Shaws Iron Test; Built for Thinnings
The first thing we notice about Conan Hemsworth’s Weiler H457 harvester is the staunch, oversized, heavy-duty (HD) undercarriage with a discreet zero tail cab and a long 9.91 metre reach. Built for thinnings, that undercarriage is going to be a broad and stable base in amongst the spot mounds.
And Conan has spread his logging career across a broad base as well, starting in Wales manually harvesting thinnings with a chainsaw for a weekly forwarder pick up: “I would chainsaw down the trees, cut them to le...
NZ Logger Feature Sections August 2025
Data-driven harvesting
In the Tasman District near Nelson, PF Olsen is running a high-efficiency harvesting operation at the Moturoa/Rabbit Island Forest. The block, owned by the Tasman Dist...
Work smarter, not harder, toreduce fatigue
Fatigue is a big risk in forestry, especially for manual tree-fallers. Fatigue can hurt because tired people are more likely to make poor decisions. So, it’s really im...
Forest Talk
Carbon capture pilot launched at Finnish mill
In a first of its kind trial, Metsä Group, a leading Finnish forest industry group whose operations span pulp, paperboard, tissue, and wood products, has sta...
Custom Controls improve Forestry Safety
Is the standard, off-the-shelf control system in your forestry machinery a weak link in your safety chain? In an industry where operators navigate treacherou...
Eco Survey and a Possum
Along with a New Zealand Timber feature this month, we take a trip back in time with Ross Lockyer to his Ecological Survey days as a Forest Ranger back in 19...
First of its kind Tōtara height-diameter model
In research published earlier this year, the Bioeconomy Science Institute released the first height-diameter model for tōtara (Podocarpus totara). To date th...
Search for Most Valuable Coach begins
Entries are now open for the Competenz Most Valuable Coach (MVC) award - a new nationwide search to honour the mentors, trainers, and workplace leg...
Solid build, light work
When it comes to bunching grapples, big is good and tough is even better. The new Duxson BX1100 is both. It’s hooked up to a John Deere 2156G XD LC at Nathan...
Tarata Road upgrade underway
New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) has kicked-off a multi-million-dollar project to upgrade a key rural road.When it is finished, about five kilometres of ...
"if a tree falls in a forest...?"
Forest Talk will hear it!
