WORK IN THE WOODS

When Caterpillar’s role in the forestry industry changed in 2018, many logging customers had questions about what their relationship with Western States would look like moving forward. With the hard work of team members like Clay Young, Forestry Application Specialist, our forestry customers continue to be supported in every aspect of their machinery needs.

“I wear a lot of hats; if we sell a machine, I can do the delivery and operator training, as well as demonstrations. After the customer has worked with a machine for a couple of weeks, I visit them and see how the machine is doing on the jobsite,” Clay explained.

Caterpillar partners with Weiler to produce and sell machines that are specific to forestry, such as feller bunchers and wheel skidders. In addition to Weiler, Western States has a unique second partner in the forestry industry: Satco, a New Zealand-based company that builds log processors.

“We’re the exclusive Satco dealer in North America,” Clay said, “so since we’re the only ones, we sometimes sell those parts to loggers across the country.”

As the Western States Forestry division continues to grow, Clay says there’s always a need for skilled technicians with an understanding of the unique equipment.

“When I can bring one of our techs with me to a customer’s jobsite, I can help further their training on the forestry equipment while also helping them to build a relationship with the customer,” Clay said.

Overall, Clay is enthusiastic about the future for Western States Forestry.

“We’re becoming more and more efficient in the support side of things, and that’s what’s going to help us grow,” he said.