Contractor grinding out a living

In Thunder Bay Colin Chaschuk and his company, Chaschuk Enterprises, have been successful in the forest industry by supplying hog fuel to the local mill.

Along with his brother Donald and their two employees, Chaschuk spends the winters helping farmers in the area expand their fields for crops and pastures. During the summer months they are primarily in the sand and gravel hauling business but are willing to do just about anything to keep busy.

"We took over the company from my father three years ago. The way the markets have been we’ve only been able to do logging in the winter. We’ve been mostly doing full tree grind for AbitibiBowater and we hold a roundwood contract with them as well. We cut, skid and hire out the grinding and hauling.

"In our forestry work we’ve been doing lots of private lot cutting. We’ve been clearing land for farmers who want to expand. Most of the material we take out is being ground for hog fuel. We grind the brush and unmerchantable timber. We cut with the buncher and skid with the grapple skidder, when we are doing the full tree grind. Most of our work has been around the city and a lot in the Slate River area."

"Winter time is nice because you get the white asphalt, the snow, you just let it freeze and away you go. In the summer time you have to start hauling gravel and there is a lot of added cost. To me there is no money in it to do that right now," Chaschuk said. "The weather has been good for road building this year. It has been brutally cold but last week was nice. There has been more than enough snow around here to fill in the dips and holes. We’ve been very fortunate that the lots we’ve been doing have been very close to municipal roads so we haven’t had to go too far away."

Chaschuk says for his numbers to work he has to keep his forestry operations fairly close to the mill but the short commute doesn’t bother him in the slightest.

"With the price for hog fuel that they are paying you can only go so far away and still be profitable. My numbers keep me within thirty kilometers. So far Chaschuk’s strategy has been paying off for him and he hopes this will continue working for him in the future. ◊