8 Timber Bulletin July/August 2010

by Ray Higgins

The weather’s beenunpredictable. An early thawmeant spring load restrictions wenton early, trapping hundreds ofcords in the woods. Then thespring in this part of KoochichingCounty was soggy, and the summer

National Forest yesterday, despitebright sunshine.“We could have fished for

crappies here yesterday,” says TroyNelson.When the brothers left their Big

Falls homes at four o’clock thismorning, they hoped to find the jobsite again ready for harvestingoperations.

Member Feature...Member Feature...

Nelson Brothers Logging: (L-R) Monte Nelson, Shawn Pritchard, Mitch Nelson, and Troy Nelson, joined by Boise foresterChuck Hughes.

months haven’t been much better.“This is about as wet as I’ve seen

it in years,” says Monte Nelson.“We’re getting a little bit behind. Ithink a lot of guys are.”This week has been typical.

Heavy rains two days ago duringthe afternoon and eveningprevented logging operations onthis portion of the Chippewa

Fueling EfficiencyFocus on the Basics Helps Nelson BrothersLogging through Time of Transition

9Timber Bulletin July/August 2010

Finally today, with clear skiesand dry ground, the Nelsons areback to work harvesting aspen andspruce. Monte and Troy formNelson Brothers Logging, a newlogging business headquartered inBig Falls with roots as deep as thetrees it cuts, that emphasizesefficiency with its small woodscrew.“You have to be efficient out

here,” Troy says. “Every move hasto count.”It’s a lesson learned from their

grandfather Walter and fatherButch.“They logged together for years,”

Monte says. “Troy and I got ourstart in the woods when they werestill together.“I was bucked up on a landing

when I was 11,” says Monte, now44. “By 12 I was hand falling,limbing, everything. Back then allwe had was a skidder. Troy (who’snow 42) was doing it all by 12, too.It was a different deal back then.We used power saws and didn’thave to worry about whether theair conditioning in the cab wasn’tblowing cold while limbing balsamwhen it was 90 degrees out.”“When our grandfather passed

away, my dad took over,” Troysays. “Last fall he retired, and weformed the new company.”In the “new” business, Troy

oversees the woods operation andMonte handles the trucking side.Their wives, Joan and April, arealso partners in the business andalso help out with the bookkeeping,scale tickets, etc. while holdingdown full-time jobs of their own.It almost didn’t happen. When

he graduated from Littlefork-BigFalls High School, Monte headedoff to Bemidji State to get abusiness degree and Troy went toThief River Falls to learn how tobecome an aviation mechanic.“When we graduated, we were

in a bad recession,” Monte says. “Itwasn’t looking too rosy for a while.”“But once you get into logging

when you’re little,” Troy says, “itgets in your blood, I suppose.”Both ended up back in Big Falls,

working for their dad. The brotherslearned everything they knowabout logging and business fromButch, mainly because he got theminvolved in all aspects of theoperation.

“I’ve spent many an evening atDad’s kitchen table going over thebooks with him,” Monte says.“He had an amazing work ethic,”

says Troy. “He’d outwork anybodywe’d hire, even when he was 65years old, no matter who youbrought out here. We learned thatwork ethic from him.”Another lesson from Butch: the

importance of equipmentmaintenance.“Every day, his machine got

greased,” Troy says. “Every singleday when he was done. We gothrough lots of grease.

“Look at that old loader,” hesays, pointing at a 1991 210C that’sbeing utilized on this jobsite. “Thatthing’s bucked a lot of wood, butit’s still going strong because we’vetaken good care of it.”Another characteristic of the

Nelson Brothers and crew: they’reversatile. They have primaryresponsibilities, but can fill in inother jobs to make things runsmoother.“I’ll sit there and haul a load,”

Troy says, “”and then meet anotherof our trucks halfway to the milland switch trucks so I can get back

Troy Nelson operates the John Deere 200LC delimber, equipped with a Lim-mit2000B.

10 Timber Bulletin July/August 2010

and load or slash. If you can get aload a day by doing that, that’sgreat. Whatever makes it gofaster.”“We do a lot of that sort of

thing,” Monte says. “Whatevermakes the job go smoother. If wecan gain a load a day by switching,we do it.”The crew can jump from job to

job as well. Shawn Pritchard washired to run the Timbco 425 EXLfeller-buncher when Butch retired,but at this point he can run justabout anything. Troy is operatingthe 200LC John Deere de-limberwith a Lim-mit 2000B and alsodrives truck, builds roads, and canfill in where needed. Monteusually hauls and runs one of thecompany’s three loader/slashers.Today, Troy’s 16-year-old son,Mitch, is driving the Ranger 867skidder for some extra cash beforeheading back to Littlefork-Big FallsHigh School in the fall. AndRowdy Pithlia joins Troy andMonte hauling timber to the mill.And that’s just in the summer.

During the winter logging season,production ramps up and the workweeks stretch to seven days and 80-90 hours. Troy’s brother-in-law,Russ Hartman, is joining thecompany soon to haul, putting afourth Nelson Brothers truck on theroad, and Bradley Boorman will beback in the winter for his 15th yearof running skidder for the Nelson

family after working constructionduring the summertime.“Bradley’s probably the best

skidder operator I’ve ever seen,”Troy says. With, him, every movecounts. We’ll have four trucksrunning and he’ll skid for all fourby himself. That’s where theefficiency comes in.“Look at our slash,” Troy says,

pointing to where some of the 700

cords of aspen and spruce havebeen harvested. “It’s how it shouldbe. It’s not big piles of limbs.They’ve been spread nicely. You dothat on the way back and forth soyou’re not running around whenthe forester comes out and says hey,you’ve got to go spread those limbpiles and waste half a day. It’sdone.”“He also sorts wood on the fly,”

Monte says. “He’ll bring the aspenin and then on the way back maybegrab some spruce to get that piledup in a different spot. He’s alwaysdoing something, just really a goodoperator.”Part of being efficient is trying to

stay close to home. This sale – afederal sale that includes an aspenclearcut and a little bit of softwoodthinning – is roughly 45 miles fromthe Nelson’s home base of Big Falls.“It’s as far as we like to go,”

Monte says. “Sometimes we go 60-65 miles. That’s about as far as wego. Eighty percent of the timewe’re within 20-25 miles of BigFalls.”The other reason that helps is it

keeps the haul to the mill short.Most of the wood on this sale – allof the aspen – will go the Boisemill. In fact, the Nelsons have beenworking with the InternationalFalls mill for years, back to whentheir father and grandfather had

The Timbco 425 EXL feller buncher is operated by Shawn Pritchard.

Monte Nelson keeps an eye on the wood as he loads a truck with their Prentice210C loader. The Nelsons have two other loaders as well.

12 Timber Bulletin July/August 2010

the business, before Boise came tothe Falls, merging with Minnesotaand Ontario Paper Company in1964. The spruce will be hauled toVerso in Sartell.“Probably three-quarters of our

wood goes to Boise,” Monte says,“and then our other company isVerso. I would say very goodthings about both companies. Theytreat us very well. It’s a really goodfit because Boise’s looking for thehardwoods and certain softwoodsand Verso in our area is looking forbalsam and some spruce and itreally works well together.”“The Nelsons are an example of

the great longevity of our loggingcommunity,” says Boise foresterChuck Hughes, who worksregularly with the Nelsons. “That’show our mill gets to the pointwhere we can celebrate our 100thanniversary.”The relationships they have with

the Boise and Verso mills isstandard operating procedure forthe Nelsons, and another aspect ofthe business they learned fromtheir father. That also extends tobusinesses they use to keep theirtrucks and equipment running.“We do a lot of our own

maintenance,” Troy says. “But ifwe have anything big we bring it toKenny Kennedy in Big Falls. He’sreally good or to Merv Mannassauat Mannco in International Falls.”“Those guys will bend over

backwards for us, to keep us

operating,” Monte says, “and thatis huge.”Looking ahead, the Nelsons are

concerned about markets, aboutfinding and keeping goodemployees – they’ve got a greatcrew right now, the brothers say –and about keeping their equipmentrunning and updating wherenecessary without accumulatingtoo much debt.“That’s an obstacle we’re facing

right now, trying to update, and doit without breaking the bank,”

Monte says. “We try to satisfy theneeds but with a manageable debtlevel we don’t have to worryabout.”“Fortunately, we cut a lot of

wood with that old equipment,”Troy says. “That stuff cuts wood.”So the Nelsons approach the

future with optimism. The work ishard, but it’s satisfying.“There are a lot of hectic days,”

Monte says, “but there are a lot ofnice days, too. There’s somethingto be said for going out in thewoods and if you want to startearly and quit early to go fishing orhunting or whatever, you’re kind ofyour own boss, set your own hoursthe way you want.”“And we think it’s important

work, too,” Troy says. “A guy toldme a couple of weeks ago it’s agood thing somebody’s doing it orelse there’d be nothing in KoochCounty.”

Mitch Nelson is helping out before going back to Littlefork-Big Falls HighSchool in the fall by driving the Ranger 867 skidder.

The Nelson brothers learned the business working for their father, Butch.

THE VOICE OF THE TIMBER INDUSTRY

BULLETINDULUTH, MINNESOTA JULY/AUGUST 2010 VOLUME 65

TIMBER

TPA Annual MeetingComplete Coverage

Nelson Brothers LoggingContinuing the Legacy

2010 Expo Preview

TPA Annual MeetingComplete Coverage

Nelson Brothers LoggingContinuing the Legacy

2010 Expo Preview