Australian Forests & Timber News

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DECEMBER 2013 Issue 8 Vol. 22 • P: (03) 9888 4834 • E: l.martin@ryanmediapl.com.au • www.timberbiz.com.au

Inside: •

Major project planning P3

•

A time of transition P4-5

•

ABP steps up koala management program P8

•

New technologies for improved safety P9

•

Sawdust in their veins P10

•

Succeeding with SEEDPLAN P12

•

The sky’s the limit P13

•

Dongwha commissioning taking time P22

WARATAH CELEBRATES 40 YEARS IN BUSINESS

Tough year ends but future looks good A

FTER A year that saw major upheaval in the forest industry in Tasmania resulting in substantial damage to the State’s economy, around 230 industry people and politicians gathered in Launceston in early November to celebrate the 50th anniversary of

the Tasmanian Forest Contractors Association.

Rather than being a night for licking wounds, speakers pointed to the industry standing firm and emerging stronger after being tempered by the fires of adversity while looking forward to a solid future for the Tasmanian industry as it adjusts to meet the needs of specific markets.

Long time friend and proponent of the forest products industry in Australia, Senator Richard Colbeck (pictured), Parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, spoke of his history in the industry prior to entering parliament and confirmed the Abbott Government was moving to right the wrongs of some of the legislation of the previous Federal Government as well as introducing measures to put greater certainty into the wood products industry.

Senator Colbeck confirmed the Government would introduce legislation to remove the anomaly

in current legislation whereby material derived from native timber is excluded from attracting Renewable Energy Certificates.

The nonsense of having slash and offcuts excluded from being eligible for RECs simply because of the species it came from has long been a concern for the industry and the Government is determined to address this at the earliest opportunity.

The Senator went on to say the next major issue for Governments to tackle is having the 20 year term of Regional Forest Agreements become the minimum understood period rather than the five yearly reviews. Citing his understanding that, for the industry to be able to invest in the capital equipment needed to ensure it meets international standards in innovation and efficiency while having an opportunity for economic return.

Continued page 11

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Australian Forests & Timber News, December 2013 – 3

Major project planning before ploughing the ground S

INCE THE announcement of Timberlink’s plans to spend approximately $20 million to upgrade its Tarpeena mill in South Australia in July this year, which is supported with funds from the South East Forest Partnership Program, the upgrade has moved to the next phase of detailed engineering design, and equipment selection, and is now getting ready to commence their first implementation stage over the Christmas shutdown.

Some key principles of the Timberlink approach to this investment are: • Safety first – this project is a exciting improvement for the business but as with all major capital upgrades it will involve managing “upset conditions” on the site as various works are undertaken over the next three years • Integrate the upgrade and project into the existing site as seamlessly as possible • Ensure a well aligned, integrated and balanced manufacturing process for the total site with the major upgrades of this project focussed on production efficiencies improvements in the planer mill and kilns + Timberlink is a leading national timber products manufacturing business. The business has two sawmills at Bell Bay (Tasmania) and Tarpeena (South Australia) that manufacture Australian grown plantation pine, national sales and distribution teams based in Perth, Adelaide, and Melbourne, and a sales team based at the Bell Bay mill. Timberlink produces fit-for-purpose indoor and outdoor structural timber for Australian new homes and renovation projects. Aligning the Timberlink business with the forest resources enables the company to have a long-term committed approach to its business and customers.

• Ensure no disruption to customer supply with forward planning of production and sales and coordination between all parts of the Timberlink business which includes another mill in Bell Bay Tasmania and an investment in stock in major capital cities in its warehouses to ensure this supply reliability as the works are done on site.

The new moulder line will effectively be built over the top of the existing line to manage the risk of start up and ensure continuity of this key process on site • Support local trades, such as local engineering firms wherever possible in terms of sharing benefits of the project for the local community and regional economy • Engage all stakeholders – Timberlink will consult and inform all relevant groups interested and impacted by the project including its employees, unions, local authorities, customers and suppliers • Full transparency of and compliance with all the requirements of the co-funding agreement under the South East Forest Partnership Program.

Key timing (completion dates) and project

milestones have been outlined as follows by Timberlink at this stage: • Scanning and controls on existing green mill edger July 2014 • New high speed planer and waste system upgrade January 2015 • Green mill step feeder January 2015 • Additional 23 bins in green mill sorter July 2015 • The latest in kiln drying technology CDK (Continuous Drying Kiln) October 2015 • 2nd edger optimiser in green mill January 2016 • Capacity increase in debarking and log sorting January 2017 Timberlink Australia’s chief executive officer Ian Tyson said the interest and support for this major upgrade project for an Australian timber manufacturing business had been very encouraging and had generated much excitement since the announcement back in July this year.

“We look forward to keeping our stakeholders updated with our progress along the way”.

EDITORIAL

Political power play taken to new low Brickbats

GREENS MP Adam Bandt has taken self and political gain to an absolute low. During the peak of NSW’s firestorm he tweeted: “Tony Abbott’s plan means more bushfires for Australia & more pics like this of Sydney”. And that comment came at the very moment every TV network in Australia was showing graphic images of people’s houses burning. With ill-judged and incorrect statements like that the obvious conclusion can be drawn that whatever he says should be taken with a grain of salt. A modicum of decency would surely dictate that people’s suffering should not be his panacea for power.

Bouquets

Australian Bluegum Plantations should be lauded for its decisive action on helping to overcome a koala problem in its plantations.

New policies and guidelines (even more stringent than it had implemented almost two years ago) have become the norm in a bid to reach zero koala harm. It’s a pity ABP copped a hammering in the mainstream media with claims of “thousands” of koalas being killed during harvesting work – a false and fanciful figure engendered to excite a minority intent on destroying an industry.

 Tarpeena Mill

Message from the publisher AS CHRISTMAS is nearly upon us and the New Year is just over the horizon, it is that time of the year when we reflect on what has happened over the past 12 months and what we might expect or look forward to in the next.

This year has been extremely difficult for our industry as the constant threat to the supply of trees and logs, a high Australian dollar and international economic uncertainty have combined to make trading conditions some of the toughest we have ever seen.

But there is a light on the horizon and it is gathering in intensity. It is the torches being carried for our industry by a growing number of people around the country who have decided that enough is enough and the truth about the importance of forest products to this nation’s wood and fibre needs, carbon abatement goals and its economy must be shone into every politician’s office and every local newspaper and radio station around the country.

As a predominately regional publisher, we are mindful of the

value of the forests and timber industries to regional Australia.

They represent employment, investment and vital local business opportunities for a national resource in local communities; any further downturn in their fortunes will have negative consequences for these communities.

Timber is a good regional development story to tell and it should be embraced by governments at all levels. But to get change, a united industry must be resolute in promoting its true benefits, regionally and nationally.

Hopefully the new federal coalition will move quickly to ensure a much better balance between forest harvesting and the environment is adopted and it is encouraged to grow and produce of timber.

Issues around climate-change, direct action on carbon, investing in the next generation and seeing timber as a “cropping category” primary industry, as is the case in Scandinavia, must be addressed.

Certainty leading to improved viability is essential for industry players to invest and re-engage

to supply industry goods and services.

This will also require improved productivity and training commitments across all sectors and we have seen excellent seminars this year coordinated by AFCA and ForestWorks responding to change needed.

Most analysts are predicting a strong increase in demand for our primary products as Asia’s middle class living standards rise in coming years. The forests and timber industries should capitalise on these opportunities and gain commitments from all governments to support industry operators at all levels to grow and process timber products for export and local markets.

Sadly severe fire outbreaks leading into this summer have destroyed large tracts of forests.

This has again raised the spectre of a better balance in managing forest harvesting rotations to complement long term fire management controls, including upgrading and maintaining forest road networks to fight fires.

As for the publishing sector, mainstream media continues to undergo transformation from the digital juggernaut and their resources diminish. However, with specialist industry media and more specialist B2B publications to sectors such as forests and timber, these will continue to cover, be relevant to, and represent their industry members – across all platforms.

While the internet offers convenient search options and social media can “oil the wheels” for sales and marketing, print and other major media will remain prominent in specific markets to deliver a targeted content and stimulate sales.

I would like to thank the many contributors and industry organisations who are integral to this publication, plus the advertisers who have supported us to bring it to our readers. Our sales, editorial production and support team remain passionate about the industry and we look forward to serving our customers and readers in 2014.

Enjoy Christmas with your family and rest and recuperate over the New Year – we’ve got a lot of work to do in 2014.

Hartley Higgins Publisher

4 – December 2013, Australian Forests & Timber News

ISSN 1444-5824

December 2013

As predicted, 2013 has been a huge year of transition and change for our industry, and ForestWorks has been working hard to provide the support and assistance our sector needs to survive and thrive. There will be no time to relinquish the pace in 2014, with the industry needing to stay on its toes to build for the future.

A genetic tree improvement program is a complex system.

Read more on page 12 Features AFCA 10-11 FWPA 12 Harvesting Heads 14-18 Material Handling 19-21 Sawmilling 22 Plantations 23-24 Forestry 25

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ForestWorks in 2013 a time of transition A

S HAS been the case for a number of years now, the forest, wood, paper and timber products industry, has been managing a tough time of transition.

The difficult operating climate means industry is being forced to undergo rapid and significant change, which is always accompanied by a level of pain.

For the last three years a hypercompetitive international trade environment, combined with Australia’s lacklustre housing market, have left sections of the industry struggling to cover costs, let alone generate profits. This situation has added to the high level of uncertainty associated with native forest access and to longer-term investment in plantation-based timber.

The industry has also come under additional pressure from funding constraints in the Vocational Education and Training sector.

“If there is an overarching theme to the work of ForestWorks in 2013 it has been managing the difficult transition being undergone by our industry,” ForestWorks chief executive officer Michael Hartman (pictured) said.

“We have worked to help those who may have been negatively impacted by change - such as individual workers facing redundancy. Yet at the same time we have sought to offer assistance and support to individuals, companies and the industry more broadly to adapt and evolve so that it might prepare for success in the future.”

Change in Canberra This year ForestWorks welcomed the incoming Abbott Coalition Government. Historically, the Coalition has a strong record of supporting the forestry and timber products industry and recognising

its importance to Australia and, in particular, regional Australia.

During this year’s election campaign the Coalition promised to continue investment in vital skills, training and innovation support currently provided to the industry.

“Every sign from Mr Abbott and key figures in the Coalition is that they understand the importance of forestry, but also – vitally – that they understand its enormous potential in this country,” Hartman said.

“Wood-producing nations from across the globe are currently harnessing their natural timber resources in a multitude of innovative ways and there is every opportunity for Australia to join them and lead this growth.

“However the industry will need to receive skills and workforce development support to realise its potential and ForestWorks’ current Innovation Skills Program will continue to work with industry and government to increase our industry’s capacity to grow.”

Innovation Skills Program This year marked a major new development for ForestWorks ISC and the future of the industry with the announcement of the Innovation Skills Program.

The Federal Government-funded program is aimed at stimulating innovation in the forest, wood, paper and timber products sector.

Hartman said that after the successful ‘Stepping Up The Value Chain’ industry conference in 2012, he noted near-universal agreement from leading industry figures that the key to the survival of the sector, in a high-cost economy, is innovation.

“So many are now inspired to take up the innovation challenge of the 21st century and yet they still want to know – what is the next step from here?” Hartman said.

“That is the question we are trying to answer with the new Innovation Skills Program. We know the key to innovation is collaboration, yet this is the area in which we have traditionally been weak in this country.”

Hartman said it was vital to take note of the example set by other high-cost, developed nations and learn how to work collaboratively with others in the local value chain.

“In Australia we have a culture of treating others in the supply chain only as competitors,” he said.

“Yet the fact is that true competition is overseas – not over the road. I think most the industry today understand that, but our structures and culture still reflects the old way of looking at things.

“That is why we asking for industry to sign up to get involved in forums with other industry players led by business and innovation experts who understand best practice in the innovation field.

“The new program is not trying to ‘teach’ innovation so much as it is trying to facilitate the conditions under which it can occur. We know a lot of workplaces can struggle to change and operate under new paradigms – even if traditional practices are no longer working.

“The fact is, innovation is so much more than R&D and it doesn’t need to cost money.

“So this is an opportunity to join a professionally supported working group, and contribute and benefit from new skills and knowledge across the value chain.

Collaboration is the key to really understanding the supply chain in which you operate, and therefore how to enhance your role in that chain.

“This is the way forward for our industry: working collaboratively with our partners in the chain and not simply trying to squeeze

each other’s margins.” The first stage of the Innovation Skills Program kicked off in late 2013 (with subsequent stages to follow throughout 2014 - see below.)

Initial Innovation Forums were held in forestry centres Mt Gambier, South Australia and Bunbury, Western Australia.

An additional forum was held in 2013 as part of the Institute of Foresters Australia conference in Melbourne and more will follow next year.

Local business owners, managers, staff and other industry stakeholders attended packed out events and the feedback has been excellent.

Supporting women in our industry Once again in 2013, ForestWorks was the host organisation for the Women in Forests and Timber Network (supporting the national WFTN Advisory Group).

Working in a male-dominated industry can bring about barriers for women in the workplace. Yet with women making up only 13 per cent of the Australian forest and timber products industry workforce, traditionally they have not been able to join any formal or even informal - networks with other women in the industry.

ForestWorks has always argued that if the industry is to grow and proposer in the long-term it will need to be attractive to the complete pool of talent - and that means expanding the proportion of women in industry.

“The WFTN has connected women and helped to raise the profile of women in the industry, supporting cultural change and improving the reputation of the industry as an employer of choice,” ForestWorks Deputy CEO Jane Bartier said.

Continued page 5

Australian Forests & Timber News, December 2013 – 5

Vocations rule in the regions V

OCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS outnumbered university level qualifications by two to one in the regional areas of Australia, according to a report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

“In the cities we saw little difference between the number of people with uni degrees and the number of people with vocational qualifications,” said Lisa Connolly from the ABS, “but outside the big cities, there were more than twice the number of vocational qualifications compared to degrees and diplomas.”

ForestWorks ISC, the Industry Skills Council for the forest and timber products industry, noted that these statistics reflect the importance of our industry in regional areas, given it an industry largely skilled via the VET system. The rates of attainment for tertiary qualifications (which include both VET and university qualifications) varied widely across Australia, from a low of about one-third to a high of two-thirds, and the highest rates were generally in and around the capital cities.

“This shows the importance of providing opportunities to people in regional areas to access formal learning. Without

skills development opportunities, people in regional Australia have fewer opportunities,” according to ForestWorks ISC. “Sydney - North Sydney and Hornsby had the highest proportion of tertiary qualifications, with nearly seven out of 10 people living there having a qualification gained after leaving year 12,” said Connolly.

“It was a similar story for Perth - Inner and Melbourne - Inner East, where 65% of people have a tertiary qualification.

“The lowest rates were in the Northern Territory - Outback and Queensland Outback where only about one in three people had a tertiary qualification, but it should be remembered that these are some of the most remote areas in Australia.”

People in Sydney - North Sydney and Hornsby, Sydney - Ryde, and Melbourne Inner East were the most likely in Australia to have a qualification in management and commerce (21.3, 18.8 and 17.6% of people respectively), while Mackay, Hunter Valley (excluding Newcastle), and Western Australia - Outback lead the way in engineering and related technology qualifications (14.8, 13.6 and 13.4%).

FWPA’s AGM shows benefits of collaboration HELD IN Sydney on October 11 the Forest and Wood Products Australia Ltd (FWPA) Annual General Meeting was attended by a record number of FWPA members and stakeholders and Richard Colbeck, Tasmanian Senator and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture.

Addressing the meeting, FWPA Managing Director Ric Sinclair observed that the company was now six years old and had clearly established systems and strong corporate governance. He noted that Federal Government funding had been secured for the next five years, together with the opportunity to secure matching funds for voluntary contributions.

Sinclair also explained that there had been a realignment of investment priorities, details of which were in the new five year strategic plan that had been approved by the Board.

“Our expenditure is now balanced with income and that’s led to a 33% reduction in activities. This situation will continue until our levy payers and members are supportive of increased funding for collaborative activities,” he said.

The meeting also saw the re-election of Ron Adams and the election of a new independent director, Craig Taylor, who is a

Director and Principal of The Fifth Estate, a Sydney-based consulting firm. Taylor has previously held management and executive roles with the State Forests of NSW, BORAL Timber, Wesfi and Jaakko Pöyry Consulting. He has a BSc (Forestry) from the Australian National University and is currently a Director of P.F. Olsen Australia.

“It is an honour to be voted in as an independent director by FWPA members.

I look forward to working with my fellow directors to build upon FWPA’s successes and to take the company to the next level,” Taylor said.

Sinclair said that all resolutions, including a special resolution to make minor amendments to the Constitution, were supported by the company membership.

At a subsequent meeting of the Board of Directors, Ron Adams was re-elected as Chair of the Board and John Simon was reelected as Deputy Chair.

Following an industry leaders’ dinner on the Thursday night, Friday’s AGM was held in conjunction with an R&D Forum and an extremely successful Industry seminar, ‘Building Stronger Value Chains’.

The audience of industry leaders found the seminar very positive with collaboration high on the industry’s agenda.

ForestWorks in 2013 - a time of transition From page 4 “There are now over 150 women registered through the network and this number continues to grow.”

In addition to the network activities, ForestWorks played a key role in the National Women in Industry (WII) Conference on skills and training development for women in construction, forestry, mining and energy industries.

ForestWorks also contributed to the National Women in MaleDominated Occupations and Industries (WIMDOI) Conference.

Supporting workers affected by retrenchment ForestWorks is continuing to assist those facing retrenchment from our industry to develop

the formal skills and qualifications necessary to continue their working lives.

In the past year the ForestWorks Workers Assistance Program has provided assistance to retrenched workers from Kimberly-Clark Australia and Carter Holt Harvey in South Australia and to a larger number of retrenched workers in Tasmania. In total approximately a thousand workers have been assisted in 2013.The program’s unique one-on-one model of support works by assisting retrenched workers to move quickly into new learning, training, and employment.

The Workers Assistance Program Coordinators - who work with retrenched workers have themselves also previously

worked in the industry, and are therefore knowledgeable about both the people affected, and the job roles they have previously undertaken.

Through this federallyfunded program, affected workers are assisted to have their skills audited and are supported to acquire new skills through nationally recognised qualifications and licensing systems. Coordinators regularly cold-call local employers to identify job vacancies that may be suitable for the program’s participants. They also assist affected workers to compile comprehensive resumes and prepare for job interviews.

“Although managing this transition is rarely straightforward or easy,

Key focus areas for ForestWorks in 2014 Innovation Skills Program in 2014 The Innovation Skills Program will shift into its next phase next year with some exciting new developments. The aim of the program will be to continue to transfer the concept of ‘innovation’ from the theoretical to the practical.

Forums like Mt Gambier 2013 and Bunbury 2103 will continue to roll out across the country, particularly in regions with high concentrations of industry activity.

ForestWorks ISC will also be assisting industry to build some of the skills conducive to fostering an environment of innovation.

These include building literacy and numeracy capacity across the industry, but also assisting to develop strong ‘digital literacy’ as modern workplaces become increasingly technological at an exponential rate.

ForestWorks ISC has developed Innovation Skills Sets to support innovation and leadership capacity for leaders, managers, and operations personnel.

These sets have been allocated to three streams:

Innovative Thinking and Practice, Managing Change, and Business Development.

E-Scan ForestWorks ISC will continue to work with the Department of Industry to develop the 2014 E-Scan - an annual snapshot of the issues, challenges, and opportunities affecting the industry and its workers.

The 2014 E-Scan will be released in early 2014 and will be freely available from the ForestWorks ISC website.

ForestWorks is tremendously proud of the success it has enjoyed and the techniques it continues to develop and refine,” Hartman said.

“In Tasmania, many participants have managed to secure new employment as a result of our program activities.

However there is still much work to be done to provide ongoing

support for participants to access training and to secure sustainable employment options.

“2013 has once again delivered its fair share of uplifting examples of success, with retrenched forestry workers finding new and fulfilling careers in a surprisingly wide gamut of jobs: from aquaculture to aged care.”

We would like to thank all industry representatives who have both supported and contributed to our work throughout the year.

We wish you, your staff and family all the best for the festive season and a prosperous new year!

Michael Hartman, CEO On behalf of all of us at ForestWorks ISC

Working with RTOs ForestWorks ISC will continue to support and assist Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) to provide relevant, quality, nationally recognised training for the industry.

We are also committed to supporting RTOs during the introduction of new units and qualifications as part of the transition to new the training package standards.

www.forestworks.com.au

ForestWorks ISC activities are assisted by funding provided by the Commonwealth Government through the Department of Industry.

6 – December 2013, Australian Forests & Timber News

Freak accident claims life J

OHN CREIGHTON (59) was killed in a freak accident at a logging site on private property at Whian Whian when a tree branch fell from the forest canopy and hit his head.

Mr Creighton’s son Russell said his dad was not meant to be working at Whian Whian the day he died. “They called him back at the last minute to do one more day out there as there were still issues out there,” he said.

After working for the Forestry Corporation of New South Wales

for more than 30 years, John earned a promotion to supervisor. John is survived by his wife Barbara, children Russell and his wife Christy, and Wendy and her husband Mark.

Member for Coffs Harbour, Andrew Fraser, said in State Parliament the accident, which happened on a private property, would not have happened had the protesters not blockaded the site and more logging personnel had to be sent in.

“Mr Crighton was there trying to keep people away from the area when

a limb fell from a tree, hit him on the head and killed him,” Fraser said about the October 9 accident.

“Mr Crighton should not have been there. He did not need to be there.

However, because of work health and safety concerns held by State Forests about the green protesters who were there... it was deemed necessary for Mr Crighton to be there.

“A family has lost their father because the greens failed to comply with work health and safety regulations. “In fact, they blocked

in 1948 and attended Geelong Grammar before graduating from Melbourne University in 1972 with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry.

He was inducted into the hall of fame of the Australian Forestry Contractors Association in 2010.

Geoff is survived by his wife Gerry, daughter Anna and her husband Craig, son Ben and his wife Kellie and grandson Xavier.

Death of timber pioneer NORTHERN TASMANIA forestry pioneer Andy Padgett, AM, died in late October. He was 89.

Andy was regarded as an innovator within the forestry industry and was known for his efforts to strike a balance between forest production and conservation.

He came to Tasmania from Victoria in 1946 to shear sheep, but moved into his lifelong vocation shortly after, handmaking roads and locomotive tracks on Mount Barrow.

It was on the mountain that he developed a love and intimate knowledge of the area, which shone through when he initiated its interpretation centre and advised tours

on its discovery trail decades later.

His service over decades towards sustainable forestry management was recognised when he was awarded the Australia Medal in 1997. He was the inaugural recipient of the World Forestry Day award, awarded for outstanding and innovative contributions to Tasmania’s forest industry in 1995, and won the Tasmania Day Award in 1987.

He was the Tasmanian Logging Association’s chairman for eight years, which later became the Tasmanian Forest Contractors Association, and was the inaugural chairman of the Australian Logging Council for six years.

He was accorded Industry Icon status and inducted into the Australian Forest Contractors Association Hall of Fame in 2010.

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create situations where people are not only injured but killed.”.

He said it was time the Government moved to ensure that protesters who entered private land and State forests were removed by the police. “I do not want to see another headline about a forest worker, whether employed by the State or by private industry, being killed while trying to protect an operation that was signed off after going through all the environmental regulation.”

Source: Northern Star

Gottstein Science Courses

A man of great integrity GEOFF GREEN, the chief of haulage company Greenfreight’s logging division, has been remembered for his “great integrity” that helped the North East Victorian firm become one of Australia’s biggest softwood transporters. Geoff died at the age of 65 after having battled leukaemia.

He was born in Melbourne

radio signals and roads. Indeed, although they claimed that they assisted the police in getting an ambulance in there, it was delayed. I do not believe them.”

Fraser said the Government “must ensure that we have a forest system that protects workers in a forest”.

“We need to provide rural communities with protection from the disgraceful behaviour of the green ratbags at a level equivalent to the protection available for Sydney-based industries,” he said. “These fools

Each year the Gottstein Trust runs a week long course to look at the science behind the forest and wood products industry. Every second year the highly popular WOOD Science course is run by the Trust in conjunction with The University of Melbourne and CSIRO. Recently the Gottstein Trust has also commenced a week long FOREST Science course based in Creswick, Victoria, again in association with the University of Melbourne.

The Wood Science course is in its 21st running since its inception in 1978 running approximately every second year depending on demand. The course covers topics ranging from the anatomy of wood, to wood behaviour through to carbon markets and markets for wood products. The lectures are interspersed with practical sessions, a full day field trip and round table discussions to capitalise on the experiences of the course participants. The lecturers are drawn from the highest echelons of industry, academia and research organisations to ensure the latest thinking and ideas are covered, in addition to providing a basis for the understanding of timber, it’s processing and the products made from this versatile and sustainable material. The course is aimed at middle to senior management or those new to the industry who may not have previously been exposed to the fascinating material that is wood.

The Forest Science course had its beginning in 2013 with the inaugural course being held in Creswick, west central Victoria at the University of Melbourne campus. “Extremely valuable, very enjoyable”, “Great range of topics and speakers. I learned a huge amount. Excellent networking. I want more” and “A very valuable and informative program for beginners in forestry” were some of the comments received at the conclusion of the first Gottstein Forest Science Course

From major start-ups to retro-fits, if you want professional service and advice, contact us.

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 Course brochure.

 D r Silvia Pongracic - Course Director.

held in February 2013. Similar in style to the Wood Science course, the topics covered range from forest establishment, management and harvesting with a focus on wood quality and management for non-timber qualities of forests and plantations including water, fire, habitat and carbon. Again the target audience is middle to senior management or those new to the industry who may not have been exposed to the many and varied and contradictory aspects of forest and plantation management. In fact, approximately half of the course participants in 2013 had a financial/ accounting background and were interested in learning more about the forest industry.

The JW Gottstein Memorial Trust was established by the wood products industry in 1971 following the accidental death of a highly regarded CSIRO wood scientist Joseph William Gottstein.

The Trust was established as the “national education trust for the Forest and Wood Products industries” and fulfils its charter by offering these Science courses and providing annual Fellowships, Industry Awards and Scholarships to assist individuals advance the Australian forest and wood products industry. The next course is the 2014 Gottstein Wood Science course to be run in Melbourne in February 2014. Further details will be available on the Trust’s website www.gottsteintrust.org or contact the Course Director, Dr Silvia Pongracic on 0418 764 954.

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8 – December 2013, Australian Forests & Timber News

ABP steps up Koala management program T

HE FOREST plantation industry fully committed to the hardwood plantation in western Victoria and South industry’s ultimate goal of zero harm to Australia has adopted new, industry- koalas. wide policy and guidelines to protect koalas “We have known about the existence living in blue gum plantations across the of koalas for some time, but they were region, further strengthening procedures that not thought to live and breed in blue gum had been in place since 2011. plantations. Previous studies indicated that An independent audit by Rainforest they generally accessed plantations from Alliance on behalf of the Forest Stewardship adjacent native forest, although they have Council Australia highlighted a sensitive been known to travel reasonable distances. issue concerning the welfare of koalas in As harvesting activity escalated during 2011 the Green Triangle region in south-east it became apparent that we had a bigger issue South Australia and south-west Victoria, an to deal with. In late 2011 we put in place some area which is home to Mt Eccles National interim guidelines to avoid harming koalas Park, a significant koala population and and they seemed to be working, however, as some117,000 hectares of eucalypt plantations. harvesting activity increased and companies The compliance audits on ABP and GPFL’s ventured into plantations now known to have operations in the Green Triangle region were higher populations of koalas the risk of harm conducted following concerns raised by local increased, and this resulted in a number of stakeholder groups regarding the welfare of incidents -- not thousands -- where koalas koalas in the Blue Gum plantations. As a were injured or killed,” said Price. result of preliminary findings, further audits “This situation is deeply troubling to all of were conducted with two FSC certified us and is unacceptable, and we are committed operators in the region - Australian Bluegum to preventing further incidents of this nature.

Plantations (ABP) and GPFL. The actions of “We have suspended harvesting in high SWFE who conducted the harvest operations population areas and will take as much time of trees owned by GPFL were included in as we need, but we are working flat out to the scope of the audit as GPFL is responsible address the issues raised and are making for the activities occurring on its land. good progress,” he said.

The independent auditor’s report s “We are undertaking more detailed prefound non-conformances by both harvest surveys to identify koala density as companies, to differing degrees. well as testing advanced detection methods, As a result, ABP received a notice of including infra-red technology. suspension of its FSC certification.

“We have increased the frequency of onAustralian Bluegum Plantations managing the-ground koala spotting prior to, during director Tony Price said the company was and after harvesting and are ensuring these

checks are consistently documented. “We have created a dedicated koala management role responsible for monitoring, personnel training and stakeholder communications.

“We have implemented improved monitoring practices and procedures to evaluate the success of our program, and to prioritize areas needing immediate action going forward,” said Price.

When asked what the possible timeline was for reinstatement of certification Price replied: “That is up to the auditor. We need to be comfortable we are ready for the audit. Once that is the case we can request a verification audit and that would happen once a time slot for the audit is identified. It would then depend on the outcome of the audit as to whether certification was restored.”

Price said ABP had been in constant communication with its customers and they were very supportive. “The key is to get our certification returned as soon as possible.”

ABP took a leading role in the development of the new guidelines, along with other industry players, DEPI and the local wildlife carers, and has been actively training its contractors in terms of koala management and would continue to do so ABP is a significant regional employer and a major contributor to the economy in the Green Triangle region.

“It is in everyone’s best interests to maintain the economic benefits of sustainable plantation forestry while at the same time following environmental and social best practice,” said Price.

Commended for right approach THE INSTITUTE of Foresters of Australia has welcomed the release of a new management policy for koalas in blue gum plantations by the Victorian plantation industry.

“The koala migration into blue gum plantations, particularly in south west Victoria is both a happy and challenging problem,” said IFA President Rob de Fégely.

“As we continue to move to create production systems that more closely mimic natural systems these

instances of native fauna and flora interacting with production will only increase.

“Industry, and in particular professional forest managers who oversee these operations, are to be commended for the steps they have taken to date to balance the environmental and ecological needs of the koala with the social requirements of the people employed in the industry and the economic requirements of the

companies to maintain supply to export markets. “However, more work needs to be done to develop new operating practices that are designed to at minimise and aim for zero harm to these koalas.”

He said a whole-of-landscape approach was needed to manage koala populations, as they did not recognise whether trees were on public or private land.

“Any solution to the challenges requires the involvement of reserve

managers, landowners, local government and the community at large,” he said.

“This is a big challenge, and one that everyone close to the industry wants to get right.

“We all need to support research and development to assist in designing operating procedures that are sympathetic to the koalas feeding and perching requirements while ensuring the timber industry can operate.”

Clear commitment to koala protection THE PLANTATION industry in Western Victoria and South Australia has adopted new, industry-wide policy and guidelines to protect koalas living in blue gum plantations across the region.

The Victorian Association of Forest Industries (VAFI) chief executive officer Lisa Marty said the industry-wide policy and guidelines represented a clear commitment to koala protection in blue gum plantations.

The policy and guidelines were sponsored and adopted by the Green Triangle Regional Plantation Committee and its members.

“As the blue gum plantation estate has grown in the region in recent years, koalas have moved from native vegetation to blue gum plantations managed for commercial timber production,” Marty said.

“There are approximately 171,000 hectares of eucalypt

plantations in western Victorian and south-east South Australia, which are managed as a long-term agricultural crop.

“The improved, industry-wide policy and guidelines are the result of a strong, coordinated approach by industry across the region as well as consultation with the Victorian Government and local wildlife carers.”

“Our goal is zero harm and an improved approach to koala

management across the landscape,” Marty said. “There is still much work do. The launch and implementation of the guidelines is a major step in a program of work to support koala welfare and improved wildlife management.”

“We welcome engagement from stakeholders and community members to ensure the industry continues to play a strong and positive role in koala management,” Marty said.

Contractors welcome new guidelines THE AUSTRALIAN Forest Contractors Association (AFCA) has welcomed the launch of new industry-wide policy and guidelines for koala management during harvest operations in blue gum timber plantations in Western Victoria and South Australia.

AFCA chief executive Colin McCulloch said the protection of native wildlife was an important consideration for all forestry

workers. “Harvesting contractors are committed to ensuring koalas are protected from harm during harvesting operations in blue gum plantations,’ said McCulloch.

“AFCA and its members welcome the Policy and Guidelines to protect koalas, which were launched by the Green Triangle Regional Plantations Committee.

“Contractors are working with plantation

companies to implement the new policy and guidelines on the ground.“As part of implementing the guidelines, contractors have participated in recent training with local wildlife carers. AFCA recognises there is an ongoing program of work to support koala welfare and management in the region and we look forward to participating in further work with industry.”

Need to coordinate forestry research KOALAS IN south western Victoria are spreading from their traditional homes in native forest to the plantation crops growing in the area.

The chief executive officer of the Australian Forest Products Association, Ross Hampton, said industry should be congratulated on the ongoing program of work to improve plantation management practices to take account of koalas living in the trees.

“While every site is likely to have its own specific circumstances, these management practices are likely to be applicable in many areas of the country.

“Foresters do support protection of koala welfare and effective koala management but also recognise that the key threats are urban expansion, disease, and bushfires.

It is likely that these pressures are causing small numbers of koalas to move into plantation areas despite blue gum not being a recognised food source.

“There are a lot of unknowns and this particular issue reinforces the importance of a national research institute to coordinate forestry research,” he said.

Changing of the guard

GEOFF GORRIE, the inaugural Chair of Australian Forestry Standard Ltd (AFS), has presided over his last annual general meeting of the august body.

He will officially step down on 2 December after attending the PEFC Annual General Assembly and Forest Certification Week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1115 November, as the AFS Ltd delegate.

Dr Hans Drielsma addressed the AGM and provided a brief summary of Geoff’s substantial contribution to AFS Ltd as the company’s inaugural Chairman. On behalf of all the current and former members, directors and staff of AFS Ltd Dr Drielsma thanked Geoff for his dedication and enthusiasm.

Highly-credentialled Kate Carnell AO has been appointed as an Independent Director and Chair of AFS Ltd from 2 December.

Kate has a wealth of knowledge and experience and has been involved in the forestry and wood products industry in a number of roles. She is currently the CEO of Beyondblue and her previous experience includes: Chief Minister of the ACT CEO, Australian Food and Grocery Council CEO, National Association of Forest Industries and Chair of the Cooperative Research Centre for Forestry.

Australian Forests & Timber News, December 2013 – 9

New technologies for improved safety T

HREE NEW forest harvesting technologies developed by Scion, in conjunction with industry, will help improve workplace safety in New Zealand forestry.

Developed in response to this demand, Scion’s forest harvesting technologies are making significant inroads into helping the country’s third largest export earner achieve these goals, and reduce its workplace injury toll.

The Cable Harvest Planning System (CHPS), developed

by ATLAS Technology in conjunction with Geographic Business Solutions, is a modern software system that breathes new life into tried-and-true physics.

“Payload analysis for cable harvesting is not new,” says Jeremy Snook, business analyst at ATLAS. “While similar systems have been developed in the past, CHPS is the first to be directly integrated into GIS - geospatial software which is one of the forest manager’s core tools. This provides easy access to detailed information about the terrain, while allowing seamless transition to other day-to-day forest management activities such as harvesting, as well as log yield information.

“Much of the forest due for harvesting was planted in the early 1990s on steep, erosion prone land. It’s too steep to use ground-based mechanical harvesting equipment so must be harvested using cable haulers.

Planning these harvesting operations is challenging and ensuring the safety of the ground crew is paramount.”

Tailholds need to be positioned for maximum hauler reach and payload. Repositioning a tower is costly particularly on combinations of steep terrain and some soils. CHPS uses geospatial terrain data (for example, derived from LiDAR), hauler and rigging characteristics, such as tower height and cable breaking strain, and then applies robust, well established science to determine the best positioning of the tailholds to achieve maximum payload.

“CHPS translates rich terrain data into usable information, equipping contractors with a better knowledge of any constraints they may be faced with, such as where hauler vision will be restricted. This helps forest managers and harvesting contractors find optimal locations for the hauler pad and identify solutions along extraction corridors, plan upfront for any safety issues and help them set contract rates.

“This provides greater certainty, enabling more informed risk management for contractors and forest growers.”

Breaking-out is responsible for an estimated 40 per cent of forestry-related accidents.

Breaker-outs, crew members who attach cables to felled trees ready for extraction and who shift hauler cables once a corridor of trees has been extracted, are continuously wrestling heavy chains and hooks, often on steep, debris-strewn land. They are constantly at risk from falling

trees, swinging stems and dislodged debris.

Scion, with Future Forests Research (FFR) and commercial partner Alpine Logging have built a prototype hydraulicbased hauler grapple designed specifically for New Zealand conditions that will make grapple yarding technology more accessible for steepland, high risk extraction. Designed to work on both swing and tower haulers, the grapple’s improved carriage design and control will enable more contractors to adopt the

technology. “The grapple builds hydraulic pressure as it moves up and down the cables, which is used to manipulate the grapple arms,” says Spencer Hill, research leader for harvesting and logistics. “The non-motorised operating system makes it lighter, low cost and cheaper to run than conventional, motorised models.“The grapple can be controlled remotely by the hauler operator. Because it can be rotated it can pick up the trees better, and pull trees out of gullies where it’s simply too dangerous for people. This ultimately means

a far safer hauler operation.”

Also designed with safety at the forefront, is the innovative hauler vision system, the CutoverCam, developed by Scion for FFR. “Steep terrain often makes it difficult for the hauler to get a clear view of the break-out zone,” says Spencer.

“The CutoverCam uses wireless security camera technology to emit high frequency video of ground operations, and the breaker-outs, back to the hauler operator. “ The hauler can operate the

camera remotely - pan, tilt and zoom in, to gain a clear view of ground operations from the screen mounted in the cab.

Instead of relying on hand held radios and talkie tooters to signal what’s happening, the hauler can see directly what’s going on and respond to that.”

Recent feasibility studies show the camera is beneficial in grapple and rigging positioning, heightening response time to problems, and avoiding stem hang-ups and breakage on stumps thus reducing maintenance costs.

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10 – December 2013, Australian Forests & Timber News

AFCA

Sawdust in their veins AFCA Hall of Fame T

HE IMPORTANCE of family, and the passing of involvement in the timber industry from one generation to the next was the dominant theme when the Australian Forest Contractors Association inducted another 16 worthy nominees into its Hall of Fame at a very enjoyable function attended by more than 100 people in Bunbury, Western Australia in October.

Many of the inductees spoke of having the sawdust in their veins passed on from family members who preceded them as they accepted their recognition certificates acknowledging a lifetime of participation in the forest industry.

As usual, many of the tales recounted on the night were about how young men using comparatively primitive equipment carved out a living in the bush, just as their fathers and forefathers had done before them.

Many of those acknowledged still contribute to the industry today, although much has changed, and mechanisation has made life so much easier. Others were about how logs were carted on vehicles vastly different from those in use today.

The obligatory story of the contribution of the horses was recounted by inductee Brian Wilson whose 60 year involvement has seen vast changes. Brian’s memories of the part his horse played in snigging logs and loading them onto drays

highlighted the amazing abilities and intelligence that the animals possessed.

Others like Bernie Dawson and Geoff Brookes spoke of how they learnt their craft from their fathers Pat and Gary, and Kim Gandy recounted the history of how four generations of his family have been involved in the industry.

The Bunbury function, MC’d

by AFCA chief executive officer Colin McCulloch, was the sixth occasion on which worthy pioneers have been acknowledged.

It brings to 131, the number of Contractors across the country who have had their names added to the Roll of Renown within the Hall of Fame.

Special Award Continuing a new initiative within the Awards, A Certificate of Appreciation was presented to Tish Rakich in recognition of her contribution to the industry through her work with Timber Communities Australia (TCA) in Western Australia. While not being eligible for the Hall of Fame, the awardees of these certificates nevertheless have contributed greatly to the industry over long period of time and are very worthy of recognition for their service.

Five of these awards have now been made to individuals across the country.

2

The following contractors were inducted in Bunbury: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Steven Giovanetti Cyril Giovanetti * Michael Giovanetti Bernie Dawson Pat Dawson Daryl Dawson Geoff Brookes Gary Brookes * Greg Smeathers Alwin Williams * Vince Zuvela Don Burmas Brian Wilson Kim Gandy Neil Gandy * Arthur Gandy *

* Awarded posthumously

4

1

3

7 5

6

1 Tish Rakich.

2 Kim Gandy.

3 Presenters - David Drane, Col McCulloch and Ian Reid 4 Brian Wilson.

5 Toby Williams, Suzanne Williams and Greg Smeathers 6 Geoff Brookes and Jill Brookes.

7 Don Burmas.

8 Michael and Steven Giovanetti.

8

9

9 Daryl, Pat and Bernie Dawson.

Australian Forests & Timber News, December 2013 – 11

AFCA

Need for all to work together

By David Drane

T

HE BAR was raised through audience participation when the Australian Forest Contractors Association conducted its latest “Business is Different Now” workshop in Bunbury early in October.

Another good crowd of over 60 participants attended the workshop which was the fifth in

the series that AFCA is presenting across the country. It was again linked to the ForestWorks “Innovation Skills Program” and chief executive officer Michael Hartman led another informative discussion on how to innovate and therefore improve productivity and profitability.

Audience participation in two interactive sessions ensured lively debate with many ideas coming forward in relation to

how best to innovate in our industry. A common theme throughout each session was to highlight the need for everyone along the supply chain to make a conscious effort to work together to ensure a prosperous future for wood in Australia.

“We were struck by WA’s enthusiastic participation at the Innovation Skills Program, which goes to show that the industry in that State is future-focused

and keen to work together to embrace new opportunities,” said Hartman.

Once again Dallas Frost, Principal Director of Crowe Howarth Accountants in Launceston, presented an informative and thoughtprovoking session, highlighting the need to accept that change is upon us and to embrace it, and Timber Trades Industry Associations Brian Beecroft

identified both the most asked and most unusual questions that rear their heads in the industrial relations field.

The Q & A panel session at the end of the day was made up of speakers from across the timber industry in Western Australia A further “Business is Different” workshop will be held before the end of the year in Queensland at a venue to be arranged.

 ( left to right) Expert panel, Colin McCulloch, Dallas Frost, Brian Beecroft (TTIA), Participants, and Michael Hartman.

Changes at the top FRIDAY 8 November 2013 was a significant day in the history of the Australian Forest Contractors Association. After Directors and Policy Group Meetings the organisation conducted its Annual General Meeting where some changes occurred in the make-up of its Board of Directors Two long time directors stood down. Both Barry Fennel from South Australia and Cheryl Griffiths from Western Australia decided not to seek reelection after having served significant periods of time as members of the Board. Barry has been a Board Member since the association’s inception over 10 years ago and will be sorely missed. Cheryl’s contribution over a number of years has also been valued. Her huge commitment to travel to Board meetings across the country meant that she has often been away from home in Albany for

extended periods of time. AFCA wished both Barry and Cheryl well for the future and sincerely thanked them both for their contributions.

The two new directors are Michael Giles, who runs two in-field chipping operations in Western Australia, and Nick Reynish from Forestry Connect, an organisation, that runs Silvicultural operations around the nation.

AFCA’s officials for the next 12 months are: Chairman: Ian Reid, (Vic) Vice Chairman: Greg Coverley (WA) Directors: Michael Giles, (WA), Karen Hall (Tas) Ken Padgett (Tas), Nick Reynish (Vic), Joanne Wilson (Vic) & Brenton Yon (NSW)

Tough year ends but future looks good From page 1 Senator Colbeck underscored the need for longer-term agreements to be the norm rather than the exception.

Tasmania’s Deputy Premier, Minister for Economic Development and Resources, Bryan Green spoke of the importance of the forestry sector to the Tasmanian economy and the growth in his appreciation of the sector as he visited overseas markets for Tasmanian wood products and gained greater knowledge of the breadth of products sought from Tasmania and the capacity for Tasmanian producers to supply these products in a sustainable way.

Picking up on this theme of adjusting to meet market demand, Evan Rolley, Executive Director of Ta Ann Tasmania, spoke of the industry’s capacity to adapt and how Ta Ann, having worked to ensure its procurement program and certification process meets a standard acceptable to its export customers, is now able to once again sell into the international

market. In his role as MC for the night, Australian Forest Contractors Association chief executive officer Col McCulloch spoke of the positive feel in the industry not only coming

from Tasmania post TFA but from attendees of the AFCA run “Business is different now” workshops being run by AFCA around the country.

“We’re on the way back and it’s great to see Governments starting to appreciate the important role the timber industry plays in ensuring a sustainable environment in these carbon-constrained days.” t Evan Rolley q Senator Richard Colbeck address the audience

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12 – December 2013, Australian Forests & Timber News

FWPA FEATURE

Succeeding with SEEDPLAN

By Matthew Lovering PUT SIMPLY, a genetic tree improvement program is about selecting the best tree for a particular location, but there’s a lot more to it than just that. One has to find the best parent trees, determine the environmental and economically important traits that you want to be passed on, and design seed orchards to prevent the “wrong trees” pollinating each other—for example, those that are too closely related or have traits you don’t want in the offspring. To get the best value for growers, genetic values for trees need to reflect the variability of wood product systems (e.g. saw logs, veneer or pulp) and growing environments.

An elite tree, or family, or seed lot for one growing environment or wood product system may not be elite for another.

Keeping track of all the genetic, environmental and economic variables when managing a large population of trees for breeding can be almost overwhelming.

However, the Southern Tree Breeding Association (STBA), with the support of its stakeholders and Forest & Wood Products Australia FWPA, has developed the SEEDPLAN toolset to strategically manage the vast amounts of complex information generated in tree improvement programs. It allows geneticists to predict genetic values for individuals, families and seed lots for a large range of economically important traits; so that breeders and deployers can use this information as the basis for selecting seed and plants for production plantations.

Using SEEDPLAN it is anticipated growers will lift the economic value of genetically improved plants in softwood plantations by, on average, more than $80 NPV per hectare per year (marginal gain in profit above current industry standards); for eucalypt plantations the anticipated marginal gain is about $60 NPV per hectare per year. Assuming half the plantation industry benefits, this will equate to about $1.1 million and $0.8 million NPV for pines and eucalypts respectively, and the annual gains are cumulative over time.

To manage such a lot of data it is probably no surprise that SEEDPLAN, in fact, comprises a number of complementary toolsets that all work together.

SELECT determines which tree genotypes (i.e. the genetic make up of the tree) are the best for a given situation the MATE tool chooses which mating of parent trees will maximise genetic gain; the DESIGN tool allows seed orchards to be designed to minimise related trees pollinating each other thus avoiding inbreeding; and the INDEX tool allows users to define their own customised ‘best tree types’ for their unique environmental and economic

conditions, allowing them to select trees for a whole plantation or, on a much finer scale, for specific sites. Selected trees will not only be best suited for the growing environment but also for the most profitable wood products. Indeed, pilot programs unequivocally demonstrated that better matching of genetics to stand and product type can substantially lift the value of plantations, while reducing costs and delivering efficiencies.

Dr Tony McRae, General Manager of STBA, said: “This result does not come as a surprise

This result does not come as a surprise to industry participants to industry participants, it has just been difficult to achieve without the tools to update and summarise the vast amounts of economic and genetic information”.

As seed lots are often mixtures of families and derived from openpollinated seed orchards, defining the male parent can be problematic.

In such cases the PEDIGREE tool automates the task of determining the genetic contribution from the otherwise-unidentifiable male

parent. Of course SEEDPLAN needs to work in the real world, and researchers from STBA have proved the effectiveness of the toolset in a number of exciting pilot studies in diverse locations such as South Australia, Western Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and Sweden. The pilot studies enabled the researchers to test software and prediction algorithms, i.e. different ways to crunch all the data quickly and efficiently so that users don’t have to wait too long for accurate results. Forest growers have also gained confidence in the results by testing the tools using their own proprietary inputs.

Although the tree species used in the pilot studies include Pinus radiata, Eucalyptus nitens, E. globulus, scots pine and Norway spruce, potentially SEEDPLAN could be used to genetically improve any commercial plantation tree species. Indeed, STBA and its partners are currently working on datasets for southern pines (P. elliottii, P. caribaea and their hybrids) grown in Queensland.

The pilots have also shown to industry the benefits that SEEDPLAN can deliver, with SELECT being used to identify elite genotypes for a breeding population of E. globulus. Better matching of seed lots to site types has demonstrated average estate gains of up to $400 NPV per ha in some situations.

For growers, SEEDPLAN has to be not only effective and accurate

 Simon Hunter (left) and Wolfgang Drexler

(and economically beneficial!), it has to be something they can use easily and efficiently with limited training. The team who developed SEEDPLAN have taken this into account and created a comprehensive suite of training materials, including printed manuals, computer-based help files, and on-line, web-based help.

Dr Tony McRae believes SEEDPLAN is a huge step forward for delivering elite genetics into Australian plantations. “We are pleased with how the SEEDPLAN project has evolved, as the genetic and economic information to be considered in deployment decisions can be quite complex,” he said.

Seed producers and forest

growers attending recent workshops in Mount Gambier were excited about having ready (on-line) access to the tools and objective information to guide deployment decisions. Simon Hunter from WA Plantation Resources said “SEEDPLAN really helps address some operational issues in the deployment of improved genetics, and I am confident the quality of our future eucalypt plantations will deliver a greater return on investment as a result.”

Wolfgang Drexler of Green Triangle Forest Products said: “The SEEDPLAN tools are enabling us to make more informed deployment choices, based on our different site types, for maximising future economic return to our investors”.

Australian Forests & Timber News, December 2013 – 13

NEWS

The sky’s the limit T

HE USE of unmanned aerial vehicles (also known as drones) has been increasing in recent years and the forestry industry is just one of the beneficiaries of this unique but none too surprising development One of the first players in this field is Australian UAV which is already doing quite a bit of work for plantation companies assessing tree survival, post clearing regeneration and coppice re-growth. The aerial photography is captured with small fixed-wing UAVs and processed to create single high resolution images that cover hundreds of hectares.

This data is analysed to create maps of tree density across whole plantations.

But, there is yet another potential avenue for Australia UAV’s work and that is helping to spot koalas (see pages 8 & 9 for Koala management plans further strengthened).

“We are currently developing an aircraft with the capability to carry a thermal imaging camera with the sensitivity to locate koalas in trees. The clients we are working for asked whether it was feasible to find koalas and we have been investigating this over the past few months. At this stage it looks like the technology may be up to the task,” said James Rennie, one of the men behind Australian UAV. “We take delivery of a larger aircraft shortly and are working with a thermal imaging camera software developer in South Australia to test the capability. If there is sufficient interest in the industry for us to develop the concept further we will push ahead and get an aircraft fully equipped and flying over the next few months,” he said.

James and Heinz de Chelard had worked together about 10 years back for a global engineering firm and decided there was a business opportunity adding value to a range of diverse clients with a career change..

“UAVs were of interest to both of us so we looked into it a bit further … and, following a long process with the Civil Aviation and Safety Authority (CASA) here we are.”

CASA have strict regulations and



James Rennie

safety requirements and commercial operators require certification.

James, the Australian UAV Maintenance Controller, is a natural resource scientist who has worked in the management and design of rivers, estuaries and wetlands, and has more than 10 years’ experience in flying radio controlled aircraft.

Heinz is an engineer also with considerable experience in the water and natural resource management industry. In addition to his engineering work he is a qualified commercial pilot having spent many years mustering cattle from fixed-wing aircraft in central Australia. Heinz is responsible for the operation of aircraft, safety management systems and CASA compliance.

Whilst the first paying job for the fledgling business was work for mining companies it is forestry that has shown the greatest interest in the technology. “Sites that would normally take a couple of weeks to assess and survey we cover in a day with a couple of days processing time on top of that,” said James.

The two fixed-wing UAVs they have been using, the Swiss built eBee, has meant a large areas of coverage can be achieved.

“For deriving elevation data and canopy heights the data collection process is more intensive in terms of the amount of photography that’s required. The more overlap of photos you have the greater degree of accuracy and certainty in outputs.

Using specialist computer programs to interpret the photos enables identification of the tops of the trees, with this there is the potential to calculate heights, volume and therefore resource.

“The data collected from the UAV is compatible with LiDAR (LiDAR is a remote sensing technology (manned aircraft) that measures distance by illuminating a target with a laser and analyzing the reflected light). Our aim over probably the next 12-18 months is to have a LiDAR equipped UAV to further add value to the services we provide” said James. It would require miniaturization of the current systems but technological advances are making this a feasible option.

And while thoughts of the future are always on their minds, James and Heinz are realists when it comes to day-to-day operations.

Each of their planes costs upwards of $40,000, however, the biggest threat they’ve found for their operation is ...

Wedge Tailed Eagles!

“They could effectively fly away with a plane,” says James. “Some plantation sites that have recently been flown have had up to nine eagles sighted at one time, in this case the flying was aborted for the day. “The aircraft flies at 120 metres above the ground and can be up to 2km away from the operator. It takes intense vigilance to keep the aircraft safe and some deft manual flying to escape when an attack occurs. We estimate that one-in-five flights we will see a Wedge Tailed Eagle with one-in-ten flights having an attack where active avoidance is required, sometimes they attack from an estimated 1km above the aircraft and travel at incredible speeds”.

Fortunately disaster has been averted ... for the time being.”The eBee UAVs currently used for the forestry work have 90cm wingspans and have the capability to takeoff and land in very tight spaces including logging roads. Australian UAV also have an octocopter but are yet to find an application in forestry work.

But how does the drone work ...

“You set grid flight paths on the control tablet and upload to the UAV prior to launch, the flight is fully



Heinz de Chelard

autonomous. You literally give the aircraft a shake, the engine starts, throw it and away it goes. It will then follow its predetermined path, taking photos with a 16 megapixel camera around about every 35 metres travelled across the ground.

“It will run that grid with a 50 metre spacing between the flight lines. A typical half hour flight ends up with about 300 high resolution photos. You download the photos after each flight.

“Data storage is fun,” James quipped. “We have a couple of

custom built computers to run the photos through to generate the outputs which have some significant data storage requirements.”

AUAV has taken delivery of a newer, bigger (2.5 metre wingspan) UAV which will mean a greater payload and faster speeds.

Commissioning is expected early in 2014.

Australian UAV, which operates out of a Melbourne office and a Hamilton office, provides high quality aerial photography and imaging services across all States and Territories.

14 – December 2013, Australian Forests & Timber News

HARVESTING HEADS

Waratah “Built to Work” for 40 years and counting

 Waratah 001 First processor rebuilt for display

I

T IS hard to believe it has been 40 years since Waratah Forestry Attachments began in the engineering business. Originally known as Waratah General Engineering, the company grew its machining fleet to focus on very large machining centres and, at one time, owned one of New Zealand’s largest machining centres.

With this operation the company attracted the service of large plant equipment from sawmills, pulp mills, and hydro-energy power plants around the region. It was not long before many local New Zealand forest contractors also were using Waratah’s experience to repair and redesign large forestry equipment.

Entering the delimbing market In the late 1970s a concept was born for a product that would perform the pre-delimbing and felling process in Pinus radiata thinning. The design parameters around the concept were expansive.

The product was to be mounted on a 12- to 20-ton excavator carrier; it should create a very low stump height, and should have the ability to cut trees in tough ground conditions like volcanic soils, rocks, and sand.

The delimbing process was to be done while the tree was still standing using a series of moveable knives shaped into the grab arms.

The delimbing itself was to be done as high as possible, with the highest delimbing quality, and with no tree breakage. Once the tree was delimbed and placed on the ground, manual chainsaws or a forest processor could finish the remainder of the logging process.

While the design seemed fairly straightforward, the Waratah team was about to set out on a whole array of learning experiences. This involved diving in the deep end of heavy-duty forestry equipment design, boom and arm geometry, hydraulics, and highly configurable automation control. It was at this point that the company cut its teeth on exposure uptime, productivity,

and low operating costs committing to the industry designs and equipment that were “Built to Work.”

The new designs began emerging and many of the company’s Delimber Feller Buncher (DFB) heads and boom and arm sets were sold throughout New Zealand and Australia.

With each release came innovations and collaborations between customers and engineers including recycled oil and a basic form of intelligent boom control for straighter boom movements. Some of the later units used a top set of shears to cut the very top of the tree once delimbed.

In the forest, customers were using manual chainsaws, single grip, and full-tree processors from all over the world to complete the log making process. Waratah DFB customers began to request that the company explore a heavy-duty design of the processing task.

Further expansion Waratah’s first processing head had a simplistic box-like design that helped paved the way for further company designs and innovations.

That tried and true chassis design is still the foundation of a heavyduty structure for a single-grip harvester.

The first designs of the Waratah processing and harvesting heads were rather wide ranging in scope and defined to each customer need and specific customer order.

Some of these first designs included dedicated processors with no chainsaw, no measuring, fixed-style harvesters, danglestyle three and four roller designs, some with shear cutting, some with chainsaws and eventually many developed to full heavyduty harvesters. All of these units were sold throughout Australia and New Zealand. It took a great deal of determination, dedication, innovation, and loyalty to make mechanization work in the region’s rough timber.

The “Built to Work” commitment created a strong culture throughout the Waratah brand and the product was quickly

adopted worldwide due to its simplicity of design and use and durability in various applications.

Today, Waratah Forestry Attachments is owned by John Deere, the global leader in agricultural and forestry equipment, and is a pioneer in the forestry attachment business, with a legacy of quality, innovation, commitment and integrity.

Waratah is also the world’s largest forestry attachment manufacturer, making industry-leading harvester heads, harvester-booms, forwarder-booms, and harvester control- and measuring-systems.

 Waratah DFB a Simple and Robust design for tackling rough forest thinning

40th anniversary celebrations In September 2013, to recognize 40 years in the local community, Waratah’s New Zealand factory staff dedicated a work day to assisting and working with local Tokoroa community non-profit organizations ranging from senior care to sporting and social groups.

Both the staff and recipients were impacted and this exercise was well received.

A public open house was held at the New Zealand factory on 14 September when more than 350 people toured the Waratah manufacturing facility.

Community members got a firsthand glimpse of a world-class manufacturing site, a full forestry machine in action, and were even able to use the test quality systems at the end of the manufacturing line.

Waratah also took this opportunity to include past and present staff and their families, suppliers and service providers, local customers, and local council and regional members to thank them for their contributions and support.

On 25 November, Waratah will host a customer appreciation dinner in New Zealand for past and present Waratah Australian and New Zealand logging customers.

During this evening, the company will look back on some of the highlights of their growth and look forward to further growth and innovation.

 Waratah Harvester end of Line Test Rig being put through its paces

 The Delimber Feller Buncher is a patented design that set the stage for Waratah Engineering to break into the forestry equipment market.

 Waratah 600 Series Range including the number 1 Harvester rebuilt

 Group Tours of the Waratah Production line were run through the day

 Group tours of the Waratah production line were given during the September Open House at the New Zealand factory.

WARATAH recalibrated

Even when you’re working in parts unknown, we know where you are, what you need, and when you need it.

And those times you have equipment down, we understand you need it back in service, pronto. That’s why we’ve recalibrated our parts-delivery system to work as hard as you do. Expect overnight or even same-day service from a team dedicated to keep you up and running. Call our service team 24/7.

Waratah is recalibrating to keep you working. And earning.

Melbourne Parts 24/7 Hotline 03 9747 4213

Bunbury WA Parts 24/7 Hotline 08 9726 0413

Product Support 24/7 Hotline 03 9747 4200

Product Support 24/7 Hotline 08 9726 0411

www.waratah.net

16 – December 2013, Australian Forests & Timber News

HARVESTING HEADS

New tension at Waratah D

URING 2014 Waratah will complete its line-up of the Waratah ¾ auto tension saw systems on the remainder of the 600 Series harvesters. The Waratah ¾ auto tension saw system has been available as a build option on the 624C, 625C and 626 series harvesters for the last year and has quickly gained some popularity. It has established real customer value and respect and is now one of the first requests from customers when optioning the build of a new Waratah harvester.

Testing of the systems started both in New Zealand and Australia in recent years and after some reiteration and refinement on both sides of the Tasman the new auto tension system was signed off for production release in 2012. Its official release was during the Waratah launch of the

625C series harvester at the 2012 AFCA AUSTimber Logshow. Many were impressed at the concept at the AFCA Logshow and it did not take long for word of mouth to relay the success from the first units dispersed throughout Australia.

Operators moving on from the previous manual adjuster type to the Waratah auto tension say if they had the choice they would never go back to manual systems. Some clear evidence of that preference is when they mention that they can run the cutting unit all day and not have to get out of the cabin to perform any mainsaw maintenance whatsoever.

The Waratah ¾ auto tension saw system (like the Waratah Supercut 100, 0.404 pitch system) uses hydraulic oil to provide a constant pressure on the cutting unit, this keeps the chain itself cutting at its

optimum alignment within the bar and enables consistent contact force on the cutter bar. The design also allows some tolerance when the chain becomes pinched and rather than stretching the chain pulls the bar and chain back together. On manually adjusted saw systems chains can be easily stretched as the bar remains rigid leading to chain breakage or link damage that is realised at a later point. The benefits of this consistent chain tension and flexibility are easily seen through much longer chain and cutter tooth life, longer bar life; lower bar rail damage, longer sprocket life and less chain breakage.

Owners of Waratah harvesters using auto tension mention that they have never been able to run and sharpen the chain cutting link down as far as they can now. The

VicForests improves financial position VICFORESTS financial position has improved despite an extremely challenging economic environment. Details of the improvement were outlined in its 2012-13 annual report which showed an after-tax profit of more than $800,000.

“We are very pleased with the financial result. Our staff have worked tirelessly to improve VicForests’ financial position,” said VicForests chief executive officer Robert Green.

“The net cash flow from operating activates was also improved upon by continuing to apply stringent credit and cash flow management processes. This has also allowed VicForests to reduce its Treasury Corporation of Victoria (TCV) credit facility by almost $8 million.

“While we are proud of this short-term economic gain, VicForests is focused on ensuring the long-term sustainability of the timber industry.

“VicForests (the Government business enterprise responsible for managing timber production in the State forests of eastern Victoria) is committed to the longevity of an industry that produces renewable, natural and functional products that are found in all our homes,” Green said.

VicForests’ harvest levels are the lowest they have been in 20 years and in addition to this the organisation announced its 2013 Resource Outlook which outlines a transition to lower harvest levels in Ash forests.

“This reduction is a direct result of the impact of largescale bushfires on areas of forest available for timber production.

“As a responsible forest manager, it is vital VicForests continues to balance the social, economic and environmental benefits provided by the 6%of native forest in Victoria which is available and suitable for timber production,” Green said.

VicForests also announced its first major timber sales process in more than four years. It has been designed to provide the native timber industry in Victoria with long-term certainty and security.

“This sales process is a significant opportunity for the Victorian mills to secure a long-term, future supply of timber,” Green said.

VicForests was also invited to sit on Leadbeater’s Possum Advisory Group earlier this year. The group is co-convened by Zoos Victoria and the Victorian Association of Forest Industries (VAFI), with representatives from Parks Victoria, the Leadbeater’s Possum Recovery Team and VicForests. The aim of the advisory group is to provide short, medium and long-term recommendations on ways to support the recovery of the Leadbeater’s Possum and support a

sustainable timber industry.

VicForests also recorded a strong safety result in 2012-13. VicForests is one of the first forestry companies in Australia to implement a random alcohol and drug testing program.. Victorian Association of Forest Industries chief executive officer Lisa Marty described the result as a “commendable achievement in difficult economic and market conditions”.

She said VicForests’ activities underpinned the native forest sector in Victoria.

“While the company’s bottom line demonstrates quality management in difficult times, the economic benefits of VicForests’ role extend beyond the company itself.

“The Victorian forest and wood products industry plays an important role in Victoria’s economy and society. The Victorian forest and wood products industry employs people in harvest and haulage operations in our forests, in mills in our towns and timber manufacturing in Melbourne’s suburbs.

“Approximately 24,000 Victorians are directly employed by the industry overall, with about 2,300 people working in native forestry businesses up to primary processing, and a further 14,500 working in secondary processing businesses that use both native and plantation resources.

“VicForests is an important part in the industry supply chain, providing high-value sawn timber that is almost impossible to get from any other local source.

“This resource is vital for a range of timber manufacturing applications, such as furniture making and use in the construction of family homes.”

Marty said that apart from providing the timber needed for a range of manufacturing businesses, the economic activity generated by VicForests was absolutely vital for a number of rural and regional communities.

“Towns like Heyfield in Gippsland rely on the industry for around half of all local jobs,” she said.

“Significant income generated by the industry also remains in local communities, with $20 million per year going into towns such as Bairnsdale and Orbost from businesses that use native forest resources from East Gippsland. Cann River, with a population of just 223 people, also receives more than $14 million in revenues from these firms.

“Without the resource provided by VicForests many of the thousands of people employed in forestry and timber manufacturing would find their jobs under threat, and Victorians would find it hard to buy locally produced timber furniture, flooring and paper.”

chain links, drivers and cutter tooth all remain in good condition it’s not a collection of mixed joiners, drivers and different aged pieces of chain.

Waratah expects that many customers will continue the trend of moving to the Waratah ¾ Auto tension when specifying the build of their large 600 Series harvester.

“We realise that this not only promotes a lower daily operating costs it supports higher uptime, and with it will enable higher productivity,” said Jules Larsen, General Manager Distribution and Operations, Waratah Asia Pacific and Africa.

“We will also announce in the Australian Forests & Timber News the launch dates and availability of the new Waratah ¾ auto tension for the 616C to 623C range of harvesters. For any further information on the Waratah ¾ Auto tension systems please contact Waratah on our 24 hour hotlines, in the West 08 97260412 or in the East 03 9747 4200.”

Simulate to stimulate TIME TO concentrate, to learn, to practice ... and all in front of a screen. Simulators are one of the best ways of training available, and Waratah Australia has just unpacked its new Harvester Virtual Simulator.

This new Simulator Software now provides a greater range of new harvester features to

be activated in the simulation, Colour marking, Find end, topping saws to name a few additions.

The trainee can now also choose which harvester type across the entire range of Waratah 200, 400 and 600 Series harvesters that they would like to learn to operate.

Australian Forests & Timber News, December 2013 – 17

HARVESTING HEADS

Designed, engineered and manufactured in-house T

IGERCAT FELLING heads in Australia have proven to be extremely reliable, productive and popular, according to Glen Marley, Tigercat’s factory sales representative for Australasia and South East Asia.

“Our constant commitment to innovation is evident in our development of our felling head range.

We have units in-field in Australia in some of the most demanding forest harvesting applications on the planet, and with the full Tigercat factory product support we are conducting in field testing on these units to further improve our range specifically for the southern hemisphere plantations in eucalyptus, pine and acacia operations,” he said.

Glen and David Hazell, Managing Director for Onetrak, the national distributor for Tigercat, takes us through the current status of Tigercat relevant heads for the Australian industry providing a brief summary which also include details of some new heads that David believes will prove very popular once the traditional native hardwood industry returns to its rightful productive self: Tigercat DT2002 Shear Head

Although the original Tigercat DT2002 shear head was designed back in the mid 1990s for North American pine operations it has been transformed over the years into what is now universally considered the premium plantation eucalyptus felling head for the blue gum applications in Australia.

High cutting production, reliability, low maintenance, and longevity have been proven over and over again in the local conditions, where disc saws have been avoided mainly due to highly abrasive soil conditions, rocky terrain, and the higher risk of associated bushfire dangers.

After in-field prototype testing and evaluation with local contractors back in 2008 in Australia, developments were made to derive the series ‘2’ Tigercat DT2000. Today it is close to the magical ‘zero maintenance’ felling head that this application requires and demands.

The revolutionary shear arm pivot bearing design is extremely reliable, strong, and by far the best in the industry. While the robust, hardened

steel chassis design along with the bronze alloy bushings in the grab, the accumulate arms and the toughest shear blades on the market make this a ‘must have’ tool for our everdemanding feller buncher conditions.

Replaceable hardened steel wear strips for the very sandy Mount Gambier/Portland and southern Western Australian regions and daily greasing is basically all that is required.

Commonly specified for this head on the market-leading Tigercat 855C carrier is the 340 degree high rotation wrist. Weighing just over 3600 kg, it is Tigercat’s strongest and heaviest head made to date. Typically this combination with the 855C carrier can see production rates of around 600 stems per hour. This previously unseen speed for a shear head is a result of the very high flow rates from the base carrier and clever hydraulics design.

The massive 0.62m2 accumulation pocket allows for larger bunches, subsequently boosting skidder production and reducing fuel consumption. The shear improves the flow of the whole tree to roadside operation.

This head is void of complex electronics and valving on the head, instead it relies on the base machine to supply all the hydraulic flow and pressures to run it, again meaning greater reliability through simple yet efficient design. The Tigercat base unit supplies fully proportional and operator adjustable pilot control for all head functions, giving very smooth activation and deactivation of all head circuits.

The Tigercat 855C/DT2000 combination is now being used very successfully in the ever-growing South American market but the whole concept was conceived, pioneered and evolved in Australia, with extensive customer participation, great dealer back-up and full Tigercat factory product support.

was to build a tough, strong, and manageable head that would allow for the superior control of felling large high value trees. It needed to be very simple in design and have a reliable and easily accessed saw assembly.

The FC5185 was the result.

Designed for final felling in steep and rocky terrains, where cutting and placing the high value trees is of paramount importance, and also where shovelling applications may be required.

Tigercat incorporated a new highperformance 19mm pitch saw unit.

Mounted on two pins with spring support to allow the saw unit to move when loaded vertically, the design minimises bent bars. The saw is available with a manual tensioner or an optional hydraulic tensioner as well as optional saw home and position sensors. The 1015mm bar allows for a single cut capacity of 840mm.

The simple yet effective design eliminates complex electronics and valving on the head, using instead the base machine to supply all the hydraulic flow and pressures to run it, enhancing reliability. Matched to the Tigercat 822C or L830C base carrier this innovative combination is continuing to prove itself a winner in the right application.

Typically the Tigercat base unit supplies fully proportional and operator adjustable pilot control for all head functions, giving very smooth activation of all head circuits.

for high performance grab capacity when felling cutting and shovelling, fast and powerful fully Tigercat designed saw cutting performance and fully matched to numerous tracked Tigercat base units exfactory, puts this head in a class of its own.

Fully fabricated chassis and powerful, large grab arms have been designed for supreme strength and added longevity.

Like other Tigercat models, the base unit supplies fully proportional and operator adjustable pilot control for all head functions as well as the hydraulic flow and pressures to run it.

Tigercat ST5702 Disc Saw

Tigercat FD5195 Directional Bar Saw Felling Head

Tigercat FC5185 Fixed Bar Saw Felling Head

The new FC5185 fixed bar saw felling head was designed when North American contractors working in niche hardwood operations complained of a void in the marketplace for a reliable and productive fixed bar saw head.

This head has very quickly proven to be popular with the owners of this attachment who were heavily involved in the design process. The main criteria that Tigercat was given

 Glen Marley (left) and David Hazell

The brand new FD5195 has been developed for the Australian, New Zealand and South American market and without any doubt will compete very strongly in the directional felling head market in Australia once released here.

Again, development is totally driven by our customer base and will be used mainly in final fell large tree operations on steep, challenging terrain with the unparalleled shovelling capability not seen previously in this model of head design.

Full 360 degree rotate with ‘through the link’ central hosing for enhanced hose protection and extended hose life, oversized twin grapple cylinders

Tigercat recently made a number of design enhancements to the 5702 felling saw aimed at increasing versatility and performance in a wider variety of felling conditions.

Although the Tigercat 5702 is well known and widely used throughout the world for big timber felling applications, the next generation 5702 features an all-new accumulating arm design.

The arms are longer with a revised Specifications

profile to improve accumulation of small trees, increased accumulating capacity and a reduced incidence of crossed trees in the accumulation pocket. (For contractors wanting to upgrade older model heads, a complete set of arms will fit earlier heads using the same link.)

Also in a move to increase accumulating capacity and performance the front saw motor cover, which formerly protruded into the accumulating area, is now a flat cover. This increases the accumulating area and allows trees to move into the pocket easier.

The left ski and saw-housing exit have been modified to improve chip exhaust and to reduce plugging when felling large trees or when operating in deep snow or heavy undergrowth. Service access and hose routings have also been improved.

“We are excited by the developments to the Tigercat felling head range and feel confident our customers will appreciate the improved efficiencies in their operations. All Tigercat felling heads are fully designed, engineered and manufactured inhouse, with absolutely no outside vendors performing any of the manufacturing process, so you know the products are of quality and high standards,” said David.

The heads are fitted to the Tigercat base carrier, tested and evaluated at the Canadian assembly plant prior to shipping.

Tigercat has full control of the build process from flat plate steel, to the finished machine.

All Tigercat heads and machines are sold, serviced and supported by Onetrak, the national distributor of Tigercat in Australia. To contact Onetrak call 1300 727 520 or visit their website, www.onetrak.com.au For further specifications please contact Onetrak on 1300 727 520 or visit their website www. onetrak.com.au

DT2002

FC5185

Height (without skiis) (mm)

2,540mm

1,830mm

2,045mm 2,820mm

Width (mm)

1,900mm

1,860mm

2,020mm 1,620mm

Depth (mm)

1,730mm

2,010mm

1,945mm 1,700mm

Base Weight (Track) (kg)

2,560mm

1,950kg

2,510kg

2,625kg

510mm

830mm

950mm

585mm

Single cut capacity (diametre)

FD5195

ST5702

18 – December 2013, Australian Forests & Timber News

HARVESTING HEADS

They just keep going ... and going! “

THEY JUST keep going. They’re pretty good tools.” That’s how Tokoroa forest contractor Alan Sinton describes the SATCO heads he has been using in his pine harvesting operations in the Kinleith forests, and he should know because he’s been using them “since day one”.

In fact, his association with Satco came about because he had a strong sense of community; a belief in keeping as much work as possible in his home town of Tokoroa in the North Island of New Zealand (regarded as the centre of the forestry industry).

Alan joined the forestry work back in 1969 honing his skills for other contractors and then in 1984 decided it was time to go it alone and AG Sinton (the business) was born. And that’s around the time the SATCO association started, too.

“That was years ago,” he recalled.

“It started from there and I use all of their grapples (when they were making the grapples); I’ve got three of their processor heads, two directional felling heads and another one getting made. “As I said ... they just keep going.”

Speaking of longevity, one of his SATCO 630 felling heads has clocked up more than 30,000 hours (he’s got another SATCO head within reach of that milestone) and has outlived several carriers.

Alan’s currently operating two SATCO 325 (25”) processor heads (one with 20,000 hours and one with 13,000 hours) and two SATCO 630 directional felling heads (one with more than 30,000 hours and one with about 10,000 hours). And he has on order a third SATCO 630 with SATCO Boom and Arm to be installed on a CAT 552, scheduled to be commissioned in February.

When asked about the standout points of the SATCO heads Alan was direct and to the point ...”They just keep going. The reason why I bought them in the first place was because they were in my home town. They just keep going. They’re just pretty good tools.

“They’re just a good machine.

They’re built to cut down pine trees, and there’s some pretty hefty trees in there.”

Alan is a strong believer in supporting those who support him and he’s high in praise of not just SATCO but also of Gough Cat NZ – one of the longest serving Cat dealers outside America - and also Caterpillar itself. “I deal with them

because they’re good to deal with.

Warwick (Batley, managing director of SATCO) is good to deal with. He listens to your ideas, not like some people who say this is what you’re going to have.”

SATCO actually started back in 1990 when Warwick and a partner bought Steel and Track Engineering (that’s where the SATCO name comes from) and carried out all forms of repair work on forestry gear.

“In the mid 1990s mechanisation started to come on line,” said Warwick, “and they started selling excavators with grapples on them and log loaders and then some little European felling heads came onto the scene. We basically did repairs on them, moreso on the European heads.

“We were doing guarding as well and then decided to make our own grapples and from there decided to make our own harvesting heads.

“Around 2000 SATCO became the trademark of our forestry attachments and Alan Sinton was one of the contractors we had been doing service work for.”

About six years ago SATCO shifted premises, got out of the grapples and guarding side of the business and concentrated on developing and manufacturing heads and that development continues today.

“We continued to develop and manufacture and gained a bit of the export market in the last five years.

“Alan always supported us and always bought our attachments. In fact, I think every single attachment he has ever bought off us is still working. He’s still using everything we sold him,” said Warwick.

Caterpillar Forest Products and SATCO have signed a deal which means that Caterpillar has the exclusive right everywhere except in NZ, Australia and Brazil. In those countries SATCO products will be offered both through SATCO’s distributors and select Cat dealers.

The processing head line ranges from a weight of 1190 kg (2,618 lb.) with a maximum cutting diameter of 635 mm (25 in.) to 3850 kg. (8,500 lb.) with a cutting diameter of 800 mm (32 in.).

The SATCO line also includes two continuous rotation directional felling heads, the SATCO 420 and SATCO 630. The most productive single stem felling range of the SATCO 420 is 305-508mm (12-20 in.) in diameter; for the SATCO 630 it is 457-762mm (18-30 in.).

 A lan Sinton’s SATCO 630 at about 25000 hours ready to go onto its fourth base machine, a Cat 329.

 SATCO 630 for export.

Debarking configurations for select heads are available from SATCO, along with a specifically designed debarking processor head.

All heads are designed to be matched with Cat Forestry Machines (FMs), track feller bunchers and the Cat 501HD harvester. The processing heads

come with an easy-to-use computer system with main valves rated at 420 bar (6100 PSI) and can handle carrier pressures. Roller arm pins are 80 millimetres.

The heavy duty main saw system has a 45 cc saw motor and large diameter bearing for felling and smooth cross cutting of large

diameter trees. Both directional felling heads can also be used for shovel logging. The SATCO 420 mounted on a Cat FM can also be used to load trucks. Both heads are fully hydraulic with no electronics and have the same structural beefiness of the SATCO processing heads.

 Alan Sinton at a work site (SATCO head on a Cat 329DL).

 The team behind SATCO.



ATCO managing S director Warwick Batley.

 Precision work.

 The SATCO workshop.

 I t even works under water … showing versatility of 630 harvesting tress from a dam off a barge.

Australian Forests & Timber News, December 2013 – 19

Material Handling

New log loader part of equipment upgrade O

NE OF the recent equipment upgrades at Timberlink’s Tarpeena mill has been the purchase of a Volvo L220G log loader.

The new log loader was delivered in July. On average the mill 60 log trucks a day going through the Tarpeena mill to be unloaded over a 24 hour period; log trucks arriving into Tarpeena have three bays of logs on a B-double with each bay weighing approx 12-13 tonne - with the new Volvo L220G, the unloading is completed in three easy lifts; from the time the B-double log delivery arrives onto site to the time it departs takes about 15 minutes. The new loader will complete about 5,000 hours a year on a 24 hour / 5 day a week rotation.

The Volvo L220G log loader is designed to fit the mill’s needs – firstly, for safety capability, the care cab is designed for operator comfort and safety, with plenty of foot and leg room for personal space, the cab also offers excellent visibility with rear view camera and wide and

narrow cab columns putting the driver in command with clear all-around visibility. The loader is also equipped with significant features including fire suppression, automatic greaser and ride controls.

The computerised monitoring system in the Volvo monitors performance and with features such as the Torque Parallel linkage, it delivers not only fast lift and tilts but the maximum of lift positions.

“The purchase of the Volvo L220G log loader will ensure an improved continuity of uptime in a critical part of our operations at the Tarpeena mill,” said Timberlink.

Back in July Timberlink received a $7.8 million grant financed by the South East Forest Partnership Program, a South Australia State Government program designed to encourage a viable and competitive timber sawmilling industry. The grant will be matched dollar-for-dollar by capital investment from Timberlink in an upgrade of the Tarpeena mill.

The new investment is expected to increase sawlog processing volume from 460,000 to 575,000 cubic metres annually over the next 2-3 years.

The improvements to be made at Tarpeena will result in equipment upgrades which will be accompanied by extensive staff training and will meet the latest safety and environmental standards. After the upgrades, energy usage per m3 of timber produced will be significantly reduced. The site will also be more water efficient and other environmental impacts such as dust will be decreased. The capital works are to be staged over three years with approximately half the spend slated for the current financial year.

The Tarpeena mill has been a key part of the Australian softwood industry for 50 years and with these investment plans, the upgrades will assist Timberlink to increase its international competitiveness, protect regional Australian jobs and strategically position it for a recovery in the Australian housing market.

 T he new series L220G Volvo Log Loader at the Tarpeena mill.

New series ‘swing’ into action IT DOESN’T matter whether you want a road builder, harvester/ processor, live-heel log loader, butt-&-top log loader, or stroke delimber, the new generation John Deere D-series swing machines can do the job.

From the smaller but muscular 2154D to the larger 3754D beast, these machines feature beefy new structures and next-size-up components — all purpose-built to perform.

Their powerful swing systems, improved horsepower, and new hydraulic systems promise increased productivity. Even the ride itself can’t be beaten, from the comfort of secure and roomy rear-entry or raised cabs. Worksite visibility has been optimized

through improved cab design.

Purpose-built to stand up to harsh forest environments, each durable D-Series model features a sturdy steel frame, heavy-duty track chain, a swing system sized with larger bearings for extended life (2154D, 2454D and 2954D), and external debris management features that maximize uptime.

The hydraulic, cool-on-demand fan with a reversing option keeps the machine producing. And the standard 1050 litre (277-gallon) fuel tank allows for extended run times between fill-ups. Even the huge 3754D runs for an impressive 35–45 hours between fuel fills.

The new range features enhanced versatility and productivity with powerful swing

systems, improved horsepower and new hydraulic systems.

The boom foot area has been strengthened and is now machined after all welding is complete.

This, along with the addition of turned and ground pins and new boom and arm designs, keeps the D-Series running and eliminates unnecessary downtime.

The newly-designed log loader fronts, purpose-built processor fronts, and heavy-duty excavator fronts allow the machines to keep running in the toughest applications.

These new D-Series machines (available through Hitachi Construction Machinery, Australia) were bred for improved durability.

 John Deere’s new generation D-series in log-loading mode.

20 – December 2013, Australian Forests & Timber News

MATERIAL HANDLING

Handling log loads with ease L

IEBHERR’S L 580 LogHandler wheel loader was developed specifically to satisfy the needs of the timber business sector. A special lift frame enables timber to be picked up at a

Experience the Progress.

The L 580 LogHandler wheel loader from Liebherr.  Special kinematics for handling timber, with excellent lifting heights  Minimal operating costs thanks to low fuel consumption and low tire and brake wear  Optimum service accessibility to all important components

Liebherr-Australia Pty Ltd 1-15 James Erskine Drive Erskine Park, NSW 2759 Phone: (02) 9852 1800 E-mail: em-sales.las@liebherr.com www.facebook.com/LiebherrConstruction www.liebherr.com.au

The Group

considerable height, as for instance with industrial excavator-type handlers.

The Liebherr LogHandler is ideally equipped for loading and unloading trucks, feeding material to debarking and sorting plant, picking up material from high stacks or similar tasks.

Austrian firm Holzindustrie Schweighofer, with its head office in Vienna and four production facilities in Romania, as well as branches in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the Ukraine, needed to replace its existing HighLifters and following an extensive selection process two new Liebherr L 580 2plus2 LogHandler wheel loaders were acquired for the round timber yard at its Sebes mill.

For the operation at Sebes, the Liebherr L 580 2plus2 LogHandler wheel loader was equipped with a heart-shaped grab 3.6 m² in size, fitted with a chain. Liebherr offers an extensive range of grabs of the most widely differing shapes and sizes. All the grabs come from the company’s own development and production resources. The grab can be rotated through 360°, and can be pivoted forwards and backwards. In combination with the versatility and agility of the wheeled loader, efficient performance is guaranteed - even in restricted spaces.

The L 580 2plus2 LogHandler also fulfils top Liebherr quality standards when it comes to comfort and safety. To provide the best possible view upwards, the spacious ergonomic cab is provided with an additional roof window. Protective grilles for the front windscreen and roof window are provided as standard for the tough industrial conditions under which the machine works.

The tried and trusted Liebherr single-lever operating system provides complete control of the LogHandlers without fatigue.

Both machines at Sebes are equipped with a hydraulically lowered stump ram, and in this format tip the scales at 34.5 tonnes. With this equipment, the L 580 wheel loader can easily handle a load of 8,470 kg.

Every year a total of about 2.15 million solid cubic metres of round timber are cut, dried, and planed at both sawmills at Sebes and Radauti, which corresponds to approximately 14 million units or 45.5 million running metres of round timber.

Solid wood panels, coreboards, large-format formwork panels and finger-joint elements are manufactured at the plants at Siret and Comanesti. The remaining wood is further processed to become briquettes and pellets. In addition to this, at the Sebes and Radauti facilities there are three environmentallyfriendly biomass power plants in operation, which together generate a total of 15.8 MW/h of “green electricity”.

Australian Forests & Timber News, December 2013 – 21

Material Handling

Filling material handling jobs in the millyard C

ATERPILLAR BUILDS machines and work tools for handling everything from logs and wood chips to scrap and waste in wood yards and millyards. Cat FMs, wheel loaders and material handlers are a few examples. Their product lines offer a range so equipment can be sized to fit the operation.

Cat FMs incorporate Caterpillar’s extensive excavator technology and innovation into a machine designed and configured to handle a number of material handling tasks in the millyard.

The wide gauge carbody, longer track frames and heavyduty structures provide the durability and stability needed to unload trucks and swing logs directly into storage rows. The boom and stick sets are built for heavy-duty applications.

Increased steel thickness on the rear and center section of the boom, the side sections of the stick, and internal reinforcement plates increase the durability of all linkages and provide the support needed for heavy lifting.

With the FM’s lift capacity and strong swing torque, cycle times are fast and trucks can be moved in and out of the yard quickly.

The engine, cooling system and hydraulics are engineered to meet high production work.

The hydraulics provide smooth control of the grapple for picking and sorting logs for size, species and quality.

Four FM model sizes are available. The smallest is the 25 metric tonne, 117kW Cat 320D FM, and the largest is the 50 metric tonne, 217kW, Cat 568 FM. All models can be configured for maximum performance in millyard applications.

Cat wheel loaders, configured

for millyards, feature log handling packages with larger lift and tilt cylinders, heavier counterweights, heavy-duty transmissions and joystick steering with single axis lever controls for precise log handling.

Unload trucks in a single pass or sort high value short wood.

Cat wheel loaders efficiently move and charge in-feed decks and hoppers with tree length, random length and short wood or fiber. The hydraulics with Ride Control dampen out the bumpy ride in a typical millyard.

Equipped with quick couplers, Cat wheel loaders are versatile multitasking machines. They do double-duty unloading raw materials coming into the mill and then, equipped with pallet or log and lumber forks, moving rough or finished lumber or palletized goods into inventory or to trucks leaving the mill.

Fitted with oversized light material, high dump or woodchip buckets, the wheel loaders move large quantities of bark, sawdust, chips and recycled fiber.

Caterpillar offers over a dozen models ranging from small to large, including the Cat 990H Large Wheel Loader, which unloads entire truckloads of logs in a single pass, quickly and

efficiently. Cat loaders are quick, nimble performers providing outstanding productivity and uptime.

In a large millyard, Cat wheeled material handlers cover ground quickly. Logs can be high decked to shrink a woodyard footprint and reduce transport distances. Long reach booms allow operators to pile higher and cab hydraulic risers that elevate up to 2.6 m (8 ft. 6 in.) give them a bird’s eye view of the work at hand.

The Cat M325 Material Handler can be equipped with grapples up to 1.75 square meters.

The heavy-duty upper frame and rigid undercarriage are designed to handle the increased swing loads and provide the stability needed on uneven ground. The welded box-section structure of the boom and stick is fabricated with thicker plates to withstand high stresses. The material handler’s high drawbar pull with a towing capacity up to 50000 kg (110,250 lbs) can be a key advantage for some applications.

Lifting, shifting, loading ... it’s all taken care of WHEN IT comes to log loaders, John Deere has a vast array of four wheel drive forestry loaders and attachments to cover virtually any job in this category.

Some of the features of this range include 5-speed transmission with lock-up torque converter. This saves fuel in second through to firth gear where you load and carry around your work sites, and it improves ramp and incline climbing performance.

The automatic differential lock engages and disengages on the go meaning the operator can depress the floor button on the go at any speed for additional traction.

Then there’s the joystick and conventional steering wheel which results in excellent control plus greater operator comfort.

Yet another standout is the exclusive Quad-Cool system. The proportional hydraulic-driven fan cools on demand using less horsepower (and fuel) than belt-driven fans.

Production loaders -

644K (linkage options Z-Bar, High-Lift, Powerllel) 724K (Z-Bar, High-Lift) 744K (Z-Bar, High-Lift) 824K (Z-Bar, High-Lift) 844K (Z-Bar)

The range includes: Utility loaders -

444K (linkage options Z-Bar, High-Lift, Powerllel) 524K (Z-Bar, High-Lift) 544K (Z-Bar, High-Lift, Powerllel) 624K (Z-Bar, High-Lift, Powerllel & Tool Carrier)

 The 644K in action.

 The 844K at work.

22 – December 2013, Australian Forests & Timber News

SAWMILLING

Dongwha commissioning taking time D

ONGWHA TIMBERS has advised that commissioning of its $77 million plant is continuing, as the company focuses on ensuring stable product supply to its customers. Managing Director of Dongwha Timbers, Mr Hong Lee, said the mill operations were advancing in a suitable manner.

“For a project of this magnitude, it would be unrealistic to assume there would be no challenges during the commissioning stage. Although commissioning has taken a little longer than we had hoped, we are confident strong progress is being made on a number of levels,” Mr Lee said.

“Our priority is ensuring our customers are receiving good quality products in a timely manner, delivered with our trademark customer service.

“I understand there is a small section of the local community who have raised questions on what is happening at the mill right now, and I would like to address these items: Management: With the new mill come opportunities to ensure Dongwha Timbers is working efficiently and effectively. Recently, there have been a number of adjustments to management positions, some as a result of the company shifting the majority of

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New FibreMax feed rolls with replaceable inserts

its operations to New South Wales.

It is with regret that Bart Crawley, previous Managing Director, has resigned from the company. Bart has been a terrific part of our journey and we are very sad to say goodbye to him.

Staffing: With new equipment comes a range of human resourcerelated challenges. As with many rural and regional towns, it is sometimes difficult to attract employees with the right skill set for some roles. In light of this, we have a few temporary employees from Korea to lend support to the Australian operations. For local employees, we have been focused on developing training plans for staff so they are supported and can flourish in what can be different roles from what they have known in the past.

Support for the town of Bombala: This project has always been underpinned by a global approach.

Dongwha Timbers is part of a global company, and many locals would have experienced – and benefitted from – the cultural and economic contribution a range of interstate and international workers have brought to the Bombala region. The Bombala community has also benefitted from a range of local sponsorship programs which have been supported by Dongwha Timbers, such as the Men’s Shed, the Bombala Hospital and the Rugby Club. Dongwha Timbers has and will continue to be a positive contributor to the local community.”

Mr Lee said that the future was bright for the mill.

“Our plans are for continued growth in production and sales, and working with our employees to ensure we all have a prosperous future. Furthermore, Dongwha Timbers is committed to open and transparent communication now and into the future. Employees receive a monthly newsletter and our general public quarterly newsletters are available from our website.”

Dongwha Timbers, formally Tasco, was established in Geelong, Victoria in 1996 and is owned by Dongwha Australia and Dongwha Enterprise in Korea.

Dongwha Timbers’ core business is sawmilling and timber processing utilising 100% of renewable radiata pine plantation resources.

Dongwha Timbers has supplied softwood timber markets throughout Australia for more than a decade.

Dongwha was founded in 1948 as a sawmilling company in Wangsipri, Seoul, Korea. Since then, Dongwha has grown into a global company with a focus on continuous change and innovation. With a current global turnover of approximately $1billion, the parent company, now known as Dongwha Enterprise, is still based in South Korea, but it now also has operations in Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Vietnam,

the Middle East, China and Australia. The Dongwha operations outside Korea are overseen by Dongwha International has its head office in Hong Kong, and employs 2000 people worldwide across 22 subsidiary companies.

Dongwha Holdings owns Dongwha Timbers, which in turn runs the Bombala Mill and the Tasco product brand and operations in Geelong, Victoria.

 M anaging Director - Mr Hong Lee

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VKS Pte Ltd Mr. Jarmo Orpana Singapore Tel. +65 9684 1165 vksjarmo@pacific.net.sg

Macquarrie Corporation PTY LTD Mr. Russell Macquarrie Campbellfield VIC, Australia Tel. +61 3 9358 5555 russell@macquarrie.com.au

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 Inside the plant in Geelong

Australian Forests & Timber News, December 2013 – 23

PLANTATIONS

Unlocking the underlying value of forested land

By Stephen Walker

S

FM FOREST Products is an integrated forest management company operating successfully Australia wide since 2001. SFM currently operates in Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, undertaking work for a broad portfolio of private, corporate, institutional investor and state agency clients. The company specialises in forest asset management, harvesting and marketing, environmental certification and forest consulting.

With a rapidly expanding area under management, SFM is at the forefront of plantation estate management, with the company objective being to produce a high quality resource that meets customer requirements and maximises returns to the landowner. SFM recognises that the main economic drivers facing any plantation industry, being rotation length, growth rates, land and establishment costs, harvesting costs and market prices, all need to be carefully monitored and controlled if this objective is to be achieved. Routinely applying cash flow modelling at an estate scale is essential for any third party forest manager like SFM which is looking to identify opportunities and generate returns for landowners and clients.

Speaking earlier this year at the Institute of Foresters of Australia (IFA) National Conference held in Canberra, Nick Roberts, CEO of Forestry Corporation New South Wales, identified that economics don’t favour expansion of the Australian forest plantation estate, but noted that the Australian market will require more logs in future to generate economies of scale. Nick proposed that use of the current land base must therefore be maximised by, for example, minimising unplanted areas, increasing productivity and minimising residues left on harvested coupes.

The SFM management philosophy is founded on one additional fundamental premise – that maximisation of use of the current forest land base can only be achieved on a long-run basis by ‘unlocking the underlying value of the land’. That is, rationalising the plantation estate by putting currently forested land to its highest and best use, be that for high-productivity plantation use, conservation or agriculture. This can only be achieved through the targeted disposal of non-yielding assets and by adding value to assets earmarked for disposal by facilitating the removal of encumbrances and impediments to sale to increase property liquidity.

SFM manages an active program of land purchase and disposal

 Harvesting of Bluegum

based on assessing suitable properties for purchase, harvesting and establishment of plantation where appropriate, and subdivision or divesting of land not required on completion. For example, on parts of an estate where the highest and best use is identified as dairy farming, it might be best to take a loss on harvesting a current Eucalyptus globulus (Blue gum) or Eucalyptus nitens (Shining gum) plantation crop and reverting the land (e.g. de-stumping and raking) if a significant premium can be delivered over and above the cost to buy the forested land and the cost of reversion. Similarly, for a species like Corymbia citriodora (Spotted gum) planted on land best suited to cattle grazing, a highest and best-use strategy might involve thinning the current crop to waste to leave around 150 stems per hectare, and implementing a silvicultural regime to produce a high quality sawlog/pole crop in conjunction with well-managed commercial grazing.

While it may seem counterproductive for a forest management company to be advocating for the reversion of some existing forest plantation areas to other uses, SFM believes that only by successfully capturing the ‘underlying value of the land’ at an estate or landscape level can a forest manager free up the scarce resources required to improve the productivity and profitably of the land within the estate that is clearly best suited to plantation use on a long-run basis.

Another complementary approach to unlocking the underlying value of the land is application of certification services tailored specifically to the environmental and forest management needs of clients. The SFM Forest Management System includes areas certified under both internationally recognised forest certification schemes, with the principles embedded in

these standards, along with the requirements of an associated certified quality management system, underpinning all SFM operations. This allows for strict controls of documentation, corrective and preventive action and preferred-supplier processes, ensuring a quality outcome for landholders and clients alike.

Mediumto long-term approaches to unlocking the value of the land include landscape scale management where properties are managed with consideration to linkages between high production plantations, agriculture, carbon and biomass markets, and environmental and conservation management. For example, property reserves and non-commercial native forest areas can be established as carbon or biodiversity projects rather than simply seen as a lost land use.

SFMs success over the last decade has come from being able to position itself as an independent forest manager, operating across various tenures, and locations.

SFM doesn’t just wait until project management opportunities present themselves, but works proactively with existing and prospective clients to seek out and develop investment projects. From having multiple operations spread throughout Australia, SFMs management team has developed a unique set of relationships with contractors, institutional investors, government agencies and corporate bodies.

These relationships mean that SFM is kept informed of assets changing hands, investment opportunities and new market developments.

By continuing to develop these relationships and linkages, SFM can gain further economies of scale and scope, resulting in increased returns across the board for clients and landholders.

Examples of collaboration include SFM Managing Director, Andrew Morgan, who is a member of the Forest and Wood Products

Australia (FWPA) Sustainability and Resource Advisory Group, which directs where R&D funding derived from industry levies is spent. Stephen Walker, SFMs Senior Project Manager based in Queensland, is a Director of the Institute of Foresters of Australia (IFA) and a member of the Environmental Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ). Darryn Crook, SFMs Forest Operations Manager based in New South Wales represents the company on the Australian Forest Operations Research Alliance (AFORA) managed out of the University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

Continued page 24

 D an Ryan (left) and Brett Stevenson (right) of SMF Forest Products inspecting a plantation

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24 – December 2013, Australian Forests & Timber News

PLANTATIONS Unlocking the underlying value of forested land From page 23 Dan Ryan, SFMs Forest Operations Manager based in Hobart, is a member of the Economic Chamber of FSC Australia and remains informed through participation in workshops and correspondence with FSC Australia staff. Leveraging our involvement in these and other networks provides the best possible outcomes for our client base.

Another key factor underpinning SFM’s success has been a commitment to invest in recruiting, developing and retaining personnel with specialist silvicultural knowledge and advanced forest management, harvesting and marketing skills across the full range of native and plantation forest tree species in Australia. This includes plantation experience with Blue gum, Shining gum and Radiata pine in southern Australia and with sub-tropical and tropical species such as Spotted gum, Dunn’s white gum and the Southern pine and native Hoop pine species found in northern NSW and Queensland. In addition to silvicultural, forest asset management, timber harvesting and estate modelling skills, SFM relies heavily on staff having specialist skills in rural land management, legislative compliance, and environmental certification and safety management systems.

SFM sees a number of challenges facing the plantation industry, in particular the hardwood plantation estate, with the major challenge into

the future being the need to ensure the efficient and targeted usage of costly petroleum and fertiliser resources. This requires improved and efficient logistics focusing on every element of the supply chain (e.g. targeted fertiliser usage to prevent leaching and wastage).

Methods of remote sensing to target efficient estate management and adoption of ‘precision silviculture’ practices will be a key focus into the future. SFM has a high level of experience with running spatial inventory technologies to provide more accurate data and reduce inventory costs. At a more general level there are a range of challenges facing management, including new pathogens (e.g. Myrtle rust) and productivity issues (e.g. depletion of soil macro and micro nutrients) that must be firstly understood then managed to ensure ongoing estate productivity.

One of the major challenges faced

by SFM when bringing eucalypt plantation estates into its forest management system is that the silvicultural systems in place will have generally been chosen and implemented by a previous manager of the plantation. Rotation lengths can vary between ten years (pulpwood) to 40 years plus (sawlog). In this time multiple managers may have implemented various silvicultural systems – some good but some not so well managed. SFM deals with this challenge by systematically reviewing stand history, current stand condition, market availability,

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 Successful hardwood plantation establishment

 Maximising efficiency of harvesting operation

resource owner’s objectives, and site and environmental factors prior to making recommendations on the future silvicultural management of the stand.

SFM prides itself on providing the best outcome for the forest owner with the company’s reputation being built on integrity and honesty and underpinned by a management philosophy involving ‘full disclosure’ and ‘no surprises’. SFM has a strong track record of providing certified forest management solutions and is committed to continuing to achieve quality sustainable management outcomes for clients and landowners, without compromising on commercial return. + Stephen Walker, Senior Project Manager (QLD), SFM Forest Products. Stephen has extensive experience in natural resource management, including the development, allocation and management of State-owned land and commercial forest assets. He is an accomplished project manager with recent experience reviewing capacity building projects in China, Vietnam, LAO PDR and Papua New Guinea. Stephen is widely recognised for his ability to develop, maintain and audit management systems and business activities against the requirements of internationally accredited environmental and forest management standards. He is a certified Lead Environmental Auditor, a Registered Professional Forester and a Director of the Institute of Foresters of Australia. Email: swalker@sfmes. com.au. Phone: 0417073942

 Eucalypt plantation harvesting

 Eucalypt plantation logs going to market.

Australian Forests & Timber News, December 2013 – 25

FORESTRY

How we see the forest for the trees: the ‘Supersite’

By Chris McKay

H

OW WOULD you feel about walking into a rainforest in the Wet Tropics of Queensland and measuring, mapping and identifying 23 000 different trees for us? Well, CSIRO’s Matt Bradford can tell you this walk in the forest is no walk in the park. Over a three year period that’s exactly what he and his collaborators at the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) managed to do.

On a 25 hectare (500m x 500m) plot of rainforest at Robson Creek, on the Atherton Tablelands near Cairns, they conducted a census of every single tree that had a stem greater than 10cm in diameter—so that was 23 400 stems, representing 212 different species.And that’s just the first part of the story. As surprised as you might be to hear this, they weren’t just out there for the thrill of counting trees, they were in the process of establishing Australia’s first rainforest ‘Supersite’.

The Robson Creek plot, together with the Daintree Rainforest Observatory, makes up the Far North Queensland Rainforest Supersite—one of 10 research Supersites around Australia that form TERN’s Australian Supersite Network. Each of the sites in the network has been carefully selected for its ability to improve our understanding of how Australia’s ecosystems respond to change.

The next part of the Robson Creek story is a stunning example of scientific collaboration. Over a two-week intensive period in September last year, specialist teams from CSIRO, James Cook University, University of Queensland, RMIT University, Flinders University, University of Technology Sydney, and the Queensland Government, along with international visitors and local volunteers, converged on the rainforest plot to conduct a comprehensive survey of the forest’s structure and composition and the characteristics of the forest ecosystem. They came at the site from every angle and with every bit of technology at their disposal.

Those who were going at it from the ground were collecting leaves from the canopy for laboratory analysis, measuring how the trees absorb and scatter light with spectrometers, and mapping the forest’s three-dimensional structure with a laser scanner.

Then came the aerial offensive. Planes equipped with advanced radar (LIDAR) and hyperspectral scanning technology flew overhead measuring the detailed structure of the research plot and an area surrounding the plot totalling 5km x 5km.

You would be excused for wondering whether all of this isn’t a bit over the top. Do we really need to be getting about the forest shooting lasers and flying around with advanced radar units?

What this allows scientists to do is build the most complete picture of the forest ecosystem, as it stands today, that they possibly can—they call this the baseline data. With all this information about how the ecosystem is behaving today they can then observe any changes that occur over the coming years.

In this way, research at Robson Creek will help us answer questions about the health and distribution of the rainforest’s biodiversity into the future, the forest’s potential for carbon storage and exchange, and any impacts on the ecosystem that might occur as a result of climate change.

After this massive effort the project team are now satisfied they have the necessary baseline data that will allow them to closely monitor the health of the forest ecosystem into the future—and so they have declared the Robson Creek plot open for business.

TERN and CSIRO are now inviting scientists from Australia and around the world to undertake research on the Robson Creek plot; the largest rainforest plot that has ever been set up in Australia. TERN is supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy and the Super Science Initiative.

Instant images from outdoor motion cameras to phone OUTDOOR CAMERAS Australia’s new motion activated GSM cameras can send an image straight to your phone so you know the moment someone steps in front of it.

The cameras use GSM phone networks to send the image from the camera to your phone via MMS. So long as the camera has phone coverage and your mobile also has coverage it can send the image to you anywhere in the world. They are weatherproof and operate on 12 AA batteries, which in most situations last over three

months. OCA also has mini solar panels (the size of an iPhone) that hook straight into the cameras so you don’t ever have to worry about batteries.

“We have been trialing these cameras for a while now and are very proud to finally be releasing them,” said OCA owner Daniel Byrne. “They work a treat and we have been able to keep the price quite modest for something that is capable of doing this. To have instant notification from a product that can be discretely placed in the bush and doesn’t need to be wired

 Smile .... you’re on candid camera!

up is quite incredible,” he said.

These cameras can be used for a wide range of security applications from mining equipment to beehives.

“Like all our cameras they are weather-proof and have built in viewing screens. They are also black flash which means at night there is no visible infra-red flash to give them away.

“The simplicity and ease of use of our products is what sets them apart. They are as simple as turning them on and strapping them to a post or tree facing in the right direction. There is no wiring to worry about. They are priced at $550 including lithium batteries, 8GB SD card, and express post. If you are interested in the cameras give Outdoor Cameras Australia a call.”

 Employees Britney Walk and Brandon Esplin show the new system.

 M att Bradford admires a slow-growing Gossia shepherdii (Lignum) on the Robson Creek rainforest plot, which he estimates is close to 1000 years old. Image CSIRO

 A laser scan of the rainforest at Robson Creek, showing the three dimensional forest structure.

Image by P. Scarth, University of Queensland

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Australian Forests & Timber

26 – December 2013, Australian Forests & Timber News

AVAILABLE NOW

Haulage Contract for sale

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Contract with Forestry Corporation in Bombala NSW Area 120,000 cubic tonnes per annum 4 Years remaining at end of Dec 2013 Very good and profitable business.

Comes with 4 trucks, trailers and loading machine Selling for good reason T904 Kenworth • 2004 model, new motor -580kms, CTI , logging specs, 600hp Cummins, Satellite tracking with Kennedy Tri Tri b double trailers (2003 model) scales on front bay, gauges on back bay, air ratchet, exte binders T950 Kenworth • 2005 model, new cat motor 12 mths ago,550 hp ,Satellite tracking with Elphinstone Tri Tri Trailers (1998 model) scales on front bay, gauges on back bay, air ratchet, exte binders and CTI

Robinson 54” wheels heavy duty bandsaw 50hp motor, Hydraulic feed. $12,500+GST $9,800+GST

Western star 4864 FXC • 2012 model, CTI, logging specs, Satellite tracking with Elphinstone easy tow tandem tri (2010 Model) scales on front bay, gauges on back bay, air ratchet, exte binders

Biesse twin head point to point automatic machine centre.$28,000+GST Circular rip saw bench with feed, production machine, 1 or 2 blades, max 75mm deep cut.

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T900 Kenworth • 1996 model ,CTI , logging specs with Kennedy B double trailers (2006 model) scales on front bay, gauges on back bay, air ratchet, exte binders Komatsu 220 excavator with grapple head (2000 model) 16500 hrs

Wadkin XE 220 moulder complete in good condition with cutters and blower $28,000 Lakeland automatic chalk-line docker Complete with infeed $12,000+GST

All equipment has been well maintained and is in very good working order For more information contact Danny 0407 485 205 or J & B Office on (02) 6458 4994

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2011 Volvo FC2421C forestry built excavator, 4500hrs approx. Ready to work. Fitted with a AFM 60 head.

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Brand new, still in packing crate, 2012 AFM60 Eucalypt head. Includes a full new cylinder kit. 3/4” chain.

Motomit IT electronic measuring and control unit. Indexator.

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Phone: 03 5729 5509 or 0428 913 252 Email: boxlogging@bordernet.com.au

Australian Forests & Timber News, December 2013 – 27

Upcoming timber events If you would like to promote a forthcoming event, please email details (including contact numbers, email, etc) to: editorial@forestsandtimber.com.au or phone 08 8369 9500

2013 23 November Queensland Timber Industry Annual Gala Dinner hosted by TABMA QLD. 6:30pm Moda Events, Portside Wharf, Hamilton.

Enquiries to Alicia Oelkers 07 3254 3166 or alicia@tabma.com.au 25-26 November Bioenergy Australia 2013, Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley. Technical tour 27 November. For the past several years this conference has been attended by approximately 300 delegates. Abstracts for presentations and posters are currently being sought. The conference covers all aspects of bioenergy including biomass feedstocks, energy conversion technologies and overarching issues such as greenhouse gas balances and financing. Contact Daniel Evans at The Association Specialists e: bioenergyconf@ theassociationspecialists.com. au or Stephen Schuck, Bioenergy Australia e: sschuck@bigpond.net. au Web: www.bioenergyaustralia. org.

26-27 November ForestTECH 2013. Forest Industry Safety Summit & Steep Slope Wood Harvesting conference, Rotorua, New Zealand www.foresttech2013.com 9-13 December Metsä2013 Joint session of the ECE Timber Committee and the FAO European Forestry Commission. Rovaniemi, Finland. http://www.unece.org/forests.html

2014 27-29 January Forest Products Investment Conference (RISI and DANA). New York. events.risi.com/invest 3-7 February 2014 Fifth International Casuarina Workshop. Chennai, India.

10-14 February 2014 World Congress of Agroforestry .

New Delhi, India 17-21 February 2014 Gottstein Wood Science Course, Melbourne, www.gottsteintrust.org or secretary@gottsteintrust.org 20-22 February 2014 76th Annual Oregon Logging Conference – Eugene, Oregon, USA. http://www. oregonloggingconference.com 3-5 March 2014 Precision Forestry Symposium (Precision Forestry: The anchor of your value chain) – Stellenbosch, South Africa. www.sun.ac.za/ forestry/pf2014 13 March 2014 Timber Transport Conference - Scotland, UK. http://www. timbertransportforum.org.uk/

18-21 March 2014 IUFRO Acacia 2014 Conference “Sustaining the Future of Acacia Plantation Forestry”. Hue, Vietnam.

19 March 2014 ForestWood 2014. Te Papa, Wellington, NZ. Hosted by Forest Owners Association (FOA), Wood Processors Association (WPA), Pine Manufacturers Association (PMA), Forest Industry Contractors Association (FICA) and supported

by Woodco, NZ Farm Forestry Association (NZFFA) and Frame & Truss Manufacturers Association (FTMA). http://www.forestwood. org.nz/ 1-3 April 2014 5th International Conference Russian Wood and Timber.

InterContinental Moscow Tverskaya Hotel. http://www. adamsmithconferences.com/ event/wood-processing-timberlogging-russia 2-4 April 2014 Forest Cover Change (FoCC).

Freising, Germany. knoke@forst. wzw.tum.de 24 April 2014 Research Update, Forestry Commission GB. Penrith, Cumbria, United Kingdom 6-7 May 2014 Invest In Forest. 3rd international conference on forestland investment. Riga, Latvia 8-9 May 2014 The Bark & Ambrosia Beetle Academy: Module “Regional Focus”. Gainesville, Fl, United States.

10 May 2014 Dothistroma Needle Blight training day - Moray & Aberdeenshire, Forestry Commission GB. Moray & Aberdeenshire, United Kingdom 15-16 May 2014 Two-day Seminar/Workshop: Wilder By Design? – Managing Landscape Change and Future Ecologies. Sheffield, United Kingdom 18-21 May 2014 International conference on Ozone and Plants. Beijing, China.

21-23 May 2014 3rd ExpoForest – Sol’s Mogi, Brazil. www.expoforest.com.br 14 June 2014 Ash Die-back Update Forestry Commission GB. Strathpeffer, Inverness 17 June 2014 Shared, cultural and plural values associated with ecosystems: a literature review Forestry Commission GB. Brussels 3-7 June 2014 17th European Forum on Urban Forestry - EFUF. Lausanne, Switzerland.

4-7 June 2014 3rd Forest Science Forum and 12th International Conference on Bio-based Composites in PanPacific Region . Beijing, China.

8-13 June 2014 2014 International Chemical Recovery Conference . Finnish

Recovery Boiler Committee (FRBC), TAPPI, PACTAC, APPITA and PI are presenting the 2014 International Chemical Recovery Conference (ICRC) in Tampere, Finland. Held every three years since the 1980s, this is the preeminent conference in the area of chemical recovery technology in the pulp and paper industry.

2014 will also mark the 50th year of recovery boiler cooperation in Finland and the first time the ICRC has been held in Finland.

Tampere, Finland.

15-21 June 2014 Genetics of five-needle pines and rusts in mountain landscapes – Conservation, utilization and evolution in a changing climate.

Fort Collins, Co, United States.

16-18 June 2014 International conference on Urban Tree Diversity . Alnarp, Sweden

Forest Equipment Specialist

TIGERCAT L830 HARVESTER $185,000 + GST 2004 Model. 16,565 hours.

Includes Waratah HTH624.

19-21 June 2014 Euroforest 2014 – Saint-Bonnetde-Joux, Bourgogne, France. http://www.euroforest-2014.eu/ 23-26 June 2014 22nd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition (EU BC&E). Hamburg, Germany

23-27 June 2014 SWST 2014 International Convention: Sustainable Resources and Technology for Forest Products. Zvolen, Slovakia.

KOBELCO SK250-8 $90,000 + GST 2007 model with 9,535 hours.

Includes Talon Grab

4 July 2014 Wales Tree Health Seminars.

13-22 July 2014 Sixth International Poplar Symposium (IPS-VI). Vancouver, British Columbia (B.c.), Canada.

16-20 July 2014 INTERFORST 2014 - Benchmark for Forest and Technology, Munich. www.interforst.com 20-28 July 2014 Sixth International Poplar Symposium (IPS-VI). Vancouver, British Columbia (B.c.), Canada. silviconsult@telus.net

Tigercat 1018 Forwarder $85,000 + GST 18 tonne capacity with turnaround cabin, load cells, 8,050 hours.

25-27 July 2014 Timber & Working With Wood, Sydney. Sydney Olympic Park 9 August 2014 Forest Health Days, Forestry Commission GB. Scotland 15 August 2014 Trees, Greenspace and Wellbeing Conference, Forestry Commission GB. Cambridge 20 August 2014 Confor Woodland Show 2013, Forestry Commission GB. Wiltshire.

20 August 2014 FEG Annual Symposium 2013: Economics of Delivery - Roads to Market, Forestry Commission GB. Penrith.

21 August 2014 Scotland’s Adaptation Conference, Forestry Commission GB. Edinburgh 28 August 2014 Wildfire 2013, Forestry Commission GB. Cardiff

Tanguay TF975 Feller Buncher $150,000 + GST 6,816 hours, Cummins QSL9 engine, new undercarriage and Quadco disc saw.

Providing the most relevant and productive equipment and support.

Proud distributor of:

SATCO

®

LOGGING ATTACHMENTS

1300 727 520

www.onetrak.com.au

CATERPILLAR BACKED FROM HEAD TO TRACK

We’ve collaborated with SATCO Ltd. to give you a machine with the capacity, durability and stability you need for harvesting big wood — the Cat® 541 Series 2 + the SAT424 processing head (SAT425 with topping saw). This continuous rotation head is equipped with high torque feed motors, and a heavy-duty 3/4 in. main saw system with 45 cc saw motor for smooth felling and cross cutting big trees. Hoses from the carrier are routed through the linkage to protect them. The main valve, rated at 6100 PSI, can easily handle carrier pressures, reducing wear on the hydraulics. Add 3+ in. roller arm pins and you’ve got a processing head with the performance and durability to match the Cat 541 Series 2.

Contact your Cat dealer about the complete line of SATCO processing and directional felling heads.

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