TCNEF-Cutting Edge Summer 2019 Averill

Master Logger Spotlight - I.R. Averill Inc.
T2-R7 - It’s 9 a.m., already hot under the
midsummer sun, and Master Logger company I.R.
Averill Inc. has been on the job about seven miles off
Route 11 not far from the East Branch of the
Penobscot River in northern Maine for hours.
The road into where the crew is yarding, limbing,
and slashing wood is dry this time of year, and dust
still hangs in the air from two trucks that have just
headed south for Mattawamkeag with loads of logs.
Scott Averill is in the crane slashing wood at
one yard, his brother Brent working in a
delimber at another a quarter mile away. Their
brother, Ralph has just headed into town for
parts after a breakdown on the feller buncher.
Two
Two grapples are rumbling through the woods
feeding the delimber with Brent’s son, Josh in one
and Doug Moores in the other. It’s a small crew,
efficient, skilled, and you don’t have to spend much
time watching them to know this is a very
professional operation.
“We never got real big, five or six employees,”
Scott said, talking about the decision to keep the
company at a manageable size over the years and
to stop doing their own trucking and contract that
side of the business out. The truth is, he added,
none of the brothers had much interest in
spending a lot of time managing employees and a
larger company. “We’d rather be here on the job
running a piece of equipment.”
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I.R. Averill continued from p. 3
That lean business model has worked well for I.R.
Averill, whose reputation for good work and
dependability has kept them in contracts over some
very tough years for Maine’s logging industry, when
many logging companies were slashing large
numbers of employees or shutting down entirely.
These days, Scott says he’d describe the general
outlook as “cautiously optimistic,” as demand for
wood seems good, prices have risen slightly, and
instead of the news being filled with mills cutting
back or shutting down there are now stories of
expansions and restarting of shuttered mills.
Like most loggers, the Averills are still in the woods
despite the challenges and rising expenses of
operating because they love working there, and this
family business has deep roots in logging, Scott said.
The company as it exists today was founded by the
Averill brothers’ father, Ira Ralph Averill, in 1960,
when he took it over from his father, who had been
a dairy farmer who logged in the winter for many
years before going to work in the woods year-round.
Back then their father was logging with horses and
tractors, but when cable skidders came along in the
1960s he quickly bought an early Timberjack and
over the years I.R. Averill has changed with the
technology, and has been fully mechanized for a
long time.
Scott said their father set an example of hard work
that they respect to this day, not only in logging and
business, but in caring for their mother who had
multiple sclerosis during the whole time he built the
business. He slept very little, cared for her early in
the morning and in the evenings and would come
home midday each day to check on her, and he
worked hard in the woods and running the business
at the same time. Their father died in 1998, and the
brothers took over running the company and have
been doing it ever since.
Scott laughed when asked if the three brothers get
along.
“A lot of people said you guys will never make it
past the first year,” Scott said, recalling 1998 when
they took over the company. “We have our
moments, but we’re still here, going on 21 years.”
The company works mainly within a 50-70-mile
range of their home base in Prentiss, mostly on
commercial timberland. This summer they are on a
job for Huber Resources Corp. that will run into the
fall, then they plan to go to work on Irving
Woodlands land through the end of the year. Even
here in the vast undeveloped north woods of Maine
there is other work and a need for adaptability
however - a few miles south of their current job, I.R.
Averill recently worked building recreational trails
for Penobscot River Trails, a privately-owned nature
preserve and cross-country skiing and snowshoeing
destination.
Scott said it was a regular employer of the
company, Jay Haynes, President of H.C. Haynes
Inc. who first encouraged I.R. Averill to seek Master
Logger certification several years ago, recognizing
the value of the brand. As is true with many
professional logging companies, the Averill’s were
already doing good work in the woods, and
certification was just a matter of documenting their
safety, knowledge, professionalism, and adherence
to the standard.
Scott said being Master Logger Certified is not
something the company always sees a direct impact
on their business from, but he believes it is there
working in their favor behind the scenes, one more
advantage in a competitive industry.
Logging isn’t easy, the days are long, and there are
challenges every day, but Scott said he doesn’t want
to work anywhere but in the woods and his brothers
feel the same.
“I’d rather be here than anywhere else,” Scott said.
And so, if they have their way, this Master Logger
company will be doing the job and doing it right for
years to come.
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T HE CUT TI NG EDGE