Industry Load Competition is an open contest where fellow loggers/truckers bring in a load of wood that is staged on display in a special area at the show.

The industry loads are broken down into four categories and are judged on Safety & Appearance. Plaques will be awarded to all participants.

The Safety categories:
1. Proper location of wrappers and load binders
2. Proper number of wrappers
3. Reasonably tight
4. Load width
5. Proper placement of material
6. Mud flaps, lights, etc.
7. Condition of tires
8. Other safety features

Forwarder Operator Challenge
The competition designed to showcase operator skills, demonstrate the latest machine advances, and finally recognize the nation’s top forwarder operators.

The Great Lakes Challenge is open to all experienced forwarder operators from across the U.S. (running any forwarder brand).

The Great Lakes Challenge is a tournament ‘elimination’ style contest, which includes qualifying and elimination rounds. It places challengers’ side-by-side on a preset course using state-of-the-art Valmet forwarders. Contestants will race against the clock and perform a series of difficult operations designed to test the limits of their skills.

Maneuvers include driving, loading, pulling and extracting logs among obstacles and stacking stumps before crossing the finish line. Winners are determined by the fastest time with the least assessed penalty time.

Participants competing in competition will need a Logging Congress Registration Pass – See the “Registration Form” Under Logging Congress to Register. Cost is $10 per person and good for all 3 days, pre-registration will be sent prior to show. Or registration is available at the show.

The competition will be stopped at noon on Saturday, at which time the Trophy Run will be held with the top five contestants competing for final winning placement.