Autumn has been open day season for dealers and manufacturers across the central North Island.
First cab off the rank was Warataha’s Tokoroa factory. The open day doubled as the signing off of Waratah’s two latest design projects - the 628HX harvester head and the FL90 felling head, which were both on display.
Waratah is owned by John Deere and the parent company’s Vice President of Worldwide Forestry, Mary Pat Tubb, was there.
“The turnout has been better than we thought, and what a great opportunity,” she said.
“You could feel it and see it on people’s faces, how proud they were to bring their families in and show them where they work, then to have customers here to interact at the same time is really cool.”
The 628HX is the latest in the range of HX units and has been built predominantly for the big, rough radiata first crop, in places where the trees and branches are heavy and tough.
It will be manufactured in Tokoroa and most are expected to stay in New Zealand, although some may well go to overseas customers.
The FL90 felling head is Waratah’s first felling product to be wholly designed and built in New Zealand.
Then it was the turn of Terra Cat in Rotorua, where the new generation Weiler H768 track feller buncher was on display.
The Weiler H768 is the first track feller buncher to be designed from the ground up since Weiler took over Caterpillar’s purpose-built forestry operations in 2019 and Kiwi foresters contributed to its development.
The first unit brought into New Zealand has been acquired by Olsen Cable Harvesting.
Weiler Vice-President, Bill Hood, said the company started the project that would result in the building of the H768 soon after Weiler bought the forest operations.
The development process included several visits to New Zealand to talk to operators, to see what they were looking for to meet the demands of the New Zealand forestry industry.
Also on display at Terra Cat Rotorua was Weiler’s S340 wheel skidder that has had a similar development journey, initially as an adaptation of a Cat skidder, then to a new, ground-up design.
Finally, TDX welcomed visitors to its Taupō branch for the launch of a new range of purpose-built Volvo Forestry Excavators, engineered for New Zealand conditions.
Developed following ongoing, extensive research and consultation with New Zealand forestry contractors and TDX product specialists, the new Volvo tracked forestry carriers are engineered to deliver improved durability, operator comfort, safety and productivity across a wide range of forestry applications – from harvesting and processing through to loading, trenching and forest road building.
The event provided those who went along with the opportunity to experience the performance, stability and visibility of the machines, while engaging directly with TDX forestry specialists.
“Taupō is right in the heart of forestry country, so it was the ideal location to launch the range,” said TDX Territory Sales Manager/Forestry Specialist Ewen Satherley. “Getting machines into the hands of our customers and letting them operate them is the best proof point of what these excavators can deliver.”
For more on all these events, grab a copy of the May edition of NZ Logger, on sale on 4 May. Check the link on this page to subscribe to either a printed or digital copy (or both).
