Once a year the Small Scale Logging Program showcases several pieces of small equipment options available on the market that can be easily operated by hand or safely attached to a ATV, side-by-side, farm tractor or truck. The length and depth of material included in the show depends on the year as every 2 years the Kentucky Wood Expo occurs, so we put on a shorter version, more of a small scale logging equipment demo at the expo. 

The real magic happens on years when the Wood Expo is not happening. That is when we expand the Small Scale Logging Program and take it on the road with the help of the Kentucky Division of Forestry (KDF), local county extension offices, and most importantly a private woodland owner who has personal experience in harvesting and marketing their own timber. Being a forester at heart it is enjoyable to have a full day program that starts with some knowledge in chainsaw safety and felling, through working with a forester to make and implement silvicultural management on the landscape and discussing treatment options and timing for non-native invasive plants, to safe salvage and harvesting practices and techniques using the small scale equipment. This can be very challenging in forest stands that have had blow down or ice storm damage. We then talk about marketing logs to local mills and how to do business with sawmill log buyers, establishing price and quality requirements based on mill specs, as well as bucking or cutting logs to lengths that local mills require, how different quality of logs are merchandised into different markets as well as approximate values based on available markets.

Anyone is welcome to attend, but primarily woodland owners and farmers as they are who own the majority of woodlands in Kentucky. Most of these folks often already own a tractor, four wheeler, side-by-side or pickup truck so it is an easier adoption process for using implements that help them move logs around the farm safely and efficiently. Someone without this equipment could after attending this full day program know what equipment to get, as well as be able to pencil out the economics. They often learn this is very hard work, which they will not get rich doing, but allows them to have more control over the management of their woodlands and be a more engaged woodland owner. People who are thinking about logging their own woods or having a commercial harvest can benefit from the experience from others trial and error and come away with a great respect for the hard work and value of using a good logging professional in addition to a knowledgeable forester. Logging is the most dangerous profession there is by a long shot. Even more dangerous than commercial fishing and logs are heavy and difficult to move without experience. Safety and use of personal protective equipment are critical.

working with woodland owner Walt Rybka we were able to learn from his experiences over more than 2 decades through salvaging, merchandising, and selling over 200,000 board feet of trees that have naturally reached the end of their life, uprooted, or blow down and lots of ice storm damaged timber to local mills around the Morehead area. Walt is a truly special Kentuckian with over 300 acres under active woodland management, lots of wildlife and rare plant restoration work on his land which is very near to the boundary of the Daniel Boone National Forest. Walt has a mature oak hickory forest with lots of white oak, red oak, yellow-poplar and other deciduous hardwood species as well as open grasslands. The property is frequented by lots of well-known species like turkey, deer, quail, and black bears. He utilizes lots of limb and top material for firewood in his home and shop on the farm, and with his bandsaw mill manufactures lumber for farm and woodworking purposes. He even has a solar kiln on the property for speeding up the process of drying the moisture out of his own lumber for personal use.

Kentucky Division of Forestry (KDF) foresters Josh Frazier and Floyd Willis lead our discussion on management services and options available to small private landowners and the benefits of good forest management. Josh has over a decade of experience with this particular property and working with Walt to meet his land objectives and make sound forest management decisions. Along with the equipment demonstrations and discussion from Walt and myself, I discussed how to measure board footage and length of logs and cutting decisions as well as grading knowledge to help a landowner better understand the quality and subsequent value of what they have. I appreciated having the recently retired Bob Wofford to assist with discussing markets and working with local log buyers. Bob's  experience of over 40 years buying logs for sawmills in the Morehead area and was a wealth of information. We also received lots of local support and behind the scenes support while running the program from the Rowan county extension agent Bob Marsh.