NZ Logger August 2022

August 2022

ISSN 2703-6251

S ’ N A M L A E “R tion! c a r t t ” a e r “ G G N I G LOG

Tree jacking: Simple and safer

Liquid biofuels from plantation forests

| $8.00

MAXIMISE THE PERFORMANCE OF YOUR VEHICLE AND YOUR BUSINESS.

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contents AUGUST 2022

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FOREST TALK Go-ahead for private death prosecution; Forest owners to cough up for Council; Do the math, says FOA; Stronger action needed on illegal logging; PF Olsen sells significant shareholding; Komatsu takes on silviculture manufacturer; Forestry in the spotlight; NZ’s largest mass timber office building for Tauranga; Let’s innovate!; Choosing woodchip over coal; Fending off fentanyl; Hassle-free harvesting; Expanding on excavators; Environmental Forestry 2022: Environment first.

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SHAW’S WIRE ROPES IRON TEST First-time Iron Tester, Halsten Ogilwy, was excited to get behind the wheel of the Tatra eight-wheel drive off-road truck and experience first-hand what it takes to pilot one through rough roads and heavy loads. His first impression upon arriving on-site at River Ridge, just north of Whanganui, was, “wow that’s a big hill”. Turn to this month’s Iron Test to read more.

TREE FALLING Tree jacking is “actually pretty simple” says Alan Paulson of Tairawhiti Timber Training, but you must be a confident and competent faller. Cost-effective, safer and less tiring than wedging,

36 imported purpose-built tree jacks made all the difference for him.

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LIQUID BIOFUELS Plantation forests can be overlooked as a major source of liquid biofuels, but with no shortage of suitable materials for conversion in New Zealand, it’s all about communication, identifying resources and improving biomass recovery, says Jim Childerstone.

DEPARTMENTS 2 editorial 42 fica 44 top spot 47 new iron 51 classifieds

August 2022 | NZ LOGGER 1

from the editor August 2022

ISSN 1176-0397

PHOTO: JOHN ELLEGARD

N’ S “ RE AL MA t traction!

LOGG ING“ ”Grea

Tree jacking: Simple and safer

Liquid biofuels from plantation forests

| $8.00

The Tatra 8x8 forwarder climbing the hill at River Ridge, just north of Whanganui.

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Getting the job done THE USUAL WINTER HEADLINES ARE GLARING FROM OUR PAGES AND screens: “Heavy rain, strong winds, snow and swell batter New Zealand”. While those headed for the ski fields are grinning, what we don’t read about is the battering forestry crews take as they find themselves parked up or on short weeks during this period. While this is not an unusual temporary scenario for forestry in New Zealand, this year it is exacerbated by rising shipping costs impacting log prices, along with Chinese COVID lockdowns putting a spanner in the works.

Then again challenges are what this industry thrives on… our machinery too. Our Iron Test this month takes a look at the little truck that could. With a history of being used for everything from mine service trucks to mobile drilling rigs, it’s no surprise that, come rain or shine, the Tatra 8x8 forwarder takes on the “suicide track”, just north of Whanganui, with vigour. Of course, it takes some hard-headed, experienced and skilful operators to climb in that cab and tackle the steep, muddy terrain to get the job done.

And getting the job done is what it’s all about. When Tairawhiti Timber Training’s Alan Paulson needed a solution for edge trees that were difficult to fall, he saw a need for purpose-built tree jacks. Safer, cost-effective, requiring minimal effort compared to wedging and less tiring, he made a plan to get his first purpose-built jack over from the United States. Turn to our Tree Falling feature to learn how, with a bit of trial and error, he soon figured out what worked best for his purpose.

Our feature on liquid biofuels also offers some food for thought on taking things into our own hands. With the potential for up to 30% of imported fossil fuels to be processed in this country, mostly from woody biomass derived from plantation forestry, this sustainable, renewable resource could offer a big saving on greenhouse gas emissions. With no shortage of forest residue in New Zealand, Jim Childerstone asks if the time has come to look seriously at building local plants to process the materials needed to achieve the economy of scale necessary to make affordable liquid fuels.

The climate is certainly right for it, in more ways than one.

Until next time, stay safe.

forest talk

Go-ahead for private death prosecution THE FATHER OF A FOREST WORKER KILLED in an accident on the job has launched a private prosecution after a WorkSafe investigation found insufficient evidence that an offence had been committed, and did not take the case forward for prosecution.

Niko O’Neill Brooking-Hodgson suffered unsurvivable injuries when a hauling rope became snagged while retrieving logs on a steep slope, then jettisoned a D-shackle and line towards him at high speed, striking him in the face and upper body in August 2016.

Just 24, he was working in Esk Forest at Te Haroto, northwest of Napier.

An investigation cleared the logging company, DG Glenn Logging (DGL), of criminal wrongdoing but Richard Brooking,

Niko’s father, has refused to accept the findings and believes multiple systemic failures led to his son’s death.

He says the lack of prosecution implies that his son was responsible for the accident which claimed his life and that he is determined to hold the company accountable and bring justice for his son – that he is fighting for change, improvement and to “uphold the mana” of his son.

The WorkSafe investigation found DGL had a duty to ensure the health and safety of its staff, and it was “reasonable to conclude” the company knew of the risks associated with snagged line retrievals “resulting in tension and release”.

However, it found DGL had “generic”

safety controls in place and recommended no action be taken against the company. No charges were ever laid.

The family say the lead investigator lacked sufficient WorkSafe experience or expertise in the forestry sector and that crucial evidence may have been missed.

They say the company has a responsibility to ensure the health and safety of its workers, including proper hazard identification and risk assessment, and proper training around safety protocols.

A judge has granted permission for a private criminal prosecution to proceed. If convicted under the Health and Safety at Work Act, DGL could be fined up to $1.5 million. NZL

Forest owners to cough up for Council CENTRAL TARANAKI FOREST OWNERS ARE UP IN ARMS AFTER Stratford District Council mandated a roading targeted rate which will see them pay a share of $100 000 a year towards road repairs.

This comes after the Council reported a spend of nearly $1.5 million to repair logging truck-damaged roads used during pine harvesting.

Twenty six forestry blocks are affected by the controversial decision. While owners say it is “exorbitant”, Council roading asset manager Steve Bowden says Ruapehu District Council, which also introduced a rate, has been used as a basis. He says they chose a

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rate that was legally enforceable for council to collect.

Stratford District Council says the roads – some of which were designed for horse and cart – cannot cope with 50 tonne trucks and forestry operators need to contribute to their upkeep, but critics say the Council has had decades to fix them.

While the forestry owners say they may still challenge the new rate, the Council’s roading manager says those who own the 26 forestry blocks affected already had a chance to voice their concerns, as the rate went out for public consultation and was publicised, with only one forest owner arriving at the hearing in May. NZL

forest talk

Do the math, says FOA FEDERATED FARMERS HAVE GOT THEIR SUMS WRONG ON THE rate of forest planting and don’t correctly understand the law on overseas investment, says the Forest Owners Association (FOA).

This is in response to claims made by Federated Farmers to Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Select Committee that the rate of conversion of farmland to exotic forestry “will far exceed what the Climate Change Commission projected as a sustainable amount (25,000ha/yr)” and that will reduce employment in rural communities.

FOA President, Grant Dodson, says Federated Farmers owns figures which are between 2017 and mid 2021, producing an average new planting of 22,244ha/yr.

“My arithmetic tells me that just over 22-thousand hectares is actually less than 25-thousand hectares,” Grant Dodson says, “It does not ‘far exceed’ it.

“Moreover, it now appears that the government has abandoned its unrealistic goal of planting native trees at a similar rate.

“This will require a higher yearly planting rate for exotics close to 30-thousand hectares to still hit the zero-carbon target by 2050.”

Mr Dodson also points to the official statistics of the total planted forest area in New Zealand. In 2003 it was 1.827m/ha. The latest figure, as of 2021, is 1.74m/ha.

“I work out that the forest estate is 87-thousand hectares less now than it was in 2003. The area of plantation forest has actually shrunk.”

The FOA is also drawing attention to the law that prevents overseas investors buying farmland for conversion to carbon-

only forestry.

“Federated Farmers is complaining to a select committee about carbon-only forests which has nothing to do with the legislation under consideration.

“Overseas investors have to cover the cost of planting and managing their forests in strict accordance with the National Environmental Standards – Plantation Forestry, which FOA President, Grant Dodson. governs a harvest rotation regime.

“There is simply no permission regime for overseas-owned permanent carbon-only forests.

“The Feds are inventing scenarios of an incredibly high price of carbon way into the future leading to those forests never being harvested.

“If that ever gets to happen it could only be the result of catastrophic failure of government policy to get greenhouse gas emissions down and consequent overreliance on forests to sequester carbon.

“In the meantime, farmers converting to production forests are making an investment in the future, both for wood production and for carbon sequestration.” NZL

Grooved Drums and Sleeves

DIAGNOSE • DESIGN • DELIVER

forest talk

Stronger action needed on illegal logging PROPOSED NEW LEGISLATION TO REDUCE THE RISK THAT TIMBER imported into Aotearoa New Zealand is sourced from illegal logging is a positive first step but it should go further, the Green Party says.

The Forests (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Bill, which has passed its first reading in Parliament, will establish a legal framework intended to ensure that timber logged overseas and imported into New Zealand can be verified as being legally harvested.

“The Bill is a positive step but it needs to be about more than safeguarding market access for New Zealand timber products. We need a robust assurance and enforcement regime that looks beyond official documents into the whole supply chain, to prevent deforestation and illegal logging of tropical and temperate rainforests,” says Eugenie Sage, Green Party Forestry Spokesperson.

“The timber we use must be taken legally from sustainably managed forests with full regard for climate change, biodiversity and the rights of customary owners and indigenous peoples. For 20 years, successive governments in Aotearoa have relied on voluntary measures to

guarantee the trade in legally harvested timber – and it hasn’t worked.

“This Government is absolutely right to take action to prevent the trade in illegally logged timber. While the Bill is a significant improvement on the status quo, it does not go far enough.

“The Green Party will be looking for changes to ensure the Bill has a more robust regime for identifying what constitutes legal harvest.

The Bill should also be strengthened to make sure Aotearoa is doing everything it can to stop human rights abuses, and the impact that illegal logging has on customary forest owners and indigenous peoples.

“The Bill also needs to be expanded to cover, not just timber products from illegally logged forests, but all forest products including palm oil and palm kernel expeller (PKE) – a supplementary animal feed.

“The expansion of illegal palm oil plantations into Indonesia’s national forest estate and protected areas has been described by Greenpeace as the ‘largest single cause of destruction of critical Indonesian rainforests over the last two decades’. New Zealand is the world’s largest user of PKE and contributes to the loss of those forests. NZL

PF Olsen sells significant shareholding

Komatsu takes on silviculture manufacturer

QUAYSIDE HOLDINGS (QUAYSIDE), THE investment arm of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, has acquired 44% of PF Olsen, with Direct Capital selling its shareholding after 11 years as a shareholder.

Across New Zealand and Australia, PF Olsen manages 372,000 hectares of forest, harvesting 5.1 million m³ of logs each year as well as planting 14 million trees per annum. The company celebrated its 50th anniversary last year.

Quayside’s Chief Investment Officer, Brendon Barnes, says, “This transaction is the result of a thorough due diligence process. Quayside sees a number of compelling growth opportunities in the forestry sector and the investment in PF Olsen will be the catalyst for many of these. PF Olsen is a household name with a long legacy.

We are excited to work alongside the strong management team to grow the company for the benefit of our community and New Zealand”.

As a result of the investment by Quayside, PF Olsen will continue to focus on its key markets, customers and developing growth possibilities.

There will also be further employment for the region, as well as opportunities for iwi and other community groups, with a strengthening of community relationships, says PF Olsen CEO, Ross Larcombe.

Quayside will appoint two Board Directors with complimentary skill sets to the PF Olsen Board. NZL

KOMATSU FOREST AB IS FINALISING have engaged in joint development by sharing the acquisition of Bracke Forest AB, respective technologies and experience headquartered in Bräcke, Sweden, which accumulated over the years, respectively in develops, manufactures, and sells application- forest and construction machines.

After the acquisition, Komatsu specific attachments for silviculture.

As a business, Komatsu engages in will continue to incorporate Bracke’s harvesting and forwarding as well as technologies and expertise in the field of silviculture and forest management. The planting in order to accelerate its pace company also works to mechanise dangerous of mechanisation. The company says it work, facilitate wide use of forestry machines will also work to generate synergy for that contribute to safety, and promote smart smart forestry and provide higher valueforestry that analyses drone and satellite- added products to enhance the safety and productivity of customers’ job site based data for forest management.

Tree planting is expected to expand operations and make carbon-neutral worldwide for lumber production, along with contributions. NZL environmental concerns such as the promotion of carbon neutrality. At the same time, the need for mechanisation is growing, with tree planting being labour-intensive work, with an increase in planting in remote areas, and a decrease in the workforce.

With extensive knowhow of silviculture, Bracke develops, manufactures, and sells application-specific attachments for use in silviculture processes. Since A Bracke attachment shown on a Komatsu excavator.

2014, Bracke and Komatsu

6 NZ LOGGER | August 2022

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forest talk

Forestry in the spotlight From left: Nick Pyke (Chair AGMARDT), Minister Meka Whaitiri, Vivian Hahipene (TM Kaumatua), Wini Geddes (TM Co-Director), Simon Geddes (TM Co-director), Ray Smith (Director-General MPI) and Marama Moses (TM Kaihautū, Pastoral Care).

TĀNE MAHUTA NZ HAS MADE THE FORESTRY INDUSTRY PROUD, taking the Māori Agribusiness Award at the recent 2022 Primary Industries Good Employer Awards. The Bay of Plenty-based contractors were also finalists for the Supreme Award.

Hosted by MPI, the Good Employer Awards recognise employers who drive good employment practices by putting their employees’ health, welfare and wellbeing first.

Tāne Mahuta NZ Directors, Wini and Simon Geddes, were in attendance to accept their award for Māori Agribusiness.

Speaking about their win, Simon and Wini said: “We congratulate the Tane Mahuta team in making this achievement possible. From our Rangatahi Kaimahi in the Ngahere to the administration team supporting each one of us. They are testament to what can be achieved by believing in the Kaupapa.”

With more than 45 years of expertise in the forestry sector, Tāne Mahuta’s kaupapa is to “train, qualify, and employ rangatahi to work on their own whenua”.

In 2014, the company launched a youth-focused programme for rangatahi who were not only unemployed but also facing major social issues including drug addiction, criminal activity, violence, and relationship-breakdown with whānau, hapū, and marae.

The programme has successfully reduced psychosocial issues that affected the ability of rangatahi to be employed and engage in healthy, positive whānau, and community activities and relationships.

To date, Tāne Mahuta has trained, qualified, and employed over 450 rangatahi.

Forest Industry Contractors Association (FICA) CEO, Prue Younger, says it’s “awesome” to see one of its members doing forestry proud.

“Tāne Mahuta have got their people at the forefront of their business, and it shows in the results they’ve achieved through their innovative programmes,” says Ms Younger.

“It’s great to see this positive forestry story on the national stage – they deserve all the recognition and FICA congratulates Directors, Wini and Simon.” NZL

NZ’s largest mass timber office building for Tauranga TAURANGA CITY COUNCIL’S NEW OFFICE BUILDING AT 90 Devonport Road is set to be the largest mass timber office building in New Zealand and will target a net zero carbon footprint for the building’s construction process.

Property development and investment company, Willis Bond, has worked alongside Warren and Mahoney architects to design the 10,000 m2 building, which will use engineered timber in place of most traditional concrete and steel elements, with a view to reducing embodied carbon – carbon emitted through the manufacturing, transportation and installation of building materials and components – to its lowest possible point.

The building will also feature rainwater harvesting, electric vehicle charging and facilities that encourage active transport options. The

building is targeting the highest 6 Green Star – Design and As-Built NZv1.0 – Design Review Rating, demonstrating world leadership in sustainability.

Willis Bond Executive Chair, Mark McGuinness, says the project will set a new precedent for innovative and sustainable building design in New Zealand: “Our goal is always to keep as much carbon in the ground as possible and to walk with a light footprint. What makes this project unique is the scale at which we will be able to achieve this.”

Tauranga City Council last year confirmed the leased building will accommodate all council administration staff under one roof for at least the duration of the 15-year lease.

Construction of the building is expected to commence in late-2022 with completion before the end of 2024. NZL

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forest talk

Let’s innovate!

YOU’VE GOT UNTIL AUGUST 5TH TO REGISTER YOUR WINNING idea with the Forestry Micro Innovation Challenge!

Micro innovation improves work through design at an operational level. It focuses on finding technical or engineering solutions to problems and risks workers face performing tasks.

Innovating at this level can be difficult, with the onus typically placed on the least resourced group – frontline workers and contractors.

Most people do not have the money or networks to develop and build functional products, says Challenge Administrator Brionny Hooper. The Challenge, endorsed by the Forest Industry Contractors Association (FICA) and funded by WorkSafe, seeks to remedy this.

“We know our forestry industry is where it is today largely due to the clever onsite problem-solving of our workforce,” says Ms Hooper. “This is about capturing and supporting such micro innovation in a structured, accessible way.”

Workers can register their innovations easily on the www.betterwork. nz/forestry website using their phones. They can then develop good ideas into great ones by engaging with other innovators online and responding to specific questions and suggestions, she says.

Eight finalists will be chosen by an industry review panel. These ideas will then be resubmitted to the website forum on August 22nd. “Our forestry community will have two-weeks where they can jump back online to give feedback, suggestions, comments, and vote for their favourite innovations,” says Ms Hooper.

On September 2nd, grants of $25,000 will be awarded to three winning innovators to make their idea a reality. They will have 10 weeks

to develop their concept and build a prototype to test. Any intellectual property is kept by the innovator and the prototype will be showcased at the Fast & Forward Forestry Expo in Rotorua, in November.

“As we face the intensifying pressures of our profit-driven value systems, the need to explore approaches that prioritise wellbeing over revenue generation is greater than ever.

“We are keen to see if we can build a more caring economy by channelling investment to our capable and practical workforce, who have been overlooked and unsupported as potential agents of change and growth,” says Ms Hooper.

Research has shown that a perceived lack of control at work can lead to stress, and that stress, in turn, can increase vulnerability to adverse events in the workplace. Supported micro innovation gives workers the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to their work environment. Such a process affords our workforce a profound experience of control and input that produces positive effects on wellbeing, she adds.

Though the innovations will generally be aimed at a niche market, thus lacking the potential to produce big returns, the social impacts have huge implications for health, business development, reputation and safety across our industry, she says. NZL

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forest talk

Choosing woodchip over coal Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan (right) with CODC Property and Facilities Manager, Garreth Robinson, inspecting the new woodchip burner at the CODC headquarters in Alexandra.

IT IS A SIGN OF THE TIMES. THE CENTRAL OTAGO DISTRICT Council (CODC), one of the few rapidly expanding councils in the South Island, has installed a woodchip-fired boiler to replace the older coal-fired boiler used to heat the council’s Alexandra offices in Dunorling Street.

This was not just a random decision. According to CODC Mayor, Tim Cadogan, it was one small part of the programme designed to reduce Council’s carbon footprint: “Council declared a climate crisis in September 2019 and followed that up by endorsing a plan last year to reduce its carbon footprint by 55% over five years. Getting rid of the old coal-fired burner is great to see, and initiatives in other areas, especially in waste, are going to see us achieving that goal.”

CODC Property and Facilities Manager, Garreth Robinson, says the system allowed the Council to reduce its carbon footprint, as well as save money. According to Mr Robinson, it is cleaner, lowemission and more sustainable than its predecessor — up to 93% energy efficient compared with the estimated 60% efficiency of the old coal burner.

Mr Robinson says, “We’re reducing our carbon footprint as well as saving money. The coal price is subject to carbon tax, and this is rapidly driving up fossil fuel prices. And as we know, coal is a non-renewable fuel, with high dust emissions. It also requires regular manual de-ashing and the grate being raked out, which is a labour cost. The ash must be disposed of to landfill, with a disposal

cost. Not only that, coal is unpleasant to handle and exposure to coal dust has potential respiratory risks. Making the conversion to the Alexandra ETA HACK wood chip boiler, which was installed

by EcoTec, one of New Zealand’s leading wood energy solutions providers, was a win-win.”

He also points out that wood chip fuel is at present not subject to carbon tax. It has very low dust emissions. The Alexandra system is fully automated. The automatic heat exchanger cleaning system maximises efficiency, and the automatic ignition with ceramic heat gun uses very little electricity. Wood chip fuel will be sourced from Otago plantation forests and is therefore fully renewable and carbon neutral – carbon released during combustion is absorbed as new trees are planted in the forest to replace those chopped down.

“The other efficiency is that the ash is automatically removed into the ash bin. Premium wood chip fuel from pine wood has very low ash content. Ash is organic and may be used on our property grounds to help fertilise shrubs and plants (best mixed in with some bark of wood chips),” explains Mr Robinson.

The boiler only requires two scheduled services per year (if used in the winter season only), and the boiler controls are connected to the internet, allowing for remote monitoring to maximise “up-time” and facilitate staff assistance if required.

“This is the start of a cleaner, greener chapter for us with new efficiencies. Sustainability is a key outcome for the Council and our community,” says Mayor Cadogan. NZL

Fending off fentanyl UNFORTUNATELY STRONGER DRUGS LIKE FENTANYL AND OTHER opiates are becoming more prevalent in New Zealand workplaces says The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA), which processes over 250,000 drug tests a year.

The Agency says there are five top points to know about fentanyl: 1. TDDA has seen limited and low testing for the drug in the past, but given its explosion in places like the USA and Australia, the company has been anticipating the rise of fentanyl for some time.

2. Opioids, such as fentanyl, are incredibly addictive and widely available. Employees struggling with an opioid addiction pose several risks to a workplace, and may exhibit behavioural changes, rapid mood swings, confusion, paranoia, shallow breathing, anxiety, and depression.

3. Fentanyl can be legally prescribed or illegally taken. But, someone on fentanyl shouldn’t be working in a safety sensitive area,

driving, or operating heavy machinery.

4. Ensure your workplace substance-use policy is up-to-date and covers prescription medications as well as fentanyl. And ensure your drug testing partner screens for fentanyl with modern drug testing technology. Not all testing devices screen for fentanyl. Drugs such as tramadol, fentanyl and benzodiazepines including alprazolam, triazolam and clonazepam, do not cross-react with certain screening devices – a test can return as a non-negative, or simply an unclear result. That means it may be missed by the tester and the employer if the drug screening is not sent for laboratory analysis or further investigation.

5. A person may produce a positive drug test and have a legitimate prescription for that drug. In these cases, it is recommended that a Medical Review Officer (MRO) is consulted to confirm the drug test result is consistent with the dosage as prescribed by a doctor. NZL

10 NZ LOGGER | August 2022

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forest talk

Hassle-free harvesting

WARATAH FORESTRY EQUIPMENT’S NEW HTH618C SERIES-III harvester head is well-suited for mixed diameters. It offers a variety of new features paired with a compact and durable design. This new generation of the HTH618C is built for increased productivity, reliability, uptime and more.

“The HTH618C Series-III is highlighted by a new valve that delivers more responsiveness and operating efficiency,” says Brent Fisher, Product Marketing Manager for Waratah. “Additionally, with new twin-diameter measuring and improved hose routing, servicing and guarding, we’re looking forward to delivering another head that is truly Built To Work.”

The new head features twin lower delimb arms and a highperformance valve for delimbing with agile and responsive log control – tackling a wide range of harvesting jobs. The maximum delimb opening

of 660 mm can handle larger stems. Improved cutting performance and tilt control also contribute to increased productivity.

Low-powered base carriers offer good processing output and productivity with better feeding performance and feed motor options.

With a new valve that simplifies serviceability, along with improved hose routine the HTH618C Series-III features enhanced valve cover assembly and easier access to make quick work of servicing. Likewise, hose protection helps keep the head running and increases durability.

Easier access to the rear of the valve near the head module as well as inlet hoses also helps increase uptime while a larger oiler filler improves ease of filling bar and chain oil.

The Waratah HTH618C Series-III is currently available to customers in New Zealand, Australia, Asia Pacific, Europe, the United States, Canada, Brazil and Latin America. NZL

Expanding on excavators UNDER A NEW GLOBAL AGREEMENT, JOHN DEERE AND WACKER Neuson will collaborate on the development of excavators less than 5-metric-tonnes, including battery electric excavators, that will be manufactured by Wacker Neuson. Additionally, John Deere will have control of the design, manufacturing, and technology innovation for the 5-9-metric-tonne models.

“Excavators are an integral part of our customers’ job sites, and we anticipate growing demand to continue,” says Domenic Ruccolo, Senior Vice President, Sales, Marketing, and Product Support, Global Construction Equipment, John Deere. “As we look to the future of our excavator line-up, this agreement will allow us greater flexibility, including through North America.”

12 NZ LOGGER | August 2022

Jerred Pauwels, Vice President, Excavators, Strategy and Business Development, John Deere, adds, “We’re excited about the expanded agreement as it supports our goal of bringing productivity-driven features and industry-leading technology to customers with greater agility. Through this relationship, we’ll innovate faster, and offer additional features and performance differentiation for our customers,” he says.

Distribution, parts, service, and support will continue through the John Deere dealer network.

The Wacker Neuson Group is an international manufacturer of compact and construction machines, for 0-9-metric-tonne excavators, headquartered in Germany. NZL

tdxltd.co.nz/ourstory

The new name for TransDiesel

Environmental Forestry 2022

Environment first

Sarah Pitcher-Campbell from Eagle Technology speaking in the Tech Talks session.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED BY INDUSTRY leaders as the greatest challenge to our social license to operate. With this in mind, the Forest Industry Engineering Association (FIEA) recently hosted its first-ever Environmental Forestry Conference on opportunities for improving environmental forestry practices in New Zealand.

Issues raised during the event ranged from the role of corporate and regulatory governance to ways for people and communities to make positive change.

This inaugural forestry technology and best practices conference was well-attended with 200 delegates attending in person or watching online despite the intrusion of COVID and the flu for some. Delegates included forest managers, harvesting managers, monitoring specialists and regulatory managers from local government. A wide range of speakers brought insights in the form of challenges to the industry to perform better in the face of changing and deteriorating climate conditions, with increased frequency and intensity of rain events up and down the country.

FIEA introduced a new feature for this event in the form of a panel of young foresters supported by the Future Foresters national group whose members provided their views on the path to 2050 for improving environmental performance as an industry.

Strong support for the event was evident from the NZ Forest Owners Association (NZFOA) and the International Erosion Control Association.

NZFOA President, Grant Dodson, delivered the keynote address highlighting the contrast between how the forestry industry views its environmental credentials and how the public is invited to portray the landscape. He emphasised that this can be more acute following largescale harvesting of hillsides along highways. Recent weather events have added to the poor image and post-harvest erosion and debris movement issues.

At the same time forestry provides New Zealand with the greatest opportunity in carbon sequestration and Mr Dodson expressed concern at the potential for complications if local government is given consent control over new forest establishment. He said the industry has plenty of work to do in this space.

Te Uru Rakau’s Dr Susan Secker gave a presentation expanding on the company’s wilding pine pre-conference workshop held the previous day.

She highlighted the constant communication challenges her team faces in dealing with the issue of interpretation of National Environmental Standard for Production Forestry (NES-PF) matters relating to erosion and sediment which she said can be poorly understood and interpreted

by Council teams.

Sally Strang, Environmental Manager for Manulife Forest Management

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(NZ) (formerly Hancock), outlined the challenges for specific environmental matters in more detail. As Chair of the NZFOA Environment Committee, Sally offered insight into the issues needing clarification and communication in policy and practice. One example she highlighted for clarification was regarding indigenous forestry, explaining that often forestry companies also manage significant areas of native forest within their production forestry estates.

Zivana Pauling, from the Northland Regional Council shared a case study of best practice communications through a sector-wide group including industry and regulatory representatives. The Northland forest industry has been driving this initiative since 2001. The group is proactive in carrying out field visits and inviting case studies from industry for all group participants to be a part of and learn from. This case study was well received by delegates, resulting in a significant Q&A session.

A number of interesting case studies, both from larger corporate forest owners and smaller woodlot operations, were shared on guidelines and innovative operating practices that have been developed and adopted to minimise the environmental impact from forest establishment, roading and wood harvesting operations.

A common theme throughout the event though was the real need for the industry to improve communications and coordinate its messaging to the wider community on the advancements being made by forest owners and contractors to ensure that the environment – onsite and downstream – is being protected. Sally Strang pointed to the conundrum that there was concern in the public domain in 2006 to 2008 about deforestation, while now rural communities’ concerns have reversed.

A late addition to the programme was a case study on relocatable bridges from the team at Farman Turkington Forestry using their innovative Blaze-It bridge design. This practical solution demonstrated how concepts can be put into action for the better of the environment. NZL

The Blaze-it bridge in action.

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Iron Test

“ REAL MAN’ S LOGGING“ ” Story and photos: Tim Benseman

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The Tatra 8x8 forwarder being unloaded at River Ridge. (Photo: Halsten Ogilwy).

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The Tatra 8x8 climbing the hill at River Ridge.

HERE ARE TIMES WHEN YOU JUST SHOULDN’T interrupt a forwarder operator as you can tell that things could turn to sh*t real quick if they are distracted. That is the case in the first two minutes down the “suicide track” on Kent McKerras’ log site on River Ridge, a forest managed by Forest 360 about 25 minutes north of Whanganui.

The NZ Logger Iron Test team arrive at the top load-out skid to test drive a Tatra 8x8 forwarder but I also want to talk to Kent down at the bottom skid and felling face.

We could take our Nissan Patrol down there – it has big boots and bull bars to handle the conditions, but I opt to ride in the passenger seat of the 8-wheel drive Tatra while Iron Tester, Halsten Ogilwy, unloads the second Tatra with the Hyundai 290 which he has fallen in love with.

But first we get busy throwing open the doors on the Tatra, folding down the bull bar and jacking the cab forward with a metre-long jack handle to see what makes this thing tick. It’s a pretty heavy cab. The air-cooled V8 diesel has done about 30,000 km according to the service stickers. The filters are not too difficult to get at and there is a surprisingly large intercooler on top of the engine. I have to climb on top of the headboard to get a decent photo of it. Looking back there is a tailboard as well, so zero chaining and unchaining of logs required which is a great time-saving feature. This bolster and board set-up was built by JDT Engineering in Whanganui and judging by the steep grade we are about to drive down, the tailboard will be getting a lot of use on the loaded uphill climb.

Fast forwarding Compared to purpose-built forwarders, the Tatra is fast. Too fast for my liking on this steep, damp track. While a dedicated forestry forwarder will do 7 to 17.5 kph, this Czech Republic-made unit will do a bit over 30 kph in this terrain unloaded, with a top speed of 110 kph in better grades and harder surfaces. I take a careful look at operator, Malcolm Young, to make sure he hasn’t passed out because we are going way too quick given the slope, knee deep ruts and recent record rainfall. Yep, he looks fully conscious. He is in his early sixties and a fairly competent looking bloke, and very focussed on the track. Just for a fleeting moment the Barry Crump and Scotty Hilux advert springs to mind, “arghh Barry arghh!” I brush that thought aside. This bloke is just used to the track, he knows what’s going on here, surely? I decide against asking questions and get the video camera rolling because this is going to be an epic ride.

The suicide track is quite scary to be honest and let me reassure you I don’t scare easy, having grown up and learnt to drive on Motu Road which the World Rally nicknamed The Car Breaker and the world’s most challenging piece of road. It has 100 metre drops by the dozen, rocks that crack gearboxes open and pour gear oil all over the road and creek crossings that jackknife your trailers – I’ve done all that and I have to admit I was having to bite down just a little bit of chicken on this trip. Probably the hill mud that does it. At least with rock you have a decent chance at traction when you are parked.

The 4 km forwarder track is comprised of papa mud with shades SERIOUS POWER TIMErock LOGGERS of Badlands style erosion andFOR the BIG odd shell outcrop. On the

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Above left: Operator, Malcolm Young hooks the chain up to the Tatra forwarder to get it through the soft spot in the track.

Above centre: Iron Tester, Halsten Ogilwy, jacks the cab forward on the Tatra to see what makes it tick.

Above right: Iron Tester, Halsten Ogilwy, at the wheel of the Tatra forwarder.

Below: The Tatra 8x8 being unloaded at River Ridge in Whanganui. upper reaches there are some deeply concerning cracks on the edge of the track and in some places the ground drops away for 100 metres or so with sparse undergrowth that would fail dismally at halting our progress should we go over the edge. A bit over halfway down, Malcolm swings the wheel hard to the right and then hard to the left and it looks disturbingly like the driver’s side front wheel has gone over the edge – and it’s about 100 metres down to the Whanganui riverbed below.

Well, I guess we still have seven other wheels on the ground, surely? Just relax FFS. Due to some miracle or other we carry on careening down the track, zig-zagging until we reach the flat section which has a bluff on the

right and various dropouts on the left with a mere 20-metre drop into the river. This section is basically a kilometre-long wallow hole that sets the truck sliding towards the crumbling dropped-out edge more than a few times. After seeing the truck go along it a few times it’s actually quite safe when you understand this is not a normal truck but an 8-wheel drive with pretty beefy tyres, a cross between an off-roader mud grip and a log skidder tyre. Pile a bit more respect on Malcolm’s shoulders as he has obviously done this before and knows how far it can be pushed. Finally, we reach the skid and Kent is anxious to get the Tatra loaded and on its way in this first dry weather window he has had this month… and it’s the 25th. He throws on a couple of bunks of K grade while Malcolm and I look on from a safe distance.

Malcolm is Whanganui born and bred and spent a lot of time driving tractors and farm trucks before he started out driving grain trucks in Australia where, “It’s all flat, so it’s kind of hard

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case that I showed up here driving these rocket launcher trucks in this steep country”.

“There’s only two qualifications for this job here,” Malcolm says, “big balls and no brains.” He is obviously underselling himself in the brains department as it has to take quite a few brains to get this unit down that track safely. I’d rather ride with those brains than some science expert, that’s for sure.

The first attempt at forwarding on this site utilised tractors and tip trailers which eased Malcolm into the driver’s seat of the Tatra when something faster was called for.

Crew owner, Kent, started logging with a woodlot crew as soon as he left school about 26 years ago. When his boss became unwell, Kent bought the crew out and renamed it Mckerras’ Contracting. He continued logging Macrocarpa blocks with a wheel loader and a D6C dozer, then discovered diggers and pines and grew from there. Today on the site he has a Hitachi 400 bought new last year running a Waratah 625C, a Tigercat 630c skidder with eco tracks, a Cat D6 and two Hyundai 290 grapple excavators.

All ample-sized gear for logging the two-tonne piece sized trees on this block. Kent does some of the manual felling himself, drops as much with the Waratah as he can and uses local contract fallers when required.

Eight to 10 forwarder loads a day go up the track when it’s “dry” which explains why Malcolm was hurrying back. “The track is too steep to get much speed up-loaded and we have to limit how much Kent puts on, otherwise we end up needing a push or a pull depending on what side of us the D6 is situated,” he says.

The Tatra brand has been building trucks for over 120 years.

Challenges galore Malcolm heads off with his load and Kent gets down from the 290. I mention the contrast of this block with Kaingaroa where we recently did a wheel loader test on the pumice-lands. “We do real man’s logging down here,” Kent jokes. “Welcome to Whanganui. Nah it’s not the place to be in winter, but this is what’s happened so here we are.

“We have harvested the furthest block in here already, so the forwarding trip is quite a lot shorter now. We are lucky today the rain has held off… it’s raining at sea and pretty much all around us. Once it starts raining here the forwarders stop – it’s just too wet to run them safely or efficiently.”

The second Tatra arrives driven by Michael Tallot who is a similar age to Malcolm and also has a background in farming machinery, bulldozers and skidders, having started driving bulldozers when he was 15 years old.

Kent is obviously a gun loader operator as he biffs on big bunches adroitly and presses them down firmly. He started work at five this

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Above: Parts of the forwarder track are like a long wallow hole due to record rainfall.

Above right: Tatra forwarder operator, Malcolm Young, begins the descent of the “suicide track”.

Right: The view from the top load-out skid to the felling face and processing area where the forwarders are collecting logs.

morning tidying up the stacks for a few hours to make loading out the on-highway trucks a bit quicker.

Kent wouldn’t drive the Tatra’s up that track. “We are just lucky we have got these old fellas that have the experience to drive them otherwise this job wouldn’t get done. Going up that suicide track loaded, you are just sitting in there hoping the truck doesn’t lose traction because if it does, she is all over. They used to have to back up at the hairpin. Michael knocked 4 metres off that corner with the D6 and now you can only just get around it in one go if you line everything up just right.

“When we first used the Tatra’s to two-stage logs at Kenderdine a few years back we put 88 sticks on it, there’s only 70 on a full unit. Another load we did 42 pieces of A40 and could only put 39 on the on-highway truck. So, the Tatra’s will easily cart 33-tonne payload and more on proper arterial roads but not with these dirt roads where traction is an issue. They really are running at their limit here. The Tatra’s do the job though – 10,000 tonnes forwarded so far on this block, but we can only haul 22-24-tonne per load now, any more and we get a call to tow them up due to loss of traction. The V8 diesels drink quite a bit of fuel.

I reckon 250 litres in an 8-hour day which is rather concerning to be honest.”

The actual logging part of the job is downhill to the processing stack, which is a bonus, but Kent is feeling the challenge of the terrain and the weather in getting the wood to market at the top of the hill.

“Sometimes this job seems like a waste of time to me,” he muses.

“All I seem to be doing is moving the wood from here to there, but it is

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what it is and there don’t seem to be a lot of logging jobs around at the moment. We have been on this block about a month and have about 800 tonnes left standing. If it rains again before we get this out of here, then we are here till the wood goes.”

The P35s go to Tenon’s mill in Taupo, the rest of the logs go to export at the Port of New Plymouth.

“Any ideas on where you are going next?”, I ask Kent.

“Nope. Maybe nowhere. If it doesn’t fine up, we will probably have to go and get a purpose-built forwarder with chains and that will be bloody slow. We might still be here in August if this rain keeps up and then the whitebait will be running. It’s about 25 km from the coast here but the river is still tidal. On a big tide the river would be fast-flowing and then the water would stop dead and then rise about 1.3 metres up the bank and flow back upstream.”

In the distant past the river has been used extensively for transportation but there isn’t enough forestry close to the river to warrant a log barge in the area… yet.

There are plenty of places in Whanganui where you can reach down a hill to shovel a log up and the machine slides down to the log instead and you leave the digger there for a week for the ground to dry out... sometimes two weeks. This is the sort of place where you can break the bank if too much debt meets too much wet.

There is an historic burial site on top of the ridge above Kent’s skid and this restricts where machines can go, so Kent will bottle-jack the last few trees on the top. The trees aren’t in the burial site but to get a machine along there it would need to pass through it.

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The Tatra 8x8 climbing the hill at River Ridge.

SERIOUS POWER FOR BIG TIME LOGGERS

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We have visited Kent on a Saturday and he is eyeing the weather to see if he will get dry enough weather to work Sunday too.

“If I work tomorrow we will be lucky to get all this wood out. How the track is now is after two light showers of rain four days ago and it’s passable but only just… we are still having to push the trucks,” he says.

Kent uses the Hyundai to shovel stems, then the Hitachi to process stems while the guys forward, and then they radio him when they are getting close, and he heads back over to load them out.

The forwarder ops are not really gun digger operators, so they just throw the wood off as quickly as possible at the top and Kent or his other loader operator tidy up so everything is flush for the on-highway load-outs.

Fuelling discontent How is the fuel price treating Kent? “Well, a year ago my fuel bill was $15k, then it went up to $31k, then last month it was $48k. That money comes from somewhere. There is a fuel adjustment of a few dollars per tonne in the contract but that is only $8k a month. It’s risen 30 cents a litre since we started this block.”

It’s enough to make a bloke get into drilling for oil.

As the loaded Tatra backs out of the way for the unloaded one to turn around, we see its two steering axles turn but the truck just sledges straight through the thick, thigh-deep mud for about 15 metres before it grabs traction and climbs around the corner.

We get through the wallow holes with quite a few butt clenches as we slide towards the river and a few times I nearly bite a piece out

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of the seat. But Malcolm isn’t swearing so his experience tells me things are under control.

We start the climb and there are a few places where Malcolm has to stop to engage the correct gear… sometimes using two hands on the stick. Everything seems pretty good until we get to the hair pin and the truck engine just staggers and we stop on a steep angle facing the bank with a massive drop behind us. This is why it’s not fully loaded. It would be easy to get flustered right here and it’s important not to. Malcolm wrestles the gear stick calmly and finds the right gear and we start to crawl up the second half of the hill.

We go through a section of even steeper track where you can almost see water rising up out of the ground and you can feel the wheels constantly fighting for traction, giving way here and grabbing again there and only Malcolm’s skill at keeping the revs down maintains traction and motion. A few tight corners get the alarm bells going as there are big cracks in the road and from my side it looks like the driver’s front wheel has already gone over the side again but somehow we scrape by and carry on up the hill.

When Ian Harrex of Log Loaders first bought these Tatra trucks to lease to loggers, they were being used as remote drill rigs in Australia. This model of truck is sometimes used as a rocket launcher truck in various militaries around the world, including the US. The Tatra brand has been making trucks in Czech Republic for over 120 years and that makes it the longestrunning truck maker in the world. When these particular Tatra’s were modified for logs the bolsters were made 3.05 m wide, right at the limit to be driven on-highway without a pilot,

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Mckerras Contracting owner, Kent Mckerras, climbs back into the Hyundai 290 to load another forwarder. but the Tatra’s are classed as forwarders under the LTSC code and are not meant to be used on the highway.

We are only about 200 metres from the top skid when the loaded truck’s wheels sink into knee-deep soft ground on a shaded South face… the only south-facing bit on the whole track. Typical.

Halsten gets on the D6 to assist the Tatra through the soft spot in the track and then hops in the Tatra himself for his tester-drive, which you can read about in his Iron Tester story over the page.

(Just before going to print we heard Kent’s crew has a new forest to harvest on sand country, ideal for the record wet weather). NZL

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iron tester: Halsten Ogilwy

GREAT TRACTION THIS BEING MY FIRST IRON TEST, I was excited to get behind the wheel of an eight-wheel drive off-road truck and experience first-hand what it takes to pilot one through some rough roads and heavy loads.

First impression upon arriving on-site was, “wow that’s a big hill”.

We watched the pair of trucks do their rounds and became familiar with the pace of work.

It’s an impressive operation to watch, making for some wicked photos watching these jacked-up 8-legged monsters slog up 4 km worth of wet ungraded tracks.

This being a “highway truck” modified for work in forestry, the cabin layout and driver positioning felt familiar right off the bat. I appreciated the step and handrail layout as they made for easy access to and from the driver’s seat. The cabin is spacious with ample visibility out the windscreen. The air suspension seat is comfortable with plenty of travel to cushion the bumps.

Even with the extended bolsters I could still make out what I needed to from the mirrors, but once on the track they need to be kept folded in to avoid destruction.

Rear vision is also aided via a camera mounted in the headboard which I particularly appreciated. As with most European trucks the console seems to wrap around the driver leaving everything within arm’s reach. Overall the cabin layout gets a thumbs up from me. I also thought it was worth noting that this truck is relatively quiet inside and out.

These units are outfitted with Tatra’s own 13-litre, V8, air-cooled engine producing 400 HP and 2100 Nm of torque. The absence of a

water-based cooling system has proven to be a significant advantage for the brand. Not having to maintain a cooling system and its plumbing is a major asset in rural applications where the off-road component use is constant and unforgiving. The engine is instead cooled by drawing air from the front of the truck, through a shrouded multi-blade fan, past the cooling fins on the cylinders and through a massive intercooler. This system not only keeps the engine in its most efficient combustion zone but also minimises heat-soak at slow speeds.

This ultimately results in a super-robust engine with oodles of reliable power.

The forwarder has minimal stability loss when loaded compared to unloaded. It has a 10-speed gearbox with high and low ratio like most highway trucks. This is part of why it will seem a bit spendy in the fuel consumption department – it is really designed for the highway and higher gears where traction and grade isn’t an issue.

The trade-off here is you have greater speed than what a self-loading forwarder will have, while sacrificing a wee bit of traction, or having to spend a bit more on roading infrastructure.

I think if you add up the extra speed and the few extra tonnes per trip you can cart, the Tatra will come out the winner in the end. The only real killer is weather and even though we have had record rainfall this winter, Kent has still managed to scratch out a decent stockpile at the top of the hill for the on-highway trucks to get wood to market and pay the bills.

I’m well versed with the recent service history of these 2 trucks, as I work for CRV Equipment, the Whanganui-based heavy diesel mechanic firm tasked with forestry

Iron Tester, Halsten Ogilwy, at the wheel of the Tatra forwarder. equipment maintenance and repairs.

Speaking from experience these trucks are easy to maintain. Over the past four years they have had minimal major breakdowns, with only broken spring packs and a clutch replacement coming to mind.

The Tatra’s unique chassis design also deserves a mention. The main principle is the use of a central load carrying tube with independently suspended swinging half axles bolted together into a single unit. This system was designed in 1923 by world-famous Tatra designer Hans Ledvinka, it is still used in new vehicles to this day and is what gives the truck its amazing performance off-road – the wheels can handle uneven ground so well as they have so much independent travel with this design. I can confirm the half axles are wicked to watch independently oscillating away in the mirrors and this is truly unique to the Tatra chassis. And she also has 4 diff locks which, when paired with those expensive looking tyres, makes for great traction in all but the worst of conditions. NZL

The downhill logging job is well laid out and well-resourced with equipment.

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IFICATION

SPEC S

SPECIFICATIONS – TATRA 8X8 MODEL T3C-928-90 ENGINE 8 cylinder Tatra 13 Litre Diesel engine. Euro 3 V type air-cooled, turbo charged, charge air cooling and electronic cooling control.

Bore/Stroke: 120/140 Power: 300kw 400HP @1800rpm 2100nM Max Torque: Max travel speed: 110KPH. TRANSMISSION: Type: Mechanical ten-speed synchronised gearbox with gear-shift booster and PTO outlet. Normal (H ) and reduced (L ) gears are engaged electropneumatically using the preselector on the gearshift lever. (Not to be double declutched except when changing from 2nd gear down to 1st gear) CHASSIS AND AXLES: 8x8 central load carrying tube with independently suspended swinging half axles bolted together into a single unit.

Axle differentials are driven through the inter-axle differential All 4 axles have diff lock.

Tyre size: GVW:

12 R 22.5 38,000kg

BRAKES: Service Brake: Pneumatic, dual-circuit, acting on wheels of all axles, footcontrolled, coupled to the trailer brake system.

Parking Brake: Spring-loaded brake cylinders acting on wheels of rear axles, controlled by the manual brake valve.

Engine brake: Exhaust-type, controlled by a lever under the steering wheel.

REFILL CAPACITIES (LITRES): Engine oil: Gearbox oil: Aux gearbox oil: Diff oils: Fuel tank:

24.5 11.6 9.6 9.5L to 12.5 220

Above left: Straightforward and user-friendly dash panel.

Above centre: Looking down onto the intercooler from the headboard.

Above right: Iron Tester, Halsten Ogilwy, uses the D6 to tow the Tatra out of the soft spot in the track.

Below: Hiding behind this idyllic logging scene is one of the scariest forwarder tracks known to man.

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Tree Falling

30 NZ LOGGER | August 2022

Story: Hayley Leibowitz

W

ORKING IN HARVESTING CREWS on the East Coast for over 32 years, doing predominantly tall tower difficult terrain logging, Tairawhiti Timber Training’s Alan Paulson would often come across edge trees that were difficult to fall.

“Five years ago, myself and my wife started our own business training, auditing, mentoring and doing specialised tree falling. This was at a time where I was looking forward to giving back to an industry that I had enjoyed so much. I saw a need for purpose-built tree jacks as a jack is a very safe way of falling difficult trees, requires minimal effort compared to pounding on wedges with a big hammer, and saves cost, especially for a cable crew who do not have to stop yarding as all their edge trees are already on the ground.

Above: A big old crop recently jacked over on a farm.

Left: The 53-tonne Borntrager tree jack on an average edge tree.

August 2022 | NZ LOGGER 31

Breaking Tree Falling Out

Alan started “playing around” trying bottle jacks that “weren’t that successful” and, before long, imported a 28-tonne Borntrager tree jack from the United States which “worked really well but didn’t quite have the capacity for a lot of the work I was doing”.

After discussions with Andy Costello at Hikurangi Forest Farms (now Aratu Forests), a forest owner Alan was working with, who had a number of archaeological sites in a coastal forest that needed to be preserved, Alan “took a punt” on purposebuilt tree jacks and imported the 100-tonne Borntrager tree jack – made up of two 50-tonne cylinders that could be operated individually or together.

“This ended up working extremely well as we felled a lot of trees while keeping the sites one hundred percent preserved with no soil disturbance. Then we moved onto jacking edge trees along fence lines, keeping the fences preserved and, again, this worked well with big cost benefits to the forest owner and contractor who didn’t

32 NZ LOGGER | August 2022

have to stop logging and back-pull these trees.

Plenty of pluses Tree jacking is “actually pretty simple” says Alan, but you must be a very confident and competent faller.

He explains: “Generally if you have the likes of an edge tree that is heavily branched on the back side and there is no way you can fall it by wedging it over, you will just make a conventional quarter cut and scarf. Accurately measure a box to cut out of the back of the tree for the jack, seat the jack and apply some pressure and take the weight, then finish the last quarter cut and continue pumping the handle and jack the tree over.”

The advantages of jacking over wedging include: • Safety: Jacking edge trees is very safe as the faller is in total control and not relying on a third party in a machine.

• Cost: If a logging crew can have all their trees on the ground before logging and

not have to stop and back-pull a tree, it is a big saving.

• Minimal effort: Compared to stacking up wedges to get a tree over.

• Well-suited to edge trees and marginal trees on the fence line: The average edge tree is straight up and down with heavy branching at the back and hard to wedge over – but easy with a jack.

• Suited to challenging topography: “On the East Coast we get a lot of steep ridge tops the falling machine can’t get to and then these jacks come into their own,” says Alan.

• Less fatigue: Pounding on wedges gets “pretty tiring”.

Asked about disadvantages, Alan has to think: “To be honest I don’t see any disadvantages. The jacks are high-capacity but designed to be carried easily – it is a two-person job. One person pumps the jack handle and the other keeps an eye on the canopy above, as generally there are interlocked branches that can break and dislodge.

“The Borntrager jacks are very safe to use. I have only ever had a mechanical linkage break on the 100-tonne which was no big deal and to date the hydraulics have been faultless.”

As for training, he says, “I guess I have learnt a lot over the last five years having jacked in excess of 5000 trees and there are a few things that I have learnt that make the process a lot easier. I have worked with some fallers that pick this up straightaway and some that don’t.

“When falling any tree, being aware of your surroundings is a big thing and when falling edge trees, interlocked branches are always a risk to watch for. A real benefit of using the purpose-built jacks is that they have a built-in pressure gauge that tells you a lot about what the tree is doing, especially on a day when you might have a bit of wind, where you can watch the gauge when the pressure comes on, stop pumping and as the tree sways and pressure comes off, start pumping again.”

Fit for purpose As to how widespread the practise is in New Zealand, he says, “People have been

Above: 100-tonne Borntrager tree jacks positioned in the back of a tree.

Opposite top: Blue from Lloyd Logging using the 100-tonne Borntrager jacks in Northland, jacking edge trees away from a fence line. These were road edge trees jacked on different days with no machine access.

Opposite bottom: Alan Paulson jacking a tree.

Tree Falling jacking trees for years here in New Zealand and overseas but at present I believe that Borntrager is the only company that makes a purpose-built tree jack in different sizes.

The purpose-built jacks are designed just for jacking trees as they are made out of aluminium to keep the weight down and if you nick the top plate with your saw no damage is done. The 53-tonne jack which I use the most only weighs 15kg with the swivelling top plate as opposed to a 50-tonne bottle jack weighing 30kg or more with no top plate.”

While the jacks come in different sizes from 28-tonne to 100-tonne, Alan says the 53-tonne is the most commonly used in New Zealand, being aluminium and fairly easy to carry around. These work well on Pine, Redwood and Douglas fir, he adds.

“If I’m jacking a Eucalyptus I will secure the base of the tree with chain as they tend to want to split. The jacks are designed with a square plate on the bottom which forms the base of the jack and the square top is on a cone so it can move as the tree is going over. I have both the 100-tonne and the 53-tonne jacks and have found on the occasional big old tree I can utilise both jacks together and get 150-tonne of lift which hasn’t been often but is handy.

He says there are a few New Zealand contractors who have bought jacks: “Recently I spent a little bit of time with Isaac Lloyd’s brother, Blue, who does his falling in Northland for Lloyd Logging.

I spoke to Isaac recently and he said he wished they had been using the jack years ago as now they aren’t working weekends back-pulling edge trees, they don’t have to walk a machine from another job, and they don’t have to stop the yarder, so it has worked out to be very cost-effective.”

Alan is also working on a project with Rob Prebble and Forest Growers Research where the aim is to remote control the jack and take the man well away from the tree.

“Unfortunately COVID has delayed this a fair bit,” he says.

A video of the tree jacking process can be viewed on the Safetree website. NZL

Top: A large edge tree needing both the 100-tonne and 53-tonne jacks which gives 150-tonne maximum lift.

This was along a fence line with no machine access.

Right: Alan Paulson jacking some difficult trees in the Waikato for A&D Logging's Ryan Donnelly.

34 NZ LOGGER | August 2022

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P TO 30% OF IMPORTED FOSSIL FUELS could be processed in this country mostly from woody biomass derived from plantation forests according to research completed in 2018.

The principle feedstock is from exotic plantation forests, and other mostly vegetative sources. Researchers predicted savings of over $1 billion, which is currently attracting serious attention from government agencies and the forest sector.

The emphasis is partly based on climate change but interest is being spurred by escalating fuel prices, conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, supply problems of both fuels and gas, not to mention disruptions due to the worldwide pandemic and inflation.

New Zealand’s plantation forestry resources are renewable, sustainable and have a low carbon footprint through the cycle of establishment and management through to harvesting and processing. These forests sequester C02 during the growth period and

some of it is retained in products such as sawn lumber, Cross-laminated Timber (CLT) and Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF). Mills often generate their own process and drying heat energy from residues created during log processing. By-products include wood biomass to replace coal for heat energy.

The time for bioenergy is ripe according to the current Bioenergy Association but it is dependent on Government policies and public and private investment to achieve the economies of scale to produce liquid fuels such as heavy fuel oils for shipping, diesel, petrol and even aviation fuel.

The technology for conversion of woody feedstock into a bio-crude and then into liquid biofuels has been undergoing small scale experiments over the past couple of decades.

An earlier Scion study into the economics of feedstock conversion found that in-forest sources of residues, including low grade and reject log, offcuts and slovens as well as large size branches, were the most costeffective. Other sources included oil-rich

crops such as rapeseed and canola, cane crops, orchard and municipal gardens/ reserves as well as wood from demolition ending up in landfills, organic vegetation and cooking oils.

The Bioenergy Association's Brian Cox indicates future innovation to reach economies of scale cannot be left to the market. It will rely on support from government and its agencies to get started with some form of encouragement through regulations, legislation and innovative startup funding.

Biofuels was listed on the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan in the May budget, mainly targeting solid energy to replace coal fed heating systems.

Quoting from the latest paper from the International Consultancy firm Indufor, Ernslaw One's Peter Weir notes that "under current settings" (limited trials) "conversions of biomass to liquid biofuels is uneconomic".

Referring to the Government's climate

Residue offcuts, reject log shovelled off a narrow skid-site, now being recovered.

36 NZ LOGGER | August 2022

Story and photos: Jim Childerstone

for liquid biofuels budget, Grant Dodson, President of the NZ Forest Owner's Association (FOA), says the FOA welcomes this investment

by Government and looks forward to its members partnering, where appropriate, on delivery of these initiatives. Among these was "development of systems to recover more forest residues for bioenergy" and enabling Crown investment.

"The FOA actively promotes the significant contribution forestry makes towards climate change objectives. The Association continuous to facilitate the investment of levy funds into research including research into bioenergy. In addition, the association is a key partner in the Forest Industry Transformation Plan of which bio-energy initiatives form a part. Liquid bio-energy forms part of the wider package,” Grant explains.

"Expertise has been developed at Scion through research funding and it is reasonable to expect that increasing numbers of liquid bio-energy products will eventuate," he adds.

Above: Billet wood residue on the skid site – a potential chipping resource.

Below: Offcuts, slovens and reject log suitable for biofuel processing.

August 2022 | NZ LOGGER 37

Liquid Biofuels

A RECENT BIOENERGY ASSOCIATION Webinar noted that there is enough biomass, close to 11 million tonnes per year, to meet an initial assumed target of 150 petajoules (PJ) of energy to replace fossil fuels. This would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 157m tonnes CO2 p/a by 2050, says a

paper by Crown Researchers. And 70% of feedstock is derived from current plantation forests. In 2021 forests registered in the ETS sequestered 6.7m tonnes of CO2 and stored another approximately 417m tonnes.

Of the approximately 11.6 million green tonnes of material estimated to be available

Above: Third lift thinning can be recovered for biofuels.

Below: Reject logs and offcuts ready for chipping.

38 NZ LOGGER | August 2022

during the period 2026 to 2030, 4.4 million tonnes (38%) is K grade logs, 1.8 million tonnes (15%) is pulp logs (which are surplus to domestic demand), and 2.6 (22%) million tonnes is in-forest post-harvest residues and a range of forestry and primary production based residuals, including straw (0.5 million tonnes or 4%).

Wood processing residues are largely used for mills’ internal energy demand.

Other sources include municipal wood waste, shelterbelt and orchard turnover as well as wood and bark residues generated at ports. To achieve full use of the potential energy depends on government policies and willingness of industries to get stuck into bioenergy projects. In the meantime these figures are mostly estimates of potential availability based on assumptions derived from a number of studies.

The volumes of residues and logs available are projected to drop over the next 25 years due to the current "wall of wood" coming on-stream from 2019-2021. However, with further government help, including the One Billion Trees Programme, the volumes are expected to ramp back up by 2050, in part due to increasing hectares of planting seen in 2021/22.

The forest by-product of residues, including rejects and low grade logs, would go through a standard chipping or shredding process. After screening, and in some cases drying. The woody biomass then goes into one of a variety of potential processes; for example gasification and Fischer-Tropsch, hydro-thermal liquefaction or fast pyrolysis and upgrading.

Further, a Bioenergy Association paper observes that ''the economics of extracting biochemicals from biomass to replace petroleum-derived chemicals and plastics etc. is fast emerging internationally, although New Zealand is behind in recognising the economic opportunities".

It notes the gap between current bioenergy use (50 petajoules) and the assumed immediate potential bioenergy demand (150 PJ) driven by process heat transition from coal. The emerging demand (and potential liquid biofuels sales obligation) for transport biofuels, and need to replace natural gas, can be met by better using existing biomass residues.

IMPROVING BIOMASS RECOVERY RESPONSES FROM OWNERS AND managers indicate they are upfront with what is required from in-forest biomass recovery, particularly with harvest operations.

The FOA's Grant Dodson says the economic recovery of wood suitable for wood energy use is increasing and is expected to increase exponentially in coming years as demand increases. "Individual members will have opportunities to explore opportunities during harvest as they seek to maximise recoveries from their forests. The mix of bioenergy end uses that each company supplies will depend on the regional demand profile," he says.

Speaking on behalf of Port Blakely, Timaru-based Andrew Cocking, stresses the importance of this developing technology.

Port Blakely "is actively recovering residue material (bin wood) from its logging operations. Logging crews recover this material like all other grades on a cutting instruction" since 2019, he explains.

"This material and sometimes long-length chip logs are carted away from the landing and stored on older skid sites in the forest where it is dried for 9 to 12 months," he adds. It is then on-sold to energy companies who are invited to chip logs on site.

The chips go to the Washdyke Energy Centre owned by Alexander-based Pioneer Energy.

Andrew says the company provides fibre material in its forests to both Arundel-based

Wareing Transport's specially adapted bin truck with mounted crane to salvage billet wood off the skid site.

Canterbury Woodchip Supplies and Pioneer Energy.

With steep country hauler operations, bin wood tended to be cast over the side of the skid, says Andrew. "This now can be recovered by specially adapted bin trucks developed by local trucking company Phillip Wareing out of Geraldine Forest."

"They now have a double bin wood/

crane unit to meet our growing recovery programme across two more hauler crews," he says.

"Working with energy producers directly and the customers is a good model. Port Blakely residue is helping to fuel the energy needs of the DB Brewery Plant in Timaru. We like (it that) our forests are helping to make beer," he jokes.

Liquid Biofuels Dunedin City Forest's Kent Chalmers says there was merchantable volume, particularly billet wood, which had not been sold because it could not be shifted off site fast enough. "So our focus has been on building our customer base to keep this volume turning over. To this end we supply Daiken (MDF plant, Mataura), Pioneer Energy and Lumbr Ltd. "We have also started stockpiling volume in-forest. Our view is that central yards are the best bet, if I'm going to put a log on a truck I might as well cart it closer to the end user.

"We are seeing demand is ramping up before yard infrastructure, so we are storing volume in the bush as there are no places to put it,” he explains. "We are still chasing the idea of getting as much volume loaded by the crew as we can.

"My vision of how the market will develop is that we will continue to get as much off the site as possible when the crew is there, and that specs of what customers will take will get wider as demand increases."

Kent believes that as demand ramps up and crews get better at loading and sorting volumes, biofuel processors could be invited to collect residue off the site.

These operations could then move into the cutover. This would then provide enough volume to make that viable. "Rising prices for this material will make it possible to reach further into the cutover as well," he says.

Wenita Forest Products CEO, David Cormack, told NZ Logger that Wenita has been watching recent developments in

Drying reject log/billet wood stacked on the old Port Blakely skid site in Geraldine Forest. the forest residue space with interest, especially in terms of large industrial coalfired boilers in the Southern provinces.

"Earlier this year we gave permission for a company to extract residues from a handful of our old skid sites," he says.

"We did this on a trial basis to see how it worked out for them, as well as ourselves.

The trial confirmed that only modest volumes remained on our skid sites, after our usual pulp logs, billets and firewood had been extracted and sold.

He advises that to increase volumes and reliability of supply, energy users will have to consider low-grade export logs into the mix, even KI Grade.

"Even some of the major forest owners will struggle to meet the supplies of these energy users and we will have to consider how we can cooperate and combine our volumes," he says. "This is a new

Close-up of the bin truck used on hauler sites.

40 NZ LOGGER | August 2022

business opportunity for forest owners and those we contacted are interested to support and grow biofuel production."

Hamish Anderson of Independent Forest Service's One Forest says reject log and billet wood had been put aside mainly for Daiken's MDF Mataura plant in Southland, but recently had supplied Pioneer Energy from a Central Otago site.

Ernslaw One’s Peter Weir believes the economics of converting woody biomass from clean harvesting residues and chipping of whole logs to liquid transport fuels at scale are very different, as outlined in the new Indufor Report.

Peter explains that woody biomass left over after harvesting in combination with lower grade logs when chipped at scale are "probably a cheaper fuel source". It would conveniently allow industrial heat plant users to switch from coal to wood chip.

Back in 2008 the company partnered with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation authority (EECA) to develop a fast pyrolysis plant that produced bio-oil from chipped radiata which could then be used to co-fire a boiler, Peter says. This was "further refined to create a synthetic diesel substitute that could be used as a drop-in fuel for large old diesels such as KiwiRail locomotives or in ships such as bunker fuel oil ". He reiterates that "although we proved the technology, the economics of the time were against us" with the advent of cheaper shale oil and after the 2008-2012 GFC .

Peter was on the advisory board at Canterbury University's department of Chemical and Process Engineering which developed a wood gasifier which made a near optimal ratio of CO2 and hydrogen to feed into the well-proven Fischer-Tropsch process to produce synthetic sulphurfree diesel. NZL

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FICA.ORG.NZ

your voice The voice of forestry contractors since 2002

Relationships are Everything A MESSAGE FROM PRUE YOUNGER, CEO, FICA

I applaud the Acting National Director of the Forest Industry Safety Council (FISC), John Lowe, for saying it as it is, as he took the opportunity to put pen to paper. I was so impressed to hear it from FISC that I felt it was important to copy to the industry. FICA will continue to make sure the challenges of the industry are communicated clearly and others are made aware of supply chain pressures. It’s important that we get into a room together and have these courageous conversations.

John’s piece follows: Relationships are everything in forestry, especially when it comes to safety. From the Workers who plant and harvest the forests, to the Contractors who employ them, the Forest Managers who select the Contractors and the Forest Owners big and small. I’ve often thought the supply chain is just a fancy way of describing how all these relationships interact. Everyone in forestry has a part to play when it comes to making the forest safer.

In forestry these relationships mostly work well but understanding how decisions at one level affect the safety of another, offers the biggest opportunity to improve the safety of the workers in the forest.

This really struck me in late June when I was chatting to a forestry contractor in the Wairarapa about CentrePort Wellington being full of wood. Trucks were being turned away, harvesting was continuing and skid sites in the lower North Island were filling up with piles of logs. The forestry supply chain is so complex and connected, but somehow – even with all the comms technology available – the communication flow from port to exporter, to transport companies to forest manager, to harvesting contractor had fallen over. Worker safety was at risk as they continued to harvest among growing piles of wood that couldn’t be transported. Similar problems emerged in Tairawhiti in 2021 when Gisborne Port was closed for maintenance.

In thinking about why this could happen, forestry has developed some fairly hard demarcations between forest owner, forest manager and the contractor who employs the people who plant, prune or harvest. The decisions made around harvest planning, infrastructure investment, production targets, and log rates directly affect those who do the mahi… but are made by others.

An old forestry saying is “the log will always pay”. The value of the log goes up and down but how it’s split between forest owner, manager, contractor and worker can determine whether the contractor has sufficient funds for training, quality PPE, and to move to safer mechanised harvesting practices. Relationships in forestry get tested 42 NZ LOGGER | August 2022

in times like the present when the price of logs has reduced and is highly volatile.

Safetree has run workshops across New Zealand over the past few months. Having talked to hundreds of crew members, contractors and forest management supervisors, the same concerns crop up: • Production pressure and quotas: Contractors can be stood down for periods or are often asked to work at 80% production when log prices are low, yet they are still responsible for most of their operating costs. Crew members absolutely feel this pressure.

• Worker fatigue: Mechanisation has reduced some of the physically exhausting work but has increased chronic fatigue from sitting in machines for extended periods, under pressure to produce. Urbanisation and employing contractors who live far from the harvest site mean increased travel times, putting workers at risk of fatigue.

• Work continuity: This is especially problematic for contractors who have invested heavily in mechanised equipment, with some machines costing a million dollars plus. High machine repayments and limited contractual commitments increase contractor risks, especially on top of falling log prices, fluctuating exchange rates, high truck cartage and rising shipping costs.

It’s easy in forestry to default to the attitude that “I run a great operation and the problem is with the other guys”.

The industry is working hard to ensure the relationships between Forest Owners, Forest Managers, Contractors and Workers are being constantly improved and a safety lens is considered when decisions at one level affect another.

At the end of the day it's essential that communication is well-managed and all parties in the supply chain understand the commercial decisions being made so they can plan their way through and ensure the safety of all workers.

First published in the July/August 2022 edition of Safeguard magazine. Reproduced with permission.

Prue Younger CEO, FOREST INDUSTRY CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION

your voice The voice of forestry contractors since 2002

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August 2022 | NZ LOGGER 43

top spot

Embracing innovation Safety/performance/quality

WHILE WE COMPLETE FINAL ASSESSMENTS for harvesting and thinning to waste for the first half of 2022, there are a couple of things we thought worth sharing with everyone in order to improve going forward.

Machine lockout: Our assessors continue to come across operators who are not using correct machine and processor head lockout processes when undertaking maintenance.

Mostly, this is a case of “you only know what you know” rather than the operator ignoring processes. Unfortunately, in some cases we have come across operators who have been assessed as competent for this as part of their operational assessment while not using proper processes.

We encourage you all to take a look at how you undertake this.

On the plus side, we are seeing a number of thin to waste contractors introducing innovations to assist their crews with improved and safer work.

Examples of these include: • Using a small excavator to push machine-assist edge trees off the side of the road. This has had a positive impact on thinners and has increased their production as a result. An unintended benefit of this has been the engagement of this machine to clear access tracks for the forest owner for the thin to waste operation.

• The introduction of heated handles for saws – a positive impact for this crew during winter in the deep south.

• Paid day off on the worker’s birthday for participating in Top Spot. A positive incentive that has assisted with engagement and taking on the challenges/messaging of the programme.

As these examples show, there is a range of innovations being thought of and adopted around the country that are all resulting in improved and safer performance (turn to page 46 to see more).

We encourage any contractors to consider the benefit of innovations (no matter how small) in improving engagement of their workers.

Ka mau te wehi! Awesome individuals, awesome teams and awesome people behind the scenes supporting them in what they do!!

44 NZ LOGGER | August 2022

They believe in what we do and what you do.

So, a big ongoing thank you to our Strategic Partners – STIHL and NZ Logger and sponsor SWAZI. The best way to keep our industry working is to get out and support those businesses that support New Zealand.

Sponsors – they don’t have to do this but they choose to!

Awesome companies, awesome people and awesome support!

They back you and your workmates to succeed as professionals, so why wouldn’t you support them?

Participating Companies This competition wouldn’t be what it is without our participating companies.

We understand the commitment it takes from them to be part of Top Spot and value their ongoing support and feedback.

Our ongoing thanks to: Rayonier/Matariki Forests, Wenita Forest Products, Ernslaw One,

Bluewood Logging's Shannon Todd working at Conical hill, Tapanui.

Levi O'Loughlan from Moutere Logging with his new JD 948L-II. A first for Levi as he has come from a sawmilling background.

top spot

Safety/performance/quality OneFortyOne New Zealand, Crown Forestry, Forest View Contracting, Makerikeri Silviculture (2020), Mitchell Silviculture, Puklowski Silviculture, Gutsell Forestry Services, Johnson Forestry Services, McHoull Contracting, Wayne Cumming Contracting, Howard Forestry Services, Inta-Wood Forestry, Heslip Forest Contracting, Otautau Contractors, X Men Forestry, Proforest Services, FM Silviculture,

Tane Mahuta, Waikato Forestry Services, Rai Valley Silviculture, Thomassen Logging, Forest View Logging, Griffin Logging, Penetito Forestry, Pride Forestry, Mangoihe Logging, CMH Contracting, Kaha Logging, Roxburgh Contracting, Te Waa Logging, Mike Hurring Logging, Bluewood Logging, Storm Logging, Onward Logging, Down and Out Logging, Forest Pro Logging, Eastside Logging, Lahar

Logging, Moutere Logging, JD Harvesting, Whisker Logging, Kimberly Logging, Dewes Contractors, Dempsey Logging.

Into safety?

Into performance?

Into quality?

Contact Shane Perrett on 0274 781 908, 07 3483037 or at primefm@xtra.co.nz. NZL

Kane Heads passing on some of the knowledge he's learnt at Bluewood Logging to George Whyte, the newest crew member.

George Whyte applying the skills taught at Bluewood Logging.

Kaha Log 15's Chris, Richard and Anton at Café Kaha. People in town would pay a small fortune for the venison these guys are about to tuck in to.

August 2022 | NZ LOGGER 45

top spot Safety/performance/quality

Examples of thin to waste skills being applied

Dummy stump for applying scarf cuts.

Applying back cut.

Tree selection.

Application of bore and release cuts.

Processor head positions: Showing what we believe are safe options for securing/ presenting processing heads for maintenance.

46 NZ LOGGER | August 2022

new iron

LLOYD LOGGING’S VOODOO CHILD Isaac and Sheree from Lloyd Logging have taken delivery of a new Sumitomo 3740TLW for fleeting and loading in their hauler operation based in Northland. The operator of this foxy lady, Buster, says he is over the moon with his new machine and loves climbing into the cab each day to do his mahi. He adds that it is light on fuel and works efficiently, both on the skid site and in the cutover. Pictured with the new machine is the Lloyd Logging crew: Back row: Hiri Lloyd, Abe Drew, Cyrus Lloyd, Buster Peita (operator) and William Thomas. Front row: Noel Wellington and Naz Henare.

NEXT GENERATION CAT FOR ISO ISO has taken delivery of its first Next Generation Cat 538LL Forest Machine. Once again, ISO has pushed the limits, and the 538 is proving to be the weapon of choice to keep up with the demands of loading log ships at the Port of Tauranga. Sold by Terra Cat Territory Account Manager, Brent Van Der Burg.

ELTEC/WOODSMAN COMBO FOR FOREST VIEW

TIGERCAT FOR A&R LOGGING

Forest View Logging has taken delivery by Shaw's of an Eltec LL317L fitted with a Woodsman pro 750. This machine is performing all the processing duties for the hauler crew in Whitianga.

A&R Logging has added a Tigercat 635H to its ground base operation on the East coast. With increased production and less ground disturbance than the 4-wheeler, things are all good.

August 2022 | NZ LOGGER 47

new iron

JOHN DEERE FOR ATS LOGGING

HYUNDAI EXCAVATOR GETS TO WORK

Amy and Toby Satherley and the team at ATS Logging have taken delivery of a John Deere 959ML fitted with a Woodsman FH1350, pictured here at home in the Esk Forest, Hawkes Bay. Machine sold and supported by AGrowQuip, Hawkes Bay.

Zane Knight in his new Hyundai HX220L excavator in Ātiamuri.

This 22-tonne machine is fitted with forestry shoes and is already getting stuck in to clearing the skid. Machine delivered by Porter Equipment Territory Manager, Anthony Wanoa.

TWO NEXT GEN CAT EXCAVATORS FOR BLACKSTUMP LOGGING Ange and Wayne McEwan from Blackstump Logging have recently taken delivery of two new Next Gen Cat excavators that have been put to work in their East Coast operations. A new Cat 336 has all the standard Next Gen specifications and features a PFS build and a 626 Waratah harvesting head. Operator, Josh, says he is really impressed with the unit and the Next Gen features.

48 NZ LOGGER | August 2022

The second addition is a new Cat 336GC excavator that features an Ensign package including an Ensign Heel and 1730 grapple.

Operator, Glenn, says he is loving working in the new 336GC, noting that the machine power and stability is “next level” in comparison to other units he has previously operated. Both machines sold by Terra Cat Territory Account Manager, Heath Stewart.

new iron

SUMITOMO FOR TAINUI LOGGING

JOHN DEERE FOR NIGEL BRYANT LOGGING

Tainui Logging of Taupo has added another Sumitomo to its Douglas Fir operation in Kaingaroa Timberlands. Teuara Hemopo is the happy operator who spends his day shovelling and bunching for the 635 skidder. This 4040 model has a PFS guarding package and cabin, and a factory live heel.

Nigel Bryant Logging in Marlborough has taken delivery of a new John Deere 959MH. Sold and supported by Mark Blakemore and the team at Drummond & Etheridge.

NEW MACHINERY FOR CHRIS HURRING LOGGING

CAT MH3040 FOR DG GLENN LOGGING

Chris and Nicky, owners of Chris Hurring Logging on the East Coast, have replaced their older SH350TLFS-5 with a new 4640 fitted with an Ensign fixed grapple. They say they are rapt with the speed, stability and comfort of the new model.

DG Glenn Logging has taken delivery of a new Cat MH3040 material handler. The machine is performing fleeting, loading and high stacking duties in the processing yard at Pan Pac Forest Products’ Mill in Whirinaki. The operator says he is impressed with the comfort, power and stability of the MH3040. Machine sold by Territory Account Manager, Heath Stewart from Terra Cat.

August 2022 | NZ LOGGER 49

new iron

SANY FOR FOREST VIEW LOGGING

SOUTHSTAR/KOMATSU COMBO FOR SOUTHERN TRENCHING

The team at Forest View Logging has taken delivery by Shaw's of a new Sany SY305H DC Equipment Falcon tether winch. This machine is currently hooked up to an Eltec tilter, performing all the falling duties for the hauler operation. Sold and serviced by Shaw's.

Southern Trenching has taken delivery of this new Southstar QS450 to tackle wilding pine in the Twizel region. Sold by Southstar Equipment New Zealand.

NEW SATCO FOR KNIGHT LOGGING

ANOTHER SUMITOMO FOR FAST GROUP

This SAT3L2T is working alongside a hauler, clearing stems from the pole and cutting to length.

Fast Group has added another Sumitomo to its fleet, with this one being a SH370-5TLFS with PFS guarding and cabin, and fitted with a Waratah HTH625C. This machine is processing in crew 54 and is operated by David Hatcher otherwise known as ‘Scooter’.

50 NZ LOGGER | August 2022

IN-FIELD HYDRAULIC HOSE EMERGENCY REPAIR KITS

NZ LOGGER classified

Forestry Insurance Solutions LG23616

0800 55 54 53 info@stal.co.nz

www.sweeneytownsend.co.nz

Forestry Insurance Solutions

52 NZ LOGGER | August 2022

NZ LOGGER classified

STRONG & RELIABLE GRAPPLES STRONG && RELIABLE RELIABLE GRAPPLES GRAPPLES STRONG Made in NZ

Grapplesand andall allspares sparesinin Grapples stockwith withovernight overnightdelivery delivery stock

SERIES852 852and and864 864 MMSERIES STRONG&&RELIABLE RELIABLE STRONG GRAPPLES GRAPPLES

Knight Logging Ltd

• M SERIES 852 AND 864 – STRONG & RELIABLE GRAPPLES • GRAPPLES AND ALL SPARES IN STOCK WITH OVERNIGHT DELIVERY • PROVEN AFTER SALES SERVICE

ProvenAfter AfterSales Sales Proven Service Service

LG31252

ContactMarty MartyororBruce Bruce Contact Ph027 027324 3249091 9091 Ph 79Chambers ChambersStreet, Street,Tokoroa Tokoroa 79 enquiries@cdlloggrapples.co.nz enquiries@cdlloggrapples.co.nz

PROTECT YOUR POLYCARBONATE WINDOWS

A DIVISION OF

Polycarbonate windows have safety qualities, but they are susceptible to scratching and damage when in the bush causing severe reduction in vision for the operator and creating health and safety issues.

We lower the requirement for polycarbonate replacement by applying protective film to your machine windows either in the bush or at the yard.

This will assist extending the life of the polycarbonate.

Forestry contractors get the benefits of not replacing the polycarbonate - only the film when necessary.

MOBILE SERVICE NATIONWIDE

AFTER

CONTACT: SHANE 027 626 2231 extremewindowtints@xtra.co.nz

@ExtremeWindowTints Extreme_Window_Tints

LG32751

BEFORE

August 2022 | NZ LOGGER 53

CONTACT OLIVIA TO ADVERTISE 027 685 5066

Get the right exposure through NZ Logger magazine and capture the Forest industry buyers directly.

EXPOSE YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE

NZ LOGGER classified

EXPOSE YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE

AP32758

GET THE RIGHT EXPOSURE THROUGH NZ LOGGER MAGAZINE AND CAPTURE THE FOREST INDUSTRY BUYERS DIRECTLY.

CONTACT OLIVIA TO ADVERTISE 027 685 5066

USED FORESTRY EQUIPMENT - AVAILABLE NOW #208173

#207813

John Deere 909MH

Sumitomo SH370 TLFS

Volvo EC250DL felling machine

$491,000 +GST 2016, 7217 hours Contact Jason Huitema - 027 215 8113

2018, 2500 hours $480,000 +GST Contact Lyndon Sayers - 027 214 6599

2015, 6725 hours $270,000 +GST Contact Lyndon Sayers - 027 214 6599

#208212

#207834

#207756

Fitted with Satco felling head

Fitted with Satco felling head

w/ rebuilt Waratah 626 Bigwood

John Deere 909KH Harvester

Fitted with Waratah FL95 felling head

John Deere 648H Skidder

2011, 13275 hours $275,000 +GST Contact Jason Huitema - 027 215 8113

2007, 13252 hours $99,500 +GST Contact Jason Huitema - 027 215 8113

View our full range online

www.dne.co.nz 54 NZ LOGGER | August 2022

Hyundai 210LC-9HC Excavator 2010, 12721 hours $89,995 +GST Contact Matt Mills - 021 579 129

NZ LOGGER classified

August 2022 | NZ LOGGER 55

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FL100 Felling Head Suitable for carriers in 30 tonne + range.

Priced from $110,634.00

)

For more information contact: Karl 021 1926 567 North Island Gerard 0274 794 664 South Island

Waratah FL100 Felling Head

S

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2

00 Waratah H212

Waratah 626 Series II

POA

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Priced $150,000.00

Waratah 626

Waratah 625C

Refurbished - available now POA

Arriving Soon – to be rebuilt.

POA

S

z

Waratah 626 Used 626 - soon to be rebuilt POA

Currently under rebuild POA

5%

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OFF

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Delimb Covers Knife Slide Kit

Manual Tension Adjuster Set

Top Saw Bar Clamp Set 624C/625C

Northland Mechanised logging services

Gisborne AB Diesel Ltd

Hawkes Bay Forestry Maintenance HB

Nelson Tasman Heavy Diesel

Blenheim Onsite Mechanical

Greymouth SM Hydraulics

Dunedin Heavy Diesel support

Southland Heavy Equipment Repair

All Sprocket Kits

Komatsu PC270HW Forestry Cab Options • Komatsu • EMS • Active • Ensign

Factory WG Boom Set

HD Side Doors

Internal Hose Routing

HD Track Skis

HD Slew Guard

Komatsu High/Wide

Komatsu Forest working closely with Komatsu Ltd Japan have developed two new Forest Xtreme models the PC270HW & PC300HW. These two models feature unique forest specifications from the Komatsu Osaka factory; • High & Wide undercarriage / Forestry Boom Set / Forestry Cabin Options supplied from KF are; • HD Guarding Packages / Forestry Cabins / Hydraulic Interface

Komatsu’s unique ‘Forest Combinations’ Komatsu Forest Pty Ltd 15C Hyland Cresent Rotorua, New Zealand John Kosar M: 0274 865 844 Paul Roche M: 021 350 747 E: info.au@komatsuforest.com