The 2,760kg Sany makes easy work of moving cut sections.
SMALL BUT
MIGHTY
David Wylie travels west to see Argyll Forestry Services’ new Sany SY26U excavator complete with rotating grapple at a large estate in Dunoon, Scotland
D
unoon-based Argyll Forestry Services Ltd is owned and managed by second generation forestry professional Ross Petro. Joining the family business in 2001, Ross later took charge of the business under a new name of Argyll Forestry Services Ltd (AFS) in 2017 and employed his highly skilled team within his new company. AFS is experienced in all aspects of forestry landscaping and other various tree work and works hard to ensure it delivers a safe, competitive, and highly professional service to meet its customers’ needs. Argyll Forestry Services covers a full range of arboricultural and forestry services to both commercial and domestic clients throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK, such as domestic and commercial tree surgery, forest and garden maintenance, site clearance, Japanese knotweed removal, stump grinding, consultancy and tree surveys and project management. The skilled team are certificated to a high
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standard and accredited under the SafeContractor accreditation scheme, which indicates a well-managed and professional service that conforms to health and safety and the latest environmental guidelines. The company’s list of clients includes organisations such as Scottish Woodlands (clearing affected larch trees), Tillhill Forestry, a number of local authorities, and Jim Wilmer & Sons Timber Harvesting Ltd (featured on pages 16 to 22) to name but a few.
Below right: The Sany’s lifting performance is impressive handling these big logs over the side of the tracks and at full reach.
becoming windblown, which would result in the damage and possible destruction of a large walled garden and adjacent glass conservatory. This forestry work is part of the larger renovation project at the magnificent Castle Toward – a former Argyll and Bute council building – previously used as an outdoor education facility. AFS’s client is Keith Punler and Denice Purdie, who now own the estate, and after a multi-million-pound investment will soon be opening as an upmarket wedding hotel, with shop and cafe and exclusive location for films, TV productions and other events. THE PERFECT MATCH The location is close to Dunoon centre and I met up with Lyle Sibbald from Sany UK a short journey and & Ireland, and Ross Petro and his car ferry ride from team at a large 600-acre estate in Glasgow. Ross’s home town of picturesque “THIS FORESTRY Since the trees were Dunoon, which overlooks the WORK IS PART OF THE nearly 30m tall and so beautiful River Clyde estuary. At LARGER RENOVATION close to the adjacent the time of my visit, AFS was PROJECT AT THE structures, Ross and contracted to clearfell 22 spruce trees that had become over grown MAGNIFICENT CASTLE his team of hand cutters decided to and posing a possible risk of TOWARD”
