From Portable Sawmills to TimberManager™: Freedom Logging's Evolution
There's a pride in continuing what your great-grandfather started. For Jonathan Lay, owner of Freedom Logging in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, that legacy isn't just a source of personal satisfaction—it's the foundation of every business decision he makes, from the equipment he runs to the people he chooses to work with.
"My dad and my uncle and my grandfather logged," Lay explains. "Before that, my grandpa and my great-grandfather had portable sawmills in the bush." As a fourth-generation logger, Lay carries forward a tradition that stretches back over a century, now at a scale larger than his great-grandfather could have imagined.
A Family Business Built for Volume
Close to two decades ago, Lay and his father founded Freedom Logging, which has grown into a significant regional operation. The operation cuts and delivers roughly 300,000 cubic metres of wood to local mills every year, which translates to 6000 to 7000 semi-truck loads of logs every season.
The fleet that makes that volume possible is substantial: four feller bunchers, three skidders, five processors, two log loaders, two dozers, a grader, an excavator, and 12 to 14 log trucks. Beyond logging, the company also handles municipal road grading, highway road blading, and snow removal for the city of Meadow Lake.
Freedom Logging’s operating season runs from mid-June through to mid-March, and when the machines are running, they're running hard. "Our processors work 24 hours a day, five days a week," Lay says.
The Domino Effect of Downtime
In an industry built on volume, the ripple effects of a single breakdown can bring an entire operation to a crawl. As Lay describes it, "If a skidder goes down, your processor guys are sitting waiting because there's no wood for them to process. And if the processors are broken down, the log trucks and loaders have to slow down because there's not as many loads to haul."
That’s why reliable equipment and responsive support aren't just nice to have—they're the difference between a profitable season and a costly one
Why the Relationship With Brandt Matters
Freedom Logging has been working with Brandt since the very beginning. For Lay, the partnership is less about transaction and more about trust.
He describes a Sunday when he drove his lowbed down to Saskatoon to pick up a new feller buncher for a demo. Brandt's service manager, Chad, met him there at noon on his day off to get the machine out of the gate and ready to haul north. That kind of availability matters in an industry that doesn't keep office hours: "You've got to be able to get ahold of people at different times of the day—not always business hours, weekends or holidays."
Beyond emergency support, Brandt's parts and service network provides ongoing value. "Parts guys run parts to the shop twice a week, no charge," Lay notes. "And sometimes if you bring a truck in for service, they'll deliver it back." For an operation running multiple machines across a remote job site, these services add up quickly.
Betting on John Deere
Freedom Logging runs John Deere equipment across its fleet, a choice rooted in decades of familiarity. The newer machines like John Deere 948L skidders have caught Lay’s attention as strong performers in the varied terrain of northern Saskatchewan. "When you get into hilly terrain, you can put duals on them. The operators like them because they're stable—not so tippy on soft ground."
Lay has witnessed firsthand the importance of operator comfort, particularly the features available in John Deere cabs, and how it ties directly into productivity. "In today's world, it's about Bluetooth phones and comfy seats and good air conditioning, heaters, and leg room. That goes a long way for people. Operators are happy to put in long hours if the cabs are comfortable."
The Game Changer: John Deere TimberManager™
Perhaps the biggest shift in how Freedom Logging operates has come from data. John Deere TimberManager™ has transformed how Lay monitors and manages his operation.
The system gives him a real-time picture of his entire operation from his phone or laptop. "You can log in and see where the processors and skidders have been. And you can see your productivity. We get email reports from our processors every shift on how much the guys do." For a business owner managing a large crew across a remote operation, that visibility is invaluable.
A Business Built to Last
Freedom Logging's success comes down to the sum of its parts: a family legacy that drives a standard of hard work, a fleet of reliable equipment that keeps the volume moving, technology that brings transparency to a remote and demanding operation, and a support network that shows up when it counts.
Running 6000 to 7000 truckloads of logs out of the Saskatchewan bush every year is not a job for the faint of heart. It demands long days, the right machines, dedicated operators, and partners, like Brandt, who answer the phone on a Sunday. Freedom Logging has spent almost 20 years building exactly that. And with four generations of logging in his blood, Lay isn't slowing down anytime soon.