2019 International Forest Industries Magazine December / January IFI Dec Jan 2019 Digital | Page 29

As logging sites get steeper and steeper, we’re
going to stay out front and demonstrate how to
do things better and safer
Lyle Newton, Owner of Island Pacific Group
The founder of Island Pacific
Group grew up on Vancouver Island
and has been logging for over
40 years. “At the age of 14, I was
painting bunkhouses for Frank
Beban Logging in the Johnson
Straights of Vancouver Island,”
Newton remembers. “I worked
my way up through the rigging
to running equipment while I got
around to Beban’s various logging
camps.” At the age of 21, he went
into business with Randy Harding,
who was looking for someone that
knew how to run a grapple yarder.
“We did stump-todump logging
and road building on the Queen
Charlotte Islands. When the high
lead logging started to change
into helicopter logging, we made
the move to Vancouver Island and
the coastal mainland and into
a helicopter; adapting to more
sophisticated logging methods.”
Over the years, Newton
acquired company operations,
turning them into contractor
operations and grew from 12
employees to over 500. At its peak,
the stump-to-dump operation
logged up to two-million cubic
meters in a single year. Today
the company has downsized to
140 people. “It’s harder to attract
young workers and tougher to
make money,” Newton reflects.
Island Pacific Group annually
harvests approximately 60,000
cubic meters of old-growth forest
and 500,000 cubic meters of
second growth, mostly Douglas
fir and hemlock. To get it all done,
the company runs four John Deere
2154G Road Builders and four
3156G Log Loader/Processors, in
addition to its Deere harvesters
and dozers. “The 2154G is super-
tough, good on fuel, and builds
roads the way we need to build
them.” The 3156G Log Loader
equipped with a processor head
gives the lifting capacity to handle
large wood and the reach to sort
wood efficiently at the landing.
Newton likes the improved
operator stations on the G-Series
Swing Machines. “The cabs
are really big — lots of room.
And visibility is great, which is
critical for what we do.” Uptime is
essential when the machines are so
dependent on each other.
When one machine is down,
many others often can’t work
either. The company uses John
Deere JDLink™ telematics to
ensure its machines are working —
and working properly.
“We can track machine hours
and idle time to make sure we’re
getting the most out of our
operators and equipment,” says
Newton. “Our dealer Brandt Tractor
can also monitor and troubleshoot
our machines remotely via satellite.
They don’t have to make a separate
trip out to the bush to diagnose the
problem. They can come out with
the right part the first time, and
that’s huge when the machine is
often hours away.”
Newton describes his
association with Brandt as a
partnership. “We have a great
relationship. They provide the parts
and service when I need them to
keep us up and running.”
With reliable machines and
strong support, Island Pacific
Group plans to keep growing its
steep-slope operation. In addition
to John Deere harvesters, dozers,
and swing machines, the company
also owns two Deere 848L
Skidders, which it is considering
tethering and incorporating into its
steep-slope operations. Newton is
equipping a new John Deere 950K
Dozer with 33-ton winches as the
anchor machine for the ROB system
and larger machines. This will allow
more opportunities including the
oil pipeline industry.
“Brandt has been great at
delivering the machines we need
to keep ahead of the curve,” says
Newton. “And John Deere makes
a good machine we know we can
depend on. The two never miss a
beat.”
Island Pacific Group is serviced
by Brandt Tractor Ltd., Nanaimo,
British Columbia.
BRITISH COLUMBIA’S
FORESTRY INDUSTRY
FAST FACTS
• L  argest producer of softwood lumber in North
America.
• H
 ome to the tallest wood building in the world:
the University of British Columbia’s Brock
Commons Tallwood House, at 18 stories.
• F  orest products are shipped to more than 100
countries worldwide.
• Provides 140,000 jobs.
• E
 xports to China have increased 20 times since
2003.
• 1  1 percent of Western Canada’s rail traffic is
related to forest products.
• T  hree seedlings are planted for every tree
harvested.
• L  ess than one percent of forestland is harvested
annually.
International Forest Industries | DECEMBER 2018 / JANUARY 2019 27