment, leaves home at 5:00 a.m. before working 10- to 12-hour days. “I’d work every day if they would let me,” he says without irony. “When I get up, I’m looking around for something to work on. I don’t like to sit around. I love that every day is different.”
Provided by John Deere
BACKWOODS PEW: Everyone Needs a Good Club (Part 5)
I grew up in the 1960s and ’70s. That’s by no way an excuse, but it explains a lot. As I was gaining a greater awareness of events around me, society was in a great state of turmoil. From busing to Vietnam, from the rise of the drug culture to the exploding sexual revolution, life was changing fast, and not for the best. Yet for a boy growing up in the suburbs of the Midwest, life was still pretty good. Kids played in the neighborhood without fear; we left the house early on summer days, and came back home at dark. We had no cell phones to alert our folks of our schedule. They expected us home by dark, or supper or some established time upon which the family had agreed.
Bradley Antill, author, excerpted from Leaves, Lessons, and Lordship,
INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP
- Johnny Boyd Dies At 62
- Drax Signs SAF Supply Deal in TX
- Canfor Reduces Output At Southern Sawmills
- GP No Longer Using Logs At SC, Texas Mills
- North American Wood Consumption Fell In ’24
- IP Closes Georgetown Mill In South Carolina
MACHINES-SUPPLIES-TECHNOLOGY
- Quadco Mulchers
- Waratah Heads
Salvage Effort
The Walton brothers are quick to extend a hand in wake of hurricane damage.
Article by Patrick Dunning, Associate Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times
MONTICELLO, Florida — Timberland owners impacted by Hurricane Helene across the South east are still scrambling to salvage as much merchant – able wood as possible before decay and pestilence set in after the Category 4 storm made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida last September and damaged more than two million acres of forest across five states.
The Georgia Forestry Commission’s initial estimates indicate nearly8,931,000 acres of its timberland was located along Hurricane Helene’s path, with 1,470,000 acres in the eastern portion of the state receiving the worst from the storm, costing a total of $1.28 billion in timber damage.
The Georgia Dept. of Public Safety provided weight exemptions for motor carriers hauling raw forest materials to support Helene salvage efforts and haulers can apply for a free permit to haul up to 95,000 lbs. Georgia officials also suspended the state’s harvest tax on timber for the fourth quarter 2024.
Loggers throughout the affected region are reaching out to help land – owners with recovery efforts, targeting the worst hit areas first be fore timber stands becomes prone to disease in the spring.
Big Bend Timber Services, LLC, headquartered in Monticello, Fla., just west of where Helene made landfall on September 26, was quick to respond after the storm and fortunate to be in a position to help those in need.
Co-owners and brothers Jay Walton, 53, and Ben Walton, 49, currently have crews east of Valdosta, Ga. until further notice assisting affected landowners with storm wood cleanup.
“Everything east of Valdosta took a pounding from Helene,” Jay says. “It’s a total mess up there. Oddly enough, it was almost worse once you cross the Georgia state line than where it made landfall in Florida. I’ve never seen a hurricane do this much damage to our area. You have some areas where there isn’t any damage at all, and other places that are totally wrecked. So far, we’re not seeing any evidence of blue stain; we’re hoping the sawtimber will last until February or March, but it’s anybody’s guess.”
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