PLC Logger's Voice - Summer 2019

L
EE - Like many loggers before him, Terry
Raymond, owner of T. Raymond Forest
Products Inc. started working in the woods
at a young age and has never really
considered another career. The truth is even if he
wanted to, he hasn’t had time. He’s too busy.
In the words of his daughter, Hollie Worster,
“He works seven days a week.” On weekdays that
means leaving the house shortly after midnight and not
getting home until 4:30 p.m. on average. He’s the first
on the job site and usually the last to leave. On the
weekends, he generally does dirt work including septic
system installations and driveways, and is never idle
for long.
No one chooses a career in logging because
they think it’s going to be easy, and while he can get
tired of it from time to time, especially in the cold and
snow of winter, he still likes being in the woods.
“My father always cut wood, and I grew right
up in the woods helping him. He bought a skidder in
1972 and I helped him through high school with that.
After I graduated in 1975 I continued working for him
until I bought my first cable skidder in 1977. I then
worked subcontracting for MacDonald Logging,
Thompson Trucking and Orland Dwelley until 1995,”
Terry said. “I always liked it, you can be your own
boss.”
T. Raymond was officially founded in 1977
and grew from that small beginning into one of the
larger contractors in the region. It has always been a
family business. Terry’s wife, Paula, worked running
the office for years until in 1998 the Raymonds started
Raymond’s Variety and Diner in Lee - a very
successful business itself that she runs to this day.
Terry’s late father, Lawrence, “Smokey” Raymond,
worked for T. Raymond Forest Products into his 80s.
Terry’s brother, Albert, worked with him when the
business first started and for many years after. His
brother, Garnet, has been with him since 1989 and
runs a feller buncher today. Hollie joined him after
graduating from Husson College in 1998 to run the
office when her mother left to run the store. Son,
Terry “Tee” operated grapple skidder during the
summers while attending school before going on to
work at GE. Other family members have also worked
for the company.
The business grew over the years and in 1990
began the switch to mechanized logging with the
purchase of a rubber tired John Deere 743 harvester.
Next came grapple skidders to replace the cable
skidders. As time went on more machines were added,
and T. Raymond has been fully mechanized for a long
10 Professional Logging Contractors of Maine Loggers Serving Loggers Since 1995