25 AUGUST 2019 FORESTRYJOURNAL.CO.UK
NEWS
LATEST UPDATE FROM THE GLOBAL FORESTRY INDUSTRY
THIS year marked the 100th year of the
Royal Welsh Show. While I started attending
the show many years ago, I don’t go back
that far.
Of interest was the continual migration of
forestry products into the mainstream show
ground, perhaps a reflection of forestry
becoming more mainstream in rural life,
rather than outside competition to the
livestock industry.
One of the traditional characteristics of
the Welsh is their non-conformism, which
has proved a blessing and a hindrance.
It has given them a strength of character,
but it has also brought about disunity,
particularly in the land-use sector. However,
this year saw far more unity, with Confor
leading the way. It arranged a variety of
events and presentations uniting the various
non-government organisations in a positive
way. One point it highlighted is that many
large upland farms could easily plant areas
of between 5–10 hectares, without affecting
their agricultural viability, yet the benefits
provided by such new planting would help
to improve the sustainability and viability of
those farms.
The new regional agent for Confor
is Anthony Geddes, coming from a
background of land and timber management
and recycling, making him well suited
for the post. There are
challenges to be faced
with the new Glastir
scheme, as well as
increasing plantings to
provide a sustainable
base for future
development of more
sustainable housing
using locally grown,
sustainably sourced wood.
Of potential use to some
new woodland plantings
would be Coed Cymru’s carbon
certification scheme. Once again,
there would be a need to look at
the small print, but it is a potential
income-generating avenue.
On the machine front was Mervin Thomas
on the D.A. Hughes stand with Sunward
tracked diggers. Made in China, the range
goes from small mini-diggers to 50-tonne
monsters. Post Brexit, there could be
far greater opportunities to import such
machines direct. All the Sunward machines
are built to a high specification, with no
need for extra add-ons.
On the D.A. Hughes stand were details of
their excavator-based assist winches, while
the well-known T-Winch tracked unit was
on display. John Deere had a Haas systeminstalled on one of its forwarders, with the
fairlead situated at the back of the machine.
The winch spool is encased in metal under
the forward set of bunks on one side, while
on the other side is another spool containing
a nylon rope, designed to pull the wire rope
up a hill via a snatchblock, saving
the driver having to drag a
long, heavy wire rope uphill.
The Ponsse assist winch
system was encased in
the chassis beneath the
bunks.
Also on the Ponsse
stand was a Daewoo
excavator which had
been converted to
forestry use and offered
around a £100k saving on
its purpose-built brother. R.J.
Fukes had a system that uses a
quick-fit attachment to be installed
on a 25-tonne base unit, totally
remotely operated, holding close to
500 m of wire rope. John Fukes was
keen to highlight the current lack
of legal guidelines as to the use of assist
winches, so the makers of their assist winch
have followed the New Zealand standards.
Also on the R.J. Fukes stand was Logset’s
largest harvester, sporting some 500 horses
under the bonnet with a hybrid diesel/
electric system offering good fuel efficiency
savings.
It was a good show, where one of the
highlights was when the axemen had a
race against the sheep shearers – and the
axemen won. Let’s hope that’s a positive
portent for the future!The Royal Welsh Show hits 100
Arwyn Morgan reports on all the forestry action
during the Royal Welsh Show 2019 at Llanelwedd
John Fukes
shows off his
assist winch.Daewoo
excavator
converted to
operate a Ponsse
harvesting head.Sunward mini
digger.Assist winch spool
box on a John
Deere forwarder.