Newly arrived into New Zealand is the Logset 8H GTE Hybrid harvester with, you guessed it, a mix of electric and diesel power.
It’s the first all-new hybrid-powered forestry machine to go to work in New Zealand and is a taste of what low-carbon harvesting will look like in the future.
Logset is a Finnish-made machine that is still relatively unknown and certainly uncommon among forestry operators on our shores in 2022. But never one to simply follow the crowd, Mike Hurring took a punt and now he and his operators are big fans and proud owners of the first machine in the country.
Maybe it’s time forestry operators sticking with the ‘tried and true’ took a closer look at what’s now available on the global machinery market?
The Logset GTE Hybrid is a powerful medium-sized harvester with a diesel engine that runs at a constant pace, while the hybrid system provides up to 142hp of extra power required in felling and processing. This modern mix allows the hybrid harvester to easily perform several tasks at the same time, while keeping the engine load constant. And saving fuel at the same time.
The machine is owned and was imported into New Zealand by Balclutha-based Mike Hurring Logging & Contracting, and it’s currently getting some heavy use on a demanding job in central Southland.
Beginning in 1986 with a couple of machines and chainsaws clearing farmland in the Catlins, Mike Hurring Logging & Contracting has more than 60 staff spread across eight crews in the Southland and Otago regions. His crews have done jobs across the Tasman in Canberra and as far north as Geraldine, Canterbury.
Mike puts a major focus on training his staff well. He has two machine simulators and runs courses with two qualified trainers throughout the year.
Mike Hurring Logging & Contracting operator, Alistair Hudson, was hard at work on the Logset 8H on a steep and fairly rugged forestry block in Gowan Hills, about an hour’s drive north of Invercargill, when
NZ Logger visited.
“When the block was first planted, the owners wanted it done quickly as they couldn’t get enough good quality seed; they mixed the good seed with the bad seed and expected it would all straighten itself up over time, but it didn’t really, so it’s an interesting mix in here,” Alistair explains.
Still, the smile on his face says it all. He’s proud of the machine he operates, the first hybrid he’s ever run and he keeps it clean – despite the conditions. He’s been fairly impressed with its power, visibility, versatility and overall performance, too.
He asked to have some additional lights put on the rear of the harvester, as it gets quite dark in that part of Southland in the Winter and Mike, being the good sort that he is, obliged – other than that “she’s stock standard”. Delivered around Christmas time, Alastair got the New Year off to a good start in a brand-new machine, with the latest in hybrid engine technology. And it’s already making a good impression.
“The visibility is...
