So on this specific site they had a lot of snow damage from the big snowstorm we had a couple
years ago and there's also a lot of bug kill or drought-killed timber that we came in and harvested.
If the trees had sat any longer they probably would have started to deteriorate and we would
have lost volume and, as well as value. So we wanted to select an operator who could get it done efficiently.
Yeah, there's numerous challenges that come along with dealing with either downed timber or
drought-killed timber because that creates more safety concerns, especially for, you know, your crews
out there on the ground and for hand felling where, you know, having dead trees around are dangerous
as they're unstable and they can come down at any time.
Yeah there is a little bit more danger in the dead trees you know
as far as tops breaking out and etcetera. And the snow damage down is real hard to deal with.
It puts another element in; the cutters have to be more careful, the rigging crew has to be more careful
because everything's not laid perfectly the way you want it.
Although we wanted to get this done efficiently we didn't want to rush it. We wanted someone who was thorough
someone who did a good job, so we selected Weber to do the work because he kind of takes a
a different approach to logging. He'll utilize mechanized equipment rather than traditional logging.
So to accomplish the challenges of the drought kill and the storm-damaged wood,
we logged this unit in two stages. We came in and logged everything we could mechanized
or cut mechanized for the yarder. We did that first and then we came in later
and did all the hand falling and traditional yarding.
So our mechanized cutting equipment -- we have an 855 tiger cat with a directional falling head that can cut and
we can also buck off the fallen trees from the storm damage and put, place them in rows
and we cable assist that machine so we can get on steeper terrain than normal.
I like that he's, Weber uses new technology. He tends to embrace it and try it out.
So along with our mechanized cutting we also employ grapple yarding in a traditional system and a motorized grapple carriage
and this allows us to yard the logs that you traditionally have to set a choker on more safely and efficiently.
Grapple yarding, it allows less people on the ground. You don't need a rigging crew down there
which eliminates a lot of the safety concerns. And you don't have to worry as much, and also it's
incredibly efficient. That's probably the reason why we we're done probably 30 percent faster.
Some more conventional logging would have probably required more skid roads and also probably more
soil compaction. And in drought conditions, where soil compaction and soil stability
is even more important, you know, that I think the, the chances of successful reforestation were
improved by the techniques that Weber used.
On this site to minimize the soil disturbance, when we go through mechanized,
we always make sure to slash our skid trails back in so we don't have erosion problems.
And then we like to break the areas where we want to mechanize and do a traditional harvest on to keep our disturbance down.
Most of it you can't even tell that there was any equipment that had operated on it.
Yeah, we like to leave a job in good condition, good maintenance wise so the water flows good,
the ditches aren't going to be plugged, we're not going to be causing any erosion,
brush piling done, trash picked up. We don't like to leave a mess behind.
Weber Logging did a great job not only meeting but exceeding the Oregon Forest Practices Act.
You know, there was a lot of attention to detail
and a lot of the, you know, extra little things that take the operator time and cost them money
that, you know, may go unnoticed to the, you know, kind of the naked eye.
But if you look around the unit there's a lot of good attention to detail.
We try to keep the land in as good a shape as possible.
We try to carry out our, our harvest in a way that's going to
treat the land ethically, that'll grow trees in perpetuity.
Well, our company, really we try, strive really hard to do a good job,
do a good job for the people we're logging for and also leave the land in good shape.
We want to see a future crop of trees for future generations.