2018 International Forest Industries IFI April May 2018 Digital | Page 54

From generation to generation Four generations of Sykes loggers. (L-R) Bill, Cooper, Cam, Marvin and Colton – Samantha Paul BTB spoke with Marvin Thomas Sykes, owner of M.T. Sykes Logging and twenty-seven-year- old son Colton Sykes to learn more about their all-Tigercat harvesting operations S ALEM, Alabama – Passion for working in the woods is contagious and continues to be passed down from generation to generation in the Sykes family. M.T. Sykes Logging started with Marvin’s father, Bill Sykes in 1974. Marvin took over the business in 1999 when his father decided to retire. Today the company runs a thinning crew and a clear fell crew and both are all Tigercat. Four generations Running equipment starts young in the Sykes family. “I started running equipment when I was twelve- years-old,” says Marvin. “I would get on the skidder when they were eating lunch and pull a drag. It would take me about the whole lunch break to get one drag to the landing,” he laughs. Just like Marvin, his son Colton grew up watching logging equipment run throughout his childhood. Colton worked with his father every chance he could: over Christmas break, on weekends and all through the summer. He started full-time after high school at age seventeen. Marvin’s grandchildren, seven-year-old Cam and six-year- old Cooper, can’t wait to start 52 International Forest Industries | APRIL / MAY 2018 operating. “We want to work in the woods with Daddy and Big Daddy,” they both say. At Christmas, the boys love unwrapping a new Tigercat die cast model. They hope to get the newest 724G feller buncher this year. Marvin’s nephew, Edd Willingham runs the thinning crew and the clear fell crew is run by Colton. Marvin’s wife, Christie, handles the books and Marvin himself fi lls in wherever he is needed. One day Marvin will be running the bulldozer building roads. The next day he might hop on the loader or drive a truck. M.T. Sykes owns seven trucks in total. Marvin owns six and Colton now owns one, purchasing his fi rst log truck from his father two years ago. In addition, the company contracts three trucks from Marvin’s brother Wayne, who owns a trucking business. The iron The thinning crew consists of a 724E drive-to-tree feller buncher, a month-old 620E skidder and a 234 loader. The larger clear fell crew has a 620E skidder, an older 620D skidder, a 724G feller buncher, a 234 loader and a 250 loader. Marvin was introduced to Tigercat in 2001 when the company purchased two Tigercat 240 loaders. Next came a Tigercat feller buncher in 2002. And in 2011, the company fi nally purchased its fi rst Tigercat skidder. “To be honest it took me a while to get into the Tigercat skidders because of the price. But as competitor models increased in price, I recognized the true value in the Tigercat skidders. Once I tried one I liked it and they hold up a lot better,” explains Marvin. Marvin’s son Colton runs the newest 724G feller buncher. “I have run them all but we like Tigercat the best,” he says. He loves having all the controls on the joystick versus having the arm control on the foot pedal like the 724E. “It is still just as strong and powerful as the older model but the upgrades to the cab are really nice. The seat is so comfortable,” Colton adds. All Tigercat equipment has been purchased through long-time Tigercat dealer Forestry 21. Marvin and 21 owner Ricky McConnell go back over twenty years. “I knew Ricky when he was a logger with his brother, before he started selling equipment.