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 operation in the black.

“Crew Foreman for Burson Logging One is Ryan Nichols and he signs us in and goes through the felling plan with our Iron Tester, Brendan (Brendo) Harman, who works nearby running a fixed head harvester.

Foreman, Ryan, got invited to his first forestry job by a mate doing silviculture and stuck at that for five or six years: ‘I enjoyed the good physical work of thinning and planting and a bit of pruning. Good work for young fellas.’

“His first day at work in harvesting was unhooking for the hauler and driving the Bell UltraLogger at nearby Green Hill and then he went further South to log around Dunedin for six years before returning home. 

“Along with his Foreman role, Ryan does fill-in jobs operating diggers and processors when staff are away.

“We catch up with Burson Logging’s Ian Burson for a bit of background on how this company started out. 

“ ‘It’s one of those stories where there’s a bit of good luck and a bit of hard luck and a bit of thinking outside the square,’ Ian says.

“ ‘We are three generations in now, with the company starting out with Dad, me being trained up perhaps a tad younger than some would like, and now my son has started with us as well.’ “

To read more, get your copy of the October 2025 edition of NZ Logger magazine, on sale from 6 October. Check the link on this page to subscribe to either a printed or digital copy (or both).