2018 International Forest Industries IFI April May 2018 Digital | Page 33

Hannah loves her ‘office’ view and says she never gets sick of seeing the mountains from her cab window
handed to me by my Dad, but it
didn’t. I did it all on my own,” she
explains. “My Dad will be the fi rst
to tell you that he did not lift a fi
nger. He did not make a phone call
or be a reference.”
Life in camp
How many young women could
survive life in the middle of
the bush, with no cell service,
infrequent showers and only the
company of an all-male crew for
weeks on end? Hannah happily
took on this challenge. “It was
intimidating being the only girl in
the camps. It is defi nitely more
challenging for girls,” says Hannah.
“It took a while to get used to only
showering every ten days,” she
said.
When BTB spoke with Hannah
she had just fi nished eight months
of night shift, working alone with
just a satellite SOS phone and the
stars. “I got used to it. Some nights
I got freaked out but I did what I
had to do. It was an adventure.”
Dream machine
Hannah started out on an
excavator, learning simple
hydraulic controls and basic
machine maintenance. On day
three she got behind the seat of
a processor operator and by day
four she was on her own operating
the processor. She recalls her boss
telling her not to fi re a log through
the cab.
After two years operating a
variety of machines including
excavators, processors, skidders
and loaders, Hannah fi nally got
her hands on a Tigercat feller
buncher, an LX870C. Hannah had
always wanted to run a leveling
machine. “I’ve tackled some pretty
steep ground with that tilter and
loved every minute of it,” she
states. Tigercat quickly became her
favourite brand.
Having run an 880 logger,
several Tigercat skidders and both
an LX870C and 870C, it was clear
to her that Tigercat manufactured
for the operator. “Life changing,”
is how she describes the
Turnaround® skidder seat. “And I
love how accessible everything is
with the buncher. The hood fl ips
open, the auto hydraulic pump is
great and all the doors and guards
are easy to use.”
When mechanic, Dave Hunter
and Hannah were both working
at Matt Hromatka Contracting, he
gave her the nickname Hanimal
and it has stuck with her over the
past three years. When asked what
type of Hanimal she is, she always
responds with, “I’m a Tigercat.”
She considers herself a bit of an
animal – a little wild and outgoing
My heart is like a
compass that points
to anything that feeds
adrenaline
Hannah Dehoog, operator,
Groot Bros. Contracting Ltd.
Adrenaline junkie Hannah popping a wheelie down a logging road
International Forest Industries | APRIL / MAY 2018 31