Shaws Iron Test; Smooth Operator
As usual, Kaingaroa puts on the good weather and the great ground conditions.
There is no mud, and hardly a speck of dust to be seen, as we venture into the smoothly operating Thomassen crew, just off the Million Dollar Highway between Murupara and Kawerau. Our target today is the robust and powerful looking John Deere 953M, coupled with a New Zealand-made Quadco QB4400 fixed felling head.
The 9 litre, 330HP, John Deere is running three hydraulic pumps, 532 litres per minute (l/min), 114 l/min and 135 l/min. It impres...
NZ Logger Feature Sections May 2026
Woman in Forestry; Her heart's in the Forest
The forest has always been a special place for Kiana Sayer-White. And with her father, Aaron, and older brother, Kasey, being in the industry, you could say forestry i...
Looking Back; A colourful Career in Forestry
Chris Nelson wanted to be a farmer, but in the 1960s, farming opportunities were scant. His love of the outdoors led him to forestry and a fulfilling, exciting, lifelo...
Forest Talk
Expansion and acquisition for Niagara Sawmilling
Niagara Sawmilling Company recently began a $115 million expansion of its timber processing operations, marking the most significant growth phase in the comp...
Fungi-carrying “beetle taxis” could impact forestry plantations
Bark and ambrosia beetles are acting as tiny taxis for fungi across New Zealand, giving researchers valuable clues about how these organisms travel through f...
Log grapple shines through
Southland is the location for June’s Iron Test, of the CDL log grapple made by 3D Industrial Engineering in Rotorua, paired with a Caterpillar Next Gen 320.W...
New CEO at OneFortyOne
Andrew Leighton is OneFortyOne’s incoming Chief Executive Officer. He will join the company following a comprehensive selection process and will succee...
NRC says Fuel Response Plan hits the mark for freight
National Road Carriers Association (NRC) has welcomed the decision to prioritise freight carriers as part of the government’s updated Fuel Response Plan in t...
NZIF supports stronger focus on climate adaptation for forests
The New Zealand Institute of Forestry (NZIF) has welcomed the release of the Climate Change Commission’s 2026 National Climate Change Risk Assessment, partic...
The humble skidder
Over the last two decades, a lot of effort and research has focused on improving cable logging systemsThis has been driven by the need to mechanise both for ...
"if a tree falls in a forest...?"
Forest Talk will hear it!
