Here at TrackGrip, we’re sold on Keto Harvesters. In fact, we could talk about them until we’re blue in the face. But why take it from us? Instead, take it from Wayne LeBlanc. At 79 years old, Wayne has an incredible history in the logging industry. It runs in his family. Wayne actually started logging with his father before receiving any formal training. Additionally, he represented Canada while competing internationally in logger sports during the 1980s. Nowadays, you still find him out in the field near Lumby, British Columbia. He works with a stellar team that also includes two of his brothers. The LeBlanc team has worked with Keto Harvesters for over 30 years now, and recently purchased a new Keto 660C2 harvester. As Wayne puts it, “there wasn’t even a thought of taking on another head.”
If you follow us on Instagram or TikTok, you know the TrackGrip team recently went out to Lumby. We helped Wayne and company with the initial set-up of their new Keto 660C2. In the process, we sat down for dinner with Wayne one evening to get his take on the Keto brand. “I’ve been with Keto since 1992,” says Wayne. “This is our fourth head. There wasn’t even a thought of taking on another harvester. I’d been talking with TrackGrip about the new features that the heads have. Big improvements over the first head that we had way back in ’92. It made good sense to us.”
“There wasn’t even a thought of taking on another harvester.”
Despite improvements to Keto Harvesters over the years, Wayne was already a proponent of the machines 30 years ago. “I did a bunch of research on processors,” he explains, “and determined that the Keto was a pretty good head. It had a lot of good features. It’s good and light. A lot lighter than the competitors. And its very simple to run. When it’s lighter, you’ve got to think about the savings in fuel. That’s a big item, especially nowadays with the cost of fuel. With the good, low-pressure hydraulic system that the Keto operates on, that’s a fuel savings in itself right there because the hydraulic pumps don’t have to work to get maximum production out of the head.”
“I’m 79 years old,” continues Wayne, “I think I’ve learned quite a few things. I’m quite critical of what I’m looking at and I try to analyze things. That’s why we’ve gone with Keto. I think it has features that are outstanding compared to others. It was a good price too. It’s a well priced machine.”
Outstanding features and well priced.
However, according to Wayne, one feature above all dominates the industry. “If you look at the name ‘TrackGrip’, that’s the biggest feature of the whole thing. You’ve got 22 or 24 inches of grip on each side of the tree. That’s immense delimbing power, which is a big thing. [The Keto Harvester] will just go through big limbs in one pass. The tracks measure and they don’t slip on the log. When you look at the tracks, you might think that they’re over aggressive and they’ll do damage to the fiber of the log, but that’s not the case at all. They just drive the logs through, they delimb, and they measure the logs very accurately, both diameter and length. Better than any other head on the market. There’s no question.”
Wayne has put a few hours on his tracks too, for sure. On two of his older machines, the tracks lasted through 7000 and 9000 hours respectively. “I don’t know how long people get out of wheels,” says Wayne, “but its maybe 5000 hours? And they’re not cheap. I don’t know how much they are, but I heard years ago that they’re expensive. They wear out. I guess that’s probably one of the hard sells with the tracks. Everybody thinks of bulldozer tracks or excavator tracks, or something. They think they’re going to wear out. But it’s actually the advantage of the head!”
“Better than any other head on the market. There’s no question.”
At TrackGrip, we’re always promoting the great features of the Keto brand. In fact, we’ve written about the advantages of the dual track system before. But its one thing to hear from a dealer and quite another to hear it from a happy customer. So, take it from Wayne LeBlanc, who has used Keto Harvesters now for over 30 years. The track feed provides excellent grip with no fiber damage. Additionally, the system provides the most accurate log measurements in the industry. A big shout out to the whole crew at LeBlanc Logging in Lumby, BC! Also, a huge thanks to Wayne for taking an evening to chat with us.