NZ Logger February 2024 by nzlogger

February 2024

| 9.50

ISSN 2703-6251 (

mfo o c h g i h , n o cti High produ

Logging with a difference

Advances in self-driving skidders

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contents

FEBRUARY 2024

4 4

FOREST TALK A voice for the forestry industry; People and policies; Export forecasts cautiously optimistic; Nothing deficient about forest soil; Boost for Nelson’s timber industry; NZL sells 25% of assets to Australian investor; NZ carbon credits not up to standard; Successfully logging kiwi habitat; From apprentice to CEO; Battery, hydrogen or dual-fuel?

38 16

SHAW’S WIRE ROPES IRON TEST The John Deere 1910E forwarder is the most powerful forwarder John Deere has ever made, with 249 horsepower generated by the nine-litre engine and a 21-tonne payload. Working at Mcarley Logging, Our Iron Test team took it for a spin. LOOKING BACK With elephants for skidders and buffaloes for loaders, Ross Lockyer got more than he bargained for when he took on a project in Burma/Myanmar. An extract from his book, But That’s What Elephants Are For! gives insight into teak logging in the region.

FOREST ENGINEERING Able to drive itself between the felling site and skid, the T-Skidder is an autonomous steep slope machine epitomising the move from mechanisation to autonomous systems.

DEPARTMENTS 2 editorial 40 fica 44 top spot 49 Greenlight New Iron 51 classifieds

February 2024 | NZ LOGGER 1

from the editor February 2024

| 9.50

ction, high

ISSN 1176-0397

PHOTO: TIM BENSEMAN

High produ

comfort

Advances in self-driving skidders

Logging with a difference

Mcarley Logging’s Nathan Mcarley arrives at the skid in the John Deere 1910E forwarder with another load of eucalypt logs.

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2 NZ LOGGER | February 2024

From one beast to another AS WE TURN OUR HEADS TO SEE JANUARY BEHIND US AND FEBRUARY already foreshadowing the passing of the months, in our Looking Back feature, we eye out a different time when giant, gentle beasts were put to work doing our most arduous of tasks. Using elephants and buffaloes for logging in Burma (now known as Myanmar) is still part of life, with many of these creatures still active in both legal and illegal logging operations. However, between a declining logging industry and political upheaval, the future for privately-owned Timber elephants lies in question, as their time in the industry may be coming to an end. While we can admire their skill, strength and more limited impact on the forest floor (and pity the fact that they have been put to work in a land that used to be all their own), there is no denying that their output pales in comparison to modern machinery. We may not have been partial to elephants in New Zealand but while the adoption of mechanised equipment in preference to human hands has been underway for some time since the 1960s (initially with skidders, yarders and loaders), the major shift to full mechanisation in this country has taken hold over the past 15 years – driven in large part by safety concerns. The contrast between modern manned machinery and the four-legged beasts of Myanmar couldn’t be more stark. Yet, there is a hint at an even greater contrast in the feature that follows – machines that have no need for legs or arms. Will the move from mechanisation to self-driving, autonomous machines come as quickly as the move from human hands to mechanisation did? That answer will be one for when we harvest the trees we plant today in 30 years’ time. Perhaps from a contractor lying on his or her couch, with a small device in their hands directing cabless machines, while through the window robots cut through trees like butter and mini drones fertilise the new plantation next door. Sound fantastical? Put a Myanmar Timber elephant in the middle of a modern-day logging operation and the incongruity is just as plain to see. Stepping back from the future though, perhaps it is wiser to just look forward to the coming year. A new Government, new opportunities and a very welcome hot, dry summer stand before us. Let’s make the most of it. Until next time, stay safe.

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forest talk

A voice for the forestry industry

“THE BENEFIT OF A COMMON AND collective ‘whole of industry’ voice, allows direction and future opportunities to be shared with the industry and Government, providing credibility that the ‘whole of industry’ is backing the content,” says the Forestry Industry Contractors Association’s (FICA) Prue Younger of the recently established pan sector body for forestry. Ten organisations signed an accord establishing the body, titled the NZ Forest & Wood Sector Forum (NZFWSF). Sector associations will engage on issues of common interest or concern to the national industry and act as a point of contact with Government and other relevant bodies where appropriate. The NZFWSF will improve communication throughout the forestry supply chain to pursue and ensure continued growth and to manage issues with the interests of the whole sector in mind. As FICA and NZFWSF spokesperson, Ms Younger says the collective advocacy will be for policies that are socially responsible, environmentally and ecologically sustainable, internationally competitive, and profitable. 4 NZ LOGGER | February 2024

“The greater and long-term goal for the pan sector initiative is the desire to improve the coordination and collaboration of the sector and make it communicate, promote, and improve the total value chain,” she says. The pan sector group was an outcome of a ‘Forestry Supply Chain – Pan Sector Meeting’ held last year in Rotorua. The hui provided a shared understanding of the problems and opportunities the sector faced in a 15-year crisis for the forestry industry. “Collective discussions were had around what change would look like to generate a sustainable operating model that we don’t currently have,” says Ms Younger. “This collective direction setting can better guide decisions for the future and define what can be done more effectively, more efficiently and potentially what can be rationalised or minimised.” Foundation Signatories include the New Zealand Institute of Forestry (NZIF), New Zealand Forest Owners Association (NZFOA), Forest Industry Contractors Association (FICA), New Zealand Farm Forestry Association (NZFFA), Wood

O O Processing and Manufacturers Association (WPMA), Ngā Pou a Tāne (NPOT), Log Transport Safety Council (LTSC), New Zealand Timber Industry Federation (NZTIF), Forest Industry Safety Council (FISC) and Bioenergy Association. NZL

forest talk

People and policies New Zealand First. These include the establishment of an infrastructure agency to help deliver modern reliable infrastructure by improving funding procurement and delivery, and beginning work on 13 new roads of national significance and four major public transport upgrades. Mr Luxon also announced that the new Government will progress the infrastructure fund proposed by New Zealand First with $1.2 billion in funding for regional infrastructure. A former Minister for Forestry, NZ First’s Shane Jones has taken up Ocean and Fisheries and Regional Development. National’s Simon Watts is the new climate change Minister for Climate Change. The three-party coalition has announced a number of policy commitments in its documents covering the primary sector, including: • The current review of the Emissions Trading Scheme will be halted, and greater duties will be put on forestry harvesters to contain and remove post-harvest slash. • It will maintain a split-gas approach to

Minister of Forestry, Minister of Transport, Todd McClay. Simeon Brown. methane and carbon dioxide and review the methane science and targets. • Reversing the ban on live animal exports and reforming the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee. • Farm environment plans will be improved, regulatory blocks on irrigation are set to go, and freshwater management will become more localised with the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 to be replaced. • For immigration, the cap on Recognised Seasonal Employer workers will be increased, and the Accredited Employer Work Visa is said to be improved. • The implementation of Significant Natural Areas, which came as a result of the Resource Management Act, will not proceed. • Genetic engineering laws will be “liberalised”. NZL

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THE NATIONAL PARTY’S TODD MCCLAY, Rotorua MP of more than 15 years, has taken on the new government’s forestry portfolio. Along with forestry, he is also Minister of Agriculture, Minister for Hunting and Fishing, Minister for Trade, and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is backed by three associate ministers of agriculture – National’s Selwyn MP Nicola Grigg, who will focus on horticulture; ACT’s Andrew Hoggard on animal welfare and skills; and New Zealand First’s Mark Patterson. Along with holding previous Ministerial roles, Mr McClay was the Cook Islands and Nuie Ambassador to the European Union. He has worked in business in Europe as well as government and public relations internationally. On other fronts, Simeon Brown has taken on the role of Transport Minister. NZ Trucking Association (NTA) CEO, David Boyce, says the industry looks forward to the infrastructure and roading improvements announced by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, as part of National’s coalition agreements with ACT and

forest talk

Export forecasts cautiously optimistic THE MOST RECENT FORECAST FROM THE Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries (SOPI) report shows a forecast dip in export revenue, reaching $54.3 billion in the year to 30 June 2024, but that mid-to-long forecasts remain strong, says Forestry Minister, Todd McClay. “Regardless, it is a strong result against a backdrop of challenging times and is a testament to the ongoing hard work of foresters, farmers, growers, fishers and processors. “It’s been a tough few years for New Zealand’s food and fibre businesses. High domestic inflation rates, high interest rates, workforce shortages, adverse weather events, increasing business input costs, combined with geopolitical tensions and supply chain challenges, have put continued pressure on the sector.” Forecasts for forestry show that forestry export revenue is expected to decrease 9% to $5.8 billion in the year to 30 June 2024. This

updated forecast reflects downward pressure on log prices due to weaker property market confidence in China, and a less favourable 2023/24 outlook for pulp and paper. In 2024/25, the reopening and increased capacity of wood processing plants is expected to increase pulp and paper export revenue. Forestry export revenue is forecast to increase 5% to $6.1 billion in the year to 30 June 2025. “A fall in log prices is behind an expected dip in forestry export revenue and cost of living pressure is affecting demand for red meat and dairy products. However, export revenue for these sectors is forecast to pick up again in 2024/25,” says Mr McClay. Encouragingly, total export revenue is also forecast to build to a record $57.7 billion in the year to 30 June 2025, he adds. “The Government has set an ambitious target to double the value of exports in 10 years by pursuing quality trade agreements, conducting a record number of trade missions

to open doors for New Zealand exporters and making India a strategic priority for increased trade and investment. “We will work tirelessly to promote New Zealand exports and dismantle trade barriers that make it difficult for our food and fibre exporters to sell their high-quality produce overseas. “To grow New Zealand’s exports and continue providing vital food and fibre here at home, we need the right settings, tools, and support. The Government has committed to ensuring farming regulations are less costly and bureaucratic, while protecting our environment, as our domestic and overseas consumers expect. “The world knows our country produces high quality and safe food and fibre. The overall mid-to-long term outlook for New Zealand’s food and fibre exports looks strong and provides a healthy level of optimism looking forward.” NZL

Nothing deficient about forest soil A RECENT NEWS STORY HIGHLIGHTING CHANGES IN SOILS FROM converting pasture to plantation forests is giving a misleading impression of soil health, says Scion Principal Scientist, Dr Peter Clinton. “Soils that have naturally developed under forest, like most soils in New Zealand, are acidic in their natural state. “When forest is cleared to make pasture, soils need to be made less acidic through application of lime to reach a pH level that is best for pasture. It’s no surprise to see those changes reversing when forest is re-established. “When we have measured soil health under pasture, planted pine forest and indigenous forest, we have found that soils under pine are much more similar to those under indigenous forest than they are to soils under pasture. In fact, lime needs to be regularly added to pasture soils to maintain the pH suitable for pasture growth. “We see these similarities in a range of measures. Nutrient and water runoff under pine forest are much more like the nutrient and water runoff under natural forest than pasture too.” Soil pH is only one measure of soil health that is different under forests Dr Clinton adds. “We see that soils under intensively managed pasture can be more compacted by animals and farm machinery than what we typically see under forested land. This can make it harder for roots to grow, and for soils to absorb water during heavy rain. In the worst cases, pugging of soil becomes a problem.” Most forests established under the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) have been on classes of land that have serious limitations for intensive agriculture but are well-suited for forestry, he adds. Additionally, well-managed plantations of trees on farms, exotic as well as indigenous, provide a range of benefits for sustainable and economic farm management. Extensive research also shows that forested landscapes improve water quality and soil structure, reduce erosion, enhance biodiversity, 6 NZ LOGGER | February 2024

and support regional economic development. Forest Owners Association (FOA) President, Grant Dodson, agrees, saying pastureland is not initially ideal for growing trees either. “Pasture is low in the essential mycorrhiza for optimum tree growth. That takes years to come back to help the trees grow.” This applies to native and pines. “You can see from that, that the soils reflect the vegetation on top of them. There is nothing deficient about forest soil. It is just wrong to assume that if it’s not growing grass then it’s a production failure.” The New Zealand Institute of Forestry (NZIF) President, James Treadwell, adds, “The prevalent belief that pines contribute to lower soil pH and that this is damaging is misleading. Contrarily, all forest soils tend to be acidic – indigenous New Zealand forests, deciduous forests and conifer forests. Our most acidic soils occur under our mighty Kauri forests.” Mr Treadwell emphasises the importance of expanding forests in New Zealand, citing erosion control through tree planting and carbon sequestration as key benefits. He attributes the misconception of pine-induced soil acidity to the preference of grass for a neutral to alkali pH. NZL

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forest talk

Boost for Nelson’s timber industry THE FIRST LOGS IN MORE THAN FIVE YEARS HAVE BEEN MILLED at the restored sawmill on Little Sydney Road, Motueka, as Nelson engineered timber solutions company, Prolam, gives the 80-year-old sawmill a new lease on life. Closed in 2017, family-owned business Prolam has been working to reinstate the 80-year-old mill to support the production of its structural timber solutions. Prolam is one of New Zealand’s leading manufacturers of glue laminated timber building products and the mill will play a pivotal role in the company’s ability to meet the building industry’s demand for more sustainable, locally-made building materials. Prolam Managing Director, John Woodman, says the opportunity to make a positive contribution to the timber processing industry and the local economy was front and centre in his decision to purchase the site in 2017 and get the mill back up and running. “We have seen seven or eight mills close across New Zealand in the last 10 years, and when we started planning to reinstate the mill in 2021, structural grade timber was in short supply,” he says. “We source and use select quality New Zealand plantationgrown radiata pine in our glue laminated timber beams, posts and portals and while supply is no longer an issue, our ability to mill a proportion of our own timber will have significant benefits for us

8 NZ LOGGER | February 2024

and our customers.” Mr Woodman says Prolam is known for supplying quality engineered timber solutions in fast lead times and at a competitive price. “The commencement of production at the mill represents a step change in our production capability and secures our control across key elements of the manufacturing process,” he adds. “It also supports our commitment to the long-term sustainability of the New Zealand timber industry and optimising the use of timber as a renewable resource in the design and construction of residential and commercial buildings.” Prolam employed experienced Sawmill Manager, Damon Taggart, to run the reinstatement programme and the mill once it was operational, and engaged New Zealand-based companies, Pacific Sawmill Engineering and Tui Technology, to assist in the planning, design and oversight of the mill’s refurbishment. “We have invested in new and proven milling technology to create a vertically integrated glue laminated production facility that will enable us to debark logs, mill, kiln dry and treat the timber ready for the lamination process,” says Mr Woodman. The Prolam PLX20 Beam was a finalist in the 2023 New Zealand Timber Design Awards. NZL

forest talk

NZL sells 25% of assets NZ carbon credits to Australian investor not up to standard SPECIALIST PRIVATE MARKETS INVESTMENT MANAGER, Roc Partners, is to acquire 25% of the portfolio of rural land assets of New Zealand Rural Land Company (NZX: NZL) for approximately NZD$44M. NZL owns 14,487 hectares (35,798 acres) of highquality New Zealand rural land which is 100% tenanted on long-term leases. It generates shareholder value through asset value appreciation and cash flows from its long-term leases which have regular CPI adjustment provisions. It is not involved in the day-to-day operations of its farm and forestry assets. Roc Partners is a specialist private markets investment manager based in Australia. It manages capital for some of Australia’s largest institutions and superannuation funds and offers investment solutions for family offices, foundations, endowments and high net worth investors globally. NZL Chair Rob Campbell says, “The decision by a specialised investor of Roc Partners’ standing to purchase a stake in NZL’s rural land assets is an important milestone in NZL’s long-term growth strategy.” NZL

CARBON CERTIFICATION AND ADVISORY SERVICES PROVIDER, TOITŪ Envirocare, will transition out of accepting New Zealand carbon credits in its carbon certification programmes. Carbon credits that have been issued under the PFSI (Permanent Forest Sinks Initiative) and PP89 (Permanent Post 1989 Forest category of the Emissions Trading Scheme) will no longer be accepted for offsetting. They say this shift aligns with the evolving standards in the global Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM), as they no longer meet the latest international best practice, especially amid heightened demand for integrity and transparency in carbon credit projects. The transition will commence in early 2024, once the new best practice becomes operational. Toitū Envirocare Chief Science and Advisory Officer, Dr Belinda Mathers, says, “We appreciate the importance of supporting New Zealand based projects, and historically these projects have been accepted as suitable quality, but market expectations for carbon credits have changed. While there are excellent indigenous forestry projects in Aotearoa, the NZ schemes that issue carbon credits are not being assessed by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (IC-VCM), against the quality requirements, so cannot show that they meet expectations. We conducted a thorough review of options for continuing to use the New Zealand credits, but none are yet suitable for meeting best practice”. NZL

Grooved Drums and Sleeves

DIAGNOSE • DESIGN • DELIVER

forest talk

Successfully logging kiwi habitat LOGGING CREWS LIVE AND DIE ON BEING PRODUCTIVE BUT hitting target becomes a challenge when you throw an endangered species into the mix. Justin Anderson and his logging crew, JPA Logging, have recently completed one of the more interesting jobs of their careers. Contracting to John Turkington, they harvested a 50-hectare block of pinus radiata on Haupouri Station, part of the Cape Sanctuary, which is home to a large population of Eastern brown kiwi. One would think that a logging crew harvesting in an area populated with kiwi is a disaster in the making, with the kiwi likely to suffer during the harvest process. But JPA Logging went above and beyond in its efforts to mitigate any harm to kiwi. At the beginning of the Haupouri Station job, Save the Kiwi Eastern Regional Manager, Tamsin Ward-Smith, monitored and assessed where kiwi were in relation to the logging operations. This involved placing transmitters on as many kiwi as possible before harvesting commenced, so that telemetry equipment could be used to ensure there were no kiwi in harm’s way when harvesting operations began. This was carried out on a daily pre-start basis. To save Ms Ward-Smith the 90-minute round trip at 5am every morning, Mr Anderson learnt to use the telemetry equipment so he could ‘beep’ the birds before his crew started work and if any birds were present she was called in to do any kiwi handling required. Only qualified kiwi handlers are allowed to handle kiwi. Jono Berry’s family farm Haupouri station and were very happy with the way the JPA crew harvested the high-density kiwi habitat. Mr Berry explains that In 2005 the Hansen family and staff, together with the Lowe and Robertson families, the other two landowners of Cape Sanctuary, spent eight months building a predator-proof perimeter fence which runs from Ocean Beach to 10 NZ LOGGER | February 2024

Clifton and forms the 2,500-hectare area of land Cape Sanctuary operates. This saw just over 800 hectares of Haupouri land being fenced off as part of a predator-free, mixed land use format. “Haupouri Station has been in the family since 1860, and we are proudly the eighth generation to farm the land,” says Mr Berry. “Our land makes up 10% of the Sanctuary but we’re proud of the small contribution we continue to make with this rugged area of the farm. Our gullies are full of native regenerating shrub which appears to be a thriving habitat for the kiwi. “We believe we are the second farm to harvest pine trees amongst a high-density kiwi population, with our neighbours Cape Kidnappers being the first. We leaned on their experiences and worked with them and Save the Kiwi throughout the planning phase of our harvest, which helped us create our policies and procedures for our block.” After a bit of back and forth, he says the methodology ended up being reasonably straightforward. “We engaged Ms Ward-Smith and her kiwi dog to search and clear each area prior to any tree felling. A map was distributed and if kiwi were present, they would either be temporarily relocated or continuously monitored throughout the harvest. We used GPS for the maps and telemetry for the daily beeping of the tagged kiwis. “Regular communication between Save the Kiwi, JPA, JTL and Haupouri meant that we completed our harvest while achieving our goal of being incident-free with the kiwi. It certainly presented some challenges for the logging crew and our staff but our harvest wouldn’t have been as successful without the hands-on co-operation and willingness from Justin and his crew and John Turkington Forestry.” With a bit of planning, cooperation and the right people with the right skills on the job, logging kiwi habitat can be done productively and safely. NZL

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forest talk

From apprentice to CEO AT FIRST GLANCE, CHRIS HEATON’S JOURNEY FROM APPRENTICE technician in Nelson to CEO of Terra, New Zealand’s Caterpillar dealer seems like a remarkable climb. He left school at the young age of 15 to pursue a career in fixing machinery, having an innate curiosity about how things worked. “I loved helping my dad out in the orchard, particularly around the machinery, riding my motorbike, and pulling things apart while wondering why they worked so well. They never worked as well afterwards!” His father offered him a valuable piece of advice: “It doesn’t really matter what you want to do; just be the best at it.” He thought he’d end up fixing trucks, but ended up visiting Gough, Gough and Hamer’s Nelson branch and asked for an apprenticeship. A leap of faith Securing an apprenticeship in Nelson saw the teenager sweeping floors and taking breaks – but also interacting with adults, a valuable experience for a young technician. “I particularly enjoyed interacting with the team there as there was so much to learn,” says Mr Heaton. His path wasn’t without challenges. To complete his automotive engineering heavy equipment certification, he had to undertake correspondence courses with no polytechnic in Nelson back then. This wasn’t ideal for someone who couldn’t wait to leave school. Despite this hurdle, he remained determined and successfully completed his apprenticeship in just over three years. A pivotal moment in Mr Heaton’s career came when the Nelson branch was considering reducing employee numbers due to tough times. He intervened, suggesting he transfer to another branch. Soon he found himself packing his bags for Hamilton, where he would work on mining trucks, setting the stage for international experiences to come. “Within a few months, I was left in charge of these huge 785s, which was mind-numbing,” he laughs. “I particularly enjoyed it because the amount of overtime was just enormous, not so much for the money but because I just loved working on these machines.” A six-month OE ended up as 25 years in England, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Australia and Indonesia. His roles ranged from managing mine maintenance to heading mining operations within several Caterpillar dealerships, each experience shaping his leadership style. Taking chances In the early days, as Mr Heaton grew weary of bartending in London, an interview for a job fixing automatic transmissions in the iconic black taxi cabs set the stage for a life-altering adventure. “I had a phone conversation at 10am, and the recruiter found out I was Caterpillar-trained,” he recalls. “He said, ‘if you’re here by 12 o’clock, we’re interviewing for a dealership in Saudi Arabia.’ So, I jumped on a train and interviewed.” Within a week, he found himself in Saudi Arabia, a place he knew nothing about. This provided him with invaluable experience in cross-cultural communication and taking responsibility in challenging situations – like keeping the power going on an offshore oil rig. “It taught me about different cultures and different expectations,” he reflects. “But it also taught me about taking responsibility because there was nobody else.” He also found himself working for the Caterpillar dealership in 12 NZ LOGGER | February 2024

Chris Heaton. Indonesia for 16 years, after his wife Lesa accepted a job in the jungles over the phone while he was off-site. When they were together again that evening, she asked, “Where is Indonesia, because I think we’re moving there?” “Fantastic, let’s go!” was his reply. As their two children grew up, the two of them returned home. Luxury boat building was their next venture, initially in New Zealand and later forming a joint venture with Mustang in Australia, employing over 500 people. This experience exposed him to the complexities of different industries and taught him valuable lessons about customer experience. The global financial crisis ultimately led to the closure of the business, prompting his return to the world of heavy machinery, back in Indonesia. Customer-centric future In his current role as CEO of Terra, Mr Heaton’s vision is to further transform the organisation to put customers at the centre of everything. “I was successful as a technician, not because of my technical capability, but by default because I listened to customers and tried to understand what their expectations were,” he explains. “Terra’s role is to simplify the complex world of Caterpillar products and services for customers, and to be easy to do business with. Our customers’ lives and operating environments are complex, regardless of the industry, so we need to provide a layer of simplicity,” he adds. “The most valuable asset we have here at Terra Cat is the worldclass level of engagement we have from our employees.” NZL

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forest talk

An electric truck working at Australia’s Fennell Forestry.

Battery, hydrogen or dual-fuel? HYDROGEN, ELECTRIC AND DUAL-FUEL ARE ALL FUTURE FUEL solutions for the entire heavy transport industry. Those involved in wood transport are at the forefront of this conversion. The technologies, results and lessons from these early conversions will be profiled at the Wood Transport & Logistics event being run in Rotorua on 22-23 May 2024 through a series of presentations, practical workshops, trade exhibitions and displays. With new technologies being rolled out almost monthly, operational and commercial trials, on- and off-road, are well underway with local heavy transport fleets. Wood Transport & Logistics will provide an independent platform for forestry companies, log harvesting operations and those involved in log transport to get together. Leading log haulage operations are already adopting and deploying alternate fuel technologies into their day-to-day transport operations and they’re also now willing to share this information with the wider industry. Soaring fuel prices and greener policies have given electric vehicles (EVs) a serious boost in recent years. Now the attention is turning to trucks, but manufacturers still face a dilemma over which technology can best do the job. Some companies are embracing battery-electric trucks because they’re cheaper and the charging infrastructure is more developed. Others are betting on hydrogen-powered fuel cells because they can support longer ranges, heavier payloads and longer uptime via faster refuelling. For some, the solution is likely to be somewhere in 14 NZ LOGGER | February 2024

the middle. Electric trucks have recently been launched where their normal range can be doubled or tripled using hydrogen as a backup energy source. As well as electric conversions from diesel-powered log trucks, hydrogen-powered trucks, including log and timber haulage trucks have already been brought into New Zealand. The first nationwide hydrogen refuelling networks are being rolled out and dual-fuel hydrogen technologies have been trialled since late 2021 with one large trucking fleet involved in log transport having 10 of these dualfuel hydrogen diesel trucks on the road. In addition to innovations around decarbonising log transport fleets, a first look into efforts being made into log harvesting operations have been added to this year’s programme. Mike Hurring Logging has been operating New Zealand’s first Logset 8H GTE diesel-electric hybrid wheeled harvester in production thinning operations in Otago/Southland forests. And from Finland, Ponsse has recently teamed up with Epec, a manufacturing company specialising in electric/hybrid electric vehicle and autonomous systems, to develop another first, an electric machine concept for forwarders with 15-tonne load-carrying capacity. Epec’s technology is already being used in electric or hybrid-electric commercial vehicles and non-road mobile machines. Find out how these new electric or electric hybrid machines are performing out in the forest. For details visit: www.woodtransport.events NZL

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Iron Test

Mcarley Logging’s Nathan Mcarley unloads another full grapple of logs from the John Deere 1910E forwarder onto the load-out skid.

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Story & photos: Tim Benseman

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Iron Tester, Stephen Unahi, lifts on another good bunch of Eucalyptus Nitens logs.

IN OUR SEARCH FOR THE MOST POWERFUL FORWARDER ever made by John Deere we have somehow arrived at this eucalyptus clearfell operation near Invercargill where our first impression is that something has gone terribly wrong. Row upon row of processed logs stretch for long distances. These rows have been here so long that they are sun-bleached and foliage has started to regrow around them where they lie in the cutover. I stop and search the gearbox for reverse. I must have made a wrong turn somewhere. But it turns out my first impressions are wrong and things are actually going to plan here. Mcarley Logging’s Nathan Mcarley is living in the land of plenty as far as volume goes. We check in with Iron Tester Stephen Unahi on what’s going on. “The forest owner brought this system in about 10 years ago. One of the goals was reducing weight for cartage. It also better facilitates dephasing for health and safety and specialisation of tasks, so there’s a harvesting contractor in here who is separate from Nathan’s owner/operator extraction operation and another contractor who comes in to load out.” The system works well for Nathan judging by the mountains of wood he has forwarded out on to the load-out skids. The skids are buried in wood. Long, high and deep stacks on multiple skids. A blanket of fog is hanging over the higher cutover as we arrive, grounding our drone temporarily so we throw open the John Deere 1910E forwarder’s doors for a look. This is the most powerful forwarder Deere has ever made with 249 horsepower generated by the nine-litre engine and a 21-tonne payload.

A clean cab Nathan has kept the cab quite clean and has a no boots policy while operating. I’ve never been too fussed about taking my boots off to be honest but thought I’d better check with Nathan as to the reasons why. “Dust, basically. When it’s windy and dry, you open up the door and it’s just ‘whoosh’, dust everywhere and it just covers everything. I do put my muddy boots in beside me, so it’s not an ultrastrict no boots policy but it is important to me. At the end of the day, it is my office really so I think you have to keep it a little bit clean to have a good day. Just don’t look in the ute and you’ll be sweet.” Well now that he mentions that, I can relate. I have spent a bit of time chasing dust out of cabs with an air compressor after such

The load topped off and showing the gold sunstrike screen to protect the cab and operator.

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Above left: The rear view demonstrates what a great job the forwarder does of keeping the wood clean. Above right: Still plenty of ground clearance for the John Deere even in high-traffic areas like the skid. ‘whoosh’ moments and saw a workmate with his digger tilted on a steep angle, door side down one day and he was inside with a hose rinsing his cab interior, being very careful not to wet any electrics of course. A good case of an ounce of prevention versus a pound of cure I suppose. I think I might be a convert to this idea of no boots inside. This block is quite rocky underneath, so is holding up well in the wet weather unlike some of the other eucalyptus blocks owned by the same company where conditions have deteriorated considerably. “The roads have held up pretty well too,” Nathan says. “We’ve got a few things going in our favour as well. Not a lot of inventory has been carted, so minimal truck traffic and when they do cart out of here it is down hill so that will help to keep the road in good condition.” There are some decent ruts off to one side but Nathan assures us that these were made by fellow owner/operator, Kieran Egerton, known as Mouse, who is doing a swift job of harvesting these trees on the other side of the road and laying them out in neat rows ready for Nathan’s forwarder to collect. The fog starts to lift and we start swearing in astonishment at the newly revealed skids full of logs further down the slope. It’s a bit concerning to see so much wood on site as far as Nathan getting paid goes but it’s a relief to hear that he works on a different system of being paid on production from the machine’s onboard. Bluetooth weigh scales initially and then finalised via weigh bridge once the wood is delivered to the chipper. “There is a bit more wood on the skids than normal due to a boat shortage,” says Nathan. “One boat in the fleet that hauls the wood to the pulp mill is out of action.

The rows of wood in the cutover that you first saw on the way in, have been there at least five months. “When you drive out the ring road you’ll see more skids piled with wood, most of it double stacked and the stacks go for ages. “The weigh scales come standard with this machine which is great for figuring out how much we have hauled out to the skids. We just underestimate it a wee bit so I pick up about 17 loads a day at the moment and that way we know we have achieved our target with a little bit to spare.” 20,000 tonnes on the skids Nathan continues: “Before we got slowed down or governed, we were charging out 17-tonne a load even though we were forwarding 20- to 21-tonne, so when everything’s gone over the weighbridge we get a bit of a bonus. If you add it all up there’s probably about 20,000 tonnes of wood sitting on the skids here. “The port has cut the cart-in to 48 trucks a day and they are only doing four days a week otherwise the port would fill up and then everyone would be parked up.” Iron tester, Stephen Unahi, knows the local industry quite well and explains the logistics once the logs leave the block. “The logs carted from these skids go to Southwood Export’s chip mill near Bluff to be chipped and then a bin truck company takes the chips to the port where a couple of dozers push it into a big stockpile until the next

Loaded up and showing plentyLOGGERS of work ahead. SERIOUS POWER FOR BIG TIME

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EST EST 1909 1909 | TOCALL WWW.SHAWS.CO.NZ JONNY EDWARDS 021 944 894 THE THE SUPPLIER SUPPLIER NEW TO NEW ZEALAND ZEALAND HEAVY HEAVY INDUSTRY INDUSTRY 20 NZ LOGGER | February 2024

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Above left: Another clean load bound for the load-out skids at Mcarley Logging’s Southland operation. Above right: Nathan Mcarley unloads onto double stacks at his Southland operation. boat arrives, and then they’re loaded by conveyor on to the bulker to the pulp and paper mill in Japan.” Once there it gets made into high end copy paper, glossy magazines such as the one you should be reading now as well as hard copy photographic paper to keep your favourite people and/or memories front and centre. Southwood Export Limited is quite well vertically integrated right from the preferred Eucalyptus Nitens seeds gathered from its Southland forests to over 12,000 hectares of plantations either owned or managed, to the chipping operation producing over 350,000 tonnes of premium chip in a semi-rural area not far away from expensive commercial port property, and through to the papermaking process at their own mills. Nathan has been through four consecutive John Deere’s and has

been impressed with each one dating back to his first 1710. “I like the swivel cabs – it just seems so much smarter to me to have them like this.” He started out in the forwarding game about nine years ago when he was 24, helping out his Grandad, Bill Grant, who had two forwarders but was off work for medical treatment. Nathan’s Grandad taught him to operate forwarders quite briefly. “He did a load while I sat in the cab watching, then he sat watching while I did a load, then he said, ‘right, I’m going back to my machine now’. And that was it. Quite interesting. I tipped it over in the first few weeks. Well, the back end of it anyway. I didn’t realise it was all free back there, so I had the grapple out and drove into a rut and it tipped over. I’ve learnt a bit since then and haven’t put a dent in a machine for over 6000 hours so I’ve decided I can call myself an operator now.

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Far left: The band tracks and eight-wheel drive configuration keep traction high and environmental impact low. Left: The swivel cab allows load checks on the fly and improves stump avoidance for the rear bogie. “I learnt a lot by watching Grandad. He was really good at teaching by example. He had the first swivel cab in Southland, an earlier John Deere 1910 and he’s still forwarding eucalyptus by himself these days. “When I started out with him I was living in Gore and travelling to Tapanui every day for eight weeks and then Grandad’s worker decided he was going elsewhere so I was offered a position full-time with a work ute so I took that offer. “Then Grandad offered me shares in the company and made me a director. And then he decided I should go out on my own, so I have been on my own for just over two years now and its great. I’m really grateful for the help my Grandad and my Nana (Gaynor Grant) gave me to get started in this business.” Nathan says that the harvester operator, Mouse, is good here. “He can get more places than a forwarder can so when he cuts trees in rough spots he puts the wood up where I can reach it a bit easier. The harvesters get paid to do that. We can go down there but we sometimes can’t get out, especially fully loaded. If the wood is left for too long through the wet weather and then it dries off a bit, often only the top is dry and underneath it’s like a skating ground. As soon as you break that seal from the top you’re just skidding the whole way and can’t get out. “I have been stuck a couple of times and that is a drawback of being a lone operator. If the harvester operator has already left then I have to get a digger in, but it

wasn’t a big deal to pop the forwarder out. I usually have enough logs to get on the easier ground when it’s wet and just leave the steeper gullies until it dries out enough. “The self-levelling and swivelling cab are great on the John Deere because it follows the grapple, similar to a digger even though they are separate. I have also found that if you drive one wheel up on a stump and then tilt the cab up, it’s like a bed – just pull the old beanie over your eyes and have a sleep.” Good to know as a nap is important after a good run. So, prior to being governed, presumably you were doing massive hours? “I gave up on the massive hours actually,” Nathan admits. “When I was working with Grandad we were getting up at two-thirty in the morning and starting at three and getting home at six. I don’t know how he did it. He would be up and ready to go and I was not quite coping so well. “Then when we had my first daughter I dropped down to 13-hour days instead of 15 and now I’m leaving home at five and getting home at three or four in the afternoon but still getting 15 to 17 loads in a day. The governing means it will be a short month. It’s the 24th and I’ve got less than two days’ work ahead then I’ll park up for the rest of the month.”

ents, for the diameter. This heavy

at set it apart from

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EST EST 1909 1909 |TO CALL WWW.SHAWS.CO.NZ JONNY EDWARDS 021 944 894 THE THE SUPPLIER SUPPLIER NEW TO NEW ZEALAND ZEALAND HEAVY HEAVY INDUSTRY INDUSTRY

ents, for the 22 NZ LOGGER | February 2024 diameter. This heavy at set it apart from

“The latest edition of the QS630, with all its upgrades is proving to be a great asset to our business. We’ve added paint marking this time around and have found it creates efficiencies within our operation greater than we expected. Also the Log Mate 510 operating system is easy to navigate around, we’ve had no trouble coming to grips with this. Overall we’re very happy with the new package Southstar has provided”. Pete – PJ & DA Stephens Limited Tokoroa.

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Intelligent Boom Con trol The IBC or Intelligent Boom Control system introduced by John Deere in 2013 has proven an effective tool allowing the operator to just focus on controlling the grapple while the IBC moves the boom, stick, slew and extension to match what the operator is aiming for with the grapple controls. The latest version of IBC improves the precision of the grapple, especially at full extension. John Deere’s studies have shown the IBC makes new operators up to 15% faster compared to operating a machine without IBC. John Deere has also improved smoothness and operator comfort with an upgrade to the hydraulic ram cushioning for softer stops, reducing jolting so that IBC-assisted speed doesn’t make for a rocky ride. Lyndon Sayers from Drummond and Etheridge is on site to show us around the machine. “I can think of a dozen forwarders operating around Southland. Eight of those are John Deere, mostly these 1910’s and a couple of earlier 17’s that are slowly getting changed out. The IBC is one of the big drawcards for loggers. Instead of having to go boom up, stick out, boom down etc to reach logs you just point the

grapple and the intelligence system does the boom controls for you, so that’s easier on the operator’s wrists and arms. They don’t have to control every knuckle on the boom. We sold one of these to a guy who had not used IBC before and he kept his same work schedule when he changed over to the new machine, didn’t do any extra hours but his production went up 60 tonnes or three loads a day.” One of John Deere’s customers said the one and only negative they had to share about IBC is that it isn’t yet available in John Deere’s harvesters. The cab rotates automatically and follows the boom/grapple as Nathan said. This rotation can be locked sideways with the push of a button while travelling so you can see where you are going at the front of the machine, both the front bolsters and one side better while negotiating difficult terrain or squeezing between standing trees or these huge log stacks. The cab’s automatic levelling system absorbs terrain variations, allowing you to keep your focus on the boom, grapple and the pathway to your next bunch of logs. The fingertip controls look to be particularly ergonomic and

Above, from left (both pages): The harvester has done a neat job laying out the land of plenty for Nathan to collect and forward to the skids; The steeper gullies have been allowed to return to native bush on this block; A bird’s eye view demonstrates the scope of the task ahead for Mcarley Logging; One of the many double-stacked skids awaiting cart-in on the very well maintained roads. Below: Nathan Mcarley is fortunate that there is plenty of work ahead of him here. Photos: Drone pilot, TJ Benseman.

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Nathan seems like a very relaxed bloke while obviously knocking the production levels for six, so he’s onto a good thing with this machine. TimberMaps The John Deere map app turns on automatically whenever the machines wheels are moving which is clever and useful on large blocks or when working close to forest compartment boundaries. If you are forwarding wood felled with a John Deere harvester with TimberMaps then you’ll have the locations of the tracks the harvester used and the positioning of all those logs, plus the total log volume on the maps screen including what side of the track they are on – and they’ll disappear from the map when you move them so you can track progress. John Deere’s TimberManager cloud service system runs on a phone or a PC and also allows the harvester operator to mark up the map if a hazard is found such as a wet area, a steep slope or a tomo. A hazardous area boundary can be created by the harvester

operator. When the extraction machine enters the boundary, an alarm will go off alerting the operator to be on the lookout for whatever hazard has been encountered previously. Live satellite imagery is also available so owners and operators can see where each machine is and what it is doing in real time, adding to safety and taking the guesswork out of stock availability and operator welfare. Clearly it’s doing the trick for Nathan. He says he isn’t affected by the pine log price either . “We get paid a lot less but it’s constant. So, you can plan a little bit better financially. “I’ve done five loads here this morning before you guys showed up and when you texted you were almost here, I just came up and laid out some slash to put your logs down on. It’s quite important that the logs are kept clean for the chippers.” This area does grow great trees too. The Eucalypts have good growth and form and there is a Rimu tree that looks fully-grown but has leaders on it, whereas in the North Island that would be rounded off and not thinking about putting on any more height.

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Iron Tester: Stephen Unahi

THIS MACHINE IS SURPRISINGLY roomy inside the cab and has a nice big screen. The ride is really comfortable in the cutover. You don’t even feel the stumps as the cab cushioning and auto tilting is so effective at softening the variations in terrain. If you go over a really big stump and drop off, you’ll feel it then, but otherwise you don’t feel anything which is impressive. The cab interior is really quiet. You can’t hear very much at all of what’s going on outside. Visibility is pretty good out through the windows plus you have two cameras, one to the back and one to the front which is pretty handy. The swinging cab makes the visibility even better too because its basically pointing you where it knows you are looking to grab some logs or let them go. The gold sunshield in the rear will be great for keeping the heat out and sunstrike out of the cab in summer. The boom operation is super smooth to run. That IBC is bloody good. Initially you’d think it was going to be a mission to run it with that extra telescoping stick. It’s a squirt boom really. But the IBC takes care

of the control of all that so you don’t have to worry about it. The last forwarder I was in was a Ponsse Elephant which is similar to this but this one has a higher cab so the visibility is a bit better. The swing cab also allows you to see and reach logs around the front of the nose of the cab pretty easily, whereas a lot of other forwarders you more or less need to be straight opposite where you want to pick your load up – sort of between your last bolster and the corner of the cab whereas with this you can come right round which is a bit better. Technology’s come a long way from the earlier John Deere 1710’s that’s for sure. Your grapple open and shut is on one button. The rotator slew control is what would be your bucket open on a digger. Sort of like a harvester. It’s a bit difficult to run fast that way if you aren’t used to it but after a good day of practice it would be getting fairly quick I’d say. There’s some good meaty treads on the band tracks. I doubt Nathan Mcarley would have much trouble at all getting out of those gullies once it dries out a bit.

Iron Tester, Stephen Unahi. The grapple strength is pretty good. There isn’t any downward strength on it though as there’s nothing in the way of downward hydraulic pressure there, so if you get an upset layer in the bunk you can’t just pat it down – so you have to regrab it and try to settle it down that way. That’s not really an issue though. Nathan’s worked out that when you unload and that happens on your stacks you basically just use the weight of logs to push them down and, as you can see from his stacks, he’s humming along. The controls are pretty sensitive but the

The seat looks very well designed and is as comfortable as it looks.

Nathan Mcarley inspects the ninelitre John Deere PowerTech engine.

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Nathan Mcarley (left) and Iron Tester, Stephen Unahi, prepare for the test.

The view from the operator’s seat as Lyndon Sayers from Drummond and Etheridge looks on.

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IFICATION

SPEC S JOHN DEERE 1910E – SPECIFICATIONS ENGINE John Deere, 9 Litre, 6-cylinder Tier 2 PowerTech Plus 6090 186KW 249HP Power: Torque 1100nm at 1400RPM TRANSMISSION

Tyres Tractive Force Speed rang

Rear 26.5-20 220kn 0-21KMPH

BOOM/ARM/GRAPPLE Max reach

8.5m

Hydrostatic – mechanical

REFILL CAPACITIES (LITRES)

HYDRAULIC SYSTEM

Fuel tank Hydraulic tank Engine oil

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Load sensing, power adjustable

CAB Rotating cabin Tilt sideways Forward and backwards

290deg 10deg 6deg

UNDERCARRIAGE 8x8 Tracks (Optional) Tyres

machine is very stable and sits there which is good to control it, so it doesn’t have any rocking or swinging going on. I’d say it’s set up pretty good as far as the braking on the swivels goes. It’s a pretty tidy machine considering he’s had it since February. The seat is good and comfortable.

Front 26.5-20

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DIMENSIONS (MM) Length Width Height Wheelbase Ground Clearance Operating weight Payload

The scales are really good to have for peace of mind. That’s got to be good for Nathan, knowing down to the last tonne really what he is carrying. Way better than counting bunks and averaging those at say a 20- or 21-tonne payload. That would also be a bonus for him down in those

10,370 3090 3900 5600 755 21,800kg 21,000kg

steep gullies where he’ll be putting on say 12-tonne down in the bottom then come out to the top and top up the load before he carries on to the skid. The reach is good at 8.5 metres and overall this is a good, high production machine that is very comfortable to operate. NZL

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Looking Back

In mid-1984, Ross Lockyer was offered a consultancy with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as Logging Engineering Consultant for the Project Completion Mission pertaining to the ADB Burma Forestry I Loan Project. His job was to travel around all the areas that were covered under the Project and observe, investigate, assess, evaluate, and report on the situation as he saw it at that time. With elephants for skidders and buffaloes for loaders, he got more than he bargained for. An extract from his book, But That’s What Elephants Are For! follows.

HE BURMA FORESTRY I LOAN PROJECT (identified as ADB 1) covered the entire Sagaing Division of the Burmese Timber Corporation (BTC) which was in effect, the Burma Forestry Department. The Sagaing Division was the largest division in the country in terms of forest resources and timber production and was located in the Central North-East of Burma (now known as Myanmar). The BTC Sagaing Division employed, at that time, around 8,000 full-time 30 NZ LOGGER | February 2024

employees (about 25 percent of BTC’s total staff), plus some hundreds of contractors. Part of my job was to locate and inspect log-harvesting equipment, which had been financed by the First ADB Burma Forestry Project. The equipment included logging trucks, log loaders, log skidders and chainsaws, and also road construction equipment, such as bulldozers, road rollers, water trucks, fuel bowser tankers, and maintenance and repair workshops. I was also charged with inspecting and reporting

Shwelayaung, the most powerful elephant at the camp, skidding a log uphill, Sagaing, Burma, 1984. on the log storage and rafting operations, logging and roading operations, sawmills, and the traditional Burmese log-extraction “equipment” comprising of elephants, water buffaloes, and oxen. The teak forests of Burma at this

time, were in effect, the only genuinely sustainably harvested indigenous forests in the world. This was all thanks to a Dr Dietrich Brandis, later to become Sir Dietrich Brandis, who had been employed by the British government in India to develop a sustainable harvesting plan for the indigenous teak forests of Pegu Province in Burma. Pegu Province had been annexed to the British Indian Empire in December 1852. Dr Brandis spent many years in Burma, wrote numerous reports and papers, and in 1896 he published a paper called The Burma Teak Forests, which described his plan for sustainably managing the harvesting of teak. Notwithstanding the fact that Burma became the original hermit kingdom from 1948, after it gained independence from

the British and cut itself off from the rest of the world, the Dietrich Brandis “Bible” on sustainable teak management was still the be-all and end-all (in fact, the only) reference manual for the management of the Burmese teak forests in use when I arrived in Burma in 1984. The king of hardwoods I initially visited eight separate elephant camps and logging operations, some of which were extracting mixed hardwoods, and others that were logging only teak. Teak is classed as the king of hardwoods. It is harvested, treated and sold quite differently to all other hardwoods and sells at many times the value of all other commercial species. Therefore, “teak” and “mixed hardwoods” are treated quite

Above left: Buffalo loading a Chev quad truck, Mandalay log pond, Burma, 1991. Above: Burma map. BTC Sagaing Division marked ADB 1. Below: Buffalo dragging hardwood logs out of the Irrawaddy River, Mandalay logpond, Burma, 1991

February 2024 | NZ LOGGER 31

Looking Back

differently at all stages and in all aspects of harvesting in Burma. Burmese teak (Tectona grandis) is native to South and South-East Asia, but the only significant stands of natural, mature teak remaining at the time of my visit were in Burma, and this was all thanks to the efforts of Dr Dietrich Brandis some one hundred years previously. Teak is probably the most valuable commercial timber available in the world today after ebony. It has a high oil content, high tensile strength, and a tight grain that makes it particularly suitable where extreme weather resistance is required. It is mainly used today in the manufacture of outdoor furniture and boat decks. It is also used as a veneer for indoor furniture and in panelling for the interior linings of expensive launches and yachts. Although it is easily worked, it quickly blunts sharp edged tools because of the silica in the wood. Over time, and particularly in sunlight, teak weathers to a beautiful silvery-grey sheen. Mature teak

Above: Towing teak log rafts on the Irrawaddy River, 1991. Right: Ox powered logging truck hauling hardwood log to mill, Mandalay logpond, Burma, 1991.

32 NZ LOGGER | February 2024

fetches very high prices. Teak plantations are planted and grown extensively by forestry departments around Asia, as well as by farmers, most especially in Java, Indonesia. A standing teak tree, before it is felled, must first be killed by girdling (ringbarking). A broad, circular cut is made with an axe through the bark and sap wood into the dark brown heart wood, which, when first cut, is a beautiful golden, yellowishbrown colour. Within two or three days after girdling, the leaves wither, and the

tree starts to die – but if even the smallest thread of sap wood is left uncut, then the tree will continue to live. The purpose of girdling and killing the teak tree is to allow the log, once felled, to float in water, which is the only practicable method of bringing the teak timber of Burma to market. Green teak logs from freshly cut trees are heavy and sink in water. They also dry unevenly, which severely reduces the quality and value of the log at market. Teak trees that have been well girdled will dry completely and season

SA O IN

Sagaing Division central diesel fuel depot and management team, Shwebo, Sagaing, Burma 1984. evenly while still standing. Smaller trees will dry completely in one or two years, but the larger trees (which are the ones mainly selected for harvesting) can take up to three years to dry. Teak wood is extremely durable and does not decay during this drying period, unlike other hardwoods, which must be felled green and extracted quickly, otherwise decay will soon set in. Most Burmese hardwoods are heavy and will sink in water, which makes handling, rafting, and transporting these species to mills and market more problematic and expensive than teak. Beasts of burden Throughout Burma, the teak logs are extracted from the forest by elephants on the steep and hilly terrain and by buffaloes on the easier and flatter terrain. Oxen are used mainly on the riverbanks for short

hauls on gentle, favourable, downhillsloping terrain, or to haul two-wheeled ox carts for transporting logs along tracks and roads. A high proportion of the dry teak logs, once felled, are dragged to the edge of small streams, many of which have no water in the dry season. The logs are pushed and rolled into the stream beds to lie parallel to the banks. When the rains come and the streams fill with water, the logs float downstream, singly, until they reach one of the three rafting rivers. This method of log transport is called the “free-floating stream” system. It is extremely wasteful and inefficient, producing huge annual losses of valuable teak logs. The problem is that some logs get stuck up on the stream banks, get jammed up in riverbeds, fail to wash down because of insufficient rainfall, get stolen from either the streams or the rivers, or otherwise become lost. During my audit,

“

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Above: (1) Elephant skidding a hardwood log. (2) Young elephant stacking logs with her foot. (3) Young elephant rolling log with his tusks, all Sagaing, Burma, 1984.

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Looking Back

I conservatively estimated that the Sagaing Division alone experienced an annual loss of some five million US dollars’ worth of teak logs per annum through using the free-floating stream system, based on 1984 export prices. When the rains come and the logs eventually arrive at the now fast-flowing, often flooded rivers, they are collected and rounded up by villagers in canoes and small boats, and by swimmers, and dragged into the bank where they are secured, corralled, and rafted up by contractors. Collecting the teak logs, securing them, and then hauling them into the bank is a dangerous job in a flooded river, and great care and expertise is required. Log extraction pre-1978 was carried out utilising elephants and buffaloes with occasional, very limited assistance from two or three of the eight Timberjack log skidders owned by the BTC Sagaing Division at the time. The skidders operated intermittently for periods of two to six months of each year in the dry season only, working on flat to easy “buffalo” terrain, with skidding distances of 400 to 800 metres in very low stocking areas. Daily production rates of these skidders was from nine to thirty-six cubic metres per working day. This compared with 1.6 cubic metres per working day for an elephant and 0.8 cubic metres per working day for a pair of buffalo. At the project’s end in 1984, one hundred percent of the skidding was carried out by elephants and buffaloes. That’s progress for you – Burma style! The ADB Burma Forestry I Loan Project purchased 30 new Clark Ranger log skidders complete with push blades, Clark winches, fairleads, and winch ropes at a cost of around two and a half million US dollars. The Clark Ranger skidder is an excellent machine, top of the range, and ideal for skidding logs in the easier to moderately hilly terrain of the Sagaing Division. It would certainly be my choice of machine. Upon my inspection and audit in 1984, I found that none of the skidder winches that I saw, had ever been used, nor had they ever been rigged with a winch rope. The skidders had been used, only intermittently, as fuel was available, for pushing and rolling logs down riverbanks into the river and around rail yards by using the push blade. This was work that would normally be allocated to buffaloes. Elephants and buffaloes skid (drag) the logs to a suitable, level skid site within fifty to 800 metres from the stump and to which a feeder road may be conveniently 34 NZ LOGGER | February 2024

Top: Cutting the snigging hole in a hardwood log, Sagaing, Burma, 1984. Above: Ross Lockyer's Burmese border scout bodygaurds in Shan State on his second Burma ADB audit, 1991. constructed. Sometimes, skidding may be done to an existing feeder road if one is available nearby, but the normal system was to construct a feeder road to the skid site in the dry season following the wet season in which the logs were extracted. In the more remote areas where main and access roads were not available, logs were extracted from the stump directly to the closest stream for free floating. Due to frequent fuel shortages, some forest skid (log landing) sites, full with logs, might only be connected to feeder roads and the logs extracted some two or even three years after they are delivered to a log landing or skid site! In Sagaing Division where I was auditing, despite the ADB loan allowing for the purchase of thirty, four-wheeled,

articulated log skidders for log extraction, the entire log volume was, at the time I was there, still being extracted by some 610 adult BTC working elephants, 176 hired working elephants, and 1,222 pairs of hired buffaloes. Elephants skid the logs to a floating stream or a suitable skid site fifty to 800 metres from the stump. One working elephant produces, on average, 270 cubic metres of teak logs per animal per year based on a seven month (July to February) working year and a five-hour working day. Buffaloes may work up to a nine-month year (July to May on the plains) and can produce an average of 180 cubic metres per year per pair. The rainy season in Central Burma is June to October, and the cool season (thirty degrees Centigrade) is

November to February. All log extraction is done in the rainy season and the cool “shoulder” season. This is because logs are easier to skid (drag) when the ground is wet, and the temperatures are more comfortable for the animals to work in. Nothing works in Burma in the hot season (March to May), when temperatures float around forty degrees Centigrade, and the elephants are sent to the rest camps in the cooler deep jungle where there are plenty of streams and permanent water. Doing the maths During the inspection, I travelled up the Chindwin River by government riverboat for five days at one point. We stopped at one rafting boom and collection point on the second day on the river so that I could inspect the sorting and rafting operations and some heavy motorised equipment that I had spotted up on the riverbank. In addition to the teak logs in the water, which had been washed down by the floating streams, there were some teak and other hardwood logs lying along the roadside berm above the riverbank. These had been transported from the log yards in the jungle

Above: Ross Lockyer riding solo to work on a youngster in Shan State, Burma on his second ADB audit, 1991. Below: Evening on the Mandalay log pond. Buffalo extracting and loading logs, Irrawaddy River, Burma, 1991.

February 2024 | NZ LOGGER 35

Looking Back

to the riverbank by a couple of BTC Nissan logging trucks, some ancient 1940s Chev 4x4, ex-Second World War army quads, and a number of two-wheeled bullock carts. Parked up at the top of the berm were three shiny, yellow, Clark Ranger log skidders, equipped with winches and blades. These machines had been financed by the ADB loan money, so I was keen to have a look at them. The first thing I noticed was that none of them had ever had a wire rope on the winch drum since they were delivered some five or six years previously! There was still paint on each drum spool. I asked the rafting foreman what they were doing there, and he explained that the skidders were used for rolling logs from the road edge down the riverbank to the river’s edge to be rafted. The operators used the push-blades mounted on the front of each machine to roll the logs. He said they would have normally used buffaloes for this job, but as they had been given the log skidders, they were using these instead. I commented to Tin Maung (the Sagaing Division Chief Forester who was travelling with me), that none of the log skidders appeared to have ever been fitted with winch ropes for skidding logs, and I asked him why they weren’t being used out in the jungle for their intended purpose of dragging logs to a landing. He looked at me with a puzzled expression, and exclaimed, “But that’s what elephants are for!”

I couldn’t really argue with that under the circumstances, so I completed my inspection, made the appropriate notes, and we carried on up the river. Burma, at that time, only produced a fraction of its domestic oil requirement from its own oil fields, and it didn’t have the money to buy any oil from offshore sources (or refused to pay for it). This meant that all the heavy equipment lay idle for most of the year due to lack of fuel, and this was one of the reasons why elephant, buffalo, and oxen power was almost exclusively used in the jungle, and steam engines were used to power the factories and mills. Another very important reason for not using mechanical power to produce logs, from the Burmese perspective, was that by so doing, thousands of forest workers would be out of a job, and thousands of families would suffer severe hardship. An example of the result of this aforementioned economic anomaly is that a two-man team working with one mechanical chainsaw can theoretically fell and buck 1,335 cubic metres of logs per month. Therefore, thirty-two pairs (sixty-four fellers) working for ten months per year can fell and buck 430,000 cubic metres per annum. To fell and buck this same volume using manual crosscut saws and axes requires 796 pairs (1,592 fellers) plus fifty headmen, which is a total of 1,642 workers. Assuming that each of the 1,578 men who would thus become unemployed, had to support an

average of five or six others (wife, kids, grandparents), then moving to mechanical felling and bucking would result in more than 10,000 people going hungry. An even more staggering catastrophe would occur if the present animal/human method of log extraction (skidding) in the Sagaing Division alone were to be replaced by mechanical methods. Present skidding systems using elephants and buffaloes have basically reached a production ceiling in Sagaing Division, with every available BTC and hire elephant and pair of buffaloes already in use to achieve an annual production of 430,000 cubic metres of teak and other hardwood logs. The logistics for this production, are quite staggering. These are roughly: • 786 working elephants • 800 (approximately) non-working elephants underfoot • 2,444 buffaloes • 2,000 elephant workers • 2,000 buffalo workers • 50 additional staff such as vets and rangers. Therefore, it takes over 4,000 animals (elephants and buffaloes) and more than 4,000 workers to extract some 430,000 cubic metres of logs from the jungle annually. It would take a total of 12 mechanical log skidders using 12 operators and 12 chokermen (24 workers in total) to produce the same volume in the same time. Try doing the maths on that one! NZL

W Tu ha

S Tu th te

Volvo loader stacking teak logs, at the export sort yard against a background of thousand-year-old pagodas, Rangoon, Burma, 1991. 36 NZ LOGGER | February 2024

P E D P Y T

But That’s What Elephants Are For! IN HIS FIFTH BOOK, ROSS LOCKYER EMERGES from the remote jungles of North Sumatra, Indonesia, to take up a Managing Director role in the bustling city-state of Singapore. But prior to that, in 1984, when Ross receives an invitation to undertake a forestry consulting job in the secretive, closed country of Burma, he can’t turn it down. And it is here, in a perilous land split by militant factions and guerilla warfare, that Ross comes face to face with the beautiful and powerful Burmese timber elephants. It is fascination at first sight, and Ross regales his readers with wonderful stories of these enthralling creatures, both emanating from his own experiences and from those of the men who lovingly train and work with them. Ross’s Burma story is a unique insight into the fascinating life and work of the Burmese timber elephant and the mysterious teak forests where no foreigner has been permitted to venture since the British departed in 1948. Fortunately, once Ross moves to Singapore

in 1989, he’s not required to operate a desk full-time, and soon he’s off on business with his usual boundless energy to South Africa, Swaziland, Thailand, The Philippines, Japan, and many of his old haunts around Indonesia. He even manages to negotiate the red tape of communist China to achieve a three-week lecture tour in the Land of the Dragon, accompanied by government minders, and staying in guesthouses on communes where he gets to experience the dubious joys of Chinese haute cuisine. Snake soup is just the start of it! Ross also fills his readers in on some of the adventures that happened between books. He snorkels among the eerie wrecks of Japanese WWII aircraft off the end of the Tarawa Airfield in Kiribati, and evades death around South-East Asia by plane, train, crocodile, and a Dayak uprising. Ross’ other books include An Accidental Bushman; Cannibals, Crocodiles and Cassowaries; The River is my Highway and Meanwhile, Back in the Jungle…

This book showcases some 100 unique photographs from Ross’ vast collection, which richly illustrate his writing. For more details visit: http://www. rosslockyer.co.nz

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Forest Engineering

Able to drive itself between the felling site and skid, the T-Skidder is an autonomous steep slope machine designed to overcome current manned steep slope skidding challenges. Professors Rien Visser and Karl Stampfer investigate this example of the move from mechanisation to autonomous systems.

HE FORESTRY MACHINE MANUFACTURING company Konrad, located in Southern Austria, has been very successful in manufacturing cable yarders and carriages, as well as harvesting heads. For example, Konrad's Woody 60 processing head has sold over 4,000 units. Apart from being robust but still compact, one of its main selling features was the innovative design that allows part of the head with the feed-rollers to ‘retract’, leaving just the grapple for sorting and or loading. While initially developed for the European market with its maximum opening of 60cm, it has found favour in South America as well. There is only one operating in New Zealand, and for our larger clearfell operations it might be ‘light’ for our larger pine trees, especially

38 NZ LOGGER | February 2024

trying to delimb the larger branches on a mature radiata pine (they do now make a 70cm version). Over 300 Mounty yarders have been sold that integrated the processor and cabin onto the yarder carrier, which is simply a highway capable truck. This makes it very compact and able to work in tight spaces, as well as being highly mobile for moving between sites. With the carriage movement automated, the operator only needs to release the extracted stems – typically using radio-controlled chokers – and is able to focus on processing. While some yarder manufacturers in Europe have started to develop grapple carriages, most of these

Top: The T-Skidder in action at the Austrian Demo 2023. Right: The Woody60 processing head with over 4,000 sold.

yarders are still very much designed with slack-pulling carriages in mind. Something new But neither the Woody harvester head nor the Mounty yarder are new. What might be of interest to the New Zealand market is that Konrad, together with EcoForst, has recently released a semi-autonomous skidder. EcoForst, also located in southern Austria, manufactures the T-Winch that is already well known in New Zealand – hence the name T-Skidder as it is specifically designed to be supported by a T-Winch winch-assist. The movement of the skidder itself is either remote or GPS-controlled, so no need for an operator – and hence also no need for a cabin. For the first turn, the skidder is guided remotely along the extraction trail. Once a skid trail has been identified the skidder can move itself between the felling machine and the skid. When the T-Skidder is back in the cutover, the harvester operator guides the skidder towards it, and this track is committed to the skidder’s memory. While not needing an operator is one obvious advantage, as is the significant cost saving of not needing a cabin, there are other design opportunities. For example, designing it with a clam bunk allows the load to be supported over the middle of the machines, sharing the downward pressure from the load between all wheels. This provides for excellent traction capabilities. Being a clam bunk does mean it needs to be loaded at point of origin. The vision is to have the felling machine load it; once full the felling machine operator closes the grapple remotely and sends it back to the landing. On a flat surface it can unload itself by simply opening the grapple and moving forward. On sloping terrain it struggles to shake the load off, and for consistency and accuracy it would need to be unloaded by the processor on the landing. Without an operator contractors would be less sensitive to having the skidder wait for loading/unloading. Looking local The T-Skidder has mainly been developed for the international market. Austrian harvests are limited to just two hectares – there is not much distance to travel and the scale of their harvests is small for such a large capacity skidder. Konrad and Ecoforst have been very successful in the South American market, and with their aptitude for technology,

Top: A close-up of the winch-assist attachment arm, allowing the T-Skidder to follow the skid-trails more easily. Above: The Mounty Yarder at work on the forest road – no need for an expanded skid area. that will be the logical place for early adoption. But it is easy to see that if the South Americans can make it work in their plantations, it will be an exciting opportunity for New Zealand logging systems as well. The dealer for this machine in New Zealand and Australia, FORCO’s Managing Director, Ian Wilton says Konrad and Ecoforst have a list of updates to make based on feedback from loggers, including loggers from New Zealand who visited the T-Skidder working in Austria last year. “The next version of the T-Skidder will be wider, have more ground clearance, and will be designed more like the T-Winch 30.2 in terms of the overall look and access for servicing and maintenance. “It is being designed to operate on up to 45 degree slopes with the 30 series

T-Winch and is intended to compete directly with swing yarders. “The T-Skidder will also be able to operate untethered on flat terrain and we are interested in the potential for stem logging operations in central north island New Zealand. Konrad and Ecoforst will have a prerelease version operating in Chile by the middle of this year and FORCO is planning to take delivery of one of the first production units by mid 2025. About the authors Rien Visser is a Professor at the School of Forestry, University of Canterbury and heads the Forest Engineering programme. Karl Stampfer is a Professor and Head of College at the BOKU University in Austria. He has collaborated on a number of New Zealand projects. NZL February 2024 | NZ LOGGER 39

FICA.ORG.NZ

your voice The voice of forestry contractors since 2002

Cable Yarder Safe Access and Guarding

Best Practice Guidelines

Cable Yarder Safe Access and Guarding Best Practice Guidelines A new Cable Yarder Safe Access and Guarding Best Practice Guidelines has been created. Under the Forest Industry Safety Council (FISC), a Technical Advisory Group was appointed to review current information and provide some clear guidance to owners and operators in a way that makes it easy to understand and apply. The aim was to create a simple and understandable reference to address the lack of clarity and consistency that Contractors and Forest Owners have been encountering in recent years, to manage these risk areas most effectively. This guide will be readily accessed and used by owners and operators of yarders/haulers to ensure that their machines are appropriately guarded or, if requiring additional protection, what that acceptable guarding might look like. It will be reviewed annually from the date of launch.

The work that this Technical Advisory Group (TAG) has predominately dealt with includes substitution, isolation, and engineering controls which are more effective than administrative controls i.e. policies. We are and should be focussed on harm reduction in a way that allows people to make poor decisions and remain unharmed (because we are all human and we all make mistakes from time to time). The law makes it clear we must all embrace our responsibilities and commit to protecting workers from falling from height and entrapment risks through robust control measures. The work on this Best Practice Guidelines is valuable, providing visual guidance of good practice, based on proven solutions that contractors have in place. View at www.fica.org.nz/industry-reports/

Collective discussions were had around what change would look like to generate a sustainable operating model that we don’t currently have. This collective direction setting can better guide decisions for the future and define what can be done more effectively, more efficiently and potentially what can be rationalised or minimised. The solutions that were discussed did accommodate many challenges but the main solution from a majority in the hui, was to harness a new entity with a pan sector membership.

Forestry industry signs pan sector accord for better coordination and alignment. The Forestry Supply Chain – Pan Sector Meeting held on 26 July 2023 in Rotorua provided a shared understanding of the problems and opportunities the sector faced in this 15-year industry crisis.

40 NZ LOGGER | February 2024

The greater and long-term goal for the Pan Sector initiative is the desire to improve the structure of the sector and make it communicate, promote, and improve the total value chain. The benefit of a common and collective ‘whole of industry’ voice, with direction and future opportunities stands to be shared with the industry and Government providing credibility that the ‘whole of industry’ is backing the content.

FICA.ORG.NZ

INDUSTRY PAN – SECTOR ACCORD Objective The NZ Forest & Wood Sector Forum is established as a pan sector body to provide for the Sector Associations to engage on issues of common interest or concern to the national industry and, where appropriate, to act as a spokesperson and point of contact for the industry with Government and other relevant bodies. The Forum will improve communication throughout the supply chain to pursue and ensure continued growth and to manage issues with the interests of the whole sector in mind. The Forum’s collective advocacy should be for policies that are socially responsible, environmentally and ecologically sustainable, internationally competitive, and profitable. Principles of the Forum The Forum Stakeholders will promote the interests of the sector, by:

5. Representing the sector on, and liaising with, national and international bodies; 6. Recognising that when the interests of industries within the sector materially conflict, or are in competition with each other, the Forum should not try to project a common view that does not exist, and accepts that the competing interests will be free to express their views and pursue their interests without restriction by the Forum. They should nevertheless try to minimise the scope of differences and avoid public statements or arguments that damage the Forum and the competing members. (* where a single sector viewpoint is not possible, the pan sector group will only provide and endorse those that are supported by 100%. Differing viewpoints are encouraged and will be advanced by members outside of the Forum under their own authority)

Operating to these principles, the Forum is not intended to undertake commercial activities.

1. Engaging in the forum to openly and without bias discuss and seek resolution of issues affecting the sector to achieve the best overall interest for NZ, (considering that a favourable outcome for NZ will best promote the interests of Members);

Goals of the Forum

2. Promoting and representing a viewpoint of the sector as a whole* in relation to matters which may affect the sector or parts of the sector without limitation on topics addressed;

• Facilitate and endorse world-class research on industry priorities

3. Interacting with Government regarding issues which may affect the sector; 4. Disseminating relevant information to regional and national sector;

It is agreed that the Forum organisations will proactively: • Advocate at regional, national and international levels

• Give the industry timely and strategic information • Lead the development of practices which grow the industry as a whole • Organise and promote sector-wide events and other industry celebrations and networking events

Forum Stakeholder Organisations The current sector organisations involved in the Group include:

For more information visit www.facebook.com/NZFSF

February 2024 | NZ LOGGER 41

FICA.ORG.NZ

Ask the Big Insurance Questions It is the start of the New Year so all operators should be thinking about the following with regard to Insurance and Risk. The questions that you need to ask yourself and your insurance professional: 1. Is your Insurance Professional a specialist in the Forestry/Log Transport and wider forestry sector? Does your insurance professional have good industry links with all the major suppliers and providers that you deal with? 2. What are your options for cover for your Plant and vehicles, have you reviewed coverage with all Insurers that provide cover in the insurance market and is the coverage bespoke for your business? Have different cover options been explored and excess limits been considered? 3. Make sure you understand your Liability Programme; review it in terms of the policy coverage and the limits. Understand the policy triggers and the endorsements, extensions and be aware of the specific exclusions.. Ensure your Liability Programme includes Statutory Liability (H&S at Work Act & RMA Acts) Don’t just focus on the limits of indemnity but ensure they are adequate.

4. Issues to consider: Does your insurer offer higher limits of cover for the following: Windscreens, Tyres, Consequential Loss, or Loss of Revenue? Do they offer a parked up/laid up cover if you are not working? Do they offer a death by accident coverage? 5. At claim time are you getting the right advice?Are you dealing with an assessor who understands machinery? 6. Finally, Cost – are you getting good value for money as Insurance is a large component of a contractor’s overall costs for the year? We would recommend that you discuss your Insurance with Greenlight insurance brokers as it costs nothing to review the existing cover and we can provide you with a ‘warrant of fitness’ for your insurance. This article is a general commentary and does not constitute financial advice. Talk to Brenden or Steve or the team at Greenlight Insurance Brokers. Phone: 0800 55 54 53 www.greenlightinsurancebrokers.co.nz

Starting Back in 2024 Just like that Christmas is over and we are back into it. The general reply around the traps when asking what people got up to is “bugger all”. I think the drama and stress from last year left many of us not in the mood to get too excited about getting too carried away over Christmas and a few weeks of doing stuff-all was quite appealing. You know you’re knackered, but you just have to keep pushing, but sometimes when you completely stop you don’t realise how knackered you actually were. Now we have started back, it is important to manage the fatigue of your employees effectively. We will all be attending Safe Start meetings and getting the fatigue messages thrown at us left right and centre, but it is important and needs to be managed well. One of the high-risk tasks that we need to ensure we manage well is driving to and from work – this time of year the risk associated with driving increases dramatically. The number of people travelling increases and a lot of people are still on holiday throughout the month of January. You get an influx of out-of-town people and tourists into the regions in their campervans, towing their caravans and boats. Some of the levels of driving you witness can leave 42 NZ LOGGER | February 2024

you asking how they even manage to push a trolley around Pak’nSave and makes you realise why they don’t have centre lines in supermarkets and some people just ignore them. We need to ensure our staff are driving at a safe speed for the conditions and defensively at all times, especially in areas where the roads are narrow and windy. Consider rotating the driving and remind staff if they are feeling tired while driving to stop and have a rest or rotate the driving duties. The workers out doing the manual-based tasks in hot weather, in a perfect world should avoid undertaking the driving duties at the end of the workday. The year has started well so far and long may it continue. Log prices are not too bad which is good. Here’s to 2024 and hopefully it is a lot more prosperous than 2023.

Brady Clements HEALTH AND SAFETY CONSULTANT

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Safety/performance/quality

Celebrating final results for 2023 AND THAT’S A WRAP FOR 2023! A challenging year for everyone in many ways but people still achieving some fantastic results. We’ve had to assess results based on some of the challenges faced and have still seen people achieve excellence in what they do. As is the custom, the first couple of issues of NZ Logger for 2024 will feature results and photographs of top performers from 2023. So, on these pages we celebrate the results of those who have achieved final placings for Period 4 and the full year 2023. And, as always, our top overall crews for 2023. Direct contact with people is key to them maintaining their standards and achieving excellence. So, congratulations to all these folk and those who sit behind them supporting their efforts, and role in the competition in 2023. Ka mau te wehi! Awesome individuals, awesome teams and awesome people behind the scenes supporting them in what they do!! 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? 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.

44 NZ LOGGER | February 2024

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, 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

PERIOD 2 THIN TO WASTE Crew

Participant

Placing

X Men Forestry

Lenny Pullen

X Men Forestry

Kalib Te Ngahue

X Men Forestry

JR Te Ngahue

Inta-Wood Forestry

Adrian Watson

Inta-Wood Forestry

Aaron Motutere

FULL YEAR THIN TO WASTE – INDIVIDUAL RESULTS Crew

Participant

Placing

Inta-Wood Forestry Ltd

Aaron Motutere

X Men Forestry

JR Te Ngahue

X Men Forestry

Kalib Te Ngahue

Safety/performance/quality

FULL YEAR HARVESTING – INDIVIDUAL RESULTS Crew Roxburgh Contracting 2

Task 2 tasks

Participant Phillip Jones

Placing 1

CMH 60

2 tasks

Tory Hona

Shane Griffin Logging Ltd 2

2 tasks

Russell Martin

Dewes Log 3

Break out

Nelson Moran

Dewes Log 3

Break out

Tahi Hiroki

Lahar Log 4

Break out

Harlem Hawira

Lahar Log 4

Break out

Shaquille McIlroy

CMH 60

Forwarder

Grant Talbot

CMH 59

Forwarder

Daniel Keefe

Mike Hurring Logging

Forwarder

Kelvin Stratford

Shane Griffin Logging Ltd 2

GBE

Glen Cochrane

Kimberly Log 22

GBE

Arapeta Collier

Bluewood Logging

GBE

George Whyte

Shane Griffin Logging Ltd 2