Western Wood Products Inc. really stands out on the horizon: they are one of a very few logging companies in their part of the state.

The company in Raton, New Mexico, near the Colorado border, uses their own sawmill to manufacture fence posts, and relies on a John Deere 2054 processor with a Waratah 622B head to bring in the timber.

Western Wood Products is a customer of Colorado Machinery in Pueblo West, Colorado, where forestry is not very common. As a result, their needs are unique from that of most customers, and owner Ray Levengood has been very happy with the service they’ve received.

“Overall we’re very, very satisfied with the machine at this point, and with the service from Colorado Machinery. They weren’t really into forestry,” Ray explains. “They sent their people into training for the 622B head, and they respond when we have a problem… They stocked the parts for the Waratah head, and that was a real concern – whether we could get what we needed when we needed it.

“They gave it a lot of thought before they jumped in. They trained mechanics to work on this machine and that kind of thing, and that was pretty important. I would have to say that their service has been excellent.”

Besides excellent dealer support, Ray is also impressed with the performance of the 2054 and 622B head.

“The reason we use the 622B is that we’re in real knotty Ponderosa pine. There’s a lot of branches, and it has the power to rip the branches right off.

“Before we went with John Deere, we did a lot of research… That was the tool that did the job that we were trying to do the best, and with the most dependability.” Ray adds that uptime on the machine has been excellent, and the operator’s love it. “My son’s the operator of that machine and absolutely loves it. The operator comforts are – there’s no comparison.”

Purchasing the new 2054 was a turning point for Western Wood Products, and allowed them to continue working in forestry. “We were actually to the point where we were going to give up on our own logging side, the company logging side,” Ray says. “Then we tried that machine, and it’s just been the best thing we’ve done.”

Ray isn’t the only one in his business impressed with the 2054. The John Deere brand has a reputation among his contractors.

“The John Deere equipment, according to everybody that works with us and hauls wood to our plant, is the Cadillac of the industry in today’s market. I have a logger that works for me in Wyoming, who has an old 748 John Deere, and he said in the last three years, the only thing he’s put on it is a hydraulic valve. So that’s pretty cool.”

Western Wood Products, Inc. also owns an older pair of John Deere front end loaders, and plans to add some new skidders to their fleet in the near future.

“Our associate contractor that works for our mill has John Deere skidders, and they’re by far superior to what we have right now. So we’re going to update to that as soon as we can.”

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