THE TIMBERPRO TF840 HAS BEEN THE BIG GUN OF forwarders for many years. Easily capable of legally moving 30 tonnes of wood from the cut-over to the skid site, it has no trouble out-muscling other forwarders in the heavy-hauling department.

It’s been more than eight years since NZ Logger last sampled one of these bad-boys and the competition has ramped up since then. So when the Subritzky Clark crew took delivery of the recently upgraded D-series TimberPro TF840 – the first in New Zealand – to pull cut-to-length logs out of a Far North forest, it was time to get re-acquainted and see how the newcomer matches up.

Forwarders generally work well in most ground conditions, so the sand-based sites on the west coast of the North Island, the pumice lands around the volcanic plateau, along with the long and level runs encountered in the lower South Island have allowed the TF840D to perform up to expectations.

It’s pretty much all sand where the Subritzky Clark boys are working in the Te Hiku Forest, about one hour’s drive north of Kaitaia. The forest was planted in behind Ninety Mile Beach to help stabilise the sand dunes and even though the crew’s operations are about ten miles inland from the coast, the ground under their harvesting site is still very sandy.

“This is real forwarder country, it’s beautiful, nice rolling ground and we can log rain or shine, the surface doesn’t change much,” says Willie Clark, who jointly owns the business with wife, Bronwyn Subritzky Clark. “And it’s ideal for our small crew, just four working with us.”

Two of the four are their twin sons, forwarder driver Cale and Dane, who operates one of the harvesters and also acts as crew foreman. The other crew members are Sid Leefe, in the second of the two harvesters and Paris Waenga, who is in the loader/shoveller.

The crew is now running so smoothly that Willie has stepped back from day-to-day logging and only ventures out when needed. Bronwyn keeps an eye on health and safety, while managing the bookkeeping with the accountant.

They’re enjoying a well-earned semi-retirement after facing numerous challenges trying to establish themselves in the industry during the tumultuous nineties and early 2000s.

Willie was late getting into logging, first working as a block layer and then in the Moerewa freezing works, before joining his brother Pae’s logging operation prior to going out on his own with a loader in the yard of the JNL board plant in Kaitaia. But when he and Bronwyn progressed into road lining and skid site preparation with PF Olsen at Te Kao, a stone’s throw from Cape Reinga, it really stretched their resources.

Their saving grace came in the form of a phone call from Bob Shirley of Summit Forestry, who offered them a contract closer to home doing similar work in Aupouri Forest, which later turned into clear-fell harvesting. That was ten years ago...