It was a pleasant surprise to hear that Russell Jensen himself was going to host us for this John Deere 803MH harvester Iron Test at Hamurana just north of Lake Rotorua, says Iron Test writer, Tim Benseman. 

He continues: “It turns out this is Russell’s ‘Pet Crew’ operating in a forest managed by Todd Cheeseman from Waipa Forest Management.

“Russell does the earthworks on a JD700 dozer most of the time in here, pushing in tracks and skids for loading out the thinned logs. Most of these are going to Kawerau pulp mill and there is a small amount of K grade going to export via the Port of Tauranga, which is under an hour away to the North West. 

“There’s two 803’s in this crew, we are testing the newest one with a newer operator while the other one is getting its scheduled maintenance done. 

“There’s a third 803 on the way too, so Russell must be happy with them. That will bring Jensen Logging’s John Deere stable to eight in its seven crews namely, the three 803’s, a 959, two 1470’s and two 1910 forwarders - one fixed cab and one rotating cab. 

“Terry Duncan from Brandt says, ‘The 803’s drive train is very similar to the 959 - you have the nine-litre engine but with smaller track motors. The 803 and the 859 are similar bodies - the 859 is the short radius leveller which is what Iron tester, Shaun Field, is usually in so the cab layout will be fairly familiar to him. The head controls will probably be a bit different.

“So this one isn’t a leveller? ‘No, it isn’t required in the thinnings role where they are working the easier slopes close to the road for forwarder extraction’ ,Terry says. 

“So basically, everything you need and nothing you don’t, less moving parts, and less rams and hoses to look after.”

To read more, get your copy of the April 2024 edition of NZ Logger magazine, on sale from 1 April. Check the link on this page to subscribe to either a printed or digital copy (or both).