duties, the chainsaw skills she learnt at the Cumbrian
college will, no doubt, be useful to her employer. Having
competed in competitions in 2017, a chance to swing her
saw on home territory was too good to miss. “It is great
fun, it improves professional expertise and it is a real
opportunity to travel,” says Maddy, who will be visiting
Norway later this year with the UK Loggers team.
For Mark Edwards of Gloucestershire it was the first
time he had returned to Penrith for many years. He
recognised the area near the castle and the station where
he and his fellow students had spent weekend evenings
having a good time sipping the odd beer or two. Mark,
however, did not stay the course and was soon back
in the woods of the South West. Now contracting and
training, his return north was very enjoyable: top marks
in the simulated felling helped him gain first place in the
competition ahead of Dewi Williams and Gethin Hughes.
There were, in this case, no prizes for the
professionals. The Newton Rigg students all won prizes,
with Connor McDonald coming out on top in the section.
Chris White did not go home empty-handed either.
Whatever the age and experience of the competitor, the
first competition entered qualifies him/her as a ‘novice’.
Peter Fox summed up the success of the event: “It’s
been a great day and very well attended. We have
had great support from Newton Rigg and the forestry
industry in the form of Tilhill [Pete Bowsher] and
Euroforest [Simon Wallis]. With support from Husqvarna
we hope to be able to run three college competitions
each year in the future. Keep your eye on the UK
Loggers’ website.”
http://www.ukloggers.co.uk
Susan Burke54 MAY 20 18 FORESTRYJOURNAL.CO.UK
The combination cut involves cutting discs from two logs angled at 7° from the horizontal. The thickness
of the discs must be between 3 and 8cm. The first cut starts from the bottom. Peter Fox has a tip; use
the bumper spike to hold the saw when the chain reaches the middle of the green strip on the operator’s
side. The top cut must start in the orange zone and the two cuts must join in the green zone to sever the
disc. Angles and offsets are measured to assess penalty points incurred.Tree climbing is the
speciality of John
Tunstall of Cheshire.
The forestry-based
nature of the UK
Loggers competitions
holds a special
appeal for him. The
experience perfects
slightly different sets
of skills from those he
normally uses in his
day-to-day work. John
is convinced, however,
that despite the social
and enjoyable nature
of the competitions,
sharing ideas and
experiences sharpens
up everybody’s work
standards.Peter Fox runs through the procedure for changing the bar and chain, watched
by Tony Savage (centre) and Richard Hunter (right). Peter’s advice for this
discipline is to stay relaxed and calm to avoid major errors since the new
chain has to complete the next stage of the competition without adjustment.
When Peter himself went against the clock the stress of organising the event
showed through; his replacement chain turned out to be fitted backwards!
Cumbrian lass Maddy Parkin completed her forestry course at Newton
Rigg a couple of years ago. She has used the skills she acquired to gain an
apprenticeship with the Lake District National Park. She has already booked
in her annual leave to represent the UK in the newly introduced women’s
competition at the World Logging Championships in Lillehammer, Norway.
UK LOGGERS EVENT