Forest Talk

Entries are now open for the Competenz Most Valuable Coach (MVC) award - a new nationwide search to honour the mentors, trainers, and workplace legends who go the extra mile for apprentices and trainees.

Every skilled trainee or apprentice has had someone teaching, backing, or inspiring them - the coach who has quietly shaped their success in the forestry sector. 

“These are the people who inspire, teach, and back our learners ev..... more

When it comes to bunching grapples, big is good and tough is even better. The new Duxson BX1100 is both. It’s hooked up to a John Deere 2156G XD LC at Nathan Taylor’s Mechanised Cable Harvesting (MCH) windthrow salvage operation near Nelson. 

First impressions when our Iron Test team arrives are that this grapple is an armoured vehicle.

Iron Test writer, Tim Benseman continues: “Having used and accidentally abused a few bunching grapples i..... more

New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) has kicked-off a multi-million-dollar project to upgrade a key rural road.

When it is finished, about five kilometres of Tarata Road between Inglewood and the Purangi Saddle will have been rebuilt, with the work concentrating on high-risk areas.

“Tarata Road is a significant regional and economic road but it’s under a lot of pressure from an increasing volume of logging trucks – it wasn’t built to withstand ..... more

A 10% U.S. tariff on all softwood lumber and timber imported from New Zealand will have significant financial repercussions on New Zealand’s forest growing industry, says the New Zealand Forest Owners Association (NZFOA).

Announced by United States President Donald Trump at the end of September, the tariff was the outcome of the Section 232 Investigation aimed at determining the effect imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products..... more

In the heart of New Zealand’s forests, a quiet revolution is taking root. Not in the machinery or the markets, but in the minds of young learners and seasoned loggers alike. Discover Forestry – a national initiative launched three years ago – is turning school field trips into powerful tools for education, connection, and industry transformation. Thanks to a small, dedicated team of forestry educators and with backing from industry.

Discover Forestry..... more

Burson Logging’s new Tigercat L822E feller buncher with Tigercat’s own 5185 fixed felling head is leading the charge to get Nelson’s windthrow out of the forest when our Iron Test team stops by, says writer, Tim Benseman.

He continues: “Burson Logging has two of its three crews working in this block and while the race is on to get wind-damaged wood to mills and ports before sapstain arrives, there is time and the temperature on our side to keep that ..... more