Forest Talk

The Forest Industry Safety Council has released an important Safety Alert following a yarder stabilising ram failure incident.

The Safety Alert relates to Thunderbird TY50/70 Towers and rope retrieval.

The forestry sector has long relied on Thunderbird TY50 and TY70 tower yarders — machines designed to be light, transportable and efficient. However, a serious harm injury has highlighted a critical safety concern that demands immediate attention..... more

Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 highlighted concerns around the impact of slash on waterways – especially around New Zealand’s East Coast. In November 2024, global forestry company Rayonier authorised the design and build of a large-scale grapple to help with the tidy-up. Blain Cox and his Hawke’s Bay-based crew, Cox Forestry Services, agreed to give it a test run.

The six-man swing-yarder crew uses an EMS Tether Winch machine, a John Deere 859 Feller Bunc..... more

The University of Canterbury’s School of Forestry is running a series of Forest Engineering Workshops in Rotorua this winter.

The one-day courses are designed to provide up-to-date information in a structured learning environment, for people actively engaged in the forest industry.

The courses are: Working on Steep Slopes with Winch Assist (2 June); Safe and Effective use of Mobile Tailholds (3 June); Managing Production for Cost-Effective Logg..... more

They say woodchopping is in the blood. For the Rasmussen-Wallace whānau of Ōtaki, that’s literally true.

When the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® New Zealand Men’s and the Tuatahi Axes New Zealand Women’s Championships take over Te Marae o Hine / The Square in Palmerston North as part of the Ford Ranger NZ Rural Games this weekend, three members of one remarkable family will be competing. They will showcase a legacy that spans generations, travels the country an..... more

The 22,000th Ponsse forest machine manufactured at the company’s Vieremä factory was delivered to Irish customer G&G Timber Harvesting this month. The milestone machine is a Ponsse Elk forwarder, valued for its agility, productivity and suitability for a wide variety of forestry work.

“This is a significant milestone in our cooperation with G&G Timber Harvesting. Along with the Ponsse Elk, a Ponsse Scorpion Giant harvester, which is one of our flagsh..... more

This month our Iron Test team visits DK Logging's stems crew in the mighty Matahina Forest near Kawerau to test the capable and innovative new Tigercat LH 857 running a Satco 3L2 and tethered off a T-Winch 10.3 where required. 

"It drives better and has more lift power than the previous 855 - better cab, wider seat and that swept up tail makes a big difference in the steep country," says owner, Kevin O'Malley. 

Kevin started out as a ..... more