In the search for the most powerful forwarder ever made by John Deere, our Iron Test team arrives at a eucalyptus clear-fell operation near Invercargill where the first impression is that something has gone terribly wrong. 

Says writer, Tim Benseman: “Row upon row of processed logs stretch for long distances. These rows have been here so long that they are sun bleached and foliage has started to regrow around them where they lie in the cutover. I stop and search the gearbox for reverse. I must have made a wrong turn somewhere.

“But it turns out my first impressions are wrong and things are actually going to plan here. Mcarley Logging’s Nathan Mcarley is living in the land of plenty as far as volume goes. We check in with Iron Tester, Stephen Unahi, on what’s going on: ‘The forest owner brought this system in about 10 years ago. One of the goals was reducing weight for cartage. It also better facilitates dephasing for health and safety and specialisation of tasks, so there’s a harvesting contractor in here who is separate from Nathan’s owner/operator extraction operation and another contractor who comes in to load out.’

“The system works well for Nathan judging by the mountains of wood he has forwarded out on to the load out skids. The skids are buried in wood. Long, high and deep stacks on multiple skids.”

To read more, get your copy of the February 2024 edition of NZ Logger magazine, on sale from 5 February. Check the link on this page to subscribe to either a printed or digital copy (or both).