It has been a good while since we Iron Tested a Hyundai machine and it’s quite striking to see the Hyundai HX400 processor at first, says Iron Tester, Tim Benseman. “It makes you want to know what’s going on here with that cool colour scheme and also what the R&D team have been up to at Hyundai.”

He adds: “When running Hyundai 210’s in forestry land prep in recent years I found them noteworthy for their increased control speed and their striking fuel economy, so it will be interesting to see if those qualities show up in this bigger HX400 machine running a Woodsman Pro 850. 

Iron Tester, Shane McGuire, joins the team at Wharerata from one of his own crews further south of Gisborne and reports that the Flavell Logging crew is a tight unit known for working hard: “They have always been a high production crew. I mean who the hell has three loaders out in the cutover? Shovelling, bunching, feeding the hauler. These guys are getting after it, that’s for sure.” 

So how many loads a day are these guys pumping out? “About 20,” says Flavell Foreman, Kayle Beckett. “It goes up around the 800-tonne a day mark when we have some ground-based to do as well but when we are in hauler ground production sits around the 550- to 600-tonne mark.” 

The Hyundai processor is obviously humming along, doing 20 loads on a normal day and stretching up to 26-ish when in ground based, says Tim. 

To read more, get your copy of the March 2023 edition of NZ Logger magazine, on sale from 6 March. Check the link on this page to subscribe to either a printed or digital copy (or both).