Quebec-based logging contractor, Steeve Ladrie’s, business approach is all about the selection of the right equipment based on meeting the needs of his very productive harvesting teams.
His selection of harvesting equipment is based on having a diverse set of machines assigned to his two separate teams, so that each team can efficiently - and productively - handle the diverse forest stand types assigned to them.
Mr Ladrie established Les Chantiers du Lac in 1998 when he began a now 26-year association, contracting for Groupe Lebel. Les Chantiers du Lac is based at his home at Riviere Bleu, situated on the Quebec-Maine border, and about fifty kilometres north of the Quebec/New Brunswick border. Les Chantiers operates on public lands in southern Quebec and on Anticosti Island, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
He began his forestry career in 1982 as a tree planter, and later joined his father, Richard’s chainsaw/cable skidder operation, contracting private woodlots through Groupement Forestier Temiscouta, around their home at Riviere Bleu. In 1986, he joined his uncle’s cable skidder crew harvesting for Abitibi Power and Paper Company.
Mr Ladrie’s first adventure in mechanised harvesting was with a John Deere 693D harvester in 1994.
Les Chantiers du Lac divides its operations into two teams. Late in February 2024, Steeve’s son, Alex, was supervising a team in Reserve Faunique Rimouski, while long time supervisor, Tommy Senechal’s team was operating in Reserve Faunique Matane. The harvested wood was shipped to Groupe Lebel mills in the Gaspe region.
Both reserves are managed with Integrated Forest Management Plans (multiple use), which are guided by procedures and rules established by Quebec’s Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks and the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. The Rimouski Reserve covers some 729 square kilometres and the Matane Reserve covers 1,275 square kilometres.
Through the year, Les Chantiers du Lac also contracts for J. D. Irving operations in Quebec and Maine, as well as contracting on private woodlots in Quebec through the Groupement Temiscouta.
To read more on this Canadian-based logging operation, get your copy of the February 2025 edition of NZ Logger magazine, on sale from 3 February. Check the link on this page to subscribe to either a printed or digital copy(or both).
