The mountain men of logging is what first crossed Iron Test writer, Tim Benseman’s mind when the team arrived at NAB Contracting’s steep and "bluff riddled" Manawatu block, needing a four-wheel drive just to get to their container. Then he saw that the gun loader operator was a woman named Caitlyn Thomsen. Perhaps Mountain Wo/Men of logging?

“Best loader op I have ever had actually,” says NAB owner, Nick Bunn. “She doesn’t seem to crack under pressure like some of the previous ops and is very smooth on the machine and trucks, and calm. She starts at 3.30am five days a week, and that’s loading up to 16 trucks a day and she is fleeting 450 to 500 tonnes a day off our Tigercat 890 Logger and Woodsman processor.”

And it’s that giant 50-plus tonne processor that the NZ Logger Iron Test team was there to take for a spin. Brand-new Iron Tester, Charlie Herbert headed in from the nearby Wanganui-based Boyd Logging crew. Having worked for NAB in the past when they were a six-day a week crew, he slotted in well for a few hours in the 890’s seat.

To read more, get your copy of the September 2022 edition of NZ Logger magazine, on sale from 5 September. Check the link on this page to subscribe to either a printed or digital copy(or both).