Middleton’s Logging
Owner: Kary Middleton
Location: Harwood, Mo.
History: “Logging and my family go all the way back to my great-grandfather in Bendor, Ark. I remember when I was 6 or 7 sitting on my dad’s lap and shifting gears as he drove. The rule in our house was when I wasn’t in school, I was supposed to be helping dad. We used a mule to skid the logs out and in the 1970s got an old log splitter. We had our own mill, so we did both logging and milling. My dad was in National Geographic when they did a story on logging and milling and I wanted to be just like him. When I married my wife, Debbie, 43 years ago, she knew she was going into a logging family.”
Products and Services: “Unlike some, we go out and will cut individual trees out of wooded acreage rather than clear cutting, something especially appreciated by farmers and landowners. We log walnut and other hardwood timber as well as logs and any marketable timber from other people. The process involves going to appraise the trees in our four-state area and then buying them for a lump sum or on shares. If I’m going to be away from home for a while, I make two trips taking an RV and a pickup and trailer loaded with chainsaws, log skidders and a log loader. After milling, we sell grade logs for furniture and everything else for pallets. I mostly sell my wood in Seneca, Mo., where they are frequently exported to other countries.”
Philosophy and the Future: “Just like with anything else, you have to have a good attitude, treat people the way you want to be treated and be ready for hard work. As far as the future, I’m looking at a six generation span because my sons now work for me and my grandson, Donavan, wants to go into the business just like his dad.”
