2018 International Forest Industries December 2017 January 2018 | Page 33

supervises felling operations,
Richards Logging is performing
extremely high quality prescription
thinnings, understory removal,
overstory removal – whatever is
required to harvest a marketable
product, whether it is high value
veneer or biomass, while always
contributing to the long term
goals of stand improvement and
sustainable forest management.
“Rick is the best in the business
with a great combination of
experience. He is a huge asset in
this planning and really a huge
asset to the business.”
“I started as a small kid,”
recalls Larry. “I was always going to
work with my father when we were
hand felling and cable skidding.
We switched to grapple skidders in
the late nineties.” In the meantime,
Richards Logging
sold.” Comparing the original
Tigercat skidder to his previous
brand he says, “We found it slower
but it handled the hitch better.
So it was more a case of slow and
steady wins the race.”
Up until 2009, Richard’s
Logging ran just the two Tigercat
machines, the loader and the
track buncher. Now seven years
Larry pulled the trigger on his first Tigercat skidder – a 630E – in 2014.
later, the company has moved
much further into the Tigercat fold,
currently running and relying on
two 822C feller bunchers, three
E-series skidders and three 234
series loaders.
The yard
The wood yard has become of
central importance to the Richards
Logging operations. The ability to
grade every log adds value to the
business and to the landowners.
It often allows for smaller decks
on the harvesting sites, provides
the flexibility that comes with the
ability to stockpile, and it opens up
new opportunities for additional
profit centres.
The company purchased the
land about ten years ago. “It is
right in the middle of the land we
cut on,” explains Larry. Prior to
this, Richards Logging didn’t scale
and grade. Instead, the company
merely sold full log loads to the
mills. Once the new yard was in
play, the company started buying
spruce off the street from anybody
that was cutting softwood logs.
“That business really took off,”
says Larry. “There was another guy
operating a spruce yard and we
basically bought his business.”
In the process, Larry developed
a strong relationship with
Matériaux Blanchet Inc., a large
privately owned sawmill in Quebec.
This is the primary outlet for all of
the spruce logs. “A real deal-on-a-
handshake company,” says Larry. “I
wish more people still did business
like that.”
In 2016, the yard handled seven
million board feet – much of it
being SFI (Sustainable Forestry
Initiative) and FSC
(Forest Stewardship Council)
certified. “All our logs come here,
as well as some other contractors’
that work on Molpus land.” There
are many different hardwood sorts
by species and grade. “Hard maple
on its own gets sorted into five
different piles,” says Larry.
The logs are unloaded with a
Tigercat 234 mounted on an AC16
articulating carrier and spread out
on stringers. After establishing a
ticket number and entering the
The 635E skidder. Sure it’s big but it fits well with Larry’s operations, excelling in long distances and extending the winter season with its low ground pressure.
International Forest Industries | DECEMBER 2017 / JANUARY 2018 31