Australian Forests & Timber News

MAY 2012 Issue 3, Vol. 21 • P: (03) 9888 4834 • F: (03) 9888 4840 • E: lmartin@forestsandtimber.com.au • www.timberbiz.com.au

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Australian Forests & Timber News, May 2012 – 3

Future Farm Industries CRC welcomes Airbus Biofuel for the aviation industry

F

UTURE FARM Industries Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) has welcomed Airbus, a leading global aircraft manufacturer, as a partner in its New Woody Crops research program which is helping to develop commercial biofuel for the aviation industry.

Airbus joins Future Farm Industries CRC, Virgin Australia and GE who are working together to help promote and develop a renewable transport fuels industry via the harvesting and processing of mallee trees into transport grade fuels.

Airbus and Manchester Metropolitan University will work with the CRC to develop a life-cycle analysis and sustainability study of the mallees-to-biofuel supply chain.

The study will be managed by the CRC and will examine the carbon footprint from mallee growth through to fuel

Fuelling the future

Lignol Innovations has demonstrated its unique and economical integrated process technology for biorefining abundant and renewable ligno-cellulosic biomass feedstocks into ethanol (fuel alcohol), pure lignin and other valuable co-products. Lignol’s unique de-lignification pretreatment Organosolv process separates woody biomass into its components of cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin.

The cellulose and hemi-cellulose are enzymatically hydrolysed into sugars, which are then fermented, distilled and dehydrated to fuel-grade ethanol.

emissions; and the social, economic and environmental impacts of the supply chain within regional WA. Peter Zurzolo, chief executive officer of Future Farm Industries CRC, said the involvement of Airbus demonstrated the aircraft manufacturer’s commitment to a commercial biofuels industry in Australia, and the importance globally of a sustainable biofuel supply chain.

“We are very encouraged that Airbus has agreed to be involved in this venture. We know that Airbus is working closely with Virgin Australia, and their decision to continue to support the CRC’s research with its incredible potential is a validation of our work to date,” Zurzolo said.

“Mallees supplied to a market like aviation fuel offer a diversified income stream for farmers. We know there are farmers waiting for secure markets for their tree crops, and the CRC and its partners are pursuing a range of industry start-up opportunities to accelerate development.

We are confident the momentum, underpinned by strong research and our airline partners’ ongoing commitment, is making the reality of mallee harvesting and processing not a matter of if, but when.”

In related research, the CRC and its partners are continuing their work into the best configurations for mallee planting to maximise farm profits and environmental benefits while minimising any impact on food production, and tree breeding to improve productivity. Also, Biosystems Engineering has successfully completed the final field-based milestone for the prototype mallee harvester.

Gunns throwing down the chips GUNNS is seeking a buyer for its export woodchip facility at the Port of Portland.The timber company is under increasing pressure to pay off some of its $580 million debt burden.

Sources suggest Port of Portland will fetch at least two to three times the $25 million

Gunns spent to construct the facility in 2009-10, implying a sale price of up to $75 million.

About $25 million in capital expenditure is also required to expand capacity. Its location is attractive because Port of Portland is ideally positioned for export to Asia.

Gunns said last June that it would sell all but two sawmills and its mainland softwood plantations to raise money for its proposed $2 billion Tamar Valley pulp mill. Chief executive Greg L’Estrange said at that time he would not sell the Port of Portland terminal.

 Aviation representatives see mallee benefits firsthand during a recent farm visit: [bottom left, clockwise]: Dr Delia Dimitriu, Airbus Consultant, Centre for Air Transport and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University; David White, Manager Sustainability and Climate Change, Virgin Australia; Peter Zurzolo, CEO Future Farm Industries CRC; Ben Waters, Director ecomagination, GE.

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Time to access some more native forest areas TIMBER QUEENSLAND says too many areas were closed by the previous Labor Government for political reasons and that it was time for the new LNP State Government to consider allowing harvesters back into some native forests.

TQ chief executive officer Rod McInnes believes native timber must be part of a plan for the long-term future of the $2.4 billion a year industry.

“We’re not looking to turn the world upside down and go back to wholescale native forest harvesting,” he said.

“We are looking to going back and having a proper, sensible debate about where we can harvest and where we can’t and make those decisions based on proper science.”

He believes the State’s future timber needs will be met by a combination of plantation and native forest timbers and he is also of the opinion that a new Timber Industry Plan was needed to help combat cheaper imports from badly managed forests and to build investor confidence in Queensland businesses.

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4 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

ISSN 1444-5824

May 2012

Top class speakers for special dinners June

By Garrie James Secretary Melbourne Hoo Hoo Club 217

Camera surveillance is fast becoming a fact of life in all workplaces and sites.

Read more on pages 10-11.

Features CRC Forestry........................................... 8 Camera Surveillance........................10-11 Appointments........................................ 12 FWPA..................................................... 14 AUSTimber...................................... 18-43 Waste Management..............................44

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Postal Address:

PO Box 1006, Prospect East, South Australia 5082 Phone: (08) 8369 9555 Fax: (08) 8369 9501 Advertising: lmartin@forestsandtimber.com.au Melbourne Office (03) 9888 4834 Trader classified: lmartin@forestsandtimber.com.au Melbourne Office (03) 9888 4834 Editorial: editorial@forestsandtimber.com.au Adelaide Office (08) 8369 9512 Subscriptions: subs@forestsandtimber.com.au Adelaide Office (08) 8369 9522 Accounts: Adelaide Office (08) 8369 9555 General Manager: Elizabeth Bouzoudis Editor: John Hudswell Advertising: Laurie Martin Subcription rates One-year (8 editions) $55 Two-years (16 editions) $95 Production: Nathan Grant Publisher and Chief Executive: Hartley Higgins Suite 103, 486 Whitehorse Road, Surrey Hills, Victoria, 3127, phone (03) 9888 4822 Conditions: Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the editor/publishers; information is published in good faith and we do not accept responsibility for damage which may arise from any possible inaccuracies. All rights reserved, none of the contents may be used in any other media without prior consent from then publishers. Published by Ryan Media Pty Ltd. Print Post No. PP 767324/00002

Australian Forests & Timber News is a member of Circulation Audit Bureau (CAB).

W

e have locked in some dates and some excellent speakers.

May

Jeff Bennett is the author of the newly published Little Green Lies: An exposé of twelve environmental myths (Connor Court, 2012).

Jeff Bennett is Professor of Environmental Management in the Crawford School of Economics and Government at the Australian National University.

He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. Jeff lectures, researches and consults on the economics of environmental policy issues.

We have the rare opportunity to hear an internationally significant speaker. Ben Gunneberg is the Secretary General of the PEFC. He will be visiting Australia and has generously offered to speak to Hoo Hoo members and interested guests. We have moved the date to Tuesday June 19 so that it can be added to the itinerary of Frame Australia delegates. According to the PEFC website:- “The Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) is an international non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) through independent third-party certification.PEFC works throughout the entire forest supply chain to promote good practice in the forest and to ensure that timber and non-timber forest products are

produced with respect for the highest ecological, social and ethical standards. Thanks to its eco-label, customers and consumers are able to identify products from sustainably managed forests. PEFC is an umbrella organization. It works by endorsing national forest certification systems developed through multi-stakeholder processes and tailored to local priorities and conditions.With about 30 endorsed national certification systems and more than 230 million hectares of certified forests, PEFC is the world’s largest forest certification system.”

July Christmas in July meal we have organise a special Christmas Dinner. Traditional Christmas dinner is more suited to the European winters. Why

not have a Christmas in July so that you can enjoy Christmas fare as it was intended? Emma Watt is better known as the Industrial Relations consultant for the Timber Merchants Association.

In her spare time, she sails on a racing yacht and volunteers with the SES. Emma will share her insight into what it means to be a volunteer and how it helps with personal development.

August We will be holding our AGM. This is a time when we reflect on the year past and plan for the future. A new board will also be elected and installed.

Our special guest speaker will be Rick Waters. He has recently been elected the Vice Gerent of Area 3 (Victoria). Rick is a Past President of NE Club 236.

He works as a consultant to the building industry

 Speaker dates.

May

7/05/2012

Dinner

RYSTC

Environment

Jeff Bennett

Book Launch - Little Green Lies

June

19/06/2012

Dinner

RYSTC

Certification

Ben Gunneberg

Secretary General of PEFC

July

2/07/2012

Dinner

RYSTC

Christmas in July

Christmas in July PARTNER’S NIGHT

Emma Watt - SES Volunteer

August

6/08/2012

Dinner

RYSTC

AGM

AGM

Rick Waters

Processing farmgrown timber

Ray of sunshine for Queensland forestry

THE DPI has issued an invitation for people to attend the seventh seminar in its farm forestry research seminar series. This free seminar will be a great opportunity to hear the latest research and grower experiences in harvesting and processing farm-grown timber. Various aspects of the wood supply chain will be discussed, along with milling and drying options.

THE APPOINTMENT of John McVeigh as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry in the Campbell Newman-led LNP Government in Queensland has been seen as a breath of fresh air.

Timber Queensland chief executive officer Rod McInnes said the new Minister’s background in business and particularly agri-business would be helpful in understanding the issues confronting the 1000+ business units comprising Queensland’s forest and timber Industry, most of which were small to medium enterprises located in rural and regional Queensland.

“The issue pushing Queensland’s timber producers, processors and fabricators to the wall is the low demand for construction timber combined with the high Australian dollar. The high dollar, which shows

Program topics and speakers Tour of firewood processing facility and establishing a timber supply chain: • Graham Baldock, director Stargrow Australia, wholesalers and retailers of hardwood timber products.

• Experiences in harvesting and portable milling farm-grown timber in Western Australia: • Geoff North, plantation grower and timber processor, Bridgetown, SW Western Australia.

Analysis of portable mills and report on SMARTimbers supply chain analysis: • Mark Stewart, timber consultant, timber processor and former member of the Forest Technology Program- University of Melbourne.

• New generation solar timber drying and developing young fastgrown eucalypt sawn and veneer markets: • Gary Waugh, forest products consultant, Principle Research ScientistCRC Wood Innovations, Hon Ass Prof.- University of Melbourne.

• Discussion session lead by Brian Thompson, manager DPI Forestry Services Date: Friday, 25 May Time: 10.15 am for 10.30am start - 3.30pm Venue: Stargrow Firewood Wholesalers, 450 Mickleham Road, Attwood. (opposite DPI) Cost: Free with lunch provided RSVP: 14 May to Rhodey Bowman DPI Tatura Phone: 03 5833 5957. dpi.forestry@dpi.vic.gov.au

Visit www.timberbiz.com.au/dtn to sign up today.

no sign of falling any time soon, is helping to flood the market with cheaper, imported timber which doesn’t help an already depressed market,” said McInnes.

He said Timber Queensland was seeking a meeting with Minister McVeigh to brief him on Industry issues first hand and to explore the development of a Timber Industry Plan to ensure the industry’s long term future.

“If a long term plan supported

by Government and industry cannot be developed, then it’s quite conceivable growers and processors will be hard pressed to achieve an adequate return on their investments which will result in plant closures and thousands of job losses.”

Timber Queensland is the peak body for the State’s $2.4bn pa forest and timber industry and its 20,000 dependent jobs.

Mea Culpa!

IN THE Tigercat ad in the April issue of Australian Forests & Timber News, the contact phone number for service in Queensland was wrong.

The correct number is 0418 472 839. A red-faced Lex McLean of Forest Centre said that, to make matters worse, the number in the ad was not only incorrect but belongs to a Komatsu Forest Service agent.

“Not only did I get the number wrong and give the Komatsu agent a free kick, I could have caused a bit of inconvenience to some of our Tigercat customers for which I’m very sorry,” said McLean, “At Forest Centre we pride ourselves on looking after our customers beyond the initial sale so this was quite embarrassing.”

The correct phone number for Queensland service is in this issue’s Tigercat ad.

Australian Forests & Timber News, May 2012 – 5

EDITORIAL

Is your council a member of the NTCA? Annual general meeting will be held for the first time in Tasmania

The Good AUSTimber 2012 in and near Mount Gambier, South Australia’s forestry capital, was a resounding success, all thanks to an extremely dedicated ‘army’ of workers, major machinery suppliers and rank and file forestry and timber workers and supporters. Hailed as the best yet, this event highlighted beyond any doubt that the industry has a future. It was a glowing example of what the industry can do when it has a goal in mind. With key personnel from all around the world for the in-forestry site and also the associated conferences (Precision Forestry in Action, sponsored by ForestWorks), Mount Gambier was a hive of activity and special mention should be made of the generous nature of the townspeople who so warmly welcomed everyone. But it wasn’t just the industry and its players that came up trumps. Mount Gambier was a winner. So too was ac.care (the recipient of $50,000 raised during the welcome dinner). So too was the general psyche of the place. AUSTimber was indeed a shot in the arm!

The Bad Turncoat Liberal Peter Slipper’s abysmal performance in Parliament to stave off a YES vote that would have allowed native forest waste to be utilised as a renewable energy under the carbon tax should be closely examined by all. Here is a man who opted to prop up the Labor/Green system by accepting the Speaker’s role, then extolled the virtue of the position by claiming he would again wear the wig of office, something that had long gone. Obviously, the delusions of grandeur extend to making decisions. Slipper had the power to have the vote go through only to bow to his temporary masters. Forget about facts. The Rob Oakeshott-sponsored motion was well thought out, had scientific and practical backing and was clear and precise in what it meant. The forest plundering fallacies pushed by opponents bordered on the hysterical. The whole sorry episode was laughable and lamentable. Slipper really has put his foot in it this time!

The Ugly Environmental activists are targeting retail giant Harvey Norman with phoney store tags on furniture items to trick customers into watching anti-logging messages. The “Aussie Furniture Blitz” tags urge customers to scan a barcode-like panel, called a QR code, with their smartphones “to find out how you can win”. Once the tag is scanned, customers are directed to a YouTube video, which claims furniture from Harvey Norman stores is built using timber from high conservation value forests in Tasmania, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. Environmental group Last Stand is behind the campaign which has openly admitted it is not worried about any legal problems over its stance, or maintaining manufacturing and jobs in Australia.

By Kevin Peachey NTCA Coordinator

L

OCAL GOVERNMENT is one of three levels of Government and is, importantly, the most accessible level. Councillors are elected to Local Government based on local issues. In regions where forestry is high on the local agenda, the councillors elected ref lect these local values.

The National Timber Councils Association (NTCA) was formed to provide municipalities in timber regions with a peak national body. The association advocates from a local perspective on issues affecting local communities, industry, the environment and government in these areas.

The NTCA was founded in 2007 following a request from the Howard Commonwealth Government to establish a national network of councils involved in forestry and plantation.

These requests originated from Senator Ian Macdonald, and this has previously had the support of Senator Eric Abets and Minister Peter McGauran.

The establishment of the NTCA provides a significant opportunity for councils to engage in effective dialogue with the Australian Government on forestry related issues and to discuss their involvement with local communities. The association represents issues

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2012 SEMINAR SERIES

from a regional scale, and then delivers the collective message of these regions to a national audience.

The NTCA is in preliminary stages of preparing its annual delegation to visit Canberra in June, and we call out to all our members to identify issues you would like raised. The NTCA will seek meetings with Federal Ministers, as well as Government, Opposition and Independent Members of Parliament. This visit has previously gained a large audience and is a strong platform to highlight issues passed on by our members.

We are also in the initial stages of organising several other events. These include our annual general meeting, which will be held for the first time in Tasmania. This event will be held in conjunction with the National Local Roads and Transport Congress in Hobart from 14 - 16 November 2012.

Another large NTCA event is the inaugural Local Government Timber Industry Conference.

This event is planned to take place in Melbourne in February 2013. Both of these events will be strong platforms to raise local issues.

The association is now moving into its secondary stage of membership growth. The NTCA is now actively seeking out councils to become members and benefit from our various services. Councils, with the support of ratepayers and the

 Kevin Peachey NTCA coordinator.

timber industries in their Local Government area should take part in the collective voice on forestry related issues.

If you think that your council would benefit from membership, then we suggest that you request that they contact the National Timber Councils Association, and have their voice heard.

Register online now at www.fwpa.com.au to secure your place at these 12 short, sharp talks for senior executives and key decision makers.

8.30 am to 12.30 pm (followed by a networking lunch) Mt Gambier SA

12 June 2012

Bunbury WA

14 June 2012

Perth WA

15 June 2012

Melbourne VIC

10 July 2012

Churchill VIC

11 July 2012

Maryborough QLD

9 August 2012

Brisbane QLD

4 September 2012

Coffs Harbour QLD

5 September 2012

Albury NSW

4 October 2012

Oberon NSW

31 October 2012

Sydney NSW

1 November 2012

Hobart TAS

29 November 2012

Knowledge for a sustainable Australia

6 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

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

AUSTRALASIA 2012 9-12 May DesignBUILD Queensland at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

16-17 May Wood Preservation 2012, Rotorua. www.woodpreservationevents.com 18-20 May Brisbane Working With Wood Show.

RNA Showgrounds 23-24 May Wood Preservation 2012, Melbourne. www.woodpreservationevents.com 24 May NZ FICA Regional Meeting – Ohope 31 May AFCA Contractors Hall of Fame Induction Dinner in Launceston.

15-17 June Sydney Working With Wood Show.

Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park 16 June FTMA Australia National Awards Dinner, Park Hyatt in Melbourne 18-19 June Frame Australia (major national event for engineered timber and building prefabrication), Park Hyatt, Melbourne. http://www.frameaustralia.com/ 20 – 30 June NZ FICA Trip: Oregon & British Columbia Cable Logging Tour CANADA/USA 27—29 June DesignBUILD Melbourne at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

1-4 July New Zealand Institute of Forestry Annual Conference. University of Canterbury 11-14 July AWISA. Solid wood timber and panel processing trade show. Sydney. www.awisa.com 16-19 July World Conference on Timber Engineering.

Auckland, New Zealand. www.wcte2012.com.

26 July NZ FICA Regional Meeting – Rotorua/Tokoroa 27 July NZ FICA Cable Logging Workshop – Tokoroa 23-25 July Australian Timber Trainers Association (ATTA) Annual Workshop – Albany, Western Australia. www.atta.org.au 22-23 August Carbon Forestry, Auckland. www.carbonforestryevents.com 23 August NZ FICA Regional Meeting – Gisborne 24 August NZ FICA Practical Leadership Workshop – Gisborne 27 September NZ FICA Regional Meeting – Nelson 28 September NZ FICA Practical Leadership Workshop – Nelson 10-11 October Wood Innovations, Melbourne. www.woodinnovationsevents.com

Plant expert to develop tests for pests in Japan A

Murdoch University PhD candidate has won a $4500 scholarship to develop diagnostic tests for a pine tree pest.

Matthew Tan from the School of Biology and Biotechnology will travel to the city of Tsukuba, near Tokyo, for a week to learn how to collect field samples and undertake molecular identification of the pest, which is known as a pine wood nematode (PWN).

PWNs are a major problem for trees in Japan and China, and have recently been found in Portugal and Spain. They have not yet made their way to Australia.

“We believe it could only be a matter of time before they arrive on these shores, so we need to learn as much as we can about them,” said Tan, who has won the scholarship from the Australasian Plant Pathology Society, the Phytopathological Society of Japan and the Australia-Japan Foundation.

“The samples I will be collecting will help to address a real biosecurity issue. The Australian pine sawlog production industry is worth about $800m per annum so PWN is classed as an emergency

plant pest that would have a serious economic impact if introduced into Australia.”

Tan, who lives in Riverton, WA, said the PWN has a fascinating life cycle, which involves the nematodes highjacking a ride on pine beetles newly emerged from their pupae, which then transport them to the tops of new pine trees. This enables the nematodes to cross distances to other trees and infect them. The nematodes multiply rapidly in the host tree’s vascular tissue, and infested pine trees can die in a matter of weeks from water stress.

“The visit will also provide me with a new perspective and ideas that I can apply to my own PhD studies into nematode diagnosis and identification,” added Tan, whose PhD is being fully supported by the Cooperative Research Centre for National Plant Biosecurity.

Tan will be working with leading researchers in Japan, including Dr Natsumi Kanzaki, one of the experts on PWN at the Forest Pathology Laboratory, Forest and Forest Products Research Institute.

 Matthew Tan from the School of Biology and Biotechnology.

President condemns destruction of forestry trial The President of the NZ Institute of Forestry, Dr Andrew McEwen, has condemned the destruction of a trial of genetically modified trees at Scion (the Forest Research Institute), in Rotorua as unjustified and an attack on innovation, established processes of governance and democracy itself.

“New Zealand’s economy is dependent on our good growing conditions and the agriculture and forest products we produce.

We have maintained an enviable standard of living by economic and scientific innovation but current success is not a matter of divine right nor is it guaranteed,” said Dr McEwen.

“Genetic engineering holds both promise and risks for New Zealand. We know well the costs of poor decisions related to the release of plants and animals that haven’t evolved in balance with the f lora and fauna of this country. It is equally true that as a nation we have benefited hugely from the meat, milk, wool and timber derived from the introduction of ‘exotic genetics’.

“We can expect to continue to benefit from ruminants bred to produce more with less methane emissions and from trees that grow quickly, produce less pollen or require less tending.

“It is right that proposals such as the Scion trial are subject to expert and independent scrutiny before a decision is made to proceed. It is right that that scrutiny includes the widest range of input including that from ardent critics of genetic technology,” he said.

The trial in question was the subject of exhaustive assessment by the Environmental Risk Management Authority (now Environmental Protection Agency) before its approval, including scrutiny by Maori.

“It can only be assumed that an individual or individuals who didn’t like the outcome of the processes put in place by

expensive adversarial decisionmaking processes; that we all benefit from fully informed and scientifically robust discussion where the wisdom of all stakeholders is brought to bear. But what message does the destruction of research trials, approved after extensive consultation and examination of evidence, give to those being

Anything other than condemnation of such individuals in the strongest possible terms puts us in danger of a system best encapsulated by the adage that one definition of fascism is regulation by those unable to achieve their desires by legitimate means. our elected representatives has decided to take the law into their own hands.

“It is interesting that this action has occurred at the same time as the Land and Water Forum is examining the use of ‘consultative processes’ as a way of reducing the costs and delays in resource management.

The argument advanced in that forum is that we all lose from

asked to forgo rights of appeal in favour of consultation and reasoned discussion?”

The Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister, Sir Peter Gluckman, has also called for better use of evidence in policy making. Evidence on the risks and benefits of genetic modification come from carefully designed trials such as the one at Scion that has been destroyed.

Irrespective of what you may think about the science of genetics, it should be a concern to us all that some in society are so convinced of their position that they have no qualms in imposing their will by force on others, having failed to achieve their desires following established paths.

“The pace of change and the relatively low costs inherent in genetic engineering suggests that in a few years the only real control on ‘field release’ will be the integrity of those involved in the developments. That integrity could be tested by a belief that unreasonable controls including illegal actions are the only outcome from following agreed processes of assessment and regulation.

“Would the actions of a rogue individual who wilfully and illegally released a transgenic organism capable of control of (for example) feral possums be more or less reprehensible than the individual or individuals involved in the destruction of Scion’s field trials?

“Anything other than condemnation of such individuals in the strongest possible terms puts us in danger of a system best encapsulated by the adage that one definition of fascism is regulation by those unable to achieve their desires by legitimate means,” Dr McEwen said.

The New Zealand Institute of Forestry (NZIF), with a membership of 880, is New Zealand’s association for forestry professionals.

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8 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

CRC FORESTRY

CRC Forestry finishes in June ... then what?

24 – December 2011, Australian Forests & Timber News

N

OW IN its seventh and final year of operation, the CRC for Forestry has compiled a strong track record

of end-user focused projects and significant research achievements.

It has worked closely with more than 30 partner organisations to Australian Forests & Timber News, November 2011 – 13

CRC FORESTRY

Sawmills face changes as plantation resource matures T

ASMANIAN SAWMILLS will need to modify their sawing equipment and methods if they are to profitably process plantation-grown eucalypt sawlogs.

As Tasmania considers a transition from the use of native forests towards plantations, the CRC for Forestry has conducted a review (CRC for Forestry Technical Report no 209) of Australian research into the sawing and drying of plantationgrown sawlogs of Eucalyptus globulus and e. nitens, the two most widely-planted eucalypt species in southern Australia.

The processing of plantation sawlogs is a particularly important issue for Tasmania. A resource of approximately 30,000 hectares of thinned and pruned plantations of these two species has been established which will yield large volumes of sawlogs within the next few years.

The review found that existing sawmills in Tasmania are poorly equipped to saw plantation-grown

logs, which will be smaller in diameter and which have sawing characteristics that differ from the logs currently supplied from native eucalypt forests.

The review identified modifications to sawing equipment and methods for plantation logs, notably the use of multiple-blade systems during log breakdown and re-sawing, which would reduce sawing costs, improve sawing accuracy and improve green board recoveries.

The review also concluded that carefully managed drying and steam reconditioning is required for sawn timber from plantations.

This will increase the recovery of more valuable select and standard grade boards by reducing levels of checking (a defect that can limit the range of uses of the timber).

A related Technical Report examines sawmill costs and log prices payable by sawmills optimised for processing the Tasmanian plantation sawlog resource.

This research suggests that sawmills optimised for Tasmania’s plantation eucalypt resource would be able to operate profitably while still paying an attractive mill-door price for growers.

As Tasmania considers a transition from native forests to plantations, the CRC for Forestry has conducted research, summarised in CRC for Forestry Technical Report 211, evaluating the profitability of sawmills optimised for the eucalypt plantation sawlog resource.

The first substantial volumes of pruned sawlogs are expected to become available by about 2015, with the supply likely to increase to 150,000 cubic metres per year by around 2025. About 80% of this will be e. nitens.

The CRC research has found that a new sawmill, quarter-sawing plantation-grown sawlogs of these two species and processing 100,000 cubic metres of sawlogs per year in a two-shift operation should be able to operate profitably

 Juan Carlos Valencia and Peter Volker assessing sawn boards of plantation-grown Eucalyptus nitens.Inset: Report author Russell Washusen.

while paying mill-door prices that would be attractive to sawlog growers. modelling was based on costs and performance determined in an existing native forest eucalypt

sawmill in southern Tasmania, but incorporating modifications to equipment and processing strategies so as to optimise the mill for the plantation resource.

Unreserved PUblic AUction

ipswich, Queensland november 17, 2011

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Australian Forests & Timber News, August 2011 – 25

help foster a socially responsible and ecologically sustainable industry – goals that received global attention in 2011, which the United Nations declared the “International Year of Forests.”

The CRC for Forestry will deliver all contracted research outputs

by July 2012, demonstrating conclusively that taxpayer and industry resources have been productively invested in an effective partnership between Government and industry.

Tools developed from CRC research have helped industry to become more efficient and productive. These include the Blue Gum Productivity Optimization System, a web-based decisionsupport system for forest managers, a range of decision support tools to improve harvest and transport efficiency, and near-infrared (NIR) scanning technology providing fast, cheap and non-destructive measures of wood properties.

The CRC has delivered what was promised under the CRC program in terms of science, education and technology transfer. More than 220 technical reports, fact-sheets and industry bulletins on various aspects of forestry have been published, as well as 1000-plus peer-reviewed scientific papers. Ten technology and tools packages have been released.

Additionally, more than 50 PhD graduates have progressed their studies through CRC scholarships since 2005. Twenty-one of these are

which was not unexpected given the quality of the plantation. The control plot and site recorded similar yields and proportions by product. The FibrePlus plot and site yielded almost as much FibrePlus as pulpwood, which was a higher proportion than anticipated.

A substantial amount of biomass was retained on site, including branches and woody debris, fine branches and needles that play an important role in enhancing soil quality for future rotations. The spatial distribution of this retained biomass was highly variable, but the significant quantity of retained biomass is likely to provide protection from erosion and to enhance soil fertility for the next tree crop.

site. The forwarding time elements indicated some slight differences between the control and FibrePlus plots and sites but did not explain the total difference in productivity.

Further investigation revealed that the productivity of the forwarder when extracting sawlogs from the two study plots and sites was similar, whereas the productivity of extracting pulpwood alone was greater than for extracting mixed loads of pulpwood and FibrePlus (Table 1). This was because the loaded density of FibrePlus was much lower than the other products due to the smaller piece size, so the forwarder was unable to load enough weight of product when extracting FibrePlus, and had to extract more loads per unit area,

Study description Two 100-tree plots (each of approximately 0.5 ha) and two 2 ha sites were established in a 34-year-old radiata pine plantation (near Tumut, NSW) that had been thinned twice. Stand and site conditions were very good and uniform. The stand was relatively high-yielding with trees of good form and quality. The plantation was flat with no obstacles.

One plot and site were harvested and extracted incorporating FibrePlus (the FibrePlus plot and site); the other plot and site were harvested and extracted as normal (the control plot and site).

All trees in each plot were inventoried using ATLAS Cruiser methodology.

Plot inventory showed that although the control plot had a slightly greater number of larger trees, tree size was similar enough for comparison across the plots.

Harvesting was carried out using a cut-to-length, two-machine system (a Timbco 475 harvester with a Rosin 997 head and a modified Timbco 820-D 8-wheel forwarder). Detailed time and motion studies were completed for harvesting of each plot, and for forwarding on each plot and site.

Products cut were recorded, measured, segregated and tracked across customer weighbridges to determine exact yields from each plot and site.

The retained biomass (or ‘leftslash’) on the FibrePlus site was measured four months after the harvest.

Results Yields Product yields from the FibrePlus plot and site (in green metric tonnes per hectare, GMt/ ha) are shown in Figure 1. Overall yields from the site were high,

Figure 1: Yields by product from the FibrePlus plot and site

Harvesting phase Harvester productivity in the control plot was 91.9 GMt/ PMH0 and was 93.4 GMt/ PHM0 in the FibrePlus plot.

This comparison indicates that integrating the FibrePlus product into the harvesting operation had a negligible impact on harvester productivity. A more detailed analysis showed no differences in harvester productivity across the range of tree sizes in the study. The harvester productivity model is shown in Figure 2.

Forwarding phase Forwarding of the harvested log products was conducted by roadside log sort. The 6.1 m sawlogs were forwarded first; then mixed loads of 4.9 m and 3.7 m sawlogs; and lastly mixed loads of pulpwood and FibrePlus products from the FibrePlus plot and site, and pulpwood-only loads from the control plot and site.

Forwarder productivity in the control plot and site was 92.6 GMt/ PMH0 but extracting the FibrePlus product reduced forwarder productivity by 14% to 79.4 GMt/ PHM0 in the FibrePlus plot and

sharply reducing productivity.

Cost impact 1

T Figure 2: Harvester productivity model

The system could be balanced without slowing the harvester either in a cold-deck operation using an alternative means of loading trucks (truck-mounted loader); or by extending the shift of the forwarder in the existing operation. For these alternatives, the estimated increased cost of integrating FibrePlus into the operation falls to between 2.7% and 6.0% (depending on assumptions related to machine and labour costs and machine life).

A sensitivity analysis showed that the percentage increase in costs was not substantially affected by reducing the productivity of the harvester and forwarder by 33%, or by reducing the utilisation rate of the forwarder by 10%, or by doing both.

Quality of woodchips produced from FibrePlus The FibrePlus was chipped at the roadside and weighed at the

Table 1: Comparison of forwarder productivity (GMt/PMH0) between the two study plots and sites by product extracted

Pulpwood Mixed pulpwood and FibrePlus Integrating FibrePlus into the existing harvesting operation is estimated to increase overall costs of harvesting, extraction and loading by 12.1%. The increased cost is due to the decreased productivity of the forwarder, and because the harvester has to reduce its productivity to maintain balance in the system.

A fast, affordable way for forest managers to measure valuable wood properties

Measuring internal wood properties can involve expensive and time-consuming laboratory testing. Portable near-infrared (NIR) scanning can predict selected wood properties from samples including cores, chainsaw frass and woodmeal, and uses much smaller samples than needed for laboratory tests. The CRC for Forestry has developed calibrations that allow measurement of commercially-important wood properties cheaply, quickly and using small samples that minimise damage to living trees.

T

HE USE of hand-held portable near-infrared (NIR) spectrometers such as the Polychromix Phazir™ may provide an affordable method for forest managers to obtain predictive measures of cellulose content, Kraft pulp yield and basic density in standing trees from various types of wood samples.

To be useful for businesses that do not have NIR-related capability in-house, the method

The model is a starting point for the development of a more broadly-based calibration (representing more sites and species) that allows industry partners of the CRC for Forestry to gain experience and confidence in the technology.

The model accommodates the chemistry of the plastic bags (making sample handling easy) and allows the pulp yield and cellulose content of woodmeal

to be predicted by the Phazir™ whether the woodmeal is in the plastic bag or not.

The findings The Polychromix Phazir™ is a multi-purpose, hand-held NIR spectrometer that provides immediate results, measuring multiple wood properties at the same time. It is portable and relatively inexpensive, meaning

it’s within the reach of individual companies.

Current alternatives to this technology require expensive and time-consuming laboratory testing. Analysing pulp yield in a lab costs around $1000 per sample and requires 5 kilograms of dry woodchips. Using a device such as the Phazir™, it costs as little as $2.50.

The benefits of NIR can be further enhanced by developing calibrations to measure wood density, moisture content, stiffness and other valuable wood properties.

The Phazir™ - in combination with CRC for Forestry calibrations - can be used by forest growers to select the best genotypes for breeding, and to evaluate their forests where they stand to manage the wood to meet customer specifications.  The Polychromix Phazir™

 Field unit testing.

must give precise predictions using a simple sampling protocol requiring minimal knowledge of the technology.

CRC for Forestry researcher Dr Geoff Downes and his colleagues have conducted extensive tests using commercially available NIR devices, such as the Phazir™, with assistance from industry partners. The research involved the development and testing of a model for predicting pulp yield and cellulose content in air-dry wood from Eucalyptus nitens from spectra collected using the portable NIR. The method allowed the samples to be measured without removing them from the plastic bags in which they were stored. The model was able to predict 80–90% of the variance in samples from E. pellita and E. globulus, as well as from an independent set of E. nitens samples.

Proof that persistence pays off!

GEOFF DOWNES’ highlight-filled career with the CRC for Forestry is proof that persistence pays off.

His work on measuring the impact of environment and silviculture on wood properties has produced numerous breakthroughs and helped improve the forest industry’s ability to measure wood properties cheaply.

Geoff joined the CSIRO in 1992 as part of the CRC for Hardwood Fibre and Paper Science. In 2000 he became co-leader of CSIRO’s Wood and Fibre evaluation team, where he was responsible for Near Infra Red (NIR) capability and led a project to develop a portable NIR spectrometer to measure pulp yield in standing trees. NIR is just one of the concepts he has been involved in which is now becoming widely used by industry.

“Proving a concept is relatively quick, but demonstrating its commercial application takes time and trust,” he says. “The momentum the CRC has given long-term projects like NIR was invaluable in getting through to routine commercial application.”

Geoff’s work on environment and silviculture has taken him from the Melbourne University Forestry School where he began his PhD, to Aberdeen in Scotland for root turnover studies, then back to Australia where he eventually landed at CSIRO. In 1997 he relocated to Hobart and was soon leading a project on the effect of later-age fertilisation on wood properties in radiata pine. He has also done extensive work on assessing the value of eucalypt plantations for pulp and solid timber production, and mitigating resin defects in radiata pine.

Geoff still lives in Hobart, and is currently focused on finalising sampling work within the CRC for Forestry to develop commercially useable protocols for measuring pulp and solid wood properties costeffectively.

He was recently made a Fellow with the prestigious International Academy of Wood Science. But this avid horseman seems just as gratified by a milestone he describes as “a significant achievement in my career” – finally buying his own horse.

 Geoff Downes

working in industry and a further 22 in forestry research institutions.

This often-overlooked achievement is crucial to the forestry industry’s future as it helps provide the research capability to foster more efficient and productive forest operations in the future.

Australia’s forestry industry is experiencing a period of rapid change in a range of areas including market access, resource ownership, increasing emphasis on plantation resources, regulation, certification and the socio-political environment.

Chipper productivity harvesting forest biomass in pine plantations By mohammad Reza ghaffariyan1,2, mauricio acuna1,2 John wiedemann1,3 and Rick mitchell1,3 1 CRC for Forestry 2 University of Tasmania 3 WAPRES

Product 6.1 m sawlogs 4.9 m and 3.7 m sawlogs

Adapting NIR for field use in the forest industry

CRC FORESTRY

‘FibrePlus’ study: Harvesting stemwood waste pieces in pine clearfall ITH INCREASED demand for forest products and decreased access to forest resource it is becoming more important to maximise the volume of wood recovered from every harvesting operation. One way to achieve this is to use existing harvesting machinery to extract tree tops and larger stemwood waste pieces that do not meet existing sawlog and pulpwood specifications and would otherwise be left in the forest.

These waste pieces can be chipped for pulp or for biomass fuel.

This study aimed to investigate the productivity and cost impacts of extracting stemwood waste, also known as ‘FibrePlus’, during a typical cut-to-length clearfall harvesting operation in a thinned radiata pine plantation, and to assess the suitability of FibrePlus for papermaking.

CRC FoRESTRY

38 – September 2011, Australian Forests & Timber News

cRc FORESTRY

W

Australian Forests & Timber News, December 2011 – 25

Control

FibrePlus

113.4

109.4

56.2

58.0

41.1

N/A

N/A

30.5

• Extracting FibrePlus during pine plantation harvesting had no impact on the harvesting phase but reduced forwarding productivity by 14% in this study.Reduction in forwarding productivity due to extraction of FibrePlus could increase infield costs by between 2.7% and 12.1%. By adjusting operations to achieve lower-cost solutions, it’s possible to improve net value recovery by harvesting FibrePlus where there are markets for the material.

• FibrePlus added an additional 23 GMt / ha or 4% to the total yield in this study, and the FibrePlus woodchips were of sufficient quality for papermaking when mixed as a small proportion of the total pulp chip supply.

• A substantial quantity of biomass was retained on the site despite extraction of FibrePlus, contributing to ongoing soil protection and site fertility.

Organisations supporting this research This study was supported by Forests NSW, Visy Pulp and Paper, and Rosin Developments.

More information

customer’s weighbridge. Testing by the customer indicated that FibrePlus chips were suitable for mixing with debarked roundwood chips for papermaking.

Alternatively, the FibrePlus chips would be suitable as biomass fuel.

Take-home messages

CRC for Forestry website: http://www.crcforestry.com.au/ research/programme-three/index. html Project scientist Damian Walsh: damianw@unimelb.edu.au 1

HIS BULLETIN outlines the results of one of several studies by the CRC for Forestry on forest biomass and techniques to simplify its recovery, and the use of non-merchantable logs.

In Europe, using biomass for energy is well established, with various biomass harvesting systems in use.

In Australia, interest is growing in using plantation harvest residue for energy generation, so plantation owners and managers need to identify economical methods to harvest and handle residue in their particular operating conditions.

Europe produces 696 million cubic metres (m3) of woody biomass each year (Hetsch 2008) using several harvesting technologies. These harvesting systems differ in the machinery applied in the supply chain, the material used as a source of biomass, and the applicability of the systems in various forest stands and terrains.

This bulletin evaluates the performance of a mobile biomass chipper developed in Scandinavia: the Bruks chipper 805.2 STC. When mounted on a forwarder, this chipper can be used to collect and chip harvest residues from across thinned and clearfelled sites, and to chip concentrated residues and/or logs at the roadside. The mobile chipper is one of the technologies used in Europe, but this is the first time it has been used in Australia. This study compared different work methods used to collect and chip biomass on a pine plantation after clearfelling, and the effects of these methods on the productivity and cost-effectiveness of the Bruks chipper, mounted on an Ecolog 594C forwarder (Figure 1).

The study site was a 31-year-old radiata pine (Pinus radiata) plantation near Mount Gambier, which had been clearfelled using a cut-to-length system. The flat site was harvested in July 2010, and yielded 449.75 t/ha, with an average extraction distance

of 196 m. In approximately half of the harvest area non-merchantable stemwood was extracted to the roadside for use as biomass, while in the other half the non-merchantable stemwood was retained and distributed across the site with other biomass material. The residue was harvested in October 2010 and the Bruks chipper was used to test five different treatments. The study layout is presented in Table 1.

In one of the clearfelled study treatment areas (treatment 3) a tracked excavator concentrated the stemwood before chipping. For the roadside chipping, the non-merchantable stemwood had been extracted and stacked into piles by a forwarder, as an integrated part of the cut-to-length harvesting operation.

In all of the working conditions, standard CRC for Forestry time and motion study methods were used to evaluate the Bruks chipper.

Productivity was calculated based on the delivered tonnes of biomass chips (based on truck weights) and productive machine hours excluding all delays (PMH0).

The study also included an indicative assessment of left-slash (harvest residue left on the site) for each treatment.

Chip quality from each treatment was tested for moisture content, calorific value, fractioned chip size and contaminants (soil and sand).

The cost per tonne information provided in this report is indicative only, being based on a costing model provided by the machine owner, Scandinavian Forestry & Engineering. Actual costs may vary from the model on a case-bycase basis. A cost of $8/t was used as the average extraction cost for merchantable logs and pulp. This is based on the plantation owner’s costing methods.

Results The study found that collecting all stemwood was the cheapest method of residue recovery in the clearfelled area, while collecting all residues was the most expensive.

Concentrating stemwood (creating windrows) with an excavator increased the productivity of the Bruks chipper by reducing machine

Cost information provided in this bulletin is indicative only, and is based on a costing model. Operational constraints and/or costs that are difficult to foresee or quantify may emerge, and actual costs may vary from the model on a case-by-case basis.

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 Figure 1. Bruks 805.2 STC chipper mounted on an Ecolog 594C forwarder, collecting and chipping harvest residues.

movement, as well as increasing the opportunity for multi-stem processing (collection and chipping). However, the excavator used in this study was not ideal for the task, because it had a non-pivoting grapple. This lowered the productivity of the treatment to about 8 t/PMH0, and resulted in the cost of running the excavator exceeding the productivity benefit gained by using the Bruks chipper.

Previous experience in windrowing harvest residue for site preparation suggests productivity could be doubled by using a more appropriate excavator, with a pivoting grapple.

With that taken into account, it’s estimated that the net cost of the concentrated slash method would be similar to the two treatments that collected stemwood distributed over the site (treatments 1 and 2).

However, care should be taken that contaminants are not introduced into piles when raking slashes using this method. Net productivity and the cost of collecting and chipping the distributed biomass are presented in Table 2 (excluding the roadside treatment).

Table 3 shows the volume of biomass recovered with each method (excluding the roadside chipping treatment). Collecting all residues resulted in the highest biomass yield per hectare and the largest biomass recovery over the site. However, the increased amount of biomass recovered was made up of branches and needles, which potentially play an important role in the retention of soil moisture and nutrients. Removal of this material has important implications for future plantation productivity on the site.

The material included in the roadside piles (treatment 5) was not the same as that for the other treatments. As well as the nonmerchantable stemwood material, the piles also included material from edge trees and logs, which could have made industrial log or pulp products.

As a result, the productivity and yields from the roadside chipping site must be considered on their own and cannot be directly compared to the other four test sites for productivity and recovery. Cost and productivity for the roadside chipping operation are presented in Table 4.

A biomass yield of 36.6 green t/ ha was recorded for the roadside chipping treatment for a recovery of 43.6%.

This higher yield is believed to have resulted from the inclusion of material that was not present at the other treatments.

The amount of left-slash at the roadside site was similar for the four treatments that focused on stemwood extraction. A slightly lower amount of left-slash was recorded on the site where the excavator was used to concentrate the slash (treatment 3).

Branches, stems and needles formed the main components of the left-slash.

Chip qualities are presented in tables 6 and 7. When chipping all

 Gordon Duff.

JOHN DEERE K SE FELLER BUNCHER

residues, the percentage of large chip size (>37.5 mm) was higher than in other treatments. For all treatments most of the chips were in the range of 6.3 to 25 mm.

Chip samples from the roadside treatment had higher moisture content, probably as a result of the inclusion of larger pieces and storage for three months in a concentrated pile, which slowed drying compared with residue distributed over the harvest site (treatment 4).

Higher moisture content resulted in lower energy content (net wet

calorific value). The all-residue material had a slightly higher ash yield, most likely as a result of the inclusion of more needles and soil contaminants.

Organisations supporting this research: Hancock Victorian Plantations (HVP) Ltd supported this research by providing its plantation, equipment and resources. Scandinavian Forestry & Engineering supplied the Bruks chipper; KC & MR Boult supplied the walking-floor trucks; Carter Holt Harvey purchased the biomass chips.

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“An institute would help keep Australia at the forefront of forestry research while ensuring industry continues to benefit from the resulting efficiency and productivity gains,” said CRC for Forestry chief executive officer Professor Gordon Duff.

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Australian Forests & Timber News, May 2012 – 9

AP looks to major recycling plant A

USTRALIAN PAPER is conducting a feasibility study into the development of a major recycling plant at its Maryvale Mill and increased access to plantation wood as an update to its 2011 Future Fibre Strategy.

Chief executive officer Jim Henneberry said as Australia’s only manufacturer of recycled office and printing paper, Australian Paper had a commitment to employing local workers and using local resources to sustainably produce paper at world’s best standards.

“Currently our recycled fibre is sourced from a Victorian supplier, but due to the pending closure of that plant we are conducting a feasibility study for a large recycled pulp facility at our Maryvale Mill,” he said.

Australian Paper’s Maryvale mill is the largest private employer in the Latrobe Valley.

The proposed plant would be an important investment

in sustainable Victorian manufacturing, generating employment opportunities during construction and through on-going operations.

Henneberry said if the company proceeded, this investment would significantly increase the volume of premium recycled paper made in Australia.

“By value-adding locally, we would save large volumes of waste paper being sent to local landfills or shipped overseas,” he said.

“Our study will look at all aspects of demand and production and will be completed

by August.”

This feasibility study is part of the company’s Future Fibre Strategy, announced last year after extensive consultation with a wide range of stakeholders.

Australian Paper’s Future Fibre Strategy includes increasing the amount of plantation and recycled fibre used by the company as well as sourcing wood from

sustainable, certified sources including VicForests.

Henneberry said the company had also made significant progress in its plans to increase the use of plantation fibre.

Currently almost two thirds of Australian Paper’s needs are met from plantations and recycled waste.

“After extensive trials, we have been able to increase our plantation supply yields and have already begun to take significant additional volumes from a new Victorian supplier. We are also looking carefully at the creation of new plantations close to our Maryvale Mill,” he said.

Australian Paper manufactures Reflex, Australia’s leading brand of office copy paper as well as a wide range of recycled and carbon neutral office, envelope, printing and packaging papers.

The company directly employs almost 1,400 people across its operations.

The Victorian Association of

New Forests leads purchase of 46,000ha softwood plantation THE 46,000 hectare Auspine estate in the Green Triangle, formerly owned by Gunns, now has a new owner. Funds managed by New Forests have taken a controlling interest in the estate. New Forests’ Australia New Zealand Forest Fund is the lead investor in the transaction, which includes the land and trees of the 64-property estate.

The plantation estate will be managed by Sydney-based New Forests, an investment manager specialising in sustainable forestry and associated environmental markets.

Auspine is the second largest softwood plantation asset in the Green Triangle, one of Australia’s premier timber producing regions, spanning the border of Victoria and South Australia. The estate consists of radiata pine plantation in a region with an established track record of producing highquality softwood timber.

“This investment will deliver stable long-term ownership of the estate and reflects the potential for institutional capital to support

 New Forests’ Managing Director David Brand ... ““this investment will deliver stable long-term ownership of the estate”.

Australia’s forest sector,” said David Brand, Managing Director.

“Institutional investors are increasingly seeking real assets

such as timberland – particularly opportunities like the Auspine assets that offer a steady cash yield from sustainable timber harvest – as part of their investment programs.”

Under New Forests’ management, the estate will continue to supply local processing mills for domestic structural timbers through longterm agreements, as well as support local businesses providing property management, harvest, and transport activities.

“The Auspine estate is a great addition to New Forests’ growing Australian timberlands portfolio and will enable us to seek improved efficiencies and added value from managing a comprehensive portfolio of properties across the productive Green Triangle region,” he said.

New Forests manages approximately 375,000 hectares of plantation land and timber plantations across Australia, and the company has over $1.25 billion in assets under management in Australasia, tropical Asia Pacific, and the United States.

Forest Industries (VAFI) has welcomed the announcement by Australian Paper.

VAFI public affairs manager Shaun Ratcliff said the investment would be a win for both the local economy and the environment.

“Australian Paper’s Maryvale mill is already the largest private employer in the Latrobe Valley and the development of a recycling plant on site would reinforce this position,” Ratcliff said.

Ratcliff said Australian Paper’s efforts to increase the sustainability of its operations through investments in recycling and onsite renewable energy generation were evidence of its commitment to the environment.

“The Victorian forest and wood products industry is one of the most sustainable sectors of the economy,” he said.

“We work with an organic, renewable product that stores carbon and can be recycled and reused again and again.

“Australian Paper should be applauded for ensuring it does everything it can to ensure

that the paper manufactured in Australia and used by Australians is made in the most sustainable way possible.”

 Chief executive officer Jim Henneberry … “an important investment in sustainable Victorian manufacturing”.

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10 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

camera survellance c

Pictorial evidence of theft and vandalism L

IGHTS ….CAMERA …. action (court action, that is). The latest surveillance cameras are becoming more and more a “normal” purchase as businesses in the city and in the bush turn to technology in a bid to catch the crooks that cost them cash.

It’s not uncommon for several hundred litres of fuel to be siphoned from machines on a logging site overnight. Plus there’s wanton vandalism.

Who knows what damage has been done until machines are readied for a day’s work. Then comes the

in the forestry business for about 35 years) were justifiably incensed over the thefts and the vandalism.

Adan, an accountant by trade, said it was a case of having to do something and doing it quickly.

“It (surveillance costs) is now a recognized part of expenditure for all businesses and not just those in the city,” he said.

They installed a small camera to begin with and then added a more sophisticated version and they’re also looking at a black flash version later on. Each of the cameras is mounted at different and changing locations.

It (surveillance costs) is now a recognized part of expenditure for all businesses and not just those in the city. downtime while repairs are carried out; replacement parts; additional fuel and the list goes on.

Many in the forestry industry are starting to hit back. They just want a fair go at doing a fair day’s work.

One logging company in particular has opted for surveillance cameras at its work sites (three ground crews and one cable crew) following theft and vandalism.

GMT Logging, which operates in the Mary Valley south of Gympie in Queensland and harvests FPQ timber for Hyne’s Imbil mill, lost about $4,000 worth of gear in a couple of days – radios, tools and 700 litres of fuel from two machines.

Enough was enough so the business went to Outdoor Cameras Australia and installed a couple of the secret clickers.

Adan Taylor, a director of GMT with his dad Geoff (who has been

Adan said he first came across OCA on the web, ordered the small camera and had it delivered within days. “They’re very prompt,” he said of the OCA staff, “and they’re very helpful.”

Outdoor Cameras Australia is a family business based in Toowoomba in south east Queensland. It supplies cameras all over Australia and New Zealand.

“We originally started selling these cameras for wildlife monitoring and surveillance mainly to Government agencies,” said Damian Byrne (manager and owner of the business with his wife Janelle). “Within a few months we were selling more of them for farm security purposes.

People were being caught stealing fuel and trespassing and then being successfully prosecuted from the images. The cameras were perfect for this use due to excellent battery life,

 Damian Byrne gets ready to send out another shipment of cameras.

Eye in the sky helps with Forests NSW performance and safety FORESTS NSW is increasingly using a new tool to improve safety in the forest as well as provide for better management of harvesting operations across the Hunter, Mid North Coast, Walcha and Northern Tablelands.

The tool is known as a lidar, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, a radar-like system that uses light instead of a radio wave.

The light pulses from an aerial pass reflects off trees, shrubs, grass, buildings or the surface of the earth, which accurately identifies steep slopes, stream locations, vegetation types, roads, buildings and many other features.

This results in a more accurate impression of landscape features than can be obtained from the old stereo examination of aerial photographs and frequently finds variations from existing mapping presentations for such essentials as roads and streams.

“Forests NSW Central Region is responsible for a large area of State forest to manage and we need to ensure our staff can manage it as effectively as possible,” said Forests NSW remote sensing project manager Tony Brown.

“Lidar provides highly accurate information allowing staff to quickly and easily identify areas requiring specific management.

“For example, using lidar derived ground models office staff can identify steep areas and streams, enabling field staff to quickly locate these features on the ground and appropriately manage them.

“This data is also incorporated in operational machinery using global positioning systems (GPS), thereby reducing the amount of difficult and sometimes dangerous bushwalking our staff have to do.”

Forests NSW’s Central Region looks after 400,000 hectares of wet and dry eucalypt forests and rainforests between Gosford and Macksville.

“Within this area we carefully manage about 140,000 hectares of regrowth forests for timber production while protecting all of the old growth forest and rainforest in the region,” Brown said.

“We have lidar datum for approximately 300,000 hectares of that area, which we have sourced from other Government agencies and bought from private suppliers.

“We have a quick turnaround from data delivery to field use so we can maximise safety and efficiency gains for staff and contractors.

“Our staff look after a wide range of forest types and timber species from fast growing blackbutt and flooded gum forests on the coast, tallowwood and blue

gum forests in the foothills to the wildlife rich messmate, stringybark and manna gum forests on the Northern Tablelands.

“It is much more efficient to have a lidar-generated map covering the harvest area showing stand height and predicted volume rather than sending out ground crews to traverse the area.

“As always, time is money and staff can use the lidar information to keep working in the office if it is too wet to conduct field work.

“Forests NSW has found over many harvesting operations that the information from lidar has proven correct on the ground and accurate in providing timber volume estimates.

“The lidar provides essential help to a forest worker’s safety, as it helps to reduce staff exposure to walking steep, uneven, overgrown, leech and tick-infested areas to determine timber resources.”

Australian Forests & Timber News, May 2012 – 11

ce camera survellance Outdoor Cameras Australia is a Toowoomba-based business operated by Damian and Janelle Byrne with staff members Wayne Muller, Rod O’Leary, Stephen Byrne, Kerry Walk and Rebecca Goodman. OCA cameras were used for The Shy Creatures of East Gippsland Forests story in the highly popular Going Bush TV series -- http://www.goingbush.tv/index. php?option=com_k2&view=item &layout=item&id=5&Itemid=3

 Caught in the act.... police were able to successfully prosecute in this case.

ability to handle the heaviest of storm rain, and by being camouflaged in colour they can be hidden on trees at farm gates and on machinery,” he said.

“Now, 90% of our cameras are sold for security purposes for homes right through to large mining sites. In the two years we have been selling them they have had excellent results. In a recent program we partnered with Police and a rural Neighbourhood Watch group in North Queensland.

The cameras reduced diesel theft in the area by 85% in a year and resulted in a successful prosecution,” he said.

OCA offers cameras ranging in price from $270 through to $900.

“We have found three brands of cameras to have the best functionality

 Sales manager Wayne Muller.

and reliability - Scoutguard, Uway, and Reconyx,” Damian said.

“All of our cameras are battery operated, weather-proof, and totally portable. They are motion activated and will start taking photos or videos when triggered by movement out to 10m. Larger objects can be picked up further away.”

The Scoutguard SG550V8 is the most popular little camera. “They have proven themselves to be rugged and dependable with great battery life. Image quality during the day is excellent. They come with an image viewer that allows you to view your images when it is plugged into the camera, which is a great addition,” said sales manager Wayne Muller.

“The new Uway Black flash

cameras (NT50B) are getting very popular now. They have no infrared blink of LEDs at night like most infra-red cameras do at night.

They can’t be seen at all, and the image quality is even better than in the Scoutguards. They also have a larger image viewer with a live mode function which greatly assists in setting up the camera.

“The Reconyx cameras are our premier line of camera. They may not be as user friendly (no remote) but they have greatly increased trigger times (.2 seconds) and image speed (2/sec) which makes them ideal for picking up moving vehicles or fast moving objects. We also have black flash Reconyx models and one that is capable of picking up licence plates

of vehicles travelling up to 100km/ hr even at night. Battery life in the Reconyx cameras is quite amazing.

They can take up to 40000 images and last up to 12 months with just AA batteries,” Wayne said.

Damian said logging businesses were some of the first to buy cameras for security two years ago.

“Country people right across Australia make up the bulk of our

clients. I have been surprised by how much rural crime there is. Diesel is by far the most common thing being stolen, although sheep theft is now becoming very common too,” he said.

For GMT Logging, everything is in place to help curb theft and vandalism at their logging sites.

Smile … you’re on candid camera.

See you in court!

12 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

APPOINTMENTS

Ta Ann Tasmania appoints new executive director E

VAN ROLLEY, a former managing director of Forestry Tasmania for 16 years, has been appointed as an executive director of Ta Ann Tasmania.

He will work closely with the local management team to assist the company with product development and marketing of value added hardwood veneer products.

Rolley was managing director of Forestry Tasmania from 1990 until 2006.

In 2005 he was awarded the N.W.Jolly Medal, the Australian Institute of Foresters’ highest and most prestigious honour for outstanding service to the profession. The institute recognised his 30-year career as a professional forester as one in which he had made an outstanding contribution to forestry and the community of Tasmania.

Rolley served his apprenticeship as a field forester in Smithton in 1975, served as a District Forester in Launceston, a specialist in Fire Management Branch and six years as Forest Information Officer based in Hobart. He served as chairman of the Tasmanian division of the Institute of Foresters and oversaw the implementation stage of the Forest Practices Act as the first Chief Forest Practices Officer.

From 1987-90 he was Commissioner of Private Forests and Operations and Chief Commissioner from 1990.

He was Secretary of Premier and Cabinet 2006-07.

In more recent years, through the Huon River Trading Company, he has worked for a range of private and public companies in national and international markets.

He has farming interests in Tasmania, is a director of Tasports and Forest and Wood Products Australia Limited and also works for the Van Diemen’s Land Company in North West Tasmania.

The Tasmanian Greens have jumped on the bandwagon and questioned whether there was a conflict of interest in appointing a former boss of Forestry Tasmania to the hierarchy of Ta Ann Tasmania. The Greens deputy leader Tim Morris said he was not convinced it was a healthy appointment.

However, Premier Lara Giddings dismissed the Greens’ concerns as “political”.

Long-serving trustee calls it a day

 Peter Zed ... “my resignation will allow the Trust to balance industry representation”.

AFTER MORE than 11 years of service to the Gottstein Memorial Trust Peter Zed has resigned as a Trustee.

“I have come to this decision after determining that we have no representative from South Australia and currently two Trustees who are based in Queensland,” he said. “As we currently have the maximum number of Trustees allowed under the Trust Deed, my resignation will allow the Trust to balance industry representation.

“I have been pleased to serve with the Gottstein Trust in its capacity

as the national education trust of the Australian forest industries and it has been a highlight to see the quality of the fellows who have come through over this time,” he said.

Chairman of the JW Gottstein Memorial Trust Peter Gunnersen praised the contribution of Zed to the Trust. “Peter’s experience and counsel have significantly contributed to the outcomes of the Trust’s activities. I applaud Peter’s move to enable all the Australian States to again be represented on the Trust.”

New CEO to assume total responsibility for Group operations ONE OF New Zealand’s largest mechanical project engineering companies, the Southern Cross Engineering Group, has appointed Paul Thorn to the newly-created position of Chief Executive Officer, reporting to the Group’s Managing Director, Graeme McMaster.

Thorn has a Bachelor of Engineering degree with first class honours, majoring in Applied Mechanics, and is a graduate of the University of Technology, Sydney. He takes up his appointment from a former position as Auckland-based General Manager of Visy Recycling NZ Limited, where he held complete responsibility for strategic, financial and operational accountability.

He has had extensive experience in the corporate sector, both in New Zealand and overseas. He previously held various marketing, operational and manufacturing roles with Winstone Wallboards, a subsidiary of Fletcher Building, where he was primarily responsible for the retention of market share and development of growth strategies. Prior to that, an appointment as General Manager Operations for a Fletcher Challenge initiative in Chile saw him involved in evaluating the feasibility of a plaster and plasterboard business in that country.

“Taking on the role at SCE was driven by my personal desire to return, professionally, to a role that demanded the skills of my basic training in engineering,” said Thorn. “It also required the leadership qualities that I had honed over many years of industrial experience within New Zealand and Australia.

“I wanted to help build and deliver useful, large scale solutions that solve real problems for real people.

“The SCE role offered that opportunity, particularly within an organisation that has had a long history; nearly 60 years, of undertaking and solving such engineering problems. Everything from building sawmills and timber equipment as its mainstream service; to ship loaders, mining, quarrying and industrial processing equipment, SCE has done it and can do it all! All because of a pretty smart bunch of close-knit people who are more family than company. The clincher for me was the potential opportunity for ‘skin in the game’ in being involved with SCE,” Thorn said.

Thorn said the immediate challenge was to gain the confidence of this smart bunch of people within the SCE Group and “assure them that I can fill the shoes of the Ol’ Master, Graeme McMaster.

In the longer term, I hope to see the Group diversify its client base beyond the traditional timber and sawmilling industries to other industries that require our skills, which will support our growth and shield us from specific industry economic cycles.”

The company operates throughout New Zealand, Australia and also handles major projects throughout the Pacific Rim countries, with manufacturing premises in Christchurch.

Southern Cross Engineering was established in 1954 with a commitment to technical expertise, quality, innovation and service.

Steve takes on new role ONETRAK, IN line with the introduction of the new Tigercat franchise, has sought to fill a new position of Product Manager for the Tigercat brand and forestry products.

“It is with great pleasure that I can announce the internal recruitment of Steve McKiernan to this role,” said David Hazell, Onetrack managing director.

“Steve has been with Onetrak in a key sales role for four years and has excelled in this position, having recently being awarded the national endorsement for highest sales turnover by an individual sale

executive by Hyundai Construction Equipment Australia,” he said.

Steve started his career working as a diesel fitter and spent 26 years working with competitors such as William Adams and Komatsu before running his own mechanical business. He spent considerable time working on forestry machines during this time at the Otway Ranges in Victoria and has refined his skills over the last four plus years on sales and account management.

“I know Steve will do well in this role and play a key role in the strategic development of Onetrak’s

 Steve McKiernan, the new Product Manager for the Tigercat brand and forestry products.

product offering to the specialist forestry industry and its diverse contractor base,” David said.

 SCE Managing Director Graeme McMaster with Chief Executive Officer Paul Thorn.

Australian Forests & Timber News, May 2012 – 13

ForestrySA signs new export contract to the West

It’s a great opportunity for the industry after seeing timber poles being substituted by concrete and steel for so many years.

T

REES IN the south east of South Australia are now bound for the far, far west; the west of Australia that is. ForestrySA is excited to announce a contract has now been signed with the innovative Western Poles Company, suppliers of treated and natural wood poles.

Ten years ago, Western Poles Company pioneered the use of the pine pole as a distribution utility pole, or more commonly known as a “stobie pole” to South Australians [invented

by Adelaide Electricity Supply Company design engineer James Cyril Stobie in the early 20s]. The market at the time was traditionally dominated by hardwood poles and now a decade later the softwood pine pole is in high demand.

The demand is so high in fact that Western Poles Company cannot meet its needs from local Western Australian pine plantations and is now looking to ForestrySA to supply Western Australia with its first 5,000 tonne shipment of logs to be manufactured into power poles.

The company also imports hardwood poles from New South Wales and is now also turning to ForestrySA’s pine plantations in the Green Triangle Region to further satisfy the market.

Managing director of Western Poles Company, Anthony Ridolfo says he is “excited about working with ForestrySA for the supply of poles as its forests are incredibly well managed, of very good form

and a bit nearer for us than New South Wales!”

The benefit of softwood as a building material is in its uniformity, strength and its long life. Furthermore, it is a renewable resource providing a natural product.

“It’s a great opportunity for the industry after seeing timber poles being substituted by concrete and steel for so many years,” said ForestrySA’s chief executive Islay Robertson.

Western Poles Company has one of the longest histories in poles construction and manufacture of any Australian company. The connection between the Ridolfo Group and power poles stretches back to 1957 when founder Vince Ridolfo was contracted to locate, harvest, prepare and transport suitable timber for what was then the State Energy Commission of WA. In the early years only untreated jarrah, harvested from sites throughout WA’s south west, was used to supply the long, straight timber required.

Operating from depots in Picton, Keysbrook and Dwellingup, Western Poles has developed and sourced innovative products to meet the changing needs of customers.

Western Poles introduced what was believed to be the world’s first bar coded wood utility pole with full track and trace capability along its supply chain. The new process involves the fitment of multiple unique barcode tags that are scanned from the moment the raw pole arrives from the forest

 ForestrySA’s general manager sales, Adrian Hatch (left) and Western Poles Company managing director Anthony Ridolfo.

until it is finally delivered to its end location months later.

Western Poles offers a complete integrated cradle to grave pole supply solution with

the advantage of full traceability at any stage of the supply chain.

Approved users can also log into Western Poles’ website to obtain a full history of any

pole supplied including the harvesting location, treatment and inspection certificates and comprehensive proof of delivery (POD) with GPS coordinates.

Refurbishment for popular Macquarie Woods picnic area FORESTS NSW plans to start a 12 month refurbishment of Macquarie Woods within Vittoria State Forest, halfway between Bathurst and Orange.

Forests NSW acting stewardship forester for the Macquarie Region, Jack Cotterill, said the popular picnic area was used by a wide range of people from across the country as a quiet, clean and safe place to camp when travelling, or just to unwind on the weekends.

“Forests NSW is committed to not only maintaining a viable timber industry in the region, but also maintaining recreation areas such as Macquarie Woods,” he said.

“Vittoria State Forest is part of the 65,000 hectares of pine plantation estate in the Central West managed

by Forests NSW. “We are very excited about the refurbishment of Macquarie Woods, which will ensure that campers are able to enjoy the region’s forests for many years to come.”

“The refurbishment is the first of three Forests NSW projects which will focus on improving roads, car parking and facilities at the site to improve visitor comfort,” Cotterill said.

M acquarie Woods information shed.

“The second project involves the establishment of 150 hectares or 165,000 radiata pine seedlings on previously vacant land within Vittoria State Forest to commercial pine plantation. Preparation for this winter planting has started.

“After about 30 years these pines will be harvested and are expected to provide a healthy yield of timber to be processed locally.

“In addition to vacant land being planted, Forests NSW will also be re-planting approximately 40 hectares of Vittoria State Forest destroyed by wildfire in 2009.”

The third project entails the enhancement of a number of environmental and cultural features within Vittoria State Forest.

“A number of water courses within the forest, which have been affected by fire, will be restored so that creeks can flow more freely,” Cotterill said.

“Protection of Cashen’s Cottage, a heritage listed site, and a number of memorial sites will also be an important focus of our redevelopment operations.”

Cotterill said the new plantation

site was located outside the picnic area, and would provide a good demonstration of plantation establishment for the public visiting this State forest.

Anyone planning to visit Macquarie Woods picnic area should be aware that equipment may be moving across the area during the course of the redevelopment.

14 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

FWPA

A tiny wasp saves the day

By Matthew Lovering

D

ISCOVERED IN Australia in 1998, the accidentally introduced and destructive Monterey pine aphid has cost the wood production industry millions of dollars.

The Monterey pine aphid (Essigella californica) was discovered on pine trees in Canberra in March 1998, and by 2004 a CSIRO report estimated the aphid reduced annual wood production in NSW, Victoria and the Green Triangle by $21 million.

The aphid was also present in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania, and the forestry industry needed to find an effective control method.

Now, after an intensive research program funded by Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA), a tiny wasp has come to the rescue.

If it can reduce aphid numbers by just 10% industry could expect savings of about two million dollars per year. In other successful biological control programs using similar wasps control levels have typically been closer to 50%.

SARDI, the South Australian Research and Development Institute, to find a biological control agent suitable for Australian conditions.

Entomologist Dr Richard Glatz led the research. “The 2004 report showed that the only real costeffective option the industry had was a biological control, and it turned out there was a fairly obvious candidate. In 2002 some scientists in the United States described a wasp, Diaeretus essigellae, that was supposed to be a specific parasite of the aphid,” says Dr Glatz, “so we had what’s called a classical biocontrol project, where you go to the pest’s country of origin, find its natural enemy, bring that back into the country where you want the control to happen, do testing to show it’s going to be specific against your target, then you can release it.”

The D. essigellae wasp is a member of a subfamily that only attacks aphids, and only attacks a single subfamily of aphids and generally only one or two species within that subfamily. This specificity is because the wasps are internal parasites of the aphid and

 D.essigellae wasp female. Photo: South Australian Research and Development Institute

 Close-up winged Monterey Pine aphid. Photo: South Australian Research and Development Institute

The Monterey pine aphid is not considered a pest in its native home territory of western North America, including Canada and Mexico. But in Australia it’s a different matter. Aphid infestation causes chlorosis (pine needle yellowing or whitening) that leads to defoliation of the mid and upper crowns of pine trees, with more severe defoliation in drier years and an increase in severity in older trees. This leads to less effective photosynthesis, and for stands over 10 years of age the average reduction in tree growth is estimated at 6.2%, a significant impact!

In 2005, FWPA commissioned

use specific molecular interactions to successfully develop within the aphid body, avoiding the immune response of the aphid.

In Australia more than 20 different wasp species closely related to D. essigellae have been released previously to attack very defined aphid pests.

Although the Monterey pine aphid is quite small, only 1.5 to 2 millimetres long, the wasp is even smaller being generally less than 1.5 millimetres long.

The wasp doesn’t kill the aphid immediately for food; rather the female wasp lays an egg inside the aphid. The egg hatches and the

 Bill Kimber catches wasps in quarantine cage. Photo by Matt Lovering.

wasp larva feeds on the aphid’s non-essential tissues such as blood and fat. After nearly two weeks the wasp larva begins to pupate within the aphid. This causes the aphid to die and form a hard skin shell called an aphid ‘mummy’.

After about another week the wasp emerges as an adult, ready to mate and start the process again. Each female wasp can lay eggs in more than 50 aphids.

“The wasp doesn’t sting things in the way that most people would consider a sting, such as from a honeybee or a European wasp.

They do have venom but it’s not a defensive venom, it’s basically an immune suppressive venom to allow the egg to develop in the aphid host. And because they’re so small—the length of a stinger is 1/10 of a millimetre long—they couldn’t penetrate your skin even if they wanted to. They just lay eggs into aphid hosts and they can’t lay eggs into a human so they wouldn’t try,” said Dr Glatz.

Finding and releasing the wasp into Australia was a complex and time-consuming task.

“One of our main challenges was to locate the wasp, which isn’t even well known in America. It was only described in 2002 from a very few specimens that were already dead so it had never been seen alive.

“We knew where it existed, so we had people in California go out into pine forests and look for parasitised aphids on pine trees.”

Despite their best efforts looking through pine forests, the American researchers found no wasps that first year. The next spring the researchers changed strategy. The only known (dead) wasps had been collected from Monterey pine aphid mummies on pine trees growing on the Riverside Campus of the University of California.

When researchers went to reexamine those particular trees they immediately found aphid mummies with wasps pupating inside. Eventually over 900 mummies were sent to the Waite Campus quarantine facility at the

University of Adelaide in South Australia.

The researchers had to get Federal Government approval to import the wasps into the quarantine facility, but before they could be released into Australian plantations researchers had to spend several years proving D. essigellae would only target Monterey pine aphids and never become a threat to any other aphid.

We knew where it existed, so we had people in California go out into pine forests and look for parasitised aphids on pine trees.

In consultation with a panel of independent experts and Government officials the researchers determined a list of eight aphids for testing out of the nearly 160 aphid species that exist in Australia (less than 20 aphid species are native to Australia).

There were two ways aphids were selected for testing: firstly those aphids that are closely related to Monterey pine aphids (no native species) and therefore would most likely be a potential target for the wasps, and secondly those aphids that may live in a pine forest and, as a result, encounter wasps.

The tests were the Choice test and the No-choice test. In the Choice test the wasps were put in a cage with a range of aphids to see if they only attack the target aphid. The

No-choice test is designed to force the wasps to attack something they normally wouldn’t. The wasps were put in a cage only with other aphid species, but they never attacked any other aphid. Both tests proved that D. essigellae wasps would only attack Monterey pine aphids.

The results were submitted to the Federal Government, and, after more than a year of Parliament and other experts considering the findings, the Minister for Environment, Heritage and the Arts gave approval for release. “The first release from the quarantine facility was here at Waite in late 2009,”says Richard.

To March 2012 there have been about 95 releases for industry at about 70 sites across five States and the ACT. Although there’s no evidence yet that wasps have survived over winter, aphid mummies, which could have come from the release batch of wasps, have been found at four sites in the Green Triangle, three sites in North East Victoria, two sites in NSW and two sites in Queensland.

Between one and 16 mummies were found at each of those sites, with Warrenbayne, near Benalla in Victoria, having the most mummies.

Monitoring for such small insects is very time-consuming; researchers are only able to scan the lower branches of release trees and those immediately around them.

Since the initial release in 2009 aphid numbers have generally remained too low to produce obvious populations of wasps; however, researchers suspect the wasp has established in low numbers, and if aphid numbers rise the wasps will come into their own.

“We would hope that we get significant control of this pest over time. In terms of dollar value if we just get 10% control of the pest, which is a reachable target, we’re looking at about two million dollars per year in savings to the industry. If you consider that the whole project cost about one million dollars over seven years then that’s a good return on the investment,” says Richard.

Australian Forests & Timber News, May 2012 – 15

Report to compare Australian and US views on native forest biomass A

COMPARATIVE report on attitudes toward use of native forest biomass is the very topical research project underway by a parliamentary intern placed with Senator Richard Colbeck’s office this semester.

Mandi Caldwell, from The College of Brockport, State University of New York, is studying in Australia as a participant in the Australian National Internships Program (ANIP).

ANIP places tertiary students in professional environments, including Parliament House, where they gain valuable work experience and also complete a major research project.

“Mandi has been studying sciences and social studies, with a focus on the natural environment, and she has an interest in associated regulatory matters,” Senator Colbeck said.

“For her research project, Mandi will be looking at the political, social and scientific attitudes towards using native forest waste, or biomass, to generate energy.

“As well as gauging attitudes here in Australia, Mandi will also gather the views of equivalent lawmakers and organisations in the United States and her report will compare the outlooks of each country.

“Native forest biomass, specifically its acceptance

as a renewable energy source, generated heated debate in Parliament a few weeks ago so Mandi’s project is very relevant to current discussions.

“Despite the defeat of Independent MP Rob Oakeshott’s motion to make native wood waste eligible for Renewable Energy Target certificates, this issue is still very much on the public agenda and I have no doubt it will be back in the Australian Parliament again before too long,” Senator Colbeck said.

Caldwell said ANIP was a great opportunity for students to develop professional and research skills.

“I am very grateful for the unique experience ANIP has given me. Forestry is a complex topic with numerous perspectives and I am enjoying the opportunity to meet with so many people with different outlooks”, she said.

The Australian National Internships Program is administered from the Australian National University campus in Canberra. It is open to enrolled tertiary students studying at Australian or overseas universities and takes both undergraduate and graduate students in any discipline.

Industry stakeholders and interested non-Government organisations are welcome to offer their views for Ms Caldwell’s consideration. (Contact can be made via Senator Colbeck’s office: (03) 6424 5960 or senator.colbeck@aph.gov.au)

 Senator Colbeck and ANIP Intern Mandi Caldwell at Parliament House, Canberra.

Development of ecologically sustainable forestry practices essential to achieving balance RESEARCH SCIENTIST Dr Sue Baker is one of three Tasmanian recipients of the Fulbright Scholarship that funds research and cultural exchange in the USA. Dr Baker has been either a staff member or a university collaborator with Forestry Tasmania since the mid-1990s when she started work as Forest Entomology Research Technician after graduating with a forestry degree from Melbourne University, and later being appointed as a Research Scientist.

Currently working with the university in close collaboration with Forestry Tasmania, she coordinates a research project aimed at sustainable native forest harvesting practices.

Her research focuses predominantly on the benefits

of retention forestry practices in relation to biodiversity conservation, with Sue strongly believing that the development of ecologically sustainable forestry practices is essential to achieving a balance between environmental, social and economic values.

The development of timber harvesting methods that permanently retain elements from the pre-harvest stand were first developed in Washington USA in the early 1990s. Aggregated retention, where patches of trees are retained within harvested areas, retains species within the unlogged retention patches and in turn provides source populations for plants and ground-living invertebrates to re-establish following logging moderates.

Passing of man with a vision for forestry MEMBERS OF the New Zealand Institute of Forestry, Te Putahi Ngaherehere o Aotearoa, are saddened by the death of Honorary Member, Sir Peter Tapsell at the age of 82.

Sir Peter was made an honorary member of the Institute in 1990 after serving as Minister of Forests from August 1987 to February 1990, during the second term of the fourth Labour Government.

His three overseas missions in which forestry was a major interest - to Scandinavia, Canada and Chile, to Korea and Japan, and to Scandinavia, the United Kingdom and USSR - reinforced Minister Tapsell’s conviction that forestry had much to offer New Zealand and he became an advocate for a closer working relationship between the radiata pine growers of New Zealand, Australia and Chile.

Following the disestablishment of the Forest Service in March 1987 and with the subsequent proposed sale of State forests to the private sector Sir Peter became concerned about the maintenance of New Zealand’s forest management standards. He saw a Forest Policy, and maybe a new Forest Act, as a contribution to maintaining a high standard of forest stewardship in New Zealand. He recognised that dialogue was the key to acceptance of both the Policy and the Act and began the process with interested parties. Unfortunately he lost his ministerial position before he could complete the task.

Dr Baker’s Fulbright scholarship research will investigate the relationship between distance from unlogged retention and both invertebrate and plant community responses.

The scholarship will allow Dr Baker a unique opportunity to sample in the worlds earliest aggregated retention sites (harvested in approximately

1989-1991) and compare with more recently harvested sites (mid-late 2000s), both in Washington, USA and Tasmania, Australia.

The study will be unique in assessing longer-term impacts, since virtually all other studies into retention forestry practices have assessed short-term responses over the first few

years following harvesting. It is expected that this study will provide the most comprehensive assessment (on both temporal and geographic scales) of forestry objectives relating to recovery of native biodiversity in harvested areas, with the outcomes having global implications – guiding forest management practices in Australia and abroad.

Pellet exports reach a record high Pellet exports from North America to Europe reached a new record high in the final quarter of 20114Q/11.

Shipments have increased practically every quarter for four years, up from 130,000 tons in the 1Q/08 to almost 600,000 ton in the 4Q/12, according to the North American Wood Fibre Review (NAWFR).

Export data collected by NAWFR (www. woodprices.com) from exporters and customs information in both North America and Europe show that wood pellet shipments reached just over two million tons in 2011, up almost 300% from 2008.

Pellet producers in British Columbia have been the major exporters since the first shipments 12 years ago but this changed in the second half of 2011 when expanded investments in new capacity in the US South put US shipments on par with Canada.

Six pellet export plants, widely varying in capacity, are now operating in the US South.

Four others have shipped trial shipments the past six months and six additional export oriented pellet plants have been announced, making it highly likely that there will be significant export growth over the next 24 months.

In Eastern Canada, exports in the 4Q/11 remained unchanged from the previous quarter when volumes declined primarily due to the closure of the Enligna pellet plant in Nova Scotia. However, there are plans by a new owner to re-start the idled plant later this year.

In 2012, small increases in volumes from both the US and Canada will likely occur, with more

significant export growth due in 2013. At that time, new export-oriented pellet plants now being constructed are scheduled to begin operations.

On the receiving end of pellet exports to Europe, utilities in the Netherlands, the UK, and Belgium continue to be the largest consuming destinations of North American pellets with the UK showing the steadiest and most vigorous growth.

16 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

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 8375 9827

INTERNATIONAL 2012 9 May Global Wood Products: Industry & Market Conference - Vancouver, Canada. info@woodmarkets.com 9-11 May International Seminar “Assessing Forest Governance in a Context of Change”.

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina May 18-22 20th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition 2012, Milano Convention Centre – MiCo, Milano, Italy 18-27 May Biological Reaction of Forests to Climate and Air Pollution. Kaunas, Lithuania 21-24 May Tackling climate change: The contribution of forest scientific knowledge. Tours, France 22 May 3rd International Conference on Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Forest Fires New Forest, United Kingdom 22-24 May Forests for People – International experiences and the vital role for the future. Alpbach/tyrol, Austria.

29-31 May World Bioenergy Conference and Exhibition. Elmia, Jönköping, Sweden. www.worldbioenergy.com 29 May-2 June CONEXPO - Moscow, Russia. www.aem.org 6-8 June Forexpo 2012 - Mimizan, France. www.forexpo.mediaforest.net 10 June International Paper Physics Conference Stockholm, Sweden 13-16 June KWF Expo 2012 - Bopfingen, Germany. www.kwf-tagung.org/en/kwf-tagung/ kwf-expo.html 18 June 6th International Conference on High Performance Structures and Materials New Forest, United Kingdom 25-27 June AEBIOM European Bioenergy Conference 2012, Renaissance Hotel in Brussels, Belgium 26-30 June International Conference on New Frontiers of Forest Economics.

Zurich, Switzerland 8-13 July 2012 IUFRO All-Division 5 Conference.

Lisbon, Portugal 23-27 July 3rd International Conference on Soil Bio- and Eco-Engineering - The Use of Vegetation to Improve Slope Stability.

Vancouver, Canada 27-29 July 2012 Lumberjack World Championships - Wisconsin, USA. www.lumberjackchampionships.com 28-31 August Second International Conference on Biodiversity in Forest Ecosystems and Landscapes. Cork, Ireland

Minister’s claims of success borne out by industry experience C

LAIMS BY the Skills Minister Chris Evans that the National Workforce Development Fund had been largely successful to date has been borne out by the experience of the forest, wood, paper and timber products industry.

The Minister told the National Press Club that the NWDF had achieved success in encouraging and enabling employers to train their staff in new skills to keep pace with the changes in industry.

ForestWorks chief executive officer Michael Hartman said this was certainly the experience in the industries that ForestWorks Industry Skills Council was responsible for.

“The National Workforce Development Fund has been remarkably successful in providing an extra boost to employers in the forest, wood, paper and timber industry to provide additional training for their staff,” Hartman said.

“As the Industry Skills Council, ForestWorks is uniquely placed to judge the effectiveness of this scheme and what we have seen is a really strong uptake from employers combined with very positive feedback.

“For example, on the Mid-North Coast of NSW an NWDF collaboration has been brokered between the NSW Forest Products Association, the Port Macquarie-Hasting Forests Taskforce and ForestWorks.

“A funding injection of $106,000 was obtained from the fund and this, along with the employer contribution, was put toward training and workforce development in the forest and timber products industry,” said Hartman.

“To date, a total of 90 learners from 12 businesses have benefited from this one project alone by starting new training with funding from the NWDF. “Employers are benefiting greatly from the NWDF by ensuring their workforce stays strong and productive, while workers are benefitting by gaining the skills they need to stay secure in the workforce.”

“The Minister is correct in pointing to the success of the NWDF and the Federal Government should continue to support this important program.”

 Michael Hartman.

From the ForestWorks files FORESTWORKS’ 5th Annual Industry Development Conference will be held on 30-31 October.

Based on participant feedback, the conference will again be held in Canberra for the opportunities it provides to meet and engage with members of Parliament, both during the conference proceedings and at the Industry Liaison Dinner at Parliament House.

Once again in 2012 ForestWorks will work with First Super to feature Australian and international presentations on the future opportunities and challenges for manufacturing timber, wood and paper products in Australia’s advanced and multi-speed economy. Following positive feedback, the 2012 conference will again include smaller group sessions.

Scan 2012 now available Each year ForestWorks is commissioned by the Federal Government to publish a ‘scan’ of our industry. The publication documents the global and domestic factors influencing our industry, looks at these issues from a skills and employment viewpoint and makes recommendations to both industry and Government on workforce development. This document is critical to government appreciation of our industry’s contribution to the Australian economy and regional communities. As a ‘living’ document, ForestWorks continuously

gathers feedback and intelligence from across the industry for consideration and analysis.

Send your views to skillscan@forestworks. com.au

Celebrating Tassie skills Former forestry workers in Tassie have celebrated having their skills recognised at special graduation ceremonies in Smithton and Deloraine. Bryan Green MP, Deputy Premier of Tasmania and Member for Braddon, presented recipients with their qualification certificates in Smithton. And there were plenty of family members and friends to applaud the success of the recent graduates.

ForestWorks’ Workers Assistance service will continue to provide positive pathways for the future of displaced workers. We find that many of the workers from this industry have skills and capabilities that they themselves do not recognise, but we do and so do new employers.

If you interact with any displaced forest industry workers not yet participating in the Workers Assistance service, please ask them to contact us on 1800 177 001 so we can assist them in finding career development, training and employment.

Forging a new way forward There was a great level of participation and enthusiasm at the first meeting of the South Australia Skills and Training Advisory Committee (STAC) held recently in Mt Gambier. Chaired by Phil Howe of Forestry SA, the committee ensures the SA industry can share information across sectors, identify workforce development trends and speak with a unified voice on skill issues. In these challenging times for industry it is gratifying to institute such a cohesive and positive group for the SA industry.

The next SA STAC meeting will be held on 18 June in Adelaide.

Skills & Employment Council ForestWorks welcomed 35 attendees at the first Skills and Employment Council (SEC) meeting for 2012. Council members were presented with four recently drafted research and information papers. There was particularly robust and positive discussion about building knowledge and addressing our industry’s potential for innovative capacity.

SEC is the key mechanism for ForestWorks to engage with industry on a national level. This engagement assists us with providing Government with accurate industry advice concerning the priority work areas for current and future skills and training needs.

FT helps the future of something from the past THE ON-GOING restoration project for the sail training vessel Lady Nelson has been helped along by a donation of logs from the North East of Tasmania.

The trust set up to manage the Lady Nelson asked Forestry Tasmania if it could supply some oregon ships’ timbers for maintenance. Bass district forest manager Peter Bird said the request came just as harvesting was winding up at the site of the Headquarters Road irrigation dam.

“We had a good supply of Douglas Fir logs, which yields oregon, so it was quite timely.”

Rob Thomas, chairman of the Tasmanian Sail Training Association, said two eight-metre logs would be used to replace the bow sprit and jib boom at the very front of the ship.

“It’s all a long program of replacement because these timbers will need at least 18 months to properly dry out for use. It’s also very good to know this resource is here, because these size and species of logs can be very hard to find.”

The logs were collected and transported with the help of Dorset Tilt Tray transport and local farmer Mark Coniston, who was called in to load the truck.

The building of the Lady Nelson replica was completed as a bi-centenary project at Kettering in 1988 after a team of volunteers followed plans for the original brig built in England in 1799.

The 60-tonne survey ship played a central role in the establishment of Tasmania, helping to carry both the foundation settlers of Hobart and Port Dalrymple from Sydney.

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18 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

Forest and timber industry feature event was a definite winner

John Hudswell, Editor

I

’VE BEEN involved in events like this for many years, all over the world and AUSTimber 2012 is the best I have experienced.”

That quote from Robert Sanders, Market Development Engineer/ Demo Operator, Caterpillar, summed it all up for the fouryearly feature event of the forest and timber industry, held on a specially designed site about 22km from Mount Gambier (the forestry capital of South Australia).

With the accommodation, spending and general visibility of AUSTimber attendees in Mt Gambier and the surrounding district, local people were impressed with the size of the event and the geographic extent of the industry and its participants. In fact, it was estimated the event was worth more than $12 million to the region.

Dozens of others were also high in praise of the event that “had it all”.

The specially laid out forest walk through the huge array of specialist forest machines gave a close-up insight for many who had never seen such forestry work before and it gave others a chance to see what the opposition was up to.

Every facet of work was covered.

Organisers should be commended on the ease of access to virtually all areas, and to those who exhibited in the pavilions there seemed to be an almost never-ending stream of people checking out the services on offer.

The special biofuel and bioenergy section attracted a great deal of interest.

Right from the outset, the AUSTimber 2012 site was a hive of activity and the pace didn’t slacken off until the final bell.

The AFCA executive was pleased and proud of how AUSTimber panned out. AFCA manager David Drane said feedback had been very positive. “All of the machinery suppliers were extremely pleased with the layout of the forest walk and they were able to display their equipment working in a real forest environment.

“Undoubtedly all of the recognition of the success of the event needs to go to AUSTimber general manager David Quill and his team who worked so hard both

in the lead up to and during the event.

“Added to the expo, the “Precision Forestry” conference, Contractors Hall of Fame induction dinner and the AUSTimber Welcome Dinner which attracted

contractor. “It shows this industry has still got a lot to offer.”

Caterpillar global forestry industry manager Mike Duncan said the Australasian region was very important to Cat’s total global sales effort, “so it was an easy

principal, has seen a lot of shows in his time but he reckons this one was a beauty.

“In regards to the whole of the AUSTimber2012 event including continued next page.

It was the first time I’ve seen so many family groups going through … normally on a Saturday at events such as this they are packing up by midday. Families were still strolling by at 3pm.

650 people and raised $50,000 for charity, all contributed to a very busy few days in Mt Gambier,” said David.

The AFCA Board is expecting to be presented with an indepth report on the whole event sometime during May and will subsequently make decisions on its future delivery.

One industry stalwart made particular mention of the number of family groups taking in all the work sites ... “it was the first time I’ve seen so many family groups going through … normally on a Saturday at events such as this they are packing up by midday.

Families were still strolling by at 3pm”.

“It was great to see all the manufacturers and operators supporting this event,” said one

decision for us not only to be an exhibitor, but to display both our pine harvesting and eucalyptus harvesting solutions.

“Our entire team by end of show felt it was a complete success for Caterpillar.”

“It was a great show, that’s for sure, full credit to the organizers,” said Jules Larsen of Waratah.

Some of the feedback Jules received included: “Large amount of work put into the sites, amazing.”

“Great having it all together, live and static.”

“Thanks very much for our child’s Waratah - hi viz … she slept in it last night.”

Jules said Waratah had been delighted with multiple orders placed at the show itself.

Lex McLean, Forest Centre

Australian Forests & Timber News, May 2012 – 19

This is a great vote of confidence in the industry, and that, despite the challenges facing us, we still believe the sector has a long, bright future. continued from previous page. the AFCA and opening dinners it was a first class event and very well done and congratulations to all those involved.

“I have been to every Canadian Demo [except one] since 1984 and have only missed one ELMIA since 1983 and have not missed an Australian show since 1980.

“The AUSTimber site, the layout with the forest walks, the close proximity of the pine, the eucalyptus and static sites and combined with the actual equipment work areas was excellent.

“The forest walk enabled all equipment displays to be viewed in a short walking distance and was the best layout I have been to. Our congratulations from the Forest Centre team is passed on to all those involved,” said Lex. Overall consensus from all at Tigercat and customers was that the AUSTimber expo was an extremely good event, both for Tigercat as an exhibitor and for the industry in general. “David Quill and all his crew at AUSTimber were extremely good to deal with, and this made set-up for the displays very easy for us, and again all the team must be congratulated on the layout of the expo as a whole,” the official Tigercat summation said.

Komatsu Forest Australia national sales manager Brenton Yon described the AUSTimber layout as superb, and added that, overall, his crew received more genuine sales inquiries than ever before.

“The interest in all our machines was exceptional,” he said, “and this was helped by the positive layout and the ease with which everyone could get around.”

Brenton said the release of new machines was always big news and generated interest, but with the forestry site it meant that static

and live displays were given even more prominence.

Randalls Equipment managing director Peter Randalls was another who was high in praise of the event.

“I would have to say the show layout was much better than years before. Our company was involved in the first forestry equipment show held in Oberon area back in the late 70’s and it’s come a very long way since then. David Quill and his AUSTimber crew should be congratulated on putting together a great event ,” Peter said.

Air CTI chief Chet Kline was yet another with praise for the event … “we met a lot of different people we would not otherwise have met. We had three groups of South Africans, one group from Papua New Guinea, several from northern Queensland, to name but a few,” he said. “It was a lot better by far than the last AUSTimber.”

CBC Bearing & Transmissions, which had its booth set up one of the pavilions, was high in praise of the event and, according to a spokesman, the number of genuine inquiries and leads was definitely something worth mentioning.

“Maybe it wasn’t the biggest crowd I had seen at such an event, but it was as though each person was there on a specific mission; people who went there were serious,” he said.

And this resulted in some positive work for CBC. “It is impressive that so many people have come to the conference and that so many companies are showcasing their products over the two days of the expo – to me this is a great vote of confidence in the industry, and that, despite the challenges facing us, we still believe the sector has a long, bright future,” said Sid Sidebottom, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

AUSTimber 2012 had it all ... kicking the week off was the two-day symposium “Precision Forestry in Advance”. This Symposium is one of a sequence held every couple of years in different locations around the world, which attract an international audience of precision

forestry practitioners, academics and providers.

The Precision Forestry in Advance theme focused on looking forward into new precision forestry developments with a link to some operational methods.

Topics covered software tools and decision support systems, monitoring systems, data analysis and planning systems. The keynote address was delivered by Rob de Fegely, newly-elected President of the Institute of Foresters of Australia (also representing Cloudy Bay Sustainable Forestry).

Then came the Australian Forest Contractors Association

Australia’s fastest skier ever regardless of limb count, cyclist, trekker, triathlete, Paralympian, Olympian – was the guest speaker.

He is a man who doesn’t know the meaning of boundaries. His life, his achievements and his goals can only serve as an inspiration to us all. Senator Richard Colbeck was the after dinner speaker and with his vast knowledge of and understanding of the forestry and timber industry his message was warmly welcomed.

A Women in Forests and Timber Network conference was completed with ForestWorks taking on the management of

The AUSTimber site, the layout with the forest walks, the close proximity of the pine, the eucalyptus and static sites and combined with the actual equipment work areas was excellent.

Hall of Fame function. Stalwarts and pioneers of the industry were given due recognition of their commitment, dedication and professionalism at the third induction since the Hall’s foundation.

Next on the busy schedule was the ForestWorks-sponsored Precision Forestry in Action conference which featured speakers from around the world. Again, a worldclass list of speakers addressed an estimated 200 delegates at the daylong conference. The John Deeresponsored luncheon gave the forestry machinery manufacturer the chance to highlight its 175 year history.

The Caterpillar-sponsored welcome dinner was held on the Thursday evening and, as is usually the case, the function was also home to the muchvaunted charity auction (this year’s recipient of the $50,000 raised was ac.care). More than 600 people attended the function at which Michael Milton - world and Australian record holder,

the network. A proposal was presented to ForestWorks at the final workshop of the project series, which was held during AUSTimber.

The proposal provided recommendations on how to take the network forward into the future. The network will

provide an opportunity to raise the profile of women in the forests and timber industry.

The first day of the expo at the site saw Caterpillar sponsor a breakfast at which it launched its new 568LL, Australia’s first new 500 Series Cat Forest Machine.

Logset also released its new 10F Forwarder. This new machine was test driven by a number of ace operators and all gave it the thumbs up. Logset has also established a full service workshop (and a comprehensive array of parts) in Mount Gambier. Komatsu Forest released the 300 Forest Extreme, the 400 Forest Extreme, the TimberPro 840B long length hardwood system, and the Valmet 398 Softwood Head.

Waratah Forestry Attachments also used the occasion to showcase its new H625C harvester head.

Friday night saw Komatsu Forest play host to a huge gathering of people to celebrate the Australian company’s 21st birthday.

The final day of the expo was again action-packed with the constant harvesting, forwarding, stacking, haulage and chipping plus the Komatsu Forwarder Competition and several other competitions.

Some months back David Quill (AUSTimber 2012 general manager) was asked how he thought AUSTimber would function amid a sombre economic climate ... his response: “We can make this work.”

And that was certainly the case!

20 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

Accolades for AUSTimber A

Although the forest industry is suffering from depressed markets, the high Australian dollar, and potentially record low levels of activity, these were not reflected in the extreme generosity and enthusiasm by the donors and bidders at the auction.

TOTAL of 5,200 people attend the events that comprised AUSTimber 2012. Although the numbers were down on the previous AUSTimber event, it was a spectacular success that capitalised on the experience of AUSTimber 2008, and certainly showcased the Green Triangle region of Australia,” said AUSTimber general manager David Quill.

And he added that it wasn’t just the in-forest site that was a success it was all the related events.

“The Symposium organised

by Dr Jim O’Hehir, was attended by 50 people over two days.

This event was an offshoot of AUSTimber following the theme of “Precision Forestry in Advance”, and gave a number of international delegates the opportunity to share their knowledge.

“Then there were the field trips organised by Allan Gray in conjunction with other exForestrySA foresters including Dennis Page, Mick Underdown and Lew Parsons. A limited number of delegates attended these highly informative and extremely well organised tours encompassing the hardwood and softwood plantations of the Green Triangle Region.

“The AUSTimber team acknowledges the time, effort and commitment by Allan and his team in conducting these tours, which were well received by all participants,” said David.

The ForestWorks AUSTimber 2012 Conference, “Precision Forestry in Action” was attended by 186 delegates in the Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre. This gave Mount Gambier the opportunity to showcase its newly-developed Main Corner precinct and Civic Centre. Speakers from all over the world presented papers on a variety of topics, both interesting and controversial. The quality of presentations was such that on many occasions the conference delegates were spellbound by the enthusiasm and professionalism of the speakers.

The objective of the conference was to give the “hands-on” managers of the forest industry an opportunity to understand some of the technology available both now and into the future.

“We believe that this objective

was well and truly achieved, and the DVDs of the conference proceedings will be available shortly and can be purchased by non-attendees by contacting Libby Ditcham at libby@ austimber2012.com.au.”

The Welcome Function Dinner, sponsored by Caterpillar and held at the Barn Palais, could best be described as an outstanding success. Attended by 650 visitors and guests, the evening had several highlights.

“AFCA chairman Col McCulloch, in his inaugural role as MC, performed an outstanding job and certainly gained the attention of all guests in his presentation.

“Senator Richard Colbeck, federal opposition spokesman on Forestry, presented an informative but entertaining dissertation, putting into perspective how life would be in a wood free world.

“Senator Colbeck’s presentation was followed by Guest Speaker Michael Milton, and in attempting to summarise Michael’s address, words fail me.

It was inspirational, entertaining and thought provoking.

“The climax of the evening was undoubtedly the Charity Auction, preceded by a presentation by Ute Hermman-Bullock, representing ac.care, the beneficiary of the auction. Ute spoke about the opportunity that guests had to assist in improving the lives of disadvantaged children in our community.

“Although the forest industry is suffering from depressed markets, the high Australian dollar, and potentially record low levels of activity, these were not reflected in the extreme generosity and enthusiasm by the donors and bidders at the auction,” David said.

“Set a benchmark of $40,000 from AUSTimber 2008, at the conclusion of the auction some $49,522 had been pledged but this was subsequently rounded out to $50,000 through a generous donation by an industry stalwart,” he added.

David explained that the expo site had been developed over a period of some 3½ years by an enthusiastic AUSTimber team.

“Perhaps their greatest skill was the organisation of the weather, where Mount Gambier

really excelled itself with mild sunny days for both Friday and Saturday.

“The layout of the site executed

by Site Manager Ian Tyler, reflected research from ELMIA and other expo sites around the world, but was able to encapsulate a wide variety of Harvesting and Haulage operations enhanced by the support industries at the static sites, both outdoor and indoor. The compact nature of the site gave visitors from both within and outside the industry an opportunity to fully appreciate just what the forest industry is about,” he said.

Organisers received accolades from both exhibitors and attendees, perhaps best described by one exhibitor, who said he had attended every Australian Demo, every Canadian Demo (except one) since 1984 and had only missed one ELMIA since 1983.

He described the event as “first class”, the site as “excellent” and “the best layout that I have been to”.

At the conclusion of the event the organisers were left with the usual problems associated with cleanup. One of the main issues was ensuring that trees fallen in the blue gum harvest site were chipped and removed from the site, and that the area was left in a presentable state.

“Acknowledgement needs to be given to the exceptional commitment made by Komatsu Forest in ensuring that this occurred, and KF were well supported by Tigercat, Tabeel Trading, G&R Trading, LV Dohnt & Co and Les Walkden, in the extraordinary effort of producing nearly 2000 tonnes of woodchip on the Monday and Tuesday following the event.”

David also made special mention of the small management team which included Site Manager Ian Tyler, Marketing Consultant Annie Hinkley-Tyler and Guest Services co-ordinator Karyn Roberts, supported by Administration Manager Libby Ditcham and Bookings Officer Belinda Seaman.

“Every management team needs a backbone, and without doubt, without the support, enthusiasm, diligence and determination of Libby, this event could not have taken place,” he said.

 In keeping with the “precision” theme for AUSTimber Josh Burdon (Factory FMX Freestyle Motocross Team) shows exactly that with these unbelievable jumps. Many who watched the jumps display throughout the day were rapt with Josh’s skill and daring.

Australian Forests & Timber News, May 2012 – 21

It takes a team

Inductees

Fred Birrell* (S A), Kevin Boult (S A), Robert and Tim Christian (Vic), Wally Cunneen (Vic), John, Bill* and Robert Driver (S A), Christine and Laurie Hoffman (Vic), Angelo Lando (S A), Robert Long (S A), Lex McLean (NSW), Tony Moretti (S A), Colin Moreland (S A), Cyril* & Reg* Smith (S A), Trevor Waugh (WA), Jack Wilson ( S A), and Gino* and Silvio* Zannoni (SA) * denotes award presented posthumously

A

T THE latest induction into the Australian Forest Contractors Association (AFCA) Hall of Fame, a common theme among recipients was the need for a good team to achieve success – whether that team was family, employees or horses!

In the packed restaurant of Mt Gambier’s Presidential Motel on the Wednesday night before the AUSTimber2012 conference kicked off, 21 new inductees were applauded into the Hall of Fame through the excellent MC work of David Drane, AFCA’s general manager.

Some, such as Angelo Landa, started in the industry felling logs with a chainsaw and loading them onto trucks by hand before eventually getting mechanised.

In 1974 he was one of the first to wear ear muffs and safety helmets.

Others, including Ernest William “Bill” Driver made a business or career in the haulage side of things from the outset.

Still others Including R C (Bob) Long, Colin Moreland, Fred Birrell and Kevin Boult started out as sub-contractors or owner/operators and went on to build businesses employing many people and operating extensive f leets of equipment.

The positive impact of immigrants on the industry and their willingness to work hard in their new country was recounted through tales of the work of Tony Moretti and the brothers Gino and Silvio Zannoni (who both lost their lives in a road accident in 1970).

A number of people attending the night were surprised to learn that Lex McLean, operator of Forest Centre, suppliers of Tigercat equipment, had a harvesting and haulage operation for over 26 years in Australia after he arrived from New Zealand. With a mechanical background, it was logical he eventually moved into the equipment supply and maintenance side of the industry.

To finish the night of celebration, Col McCulloch, chairman of AFCA, interviewed the final recipient of the night, Wally Cunneen, to paint a picture for the audience of what harvesting on steep slopes was like in the 1950s. Starting work in the Myrtelford area in 1955 when he was 27, he began logging for the local timber mill. He had three crews and 26 horses.

Using four horses to a team (and sometimes up to 13 horses for some of the bigger logs) they did the work that is now the realm of cable logging. It took until 1974 for Wally to buy his first skidder and finally move away from using the horses.

Australian Forests & Timber News joins with the rest of the industry in saluting the new members of the Hall of Fame.

For details, go to www.afcahalloffame.com.au.

 Angelo Landa.

 Colin Moreland.

 Tony Moretti being interviewed by MC, David Drane.

 Robert Christian collected both his and his brother Tim’s awards.

 Trevor Waugh.

 Laurence and Christine Hoffman were both inducted.

 Robert Driver.

 Lex McLean.

 Gino and Silvio Zannoni’s children accepted the awards on their behalf.

 Bob Long.

 Kevin Boult.

 Fred Birrell’s daughters with his certificate of induction.

 Ivan Smith collected their awards on behalf of Cyril and Reg Smith.

 Jack Wilson.

 Wally Cunneen entertains the audience while interviewed by Col McCulloch.

22 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

Region is important to global sales effort, says Cat chief T

HIS REGION is very important to our total global sales effort, so it was an easy decision for us not only to be an exhibitor, but to display both our pine harvesting and eucalyptus harvesting solutions, and support our product showing with the individual experts on those products,” said Caterpillar global forestry industry manager Mike Duncan after AUSTimber.

“We also had the strong support of our dealers in this effort, which ensures our continued success.

Comments from our Australian dealers CavPower, William Adams and WesTrac were very positive, as well as comments from our New Zealand dealer, Goughs. Our entire team by end of show felt it was a complete success for Caterpillar.”

“We had a significant number of leads from the show and have turned some heads and eyes in terms of interest of our products that we launched for the Green Triangle area - namely the 584HD, as well as the 568 FM LL,” said Scott McDougall, Asia Pacific Forestry sales manager.

There was a very strong contingent of out-of-country personnel at the Cat site including: • Mike Duncan – Global Forestry Industry Manager

• Robert Sanders – Market Development Engineer • Sandy Price – Marketing Communication Manager • Bart Simpson – Territory Manager – Asia Pacific/Singapore • Davin Frankel – Country

Manager – Indonesia • Glenn Brown – Product Performance Engineer – Cut To Length Products • Jerry Norris – Market Development Engineer • Joe Allen – Industry Relations

• Justin Schmidt – Product Performance Engineer – Processing Heads • Keith Hicks – Product Performance Engineer – Log Loaders/Track Bunchers • Brian Webster - Global Sales.

TEAMWORK AT ITS BEST

When you’re operating in extreme or unpredictable conditions, you need reliable and powerful equipment to keep your projects and your budget on track.

Caterpillar offers full tree and cut-to-length harvesting solutions that enable you to run a smooth operation, even in demanding conditions. Machines that work for you to harvest, extract, process and load...it’s teamwork at its best.

To find out more contact your local Cat® dealer or visit australia.cat.com/forestry Thank you to everyone who visited us at AUSTimber 2012.

NSW/ACT - WesTrac: 1300 881 064 WA - WesTrac: 1300 881 064 VIC - William Adams: (03) 9566 0666

TAS - William Adams: (03) 6326 6366 QLD/NT - Hastings Deering: 131 228 SA - Cavpower: (08) 8343 1600

© 2012 Caterpillar. All rights reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, their respective logos and “Caterpillar Yellow,” and the POWER EDGE trade dress, as well as corporate and product identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission.

24 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

175th birthday celebrations tied in with AUSTimber A

S AN exclusive distributor of John Deere forestry equipment in Australia, Hitachi Construction Machinery Australia showcased its innovative and extensive range of John Deere products at AUSTimber 2012, the largest forestry and timber exhibition in the Southern Hemisphere.

Visitors to both the pine and blue gum sites experienced a unique opportunity to view live harvesting and processing demonstrations within the forest environment.

Featured machines included a 903KH harvester and 1470E harvester, two 1910E forwarders, 2154D processor, 903K buncher and an 848H skidder.

Hitachi proved to be a prominent exhibitor at AUSTimber with an impressive presence at both pine and blue gum sites.

Marquees were situated in the heart of the forest surrounded by static machines. The pine site marquee featured a timber decking which overlooked the live demonstration area and allowed visitors to enjoy light refreshments from the marquee bar while experiencing the serene atmosphere of the forest.

A diverse range of John Deere merchandise was available consisting of caps, t-shirts, cooler bags and travel mugs.

Plinths with iPads enabled customers to view machine brochures and specifications. The John Deere harvester and forwarder simulator created a high level of attention, which enabled visitors to test their operating skills in a virtual forest. Hitachi and John Deere representatives offered onsite expertise during live and static machine demonstrations.

This year John Deere celebrated its 175th birthday with an evening function held at the Best Western Southgate Motel hosted by Hitachi Construction Machinery Australia.

The night proved highly successful with over 200 guests in attendance. A roving magician moved about the crowd performing tricks with a touch of magical flair.

Hitachi and John Deere thanked customers who made their machines and operators available for use during AUSTimber. These include Merrett Logging, Harvest Co, Moreland Logging, and L.V. Dohnt & Co. ď Ž Visiting key personnel Kelly Granatier

Director Sales Hitachi / C&F Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific

USA

Brian Rouch

VP - Engineering Construction and Forestry

USA

Dan Fitzpatrick

Manager Overseas Division Asia-Pacific

Singapore

Nate Clark

Manager Forestry Marketing USA & Canada

USA

Mike Schmidt

Manager Biomass

USA

Simo Tujula

Manager Forestry Automation

Finland

Keith Wilson

Manager Skidder Instruction

USA

Pekka Leppanen

Product Manager Wheeled Harvesters

Finland

Dave McFarlane

Manager Sales & Marketing DHSP

Canada

Mark Wilkinson

Engineering Manager DHSP

Canada

Simon Shackleton

General Manager - Sales and Marketing, Asia Pacific, Africa & China

Australia

Rodrigo Junqueira

Teritory Manager - Brazil, Chilie and Uraguay

Brazil

Mike James

Manager - Product Engineering - Attachments

USA

Carl Lockhart

Product Aplication Consultant

USA

Richard Lawler

Director - Forest Engineering

USA

Jonothan Hunt

Engineering Manager Tracked Products

USA

Kalle Seppi

Forestry Specialist

Finland

Asko Hssinen

Waratah Engineering

Finland

Juha Vainio

R&D Manager

Finland

Simon Poh

HMAP

Singapore

Benedict

HMAP

Singapore

Adrian Tan

Adrian Tan

Singapore

Isamu Shoji

HMAP

Singapore

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26 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

“Multiple orders placed at show” W

ARATAH CAME away from AUSTimber 2012 near Mount Gambier with a greater than expected business portfolio ahead, according to Jules Larsen, general manager distribution, Waratah Forestry Attachments, Asia Pacific and Africa.

“We certainly predicted some new interest in our new 625C product, however, we were delighted with multiple orders placed at the show,” itself.

Waratah utilized the major forestry and timber event to launch its new H625C harvester head to the Australian and New Zealand market.

The new head was created with input from real-world loggers, ensuring it was built to the specific needs and ideas of those in the industry. “The greatest thing about the development of this head,” said Marcy Bytner, product marketing manager, “is the cooperative design using the customer

expertise translated to reality by our engineers. We looked to our customers continuously during the research and development process and the incorporation of their feedback has led us to create the right product for the market.”

The 625C offers the following unique features that truly help increase loggers’ productivity: • 3 60-degree rotation option • High-performance single-pass delimbing • I nnovative knife designs

• Three-quarter saw with auto tension • Smart maintenance features that limit downtime All of these features are backed by Waratah’s best-in-class customer support.

“It was very exciting to be at AUSTimber this year with Waratah,” said Larsen, “and we showcased some really great products.”

Waratah Forestry Attachments is a pioneer in the forestry attachment business, with a 30-year legacy of innovation, advanced technology and outstanding value for its customers around the world.

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

R ob Crook (Waratah Eastern Australia division manager) and Gerard Crichton (area manager South Island New Zealand).

Plenty of interest and leads during AUSTimber display “WE WERE very impressed with the number of visitors who came through our booth and also with the interest and leads we created at AUSTimber,” said Morbark Pacific national sales manager Mike Adsit.

“We were particularly happy with the results of the 23WCL Tracked Chipper we had chipping in hard wood against other competitors for an export quality chip.

Our record time for truck loading was 42 tonnes in 19 minutes, making a ¾” chip with a 4 knife disc, which equates to 132 tonne an hour. It would have been nice to

have had a chip quality test done during AUSTimber,” he added.

“The 23WCL was operated by one of our customer’s operators, Adrian Robinson from Albany Timber in Western Australia.

Many thanks to Adrian and Albany Timber. However, our disappointment was the fact we were not able to have a Flail working in conjunction with the chipper because of a manufacturing backlog. We currently have two of the new 23WCL Tracks and a 2455 stand alone Flail working in Western Australia with very impressive results,” said Mike.

“We created many leads for the 3800XL horizontal Wood Hog grinder we had on static display. The Morbark Wood Hogs come in many different sizes, with the 2600, 3800XL, 4600XL to a 6600 being sold in the Australian market.

“They’re designed to grind a variety of wood waste from C&D, land clearing material, slashings, brush, cut offs to regrind and all are designed to have a quick change chipper drum to replace the hammers without removing the mill.

“This enables the customer to grind one day and chip the next if necessary.

The 3800XL has recently had many great improvements and is one of the most productive grinders on the market for its class.

“Overall, the show was a great success for us and we look forward to the next AUSTimber,” said Mike.

Mike has had almost 25 with Morbark, having been stationed in Michigan from the outset and then being the service manager for 11 years prior to making a move to Australia 18 months ago. He was appointed Morbark Pacific national sales manager only recently.

Australian Forests & Timber News, May 2012 – 27

Blue gum expansion creates even more interest in machines I

NTEREST IN our products seemed to be very strong and with the blue gum expansion set to kick off with increased export volumes predicted out of this Mount Gambier, Portland region, it all augers well for a bright future,” said Glen Marley, Tigercat Factory Representative, Australasia & South East Asia, after AUSTimber 2012.

“Overall consensus from all at Tigercat and any customers who were asked was that the AUSTimber expo was an extremely good event both for us as an exhibitor and for the industry in general.

“David Quill and all his crew at AUSTimber were extremely good to deal with, and this made setup for the displays very easy for us, and again all the team must be congratulated on the layout of the expo as a whole,” he said.

The importance of AUSTimber was highlighted by the number of senior personnel coming to Australia for the event.

Tigercat people from the base in Ontario, Canada, who participated in the AUSTimber expo and associated travel, are: • Ken MacDonald (company CEO and owner).

• Tony Iarocci (company President).

• Gary Olsen (International Sales Manager).

• Grant Somerville (Advanced Engineering).

• Shawn Pette (600 Series or Skidder Product Manager [head of engineering department for these units]).

•M ike Carlyle (800 Series or Tracked Feller Buncher and Harvester Engineer/Designer).

•D ave Simatovic (200 Series or Knuckle Boom Loader Engineer/ Designer).

•P aul Iarocci (Marketing Manager) • Judy Brooks (Marketing Administrator) •G ary MacDonald (Product Support/Field Representative) •S teve Green (Product Support Manager for Australasia [Australian based]) •G len Marley (Factory Representative for Australasia and South East Asia [Australian based]) “Some of guys took the opportunity to bring their wives and children with them, which just emphasises the family based culture that exists within the company.

“A group comprising of Tony Iarocci, Grant Somerville, and David Simatovic travelled through the operations in Western Australia prior to the expo, visiting many of our machines and customers in the Albany, Manjimup, and Bunbury regions,” said Glen.

Several groups also visited separate operations after the expo, in the Green Triangle region in South

Australia, the Tumut, Tumbarumba, and Bombala regions of NSW, and the Maryborough and Imbil regions in South East Queensland, again visiting many Tigercat machines and their owners.

“We also had representatives from many of our dealers across the southern hemisphere, from Forest Centre and Onetrak in Australia, from AB Equipment in New Zealand, from AfrEquip in South Africa, and from Tracbel in Brazil helping out with the customer base, so it was a very multicultural stand for us.

“We split our resources between our Clear-Fell Pine operations using a new 1075B 25 tonne Forwarder, and a customer’s LH855C Harvester belonging to Galzon, and operated

by Shane Shiel. The pine operations seemed to be very well received and comments from the attendees were very positive, both with the layout of the in-forest demonstrations and the machines themselves.

“The Full Length Blue Gum operations were also very well laid out for in-field chipping operations and safely gave a very good insight into the actual technique required, with the 855C Feller Buncher fitted with the highly regarded DT2002 High Speed Shear being the one of the stars or this exhibit. Equally popular was the 635D six wheel drive hydrostatically driven skidder (both these units owned and operated by local company G & R Logging), along with the largest capacity and highest production four wheel drive hydrostatically skidder, the 630D (owned and operated by Casegrande, part of the Kevin Morgan group of companies).

“Also on this site was the H845C Harvester owned and operated by Todd Gelletly from Barham which was displaying full stem debarking of the small piece sized Blue Gums.

The all new 215 loader was mounted on top of the CBI Flail unit, and was also very popular with all interested in in-field chipping and flailing operations,” Glen said.

In a move to improve service and decrease costs within the European market, Tigercat has officially relocated assembly of wheeled harvesters and forwarders from the somewhat remote Tigercat facility in Hede, Sweden, to a newly constructed assembly facility in Kincardineshire, Scotland.

This move is another step in the process of increasing Tigercat’s presence in western Europe and Scandinavia. The existing facility in Hede will serve as Tigercat’s Swedish sales office, service facility and spare parts warehouse.

Moving the assembly of harvesters and forwarders to Scotland will reduce transportation costs of both components and final assembled machines. The new facility is strategically located to serve both western Europe and Scandinavia.

28 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

More genuine sales inquiries than ever before K

OMATSU FOREST Australia national sales manager Brenton Yon described the AUSTimber layout as superb, and added that, overall, his crew received more genuine sales inquiries than ever before.

“The interest in all our machines was exceptional,” he said, “and this was helped by the positive layout and the ease everyone could get around.”

Brenton said the release of new machines was always big news and generated interest, but with the forestry site it meant that static and live displays were given even more prominence.

“The 890 grapple skidder prototype working in the blue gum section gained incredible interest.

The 400 and 300 Xtreme models, built in New Zealand, were top on the list for many. In fact the 300 we had on the stand had been sold preshow and we have since sold another one.

“The new softwood harvesting head proved its worth and we sold two,” said Brenton.

“There was a huge amount of interest in the KF 400Xtreme, too.”

A 5000H Peterson chipper that was working in “chip alley” had been pre-sold.

Many of Komatsu’s key personnel from around the world attended AUSTimber and the associated functions including Tosh Myake (Global President), Norio Kido (President KF/LLC, USA), Larry Cumming (Peterson President), Edson Martini (President Brazil

STOP PRESS

Mike Jones apparently suffered a busted wrist after coming from his pushbike. Maybe the words of the Kenny Rogers’ song (with a slight adaptation) cover the mishap … “You picked a fine time to leave me loose wheel”.

KF), Timo Ylanan (Vice President of Marketing, Komatsu Forest Sweden), Ola Bostrom (Vice President R&D Komatsu Forest Sweden), Lonard Santos (Sales Director Komatsu Forest Brazil), Per Annemalm (Product Planning Manager; Komatsu Forest Sweden) .

“Everything was superb,” said Brenton, “and I think our site was a standout. From a company point of view, the large, well thought-out one-stop site was logistically brilliant and made managing staff and replacements simple.

“If AFCA intends to do this again in another four years I hope they are able to secure a site like this one ... it was unique and worked brilliantly,” Brenton said.

Komatsu Forest Australia celebrated its 21st birthday with a

special function to mark the occasion.

Komatsu Managing Director Mike Jones was high in praise of a raft of people who helped ensure the success of Komatsu Forest over the past 21 years.

“We’re proud of what we have done in the past 21 years, and we’ll be here for another 21, and another 21 and another 21,” he had told invited guests at a birthday bash in Mount Gambier.

The night also heralded a first for Komatsu … it now offers Komatsu Finance for all its machines.

Komatsu Australia Corporate Finance is available for Komatsu’s extensive range of forestry equipment. Warwick Matthews is the General Manager Operations Komatsu Finance.

“This is a first and something we are extremely proud of,” said Brenton.

Australian Forests & Timber News, May 2012 – 29

Still the champ H

AROLD BRANT isn’t a cocky champion but he is a very experienced one. Harold (Steffie to his fans) won the Australian forwarder competition on many previous occasions going back as far as the time when the winner used to get a trip to Europe to compete in the World Forwarder Championship. In fact, he went to the world championship twice managing 12th position on his first attempt and 6th on his second despite arriving just one day before the event and with his luggage lost.

Reaching the finals of the Komatsu Forwarder competition at AUSTimber2012, Harold, who works for Morelands, wasn’t going to take the competition lightly. The other three competitors were about half his age and he remembered the time when he’d done so well in the heats he decided to see just how fast he could go in the final. He collected so many penalties he lost.

For the first time in this event, a woman made it to the final.

Anita Unwin, who works for Brennan Logging, showed great skill and composure to finish fourth overall and was looking forward to meeting the challenge of competing against the best in the final. Unfortunately, when it came to stacking the blocks, her touch deserted her leaving her without a real chance of winning.

In the end, the competitors finished in the same order as they reached the final with each of them, except Anita, improving on their best time from the heats.

The winner, as usual, was Harold – a worthy champ.

 H arold Brant knows how to win.

 Dean Venturoni puts the last block in place watched closely.

 For the record.

 Anita Unwin is the first woman to make the final.

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A nita Unwin, Dean Venturoni, Josh Champion and Harold Brant with Mike Jones, MD Komatsu Forests.

30 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

Plenty of follow-up work from AUSTimber I

T WAS a well orchestrated show. It brings all the industry people together. It was fantastic just to see people who are normally butting heads sitting down having a chat in an environment where they’re not threatened; all looking at the same thing,” said CBI Australasia’s Gary Roberts when summing up AUSTimber, “It was good for us to showcase out equipment against other brands as well.

“The Flail 604 Disc Chipper 754 (working in conjunction with each other) went sensationally. It generated an extreme amount of interest to the point where we’ve

got to go back down to that area in the next few weeks and follow-up a lot of people who were interested in the machinery. The machine operating at AUSTimber was sold to LV Dohnt and will be operating in the Green Triangle region.

“We just did the hardwood this round but we have the same type of machine operating in Western Australia in softwood.

“There’s another one (machine) on the water and we’ve got a lot of interest in a heap of others as well.” he said.

“It was the first AUSTimber I’ve been to and I was pretty rapt with it. It was a great

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show; a good turnout; the ability to be able to get a lot of people all over the place in one area for the same interests just makes it a helluva lot easier for us on the machinery side of things. It would have been the same for the Tigercat guys and the others,” said national sales manager Thomas Richards “Anders Ragnarsson, the actual owner of CBI, said it was the best show he had been to and he’s seen a lot of shows around the world; the best one he had been to from our perspective.

“Peter Reid (O’Connors Transport) based in Dandenong, had his grinder operating

there. Our customers were actually helping sell our machines ... that just tells you something about the product,” said Thomas.

“They own two grinders and Peter is the owner and operator and he was there helping us. It’s not something you normally see.

“We did about 30 loads down to the port on the Wednesday and the specs came back really well. Sometimes people say you put the volume through but how’s the quality.

The quality of the chip that was coming out of it was pretty good.

“Hopefully you’ll see a few more yellow machines around now,” said Thomas.

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32 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

Security blanket K

OMATSU FORESTS took the opportunity at its site on the AUSTimber forest walk to demonstrate a fire suppression system operating on the PC300LC. The Wormald system was manually operated with the hood up to show how it works when it is activated either by an operator or automatic sensors.

When the system kicks in, a foam solution is added to water and discharged throughout the machine via spray jets targeted at key points such as the turbo charger, starter motor, pumps, valves and around the slew motor. Once the white liquid encounters air, it begins to foam creating the blanket required to smother f lame.

The foam solution is released at a rate pre-determined to extinguish a fire. On some machines, the system will also shut the engine down, depending on its operation.

Once the foam has done its work, it can be simply washed away with water.

As the first line defence against engine fires, it looks like a good extra to have fitted (particularly as most forest owners now require them) and a very impressive set-up.

Certified forest management generates interest at AUSTimber 2012 SFM FOREST Products was at AusTimber 2012 to showcase its forest management and forest certification products.

Director, Andrew Morgan said AUSTimber was a great way to showcase SFM as a rapidly growing third party forest manager across Australia.

With numerous estates changing ownership Andrew sees the management of forest assets owned by third party organisations as a key driver of SFM into the future.

“Timber is a sound, longterm asset as part of a diverse portfolio and many organisations and individuals are recognising this and are looking to invest.

SFM manages forest estates to maximise the financial return as well the sustainability. Forest certification is a key indicator to investors that their forests are being managed sustainably for the future,” he said.

“AUSTimber was a great opportunity to meet with a broad spectrum of industry participants, from harvesting contractors through to forest investors providing an excellent forum to discuss future forestry issues,” Andrew said.

SFM is certified under the globally recognized certification systems, the Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

Promoting new blood THE LOGGING Investigation & Training Association ran a “Harvesting Experience” opportunity for job seekers to experience operational time in a tree harvester. In addition to what they could see along the AUSTimber forest walk, interested

people were able to sit in the cab of a Tabeel Trading Valmet 911.4 wheeled harvester as it felled some pine in a specially set-aside area.

All the time slots for this opportunity filled fast with LITA’s Andy Cusack reporting great interest from a wide variety of ages

 Bellinda Ellis dismounts after her experience.

 Nathan Cesario (13) gets a feel of the hotseat.

and a number of young women taking the chance to be one-on-one in what is normally an inaccessible working environment.

Shaun Blackwell of Tabeel was the patient operator who was able to chat with participants and answer their questions.

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Australian Forests & Timber News, May 2012 – 33

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34 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

Really, where wood you be without it!

S

ENATOR RICHARD Colbeck, Liberal Senator for Tasmania, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Forestry, won the plaudits of the 600-plus crowd at the Caterpillar-sponsored AUSTimber Welcome Dinner with his after dinner speech that highlighted the everyday use of wood.

“Stop and think for a moment of the part wood plays in your daily life, how it is built into your home and what might happen if it were removed.

“Consider a member of the family sitting in the lounge room and the things made of timber start to disappear.

“There is a crash in the dining room as the timber table and chairs disappear and all that is on it smashes to the floor.

“Attention is suddenly drawn back to the lounge ... the plasma crashes to the floor as the wooden entertainment unit that supports it is gone.

“The noise from the kitchen is deafening as the contents of the kitchen units hit the floor, the carcase of the magnificent kitchen is, of course, made of wood “Meanwhile, in the smallest room in the house, a place where it should be serene, concern is rising about the din outside.

“But things are about to get worse!

“The doors disappear from the house, “Precariously perched and exposed, a wild look comes to the eyes.

“Instinctively one hand reaches out to the left, or is it the right ... it doesn’t matter. I think you understand the dilemma!

“I have been told at our table here this evening about the development of a new 50/50 cotton/rayon product (the rayon is derived from cellulose from wood fibre) and the unmentionables currently at ankle level are made from that fabric and things are now really unravelling!

“I could continue, but I think you all get my point. Wood is inextricably woven into our everyday lives.

“And for you who earn your living from its harvest, processing and manufacture, even more so.”

 Mount Gambier Mayor Steve Perryman and wife Jaimie and guest speaker for the welcome dinner Michael Milton.

Generous to a fault Those who attended the Caterpillar-sponsored AUSTimber Welcome Dinner dug deep to ensure that this year’s charity auction raised $50,000 for ac.care.

Foster care is run by a charity that started in Mount Gambier 25 years ago, ac.care, and still has its head office there, one of the few charities that came from a rural/regional area and is not just an outreach of a city charity. It was started when local people saw there was no care for teenage foster children. ac.care and foster carers work together to provide children and young people with safe, nurturing, stable environments to grow and learn.

The AFCA-driven charity auctions have raised almost $100,000 for charities through just two functions.

 Caterpillar global forestry industry manager Mike Duncan during his welcome address at the official AUSTimber Welcome Dinner, which his company sponsored.

 Johan Jaktman (Scandinavian Forestry Engineering) and daughter Anna.

 Gary Roberts (CBI Australasia) Anders Ragnarsson (CBI president) and Thomas Richards (CBI Australasia national sales manager).

 AFCA chairman Colin McCulloch.

 Ute Hermman-Bullock, representing ac.care

Australian Forests & Timber News, May 2012 – 35

There is still strong support for the forestry industry I

KNOW that many of you are feeling rather beaten up at the moment but I want you to know that there remains strong support for the industry, particularly the native forest sector where there is currently a sustained attack to try close it down,” Senator Richard Colbeck told the 600-plus crowd at the AUSTimber Welcome Dinner.

The Senator was high in praise of the work of the Australian Institute of Foresters in the debate and said they were making an important contribution.

“These are the people with the real knowledge of the quality of our forest management, the forest scientists who can provide us all with the real information about the values that our industry brings to the community.

 Gary Fitzpatrick from (Victorian Axemen’s Council) and Kersten Gentle (FTMA).

“They can tell us the truth about carbon storage, biodiversity, water quality and the other benefits that our industry can bring; the values that those in the environmental movement claim they want to achieve and are delivered by the native forest based industry.”

He said the contribution of IFA was most welcome, but there was more to be done.

“We all must maintain our voices. I know it has become hard, particularly when things are as tough as they are at the moment, but we cannot stop.

“We must continue to provide advocacy for our industry, the opportunities, employment and wealth, its contribution to the economy and our communities and their values

“It is being opposed by an ideology, not by science.

“On my web site there is a petition, for example, which seeks to demonstrate support for the forest industry in Australia.

It currently has about 1000 signatures and I would like

that to be at least 10,000,” he said. Senator Colbeck said it was imperative for everyone to sign the petition.

“This is a great industry. I it is integral to our everyday lives, yours even more so. It is a great pleasure to represent it,” he said.

 Senator Ricahrd Colbeck.

Senator Colbeck's website www.richardcolbeck.com. au includes links to the Support Australia’s Forest Industries petition and also to his speech to the Senate on World Forestry Day.

36 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

Focus on young view of forests L

AST NOVEMBER ForestrySA held a school photography competition for primary and secondary school students across the Limestone Coast. Judges were looking for photographs that captured all facets of the local forest industry from the trees in the forest to the final wood products.

In the secondary school age group, first prize was awarded to Allendale East Area School student Annie Breen for her stunning photograph entitled “A reflection into our future”, of a pine seedling and its reflection in

water. First prize in the primary school age group was awarded to Sally Nielsen from Reidy Park Primary School with her bold and simple photograph of a cross section of log entitled “Lord of the Rings”.

Photos from students who originally entered the competition have been on display at the Riddoch Art Gallery, where the public was given the chance to vote for their favourites for the AUSTimber People’s Choice Award. AUSTimber generously sponsored this award with the winning photographer in each

age group receiving a cheque for $250.

In casting their votes the public has agreed with the original judging panel. Winning photos from the original competition have again captured the public’s imagination and their votes to win the AUSTimber People’s Choice Award for Annie and Sally in their respective age groups.

The winning students attended a ceremony on site on the final day of AUSTimber 2012 where David Quill, general manager AUSTimber 2012, presented them each with their prizemoney.

 First prize in the primary school age group was awarded to Sally Nielsen from Reidy Park Primary School with her bold and simple photograph of a cross section of log entitled “Lord of the Rings”.

 In the secondary school age group, first prize was awarded to Allendale East Area School student Annie Breen for her stunning photograph entitled “A reflection into our future”.

On-site work was all class STUDENTS FROM the Doorways 2 Construction Building Trades showed their skill when constructing the AUSTimber site office The Doorways 2 Construction (D2C) Trade Training Course, locally known as “BUILDING TRADES”, has been operating on the Grant High School campus for the past 12 years catering for students in all Limestone Coast Schools. The course recently expanded with training sites located in Kingston Community School, Millicent High School / Independent Learning Centre, Naracoorte High School, and Bordertown High School.

D2C works with teachers and students to better engage students at school and assist them to enter the building and construction pathway at Certificate I and II level.

Industry Pathways Programs (of which D2C is a component) help address future trade strategies in the South East and better cater for all students at schools with engagement and experience in industry before they leave school for the work place.

AUSTimber 2012 approached the centres to assist with the construction and on-site delivery of transportable housing modules to provide accommodation for AUSTimber 2012 participants for meeting rooms, computer suites and general administration.

Students under trade supervision

constructed panels of framing/single side sheet lining/cladding pre-fitted with electrical and data conduits and ready for transport and erection on site in a modular framework that was bolted together, showcasing the rudimentary nature of structural framework.

The modular structure was produced at the campuses and relocated to the forest region north of Mount Gambier.

The students involved in the project gained invaluable experience with a variety of donated products, showcasing the diversity of wood product in the region and enabling the viewing public an insight in to the partnerships that exist between industry and the school sectors in the region Products to build the site office were generously donated by: • W hitehead Timber Sales - Darryl Whitehead • Gunns Timber Products - David Ford • South East Pine Sales - Mark Forster • N F MacDonnell & Sons -Ian MacDonnell • Carter Holt Harvey - Matthew Brookes • Attiwills Home & Industry - Ian Attiwill Australian Solar Timbers provided a generous donation of 150m2 Australian native hardwood flooring. The building provided the opportunity for over 500m2 of interior and exterior wall cladding for promotion of different timber products.

 The crew behind the “site to behold”.

Australian Forests & Timber News, May 2012 – 37

Raising the profile of women in forests and timber industry A

PROJECT to establish a Women in Forests and Timber Network has been completed with ForestWorks now taking on the management of the network.

Victorian Association of Forest Industries (VAFI) Manager, Policy and Projects and WFTN project manager Jillian Roscoe said the Network would be in good hands with ForestWorks.

“It has been an absolute pleasure managing the project and we are excited to hand over the network to ForestWorks,” she said.

A proposal was presented to ForestWorks at the final workshop of the project series, which was held during AUSTimber 2012 in Mt Gambier at the end of March. The proposal provided recommendations on how to take the network forward into the future.

Jillian said the recommendations were based on interviews and a series of workshops across Australia that gave the women and men of the industry a chance to say what they wanted in a network.

“The network will provide an opportunity to raise the profile of women in the forests and timber industry,”she said.

It will help connect women, both regionally and nationally, and support knowledge, skills and professional development.

“Despite women making up 45% of the total Australian workforce, currently just 13% of forests and timber industry employees are female.

“This is despite the fact that the industry offers fantastic opportunities for people in rural, regional and metropolitan areas with different types of skills.

“This network is designed to

help more women build careers in the industry, as well as improve the reputation of the industry as an employer of choice for all people.”

The project was funded by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry under Australia’s Farming Future, and workshops were sponsored by Health Care Insurance.

Its development has been managed

by VAFI, the peak body for the Victorian forest and wood products industry.

VAFI will work with ForestWorks on the implementation and next steps to ensure the success of the WFTN for the benefit of women and men in forests and timber.

 (from left) Jane Calvert (CMFEU), Jillian Roscoe (VAFI), Jane Bartier (ForestWorks) and Kersten Gentle (FTMA).

Further information is available on the website www.forestworks.com.au/womensnetwork

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Randalls Equipment Company Pty Ltd Wallace Ave, Point Cook, Melbourne VIC Phone. 03 9369 8988 – Fax. 03 3969 8683 Email. randalls@randalls.com.au www.randalls.com.au

38 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

Seeing the wood and the trees C

LEARLY THE forestry and wood sector is undergoing substantial change – in international and domestic markets, reliance on production from native forests relative to plantations, resource ownership, market opportunities, the regulatory environment, socio– political pressures and climate – but I believe the longer term outlook for the wood and forest products sector is positive,” according to Sid Sidebottom, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

“Right up front I want to reinforce the fact that the timber and wood products industry remains very important to this nation,” he told delegates to the Precision Forestry in Action conference held in conjunction with AUSTimber.

He said that in 2009–10 the industry had a turnover value of $22 billion and throughout that same period, the Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded that almost 76,000 people were employed in forestry, logging and wood manufacturing. Forest product manufacturing represented 7.1% of the total manufacturing sector in Australia in 2009–2010.

The MP said the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) reports that following the 2008 global financial crisis, Australian exports of forest products have shown signs of recovery in 2010–11, with a total export value of $2.47 billion dollars, up from $2.26 billion in 2009–10.

The combination of the 2008 global financial crisis and the collapse of a number of forestry

companies during 2009 have restricted private investment in forestry.

“I don’t need to tell you, and as legitimate companies in my own region of the NW of Tasmania have experienced first hand, there is also continued pressure from environmental non–Government organisations around native forest

that this is not expected to change significantly from now to 2050.

“We are becoming increasingly reliant on plantations to supply wood for a variety of purposes, but it is worth noting that we are yet to overcome many of the technical challenges to achieving high–value uses for plantation timbers, particularly hardwood–

Decisions we make now will determine whether we have sufficient volumes of the right sort of sustainably produced material to meet demands. harvesting, as well as opposition to plantations from some environmental, community and farming groups.

“While not complete, and with great difficulty, we are working through some of these issues in Tasmania with the Intergovernmental Agreement.

While there has been a 30-odd year debate about native forests going on, the plantation estate has been growing in scale. Australia’s total plantation area has increased from around 1.5 million hectares in 2000 to 2.0 million hectares in 2010.

Plantations produce about 18 million cubic metres of logs each year. ABARES estimates that softwood plantations provide 75% of the sawlogs produced in Australia. The potential supply of softwood plantation sawlogs remains strong and forecasts are

based products for construction,” Sidebottom said.

“It is worth noting that Australia will need something like 7 million new homes by 2050, creating a demand for up to 64 million cubic metres of wood. Decisions we make now will determine whether we have sufficient volumes of the right sort of sustainably produced material to meet these demands.

“This week’s AUSTimber Expo and Conference illustrates the level of innovation that can happen in the industry – developments in technology, machinery, products and services for the industry, as well as methods and thinking behind forest management,” the MP said.

“Fellow Tasmanian and forestry expert Dr Martin Moroni is a great advocate for the forest and wood products industry. His enthusiasm for innovation in the wood

products sector has me personally interested and excited about engineered wood products like Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL), Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), Cross Strand Board (OSB), as well as other composite materials.

“Many people outside the industry are not aware of the fantastic opportunities for a product that is often stronger than sawn wood, is faster to produce and can come from smaller lower quality logs.

“This is innovation in action and is especially relevant in a carbon– constrained world.

“In the not too distant future we will no doubt also be talking about nanotechnology aligning wood fibres to produce even stronger and lighter wood products. This will indeed be a Brave New World for this industry.

“However, innovation is not just limited to the construction sector.

We are also seeing innovation in production as well,” Sidebottom said.

He said examples included a project in Green Hills State Forest in NSW, which used new airborne camera technologies and digital imaging to reduce the cost of updating volume and yield modelling of pine plantations.

“And in processing, Australian researchers are trialling vacuum drying in some Australian hardwoods and have developed models to assess both economic viability and water movement inside the wood to predict drying rates. This research will assist industry in drying timber quickly with the least degrade and least cost.

“My Government supports

 Sid Sidebottom, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, address the Precision Forest in Action Conference in Mount Gambier.

innovation with the funds we allocate to research and development through Forest and Wood Products Australia.”

He did stress that there was a need to find new income streams from forests; changing roles and opportunities for forestry needed to be addressed, including carbon sequestration, agro– forestry, renewable energy, and environmental services including carbon offset markets.

Changing how the forests are measured forever Linking aerial and ground-based laser scanning

 Enda Keane, CEO Treemetrics.

A LEADING forestry analytics company used AUSTimber to announce a ground-breaking innovation in forestry technology.

Treemetrics has combined both Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) and Aerial Laser Scanning (ALS) into a product for the forestry world.

The announcement was made

by Enda Keane, chief executive officer of Treemetrics, during the Precision Forestry in Action conference, held as part of AUSTimber.

“This will change how forests are measured forever,” said Keane. “Why use 19th century methods in the 21st century!”

Treemetric’s new wave technology, has transformed the concept of a forest as a “living warehouse” of log products, and made it a reality. This first to market technology, combines Terrestrial Laser Scanning

forestry analytics, developed by Treemetrics, with existing Aerial Laser Scanning technologies.

Aerial Laser Scanning data, provides information to describe the quantity, and height, of trees in the forest. Therefore, combining the Terrestrial Aerial Laser Scanning, with the Aerial Laser Scanning, not only provides superior calibration data, but also stem quality data.

It is the variations in profiles and quality of trees, that has the greatest impact on deciding what logs are contained in the forest.

Treemetrics provides this missing link, to provide accurate ground truthing.

“We can accurately show foresters the actual log products present, in each tree, and how they can change, depending on specification and quality. This provides scientifically objective, independent and verifiable

information to the modern forestry industry.

Historically, the uncertainty and variability around traditional data collection methods made it impossible to accurately estimate and quantify the log volumes in each forest. This inaccurate information ultimately made it impossible for forest owners, to extract maximum value from their resource.

“Understanding the problem use of intelligent data, real-time analytics and a simple-to-use web platform for harvest planning - are at the core of Treemetrics development. Given that the global demand for log products is increasing Treemetrics believed there had to be a better way to measure forests,” said Keane.

Treemetrics is partnering with providers of Aerial Laser Scanning data to provide this transformative information to

forest owners and harvesting managers around the globe.

“This is providing significant improvements in efficiency, cost savings and greater value recovery,” he said.

S tephen Midgley (Salwood Asia Pacific), chair of the plenary session.

Australian Forests & Timber News, May 2012 – 39

ForestWorks congratulates all involved for a successful AUSTimber conference F

ORESTWORKS Industry Skills Council has congratulated the host city of Mt Gambier and everyone involved in putting together a hugely successful AUSTimber 2012.

ForestWorks chief executive officer Michael Hartman said the conference meant the public was given a great opportunity to gain an insight into the high quality jobs in the forest, wood, paper and timber products industry.

“The AUSTimber conference is a terrific way to bring the industry together. It’s our chance

to learn new ways of working and see the latest technology available in our industry,” Hartman said.

“It’s also a fantastic opportunity for us to meet with the local community and let them know there are quality jobs and great careers in our industry.

“ForestWorks conference participants were able to learn about the latest science and at the expo they could see some of the resultant technology in action.

“I wish to congratulate AUSTimber general manager David Quill for his deft

management of the event as well as the Australian Forest Contractors Association, the organisation behind AUSTimber.

There was also terrific support from ForestrySA. “I also want to extend a particularly warm thanks to the City of Mt Gambier and the District Council of Grant.

“The enthusiasm of the local community for this conference was simply outstanding and shows what a bright future this industry has.”

ForestWorks worked with the Australian Forest Contractors

Association to organise the careers conference portion of AUSTimber in 2008 as well as the precision in Forestry conference this year.

“These conferences are terrific events, and on behalf of ForestWorks I look forward to working again with AFCA in 2016,” Hartman said.

 ForestWorks chief executive officer Michael Hartman … “these conferences are terrific events”.

Sustainability is the key “SUSTAINABLE PLANTATION forestry is a balancing act and a long term goal … and we can get this balance right only if management wins the minds and hands of skilled contractors, operators and workers,” according to Sadanandan Nambiar, CSIRO Ecosystem Science Canberra.

 Dr Sadanandan Nambiar (CSIRO).

Dr Nambiar, an internationally recognized leader in research on sustainable productivity and management of planted forests, told the ForestWorks-sponsored AUSTimber Conference (with the theme Precision Forestry in Action) that foresters, contractors and workers in the Green Triangle had shown the world how to manage forests and grow wood sustainably, lift the boundaries of production, care for the soil and environment and serve society through forestry in a high risk prone environment.

But, he warned that precision forestry was meaningless without commitments to broader

sustainable forestry: production, landscape values, society and profit. “Forestry can fail: reflect on MIS forestry. Such failures cannot be fixed by technologies and precision forestry,” he said.

“A compartment of radiata pine managed for 35 years can be clearfelled, slash managed or burned, site prepared, sprayed, replanted and fertilized in few days.

Actions during those hours lay the foundation (strong or perilous) for the productivity for the next rotation. Operations during this phase are sources of high risks and/or opportunities. The shorter the rotation, the higher is the need for judicious management,” he told the audience.

Dr Nambiar was one of a number of highly credentialed experts to address the conference, which was chaired by Stephen Midgley, Salwood Asia Pacific Pty Ltd, and a recent recipient of the ACT Forester of the Year award.

Some of the speakers were: Peter (Sid) Sidebottom MP, Parliamentary Secretary, Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; Lew Parsons, Wokurna Forestry; Dr Mark van Veh, Poyry Management Dr Christine Stone, State Forests NSW; Ewan Waller, Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment Chief Fire Officer; Dr Mark Brown, Professor, Forestry Operations, The University of the Sunshine Coast; Enda Keane, Treemetrics, Ireland; Adrian Hatch, ForestrySA; Jean Plamondon FPInnovations, Canada; Steve Shearer, South Australian Road Transport Authority; Dr Jody Bruce, CRC Forestry/ CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences; Lee Cunningham, Arbor-Care, South Africa; Andy Wright, Elders Forestry, WA; Dr Tony McRae, Southern Tree Breeding Association; Richard Hilliker Trimble Forestry Division, USA; Dr Jim O’Hehir, ForestrySA.

 David Farrow (ForestrySA).

 Pierre Mare (South Africa), Lee Cunningham (Arbor-Care South Africa) and Tiann Pool (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University).

C ol Shipard (AFCA) and David Pollard (AFPA chief executive officer).

M ike Brown (Cloudy Bay) and Robert de Fegeley (IFA and Cloudy Bay).

A ndrea Johnston (ForestWorks Project Officer) and Jane Bartier (ForestWorks Deputy CEO). B arry Pledger (Australian Bluegum Plantations, Hamilton) and Stephen Rymer (PF Olsen). D ean Gardiner (Leesons Logging & Cartage).

K en and Karen Hall (KC & KN Hall Pty Ltd).

40 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

AUSTimber 2012

Exhibitor Review Guide

Sharper.

Smarter.

Greener.

Polytechnik Biomass Energy

JLT

Contact for Australasian enquiries: Christian Jirkowsky - General Manager 81 St Andrews Road, Havelock North 4130, New Zealand.

T: +64 6 877 4603 • F: +64 6 877 4607 • M: +64 21 477 202.

E: c.jirkowsky@polytechnik.co.nz • www.polytechnik.com

Murray Virgin 0411 646103 Neil Walker 0400 653726 Alan Copeland 0411 646104 or, Call our Toll free number: 1800 682 667 • E: email:abrs@jlta.com.au www.jlta.com.au

Polytechnik Biomass Energy is one of the world’s leading suppliers of advanced combustion solutions, heat and power plants, and emission control systems and is able to provide its customers with state-of-the-art technology for the utilisation of biomass for energy generation. Polytechnik engineers, supplies and installs biomass-fired boilers with a thermal output ranging from 300 kW to 30,000 kW (single unit output). POLYTECHNIK is proud of its achievements and would welcome the opportunity to share its world leading technology with those who may be considering such a plant. Polytechnik distinguishes itself from other suppliers with high efficiency and availability, fuel flexibility, complete combustion and lowest emissions. With more than 45 years of experience in engineering, manufacturing, installing and commissioning of about 2,500 biomass fired heat and power plants Polytechnik has become experts in generating energy from renewable biomass.

JLT has been developing leading edge insurance and risk solutions for the Australian Forestry and logging sector for a period spanning two decades. We have been the appointed Insurance Broker for the South Eastern Log Hauliers Association Inc. and the South Eastern Regional Insurance Group Inc. for in excess of 15 years. We have worked closely with the bodies to provide a specialised product and service to the industry. Our team of forestry industry specialists has the knowledge and experience to recognise your specific needs and deliver innovative, flexible and cost effective products. Any advice in this document is general advice and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and your objectives, financial situation or needs before acting on this advice. Please visit www.jlta.com.au or contact Jardine Lloyd Thompson Pty Ltd for the relevant Product Disclosure Statement, or for further information.

Australian Warehouse Solutions

Heartwood Plantations & Radial Timber Australia

Australian Warehouse Solutions Pty Ltd PO Box 1016, Sumner Park QLD 4074 P: 1800 023 890 F: 1800 246 551 E: sales@austwarehouse.com.au www.austwarehouse.com.au

www.radialtimbers.com.au www.heartwoodplantations.com.au

Australian Warehouse Solutions enjoys a long standing relationship with the timber industry stretching back over 15 years when AWS began introducing PET (polyester) strap as an alternative to the traditional (and dangerous) steel strapping. AWS now supplies and maintains relationships with some of the largest timber manufacturers in Australia. We provide them with quality strapping and strapping equipment from small battery or pneumatic hand tools to inline strapping heads, new and retrofitted.

Heartwood Plantations is an innovative organisation that provides private timber investments using native Australian hardwood species for high value timber markets.

In partnership with Radial Timber Australia, Heartwood Plantations provides investors with a vertically integrated organisation that specializes in processing plantation-grown timber for high demand appearance products such as decking and flooring. Key species include spotted gum, yellow stringybark and southern mahogany.

H.W.Wood Australia

Mount Gambier Safety Supplies

H. W. Wood Australia Pty Ltd 617 Glenferrie Road Hawthorn VIC 3122 T: 03 9819 9122 F: 03 9819 9430

Mt Gambier Safety Supplies 118 Penola Road Mt Gambier SA 5290 P: 0887248011 E: sales@mgsafety.com.au www.mtgambiersafety.com.au

Web: www.hwint.com At H W Wood we believe in providing a first class personal service to all our clients. We take time to explain all aspects of the Insurance Covers that we offer from the various Insurers and help you to decide what the best insurance product is for your fleet and operations. With experience in the Transport and Logistical for the Timber Industry and Plantation we are able to assist on all aspects of the Risk Management of your Fleet, Liability and Property Insurance. We are a member of the National Insurance Brokers Association and have been compliant with the Financial Services Reform Act since 1 August 2003. We are also bound by the Industry Code of Practice.

Mount Gambier Safety Supplies started as a new business 18 years ago. The owner, Bob Sandow (with wife Ruth), left the timber industry after 25 years service with a Diploma of Safety Management. What a good way to put the studies to use and open a safety supply company. Bob didn’t just want to sell the products but to make sure clients were shown how to use them and look after them. It worked, as the business now employs four assistants to help.

AIR CTI

Wormald

P: 03 5127 6128

P: 133 166 www.wormald.com.au.

New Zealand call 0800 4 WORMALD or visit www.wormald.co.nz.

AIR CTI

How many investments will return a profit within the first year? That is exactly what AIR CTI will do for a trucks’ drive tyres. Every log transport truck and every chip transport truck will save many thousands of dollars in tyres, in maintenance, in downtime, and truck resale.

Even more importantly, AIR CTI makes trucks safer. Better handling, shorter stopping ability, and less driver stress means less accidents, and more earnings. AIR CTI should be on every truck that travels empty one direction, or needs traction, or suffers from short tyre life or tyre damage. Tippers, log trucks, chip trucks, tankers, floats, service trucks, road trains, they would all make more money and with greater safety. And, they would be doing less damage to our bush. Don’t waste another day. Find out for yourself what this tool can do for you.

Wormald is Australasia’s leading provider of fire protection solutions and has been protecting people and property since 1889. Operating in over 50 locations throughout Australasia, Wormald designs, manufactures, installs and services fire detection and protection equipment to a wide variety of industries including forestry, building and construction, mining, healthcare, military, oil & gas, leisure management, corporate, education and IT&T. Wormald also provides a comprehensive range of fire services from engineering advice to fire safety training.

BPW Transpec

JAK Max

BPW Transpec, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BPW, based in Germany, is renowned for the supply of world class proven equipment for the road transport industry. The company supplies equipment such as BPW disc braked and drum braked trailer axles, the latest Airlight II air suspension systems for highway use and the heavy duty OM and OT systems for both on and off-road use, the automatic BPW Lift Axle and Self Steering axles and the new BPW ECO-Tronic Electronic Brake System. Other brands of equipment include; Edbro tipping hoists, Cargo Floor and Cargo Matic horizontal moving floor systems, Ringfeder-VBG trailer couplings and Vigia trailer tyre pressure maintenance systems.

JAK Max Harvester Division’s recent participation in AUSTimber 2012 proved enormously successful. Visitors to our stand were impressed with our range of harvester accessories and great interest was shown in our new range of ¾” Pitch and .404” Pitch Harvester Bars to be released shortly under the JAK Max brand. We were successful in opening numerous NEW accounts and a large number of orders were placed over the two days. JAK Max Harvester division looks forward to servicing the contractor network throughout Australia and can guarantee quality products, competitive pricing and reliable service.

Saito HandiTags

Chaoyang Tyres

Sandra Chandler P: +61 7 3260 4000 or +61(0) 4308 36574

Wayne Hicks 0427 210 076 E: wayne@premiumtyrewholesale.com.au

For more than 25 years Saito HandiTags has been supplying label and tag solutions to users throughout Australia Pacific and New Zealand. To broaden the offering and assist clients with a one-stop-shop “Spraywell” timber markers in an environmental friendly spray can was launched at AUSTimber 2012. The product range is proven in the lumber industry in NZ where it has a significant market share based on performance and value. At every stage of the product life cycle from trees/logs through mills, kilns and treatment facilities or finished packs Saito had a proven label or tag or marking solution that will withstand the rigours of a harsh environment. Not only do we supply the labels and tags we also support clients with industry proven thermal printers, “ruggedized” barcode readers that work in the demanding situations typically found in the bush and appropriate software for these applications.

Premium Tyres offers the Chaoyang range of TBR & OTR tyres manufactured

by Hangzhou ZhongCe Rubber Co, the largest tyre manufacturer in China.

Our range of TBR tyres has an advanced four belt casing design for increased stability, durability and performance. Chaoyang tyres are a quality product at an honest price, which includes a 385/65R22.5 that is load rated for the steer, three CRC ‘cut resistant compound’ certified tyres and three Performance Based Standard (PBS) tested tyres. The data is available for your PBS applications. We are a financial member of AFCA. The CB981 deep aggressive drive tyre was well received at AUSTimber.

Australian Forests & Timber News, May 2012 – 41

AUSTimber 2012

Exhibitor Review Guide

Sharper.

Smarter.

Greener.

SFM Forest Products

IVECO

SFM Forest Products is an integrated forestry and natural resource management company providing certified forest management solutions to land managers. SFM is certified under the Forest Stewardship Council, the Australian Forestry Standard and ISO 9001, assuring clients a quality management service is provided in line with world’s best practice. With a diverse team of experienced professionals SFM offers fence to fence management of commercial forest estates and integrated vegetation management solutions to infrastructure projects. SFM prides itself on employing industry-respected staff and maintaining high standards of operating systems to ensure the long-term viability of the company, the client and the natural resources it manages.

IVECO Trucks Australia and its local Mt Gambier dealer, J & B Inter, were pleased to be at the recently held AUSTimber Show 2012. This event provided a great opportunity for IVECO to showcase its range of vehicles ideal for use in the timber and forestry industry. Local IVECO customer, Tabeel Trading provided two of its IVECO Powerstars for a live demonstration of wood chipping machines. This allowed all attendees to see the IVECO Powerstar in action. The event proved to be a success for IVECO and J&B Inter with significant interest & sales leads generated, especially in the newly released Daily 4x4 vehicle.

VETO hydronic heating systems

Avweld Australasia Pty Ltd

VETO hydronic heating systems can provide the lowest cost thermal energy on demand at around $10/GJ and less. Chipped waste wood, sawdust and other combustible material is automatically auger fed to a furnace and the fire performance is monitored to provide the maximum amount of heat to the water jacket – much like the systems used in today’s cars. There are big opportunities in rural areas for sawmillers and loggers to substitute other energy sources because at $100/ton 40%MC woodchip is 30% the cost of LPG and 22% the cost of electricity. Homes, hospitals and industry using hydronic heating can be easily converted to automated solid fuel heating with off the shelf equipment from VETO Systems range from 30 to 700kW output. David Matuschka has been trialling VETO equipment for over three years and like KARA sawmills he imports it direct from Finland. David has been been flat out since Austimber… “the economics of bioenergy have generated great interest”. He said he would like to see people at the grass roots of the forest industry in Australia profit as energy suppliers, as they do elsewhere in the world.

25 Raymond Rd, Laverton North Vic 3026 P: 03 9369 0088 F: 03 9369 0188 E: sales@avweld.com www.avweld.com

Penrite

Solar Dryers Australia

Sam Walcher 0428 016 880

Solar Dryers Australia (SDA) is a world leader in the development of Solar Timber Drying, and is the only commercial manufacturer of this type of Solar/Gas kiln in the world. The SDA system can save up to 80% of heating cost compared to a conventional gas heated kiln. SDA has developed a new in-kiln load cell technology consisting of one or more Weight Stations placed inside the kiln, constantly feeding sample weights to our BBC Kiln Controller. A PLC translates the weights into an average moisture content for the 8 sample boards on each Weight Station. This current MC is displayed on a screen, and the information is used to predict the end point for the drying process or to drive an automatic schedule. The system also creates a data log for the duration of the charge. Multiple kilns can be remotely controlled via an internet connection.

Australian made and family owned since 1926 Penrite has the largest range of lubricants for all your business needs. We have been blending oils for the harsh Australian conditions for over 85 years and pride ourselves in partnering with our customers to deliver the best business outcomes. Penrite understands the importance of reliable harvesting machinery, that’s why we make the best quality lubricants at affordable prices. Penrite has the widest range of the highest rated oils backed up with superior customer service. Are you using the highest quality lubricants at the best price?

LITA Logging Investigation Training Association, Mcleod Training Organisation and Southern Training Organisation are well established Registered Training Organisations that deliver quality training services to all sectors of the forest industries, and have a combined industry experience of greater than 50 years. At this year’s AUSTimber the three organisations combined to promote the newest forestry qualification, that of the Advanced Diploma of Forest Industry Sustainability. Also being promoted at the display was the Certificate III in Sawdoctoring.

Interest in the combined display at AUSTimber was very good, with excellent numbers over both days.

CBC Bearings

An engineering maintenance company located in Melbourne, Avweld has been providing life extending treatments for wearing components since 1986. Specialising in robotic PTA welded deposits with proprietary alloys, Avweld has extended the life of chipper wear components to be many times longer than the next best alternatives. Avweld also has a range of unique rotary valves for chip and dust handling. Avweld focuses on combining 30+ years of materials engineering experience with the latest advances in coating process technology to ensure that our customers always have access to the highest performance coatings possible. Avweld has a unique range of welding, thermal spray and polyurethane spray capabilities, for all types of wear including erosion, corrosion, abrasion and impact.

SKOOKUM www.skookum.com.au www.skookum.co.nz

SKOOKUM Technology is the leading Australasian supplier of new & used equipment and professional engineering services to the Sawmilling, Biofuel and Bulk Handling industries.

SKOOKUM’s Australasian partnership with USNR helps to create a single source supplier for complete wood processing facilities, offering state-of-the-art machinery, dry kilns, control systems and automation for sawmills, planer mills, plywood, veneer, OSB, LVL, and other engineered wood manufacturing plants. With decades of experience designing and manufacturing both European and North American style systems, USNR is well equipped to deliver the right solution for your mill. MillWide. Worldwide.

CBC is an Australian owned and operated business committed to the continuance and efficient operation of Australian industry.

CBC is proud to support and service the timber industry in Australia having branches in strategic locations to service those regions.

CBC caters to the bearing and power transmission requirements of Australian industry with the nation’s largest inventory and network of locations. CBC has a highly experienced and knowledgeable workforce of more than 500 people spread nationwide over 50 convenient locations. The depth and breadth of CBC’s product range is second to none. Working with leading suppliers of quality products enables us to provide innovative, comprehensive and integrated solutions to our customers. CBC Australia has been involved in supporting Austimber from its inception and although times are tough see no reason to change this support. The CBC AUSTimber site attracted visitors from New Zealand, Indonesia, Canada and the USA amongst others.

ForestWorks ForestWorks is the Industry Skills Council for the forest, wood, paper and timber products industry. We work with industry and government to improve our industry’s capacity to develop and maintain a skilled workforce. ForestWorks is a not-for-profit, expert, advisory organisation owned by members from employers and employee organisations. We perform a wide range of functions and act as the conduit between industry, government and Australia’s training and education system.

J eff Evans (Sprockets Australia), John McLachlan (SKOOKUM NZ), Jonathan McLachlan (SKOOKUM NZ), Darren Ousey (SKOOKUM Australia), Vern Pittman (USNR).

42 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

From the pavilions

 John Phyllis (Blundstone) and Bob Sandow (Mount Gambier Safety Supplies).  Jardine Lloyd Thompson ... Murray Virgin, Alan Copeland, Andrerw Thornton and Neil Walker.  Hamish Duggan, Australian Warehouse SDolutions.

 ForestryConnect .. Nick Reynish (director) and Kerry Fitzgibbon.

 Wormald had things covered ... Steve Oxley and Ricky Walker at work at the exhibition.

 Warren Purdom (Mcleod Training Organisation, Cairns, QLD), Anne Mulraney (Logging Investigation Training Association, Mt Gambier, SA), Charlie Waites (Southern Training Organisation, Eden, NSW), Sandy Barnes (Logging Investigation Training Association, Mt Gambier, SA).

 Tecalemit .. Ian Bowman, John Thomas and George Harous.

FOR SALE

 Nerrissa Dohnt ensured that Function Chains was a strong exhibitor.

 Solar Dryers … Bruce Bishop (SDA’s electrical engineer and designer of the BBC Controller) and Roger Burke (SDA and Rose Gum Timbers).

• Used 2008 Morbark 50/48A NCL Drum Chipper – Serial # 547-1063 • Cummins QST-30 engine – 2200hrs (1050hp) • PT Tech Wet Clutch • IQAN control system-radio remoteauxiliary air compressor-tri axle • $435,000 (not inc GST)

Contact Mal on 0418 924 696

 Sam Walcher, Penrite business development manager.

 SFM directors Andrew Morgan and David Wise.

Australian Forests & Timber News, May 2012 – 43

21st birthday celebrations T

he Komatsu Forest operation in Australia and New Zealand commenced as Valmet Logging Pty Ltd in late 1991. It was a full subsidiary to Valmet Logging AB (Sweden) with sales, service and spare parts operations being established in Smithfield, Sydney, NSW. During the nineties the global forest machine business went through enormous change and consolidation which gave the Valmet product new company names such as Sisu Logging and Partek Forest. This period also established Valmet as the market leader for purpose-built forest machines in the Australasian region including Indonesia.

Long term stabilisation occurred for the Valmet product in January 2004 when Komatsu (Japan) purchased Partek Forest AB, along with the subsidiary sales companies. The new company identity became Komatsu Forest AB with head office located in Sweden. The Australian and New Zealand subsidiary, which were part of the overall Komatsu acquisition, became Komatsu Forest Pty Ltd. To retain a strong forestry focus, the acquired forest companies were kept operating as totally separate entities from the general construction and mining divisions. At this time Komatsu Forest Pty Ltd established a new head office Sydney for its Australian and New Zealand operations. Also located at this facility is the main parts warehouse and technical support centre for the regions.

Komatsu Forest offers a range of purpose-built forest products including: Forwarders, Wheel Harvesters and track Feller Bunchers/Harvesters.

Further to the purpose-built equipment, Komatsu Ltd (Japan) transferred the responsibility of marketing Komatsu Hydraulic Excavators into the forestry industry to Komatsu Forest (mainland Aust. & NZ only). It was considered that this specialised application would benefit from the many years Komatsu Forest had acquired in the forestry industry.

The team at Komatsu Forest prides itself on being able to offer the forestry customer sound advice and assistance with regard to the selection of the right equipment for the job.

44 – May 2012, Australian Forests & Timber News

WASTE MANAGEMENT

Giving waste timber a second life D

URING THE past 12 months Perth’s Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council (EMRC) has diverted an estimated 16,000 tons of waste timber from landfill and given it a “second life”.

The move to turn wood waste into a resource was made back in 2010 when the EMRC first went through an expression of interest process, researching and evaluating the submissions.

Now, the fully automated wood grinding plant at the Hazelmere Recycling Centre, designed to recycle 20 tonne per hour of wood waste, is proving its worth.

Through consultation between DKSH, its suppliers and the EMRC, the successful tenderer was HAAS-Recycling (Germany), which designed and manufactured the entire plant. The system turns waste wood usually destined for landfill into two separate streams of chipped and cleaned products that EMRC can sell as animal bedding and for particle board manufacturing.

“Operationally, it is going well. We did not

have any major breakdowns. We had a few minor issues that we had to work our way through during the first year and some will be addressed in the next couple of weeks,” said Johan Le Roux, Manager Engineering/Waste Management Services, Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council.

Several facilities of this kind exist in Europe and during the evaluation process the EMRC followed up on several references regarding similar plants. One in particular was Boden’s Wood Waste Recycling in Manchester UK and has the throughput of approximately 8090 t/hr.

Rene Theissen, sales engineer for Environmental Technology Solutions, says the plant is proof of EMRC’s waste reduction and recycling policy and was the first plant of its kind in Australia. “EMRC can be congratulated in having the vision to invest in a plant that can turn a large part of its waste streams into a resource,” he said.

The waste wood is fed via an existing loader directly into a pre-crusher (HDWV-E

700x2000) to break the material into a more consistent size (150-300mm). This is a slow speed, twin shaft design, capable of independent shaft rotation which helps reduce noise and provide a more consistent product. The tilt hopper of the precrusher is controlled by the loader operator by remote control which has an in-built emergency stop.

The material is then conveyed to a hammermill (HSZ-V 1600) or secondary high speed crusher, which breaks the material down further (< 75mm).

After passing a series of metal separators (both ferrous and non-ferrous) supplied

by DKSH through its partner Wagner (Germany), the material is then fed through a rotating screen (HPS 100). This is a rotating flat screen which is specifically designed by HAAS to separate the input material into two sizes or “fines” (0-12mm and 12-75mm) in one operation and requires very little maintenance.

The material then goes through a light weight material separator or “wind-sifter”

that removes lightweight material such as plastic and paper to produce a more consistent product virtually free of any contaminates.

The two fines are conveyed to separate locations ready for customer pick up.

DKSH (Automation Group) manufactured the Central Control Unit for the plant at the Hallam facility in Melbourne. This is the heart of the plant which ensures proper communication between the various equipment. DKSH (Australia) was also heavily involved in providing onground support such as knowledge of local contractors, understanding and interpreting of Australian Standards on behalf of HAAS for the project.

With this new plant HAAS Recycling has proven in Australia that it is a leading supplier of size reduction and turnkey plants.

The project is further a great example of how DKSH can put together overseas and local expertise to provide a value-added solution for our customers in the waste reduction and recycling industry.

CRUSH IT! WOOD WASTE

GREEN WASTE

COMMERCIAL WASTE

CURRENTLY IN AUSTRALIA FOR DEMONSTRATION AND IMMEDIATE DELIVERY

HAAS HDWV-D 700 X 2000 Twin Shaft Precrusher • Diesel Powered (242kW CAT) • Foldable Discharge Conveyor • Track Mounted with variable speed control • Adjustable Magnetic Metal Separator

• Hydraulic Hopper Loader • Central Lubrication • 3-off Pre determined programs for specific material • 1-off special program capability

• Independent shaft speed rotation capability (in both forward and reverse) • Remote pendant controller • Easy menu function control • CAT powered with Bosch/ Rexroth hydraulics

DOMESTIC WASTE

For more information, call Rene Theissen on 0438 106 655 DKSH Australia Pty Ltd 14-17 Dansu Court Hallam, VIC 3803 Australia Email: recovery@dksh.com Web: www.dksh.com.au/ets Tel: +61 3 9554 6666 Fax: +61 3 9554 6677 DKSH0176

46 – May 2012 , Australian Forests & Timber News

Australian

FOR SALE

Forests & Timber Classifieds Sell your used equipment, advertise your tender, offer your real estate or find your next employee.

For rates and deadlines call Laurie (03) 9888 4834 or email: lmartin@forestsandtimber.com.au

890.1Valmet forwarder s/n 9535, 14,775 hrs. $50k+GST. Located in Tumut, NSW, in good condition and ready for work.

$200,000 including gST

Contact Ian 0427 275 843 or 02 6947 5794 ah. peacock_ian@ymail.com or peacock1@harboursatcom.au

Valmet 475 with rD977.

10,000 hours.

LandmarkHarcourts.com.au

$20,000 including gST

WEST GIPPSLAND/NOOJEE REGION

Log on Today!

Visit www.timberbiz.com.au/dtn to sign up today.

87ha - 215ac

West Gippsland Hardwood Timber Investment - Highly valued mixed species timber, all permits in place - Volume; 455 cubic metres/Ha, max 17o assessed slope gradient - Sawlog & Pulp marketplace established - Class spread; B (27%), C (11%), D (12.5%), E (16.5%), Res (33%) - Excellent road access, internal roads rocked & established - Located approx 10 kms from Noojee and 50 kms from Warragul (via Noojee)

Waratah HTH624 with T10 control system T425B with 33” Sawbar head.

FOR SALE $2.1 Million Erik Suggate 0417 156 317 erik.suggate@landmarkharcourts.com.au ALEXANDRA (03) 5772 3444, 56 Grant Street

QUALITY USED MACHINES

$50,000 including gST in noW 2nd hand grapples.

Valmet 890.2/8 Forwarder - sn: 210908 $195,000 + GST , Year 2004, Hrs 12,110 Full engine rebuild

Timbco TF820E Harvester - sn: 70

Wrecking noW

$140,000 + GST, Year 2004, Hrs 13,700 Fitted with 54/37 tyres

Various Timbco’s.

Pumps, cabs, tilt plates, rams, booms etc.

Timbco 445B Valmet 475EX base only - sn; 2335 $187,000 + GST, Year 2004, Hrs 15,250 Clean unit

Timberjack 608s base only - 07087

$100,000, Year 2003, Hrs 12,155 New Hyd pumps fitted at 10,000 hrs, Suited for Waratah head

Wrecking noW Timberjack 1710 6 wheel forwarder.

Volvo EC 290BLC/Waratah 24 Head - sn: V10309 Valmet 890.2/8 - sn: 210905 $125,000, Year 2002, Hrs 12,900 Good Condition

Contact local Area Managers:

$135,000, Year 2004, Hrs 20,800 approx Tidy unit Tracks not included

Nigel Howard 0439 399 447 “Used Equipment” Manager Andrew Watts 0418 296 968 Northern NSW Michael Winkel 0418 220 484 Gippsland/Sth NSW Shane McCarthy 0409 360 697 Tasmania/West Australia Dean O’Connor +64 (0) 277 715 254 New Zealand

www.komatsuforest.com.au

Wrecking noW. coming soon

Timbco 425e with Squirt boom and Waratah 622.

Buying and selling forestry equipment.

afm apr 12 -- used forestry eqip ad.qxp

18/04/2012

1:36 PM

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Australian Forests & Timber News, May 2012 – 47

QUALITY USED EQUIPMENT

NEW LISTINGS – LATE MODEL MACHINES! VALMET 6WD RUBBER MOUNT HARVESTER VALMET 911.3/360.2 Yr model 2008 - Serial No. 311xxxfm81 - <9000 hrs - recent factory re-work to 360.2 harvester head incl. new frame - An excellent low hour state of the art thinning machine in virtually faultless condition. $330,000 +GST - WILL NEGOTIATE WITH GENUINE BUYER KOMATSU PC270-7HW / WARATAH Shovel Logger/Felling machine - Year model 2007 - Serial No.105XX <8000 hrs - high wide undercarriage HD dual bar dozer tracks - approved cab guarding - high lift boom- Waratah FL85 felling head. Very well set up machine! $185,000 +GST

LATE MODEL MOBILE CHIPPERS MORBARK 30 RXL 2007 - Year model 2007 - <1500 hrs infeed deck - Morlift 1000 self loaderpresented in excellent condition cleaned serviced & ready to work genuine low hour chipper Reduced Price $495,000 +GST PETERSON 5900 2007 Year model-<5000 hours - fire suppression system- from a good home excellent maintenance & presentation $340,000 +GST

VALMET 860.1 8WD FORWARDER VALMET 860.1 8WD 2003 Year model - <8,000 hours - Nice straight low hour machine - Minimum 50% rubber

FOR SALE 2001 model Kennedy Triaxle Airbag Jinker * Suit Single Combination or B Double configuration * BPW axles & suspension * Alloy load rack skids, ballrace & 4 pin mounting plate * Scales * Exte load binders * Excellent Condition

For Sale

All machines currently working and available for inspection at harvesting site in Southern NSW. Prices negotiable. 0418 633 715

$252,000 + gst Tigercat L830 Feller buncher with Rosin FH885 directional felling head. New track links. 13,800hr in good condition.

$94,500 + gst

$30,000+GST

VHLC Hydraulic Chainsaw 3/4inch $7,000+GST

Kennedy Log Forks to suit PC300 $7,000+GST

Rodwell Logging Co Pty Ltd 0427 844 101 or 0427 489 138

Hitachi ZX230 excavator with VHLC log grab and 3/4in cut off saw. 13,400hr in good condition. 12,840hr.

$135,000 + gst

AVAILABLE NOW Softwood Bandsaw Processing Mill For high recovery sawmilling

Great Value $110,000 +GST

Timberjack 460D 2002 mod dual arch grapple and winch. Tyres as new 98% with front chains.

9100hr machine in excellent condition.

KOBELCO SK330 – 2003 Year model <6,000 hours Valmet RD395 (Rosin RD990) HD hardwood debarking head approved guarding - a genuine low hour machine capable of front line hardwood production service history available!

Good Buying P.O.A

$85,500 + gst

ALSO AVAILABLE - KOBELCO SK250-MK 6/VALMET 385 Softwood head - 2002 Year model <13,500 hours - service records available - can be seen working!

P.O.A

Cat 325L 1993 mod heavy duty log grab with 404 cut off saw. Has had a out of chassis engine rebuild. In very good condition.

LATE MODEL FORWARDER & 8WD MODELS VALMET 890.3 6WD 2007 Year model - <9500 hoursSisu Diesel 74 @ 150kW min.60% rubber - machine virtually unmarked - excellent condition & presentation $198,000 +GST VALMET 890 8X8WD (2) 1998 yr models - plenty of hours Sisu Diesel @ 130kW - both need some tyres but will negotiate straight from work service checked ready to go round again!

You will need look no further for such a popular honest reliable work horse as these 890's $49,500 ea+GST

OTHER MACHINES AVAILABLE - VISIT

www.afmpacific.com.au ABN 97 007 927 282

Phone: 0418 818 932 Email: drum@pacific.net.au Post: P.O. Box 129 Keilor VIC. 3036

Volvo L90 Loader

Comes complete with quick release, large chip bucket and log grapple forks.

Valen Kone VK26 Debarker In and out feed conveyors.

$88,000+GST $37,000+GST

Robinson 54” wheels heavy duty bandsaw

50hp motor, Hydraulic feed. $12,500+GST $9,800+GST

FIREWOOD MILLS

Top dogging. Log handling. Remote operator.

Log diameter 60cm – 12cm, 6m - 2.4m.

Hydraulic sizing 30cm – 7.5cm. $188,000+GST

Moreen Johnston 50” Horizontal Band Wing line Windsor board twin edger

With laser guides, pneumatic sizing and conveyor waste transfer.

Different sizes of mills with optional feeding table. Tractor, Diesel Power Pack or Electric Power Pack driven models.

Contact: Shane 0428 99 49 42

FOR SALE

Roundabout. Operator cabin. Hydraulic sizing, fence, line bar, cant turner and handling equipment.

Sawn timber transfer deck. $279,000+GST

With roundabout and wing transfer deck.$44,000.00+GST

New model BigX50 coming soon!

SG20 SOLAR/GAS KILN 2008 Manufactured by vSolar dryers Australia

$65,000+GST

Forano Twin 60” Bandsaw Log Breakdown line

Salem Twin 54” Band Resaw

For Information, please, call 0419-536 804 or email your postal address to info@firewoodmills.com.au

FOR SALE

Austral Timber Group Contact Ken Baker 0438 643 992 kjb@agnew.com.au

$37,000+GST

Long Established Brisbane Timber Merchant.

• Excellent central location.

• Wholesale & retail sales of Australian and Imported cabinet timbers to Australia wide market.

• Approx $2m + turnover P/A + growing.

• 1500m2 warehouse + hardstand which is available for purchase or lease.

• Suit owner operator & 2-3 staff.

• Established in QLD for 23 years.

Contact - Craig Douglas - MGI STH QLD 07 3002 4800 for more details.

NEXT NEXT NEXT BIG BIG BIG STEP STEP STEP

NEW NEW ADVANTAGES ADVANTAGES NEW ADVANTAGES WITH WITH KOMATSU WITH KOMATSU KOMATSU

KOMATSU 'FOREST XTREME' FELLER BUNCHERS & HARVESTERS Introducing Introducing Komatsu Forest offers the PC300LC-8 and PC400LC-8 as purpose built forest machines (FX) with specifications to match the toughest jobs.

Forest Xtreme features: • ROPS/FOPS/OPS Cabin • Full heavy duty Gull Wing canopy • Heavy duty under body guarding

• Harvest or Feller Buncher boom sets • Single or double bar track grousers • Integrated 1200 litre fuel tank • Engine option; 260hp or 362hp

The Forest Xtreme machines illustrates Komatsu forest’s dedication to provide the best solution for the logging contractor.

www.komatsuforest.com.au www.komatsuforest.com.au www.komatsuforest.com.au

Komatsu Komatsu

Introducing

Komatsu

Komatsu Forest Pty Ltd 15C Hyland Cres Rotorua,Forest New Zealand Komatsu Pty Ltd. Dean O’Connor M: +64 of 277 718 254 11/4 Avenue Americas E: dean.oconnor@komatsuforest.com Newington NSW 2127 Australia John Kosar M: +64 2274 8653600 844 T: +61 9647 E: john.kosar@komatsuforest.com E: info.au@komatsuforest.com