Official Publication of Tigercat Industries Inc. ISSUE No. 5, SPRING 2003 Tigercat ships 4000th INSIDE • Pape Machinery pg. 3 machine • Potts Brothers pg. 4 On April 2, 2003 Tigercat reached With over twenty base models in its stable • Levelers on another milestone. About a Tigercat is always willing to build variations Vancouver Island pg. 6 hundred employees braved the and special machines to suit specific customer requirements. Again, it’s the • 2003 brisk morning cold, gathering at flexibility attained by in-house fabricating Show Schedule pg. 8 140 Consolidated Drive to see off that allows this to occur. Counting some of the 4000th Tigercat, a 240B these variations, Tigercat builds upwards of • Nole Boys Logging pg. 9 loader. The machine was bound thirty different machines. • Achievement for G&S Equipment in Prattville, Superior product support has also helped Awards pg. 10 Alabama. end users to feel comfortable buying Tigercat machines. “The personal attention Tony Iarocci, Tigercat’s president • Vines Open housepg. 11 to customers’ service issues has created a attributes the company’s unprecedented great deal of confidence and good will,” growth to “constant innovation and explains Iarocci. “It has enabled us to build unparalleled engineering expertise, a wide and sell more machines than might have and expanding product line and in-house been otherwise possible.” manufacturing capability. At Tigercat we have the opportunity to build versus buy. This increases our manufacturing quality Loader assembly team: and flexibility. Anyone who has toured the Herbert Pineda & Tigercat facilities can attest to our steel Jose Hernandez. fabrication and machining capabilities.” 4000 machines shipped in just over ten years. Build versus buy. Tigercat’s fabrication and machining capabilities are key to the quality that customers and dealers have come to expect. Retired Loader Technician Larry Almond is Recognized The fact that the 4000th Tigercat machine Tigercat build teams on subsequent produc- is a loader is significant. Tigercat has made tion runs. Almond comments that he enjoyed an impressive impact in this competitive and doing this type of work. “It was never the price sensitive market segment. same which made my job really interesting,” In 1997, Tigercat introduced the 230 loader he says. primarily to complete the product offering After the 230, Almond participated in the for the southeastern US dealer network. Just assembly of the 240 prototype and in 1999 six years later, Tigercat now has a full line of he worked on the first track loader. In 2001 log loaders covering many applications. Almond was integral in the design of the Instrumental in the development of the Tigercat 250 loader which incorporated the loader line was recently retired Tigercat team track feller buncher load-sensing hydraulic member Larry Almond. Almond began at system. Tigercat in the summer of 1993. The young Almond’s contributions to Tigercat’s success company was just getting started when he are widely appreciated. Track machine was laid off from a competing manufacturer. product manager Grant Somerville com- Having worked at Koehring-Waterous for ments, “Larry has an outstanding ability to over twenty years, Almond had extensive understand hydraulic systems - always being experience assembling this type of equipment the guy that could solve the difficult and knew many of the people at Tigercat. problems. In all my years working with Larry “At first, getting a job at Tigercat was better at Koehring, Timberjack and Tigercat, he was than not working,” Almond recalls. “But as I one of the best hands-on mechanical people continued to work with this company I real- I’ve ever met.” ized that these were a great group of guys.” “I just helped out where I could,” Almond Due to his experience, Almond was says modestly when discussing his role at involved with the development of the 853E Tigercat. “The only piece of wisdom that I in 1995, Tigercat’s first track feller buncher. could possibly add is to always remember Then Almond helped to build the prototype the old mistakes and don’t repeat them.” 845 track buncher, designed primarily for the While Almond is missed, president Tony Ken MacDonald, Larry southern US. Iarocci says his legacy lives on. “We appreci- Almond and Tony Iarocci But it was Almond’s contribution to the ate Larry through the products that he celebrating Almond’s retirement. loader line that has left a lasting impression helped develop that are still being produced on Tigercat. Starting with and all the knowledge he has passed on to the 230 in 1997, Almond the younger technicians, including his grand- was key in the development son Jason Vervaeke who has followed Larry’s of each loader model. He footsteps at Tigercat.” worked closely with the Presently, Vervaeke is responsible for the design group on each proto- final quality control process for the track type, doing the initial assem- vehicle product line. This involves a rigorous bly and providing input to routine of performance testing, adjustment the engineers, particularly checks and quality inspection for every from an installation and machine built by the assembly teams. The service perspective. Then he quality of work that Jason and many like him would help to initiate the have achieved is a compliment to pioneers assembly process for the like Larry. 2 NEWS FROM THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST Between The Branches Papé Machinery takes over Tigercat Editorial Team: Tracy Culp distribution of leveling feller bunchers. Anthony Goad Papé Machinery, Inc. was recently Paul Iarocci appointed by Tigercat to distribute the line Gary Olsen of leveling feller bunchers in the states of Washington and Oregon. Please send any comments to: “We are proud to partner with Tigercat, [email protected] one of the industry leaders in forestry Monte and Nicolle Landwehr. Monte is operator equipment,” said Rodger Spears, president of the LX830 that was purchased at the show of Papé Machinery. “The addition of by Gustafson Logging. Tigercat to the full-line of products that we represent will allow us to more completely meet the ever-changing needs of our customers in the forestry industry.” Papé debuted the Tigercat leveling feller buncher line at the Oregon Logging Conference in February where they showcased an LX830 and L870. The machines were extremely well received and both were sold before the show’s end. Papé Machinery provides sales, rentals, parts and service for forestry and construc- tion equipment in the western and central regions of Oregon and Washington. Papé Machinery has eleven store locations stretching from northern Washington to southern Oregon. The six Washington locations include Tacoma, Kent, Kelso, Mount Vernon, Yakima and Wenatchee. The five Oregon locations are Portland, Eugene, Salem, Medford and Bend. Papé Machinery is headquartered in Eugene, Oregon and is a member of the Papé Group of companies. The Papé Group has enjoyed a long and successful history in the heavy equipment industry. For more information, visit: www.papemachinery.com Mark Minahan, owner of Minahan Cutting Inc. (Dallas, OR) with wife Joni and son, Nick who is the L870 operator. 3 Top Honors for Potts Brothers Logging By Anthony Goad Potts Brothers run a tight operation. Truck driver Tony Sanders is a “half-brother” and according to Mike, their three-machine operation... skidder operator O.D. Wright “may as well and its 100% Tigercat. be family because he has worked with us for over thirty years”. Mike and Chris each operate a piece of equipment on the job to reduce overhead. Ricky McConnell of Forestry 21 (Tigercat dealer in Lafayette, AL) says, “nowadays it is rare for an owner to operate a piece of equipment, but that is why they are so successful. There is no excessive equipment or labor.” According to Mike their attempt at increased efficiency is why they began to look at Tigercat equipment. And now each major piece of equipment on their job is a Tigercat. An efficient crew: Mike In 1999, Potts Brothers purchased a Potts, Tony Sanders, Chris Unlike most industries, the logging busi- Tigercat 726B feller buncher with a 5700 Potts and skidder operator ness has maintained a deep sense of family saw from Forestry 21. Mike points out that O.D. Wright. and lineage. Most loggers in the southeast- they immediately saw the benefit of the ern United States were brought into this 726B over their previous model feller business by some form of kin, whether it buncher. “It was always leaking and hot all was a father, brother or uncle. Meeting with of the time,” comments Mike. “The 726B the Potts Brothers of Lafayette, AL affirmed stayed cool and we didn’t change the first this, providing an even greater understand- hydraulic hose until after three years.” As ing of this connection of family and logging. an experienced buncher operator, Mike Born and bred in eastern Alabama, Mike liked the “stability of the 5700 saw and the and Chris Potts got an early start in logging positioning of the tree in the pocket.” from their grandfather W.P. Barber. During As a result of the positive experience with the initial years the Potts Brothers worked the 726B, Potts Brothers bought a Tigercat independently of each other under what 630B skidder in 2001. Initially, Chris and Chris describes as the “two-thirds rule.” Mike were skeptical about the ability of the They both worked separate crews and hydrostatic machine. After seeing 630B operations, each keeping only two-thirds of skidders with over 10,000 hours, their the profits with each giving their grandfa- concerns were eased. ther one third. It was not until 1980 that Chris recalls that it took skidder operator the two operations were officially merged O.D. Wright a couple of days to get accus- with the incorporation of Potts Brothers Logging.