PONSSE NEWS
CUSTOMER AND STAKEHOLDER MAGAZINE 2025
PUBLISHED BY
Ponsse Plc, Ponssentie 22, FI-74200 Vieremä, Finland
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Marika Ryytty
EDITING & CONTENT
Ponsse Plc
ISSN 2489-9488 (print)
ISSN 2489-9496 (online publication)
EDITORS
Juho Nummela, Marika Ryytty, Mari Komulainen, Jarmo Vidgren, Marko Mattila and Jussi Hentunen
LAYOUT
Luova Työmaa
COVER PHOTO
Ponsse Plc
ILLUSTRATIONS (PONSSE KIDS)
Henna Ryynänen (Ponsse kids), Petteri Tikkanen (cartoon)
Painotalo Seiska
PAPER
Covers: G-Silk 150 g/m2 covers, and inner pages G-Print 100 g/m2
ADDRESS SOURCE
Ponsse News mailing list and Ponsse customer register
Ponsse’s journey started from one man’s big dream. The company has grown from a small village workshop to a success story operating on all continents and in dozens of market areas.
Our 55-year story has been eventful. Above all, we have done it together. “There is power in doing things together instead of alone,” the company’s founder Einari Vidgrén worded one of his principles, which even today guide Ponsse’s operations.
Ponsse has grown into one of the world’s largest manufacturers of cut-to-length forest machines. This has been possible together with hard-working forest machine entrepreneurs and their families, skilled professional operators, Ponsse people committed to high quality and the best partners. We will celebrate our 55th anniversary as befits us.
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Ponsse Plc’s customer and stakeholder magazine Ponsse News is published twice a year.
Feedback, subscriptions and changes of address by email to ponssenews@ponsse.com. The magazine is free of charge.
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GUARANTEES SAFETY
12 EVERYONE PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN SAFETY
Ponsse is committed to developing safety and preventing accidents
14 PONSSE MANAGER 2.0 – NEW ERA IN DATA MANAGEMENT
16 PONSSE PEOPLE Multitalented Harri Toitturi
17 TWO DECADES OF HARVESTING EXCELLENCE Breen’s Lumber thrives in Canada partnering with Ponsse and ReadyQuip
18 PONSSE IN ONE DAY
20 PONSSE SCORPION – THE ICON OF MODERN FOREST MACHINES
22 THE STORY OF THE PONSSE DOG
23 EINARI VIDGRÉN FOUNDATION 20 YEARS
24 PONSSE CLUB IS LIKE HOME AWAY FROM HOME
28 IS THERE NO STEEPER SLOPE?
29 THE TURNING YEARS OF NATIONALISATION AND GROWTH
30 PONSSE’S SOLUTIONS FOR PRODUCTIVE FORESTRY
37 PONSSE KIDS
38 PONSSE COLLECTION
We have toured and will tour around the world to meet people who are important to us: customers, stakeholders, partners and personnel. Every meeting and event is a wonderful opportunity to listen to feedback and share ideas. While the world does not stop to celebrate, we have a good reason to pause for a moment to thank, discuss and look ahead. Sharing ideas is an integral part of our culture – a way of working that has been a significant factor in Ponsse’s growth and success. When developing machines, Einari understood deeply that machine users are the best experts we should listen to.
We have always been genuinely interested in how our customers are doing. The tradition is already continuing in the company in the third generation, given that Samuel Vidgren has been responsible for US dealers for more than two years now. A lot is happening in the world right now, and there is turmoil both in the East and in the West.
We are doing our best amidst all these changes and focusing on what we can influence: people, quality, development and partnerships – our own activities and the success of our customers. While we are not in an optimal business climate at the moment, we are investing in our personnel’s expertise and support, strengthening our global network, and actively seeking partners in new areas where we can support our customers. It is important to ensure that we provide the best possible service and support in each market area. Gaining and strengthening trust requires daily work, commitment and excellence. We are ready for this. We have a winning team, the best people in the world and the “world’s best forest machines” that thrive in every condition and terrain. These are the cornerstones of our future and our success for the next 55 years – together while listening to our customers and supporting their success.
Samuel Vidgren, Area Manager,
USA (dealers)
Jarmo Vidgren, Chair of the Board of Directors
Juha Vidgren, Senior Advisor, Public Relations
EFFICIENCY AND SPEED IN STORM DAMAGE REPAIRS
Hurricane Helene, which struck the south-eastern parts of the United States, caused immense damage to forests and more widely to the economy. Especially in the State of Georgia, forests and their owners were hit hard. Large-scale repairs of storm damage are now underway, in which PONSSE machines have proven their value in efficient and sustainable harvesting.
Hurricane Helene hit the south-eastern parts of the United States in late September 2024. Continuous winds of more than 220 km/h at their highest caused immense material damage.
Hurricane Helene landed in Florida and then passed through Georgia, also hitting Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia.
“The force of such a storm extending this far inland is unprecedented,” says Lee Miller who is currently repairing forest damage in Georgia.
A FOREST MACHINE OPERATOR OPTIMISES QUALITY AND FINDS DEFECTS
After Helene weakened, contractors across the United States were invited to take care of the most urgent work: clearing
There is more than enough work to be done to repair storm damage in the southeast after strong winds and heavy rains cut down trees and caused record-breaking flooding. Not even well-tended forests had any chance of avoiding the storm’s devastation. In Georgia, for example, the storm damaged about 8.9 million hectares of forests – almost 40% of the state’s forestry areas. The most serious damage was experienced in an area of about 1.47 million hectares. It has been calculated that the total damage to Georgian forestry amounted to USD 1.28 billion.
roads and removing trees fallen over houses. Many contractors who operate PONSSE machines are still working to repair the storm damage in several states, says Timo Savornin, Marketing Director at Ponsse.
A low surface pressure and excellent tree processing capabilities make Ponsse an effective workhorse when harvesting fallen trees in the soft grounds of Florida and Georgia. PONSSE forest machines are based on the environmentally friendly cut-to-length (CTL) method, which offers better optimisation compared to the full tree length (FTL) method, which is commonly used in North America. Market fluctuations in the forest industry cause US professionals to move to different parts of the country, always according to the situation. However, Lee Miller, who is working on the logging sites of Georgia, and his company Miller Timber Services were already in the area and its logging sites before the storm hit. “We believe in versatility and wanted to expand into new markets, which is why we decided to come here.” According to Lee Miller, information about storm damage sites and opportunities is mostly spread by
word of mouth. Someone knows someone, while someone drives past a damaged area and tells others about what they have seen.
SMOOTH GOING – ALSO IN WET TERRAIN
Miller’s team is harvesting fallen pine trees that are delivered to both pulp and veneer mills. They are operating an Ergo harvester equipped with the H7 harvester head and a Buffalo forwarder. Georgia’s flat and wet terrain is a rarer operating environment for men accustomed to working on slopes. However, they praise PONSSE forest machines for their ability to adapt to different terrain types.
“PONSSE machines equipped with wheels and tracks that follow the terrain can move in a soft and difficult terrain where local heavy track-based harvesters cannot operate. This is crucial in wet damage areas,” Miller says. What makes Ponsse and the CTL method clearly stand out is the ability to lift, move
and process fallen trees. The harvester head can effectively process trees lying on the ground while saving valuable timber. This allows trees to be sorted correctly: the best saw logs will be delivered to sawmills and other stems to pulp mills. “We can process trees better – the harvester head helps us make higher quality logs from damaged, topless or bruised trees. Trees can be used as completely as possible,” Miller says. According to the men’s estimates, recovering from the storm and clearing the damaged forests will take at least two years. They also work against the clock, as tree discolouration can quickly spoil fallen trees. “PONSSE forest machines help us optimise, pick up and sort fallen stems into sawn logs and pulpwood before the value of timber decreases. This is important to ensure that landowners get the best possible return on their trees.”
FLORIDA
GEORGIA ALABAMA
TENNESSEE NORTH CAROLINA
VIRGINIA
Hurricane Helene landed in Florida and then passed through Georgia, also hitting South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.
Timo Savornin