Fast forward

 

 

 

There’s little margin for error in production thinning.

 

It requires a well-planned strategy, investment in the right equipment and experienced people to get it right.

 

If there is one contractor that knows how to make production thinning work, its Jensen Logging. The Rotorua-based outfit has been thinning in Kaingaroa for more than two decades, which included a break when Timberlands paused to allow the age class of the trees to catch up. Jensen returned when production thinning resumed and they’re still in the game, having built a reputation for doing a damn good job.

 

But as production thinning has ramped up to a whole new level in Kaingaroa Forest, so has Jensen Logging had to make greater investments in new equipment and technology to keep up.

 

Gone are the days of men on the ground with chainsaws. It’s all fully mechanised now. The Jensen crews that NZ Logger magazine recently visited now consists of EIGHT harvesters, serviced by FOUR forwarders. That’s a lot of investment.

 

We were there to see the latest machine the Jensen team had invested in; the first Komatsu 875 forwarder to go to work in Australasia.

 

The Komatsu 875 is wider than its predecessor and can carry a tonne more wood, but it’s also pushing the envelope in these tight compartments.

 

To see how it is coping, read the August issue of NZ Logger magazine, which goes on sale at selected service stations from July 31, or click on the photo of the magazine on the opening page of this newsletter to find out how to subscribe for either the printed copy or the online version.

The first Komatsu 875 forwarder, working in the Kaingaroa Forest production thinning operations of Jensen Logging.