Australian Forests & Timber - June 2021

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East Gippsland in crisis

Disaster for East Gippsland

Locals in East • Gippsland are

voicing their support for their timber industry.

Councils’ report predicts huge job, financial losses if native timber industry halted Bruce Mitchell

A

T LEAST 1110 jobs would be lost if native forest logging ceased immediately in Wellington and East Gippsland shires, according to data from a specialist economic impact consultant jointly engaged by both shires.

This number includes direct and indirect jobs, ranging from forestry contractors to transport company workers, through to employees at shops where timber workers spend their money.

The report also says more than $300m in economic output per annum would be removed from the local economy if native forest logging ceased immediately in both shires.

However the difference in responses to the report from the two councils has angered some, with Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull, slamming East Gippsland Shire’s comments.

Mr Bull said that Wellington came out very strongly the day after the report was released and said it expected better of the State Government.

But East Gippsland Council had waited three weeks before issuing a response saying the study ‘will help inform decision making about the native timber harvesting phase out’.

“These are staggering figures and does not include the flow on effects that will simply destroy communities like Orbost and Heyfield and impact heavily on many others,” Mr Bull said.

“However, the responses from the two councils have been very different.

“Wellington came out very strongly the day after the report was released and said it expected better of the State Government out of respect for local communities and it supported the retention of the industry – no ifs or buts there,” Mr Bull said.

Wellington is also chalwww.timberbiz.com.au

lenging the State Government to provide the data and scientific research to back up this decision (which has not been forthcoming) and is questioning the ‘transition’ when there are no hardwood plantations to transition to.

“East Gippsland on the other hand waited three weeks before issuing a response saying the study ‘will help inform decision making about the native timber harvesting phase out’. This is accepting of the phase out and job losses,” Mr Bull said.

“The statement went on to say it was working with the government on a pilot community transition plan in Orbost and it is council’s expectation that contractors are afforded other meaningful work. This too is conceding the timber industry jobs are going.”

Mr Bull said this showed East Gippsland Shire Council was not prepared to fight for these jobs and oppose this decision as Wellington Shire is doing.

“Full credit to Wellington for standing up for the retention of these local jobs and our industry. The Liberal Nationals’ will overturn this decision if elected next year,” Mr Bull said.

“East Gippsland on the other hand has a lot of explaining to do to these timber workers and these communities. It needs to state why it is not fighting as Wellington is to save these timber jobs and these towns.”

However East Gippsland Shire Council Mayor Cr Mendy Urie said her council was committed to supporting its communities that will be affected by the Victorian Forestry Plan.

“We are working with the Victorian Government on a pilot community transition program in Orbost,” she said. “This program will investigate the best ways to create new employment opportunities. Council has and will continue to advo-

Key Points round 1110 jobs • Awould be lost if

native forest logging ceased immediately in Wellington and East Gippsland shires.

he towns of Heyfield • Tand Yarram would bear the brunt of this impact.

ast Gippsland Shire • ECouncil accused of not

being prepared to fight for these jobs.

cate for investment in East Gippsland in response to the transition announcement.

“Recently, similar assistance for Swifts Creek and Nowa Nowa has also been announced and Council will work with the Government to ensure maximum benefits are gained from

these rollouts,” she said.

“In response to the announcement of the Victorian Government to phase out native timber harvesting by 2030 we have worked with Wellington Shire Council through a Timber Industry Taskforce to jointly engage a specialist economic impact consultant.

Together we are seeking to understand the government decision to best support our communities.

“Local jobs and the skills of timber industry workers are important and we will continue to work with communities across the region Continued on page 6

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In the news

JUNE 2021 Issue 4 – Volume 30 Established 1991 News Round Table Milestones Plantations Silviculture Mills

3 ― 16 8―9 12 ― 13 18 ― 19 20 ― 25 36

Front Cover: A good chainsaw is one of the most powerful tools in the timber industry. We look at the history of leading chainsaw manufacturer Oregon Saw Chain Company and its latest offering.

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4

Major planting operations underway in Green Triangle A •

n estimated 27 million plantation trees will be replanted across the Green Triangle over the coming months with some opportunities still available for interested individuals to join the work team.

A task normally undertaken by a large contingent of backpackers; this year the industry has relied on a domestic and New Zealand skill-base to fill the 150 positions due to prolonged border shutdowns as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

These recruits have included seasonal workers from the fishing and shearing industries, who join the forestry contracting crews in their work off-time. However, a number of contractors are still searching for final recruits advertising on social media channels for last minute labourers to meet their work targets The planting, which is spread across the south east of South Australia and south west of Victoria replacing harvested trees, includes 19.6 million softwood Pinus Radiata (softwood) seedlings and 7.5 million hard wood Eucalyptus Globulus (hardwood).

This vast work effort will cover approximately 20,500 hectares, including the replacement of Pinus Radiata trees lost in the 2020 Kentbruck fire, near Nelson.

Green Triangle Forest In-

Key Points

27 million plantation trees will be replanted across the Green Triangle

9.6 million softwood • 1Pinus Radiata (softwood) seedlings and 7.5 million hard wood Eucalyptus Globulus (hardwood) will be planted.

ork will cover • Wapproximately 20,500 hectares.

Nene Mibus, Ehklei Ehklei and Trinidad Pasilan from • Gildera Forestry Services are among a team of staff at

OneFortyOne’s Glencoe Nursery managing the delivery of seedlings.

dustries Hub chair Ian McDonnell said forest growers and contractors were collaborating, strategically planning the season to ensure the limited workforce was best utilised in the fixed timeframe whilst managing ongoing changes due to border shutdowns.

He said some crews historically planted about 100,000 trees per day with individual planters averaging 3000 trees daily.

“This is a very manual and physical job but for those wanting to increase their fitness and earn a good in-

come, working with great people, it can be a rewarding role,” he said.

“The planting season usually begins in May and can extend through to July; it is all dependent on winter rain which is required to ensure the best growth for the new seedlings.”

He said whilst the forest sector was not planting any new trees, only resowing what had been harvested and processed, the Hub was working hard on initiatives to grow the estate, understanding how to compete with increasing agricultural land prices and limitations with water access, particularly in South Australia. The Federal Gov-

ernment Growing a Better Australia Strategy has earmarked the need to plant an additional 400,000 hectares of new plantation nationally over the next decade, the equivalent of one billion new trees, to meet growing domestic wood demand which is anticipated to quadruple by 2050.

This planting is in addition to the 70 million commercial trees already planted nationally each year; approximately a quarter of this is collectively achieved annually by local forest companies.

“It is important we continue to replace every single tree harvested and invest in new land development to keep pace with domestic consumption,” Mr McDonnell said.

Taking Victoria’s native timber closure debate to a new level

T

he independent report commissioned by the Wellington and East Gippsland shires into the economic impact of the closure of the native timber industry in East Gippsland provides some sober reading.

This is no “woe is us” report. It is based on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), and the National Institute of Economic and Industry Research (NIEIR).

This is cold, hard analytical data on what the timber industry provides

East Gippsland in terms of economic benefit, and by default, what it will cost the region – the State of Victoria - if shut down.

In simple terms, the report points out that in 2018/19, the timber industry contributed $311 million in direct output and $101 million in direct value added.

When flow-on effects are taken into account, the industry contributed $514 million in total output and $179 million in value added.

This makes the State Government’s $120 million transition package to help communities adapt pointless, almost insulting.

How does the State Government think a $120m transition package is going to plug a $514m black hole?

The State Government has already virtually admitted that its promise to transition East Gippsland to solely plantation-based timber by 2030 is something of a sham with Agriculture Minister MaryAnne Thomas conceding that the promised planta-

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

tions won’t be ready by 2030.

The Victorian Government will probably ignore, or downplay, the report.

But the one element it should not ignore, can’t possibly ignore, is the losses of 375 jobs in the rest of Victoria.

And if those job losses spread interstate, as the report expects them to, expect the phones to start ringing hot.

This report has successfully taken the issue from the local stage to the national stage. www.timberbiz.com.au

In the news

China to stay player for long term C hina will be a strong buyer in the timber industry for the next two years or more according to the head of a major New Zealand timber exporter. intro Zindia Limited managing director Jacob Mannothra believes that China will continue to buy significant quantities from New Zealand, Uruguay and the United States to make up for the four billion cubic metres of supply they are not buying from Australia.

Established in 2004, Zindia became the largest dedicated exporter of logs from New Zealand to India.

Mr Mannothra said he believed China would not get much joy out of the European Union because most of that lumber is now going in the United States.

“The Americans have got deeper pockets and appreciate Europe timber a little better than Chinese,” he said.

“I think that will continue for at least next 24 months, if not longer, because the US is on a boom in terms of house building.

“The interesting phenomena, which I don’t think very many people have connected to, is that the US East Coast, most of the mills are now run

by Canadians.”

He said those mills were not really expanding.

“They just continue to use the same old mills and the production is just not skyrocketing.”

Although Weyerhaeuse – a major player in the timber industry in the United States – was planning to invest $150 billion into a new mill, that would take several years.

“So there doesn’t seem to be a big hurry by the locals in the United States to expand dramatically,” Mr Mannothra said.

“I would imagine the reason is they are reticent about investing because in the past, they invested, expanded, and the market crashed, right.

“I think they are thinking that this is sort of a flash in the pan because of COVID,” he said.

“So my take is that China will be strong for the next probably two years or more.”

Zindia Limited • managing director Jacob Mannothra.

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Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

Nominations Open Nominations Close Judging Process Green Triangle Timber Industry Awards 5

East Gippsland in crisis

Native timber decision highlights need for supply strategy T Philip Hopkins

he decision by the Andrews Government to close the native forest industry highlights the need for a national fibre strategy to ensure a strategic wood supply, according to federal MP Darren Chester.

Mr Chester, the Member for Gippsland and Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, said the lack of a longterm strategy around fibre supply – “a real problem” – had been made clear during the pandemic.

He was speaking after attending a roundtable forum at the Gippsland Forestry Hub in Churchill, which was attended by local forestry professionals, the Nationals’ Victorian Senator, Bridget McKenzie, and Nationals’ MLC Melina Bath.

Mr Chester said the Federal Government had a role here in explaining the national security implications of having a national fibre supply. “We can’t rely on global supply chains as we discovered during the pandemic. The Federal Government role here is to explain to Australians how important the timber industry is. It’s well managed and it’s in our national

Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester and The Nationals Member • for Eastern Victoria Region, Melina Bath back Gippsland timber jobs. interest to ensure it survives in the long term,” he said.

“The environmental groups have targeted individual regions and managed to shut down supply in many cases. No one has taken a broader, national understanding of our future needs.

“We have seen through the Co-

rona virus crisis as international supplies have dwindled, the price of local products has gone through the roof and now Australian consumers are paying the price when they come to build a home.

“Educating the public about the implications of not having a sustainable secure fibre supply in own country is tremendously important and has been brought home in the past 18 months.”

Mr Chester said the Australian Government should show “what the Andrews Government is jeopardising with its plan to shut down the native timber industry”. “The Victorian Government is misleading Victorians if they think they can supply

this fibre from other than native timber. It’s misleading to suggest the industry is not sustainable in this state,” he said.

“We have taken enormous steps over the past 30-40 years to put the industry on a sustainable footing.

To shut it down now is an insult to Victorians and all the hard work that has been done already.”

Mr Chester said his role as a federal MP and minister was to ensure his colleagues in Canberra understood the implications of the Victorian decision. “The information I’ve got from industry and the forestry hub - I’ll take those points to Canberra,” he said.

Senator McKenzie explained to the forum how her intended amendment and changes to the Environment Protection Biodiversity Act and Regional Forest Agreements would give industry certainty.

However, the Federal Government could not influence the Victorian government. “The only way to change the Andrews Government decision to shut down the native industry is to change the government.

That is a great tragedy,” she said.

“As I found out through the inquiry to the Senate bill, the CFMEU’s Michael O’Connor supports these changes. To let the RFA system run and to keep native forest harvesting going. It’s not just about left versus right. There are plenty of people in the Labor Party and those who support Labor who support the forest industry because they know it’s a sustainable industry,” she said.

Disaster for East Gippsland Continued from page 3

to ensure we are getting the best possible outcomes out of a challenging situation,” Cr Urie said.

The Mayor of Wellington Shire and chair of the Native Timber Taskforce, Cr Garry Stephens, said that in Wellington Shire alone the effect of the closure could have a devastating impact on the local economy, as forestry is a major employer.

He said that in particular, the towns of Heyfield and Yarram would bear the brunt of this impact and it presents a significant challenge for local government to make the best of a difficult situation.

Wellington Shire Council has requested that the Victorian Government share the data and scientific basis on which the native timber phase-out decision was made and awaits a considered response from 6

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

the government. Communities have a right to know and understand the basis for the decisions which affect their lives.

“We expect better of the government out of respect for local communities,” Cr Stephens said.

Wellington Shire Council supports Timber Towns Victoria and the CMFEU in wanting to retain the jobs of timber workers.

The East Gippsland Shire also wants to ensure that any industry restructure places communities at the centre of decision-making, that resources are adequate, and that no one is left behind.

“Timber workers have unique forestry skills, expertise, knowledge, and equipment that is often used in a first response to fire events,” Cr Stephens said. www.timberbiz.com.au

East Gippsland in crisis

State Government blocking release of data ‘backing’ timber shutdown T he Wellington and East Gippsland shire councils established a Native Timber Taskforce in response to the State Government announcement that the harvesting of native timber hardwood forests would be banned in 2030.

The taskforce is made up of Wellington and East Gippsland shire councils as well as Timber Towns Victoria, National Timber Council, CMFEU and local timber industry manufacturers.

The principal objective of the Taskforce Is to obtain the data that led to the State Government decision.

Unfortunately, attempts to obtain this data have been unsuccessful to date.

This is despite the lodging of several FOI requests.

At the present time there is one live FOI request that still is waiting for a response.

Partly as a result of the failure of the State Government to release any relevant data, the two Councils recently commissioned a report from .id Informed Decisions on the economic overview of the native timber Industry in the two shires.

MY VIEW Garry Stephens Mayor, Wellington Shire Council

The information contained in the report is chilling reading for the future of the timber industry.

The report shows that there are 1092 direct jobs in the timber industry in both shires.

There are also another 764 indirect jobs that rely on the timber industry.

Therefore, the timber industry is vital to the economic wellbeing of both shires.

The report also outlines the wider impact of a ban on native forest logging in Victoria.

This impact will not just affect the local Gippsland area.

There will be a likely increase in imported of timber from overseas sources that don’t meet the strict practices and certifications of local contractors.

There is increasing demand for hardwood for upmarket housing and to meet that demand we may need to import.

There will be a loss of skills, expertise, knowledge and equipment that is often the first response to fire events.

The State Government announced a $120 million transition package to help communities adapt to the ban on harvesting of native timber.

Based on the findings by .id informed decisions, this package will only be a fraction of the lost economic value to local communities.

The report shows that if native hardwood logging ceased immediately there would be a loss of $306 million in the two shires on an annual basis.

The Wellington Council supports Vic Forests and believes that it is running a

well-managed and sustainable forestry harvesting operation.

After all, only five trees in every 10000 are harvested each year.

The Wellington Shire wants to see the data the State Government relied on to make this decision which will have such a detrimental impact on our communities.

A transition to plantation forestry must be managed over a period of between 30 and 60 years.

There are insufficient areas of plantation hardwood available at present.

There is very little evidence that the State Government is taking any steps to rectify this situation.

The native hardwood timber industry cannot be transitioned in 10 years.

Allow Vic Forests to continue to manage a sustainable code of forest practice.

Introduce changes to the way we manage native hardwood forests over the next 30 to 60 years.

The Wellington Shire Council will continue to support the timber industry and the retention of local businesses and local timber workers jobs.

Communities, not just jobs, at risk

T

imber Towns Victoria has warned of massive job losses if the Victorian Government goes ahead with its plans to shut down the native timber.

“This is not the time for the Victorian Government to be taking steps that will cost more jobs, further damage regional communities and economies, and sacrifice a viable resource industry,” Timber Towns President and Deputy Mayor of Glenelg Shire, Cr Karen Stephens said.

“Victoria’s native timber industry employs around 2,500 people directly, supports thousands of indirect jobs, and adds almost $300 million value to regional communities. www.timberbiz.com.au

“The industry underpins the entire economies of many small regional towns,” she said.

A report commissioned

by Rural Councils Victoria, Economic Impact Assessment of the creation and retention of rural jobs, has highlighted the economic impact of job losses and creation on rural areas.

“The data tells us how much more rural areas are

hurt by job losses, compared to cities,” Cr Stephens said.

“Put simply, one job loss in Melbourne is equivalent to five jobs lost in small rural communities.

“The Crowle Harworth report also highlights how hard it is for rural workers to adjust to job loss.

“The local economy in rural communities often depends on only one or two industries and rural workers who lose their jobs have few, if any, other local job prospects. That causes high levels of family distress and community decline.”

Cr Stephens said the Victorian Government needed to understand that in rural towns, if a family’s main income earner loses their job, they might have to up-

root their entire family and move away.

This puts local schools and services at risk and adds to the problem of aging rural communities.

“Victoria’s native timber heartland, Gippsland and its communities have suffered overwhelming economic damage and job losses in recent times through drought, bushfires, the loss of the 2019-20 tourism season, and the COVID-19 pandemic,” Cr Stephens said.

“They simply cannot afford more job losses.”

She said that Victoria has the capacity to maintain a financially viable and sustainable native timber industry supporting thousands of workers, their families and businesses

Australian Forests & Timber News May 2021

in regional communities, while protecting Old Growth Forest and endangered wildlife, if the Victorian Government will allow it to operate.

Timber Towns Victoria believes the 2025 commencement of the phase out must be postponed to protect regional jobs and maintain local investment confidence, in order to help rebuild the regional economy.

“We want the Victorian Government to understand how much this decision will hurt the broader Gippsland economy, beyond the direct timber industry, and will undermine business and community confidence at a very difficult time,” Cr Stephens said.

7

Round table - East Gippsland

Q&A Panel

Last year we asked representatives of the three levels of Government their views on the impending closure of the Victorian native timber industry. In this Round Table, we asked the same three respondents to again look at the future for the industry in East Gippsland.

Q

ow will forestry estate H be managed and funded post 2030 without a timber industry in place if the Victorian Government proceeds with its plans to close the native timber industry?

Darren Chester Our native timber industry is the most sustainable in the world and critically important to towns across Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley.

Most Gippslanders would recognise the environmental benefits of well-managed mixed species forests than more monoculture plantations on our region.

This decision by the State Government undermines Gippsland’s proud history of supplying world class timber products from a renewable resource.

We have a world-class timber industry in Victoria where 94% of forest is protected and a small proportion of native forests is harvested each year under VicForests’ control.

It is the ultimate renewable industry: young growing trees absorb more car8

bon dioxide compared to mature forests and the timber is harvested according to the strictest standards in the world.

There is no evidence the Victorian Government has any prospect of securing the volumes of wood required to undertake the proposed transition.

Gary Blackwood 1. There is a real concern for our Native Forests beyond 2030 if harvesting is excluded. Currently the State Government cannot manage the Native Forest Estate as it should be managed. Roads are not maintained, fuel reduction burns do not cover enough area to reduce fire risk and uneven age forest that harvesting creates, increasing the uptake of carbon, will eventually become an old even aged tree

Darren Chester has been a member of the House of Representatives for Gippsland in Victoria, representing the Nationals since 2008.

Gary Blackwood has been a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since November 2006, representing the electorate of Narracan in East Gippsland.

Cr Dale Harriman is on the Latrobe City Council in Gippsland.

landscape with no carbon storage ability. If roads are not maintained then the ability to quickly respond to a lightning strike is hampered. Those that use the Forest for recreation, fishing, 4WD, hunting and bush walking will be unable to access the forest.

But then again the aim of the Greens is to establish a Great Forest National Park that will effectively ban recreational activity anyway. The area will become over run by wild dogs, deer and feral cats that have a massive impact on the environment and biodiversity of our Natural Forest.

Funding for our National Parks has been in decline for many years and once an area is declared National Park the attitude has been lock it up and throw the key away. This only increases the areas exposure to wildfire and pest plants and animals. Most of the roads that have been constructed in our forests have been built by the timber industry and many of them currently maintained by the industry-this will stop post closure in 2030. The same goes for wildfire response.

The equipment, experience and local knowledge within the industry will be gone.

To replace this asset will be a huge cost impost on the taxpayer. To not fund a replacement will leave Victo-

rians dangerously exposed every summer.

The State Government and city centric environmentalist groups will claim tourism jobs will keep Timber Industry workers in the area and that locked up forests will be managed. Tasmania has shown this to be a lie with only minimal numbers of former timber workers gaining employment and none still employed in tourism.

As for the thousands of tourism jobs they never eventuates.

Dale Harriman Without a timber industry to manage the forestry estate the full cost will fall back on the Victorian taxpayer . As we have seen with the bushfires that have ravaged the National parks in Victoria over the last 2 decades , the forestry estate is not managed but locked up and turned into a fire bomb waiting to go off.

Q

I f there is to be a transition away from native timber harvesting what should that transition look like?

Darren Chester We need to fight to save our timber jobs, our timber towns and our sustainable timber industry.

The commonwealth is acting urgently to resolve the uncertainty to ensure that the tens of thousands of jobs that depend on Australia’s native forestry industry are not exposed to the sort of crisis now facing Victoria’s native hardwood sector.

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

This is the wrong decision for all the wrong reasons and we need to do everything possible to prevent the State Government from destroying the economy and social structures of towns across Gippsland.

The timber sector is a major employer and many mills and haulage companies have been run by the same family for decades. www.timberbiz.com.au

East Gippsland - Round table BRIEFS ROLLINS RETIRES Gary Blackwood If there is to be a transition away from Native Forest Harvesting it has to take place over a much longer timeframe. If we are serious about growing our own timber needs here in Victoria we have to get really serious about plantation establishment, both for short term fibre for Australian Paper, 10-15 years and for the production of appearance grade and construction timber processed by Sawmills 40-60 years. In my view it is so hypocritical to shut down our Native Timber Industry and then import

Q

the product from Countries who do not replant or from areas of huge environmental significance such as the Amazon Rainforest. However the reality is if you are going to grow trees of the same quality that our Native Forests produce you will need areas of high rainfall, good soil type and climate. At present this type of land is high quality agricultural land and unlikely to be affordable/viable for growing trees. You can grow trees in short rotation for fibre from marginal farming land and this will as-

iven the State G Government’s plan to replace the native timber resource with plantation timber, how viable would plantations be given water, and feral pest issues and a potential lack of available land?

Darren Chester I fully support more investment in plantation timber but it is deceitful by the State Government to claim that the plantations can replace sustainable native timber harvesting in just 10 years.

We currently harvest just four out of 10,000 trees each year on public land in Victoria, with the vast of the majority of our forests already locked up in national parks and reserves, never to be harvested.

Any trees harvested are replanted on a continuous cycle which has provided timber for construction, furniture and paper manufacturing for decades.

It is a strictly regulated industry and if we shut it down, the alternative is importing more wood and paper from countries www.timberbiz.com.au

with lower environmental standards.

Victoria has a vast reserve of national parks with strict environmental protections.

Our State’s timber industry is the most environmentally sustainable native timber harvesting industry in the world, with value adding occurring in timber manufacturing facilities in Gippsland.

Timber production and recreational activities like four-wheel driving, camping and hiking can co-exist in our well managed forests.

There are already a lot of concerns within the timber industry regarding the State Government’s plan for plantation timber with continued delays in establishing plantations and the loss of thousands of hectares during the bushfires.

sist fibre supply to Opal Australian Paper. However in summary a real transition must be long term 40 years minimum. There is no reason that this cannot be undertaken. We have a sustainable industry, not one species of animal has become extinct because of timber harvesting in Victoria. The product used is regrown, stores carbon and is a complete contrast to steel and cement or imported timber.

Dale Harriman If there is to be a transition away from Native

Gary Blackwood As I have said the available land is the big problem.

It is too expensive and has a much higher value use growing clean green food.

Growing Plantation Timber and relying solely on it’s product comes with some risk. The quality can never be the same as native forest given it is grown outside it’s natural environment. Access to water could be another issue for plantation establishment, once again native forest has, by it’s very location, has access to natural rainwater of medium to high volume. Fire is always going to be an issue in a drying climate and will pose a closer risk to communities than remote

timber then it needs to be over a harvest cycle, 60-80 years, not the 9 years we have left. What we need is an allocated 10,000 hectares ready to be planted on a rotating cycle now before the transition begins, not the mess we have now with the lack of plantings and no long term goals.

We need guarantees of the right to harvest ( and signage ) so that in 60 years time we aren’t left with a situation similar to those occurring now where new local residents object to THEIR trees being cut down .

never to be harvested. The remaining 6% is available for timber production and only .03% of that area is harvested each year.

Dale Harriman We have already seen the lack of land being an issue and leases not being renewed to current lease holders and then magically being taken up by the government. With the so called climate emergency predicting large scale loss of water then the new plantations become totally unviable. As for the current plan to have them taken on by Investment Companies and Super Funds , no doubt with Carbon credits as the key, I see the repeat

It is a strictly regulated industry and if we shut it down, the alternative is importing more wood and paper from countries with lower environmental standards. native forest, especially located within easy access for arsonists. At the end of the day if we are serious about supplying our own timber needs for sustainable sources, the ongoing access to a small part of our Native Forest is far more responsible. Remenber 94% of our Public Native Forest Estate is currently set aside in Parks and Reserves

of previous failed programs being blueprinted !

We already see with a number of Government run forests the huge impact on local farmers and residents of Feral animals and the lack of control measures to keep them under control. Again this is a city Centric mantra taking precedence over the reality in our Forests.

Australian Forests & Timber News May 2021

AFTER nearly 44 years in the timber industry, Dave Rollins will soon wrap up his ‘gap year’ and retire from Timberlink.

Dave began his career in timber in 1976 in Cumming Bros sawmill timber yard, after taking a gap year from his university studies in agricultural science. While working there, he completed a four-year cadetship in timber through RMIT. Dave was first employed

by Timberlink in 1987, when he joined what was then known as Tas Softwoods.

During his career with the company, Dave worked across three states, including at the Tarpeena mill in South Australia and the Bell Bay mill in Northern Tasmania.

CARBON DEAL MIDWAY Tasmania and Climate Friendly, two leading service providers in their respective fields of forestry and carbon project development, have announced a strategic alliance that combines farm forestry with carbon farming.

The partnership model will provide services to local land managers in Tasmania, enabling them to become small-scale private forestry growers and to improve the productivity of otherwise marginal land.

Climate Friendly and Midway will partner with these growers to facilitate both an early income from carbon farming, in addition to longer term income from sustainable forest products.

COMMENT SOUGHT PUBLIC comment is now being sought on a revised draft for the Australian Standard for Chain of Custody for Forest and Tree Based Products – AS 4707.

The Australian Standard, along with the Australian Standard for Sustainable Forest Management (AS 4708) was developed by Responsible Wood and are key components of the Responsible Wood Certification Scheme (RWCS). AS / NZS 4707 underpins the endorsement of the PEFC Chain of Custody of Forest and Tree Based Products certification scheme operating in Australia.

9

East Gippsland in crisis

Native timber decision will cut mill’s supply C Phillip Hopkins

hris McEvoy could not be happier. His new Radial Timber sawmill at Yarram is working extremely well, but there is a cloud on the horizon: the Andrews Government’s plan to close the native forest industry by 2030 will leave him five years’ short of timber supply.

Radial began establishing hardwood plantations on planned 30-year rotations in 2004. The plan was to make the business self-sufficient in the long term, but in the interim, it still relies on timber supply from VicForests.

“The real dilemma is, we’ve got the longest contract with VicForests of all timber producers – until the end of 2026 - due to the huge investment in the new mill in 2016,” he said. VicForests is scheduled to start cutting back on supply from 2024.

“Both dates (2026 and 2030) leave us short – not much short. We can see the end in sight even with 2030, but we are potentially still five years short.”

The new mill, which uses the radial cutting technology originally conceived by Andy Knorr, has now been operating for four-and-ahalf years. Radial sawing cuts a log like a cake, which

Key Points

he Radial Timber • Tsawmill is processing

12,000 cubic metres a year, while the old mill site is now a new drying mill.

he mill has the • Tlongest contract with

VicForests of all timber producers – until the end of 2026 - due to the huge investment in the new mill in 2016

he State Government’s • Tplan to close the native

creates less waste and processes smaller logs than conventional sawing.

“We have hit our strides.

We are in full production; we are easily cutting our annual allocation. We have a stable crew and stable production facility,” said Mr McEvoy, the company owner and managing director, who is a wood scientist and former CSIRO employee.

The high performance led to a recent visit to the business by Victoria’s Governor, Linda Dessau.

The mill is processing 12,000 cubic metres a year,

while the old mill site is now a new drying mill.

“We have four times the production of the old mill, with the same number of staff – 20 people – who are multi-skilled and all doing it easily,” he said.

The company’s trees are being grown by Heartwood Plantations, which has a joint venture with Radial.

They now have 3000 hectares of trees on 4000 ha of land within a 50-kilometre radius of Yarram, which is located in Victoria’s South Gippsland.

A key acquisition was 1500ha over 24 properties bought from the failed management investment com-

Victoria’s Governor Linda Dessau AC during a recent visit to the Radial Timber mill at • Yarram in Gippsland.

10

forest industry by 2030 will leave the mill five years’ short of timber supply.

pany Great Southern Plantations in 2017. Most had been planted to blue gum and some shining gum for woodchips.

“As these plantations are harvested, we are replanting to high-value sawlog species. These are at various stages of growth. The oldest is 16 years old, and we are planting every year. We try to get 50-100 ha planted annually,” Mr McEvoy said.

“The 3000 ha gives us a 30year sustainable supply.

That’s all we need to give us 10,000m3 a year for 30 years and replant as we go so it’s a sustainable cycle.”

With experience, Radial has now changed its plantation model, but with the emphasis still on durable hardwoods. The species mix has grown from four to about six or seven - yellow stringybark, silver top, spotted gum, coastal grey box (class1, “grows locally, slow growing, the form is not great, but can be improved by genetics – definitely a new one”), red iron bark, (“another class 1 from Gippsland”) and southern mahogany.

“We also do a lot more random establishment – still planting in rows, but mixing up the species,” he said. Nature had provided interesting lessons. “What we found – Darwin’s natural section showed us how forests work. The stronger survive and the weakest don’t.

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

In monoculture blocks, some species are more affected by drought, some by insect attack, some by nutrient deficiencies in the soil – a lot is degraded farmland – and some more affected by frost.”

Mr McEvoy said a frost or nutrient deficiency could destroy a whole block and “you are back to square one”. However, by mixing up and using the right species, a frost may only take out a few trees, which were then thinned as part of the usual thinning process.

“You don’t have to start from scratch. It’s a more efficient way and like an insurance policy.

Also, it’s really good for biodiversity; there is no sterile monoculture forest.

It’s similar to a mixed species forest.”

Mr McEvoy said people many people maintained these timbers would not grow well in plantation – “they won’t grow straight enough, or fast enough”.

“But when you talk high value timbers, you have time on your side. There are a lot of even non-traditional products you can do,” he said.

For example, Radial supplies plantation durable timber for children’s playgrounds.

“The market now wants natural organic playgrounds. They’ve gone away from plastic and steel and treated pine; they want odd forms, bent and twisty wood. Not everything has to be sawn timber for flooring – that’s how markets evolve.”

Fencing and managing the plantations still remained an ongoing cost, but livestock are now used as a natural way to control weeds and fire risk. “To plant and maintain – the cost goes up every year. It does get harder to manage privately - the ongoing, 30-year cycle with very little income and inflated expenses. It’s not a fantastic business model.

For now, we still need VicForests’ timber for cash flow, but the very efficient, reduced-cost mill is helping to fund ongoing plantation establishment,” he said. www.timberbiz.com.au

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Milestones BRIEFS Mangan RFA CHANGES

THE Senate has agreed to recommended changes to the Regional Forest Agreements framework to give operational certainty that the native forest industry has been seeking.

The Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee report follows the committee’s inquiry on the private Senator’s Bill put up

by Senator Bridget McKenzie.

This follows a controversial ruling of Justice Mortimer last year which undermined two decades of environmental oversight of forestry operations through Regional Forest Agreements.

LOH APPOINTED NEW Forests Pty Ltd, the international sustainable forestry investment manager, has appointed Christine Loh as an independent director to its board.

Ms. Loh has previously served as Under-Secretary for the Environment for the Hong Kong Government (2012-2017) and is currently Chief Development Strategist at the Institute for the Environment, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

NEW WA DIRECTOR WESTERN Australia’s Forest Products Commission has appointed Islay Robertson as it’s new Director Operations.

Mr Robertson is a Forestry School graduate of the Australian National University and has previously held operational, management and executive roles in forestry in Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia.

He replaces FPC’s former Director Operations Gavin Butcher, who retired earlier this year.

COMMUNITY GRANTS THE Hyne Community Trust will open for applications on 1 June for four weeks. The trust supports projects valued over $10,000 that can demonstrate how they will provide lasting benefits to the community.

Community groups considering applying for a Hyne Community Trust grant this June should start reviewing the guidelines available at https:// www.hyne.com.au/hyne-community-trust and consider how their application will provide long lasting benefits to the community.

12

family reaches major milestone 60 years in the field and four generations

O

beron-based Mangan Logging & Haulage has reached a major milestone with the Australian-owned business marking 60 years of operation and welcoming its fourth generation into the family-run business.

Established in 1961 by Bert and Monica Mangan, the business has grown from one trucking unit to 25, along with numerous harvesting units, two mechanic workshops, a 24hour breakdown service and a parts store.

They employ over 70 staff and contractors, including six apprentices, many of whom are themselves multi-generational employees with the business.

Today, the Mangan Group harvest and haul over 500,000 tonnes of softwood plantation pine each year delivering quality product to Highland Pine, Borg, Visy, Allied Timber Products NSW, and various export markets.

A hallmark of the business has been the seamless management transition over the six decades from Bert and Monica, to son Michael and his wife Suzanne, and to today’s leaders, their grandchildren Mathew, Lisa, Chris, and Michelle.

Recently they welcomed Mathew’s son Riley to the business, who began his mechanical apprenticeship, following the same path his father did 24 years earlier.

Starting out Bert began his career in the timber industry on the NSW Central Coast in the town of Wyong. Historically a strong logging community, the industry had begun to slow. In 1961, at the request of his then employer, Bert and Monica and their young son, Michael, travelled to the town of Oberon in the Central Tablelands to complete a contract. Before long, the contract was theirs.

“It came down to the fact that the chap we were working for decided he just didn’t want to run the business anymore and that we could take over,” Monica recalls.

• Bert Mangan with one of his original trucks.

“When Dad began the business in Oberon the timber industry was manually based, so the first 10-15 years of Mangan Logging were tough,” Michael said.

“It was basically people with chainsaws felling, pruning, and stacking the timber onto pallets that were winched onto Dad’s two army-style Blitz trucks and then delivered to the sawmills.”

Michael began joining Bert in the plantation forests by the time he was around seven years of age.

“I used to go out to the bush with my father and the big thing was weekends.

He’d go and load the trucks up ready for Monday and things like that. I’d go out with him and give him a hand.” Michael joined his father in the business full time as soon as he could leave school.

As Michael’s responsibilities within the family business increased, he took the initiative to upgrade the company’s equipment.

He introduced the first mechanised harvester and forwarder into the business, which took the timber workers off the bush floor and into the safety of a machine cab.

First changing of the guard In 1984, Bert’s doctors strongly advised him to step down from the day-to-day running of the business. As Suzanne put it, “The doctor told him if he didn’t get out, he wouldn’t survive because his blood pressure was so high.” Bert and Monica retired back to the NSW Central Coast and Michael and Suzanne stepped up.

But it was challenging times. Government economic reforms during the 1980’s had a profound impact on the economy overall. Mangan Logging wasn’t spared as interest rates to borrow for the necessary upgrades to equipment hit 29 per cent.

“The machines we needed to land contracts were

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

around the $400,000 to $500,000 mark which was huge back then,” Suzanne said. “We were lucky to secure a contract with CSR during that time. The banks finally understood that loans to get equipment meant we could actually do the work.”

Investment in safety and productivity Mangan Logging & Haulage use a variety of machinery to optimise the productivity and quality of their services, including Harvesters, Feller Bunchers, Forwarders, Skidders, Loaders and B-Double Trucking Combinations. This allows their crews to work on different slopes and terrains, including the steep slopes of the Oberon region that www.timberbiz.com.au

Milestones

Key Points Logging • M& angan Haulage was

established in 1961

by Bert and Monica Mangan.

he business has grown • Tfrom one trucking Mangan management team, from left Chris Mangan, Michelle Corby, Michael Mangan, Suzanne Mangan, Lisa Robinson • and Matt Mangan. require specialised extraction equipment.

Mangan was the first company in the Oberon region to introduce lower, safer loads by designing and building an extended log trailer for haulage. In 2002 the company introduced the first 19m B-double, in 2013 the first 23m B-Double and in 2018 the first 25meter B-Double. Mangan was also the first in the region to add stability control to its trucking units.

Generation three take the reigns Mathew and Chris transitioned easily into the business, both completing their apprenticeships as diesel mechanics.

As his father recalls, “Mathew always loved the bush machines.” It seemed inevitable that Matt would be a natural fit for the business. He began his apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic, displaying an aptitude that would begin to position Mangan Logging ahead of the industry pack.

Chris embraced haulage as a specialist service. www.timberbiz.com.au

“When I first started my diesel mechanic apprenticeship, we had one truck and we had never really planned to get big into trucks,” Chris said.

“But I put my efforts into the haulage workshop, and it grew from there. We started off with a couple of trucks and then we had 10, then we had 12, and now we’ve got 25 and we’re a leader in the haulage industry.”

Lisa entered the administration side of the business, spending 15 years responsible for managing The Mangan Group head office before taking on the responsibility of Store Manager for the past six years. She has the future of their entire workforce front of mind.

“We all want Mangan Logging & Haulage to succeed.

Aside from making Dad and all our families proud, we’re here for our employees and their jobs,” Lisa said.

With qualifications including a Bachelor of Business (Accounting/Finance) and a Graduate Diploma of Chartered Accounting, Michelle has been contributing to the

financial side of the business for 14 years.

Michelle said the family credits Bert and Monica, and Michael and Suzanne, for the solid foundations they established for the family.

“They’ve given us the platforms and the infrastruc-

ture for success, and we have skillsets that just compliment the business.

“We’ve got Matt who’s in the harvesting side, Chris is on the trucks, Lisa’s in the store, and me in finance.

“It’s like a puzzle that just fits together, that just works.”

Australian Forests & Timber News May 2021

unit to 25, along with numerous harvesting units, two mechanic workshops, and a 24-hour breakdown service.

t employs more • Ithan 70 staff and

contractors, including six apprentices, many of whom are multi-generational employees.

13

In the news

IFA/AFG looks to new name, future and focus Philip Hopkins

T

he amalgamated group, the Institute of Foresters of Australia/Australian Forest Growers, is moving towards a revamp of its name as the organisation repositions its future as a profession.

The IFA/AFG president, Bob Gordon, said the IFA had been going through a change process over the past few years, which included the merging of Australian Forest Growers with the IFA. “We have been doing things, such as regular webinars on topics ranging from indigenous forest management to carbon accounting to the use of drones,” he said. “Members want more networking and professional development opportunities. That’s what the webinars are about.

“We have also put a lot of effort to encourage younger foresters to join the IFA, including setting up a young group for future foresters and doing some training and providing scholarships for young people.”

Mr Gordon said that feedback showed that the name IFA/Aust Forest Growers to many younger members seemed a bit ancient.

“It does not necessary reflect all the things that we do,” he said.

Discussions with members, including an internal

14

survey, resulted in four or five names being selected as the new identification for the group. Mr Gordon said unfortunately, one favoured name was already taken by a Commonwealth Government Department.

“They had it - no one in the world knew about it but they had the domain name and had registered the name as well,” he said.

Following that, Mr Gordon said the IFA/AFG decided to go broader and get professional advice. The market research group Pollinate, led by Howard Parry-Husbands, was hired to get public feedback on a possible new name.

“The idea was to think deeper about what people thought about names, not just the names themselves,” he said. “We are still analysing that.”

At the same time, the IFA/ AFG also did another member satisfaction survey.

“We were really happy with the outcome - 81.9 per cent were satisfied or very satisfied, up substantially from 60 per cent in 2019 and 70 per cent last year,” he said.

• IFA/AFG president Bob Gordon.

“What they want us to work on, is better advocacy for well thought-out research on forest science and forest management, working to increase our profile as the rational voice of scientific forest manage-

ment when there is a lot of other noise around.”

Mr Gordon said the group’s members would have to be the experts in most of their fields. This was whether it was academic members, gener-

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

ally professors of forest and land management or forest and environmental science, or specialist members.

“The forest fire committee has probably got seven or eight of the top forest fire mangers in Australia.

Yet we sometimes struggle to get that message across,” he said, despite having people who have spent their whole lives in forest management.

These included Bill Jackson, deputy Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Geneva, and other people active in parks management and other areas. “But we get painted by opponents of sustainable forestry as an industry body,” he said.

Mr Gordon said this was one reason whether “we should refresh the name and find a name that resonates a bit more”.

The initial results were in, which would be discussed at board level.

This would be followed by more consultation with members, including meetings with divisional and committee chairs.

“We will go through what we have talking about.

There is no firm timetable; we will make a decision and then put it to the members,” he said.

www.timberbiz.com.au

INDUSTRY LED CERTIFICATION DEVELOPMENT FOR FOREST CONTRACTING BUSINESSES

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Industry representatives are currently developing business, work health and safety and environmental standards and criteria.

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In the news Industry awards return for 2021

THE Green Triangle Timber Industry Awards are back on the calendar after being cancelled last year due to Covid-19.

The awards will be presented on October 29 at The Barn, Mount Gambier.

Bringing together companies from both Victoria and South Australia, the awards acknowledge the standout contributors within their sectors across the Green Triangle and showcase innovative, sustainable and environmentally friendly practices across the industry.

GTTIA Chairman Adrian Flowers said he was grateful for the timber industry’s continued patronage and was excited about what was in store for the 2021 event.

“We are very fortunate to have the support and recognition of our peers as the flagship timber industry awards in the region,” he said.

“The GTTIA committee are excited to build on our past awards nights, which were really well received, by adding exciting new categories in response to industry feedback.

“With these new awards, the GTTIA committee believe we can truly showcase best practice in an ever-evolving and dynamic industry” To find out more, including sponsorship enquiries, visit www.gttia.com or contact GTTIA Event Manager Gaylene Newton on info@gttia.com or 0409 021 984.

Protocols in place for re-born AUSTimber P

lanning for AUSTimber 2020/2021 is now at full steam, with a slightly new look to reflect the pandemic.

What was envisaged for early last year – and again late last year - will go ahead as planned in November 2021.

AUSTimber will run from November 10 to 13 with the welcome dinner - with special guest speaker Dr Karl Kruszelnicki - scheduled for November 11.

But world-wide travel restrictions and Covid-19 mean there will be some minor changes.

“Regardless of anything else at the moment we have to have COVID safety protocols in place,” Dionne Olsen, who is coordinating the event, said.

“We’re very fortunate being an outdoor venue. It gives us a lot of flexibility to ensure social distancing.”

Missing this year will be the conference and there will be no need for extra exhibitor space off-site as there was in 2016.

However the popular field trips will still be on.

The first day of tours – November 10 - will include trips to the AKD Softwoods

Independent advisor to the world’s forest and agricultural industries

mill at Yarram which produces outdoor garden products, Alberton Timber and Treatment Plant which provide treated and structural timbers, and a visit to the Gelliondale Nursery (HVP Plantations).

A mill, fabricating and Inforest tour will start with the Heyfield timber mill supplying Australian sustainable hardwoods, Kennedy Trailers to see some of their custom trailer solutions, and finish at flat pine and bluegum coupes.

Other tours will include examining the practicality of creating a farmer-grown hardwood saw log resource in the Strzelecki Ranges as well as visiting the Radial Timber sawmill in Yarram, and various demonstrations of small-scale harvesting operations including a visit to a Heartwood Plantations site.

The second day of tours will include a visit DJM Fabrications’ modern workshop with state of the art

equipment, regenerated ash and mixed species harvesting coupes, steep country harvesting from thinnings, to clearfall to an ash plantation.

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diligence, sales advisory services, analysis and advice for forest owners, resource planning and business strategy, markets and market forecasts, operations and tech solutions.

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Professionalism and integrity underpin everything we do.

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Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

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Plantation Management BRIEFS Trio of hurdles MILL FUTURE

NORSKE Skog, the owner of the Tasman newsprint mill in Kawerau, has begun talks with staff over the mill’s future, following a lengthy review.

Unionists have been expressing concern for some months about the mill’s viability, given the declining world demand for newsprint.

A spokesman for Norske Skog, David Quin, said the mill had about 160 staff, and they were briefed on Wednesday about the outcome of a strategic review that was initiated last September.

He said the company did not want to say what the review’s conclusion was until the consultation process was complete, but stressed that “no decisions have been made.”

RESTRICTIONS PANNED NEW Zealand’s Forest Owners Association says the Federated Farmers’ call for the government to restrict forest planting ranks as an unnecessary intrusion on the right of farmers to plant trees on their land if they want to.

The Association also says a restriction would make it more difficult for New Zealand to reach its vital climate change targets.

Federated Farmers are stating the government has failed to live up to its promise during the election campaign to make landowners apply for a resource consent if they intend to plant more than 50 hectares of trees on land capability classes 1 – 5.

DEALER DEAL FINNISH forest machine manufacturer Logset Oy and South African forest machine dealer Green Projects have signed a dealer agreement to market and sell Logset products in Southern Africa. For Logset this means claiming an area on a new continent: Africa.

Under the terms of the agreement the new dealer will provide sales, service and parts for the Logset equipment. Green Projects service territory includes all of Southern Africa.

18

blocking plantation development W hy is developing plantations in Australia so

hard?

We’ve got plenty of demand, both domestically and in the export market, we’ve got lots of land.

We’ve got the know-how, we know how to grow trees pretty well, pretty efficiently. We’re a wealthy country and we’re a smart country.

And our forefathers developed a fantastic estate of softwood in the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s. But after they finished in the early ‘90s, the expansion stopped.

We had a crack at hardwood plantations through the Managed Investment Scheme, but that wound up due to the global financial crisis and that estate is now if anything shrinking.

So why is it so difficult in Australia? I think there are many reasons, but there are three in particular that come to mind.

The first one is access to land. The second is the lack of a free and open price market. And the third is an over-reliance on government.

In terms of access to land, there is no vacant cleared around land anywhere in the country that is sufficient to build another estate.

There may be some small areas in each state, but these are pretty minor. The only option for us is to look at farmland, agricultural land and buying land in Australia is really expensive.

There’s been consistent growth in land prices over the last five or six years and even with the drought conditions, land prices have continued to increase.

The Rural Bank of Australia reported in 2019, which was the drought year, that land prices in New South Wales had increased by 17%.

The medium price for land in New South Wales now is over $5000 a hectare.

But it’s pretty similar around the country. If you look at Victoria, a jump of about 12%, went up a whopping 28%, and even in Tasmania, it moved up by 11%.

And the medium price in Tasmania for rural land is over $11,000 a hectare.

Rob de Fégely Margules Groome

Key Points here is no vacant • Tcleared around

land anywhere in the country that is sufficient to build another softwood estate.

armers can get • Fagricultural commodity prices daily,but they cannot find the price of a pine or a hardwood saw log and this has to change.

did • Ga overnments fantastic job in

establishing the softwood estate but they cannot do that again.

But competing with farmers is absolutely impossible for us. We’ve never been able to do it so we have to learn to work with them.

And agricultural prices, commodity prices, are now at almost record highs; it’s nothing to pay $1800 for a weaner steer, that’s a growth of around $150 a month on one animal.

So agricultural processes and land are all time high.

This make competing really hard and if anything, the higher and better use for a lot of plantations in Australia is agriculture. And we’re seeing conversion of hardwood plantations back into farming every year.

Farmers don’t understand forestry at all.

There are too many horror stories about those farm-

ers who were pioneers and decided to put some trees in and were either shut out of the market due to take or pay contracts, or other forms of market exploitation, or the price they received was so low that it just did not warrant them wanting to do anything more.

We need to get industry and the overall industry to use the market power, not to exploit smaller growers, but to make champions of them.

The second point that I think is a real impediment to plantations is the lack of market prices, the lack of a free access to market price.

It’s a veil of secrecy. Farmers can get agricultural commodity prices daily, and it comes in either news media, print media, or even get it online.

And they get different forms. For instance, for cattle, they can get dollars per head in through the side yards, they can get that converted to cents per kilogram live weight or cents per kilogram carcass weight so that they are very well-informed of what their livestock are worth on a daily basis.

But they cannot find or see the price of a pine or a hardwood saw log and this has to change.

We need to lift that veil of secrecy around log prices.

The third point I’d like to make is the over-reliance on government. Government did a fantastic job in establishing the softwood estate that we have today, and they should be congratulated for it, but they cannot do that again.

They have not got the land, they can’t clear it and they can’t go on buying private land without causing community distress.

They tried it in the 1980s and early 1990s, and they will not go back. We have to get the industry to work with farmers and farming communities and I emphasize the “with”.

It is really important that we work together to try to expand our estate. There are opportunities and there are ways to do it, but it will require different thinking.

Large contiguous estates that we had but was built up in the 1970s and ‘80s will no longer appear. It will be impossible to achieve. And by the way, given bushfires history, that’s a high-risk strategy because if your large blocks of monocultures are vulnerable to bushfires so getting them scattered around is actually a protection measure for our wood supply.

In summary, why can’t we get plantations to grow in Australia? The main things are access to land, the lack of free and open market prices that are available to farmers on a daily or monthly basis, and finally, an over-reliance on government.

We keep waiting for the government to come and help us when in fact they can’t, so we have to work on our own and take the initiative, the whole of industry to start working with farmers and farming communities to develop and expand their estate.

• Picture: FWPA

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

www.timberbiz.com.au

Plantation Management

Maintaining the resource a key issue for Tasmania P

rivate forests cover an area just shy of 1.1 million hectares, which is about a third of the total forest estate in Tasmania.

Private plantation forest occupy about a quarter of that total forest area and 82% of Tasmania’s total plantation area.

And the private plantations are around 70/30 hardwood to softwood and some of the total private forest bringing about 4.07 million logs to market per annum, which is nearly three quarters of the estate’s total forest production.

And 93% of those logs coming to market off the private estate come from plantations.

But unfortunately the private plantation area is reducing. It’s down about 5000 hectares overall from the previous reporting year.

Hardwood is mainly driving this down 7,000 hectares while softwood has slightly offset that with a slight increase. And the downward trend reflects a combination of consolidation of second rotations around the high performing sites closer to markets, non-replanting of some uneconomic ex managing investments scheme plantations, and conversions of ex MIS plantations back to pasture or cropping.

Tasmania established a pilot hub in the Northern half of this estate in 2019.

It was put together with an industry/government collaboration and involved consultation with industry, community and government stakeholders.

One of the key things identified by stakeholders was access to land and land-use policy for plantation forest investment.

A report commissioned to assess and analyze the access to land issues in Northern Tasmania was finalized in 2020 and drawing on data and information from Private Forests Tasmania, information from some of our existing engagement programs and existing research from a range of collaborations and stakeholder input basically has pulled together an analysis and summary www.timberbiz.com.au

Penny Wells Chief Executive Officer, Private Forests Tasmania

Key Points here’s a downward • Ttrend in the plantation

area, which is expected to continue over the next five to 10 years.

n Tasmania is that the • Iagricultural community is at best agnostic to plantations and more often firmly opposed.

raditional investment • Teconomics also do not support greenfield establishment.

of the factors affecting the forest growing and processing sectors in Tasmania.

In Northern Tasmania, plantation forestry occupies 30% of the available agricultural land, which is pretty high.

It’s around about 0.5% on average in all the jurisdictions in Australia.

The area of agricultural land potentially available for plantation is 37,000 hectares and available in that context means modeling was undertaken to look at land that was both suitable and available, not competing with other existing crops or enterprises and able to support plantations integrated with other land uses and able to grow commercially viable plantations.

However, all of this still identified that there’s a downward trend in the plantation area, which is expected to continue over the next

• Picture: FWPA five to 10 years. So clearly maintaining the resource is a key issue. There’s neither the commercial will, nor social license to support industrial scale expansion into prime agricultural land in Tasmania.

And the report unsurprisingly found that the immediate priorities are to focus on maintaining the current plantation footprint with expanding the plantation footprint in an economically, commercially and socially feasible way, being more of a medium to longterm prospect.

The priority therefore is to identify and drive smaller scale expansion opportunities integrated into the agricultural landscape.

And both of those priorities rely on recognizing that landowners have a range of motivations.

Critical success factors that were identified in the report would be improving smaller growers’ knowledge of supply chain and markets. Improving their knowledge and acceptance of the integrated benefits of trees on farms.

Definitely improving the business model, particularly offsetting the cost of establishment and simplifying the policy and regulatory environment.

The regulatory barriers were identified as quite high. In Tasmania, the institutional investment model favors mid-rotation acquisitions over greenfield establishment. And there’s a consequent dependence on integrating small scale plantations into the agricultural landscape if we want to both maintain, or expand plantations.

Other complications in Tasmania is that the agricultural community is at best agnostic to plantations and more often firmly opposed.

Forestry supply chains, markets and pricing are viewed as complex and lacking transparency by the agricultural sector.

There’s volatility in demand and pricing, which creates uncertainty about future returns particularly compared with the annual decisions in the agricultural sector.

Traditional investment economics also do not support greenfield establishment. However, the opportunities in Northern Tasmania as the report has modeled (indicates) there’s potentially 37,000 hectares that are suitable and available and competitive with other uses and economically viable for plantations in the Northern part of the state.

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

There’s an opportunity for development of further tools and systems for nonwood values to improve acceptance. The forest industry in Tasmania already recognizes the importance of working with smaller, independent landowners in terms of developing the private results. There’s opportunities to further develop effective practical arrangements between industry and landowners through partnerships and campaigns, such as the Tree Alliance Marketing Campaign.

We already have significant goodwill from both the state and federal governments. This includes an existing positive policy settings to support integration with agricultural land. We have opportunities to capitalize on the emerging opportunities for solid wood processing of hardwood plantation products, as well as optimizing the transition where it’s relevant from short rotation to long rotation plantations.

And we have the opportunity to continue to build on recent improvements to the Commonwealth Carbon Farming Initiative, especially to assist small to medium growers to enter the carbon market.

19

Silviculture

Sixty million years of separation leave a mark A

new eucalypt genome has been assembled and publicly released following a decade-long project involving 22 scientists from Australia, USA and Brazil, including Associate Professor David Lee from USC Australia’s Forest Research Institute.

The genome of the spotted gum Corymbia citriodora subsp. variegata is the second fully assembled reference genome published for the eucalypt group and will be the reference genome

munications Biology and is hosted alongside the Eucalyptus reference genome by the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute for access by scientists worldwide.

Dr Lee said Corymbia is the closest lineage to the main eucalypt lineage (genus Eucalyptus), which comprises over 750 species and dominates most of Ausfor the genus Corymbia, tralia’s forests and woodland. known as the bloodwoods.

He said by comparison The Corymbia reference genome was published in there are about 100 species the Nature journal Com- of Corymbia, primarily in

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Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

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Silviculture northern and eastern Australia.

“The species chosen for sequencing grows naturally along the north-east coast of Australia and is grown in plantations in Queensland, northern New South Wales and other countries such as China, Brazil and South Africa,” said Dr Lee, who has led the Australian breeding efforts with the bloodwoods,” Dr Lee said.

“This reference genome will be invaluable for future gene discovery and help the breeding of bloodwoods for uses including timber and biomass production, carbon sequestration and even essential oil and charcoal production”.

The research project was initiated in Australia and involved researchers from

the University of Queensland, Southern Cross University, University of the Sunshine Coast and University of Tasmania.

The major task of refining the genome assembly, however, was completed in the USA when the lead scientist, Dr Adam Healey, moved to the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology after working on the project as part of his PhD at the University of Queensland.

Professor Brad Potts from the University of Tasmania described achieving a full genome assembly as completing a “mega project”.

“It is one thing to sequence a genome but quite another to stitch the millions of tiny bits of sequence together into chromosomes and reliably position genes – especially when done inde-

Dr Lee said Corymbia is the closest lineage to the main eucalypt lineage (genus Eucalyptus), which comprises over 750 species and dominates most of Australia’s forests and woodland. pendent of other genome assemblies to allow comparative studies,” he said.

Corymbia and Eucalyptus are thought to have diverged about 60 million years ago – after the last mass extinction of the world’s plants and animals, including the dinosaurs – when Australia was still linked with Antarctica.

Dr Jakob Butler, whose PhD work at the University of Tasmania helped with the genome assembly, said: “These eucalypts show extensive similarity in genome structure despite their ancient separation, which while surprising is Associate Professor useful from a practical per- David Lee

•

spective for transferring information on which genes affect which traits – but we did discover key structural differences for the first time between these genera”.

Some of the differences found between Eucalyptus and Corymbia were in gene families related to disease inhibition and aridity adaptation.

Dr Jules Freeman of Scion New Zealand and previously of the University of Tasmania said: “The assembly and annotation of the bloodwood genome helps cement the eucalypts as a model group for genomic research in forest trees”.

Scan the QR code to view our range.

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Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

21

Silviculture Key Points

• $7million investment. ew bench and • Ntray system to

accommodate growing an additional 4 million seedlings per season.

ew irrigation system • Nwill deliver efficiencies in irrigation, fertigation, and pest control – using less water and less chemicals.

ew automatic vacuum • Nseeding will increase efficiency allowing trays to be filled, seed sown and covered in one pass.

ew shedding for all • Noperations except

growing to occur under roof, improving conditions for staff.

pgrade will include • Uinternal roads and

nursery presentation.

OneFortyOne • Nursery Manager Craig Torney.

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info@forestrytools.com.au 02 9417 7751

$7m upgrade for Glencoe nursery

Boost for efficiency, capacity, and working conditions for employees and contractors

O

neFortyOne has committed to a $7 million dollar investment at its nursery in Glencoe, to increase container capacity, and improve working conditions across the site.

The Glencoe Nursery has been in operation since 1982 and supplies over 10 million trees for OneFortyOne and other forest growers in the region.

OneFortyOne Nursery Manager Craig Torney said the upgrade will improve efficiency, capacity, and working conditions for employees and contractors.

“It’s an exciting project,” Craig said.

“Plans began over 4 years ago, with the aim to improve the sustainability of the current site and the wellbeing of our workforce.”

“By introducing technology to assist and streamline the process, the upgrade will increase container growing capacity 3-fold with the potential to grow an additional 4 million container seedlings per year.”

“Instead of needing to bend or crouch down to work at ground level,

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

we’ll have a process where trees will be grown in trays at a bench set to a more ergonomic height.

The upgrade will move almost all winter production under cover and will also include improved facilities such as new amenities and lunchroom.

Also part of the upgrade is a new irrigation system which will improve efficiency, use less water, and result in less chemicals required during the establishment stages of new trees.

“The move away from field growing into bench supported containers will improve our working conditions, site safety and sustainability, and ultimately result in a better end product for forest growers and local timber processing customers across the region,” Craig said.

“The investment is a sign of OneFortyOne’s confidence in the future of the industry and our commitment to remaining part of our local community.”

The nursery upgrade is scheduled to begin in July 2021, and is due for completion in 2023. www.timberbiz.com.au

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Silviculture Insect Invasion expert wins Fulbright AN insect invasion expert from USC Australia will soon travel to the United States on a prestigious Fulbright Future Scholarship to help boost biosecurity between the two countries.

Dr Helen Nahrung, from USC’s Forest Research Institute, is the first researcher to receive the honour while employed at USC, one of Australia’s fastest-growing regional universities.

The scholarship will allow Dr Nahrung to travel to the US in May 2022 to examine the accidental importation of insects between Australia and the US, part of an “unwanted reciprocal exchange” of invasive species that each year costs Australia $14 billion and the US $210 billion.

“Invasive species, including pathogens and weeds, are the biggest driver of extinction, more so than climate change and habitat loss, so the impact on the economy and environment in each country is huge,” said Dr Nahrung.

“Invasive insects alone cause severe economic and environmental impacts globally, moving accidentally via trade and travel.

“The cottony cushion scale, for example, nearly destroyed the Californian citrus industry, while bark beetles that originated in America continue to cause ongoing losses to Australian forestry.”

The importance of this work was highlighted recently when the Australian Government allocated $370 million in its Federal Budget to boost biosecurity.

Dr Nahrung hopes findings from her visit to the United States could be used to influence trade or travel policy.

“We plan to use our improved bilateral understanding of insect movement between our respective countries to identify strategies to reduce the likelihood of future damaging invasions,” she said.

Dr Nahrung will be based for three months in West Virginia where she will work alongside a leading US invasion biologist looking at border interception data – the first time this data has been made available for this purpose.

24

VR technology inspiring new generation of foresters • V

irtual Reality technology is being used as a tool to attract the next generation of foresters to the Green Triangle.

New two-minute career snapshots of foresters and ecologists working in the field have been filmed using innovative 360-degree cameras in recent weeks, creating immersive learning experiences that will soon be shared in high school classrooms across Australia.

The footage allows students to step into a VR world, walking through the estate alongside featured foresters, Courtney Pink of SFM (Sustainable Forest Management) and Jack Carter from ABP (Australia Bluegum Plantation), to learn about a day in their working life.

The Green Triangle Forest Industries Hub in partnership with ForestLearning, the country’s peak forest and wood product education portal, produced the latest 360-degree video experiences to highlight the variety of career pathways and diverse work tasks within the forestry field.

This ForestVR technology debuted nationally in classrooms last year with a catalogue of footage taking students on virtual excursion to difficult to access locations highlighting forest and timber processing in the region.

The free experiences, which were produced via a productive partnership with peak teacher association groups and industry, can be accessed using digital and cardboard VR headsets, iPads, laptaps or smart boards for whole of class activities, making it accessible for classroom environments.

Green Triangle Forest Industries Hub chair Ian McDonnell said it was hoped the promotion would inspire a new generation of foresters to the field, highlighting the sustainable and diverse nature of the work.

“The industry is faced with a national shortage of foresters, with local growers often forced to look globally to recruit staff,” Mr McDonnell said.

Jack Carter, an environmental Jack forester from ABP, filming the new VR school promotion footage using 360-degree cameras.

Courtney Pink, SFM • regional forester, at the

Glencoe Nursery filming the new forest VR footage.

“Forestry provides a longterm secure career path for people who are interested in building their scientific and business expertise, are data and technology driven and enjoy working outdoors.

“Demand for these roles is going to grow in the future as we look to expand the forestry estate and gain more timber from existing plantations to meet growing domestic and global demand. The next generation, who have excellent technology skills, are going to be pivotal in achieving our strategic vision.”

Ms Pink, a regional forester based in Mount Gambier who studied a Bachelor of Forest Science and Management at Southern Cross University, said her love of nature and being outdoors inspired her career path.

“Forestry provides a lot of freedom. I love being able to work freely indoors or outdoors,” she said.

“We have peak intense periods of operations and other times we get to breathe in the fresh air that we create by growing trees. I love that its strategic and all about problem solving - plus I get to play with some cool toys like helicopters, drones and heavy machinery.”

A Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in zoology and a sub-major in Spanish, led Jack Carter to his environmental forester position at ABP, based in Hamilton.

He started working as a silvicultural assistant as an allrounder undertaking survival counts, inventory and soil collection before being promoted to his current position.

Mr Carter’s role includes habitat monitoring and conservation management, revegetation and restoration works, protecting threatened species and their habitats, certification assessments and firefighting.

“I work to make sure that the industry remains sustainable and provides a positive return for both the

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

environment and the community,” he said, noting he loved working outdoors in the field.

“Whether that be working with a team to plant a few thousand native seedlings or walking through the bush searching for traces of threatened species by way of diggings or even scat.

“One of the most exciting moments is flicking through the photos captured by the wildlife camera and coming across a rare or threatened species we didn’t know was there.”

The Australian Government, through funding from the National Forest Industries Plan and in partnership with Forest & Wood Products Australia and industry organisations around Australia including the Green Triangle Forest Industries Hub, has expanded the ForestVR toolkit to develop five new ForestVR experiences showcasing careers in forest and wood products, Forest Science Explorers, and Agroforestry.

All new experiences will be accessible for schools and the general public by Term 4 via the ForestVR app, ForestLearning website as well as peak education career websites such as Education Services Australia’s myfuture.edu.au.

To learn more about Forest Learning’s Forest VR toolkit for schools visit the Forest Learning website. www.timberbiz.com.au

Silviculture

Paper highlights key role of forestry in SDGs A people depend on forests for subsistence and income,” he said.

“Evidenced-based active and adaptive forest management can underpin a Forest Growers (IFA/AFG) circular economy while President Bob Gordon laud- also storing carbon, coned the paper, saying that serving biodiversity, proAustralian forest scientists tecting water supplies and have an important role meeting the cultural needs to play in informing and of societies. Well managed forests are a truly renewachieving the SDGs. “Averting catastrophic able resource.”

The paper is authored environmental and hence developmental outcomes by Australian Forestry will require a concerted managing editor, Alastair and efficient global effort, Sarre, and Chairman of the and high-quality science is journal’s editorial board, essential to achieving this,” Stuart Davey. Drawing on several recent global pubMr Gordon said.

“Australia is a world lead- lications, it includes a sumer in best-practice sustain- mary of the contributions able forest management of forests to the 17 SDGs and, as such, we can sup- and the potential impacts port not only our region, of the SDGs on forests and but the entire globe to meet forest-related livelihoods and economies. the SDGs. Dr Davey said that Aus“Worldwide, 350 million

new paper has highlighted the key role that forests, forest managers and forest science can play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SDGs were agreed by nations globally in 2015 to tackle the world’s most pressing problems, such as hunger, poverty, inequality, climate change and biodiversity loss.

The Sustainable Development Goals, forests, and the role of Australian Forestry,’ published in Australian Forestry, the journal of The Institute of Foresters of Australia, commits to the rational and rigorous examination of all aspects of forests and the evidence-based improvement of forestry in Australia and the rest of the Indo-Pacific region.

Institute of Foresters of Australia and Australian

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Australia is a world leader in best-practice sustainable forest management.

“Our journal, Australian Forestry, is resolved to play its part, and we call on forest scientists and practitioners in Australia and the rest of the Indo-Pacific region to make full use of our platform to help achieve the SDGs. “Most of the SDGs are to be achieved by 2030, which shows the urgency with which the world needs to act,” Mr Sarre said. “And tralian Forestry is support- we need to do so, backed by ing the SDGs by communi- rigorous science. Forests cating scientific, economic, are vital for our future; we social and policy research need to know what’s hapand analysis on forests in pening to them, and we Australia and the Indo-Pa- need to use them sustainably.” cific region.

‘The Sustainable Devel“The world continues to face economic, social, opment Goals, forests, and health and environmen- the role of Australian Fortal crises. Robust, peer- estry,’ published in Ausreviewed scientific inquiry tralian Forestry is availand civil debate is vital if able to read at https://doi. we are to avert and manage org/10.1080/00049158.2021 .1920207 these crises,” he said.

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1

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

2/03/2021 1:46:44 PM

25

Skidders Chris Cooper, Josh Cooper • and Pat Cooper with their Weiler S450 Wheel Skidder

tomers that use the machines are really happy with the results.”

WesTrac Product Specialist – Paving and Forestry Products Michael Kelly says the Weiler range, which includes feller bunchers, harvesters, wheel skidders and loaders, is purpose built for the rigours of forestry operations.

“Safety is paramount with video cameras integrated into the machine, increased LED lighting, polycarbonate windscreens, as well as comfort for the operator such as air ride suspension seats and pressurised cabs to minimise dust ingress,” Michael said.

“The chassis is more heavily engineered than standard construction equipment with thicker grade steel – these machines are built tough to last longer.”

For Chris, the combination of Cat-based reliability and WesTrac service and support is what makes the Weiler machines a valuable addition to his fleet.

“You don’t steer away from something that you know and has treated you right,” he said “I started with pre-loved Cat equipment and WesTrac support 11 years ago, and those machines just kept going.

“Downtime destroys a business and without that reliability when I started, I wouldn’t have a business today.

“So when WesTrac as“The Weiler machines still have the Caterpillar under- sured me the Weiler Wheel pinnings and come with the Skidders were Cat quality level of support customers in slightly different clothes, expect from their Cat equip- I trusted their word and haven’t looked back.” ment,” Buddhi said.

For more information on “While there’s not a lot of awareness about the range the Weiler Forestry Range, in Australia just yet, cus- contact your local branch.

Weiler wheel skidder ticks boxes for die-hard logger C hris Cooper admits he has a combination of “yellow and sawdust” in his veins.

The sixth-generation timber worker and owner of Cooper Logging in northern New South Wales has been a big fan of Cat® equipment since starting his business in 2010.

Even as a primary school aged child he had a love and respect for Cat machinery, seeing his dad work with the equipment.

When Chris launched his business, he bought a number of used Cat machines, some dedicated for forestry work and others re-purposed construction equipment. Every machine served him well despite having considerable hours on their clocks.

Chris admits that before getting behind the controls of his latest purchases from WesTrac - two Weiler S450 Wheel Skidders – he was tentative about diverting from what he knew.

But from day one, he says he’s had no regrets.

26

“I was a bit nervous buying a brand I wasn’t used to, but the Weiler ticks every box,” Chris said.

“For hardwood logging, you need something that’s really tough and these machines are perfect for what we do.”

After buying his first Weiler Wheel Skidder in April 2020, Chris saw such an improvement in productivity that less than 12 months later, he bought a second machine.

In fact, the similarities between Weiler and Cat forestry equipment may be a lot closer than many people realise.

Weiler Forestry was created in 2019 to acquire the Caterpillar® forestry division and despite the badge change, the Cat quality and reliability remains as robust as ever. The range is mar-

keted through Cat dealers around the world.

According to WesTrac Sales Representative Buddhi Edirisuriya, the machines utilise a Cat drive train, share a number of components and include many of the Cat features.

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

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OUTRUN™ THEM ALL. GET MORE DONE, MORE EFFICIENTLY. The John Deere G-Series Forestry Swing Machine will redefine your expectations about what a swing machine can accomplish. With eight models rated from 28 to 48 tonnes, all featuring robust undercarriage and mainframe, upsized swing bearings, reliable John Deere engines and superior hydraulics, their capabilities are industry-leading.

And so is the operator comfort.

The spacious cab boasts plenty of legroom and is isolation mounted to reduce noise and vibration, significantly reducing fatigue. Plus attention to ergonomics provides precise fingertip control with less movement or effort. There are even creature comforts like climate control and a heated/cooled seat.

Find success in the forest with a John Deere G-Series Forestry Swing Machine.

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Forwarders BRIEFS Komatsu

KOMATSU UPGRADE

THE cutting unit on all Komatsu C-heads, Constant Cut, will benefit an upgraded design. The upgrade contains no less than 25 points and represents a number of improvements for customers, both in terms of increased productivity and better flow in the production. Constant Cut ensures that the head has a constant and efficient saw chain speed throughout the complete cutting cycle. This ensures efficient cutting and limits problems with cutting cracks. Now the cutting unit has undergone a major upgrade, which means that all Cunits get a new, fresh Constant Cut with productive benefits.

Below are some of the biggest new features.

EXTENDED PROTECTION PONSSE has introduced a new extended protection system for forest machines called Frame and Crane care for machines that have a Ponsse Active Care service agreement.

The Frame and Crane care covers main frame structures for up to 10,000 engine hours.

Source: Timberbiz The Frame and Crane care covers main frame structures for up to 10,000 engine hours if the machine has a valid service agreement during that period. The Ponsse Active care service agreement needs to be valid for the whole period, but the agreement can be made in several parts.

NEW LOADERS PONSSE has launched a new loader product family for the most popular forwarder models. The new K101 and K111 loaders are the latest additions to the product family, also represented by the previously launched K121 loader.

The new loaders have been developed in cooperation with customers for efficient load handling, also in demanding conditions.

The new loaders have a structure designed and developed by Ponsse, with special focus placed on reliability and productivity. The Ponsse K101 and K111 loaders are available for Ponsse Buffalo, Buffalo King and Bison Active Frame forwarders.

28

continues its Tassie forwarder success K

omatsu Forest’s success has been the development of over 30 years of local history in Tasmania, firstly with remote service operations during the 90’s followed by the establishment of the first forestry branch in 2000.

Then early 2009 the current larger branch opened at 6 Monroe St Bredalbane which is located near the Launceston Airport and is headed up by David Oliver with Shane McCarthy running spare parts. Between them they have a combined service history of 40 years at KF. The Tasmanian forest machine business has many challenges and it takes a real team effort with David maintaining the same experienced field service guys for a number of years.

That being Brett Spilsbury and Mitchell Bennett in the north while Mick Gray in the southern region looks after the local contractor’s service needs.

All Tassie sales activities are handled by Nigel Howard with support coming from Brenton Yon. This team consistency is further enhanced by the product support team at Sydney head office and the technical support guys in Wodonga.

This combination of KF’s Tasmanian team and continued long history has provided strong forwarder sales with over 80 forwarders of various models delivered since 2000 including 35 of the current model Komatsu 895.

This has been reaffirmed with the 6 x 895’s delivered over last six months to a range of customers such as Tas Log, C3 Logging, Caulder Contracting and Orana P/L. The latest Tassie 895 delivery was in late March to Rob Kerrison of Orana Pty Ltd which was his second in the past five months and the fifth since his first 895 purchase in 2015.

These two new units were replacements for the first two which had 9,000 hrs and 8,000 hrs respectively and were sold direct to their new owners with the help of Nigel and Brenton.

Above: Orana’s Latest • Komatsu 895. Left: Meeghan

Price Komatsu 895 Operator.

There are typically many family/ human interest stories associated with the forest industry in Tassie and a typical Komatsu Forest story is Meeghan Price who operates TP Bennett & Sons’ Komatsu 895. The sons Adrian and Neil operate in plantation hardwood around the Huon region of southern Tasmanian. They purchased a new 895 back in Nov 2018 when Meeghan

had just finished her HSC exams and within the following week was operating the new 895.

Meeghan is a proud member of a fifth generation forestry family and the granddaughter of the late Tony Bennett. She was the youngest female in Tasmania to have her Forest Works licence and now holds a Certificate III in Harvest & Haulage. Meeghan started “officially” working around forest machines when just 14 and her passion continues having operated the 895

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

since new and clocking up a little over 4250hrs.

The Bennett name has been synonymous with forestry in Tasmania for over 50 years and with family members like Meeghan making sure this continues to be the case into the future.

Brett Jones, Managing Director of Komatsu Forest Pty Ltd, has very fond memories of Tasmania when he was first involved with the earlier Valmet forwarders.

In the late 80’s, early 90’s he made multiple trips to Tasmania to help provide technical support for the original Valmet forwarder fleet of 886’s and 892’s.

“The forwarder technology of today has certainly come a long way from those two earlier Valmet model forwarders,” says Brett.

“Considering the early forwarder days and since KF’s involvement in Tasmania it would be fair to say the KF team must be considered the most experienced team in Australia.

“Actually, I am personally very proud of being with the Valmet and now Komatsu brand for almost 35 years, how has that time gone so quick,” he said. www.timberbiz.com.au

Grinders

Morbark grinder on its way Down Under T h e first Morbark 6400XT Horizontal Grinder will be arriving soon in Australia.

“We expect the Morbark 6400XT to be well received in Australia,” National Sales Manager – Forest-ry and Recycling, Mark Malone said.

“Morbark’s proven reliability and quality has been the industry standard, and we believe this new model will minimise downtime, increase production and make maintenance easier. All backed by the service support and reputation of Lincom Group.”

Morbark’s director of Industrial Sales Michael Stanton said Morbark had listened closely to cus-tomers when developing 6400XT Wood Hog. “We took our previous proven design technology and added the features our customers want and the versatility they need when we created these high-production units.”

Key Points

“The Model 6400XT is the newest model in Morbark’s next-generation platform of horizontal grinders,” said Stanton. “Industry demands for high-production mobile units that meet stringent logistic restrictions but remain economically viable were the leading drivers during the design phase.”

The 6400XT includes many feature improvements present in the smaller 3400XT, introduced last year. The infeed bed is 24 inches (60.96 cm) longer than previous Morbark grinders in the 1,000-plus horsepower range and has sloped sides. This configuration improves operator sight lines for more efficient loading of material. Standard on the 6400XT is a removable infeed chain return floor, which allows excess material to fall

work platform • Aforfixed better access and

safety during common grate and hammermill maintenance

hydraulic hinged • Adoor and hood locking

system to provide quick access during grate changes — the hydraulics unlock with a simple turn of a knob.

n independent • Ahammermill drive

tensioning system for ease of adjustment

away to minimize the wear on the floor, bed chain and inserts, particularly useful in land-clearing or other applications with dirty material.

Also similar to the 3400XT is the focus on transportability.

The 6400XT weighs in at less than 96,500 lb (43,772 kg) and measures 11’51/2” (3.49 m) wide with the standard Caterpillar 325L undercarriage with 600mm double grousers, allowing the unit to be transported to nearly all domestic and inter-national markets.

“When we introduced the 3400XT last year, our customers responded very favorably,” explained Stanton. “It had a major impact on the market, and we expect the 6400XT to be as well received.”

The 6400XT has several operator-friendly features focusing on accessibility for daily maintenance, including:

• The extended 31.5” wide (80 cm, 25% increase) platform between the hood and engine for ease of changing grates and access to diesel engine • A consolidated area for oil and hydraulic filters • An independent hammermill drive tensioning system for ease of adjustment • The larger feedwheel (40”/101.6 cm diameter, an increase of more than 15%), which raises 17” (43.2 cm) above the current 4600XL yoke and 11” (27.9 cm) above the 6600 yoke to allow better access to the hammermill during insert inspection.

MORBARK 3400XT HORIZONTAL GRINDER Fitted with a pin and plate hammermill, 34’’ top feed roll, chain type feeder, Caterpillar C18 (765HP) engine and Caterpillar 320L tracks.

Easy change grate system and remote control allowing for monitoring and adjustment of the engine and other machine parameters from the safety of your loader or excavator.

2400XT, 3000XT and 6400XT models also available.

SALES

HIRE

SERVICE

PARTS

Free Call 1800 182 888 | www.lincom.com.au | sales@lincom.com.au OFFICE LOCATIONS | QLD | NSW | VIC | WA | NT | NZ

www.timberbiz.com.au

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

29

Tyres BRIEFS SAFETY HUB A NEW online safety hub has been unveiled by Australia’s leading transport and logistics specialist insurer, NTI, to support the growth and development of the industry.

The Better Business Hub helps protect Aussie fleet, transport operators and drivers by providing interactive, downloadable, applicable tools and resources to support them in their day-to-day.

The first educational content series on the Hub, Business of Safety, has been made possible through a $300,000 Federal Government grant, administered by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), supplemented by NTI’s own in-kind contribution to match the grant.

For more information and to access NTI’s new purposebuilt online platform, go to The Better Business Hub.

WORK DIARIES THE NHVR has approved Quallogi by Kynection as a fifth Electronic Work Diary (EWD) option for heavy vehicle drivers.

The introduction of EWDs means drivers can record their work and rest hours by pressing a button, rather than spending time ruling lines and counting multiple time periods on multiple pieces of paper. It includes features, such as alerts, to assist drivers to manage their compliance with work and rest rules.”

Drivers must continue to carry their written work diary for a transition period, to ensure that they comply with the requirement of carrying 28 days of records.

FIRE SAFETY THE ARTSA Institute has launched a Truck Fires Safety Program to tackle heavy vehicle fires occurring each year in Australia.

The fire safety program consists of four manuals and six videos aimed at drivers, maintenance staff, fire investigators and transport managers.

The manuals and videos are downloadable at www. artsa.com.au/fires 30

Testing time for safer tyres M aking professional tyre use safer and more efficient sets high demands on product development.

To bring new ideas to the market faster, testing has an important role. Nokian Tyres has invested heavily on a new, state-of-the-art test centre for Nokian Heavy Tyres, upgrading the testing capabilities to a whole new level with added automation and capacity. Despite the challenges caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, the magic is already happening in the new building – enabling us to introduce more and better new heavy tires.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, many phases of the construction process have been managed remotely.

“This kind of flexible problem-solving has been typical for the whole construction project, and it has kept us on schedule. Hats off for the whole team that made it possible,” says Development Manager Matti Kaunisto from Nokian Heavy Tyres.

4000 m2 facility is a vast improvement both in terms of testing quantity and quality.

“For example, the drum testing capacity grew significantly,” says R&D Director Kalle Kaivonen from Nokian Heavy Tyres. “The product development and OEM collaboration are much more efficient. Thanks to the added capacity, the earlier bottlenecks in testing have been eliminated. And there is plenty of room for future investments still.”

Another important factor is testing quality.

“The new machinery enables us to gather more data and analyse it better, as the integration with the product development is more solid than before,” Kaivonen says.

Testing by order The purpose of the facility is to provide answers.

The whole testing process from installation to measurements and 3D scanning, No substitute for testing from pressure testing to In the tyre product devel- section-cutting is optimized opment process, testing is to provide quality data efessential as it proves (or ficiently for different infordisproves) the design cal- mation needs.

“Different kinds of tests culations and gives important data back to designers. and analysis can be ordered That’s why the new, nearly by a product development

team, customer service or by a machine manufacturer, for example,” says Kaivonen. “We can provide them with extremely broad range of different analysis and in-depth information.”

Ergonomics and pride

In work ergonomics, the transformation from old premises to purpose-built facility is massive. In the design of the new test centre, special attention was paid to the safe and ergonomic handling of the tyres and wheels. “Everything is more clearly laid out now and on a same level,” Matti Kaunisto says. “This makes the work safer and more comfortable – and has clearly boosted the spirits of the whole team.”

Speaking of work safety, the process where the tire segments are scanned with a high-resolution scanner and transferred digitally fits well together with today’s social distancing requirements. “The tyre cross section data moves between the testing and R&D teams digitally, without the need of any physical contact,” Matti Kaunisto says.

trol – but also for customer service.

“In a rare occasion, there can be a tyre failure, abnormal noise or some such problem in the field that needs to be thoroughly figured out,” says Mikko Pukkila from Nokian Heavy Tyres’ technical customer service.

“In these cases, tyres can be inspected and analysed in test centre. The feedback from the field gives us important understanding of the tyre life cycle.”

A building full of Hakkapeliitta spirit

Sometimes, the Nokian Tyres way of doing things is referred to as “The Hakkapeliitta spirit”. It sums up the spirit of innovation and the resourcefulness a specialised manufacturer has, and the new building depicts it well – from its smart engineering down to the self-cleaning, energy-conserving windows. What’s more, the centre also lives up to company values of working safety, sustainability and peace of mind.

“There’s hardly any waste that isn’t recycled,” says R&D Director Kalle Kaivonen.

Not just new tyres “Also the heat generated by Besides product devel- the test equipment is gathopment, the tyre testing ered for heating the facility, facilities are needed for and more heat is generated manufacturing quality con- by the local biofuel plant.”

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

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Harvester heads

New technology updates boost harvesting head range T he Tigercat harvesting head product range continues to gain momentum globally as more contractors opt for the full Tigercat base machine and head set-up.

There are many advantages having the base machine and head from the same manufacturer. The head can be installed at the factory, which creates efficiencies, reduces lead times and freighting costs. Having one point of contact for all maintenance and service work is another key advantage that makes the day-to-day operations for Tigercat owners easier and more efficient.

Tigercat • 575 (23”)

grouped in cards and colour coded by severity. Office personnel may view fault codes in an easy to sort and filter list. A single click brings up technical information for any fault code. The easily accessible engine troubleshoot guide gets you the answer you need quickly.

A new machine summary report was released with a new one-stop machine summary report being sent to the user weekly. It contains data such as operating time, production metrics, total fuel consumption, fuel User-friendly D5 Control rates, engine hours, maSystem chine utilisation, and sumThe D5 system combines mary of fault codes.

The offering provides enfield-proven hardware and bucking (cross-cutting) con- hanced machine managetrol with a simple and intui- ment with easy access to tive Tigercat-developed user the control software version interface. Available on three running on the machine. levels of control and report- Check telematics firmware ing, the D5 system handles version to see if it needs to multiple jobs with multiple be updated and quickly find operators, and allows for your primary dealer contact.

Lastly the new produccustomising menus and settings, right down to joystick tion metrics can track how button functions. Over 70 much you are producing operator specific param- with your machines. Mulcheters are available to tailor controls to each operator’s preferences. The clean and easy to follow layout of the touch control screen allows the operator to make adjustments as easily as using a smartphone or tablet.

Harvesting Head

ers now reporting mulched land area, harvesters and processors report production volumes and stem counts while forwarders report number of loads.

More improvements were released in April this year

RemoteLog for off-site access RemoteLog provides machine monitoring and fleet management in real-time without need for a cellular signal. The RemoteLog data includes; • Geographic location • Satellite based text messaging • Activity timeline • Production metrics summary • Diagnostics • Fuel levels and consumption • Mechanical data • Analytics Late last year Tigercat released new RemoteLog features including a new diagnostics dashboard where Top: Tigercat telematics provides operators with an easily mobile users can easily re- customisable dashboard to track machine performance and view machine fault codes productivity. Above: Tigercat 570 (20”) Harvesting Head.

•

32

mobile device using LogOn at the worksite. Formatted reports in PDF or CSV formats are now downloadable to save to your mobile device. Reports can be viewed anytime or shared through email.

Tigercat harvesting heads are designed and built to match the high-performance capabilities of Tigercat tracked and wheeled carriers and are well suited to a variety of jobs including at-the-stump harvesting, roadside processing and debarking.

Direct on-site telematics via The range of Tigercat harLogOn vesting heads now includes LogOn is an on-board sys- a 575, 570 and 568 model.

“Several of the Tigercat tem that gives access to onsite telematics using a se- heads are now working cure Wi-Fi hot spot. It gives in Australia in various apthe user quick access to the plications and species. We are very encouraged by the following data; feedback from the contrac• Detailed activity chart • Stem count and produc- tors that are reporting improved production and ease tion volume • Detailed failure cause and of maintenance. We are confident the Tigercat harrepair information • Easy firmware updates vesting heads will result in with the Tigercat Mobile a lower cost per tonne than competitor heads well into App update manager • Access to operator and the future”, says David Hazell, Managing Director at service manuals Updates were also intro- Onetrak – the national dealduced for LogOn reports er for Tigercat in Australia.

Visit www.onetrak.com.au in April this year - You can now easily view produc- or call 1300 727 520 to learn tion, activity timelines, and more about the Tigercat fuel consumption on your range. with a RemoteLog web service. You can now access the ‘Data that Matters’ from RemoteLog directly through a new web service using your IT servers. Now it is possible to share geographic position and production data for your machines with whomever the machine owner wants, such as landowners and forestry operations companies.

RemoteLog utilises the well documented ISO 15143-3 (AEMP 2.0) Web API that is widely used in mobile machinery applications.

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

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Harvester heads Looking Back 2020 Mills across Australia are facing difficult times as the Covid-19-fed downturn in the building industry develops, but they are prepared.

Up to 43,000 new homes will not be built in the next 12 months as a result of Vovid-19 according to new economic modelling release3d this week by the Master Builders Association.

AKD Softwoods has temporarily stopped production at four mills due to the predicted decrease in demand for building products.

2016 The Queensland timber industry has called on the Queensland Government to ensure forestry biomass is fully utilised and promoted in the State’s renewable energy future.

Timber Queensland Chief Executive Officer Mick Stephens said, “Bioenergy already represents over 65% of the State’s renewable energy output, mostly from the use of bagasse from the sugar industry. Biomass from timber processing such as sawdust and forestry waste can also offer significant potential to further contribute to the States renewable energy future.”

2011 A NEW online tool for managing spotted gum forests is now available for private landholders to calculate their land’s carbon, timber and grazing productivity. The online resource works as a calculator using specific data related to spotted gum native forest sites in Queensland and northern New South Wales.

The spotted gum productivity tool and a comprehensive user guide are available as a free download from the forestry section under Plant industry tools at http://agbiz. business.qld.gov.au Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI) research scientist Tom Lewis said the tool estimated timber productivity, grazing productivity and carbon levels to help land owners determine the economic and environmental benefit of their land.

34

Southstar ticking all the boxes T he Southstar QS600 head ticks all the boxes as a productive 24” harvester/processing head for medium to larger timber.

Weighing in at 3600KG is it well suited to a 30-tonne excavator-based carriers or many of the larger purposebuilt levelling base units.

Some of the standard features include: 360 degree rotation, laser find end, four driven rollers for maximum traction with auto tensioning on the ¾ “ main saw.

All Southstar frames are engineered from quality JFE high tensile steel and significant engineering effort has been made to achieve a durable “ built to last product “ that is a serious competitor in harvesting applications globally but especially in this part of the world where our larger wood tends to test attachments to their fullest capacity.

One of the unique features of the Southstar processor / harvester is the East – West valve configuration allowing for a super clean easy to maintain hose layout within the chassis. All Southstar products offer excel-

lent serviceability to the main control valve area.

The processing arms allow for easy pick up of logs in the cutover and the four driven rollers and frame design provide excellent traction and tracking in the roughest of timber.

Control system options include the Dasa 5 with a

new second option soon to be released giving full compliance with Stanfor- D 2010 protocols and data reporting.

The success of the Southstar products in the industry has been significant by anyone’s standards with more than 900 attachments operating in the field. Southstar Equipment is part of the Quadco Group and can offer a full range of felling and

processing heads including fixed disc sand and bar saws, direction bar saws, mulchers and of course the full range of Southstar harvester & processing heads from the QS450 up to the largest QS630.

Check out the product range at www.southstarequipment.com or contact Dean OConnor on +64 21 842413, email: doconnor@quadco.com

The Southstar QS600 head • in operation and, above, the

internal working of the head.

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

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Harvester heads Key Points aratah Forestry • WEquipment,

headquartered in Rotorua, New Zealand, has served the global forestry industry for 45 years, manufacturing harvesting and processing heads as well as harvester and forwarder cranes in its state-of-theart facilities in New Zealand and Finland.

he company’s • Textensive support

New H423 a harvester head for all the right reasons W

aratah Forestry Equipment has released details of a new H423 harvester head designed to carry out a wide range of harvesting jobs from early to late thinnings, and even light regeneration harvesting.

Waratah says that with outstanding multi-tree-handling qualities, a compact frame design and excellent power-to-weight ratio, the H423 masters fast and precise felling and crosscutting.

“The Waratah H423 provides fantastic performance in thinnings,” Brent Fisher, product marketing manager for Waratah, said.

“Its short frame, fast feeding and optimal capacity position this model to make quick work of any thinning job that comes its way.”

The H423 is well-suited for delimbing stems of all diameters. Its outstanding multi-tree harvesting qualities and excellent power-toweight ratio take productivity to the next level.

Ideal for thinnings and other fellings where the tree diameter at breast height is 150-350 mm (6-13 in.), the 955 kg (2,105 lb.) H423 features strong, fast feeding in a nimble design.

Additionally, the H423 boasts a 420 mm (16.5 in) tip-to-tip delimbwww.timberbiz.com.au

ing diameter providing ample range for superior delimbing - and when combined with its 580 mm (22.8 in) cutting capacity and optional multitree-handling equipment, it is unmatched for productivity in varied diameter stands.

Beyond its productivity features, the H423 also hosts a variety of features that make it both reliable and easier to service – extending productive time.

This new model features next generation hose routing from the boom to harvester head and well protected hoses to the feed motors making interference from understory or limbs a thing of the past.

Likewise, serviceability to the main valve is easier and possible thanks to a new hinged valve cover and improved access to greasing points.

The Waratah H423 is currently available to customers in Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.

and parts distribution network, rigorous global application testing, advanced manufacturing systems and sophisticated quality measures deliver customers with durable and reliable forestry equipment that is Built to Work.

A CUT ABOVE THE REST

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

CONTACT + 64 21 842413 OR GO TO QUADCO.COM

35

Mill profile

Mill a testament to ability and a rendering of experience H Keith Smiley

ow a man tuned into wooded nature is anyone’s guess, but Kerr Adam is certain of its intricacies.

What began as a love affair with wood and the timber industry, became a thriving enterprise on the mid north coast of New South Wales, a short hop to the white sandy beaches.

Kerr Adam comes from a once forest-laden region of Alloa near Stirling in Scotland, arriving in Australia as an eleven-year-old.

Being a canny Scot who knew an opportunity when he saw one, he began his career using a portable mill, cutting red gum sleepers along the Murray River in Victoria.

He operated a timely and successful business moving from property to property.

By his mid-forties Kerr contemplated early retirement to his otherwise, lair, when opportunity presented itself in distant Bonville, which became home, complete with a sawmill begging for his

touch. That was 37 years ago, and with Kerr now a tad over 80, his daughter Tania has held the reigns for the past ten years, a testament to her own ability; and a rendering of her dad’s valuable experience.

“Although dad has retired, he still has the passion; lives and breathes it; it’s his love,” says Tania Agostinelli. She may not be a ‘chip off the old block’ but she shares her dad’s commitment to the business, she has helped to grow. Tania admits to being focussed like her dad, but her determination and pride of accomplishment are no doubt reminiscent of her father.

So, what drives Adam’s Sawmill?

Tania believes their success began with her parent’s insistence on hard work. Kerr learned how to cut timber at an early age, however, the varying species on the mid north coast proved a huge learning curve for Kerr. Never being one to let obstacles get in the way, he soon mastered the many and varied species and the techniques

Above: Kerr and daughter Tania • at Adam’s Sawmill (Courtesy, Gavin

Maloney) Left: Sun streams through the workshop floor.

Share your expertise with the industry ForestWorks will shortly commence three new skills standards projects: •

Career paths to attract people to our industry

•

Developing our experienced workers and managers

•

Safety mindsets in remote operations

To register your interest or for more information contact forestworks@forestworks.com.au or 03 9321 3500.

36

required to produce a quality product.

In 1984, “He was the new kid on the block and some of the competitors were not happy with his arrival – so, he built his name and reputation,” said Tania. Times were tough but he made sure he paid his bills, was always upfront and never hid from anything. In those days of recession a lot ducked and weaved.”

The future of the timber industry is shrouded with uncertainty at the minute so Tania is holding off the upgrade of their two mills, until conditions improve. The Mid North Coast experienced over two metres of rain falling over three months of skewed weather, on the back of fires the year before — no wonder expansion is on hold. Still, Tania is optimistic and committed to the growth of the sawmill, admitting it forms the major part of her lifestyle. Kerr always wanted a son to carry on the business, and had three daughters to prove him wrong, as an able Tania

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

demonstrated her worth. “With more certainty we would do more, not only upgrading of equipment, but we want to upgrade the skills of our twenty five employees.

The Adam’s have two sawmills; using twin edges, Grey benches, twoman benches, a radial arm bench, a wing edger, dockers and stackers.

Tania will visit private properties to source their timber, and she deals directly with the harvesting contractors.

They produce fencing and landscape sleepers for wholesalers in Brisbane, and supply roof battens for CSR in Brisbane and Sydney.

Their product range includes pallet timber for Cheps Pallets and other smaller pallet manufacturers around Brisbane. The local market for their F14 building grade timber complements other Adam’s byproducts such as woodchip, fines and sawdust.

Father and daughter have always worked well together, Tania saying she is ‘very close’, to Kerr. He may be a blokey bloke, but Tania isn’t far behind. She can drive a forklift and a front loader, and provides support to their employees. She may have thought her business degree from Melbourne had little relevance, but coupled with experience, she might even be the mini-me of Kerr Adam. www.timberbiz.com.au

Forest machinery

Sany elevating cabin variant built on proven performance I

t doesn’t seem that long ago that the Sany brand was unknown in Australia and in particular in the forestry world.

It was no surprise when Randalls brough the first machine to Australia in 2014 and for a couple of years after that, there was some healthy scepticism about the product quality and durability. This scepticism was probably shared by Randalls and it was anyone’s guess how it might turn out. It was a toss of the coin. Fast forward to 2021 and the results speak for themselves with more than 60 units of the SY245F sold in Australia to forestry contractors right across the country in a multitude of different applications utilising just about every attachment you can imagine.

From day one, Sany have worked closely with Randalls to make custom

changes at the factory to suit the needs of Australian contractors. The SY245F is now so versatile it can be fitted with harvesting heads, fixed grabs, rotating grapples, shears, stick rakes and the list goes on. Aside from the value for money aspect of this machine, possibly the greatest attraction for contractors has been the ability to spec a machine exactly how they want it with any attachment and have the machine built in house

by Randalls as a completed unit. There’s no shopping around with different suppliers for attachments, guarding or fire suppression systems. Randalls do the lot at a quoted price and support the complete machine from front to back.

The latest surprise to come has been the adaptation of an elevating cabin to the ever-trusty SY245F base. Taking into account safety concerns of loading trucks and ensuring the load is secure and safe at the top of the load and the odd request to fit a cab riser, Randalls started speaking with Sany in 2019 about the possibility of taking the mechanism used in material handlers to raise and lower the cab and placing it on the SY245F base machine. In true Sany style this is exactly what was delivered 12 months later. The cabin is raisable from a switch inside the cabin and can be positioned at any height from ground level right up to 5.4 metres operator eye level while still maintaining basic machine dimensions to aid in ease of transportation.

Already three of these machines have gone to work

in Burnie, Oberon and Mt Gambier and there will be more to follow in the coming months and years based on feedback.

“The Sany product has been quite amazing and it gets easier all the time,” Davin Frankel said. “There’s so many of them out there now that if a contractor doesn’t own one, he knows someone who does so it’s pretty easy to find out

how the product performs by talking to others.

“While most manufacturers have gone down the high technology path, we realise that a loader does a pretty basic job and most contractors appreciate simplicity and the ability to be able to service the machine themselves and not have to rely to heavily on us if they choose not to,” he said.

Fill in your knowledge gaps

uild nd b a n g desi

Free self-paced online learning Designed for timber salespeople, topics include: • Managing moisture content • Timber products and properties • Building regulations and standards Ideal for employee training, the course includes assessment and individual tracking.

Enrol now at woodsolutions.com.au/campus www.timberbiz.com.au

WoodSolutions is resourced by Forest and Wood Products Australia Ltd (www.fwpa.com.au)

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

37

Classifieds

Sell your used equipment, advertise your tender, offer your real estate or find your next employee.

For rates and deadlines call Gavin de Almeida on (08) 8369 9517 or email: g.dealmeida@ryanmediapl.com.au

Get your digital edition today timberbiz.com.au/AFT/current

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Onetrak CBI Magnum Force 604 Flail Debarker.

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$325,000 + GST

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Tigercat 635D Skidder

NEW Tigercat 480B Mulcher

$350,000 + GST

$895,000 +GST

Tigercat E625C Skidder $145,000 + GST

Komatsu PC270LC-8 Harvester

Tigercat H855C Harvester $175,000 + GST

Tigercat 860 Feller Buncher

Rotobec Forwarder Grapples POA

Tigercat H860C Harvester $180,000 + GST

NEW Rotobec RPA4570R RGP1300 Fits 25-35t carriers

Komatsu PC350LL

Contact Mike Guyomar 0405 090 165

RF PRESS,

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FIRST WITH INDUSTRY NEWS STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX

$155,000 + GST

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RF continuous laminated timber press line (came out of door component factory)

Press very good for solid core door panels, table tops, and laminated panels utilizing offcuts.

Ideal for production line using PVA glue.

In good, sound condition $38,000

+ GST

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NEW Dressta TD9S

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Loser, Dowell cut off machines Two Loser AA220 dowell cut off machines.

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$4000 each or $6500 for the two

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38

I n c o r p o r a t i n g A U S T R A L A S I A N F O R E S T L O G G E R & S AW M I L L E R

australasian

1300 727 520 www.onetrak.com.au

magazine

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

All Prices exclude GST

www.timberbiz.com.au

NEW PRODUCT The new H219 for thinnings and small clearfell for tracked and wheeled carriers 15 to 25 ton.

Call Brendon for more information 0438 445 550

Waratah H219x

NEW ATTACHMENTS

Waratah FL85

Waratah 624C

Waratah 622B SIII

Waratah 616C SIII

With Install Kit Priced $59,000.00 +GST

Priced $287,866.85 +GST

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Priced $148,600.00 +GST

Waratah 624C 4x4

Waratah 625C

Waratah 616C

Waratah 626

With H16 Cabin Kit Priced $153,000.00 +GST

Refurbished Unit with New Timber Cabin Kit $180,000.00 +GST

With TimberRite Cabin Kit Priced $34,000.00 +GST

Traded unit, just arrived in.

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Waratah Grapples

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Contact Waratah Foresty Equipment on 03 9747 4200 Terms and Conditions: * Free Road Freight applied to a single order that grapple has been order on, applies to both GR3010 and GR3020 purchase in the month of March. Other parts can be added to the order and will receive FIS road freight also. Limited stock, whilst stocks last. # To be eligible to receive 10% off your bar and chain order, order must be places order via our online portal - partscatalog.waratah.com

www.timberbiz.com.au

Australian Forests & Timber News June 2021

39

The MARKET Leader…

Komatsu 875 & 895 Komatsu Forest have maintained a very strong market position with their two most popular forwarders being the Komatsu 875 (16 tonne) which really compliments the 895 (20 tonne).

These two current models have been further refined to meet expectations and to cover all the contractors’ extraction requirements with the latest developments in these key areas.

• New transmission system for greater traction and control.

• Improved crane performance with a large bunk area.

• Introducing Maxifleet to provide the ultimate service and production tool.

• New electric engine hood and new access panels for much improved serviceability • Stylish and modern cab with central locking and remote key.

The latest Komatsu forwarders have been taken to another level in lifting the overall standards for forwarding which make them the best in their class.

www.komatsuforest.com.au

Komatsu Forest Pty Ltd. 11/4 Avenue of Americas Newington NSW 2127 Australia T: +61 2 9647 3600 E: info.au@komatsuforest.com