Seasoned experience, mixed with youth and vigor
Scott Logging Company, Inc., LaPine, Oregon

By Mike Crouse

Logging was not in the blood of the Scott family when they moved to Oregon in 1947. “Dad was a welder in Kansas City,” explained family patriarch Ron Scott, “and never had a thing to do with logging. Dad’s health had started to deteriorate from breathing all the welding fumes for years, and it was suggested he find something else to do that was outdoors, ‘with lots of fresh air.’” Why he picked Oregon for their new home was not entirely clear to Ron Scott. “He did make a run out here to see what might be available,” Scott said. “And to see if there was an area of the country he might like better than others, and he came back with great reports about Bend,” though the family knew nothing about it.

And thus, in the spring of 1947, the Scott family, Ron’s father, mother, and sister, packed up and entered the bustling community of Bend, Oregon. “That summer, he had an opportunity to do something in the woods out in Fossil, Oregon. It gave him his first taste of being in the woods,” said Scott. “I think it agreed with him. He enjoyed what we do up until the end.”
Life is funny, in how things are generated from starts we’d never think much of. “A kid ran into my car at school, and he had no insurance,” Scott explained. “So we went down and talked to his dad, who had a deal packing wood on gondolas and shipping them off to Crown Zellerbach, and we asked if he needed other suppliers.” That was the month before school was out. “He did, and we went out and started doing that,” and a career in the woods was launched for father and son.

Scott Logging Company was formed that year of 1951, father and son as equal partners. They started in lodge pole and jack pine, short logging. Scott explained the wood had to be 40-45 ft., “...we would deliver the wood at a site, then he had a little boom right that loaded the wood over the side in to the gondolas. Each of us had his own deck, and we’d hand unload the truck.”

Seeking a better approach than hand loading, they did some experimentation. “We made a self-loader: a car rear end on the back (of the truck) that would activate a winch, and use a little boom to swing over, and using tongs, swing the load over to the pile. It was a means of loading more than you wanted to unload by hand, and we got to where you could load a good-sized log. It stood right behind the cab of the truck, which was a 1 1/2-2 ton farm-type truck.” Quite an advantage at least in the short term, for the other crews took note and soon had their own running as well. But early on, “...it was a bit of an edge that enabled us to produce more than others.” Profitable at the time as well. “Dad and I were making $25 a day. I thought I’d gone to heaven.”

They continued along that way the next several years, salvage logging, and working with short log trucks at the time, then in 1957 shifted locations to Silver Lake where they purchased a small log mill. “It was pretty decent,” Scott explained. “An overhead saw, and it could cut a 4-Ft. log. We had it six months, and had it insured to the lean-holder, then it burned rather abruptly, and suddenly we were out of work.”

With that, they returned to what they knew... logging full time. “It was our only source of income. We ended up with nothing but very good experience (from the sawmill venture).” Trucking and logging was the name of the game.

“That’s when things really took off for us pretty well,” Scott said. They did their own trucking and logging, running a single side. “We also got into secondary road building at that time, because there was no one else doing it. We learned as we went on road building. In a small outfit like that, you can do everything,” he said with a smile.

Seeing what seemed a better answer to log hauling, in ‘59 Scott’s purchased a brand new Autocar with a General Trailer. “It cost $27,500 for the whole outfit, and we were scared to death at the time,” Scott smiled at the memory. “It was probably one of the best moves we ever made,” again providing a significant edge over other small haulers at the time. “It put us where we could give competition to the big boys,” Scott explained.

Ron Scott moved his family back to Bend in 1963, “...though dad stayed back at Silver Lake to watch the logging,” he explained. “Up here (in Bend), I was driving truck and taking care of the other trucks.”

By 1964, Scott Logging had added another three new Internationals to their fleet, giving them a total of five log trucks. “Each new truck I’d drive the first 20,000 miles on,” Scott explained, “so they were broke-in. Not that I was any better (at the break-in process) but we just knew how they were being broken-in. It was very critical, and very beneficial. We never had any premature engine failures or anything else which could be started from improper break-in.”

A setback
Running loader at Silver Lake on a side whose loader operator had quit a few days before, Scott got down to help the trucker with wrappers, the crawler feeding the landing brought in a turn. “We stood back for them,” Scott explained, “...and they came rolling.” While the truck drive got completely out of the way, Scott had nowhere to go but, “...dove over the reach, and I got everything (over) but the left leg, and broke my leg, shin bone and everything, totally.” Scott’s good fortune in this came in Silver Lake’s just getting a “disaster car” with the driver for the car working nearby as well as a nurse. “They all got me into town before I bled to death.”
Ultimately that led to a leg cast for the next two years. “I was 31, had three little boys, and I was laid up. It was discouraging,” Scott said of the experience. But never one to let his attitude slide, the Scotts shifted operators to a sawmill venture in Colorado. “We made the move to go back there, and I was still on crutches. It was a big move.”

Once there, things remained slow. “I started running loader again, with my cast still on,” Scott said, plus with the leg not healing well, he still needed to go back to the hospital every few months for treatment.

“We decided to come back to Oregon, and picked up another sawmill, a portable mill, and took it back to Colorado, changed the mill to electric, and got a planner,” Scott explained. “That’s where the boys learned how to work,” he said smiling at Brad’s visible wincing at the memory. “And they hated every minute of it. The boys weren’t really fond of the sawmill.” When they were involved in school sports, that came first and the millwork took back seat. “They helped a lot.”

Back to Oregon
Ultimately, however, they missed Oregon, and returned home in 1978 moving just outside Portland to Estacada. But they preferred the familiar environs of the Bend area and finally made the return there in 1980, one of 24 gypos working for Brooks Scanlon, and as the new kids on the block, “...we were at the bottom of the heap.” They were running a single conventional side, skidding and hauling at the time. 
Good fortune created by positive attitude and the pride they took in their logging quality, “...pretty soon they took notice,” Scott said adding, “and we started getting better opportunities.”

When in 1986, Crown Pacific purchased Brooks-Scanlon, Scott said, “...a man at Crown Pacific asked us if we were interested in coming to work for them...we took it immediately. They’d negotiate prices with you and in turn, you do as good as work as you could. We still do today.”

With Crown Pacific’s acquisition of Gilchrest in ‘92, complete with some 400,000 acres of prime pine timberlands, Crown needed bigger volumes... and opportunity knocked on Scott’s door again. “Before that we’d run a skidder operation with two skidders, one landing man, a knot bumper, loader, and four or five trucks all owned by us.” Crowns’ need for volume gave Scotts prompting to start a second side, which they did. “It was a pretty dramatic increase,” Scott said. “A great deal (more volume). Brad ran one loader (he’s always been a great loader operator,” Scott added of his oldest son).” Each side had two skidders per side and two knot bumpers, and a loader.

In 1995, Scott said, “Crown mentioned we might give consideration to moving to automated logging.” At the time, timber types were changing towards smaller logs, “...so it meant that was where our future lies,” a fact which didn’t escape Scott’s attention. They geared up for automation that season.

A Whole New World
Scott’s added their third logging side, their first automated side, in 1995. “Crown had a thinning job west of Bend,” Scott explained, “and that’s where we got initiated into that whole New World (of automation).” The size of the wood changed the operation considerably. “We bought a brand-new Timbco (feller buncher with a bar saw), and at that time, with that wood, used a new CTR pull-through delimber (with remote control) fed by a Cat 320 log loader. We ran a single skidder, skidding bunches. It was all smaller wood... little stuff. They had tremendous thickets up there, and it had no growth. So we created the spacing they wanted. There were some small logs, but a lot of chip wood.” Crown liked the result, Scott’s first work in a thinning, and they wound up in that location for a year. “It was new for everyone involved.”
“It was little stuff, and so damned short,” Scott smiled at the memory. “It was tough, but we got our feet on the ground with automated work, and since then things have gotten better. It proves if you can get through tough things, everything else is downhill.”

With the continued shift to smaller logs came expansion opportunities for Scott. “As demand was there, we could expand as we chose,” Scott said. “We added a side at a time.” Each side was designed to have, “...a Timbco (feller buncher), a stroke delimber, plus we usually had the skidders available in the yard. Then pretty soon we had to add loaders.”

Stroker delimbers
The move to stroke delimbers began in ‘97 for Scott Logging. “They were a lot more productive,” Scott explained. “Over here we’re dealing with pine, which has a lot tougher limbs than D. fir. The difference in production was substantial. With the stroker we’d to 5-6 loads or more, in the time it would take to do 3-4 in the pull-through. Strokers were new to this region at that time. We had tried a dangle head, but here, the toughness of the limbs made it work not as well for us as strokers. Plus the stroker can handle larger or smaller wood. Whatever it is, you can handle it.

Log trucks
Ron Scott has always had a special place in his heart for log trucks, having essentially started with trucking. “I drove truck steady until ‘96, when I got pneumonia,” Scott said, “and spent five weeks getting over it.” After that time, he never returned to log hauling. “I do what they’ll let me do now: run lowboy and deal with the mill. I still love to drive lowboy. That’s as close as I’m going to get, or want to get, to retiring,” he said smiling.

Up through about 18 months ago, Scott explained, “...we had six gypos who ran with us and five trucks of our own. Then we had an opportunity. Crown had a string of log trucks, and just over a year ago decided they wanted to get out of hauling, which they offered, in whole part, to us. We chose to do it. Our fleet doubled,” adding eight Kenworth T-800s to the existing fleet of eight log trucks. Since then they’ve sold one, and converted another to a water truck.
With a fleet of 16 trucks to manage, “...we turned over the daily dispatching to Joe Arment,” said Scott. 

Today’s operation
Currently, Scott runs five automated logging sides, in addition to other related operations. They have a crew of about 35, which includes four mechanics. The logging offices are in Bend, in Ron Scott’s home. Ron’s wife, Donna, is a large and integral part of the operations there. “An accountant comes in for payroll, and a lot of bill paying. It’s all computerized. I can hand write the checks I choose,” Scott said smiling. “And a bigger accounting firm keeps all else in order.”

They have one “big log side” running which has two Cat 525, and one Cat 518 grapple wheel skidder all of which are enclosed cabs (an important feature for year-round crew comfort), a Cat 320 loader on a Pierce wheeled carrier, and two knot bumpers. “The timber is thinner and they’re covering more ground. They average 24-27 loads a day there. We run on the guidelines that they (Crown) give us. Lenny Brown is the loader operator and runs that side.
The other automated sides are very close to mirror images of one another, each with a single wheeled skidder feeding a stroke delimber, and a loader.

With the seasonal weather extremes, Scotts have most if not all their operators in enclosed cabs. With both the delimber and skidder operators enclosed, “...both are happy and they both are comfortable and keep working,” said Scott.

They have seven log loaders, four track loaders and three rubber-tired carriers, which provides good versatility and mobility for the areas they operate in.

All five of their feller bunchers are Timbcos, the newest being a 445D, all of which have Timbco bar saws. “We had a hot saw one time,” Scott explained. “They have their place, but over here with fire danger so high, they restrict its use during the summer. And our operators prefer the bar. As good as these operators are, we will defer to their preferences.” They cut 16-20-inch trees for the most part, and the oversize is left for hand cutting.

Their oversized, hand felled wood, they contract through T&K Cutting, owned by Wayde Hanna, also out of LaPine, Oregon. “The hand cut leaves the limbs out in the field, and the hand crew piles the limbs.

“We pile our brush behind our sales, piled away from the small trees,” Scott explained, “so they are prepared for burning. We have a brush grapple... it keeps it a lot cleaner.” The brush crew is a two-man team.

With the growth experienced in the mid-90s, Scott’s added an 80 x 120 Ft. building for maintenance and repair. “It’s large enough, with three bays here (on one side), and one bay on the far end we lengthened to accommodate longer truck and trailers, for a fourth bay (total).” There is a smaller building on the land as well, which was original to the 6-acre site, all of which is part of the LaPine industrial park. “It’s a storage building for us now.” They have offices on the second floor of the building, between the two sets of bays. Also on the site is their own fueling station, two tanks for diesel (one off road, the other on road), and one for gasoline. They also have a building for pressure washing and steam cleaning, “All our drivers, when hired on, know we want very clean, nice looking trucks,” Scott emphasized.
Their work schedule is usually a five-day week, though Scott noted this past summer, “the delimbers worked every second Saturday too. The saws will run longer if needed. Loaders work a five-day week only.

The crew is covered by health insurance, “...and we pay $100 towards their family plan as well,” Scott said. They also have a profit sharing plan in addition to a 401(k) All employees get a Christmas bonus, plus there is a production bonus, which “...we’ll do a time or two during the year. You can see who makes the extra effort, and we recognize that.”
The partnership is an equal thirds, between patriarch Ron, and sons Brad and Russell. Russell joined the company in ‘78, following high school graduation, the same as Brad has joined following his graduation in ‘72. They incorporated in ‘92. “We talk about everything, giving our individual slants. We enter into discussions open minded,” Scott said.
Ron’s bride of 49 years is Donna Scott, who handles the office. “She has to be the optimum of tolerance,” Scott said smiling. “All our hours, and nursing me a few times, she’s had her hands full. She deserves a lot of credit. I had the advantage of having a wife who understood from the first day (about business and logging),” Scott elaborated. “In ‘51, there were two routes I could follow: college or work. I chose. I could do well in a profession, and while I’ve known guys who went to college, I’ve done well with what I wanted to do, and not all of them did.”

Both Brad and Russell run their own sides as side-rods, involved with road building, layout, and whatever may be needed done on any given day.
Reflecting on this being Scott’s 50th year in business, Scott smiled. “Urban loggers is kind of what we ended up being. It works well for all of us,” he added, speaking of the successful partnership with his sons. “Seasoned experience mixed with youth and vigor... it works well.”