25 YEARS OF FORESTRY JOURNAL
Last month, as part of our ongoing celebrations marking 25 years of Forestry Journal,
we took a look back at how machinery has changed. Now, we’re delving into the
archives to reflect on harvesting businesses; the people behind the controls, their
equipment and their experiences in the sector.
88 AUGUST 20 19 FORESTRYJOURNAL.CO.UK
The hands that harvest
BARONY COLLEGE
Barony College featured in Forestry Journal for
its intensive eight-week pilot course in harvesting
and forwarding, which saw four students gain their
harvesting and forwarding Forest Machine Operator
Certificates. Harvesters and equipment, as well as
staff to support them, were loaned by John Deere
Forestry, and the Forestry Commission provided
a 10,000 cubic metre clearfell harvesting site. The
college also ran a 24-week course covering the
core skills required to make a living harvesting and
extracting timber.
However, there was no secure funding available at
the time to harvesting machine short courses, with
all costs having to be met by the trainee or sponsor.
Course tutor Dave Blaikie commented: “I can only
assume if contractors require operators on short
courses they will have to pay. This is the critical
area we have to address. The other alternative is for
contractors to wait for suitable trainees from the 24-
week course, who will have a reasonable skill level,
supply them with a machine and salary and give them
time to reach a reasonable industry standard.”
SILVATEC
Silvatec’s Sleipner took to
the hills of northern Scotland
in 2007. The 20-tonne,
articulated-frame wheeled-
base harvester was a far cry
from the heavyweight tracked
machines that operator Ralph
Strachan was used to.
He explained: “When
working on steep slopes the
time will come when any
machine will start to slide –
but when a 35-tonne machine with a rigid undercarriage takes off downhill,
the operator can do little other than hang on. With the Sleipner’s 50-degree
frame steer it is possible for the operator to keep the machine from ending up
sideways across the slope. This reduces the chances of a roll-over and makes
it likely that he will regain control of the machine before anything untoward
happens. It is this knowledge that makes all the difference to the operator’s
feeling of safety.
“Not only that, but visibility from the cab is exceptional, and I particularly
appreciate the closeness to the tree when working downhill. When working
downhill on the tracked machines you got the feeling you were upstairs on a
double-decker bus and too far away from what you are supposed to be doing.”DES PICKARD &
SONS
One firm keeping it in
the family was North
Yorkshire-based Des
Pickard & Sons. Forestry
Journal visited the
business to get a look at its new arrival – a Logset
Titan 8H with 8L head. David Pickard – who swapped
working on forwarders for harvesters a year before –
said: “The visibility and comfortable cab are excellent.
The 8Hs are the first harvesters I have ever driven. It
was a bit of a learning curve. I have dropped a tree
onto the bonnet once but it’s all part of the curve.”
WALTON LOGGING
Harvesting timber was also a family
affair for husband-and-wife team John
and Lynn Walton of Walton Logging.
When featured in Forestry Journal, the
business had 11 machines working
around the north of England and the
Scottish Borders, six of which were
harvesters – a Valmet 941; Ponsse
Ergo; and a Timberjack 1470D, 1270D,
1270C and 1470A.
With so many machines working over a wide area, John was well placed to
comment on the ins and outs of harvesting timber. He said: “Costs keep rising... while prices, at best, are static. Diesel has just gone up from 15 to around
30p per litre. When this increase is translated into tonnes it works out at
around an extra 25p – and other costs are rising, too.
“The machines are replaced every five years, and the cost of doing this is
another increasing burden. True, the new machines are an improvement on the
previous models, with a greater capacity for work, but that extra production is
needed to absorb the extra costs. Put simply, I’m having to invest more for the
same return.”
Tim McMahon, operator of Walton’s Valmet 941 with 370.1 head, praised
the machine’s visibility, speed and power, while Richard Todd, operator of the
Ponsse Ergo, said of his machine: “I like the power of the crane and the speed
of the head. And there’s plenty of room in the cab too.”