KAIPARA LIFESTYLER OctOber 2 - 2012
shipbuilding trade grew up in tandem with the forestry exploits of our founders, and for a time the fastest ships on the water came from the Kaipara. Nowadays native trees are protected by covenant of law, and the echoes of that pioneering past are preserved in such establishments as Matakohe’s Kauri Museum, along with relics and tools from those times. Many — such as long pit-saws and steam engines — are the forebears of today’s logging machinery, which has grown to stand at the forefront of technological innovation. Modern logging begins with the right kind of tree, from seed to seedling and into maturity. In New Zealand the most cultivated kind of timber comes from a variation of the Monterey Pine, pinus radiata. It’s ideal because it grows quickly, and produces easily worked, high-
run out if our forests are managed in this way. While there’s still plenty of work for the modern ‘lumberjack’ — now a skilled, safety conscious professional armed with a powerful chainsaw instead of an old-fashioned axe — many trees are now felled and stripped of their foliage by a single machine. A vicious-looking processor head (sometimes termed a Waratah, after a famous brand of such devices) can literally pluck the tree from its stump with a hinged chainsaw, then roll it between spiked wheels to remove excess branches. Attached to a digger arm and chassis, these machines can harvest large areas in a short time. “Forestry is a challenging but In the steep back country, rewarding industry, and one of the logs are often transported to linchpins of the local economy” more accessible ground by wire. A ‘yarder’ — a kind of quality wood for the building industry. large, moveable tower equipped with With forests taking on average a quarter powerful motors — hoists the logs from of a century to mature, forest owners out of the forest on moving carriages, are careful custodians of their land, with stacking them ready for transport. In a sustainable cycle of pines cultivated flatter areas, logs are carried by rugged so that there are always mature trees ‘forwarders’, heavy-duty vehicles with ready to be harvested. Unlike any other chain-wrapped tyres. For the really heavy building material, timber will never truly jobs (which abound in the silviculture
trade) foresters use powerful ‘skidders’, the replacement for the bullock teams of old, with massive horsepower and wheels taller than a man. The final destination of all those logs is the sawmill, where timber can be sawn for use in building, laminated
for strength, peeled to make versatile plywood, or even ground up for paper. Careful sorting by grade ensures that each log fulfils its purpose, and the mills and ports are fed by a fleet of logging trucks, putting in thousands of kilometres a day between them. Forestry is a challenging but rewarding industry, and one of the linchpins of the local economy. Not only the export earnings of this sector count — there are also a host of local Kaipara businesses dedicated to supporting this vital trade. When logging professionals need tyres, lubrication, hydraulic repairs, or servicing for their chainsaws and equipment there is skilled help on hand from people right here in Dargaville and around the Kaipara. It’s through their hard work and expertise that the forestry industry keeps its edge!
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