Lo-Bar Set High
The move from central Alberta oil country to northern BC's key logging region is suiting this growing contractor well.
by Bill Tice
Greg Jacob, the owner of Lo-Bar Log Transport Co. Ltd., wanted to experience being a logger in a logging community. He had been running the company that his parents, Verne and Lorraine, had started in 1977, and was a successful contractor to Weyerhaeuser in Drayton Valley, AB (See CFI cover story, May 2001). But as he explains, Drayton Valley is oil country. "We had been successful in Drayton Valley, but it was time for us to make a change and Canfor (Canadian Forest Products Ltd.) was advertising for logging contractors in the Prince George area," he says. "I was actually a BC boy, growing up in a small town in the North Thompson, but my family moved to Alberta in the mid 1970's when I was kid. I really wondered what it would be like to be logging in a logging region rather than an oil region. My wife Maja and I sat down and made the decision to move our home and our operations to Prince George."
So Far So Good
The Jacobs made the move in 2005, and so far, Greg says they have not been disappointed. "We are delivering about 200,000 cubic metres of CTL (cut to length logs) per year for Canfor, and they have been great to work with. It's easy to understand how a company like Canfor becomes an industry leader, once you experience first hand the professionalism with which they run their business. It's been a real pleasure, right from day one. As well, being the new guy in town, you're never sure how the local contractors are going to view you dropping in on the party. Once again, it's been a very positive experience. Everyone I've dealt with, from suppliers to other contractors, have been a stand-up group of people. We've really been made to feel welcome here."
With Greg's dad working as a logger for most of his life, including his time in BC, Greg grew up with the business. When his parents first moved to Alberta, Verne left logging for the oil patch and drove a truck for a couple of years, but that was short lived and when the opportunity came up to work on a hauling job for the Zeidler Forest Products veneer plant (now West Fraser) in Slave Lake, he jumped at it.
"My dad hauled logs for the veneer plant for a season and then purchased a couple of Cat 966 loaders and started the loading contract as well," explains Greg.
In 1978 Verne expanded the operation to Fort McMurray when a winter load and haul contract became available for Pelican Spruce Mills.
He was there for 10 years before moving to Drayton Valley in 1988 when Pelican built an oriented strand board (OSB) plant and sawmill complex in the central Alberta town.
"My dad talked to Pelican's owner, Al Owen, about acquiring a logging contract for the new mill and at that point we became stump to dump contractors. It was a good move at the time, as it made room for me in the company, and at the same time allowed us to work three seasons of the year instead of just the winter up north." explains Greg, who joined the business as a partner at that time. "It wasn't long after the Drayton Valley Pelican mills were built that Weyerhaeuser bought them and that is how we started working for Weyerhaeuser."
Today, Verne has "retired" but he still lends a hand in the business. "When the Alberta side was completely wrapped up my parents moved here as well so that they could be closer to their grandchildren."
Smooth Transfer
The change over from central Alberta to BC was fairly significant, but although they took eight months to move everything, Greg says they were only shut down for a short period of time. They sold off about half of their equipment, especially the pieces that were specific to the Alberta mixedwood wood profile, such as their Hornet processors, stroke delimbers, and about two dozen log trailers. They trucked the iron they were keeping over the Rocky Mountains to their new home base.
"We used our own lowbeds and moved whatever equipment we needed here ourselves," says Greg. "The time lag between closing the doors in Alberta and starting to log in Prince George was only about two months, so it was pretty seamless. In 2004, Alberta had a wet summer so the mill yard inventories were low and that helped us out as we were able to log through break-up, into early June, and we delivered well into July. We started logging in Prince George in mid August and started hauling in mid September, so we really didn't experience much down time."
In addition to moving equipment here, a number of employees also made the move, including Greg's three supervisors. "Ron Holman, our harvesting supervisor, Joe Mayhew, our trucking supervisor, and Duane Gouldhawke, our maintenance supervisor, all moved their families to Prince George and bought homes here, so I think they are here to stay."
Greg also found a shop to rent in Prince George for the short term, and is planning on building a facility in 2007. In addition, he has purchased a fair amount of new equipment to handle the beetle kill wood he is harvesting in BC. Since making the transition, he has acquired three Komatsu PC200 processors equipped with Waratah 622B heads, a new Madill 2250B feller buncher, and two John Deere 2054 log loaders with powerclam grapples.
Another big shift in the business occurred this past September when the company made the switch from roadside CTL to a full stumpside CTL system. This involved retiring their Tigercat 630B skidders and acquiring a couple of Valmet 890.3 forwarders from Terratech Equipment. "We had a handshake agreement when I signed the contract with Canfor that I would make this switch once we settled in and felt comfortable with the new work relationship. I guess now it's safe to say we're feeling pretty good about the situation."
Other major pieces of equipment that he brought from Alberta include an 850 Timberjack feller buncher, an 860 Tigercat feller buncher and road-building equipment that consists of three Komatsu dozers, a D8 Cat dozer, and a Komatsu 250 excavator.
On the trucking side, Lo-Bar purchased eight new Western Star log trucks in the summer of 2006 with super B trailers for each unit. The new trucks bring Lo-Bar's fleet up to a total of 14, including a couple of gravel trucks. On every one of his log trucks and all of the low beds and gravel trucks, Greg runs tire pressure control systems from Edmonton-based TPC International (Tire Pressure Control International). He says he is a firm believer in the technology because it increases the longevity of the trucks, improves tire life, and is easier on the road beds. In some jurisdictions, TPC can also increase the window of opportunity for logging trucks to operate on secondary highways as weight restrictions are brought into place in the spring. When this occurs, the trucks are banned from the secondary roads, but with TPCI, they can change the pressure of the tires, allowing them to operate later into the spring.
In terms of the logging itself, he says the biggest difference for him in central BC versus Alberta is that all of the wood is processed and delivered in one format. "In Alberta, we delivered aspen in eight foot lengths for the OSB mill, and softwood for the sawmill as both tree length and CTL. This involved different combinations of processors, delimbers, log loaders, and log trailers. Although here in Prince George we deliver to several mills from the same cutblock, sorting out peelers and oversize logs from our sawlog sorts, the ability to do so using the same processors, loaders, and truck combinations has greatly simplified our business. It was one of the things that attracted me to this job in the first place."
He also notes that with the beetle kill wood, the blocks tend to be much larger in the Prince George area, with sizes up to 200 ha and larger, while in Alberta the average block size they were dealing with was around 20 ha and could be as small as a single hectare. He says the bigger blocks help in terms of productivity, logistics and planning. Staffing has also been easier in BC, although Greg stresses it is still a challenge.
"In Alberta, we were competing with the oil patch and that was making it very difficult to attract new employees. Here, it has been a real breath of fresh air to run an ad in the paper and actually get phone calls. In Alberta, I didn't bother advertising because it was a futile exercise. That being said, regardless of where you are, staffing has always been a challenge in this industry and likely always will be. You have to find and retain good people, and as other opportunities come up in different industries it will remain a challenge. It's just a fact of doing business." The other thing that helped Lo-Bar when it came to staffing the BC operation is the distance of the cut blocks from town, which Greg says are within commuting distance.
"Right now, because we are harvesting salvage wood from the beetle kill, we are working about as close to Prince George as we will ever be," he says. "Historically, the wood has been further out of town, but the proximity to Prince George has really provided us with an advantage when we are looking for experienced help. Most guys would simply rather be at home at night than live in a camp. Another pleasant realization has been discovering the depth of the experience pool here in central BC. We've been able to attract and retain some very good people since we started up, something that has contributed greatly to our successful transition.
"As for the other big challenge most contractors face today - fuel costs, Greg says the switch from the skidders they were using to the two new Valmet forwarders they bought in September has proven to be a pleasant surprise.
"We are finding the forwarders burn less than half the fuel that our skidders were consuming and that is significant with today's fuel prices.
"Now that it has been well over a year since the move, Greg and the rest of the crew at Lo-Bar are starting to think of Prince George as home. "There has been a lot for us to contend with in this new market, but I think we are quickly establishing ourselves as a reputable contractor in this area. There are opportunities here for good loggers and I know for certain now this was a good move for us. I'm real happy to be here."
A logger in a true logging community - What's not to like?
