Australian Forests & Timber News

FEBRUARY 2014 Issue 1 Vol. 23 • P: (03) 9888 4834 • E: d.drane@ryanmediapl.com.au • www.timberbiz.com.au

Latrobe City gets AUSTimber2016 T

HE AUSTRALIAN timber industry’s biggest four yearly event – AUSTimber - is to be held in Latrobe City 11-16 April, 2016.

In announcing the new location, the organisers acknowledged the enthusiastic support of Latrobe City Council in helping to stage what will be an even bigger event than has been delivered in the past.

“AUSTimber2012 in Mt Gambier was regarded as one of the top three forest exhibitions in the world by the major international manufacturers, so we’ve got a big challenge to raise the bar even higher in 2016.” said Laurie Martin, General Manager of AUSTimber Events.

Martin, formerly of Australian Forests & Timber News and with a long history in marketing and event management, is looking forward to the opportunity of expanding the scope of the event to ensure it fully encapsulates the timber industry from trees in the ground to wood products in the home.

“David Quill (GM AUSTimber2008 and 2012) left big boots to fill so I’m happy he has made himself available to give us the benefit of his experience in managing the event particularly as it relates to setting up the in-forest component.”

Work has begun on establishing the in-forest event site at an HVP plantation near Traralgon that has pine and blue gum at stages of maturity to

suitably demonstrate the full range of in-field forest equipment. Cameron MacDonald, Chief Operating Officer at HVP Plantations and a director of AFPA, says HVP is excited by the concepts the organisers have flagged for the multiple events scheduled for the week and believe Gippsland is the ideal location given the significant role the forest industry plays in the region and the proximity to Melbourne that will help maximise potential patronage for the event. continued on page 4. ¢ M embers of the site planning team (from left) Ian Reid (Chairman AFCA), Wayne ShawJohnston (HVP), David Quill, Col McCulloch (CEO AFCA) and Simon Gatt (HVP). ¢ A USTimber2016 events will be held in Latrobe City – the shaded area of the map.

PM to address crucial forestry and timber industry conference ForestWorks ISC and it is clear that these events have firmly established themselves as un-missable in our industry’s calendar,” ForestWorks ISC CEO Michael Hartman said.

“Our Industry Development Conferences have always provided unique opportunities for industry to come together to explore challenges and identify how we can better work together.

“The economics of the value chain are shifting. To thrive, enterprises need to be creative, develop strong leadership skills and effectively ¢ Prime Minister Tony Abbott. manage change. The Industry Development Conference hosted by THE ALL-important Industry ForestWorks ISC will assist industry Development Conference will take to improve its capacity innovate and place on 4 March and will feature capitalise on opportunities.” a series of Innovation Skills Forums On the evening of 4 March Prime designed especially for managers Minister Tony Abbott will address and business leaders across the full a Gala Industry Dinner hosted spectrum of industry. by the Australian Forest Products “This will be the 6th Industry Association and ForestWorks ISC. Development Conference hosted by The Gala Industry Dinner will be

held in Parliament House’s Great Hall.

On 3 and 5 March associated innovation forums and meetings will also be held in Canberra.

“I strongly urge leaders in our industry to register their attendance and start planning for a constructive and enjoyable few days in Canberra”, said Hartman.

The Australian Forest Contractors also sees the Canberra function as of paramount importance. As AFCA CEO Colin McCulloch said … “The big gig that should attract your attention is in Canberra starting the week the 3rd of March 2014. We don’t think we have seen such an important range of functions in one package for many a year, if at all. We are in a Government cycle that has shown considerable friendship to our Industry over time, and one should not forget the past six years. continued on page 4.

Inside: • Gordan throws hat in political ring

• TCA rebuild ready to start

• CARBON EXPO a policy for change.

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Australian Forests & Timber News, February 2014 – 3

Former forestry boss throws hat in political ring L

ABOR HEAVYWEIGHT Simon Crean has backed former forestry boss Bob Gordon in his tilt for Sate Parliament in Tasmania’s 15 March elections.

Gordon will be contesting the seat of Lyons with Labor Lyons MHA and new minister Rebecca White claiming she wasn’t worried that a rival Labor candidate had such backing.

“One of the best champions I’ve ever met in Tasmania for regional development is Bob Gordon,” Crean said. ‘’What we need out of the election down here is commitment to the

pulp mill, commitment to economic diversification, and fighting for delivery of that economic package, that will help secure Tasmania’s future,’’ Crean said.

Gordon said his focus would be rebuilding the forestry industry in Tasmania and adding to agriculture and aquaculture. ‘’Tasmania spends a lot of time talking about the things we can’t do, I know the things we can do and that’s what I want to spend my time on,’’ Gordon said.

Gordon has been a Labor party member for 35 years. He ran unsuccessfully for the party in

EDI T ORI A L

Tasmanians go to the polls

¢ Bob Gordon.

1990. Lyons covers an area of approximately 32 910 sq km and is the largest division in Tasmania covering most of the State from the central highlands in the west to the east coasts and from Beaconsfield township in the north to New Norfolk and the Tasman Peninsula region in the south.

Order of Volker joins Senator Australia Colbeck team for forest scientist

¢ Dr Nambiar.

CANBERRA SCIENTIST Sadanandan Nambiar has been awarded the Order of Australia for his ‘’distinguished service to science, particularly in the field of sustainable productivity and management of forests, as a researcher and author, and as a role model for young scientists’’.

Born in India, Dr Nambiar moved to Australia since 1970. He moved to Canberra in 1989 to take up a position researching forestry at the CSIRO. Dr Nambiar said he considered himself an applied scientist who had sought to inform public debate on how natural and man-made forests worked and how they could best be handled.

Dr Nambiar said he was proud his team had been able to provide a good basis for the sustainable production of Australian forests and balanced answers to the management of native forests in Australia and south-east Asia.

He never intended for his move to Australia to be permanent, but he said he found Australia to be a welcoming place and decided the CSIRO was the right place to pursue his work. ‘’In issues that matter, (Australia) is the fairest place I know,’’ Dr Nambiar said.

Ric Sinclair, managing director of FWPA, extended congratulations to Dr Nambier and said it was great to see Australian researchers being acknowledged.

DR PETER Volker has taken up a position with Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Senator Richard Colbeck, as an adviser on forestry. Senator Colbeck has portfolio responsibilities for forestry, fisheries and Tasmanian agriculture within the Agriculture portfolio.

Peter was more than pleased to accept an offer to assist Senator Colbeck and the Coalition Government revitalise the forestry sector, which is such a vital part of the Australian economy.

Senator Colbeck said he was delighted to have someone of Peter’s calibre in the role of forestry adviser. He said Peter’s extensive experience in the forestry industry would help ensure the management of the forestry portfolio would support businesses and provide dividends to the community as well as good environmental outcomes.

Peter is a Fellow of the Institute of Foresters of Australia and has served as national president for two terms over six years. He is also a registered Professional Forester.

His professional background includes a varied working career in research and operational roles.

After studying forestry at ANU on a Tasmanian Government scholarship Peter worked for the Forestry Commission as a graduate forester where one of his first roles was involved in tree breeding and eucalypt plantation silviculture.

Peter then moved to Burnie in 1986 to head up a CSIRO research project sponsored by APPM on hybridisation of Eucalyptus globulus and E. nitens.

In 1990 he returned to southern Tasmania to take up a silviculture and research management role with ANM Forest Management.

This was followed by consulting jobs at Serve-Ag and as a sole trader.

In 2002 Peter returned to

Forestry Tasmania to take over from the legendary Bill Nielson as Principal Researcher in Plantation Silviculture. His most recent role at FT was as Manager of Field Services, supporting the General Manager, Operations.

Peter places a strong emphasis on staying up to date through reading scientific journals and industry newsletters. He also has a strong belief in education and has completed four tertiary degrees during his career, including recently graduating with an MBA (Professional) from the University of Tasmania.

Peter has two adult children studying engineering at University and both striving to make the Australian rowing team. His daughter Meaghan is currently at UCLA, on an athletics scholarship for rowing, where she achieved All-American honours earlier this year. His son Sam represented Australia at the World University Games in Russia, coming fifth in the final of the single scull.

His wife Kereth is a Clinical Psychologist and a former player in the WNBL, so sport is a big part of family life. Peter spends his spare time coaching a squad of 20 teenage girls at Buckingham Rowing Club.

TASMANIAN PREMIER Lara Giddings fired two Greens from her Cabinet, called an election for 15 March and flagged with clarity that the pulp mill would be number one on the agenda. In fact, when this edition was going to press Giddings was recalling Parliament in a bid to strengthen legislation to ensure the controversial Bell Bay pulp mill had every assistance to become a reality.

The end of the ‘marriage of convenience’ with the Greens did not come as a surprise. “With a date for the election now set and longstanding differences over the pulp mill, it’s a logical time to formally end the agreement between Labor and the Greens,” the Premier had said.

Giddings said the pulp mill would be a $2.5 billion project that would deal only in plantation trees.

Strong support for the mill also came from the CFMEU. Its National Secretary Michael O’Connor said that while there were interested parties looking to purchase and develop the pulp mill, bi-partisan political support to pass legislation removing any doubts over the validity of permits for the project would greatly increase the chance of a new owner developing the pulp mill.

The CFMEU has been running a campaign around Australia during the last year, under the banner of “Don’t Shred Pulp and Paper Jobs”, which aims to promote the local pulp and paper industry and see greater action from politicians to back the sector.

“Workers in the industry, through their union, have been sending a message loud and clear to politicians of all persuasions that they need to take a stand to support the future of Australia’s pulp and paper industries, rather than allowing regional communities to continue to bleed jobs,” O’Connor had said.

Support, too, came has come from the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) which applauded both the Tasmanian State Labor Government and Liberal Opposition for maintaining their support in principal for a pulp making plant.

The AFPA highlighted the fact that there were almost 230 000 ha of eucalypt plantation in Tasmania. Many of these trees were planted specifically to support the pulp-making mill and are now ready for harvest. Much of the wood fibre in question is a crop owned by hundreds of Australians – many of them family scale farmers. They should be given the chance to harvest and sell that asset.

It also stressed that the proposed pulp mill would be world-scale, using the latest technology, making it highly competitive in global markets and was at pains to point out that neither the community nor AFPA would accept a pulp making plant that did not meet the highest environmental standards.

It is incumbent on the next Tasmanian Government to ensure the island State is governed fairly and equitably. Tasmania deserves a lot better deal than it has received in recent times.

The 6th

Industry Development Conference and Industry Gala Dinner 4 March 2014 in Canberra

You are invited to the flagship event of 2014 for the forest, wood, paper and timber products industry.

The 2014 Annual Industry Development Conference will feature a full-day program of Australian and international innovation experts.

The Industry Gala Dinner will be held in the Great Hall at Parliament House and will feature an address by Prime Minister the Hon Tony Abbott MP. This will be a night to remember and is proudly hosted by the Australian Forest Products Association and ForestWorks ISC. Associated innovation forums and meetings will be held on 3 and 5 March 2014.

Further information and registrations: 1800 177 001 www.forestworks.com.au aflynn@forestworks.com.au

Supported by: This program has been produced with the assistance of funding provided by the Australian Government through the Department of Industry.

¢ Dr Peter Volker.

4 – February 2014, Australian Forests & Timber News

Forest industries research poised to deliver thousands of regional jobs, but …

ISSN 1444-5824

February 2014

It all depends on May Budget!

David takes on advertising post Former Australian Forest Contractors Association office manager David Drane has joined the advertising team at Australian Forests & Timber News.

David replaces Laurie Martin who has taken up the position of general manager AUSTimber Events.

David, well known throughout the industry, said he was looking forward to his new role and of continuing the crucial role of AFTN to what he describes as one of the best industries in the world.

He can be contacted at (03) 9888 4834 or email at d.drane@ryanmediapl.com.au

Features FWPA Industry Awards Sawmilling Fire Suppression Kilns Chipping – Grinding Skidders

8 9 10 12-14 15-17 18-20 21-22

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EW MODELLING by the peak body representing Australia’s forest and forest products industries (AFPA) reveals that a strong push into research and development has the potential to dramatically increase the number of jobs in many regional communities.

Nationally, R&D breakthroughs provided by a proposed National Institute for Forest Products Innovation has the potential to boost productivity by up to 20% and drive employment growth of more than 10% over the next 10 years.

AFPA’s modelling shows that the most profound impacts would be in the Green Triangle, Tasmania and Northern Australia which could see jobs growth of up to 25%, 19%, and 12% respectively.

Other regions poised to catch the jobs growth wave are NSW Central Tablelands (8%), Murray

Valley (8%), Gippsland (8%), Southwest Western Australia (7%), Northern NSW (6%) and Southeast Queensland (4%).

The AFPA analysis, based on forest industry workforce data and conservatively applied multipliers, suggests that Australia is well positioned to take a significant role in a growing global market for timber, fibre and cell scale bioenergy and cellulose-based biomaterials.

“Forestry and forest industries have weathered some difficult years. The combined crunch of shrinking resource availability, the massively high dollar and the Global Financial Crisis meant many in the industry simply tightened belts and tried to survive,” said AFPA chief executive officer Ross Hampton.

“Now, however, growth is slowly returning and the dollar is lower. Our competitor nations such as New Zealand and Canada have already

moved fast to build large, organised, nationallyfunded research and development organisations to ensure they are in pole position as the world’s demand surges for the renewable, recyclable and carbon- storing resource which we gain from trees.

“In Australia we have done the opposite. Our research effort has shrunk from $100 million to $30 million in five years. The number of researchers has plummeted from 730 to 250.

“The May budget will show whether the Coalition is serious about research and development in a sector which leverages our clear comparative advantages.

“With the National Institute for Forest Products Innovation we have the chance to deliver real, year round, regional jobs and secure the future of forest and forest product industries in this country,” said Hampton.

continued from page 1

PM to address crucial Latrobe City gets forestry and timber AUSTimber2016 industry conference It is imperative that our members, suppliers, and management support this event stage by the Australian Forest Products Association in conjunction with ForestWorks and AFCA. “We think there is a huge benefit in the program for our sector, with key issues around Innovation, Safety, Collaboration and Accreditation being discussed openly and with intent for serious outcomes over a three day period.

And most important of all, we (AFCA members and associates) must present a strong presence at the Industry Gala Dinner on the evening of 4 March.

“Our political leaders, including the Prime Minister of Australia, must understand our position within the Primary Industry and Transport sector, and the only way to do this is to represent yourself and your Industry by attending this important function,” said McCulloch.

A detailed program of activities and topics, together with the complete list of Australian and international speakers, will be released shortly.

To register your attendance or for further information, please contact ForestWorks ISC on 1800 177 001, email aflynn@forestworks.com.au or visit www.forestworks.com.au

¢ Michael Hartman, CEO ForestWorks.

In addition to staging another strong in-forest exhibition, the organisers are looking to beef up representation from the further processing and wood products manufacturing sectors of the timber industry. “We are planning to build on the very strong communication benefits of physically demonstrating equipment working in the forest by having equipment processing timber right through to erecting a house during the week of the event,” said Martin.

“The opportunity to host AUSTimber 2016 is significant and the event will not only bring visitors but will lift the profile of our Regional City, with exposure nationally and internationally,” said Latrobe City Council mayor, Cr Sharon Gibson.

“This event will create many economic and employment opportunities now and for the future in our local economy as well as in the wider region and Victoria. The event is perfectly suited to Latrobe City’s unique and abundant natural resources which support a productive timber and forestry industry providing softwood, value-added hardwood, and paper products sold to domestic and export markets. Furthermore, there is an opportunity to host another two AUSTimber events in 2020 and 2024, which would add to our solid reputation as a leading regional event destination,” Cr Gibson said.

The location of the in-forest event site near the Loy Yang brown coal fired electricity generation plant may seem ironic given the benefits of sustainably managed timber production in a low carbon economy but Martin sees this as an opportunity to underscore the environmental benefits inherent in the industry.

“We will have a definite focus on sustainability as a theme running through the event. The HVP plantation is certified by FSC and we intend to use this as a back-drop for the sustainability message to be delivered to the general public via a schools program. We are also keen to have products presented such as chemicals, bio mass and heating fuels derived from woody biomass that show how sustainably produced wood fibre can replace material derived from fossilised carbon thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

More details of the event will be released as they are finalised.

Contact Laurie Martin at laurie@austimber.org.au or 03 9533 4250

¢ Col McCulloch, AFCA CEO.

New VP for HewSaw

HEWSAW appointed Tuomas Halttunen, M.Sc. (Tech.) Vice President, effective December 20, 2013. Tuomas’ areas of responsibility now include sales and marketing and after sales operations.

Tuomas represents the fourth generation of the family that founded HewSaw 50 years ago and still controls the company today. He has worked in a number of positions at HewSaw, including international assignments at HewSaw subsidiaries and most recently leading the company’s after sales operations.

HewSaw is a leader in the design, manufacturing and sale of primary breakdown equipment for sawmills. The company is based in Finland and has subsidiaries worldwide, including HewSaw Pty. Ltd, responsible for sales and product support in Australia and New Zealand.

¢ Latrobe City Council mayor, Cr Sharon Gibson.

¢ Laurie Martin, General Manager, AUSTimber2016.

Australian Forests & Timber News, February 2014 – 5

TCA rebuild ready to start in earnest H

ELEN MURRAY is the new National Coordinator of Timber Communities Australia (TCA).

“Helen brings a breadth of experience working in the rural sector and with communities, as well as advocacy in the agricultural sector which will be critical to the rebuilding of TCA,” said Tim Woods (TCA interim board Chair).

Helen will be consulting early with the various branches and members of TCA in order to assist the interim board and

members implement changes.

These changes include better representation of existing branches on the board as well as the inclusion of a new category of ‘affiliated’ organisations that share the same goals.

“The aim over the next 12 months is to rebuild TCA as a grass roots timber community based organisation, drawing on a proud history of community engagement particularly at the branch and regional levels,” said Woods.

“Helen has worked as a senior

advisor with Rural Health Workforce Australia, a peak body that supports rural, regional and remote communities. She ran a national future workforce Network that comprises 9,000 members across Australia.

Helen is a graduate of the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Economics and has a Practitioners’ Certificate in Mediation from the Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators, Australia.

“These skills will be important to the revitalisation of TCA,

which is undergoing internal restructuring to produce a durable financial footing and a more representative voice for timber communities across the country,” said Woods.

“Previously having spent five years based in Canberra, and with a long family history in the region, Helen is very pleased to be representing timber communities in Canberra’s national arena.” ¢ New TCA national coordinator Helen Murray.

Queensland timber workers unite

¢ VicForests … a growing organisation!

VicForests continues to get the balance right VICFORESTS 2013 Sustainability Report shows the organisation’s ongoing commitment to biodiversity management, safety and sustainability.

“Sustainability drives our operations, from the complex processes used to determine long-term harvest levels, to the selection of trees to be retained during harvesting operations, through to re-growing our forests following harvesting,” said VicForests chief executive officer Robert Green.

“In 2012-13, VicForests submitted 5,726 ha of successfully regenerated forest to the Department of Environment and Primary Industries and during the year spent approximately $4.6 million on regrowing another 3400 hectares of harvested stands.

“The year also saw the announcement of the transition to lower harvest levels in Ash forests with the release of our annual Resource Outlook.

“The change ensures future harvesting will continue at a sustainable level and future timber sales will be based on the reduced volume.

“As a responsible forest manager, it is vital VicForests continues to balance the social, economic and environmental benefits provided by the 6% of native forest in Victoria which is available and suitable for timber production,” he said.

Green said that 2013 was in many ways a year of consolidation, following a number of years dealing with large scale bushfires and the impact of the Global Financial Crisis.

“During the year we were able to focus on how to make the business more sustainable, more profitable and more effective in delivering the outcomes the community expects.

“We finished the year with a net profit after tax of $802,000, our sustainable Forest Management System was recertified to the Australian Forestry Standard, and we refined our method for forecasting future resource availability.”

Green said the Sustainability Report also showed biodiversity management and an improved understanding of the landscape in which it operated was of great importance to VicForests.

“We established a biodiversity monitoring project in the ash forests around Powelltown in the Central Highlands. This long-term monitoring project seeks to investigate how local fauna respond to timber harvesting across the highly managed forests of the Central Highlands.

“VicForests has also been an active member of the Leadbeater’s Possum Advisory Group. The group was formed to produce recommendations to Government on ways to ensure the survival of the Possum while maintaining a sustainable timber industry.

“Effective engagement with the public remains a high priority for VicForests.

“We are committed to building trust in our operations and giving stakeholders the opportunity to have input into our plans,” he said.

This was VicForests’ seventh Sustainability Report and the second prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative’s guidelines.

FOREST AND timber workers have a vehicle to join forces, drive the industry forward and secure their future following the launch of the Queensland Timber Workers Support Foundation (QTWSF).

The non-for-profit Foundation, whose aim is to energise and grow Queensland’s forest and timber industry, was formed by members of Queensland forest and timber industry who realise the potential of the industry but recognise the funding limitations prohibiting its growth.

Inaugural QTWSF Chairperson and Queensland State Manager TABMA, Alicia Oelkers said Queensland’s timber industry needed the support of its 20,000 workers to truly grow and prosper.

“Our industry has significant potential to prosper but it doesn’t have the reputation and resources to do so, it needs assistance to grow,” she said.

“Anything the QTWSF supports will have the mission of securing a robust future for our industry.

“We aim to undertake the type of activities that businesses operating in our industry would do if they had the

funds; from marketing Queensland’s timber industry and establishing training scholarships that up-skill our workforce, to funding workers on educational tours and supporting local community events in timber region.”

Oelkers said that anyone who derived their income from Queensland’s Forest and Timber industry was welcome to join the Foundation and donate funds to support, grow and secure the future of the Industry.

“Workers are invited invest in their own future and support their Industry by making an annual $20 donation $10 in January and $10 in July - to the QTWSF,” she said.

“In return QTWSF activities will help secure jobs, provide better opportunities and establish a sustainable for our Industry.”

QTWSF is a not-for-profit company and will be administered by peak industry body Timber Queensland until the organisation is fully operational. QTWSF operates as a separate entity to Timber Queensland with its own Board of Directors and

financial operations. QTWSF’s Board of Directors comprises the originator of the QTWSF concept Ross Lakin, Operations Manager, Parkside Timber Division; Sean Gribble National Operations Manager, Agora Timbers; James Hyne, Resource Manager, Hyne and Alicia Oelkers, Queensland State Manager, TABMA (Chair).

¢ Inaugural QTWSF Chairperson and Queensland State Manager TABMA, Alicia Oelkers.

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6 – February 2014, Australian Forests & Timber News

Brothers in arms B

ROTHERS GRAEME and Dale Elphinstone have made significant contributions to the Tasmanian timber industry and were consequently awarded certificates of appreciation at the Tasmanian Forest Contractors Association 50th Anniversary celebrations in early November.

Perhaps better known for their involvement in supplying the heavy equipment needs of the industry, both brothers had direct involvement in logging in their earlier days.

Graeme is now known throughout the country for his Elphinstone Trailers and the innovations he has brought to this important component in log haulage. The timber industry has been relatively quiet for his business in recent years as the TFA was being negotiated and contractors exited the industry leaving a fair bit of used equipment needing to be absorbed, but he is now taking great heart from the increasing sales his company is experiencing as the industry starts to recover.

Dale still has considerable interest in the timber industry although his business interests have expanded to include construction and mining with some 25 directorships in public and private companies including being Executive Chairman of the Elphinstone/William Adams Pty Ltd group of companies, which includes William Adams Pty Ltd, the Caterpillar dealership for Victoria and Tasmania.

Having recently been approached

by Prime Minister Abbott to chair a Commonwealth/State committee to consider economic opportunities for the state of Tasmania, Dale is looking forward to addressing some of the most important issues facing the reinvigoration of the state’s economy including having international shipping serving Tasmania and the reinvigoration of the drive for a world’s best practice pulp mill. ¢ Brothers in arms … Graeme and Dale Elphinstone.

Carbon Expo a policy Call for expressions of interest for change for FWPA R&D project funding CARBON EXPO Australasia 2013 and its associated trade fair were held in early December at the MCG promoted as a high-level event to bring together Australian business leaders and their international counterparts.

That was quite possibly the case and while taking nothing away from the conference organization, speakers or audience it held little directly for the timber industry. Or perhaps it was due to a lack of timber industry attendees that it failed to hit any notes on how the timber industry is, or could be, a more involved player in a low carbon economy.

A small mention of the industry came during discussions on Australia’s climate change policy but the bulk of the discussions were academic, rhetoric on the issues of what may or may not happen, and theories.

Anna Skarbek, executive director of ClimateWorks Australia and board member of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation offered the only reference to forests while speaking of climate change abatement.

“If you don’t have an emissions trading scheme … you need to concentrate a little more on the timing and pace at which you get your volume of abatement so we would encourage discussion … over the six year time framing remaining to 2020 as some projects have a longer lead time and varying costs of abatement over that time – for example farms and forests,” said Skarbek.

By no means was the Expo ineffective, according to its literature it targeted ‘carbon offset providers, carbon market consultants, carbon market brokers and legal advisers, banks, investment banks, superannuation funds, institutional investors, international financial institutions, technology providers, and suppliers of energy efficient and ‘cleantech’ products’ and did that very well.

It was designed at a policy making level, an almost public service approach to discussions on the subject not at the grassroots level of enabling those targets to be met hence for foresters and timber workers it would have been a lonely existence in the crowded auditorium.

¢ (from left): Anthea Harris (CEO Australian Climate Change Authority), Anna Skarbek (executive director ClimateWorks Australia), Martijn Wilder AM (head of global environmental markets practice at Baker & McKenzie), John Connor (CEO The Climate Institute), Innes Willox (CEO Australian Industry Group).

FOREST AND Wood Products Australia invites the submission of research proposals for projects commencing from 1 July 2014 addressing published FWPA industry research priorities. Details of forest and wood products industry priorities can be found in the series of active industry investment plans available from http://www.fwpa.com.au/InvestmentPlans-and-Priorities Each investment plan provides details of industry outcomes expected from successfully completed projects in addition to guidance regarding the level of available FWPA funding within each priority area.

Preference will be directed towards project proposals containing significant levels of co-investment by project partners and collaborators.

Total FWPA funding of $1.5 million is available for the 2014/15 financial year with an expectation that increasing levels of funding will be accessible for subsequent financial years.

Funding proposals, due by 28 February 2014, should be submitted using the form available from http:// www.fwpa.com.au/information-for-researchers.

Completed proposals should be submitted to chris. lafferty@fwpa.com.au

Research could revolutionise NZ forest industry UNIVERSITY OF Canterbury research could revolutionise New Zealand’s forest industry by treating radiata pine as an agricultural crop and screening for strength and stability at a young age.

The advantage of using young trees is that there is no wastage of resources on trees that would otherwise end up in low economic gains because of low value products, UC forestry postgraduate student researcher Monika Sharma says.

Her research has helped develop techniques that can quickly and reliably screen young trees for stiffness and dimensional stability.

The project has been funded by the forestry industry and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

“The New Zealand forest industry is based on forests covering 1.8 million hectares which makes up around 6.6% of New Zealand’s land area. Pinus radiata accounts for about 90% of the total planted area.

“In the last 50 years, radiata pine

breeding programs focused on improving volume which has resulted in a fall in harvesting age from 35 to 45 years to just 25 to 30 years.

“In radiata pine which is 25 years old, 50% of the merchantable wood is core wood, formed in the first 10 growth rings which falls below the threshold stiffness required for structural timber.

“Therefore, it can only be utilised for low value products. The approximate value of low grade timber is $A220 (Australian) per cubic metre whereas structural timber price is $A430 per cubic metre.

“There is large natural variability in the unimproved tree population.

Some trees can attain the threshold stiffness in five years while others attain the same threshold in 18 years.

This variability can be exploited to reduce percentage of timber below threshold by selecting trees that can attain threshold early in their life.

“In comparison to agricultural breeding programs, there is not much progress in forestry breeding

¢ Harewood trial in which properties of around 3000 trees were assessed.

programs because of long breeding cycles. Preferred tree breeding selection age is around eight to 10 years and the purpose of the selection is to increase the accuracy of the prediction for merchantable volume at the end of the rotation.

“Big trees provide information regarding gross volume only but nothing regarding the quality of wood. Economic gain depends both on merchantable volume and quality of wood or all of the volume ends up as low value product.

For wood quality, it is desirable to screen trees just a few year old as there is most variable and unimproved wood among trees at that age. Shorter breeding cycles should outweigh any lower accuracy in early selection,’’ says Sharma, whose research is being supervised by Dr Luis Apiolaza.

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8 – February 2014, Australian Forests & Timber News

FWPA FEATURE

Modelling the perfect pine plantation

By Matthew Lovering

D

EVELOPING A software model that predicts the wood quality properties (such as wood density, stiffness and growth) for how a tree will grow under a unique but changing set of environmental conditions is a complex undertaking. Dr David Drew and his research team from CSIRO and Dr Geoff Downes (now with Forest Quality Pty. Ltd.) have spent the last three years building a model of tree growth in Pinus radiata which provides explicit predictions of wood property variation based both on extremely fine level data (such as how wood cells divide and grow) and larger scale environmental inputs such as rainfall, temperature, soil quality and—perhaps most importantly to plantation managers— silviculture management practices.

With support from Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA), Scion, HVP and ForestrySA, David and the research team have created ‘e-Cambium’, a processbased model that takes into account the biological knowledge of how a tree uses water and nutrients to build wood cells when affected by different climate and environmental conditions. It is designed primarily as a tool to let forest managers predict tree stem growth as well as wood density (and stiffness) responses under a range of conditions. The great value of such a process-based model is that the user can explore beyond existing data and field experience to predict stand growth responses and tree performance under future conditions for which they may not be any precedent (e.g. increasing average temperatures, or a new silvicultural intervention). The model can incorporate outputs from two existing tree-growth models: the more complex CABALA model, which gives very detailed results, or the simpler to run and use 3PG model (standing for Physiological Principles Predicting Growth), which gives slightly less accurate modeling results.

“This model is valuable in that, with the length of time it takes to grow a tree, if you do make a mistake early on you don’t have much of a chance to rectify it,” says David.

“Therefore some sort of scenario-based exploration tool becomes very useful.

If the tool says a particular silviculture management is the worst thing you could ever do then it provides a basis for reevaluating a given approach and exploring alternatives. That’s where this model has

¢ Dendrometer on Radiata Pine.

the potential to be a real dollar saver.”

The team measured climate data and tree growth at six sites: four in Australia and two in New Zealand. At the four Australian sites about 40 trees (aged 16 to 18 years old) were measured every day for two and a half years using automated dendrometers. These precision tools were attached to each tree to measure the rate the tree grew in 15 minute intervals, while also recording climate conditions. The data was sent wirelessly back to the research team, which was probably just as well as at one site the dendrometer cables were chewed by wombats resulting in data not being recorded. At another site the solar panel that recharged the battery of a dendrometer was damaged by a speeding kangaroo!

At the end of the two and a half year monitoring period pith-to-bark core samples were taken from each tree at, or as close as possible to, where the dendrometer had been measuring growth. These core samples were analysed using SilviScan technology (developed by Dr Robert Evans) to measure wood properties such as density. This allowed David to match wood properties with daily patterns of growth and environmental impacts (such as temperature and rainfall).

While e-Cambium may have been based on pre-existing theoretical models of tree growth it evolved significantly as the volume of incredibly detailed data grew.

‘The model started off highly theoretical but as the data came in, it gave us the opportunity to refine things and improve the quality of the framework. The model changed more than I expected as the data started to stream in, and there were some major changes we had to make to our earlier theoretical concepts to accommodate it, but that was a very good thing. It was exactly what we wanted from all that data!’ says David. ‘It’s great that the forestry industry appreciates that the modeling process is a backwards–forwards process.’

The e-Cambium model, with its algorithms derived from data from the six measurement sites, was calibrated against wood property data from another 10 sites.

Excitingly, the model was able to predict around 80 per cent (using CABALA inputs) of the variability seen in wood density in trees from these sites, and around 70 per cent accuracy using 3PG. Although predicting final stand volume wasn’t the priority of the project, David says ‘The

indications are strong that the model would have a similar high level of accuracy in predicting wood volumes from a site.’

‘In the “better/ faster/ cheaper” paradigm for business this research is helping build up the “better”,’ says David. ‘The stage we’re at now is that we’ve built a testable model that industry can experiment with and help modify. Currently HVP are experimenting with the model and getting reasonable results. They can see the real potential for it in their future decision making.’

The current e-Cambium model is available to all FWPA members for testing using their pine plantations and to explore the

effects of different sites, silvicultural regime and weather conditions on both tree growth and wood properties. Although e-Cambium is not a fully operational model yet, David hopes that industry will embrace such process-models to get the best from Australia’s timber resource. ‘For industry to be willing to take this to the next level they need to be convinced of its commercial value,’ says David. “Perhaps one of the great advantages of these models is they help growers explore the major implications of decisions so that problems can be avoided in the future.”

¢ Dendrometer data collecting.

Improving the information base FOREST AND Wood Products Australia Limited (FWPA) has announced the establishment of a Reference Group to provide strategic direction to its new Statistics and Economics Program.

After a receiving nominations from across the forest and wood products sector, FWPA has selected candidates that had both senior experience and a passion for improving the information base available to the industry.

Ric Sinclair, FWPA managing director, expressed his thanks for senior members of the industry contributing their time and effort to this important collaborative activity. “It is very pleasing to have senior industry leaders from the

growers, processors and importers involved in the Reference Group.”

The Statistics and Economics Program has been established to improve the timeliness and accuracy of the information which is available to industry and other key stakeholders.

After extensive consultation to identify industry concerns the program is focused on improving the base line data in four key areas;

Member

Company

1. Information to support/ improve commercial operations 2. Information to support investment decisions 3. Safety 4. Socio Economic Data

Progress is being made in expanding the data aggregation opportunities for the industry including; expanding the coverage of the Softwood Timber Survey and establishing a new Hardwood Timber Survey.

Ric Sinclair indicated that “the Reference Group will provide valuable guidance on the key statistics required for improved decision making. In addition due to the range of skills present, the Reference Group members will also provide real operational perspectives on the specific data which needs to be gathered”.

The Reference Group is made up of the following members:

Sector

Islay Robertson

HQ Plantation

Grower

Matt Crapp

NewForests

Grower

Des Tolan

Carter Holt Harvey

Processor

Clinton Skeoch

Boral

Processor

Shane Vicary

AKD

Processor

Frank Moretti

Gunnersen

Importer

Dean Henderson

Big River

Processor

Shawn Britton

Brittons Timbers

Processor

Australian Forests & Timber News, February 2014 – 9

INDUSTRY AWARDS

Recognition of outstanding achievement

Industry leader Greg McCormack was also awarded for his decades’ long contribution to the industry, including as a past President of VAFI and the current President of the Australian Forest Products Association. Greg was awarded VAFI’s Lifetime Service Award.

Lisa said Greg has been a leader in the industry for 35 years and was a deserving recipient.

“The third generation of his family to work in the industry -- forest and wood products are in Greg’s blood,” she said.

“He has taken leadership roles in the industry’s association since the late

1970s, providing more than 30 years of service to several of its peak bodies.

“In this time he has served numerous terms on the executive and as president and vice president of VAFI and its predecessor, the Victorian Sawmillers Association. He has also served terms as the president and a director of the National Association of Forest Industries and is currently President of the Australian Forest Products Association.

“He has served on numerous advisory bodies representing the industry, and it would be difficult to name an industry body, committee or organisation in Victoria he has not been involved with it at some point.”

Greg is currently co-owner of McCormack Demby Timbers and Chairman of the Board of Midway Pty Ltd. He has had extensive experience in the Australian forests industry, involved with business operations in softwood and hardwood plantations, forest harvesting and logistics, woodchip processing shipping and marketing, production of sawn timber, distribution and marketing. Lisa said Greg had provided, and continued to provide, a significant contribution to the Victorian forest and wood products industry through his many roles.

Peter Walsh, the Victorian Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, spoke at the dinner and presented the awards.

The Minister said the Victorian Government recognised the significant contribution the forest and wood products industry made to the State’s economy, while also responsibly and sustainably managing Victoria’s timber resources.

“Victoria’s timber industry directly employs more than 21,000 people and generates around $1.78 billion for the state’s economy in 2011-12,” he told the more than 200 guests at the function.

“There is also global demand for Victorian timber and paper, with

reg McCormack awarded VAFI’s G Lifetime Service Award. p Darren Chester (MP, Member for Gippsland), Michelle Freeman (Victorian Rural Woman’s Award Winner 2013), Senator Bridget McKenzie (Senator for Victoria). t G raeme Stoney (Director, VicForests), Gary Blackwood (MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Transport), Senator Bridget McKenzie (Senator for Victoria) and Neil Angus (MP, Member for Forest Hill).

p

T

HE VICTORIAN Association of Forest Industries (VAFI) annual dinner saw several businesses recognised for their innovation, environmental credentials, community engagement, workplace safety, and staff training.

VAFI chief executive officer Lisa Marty said it was it was uplifting to see businesses recognised for outstanding achievement.

With a strong field in every category, more than one winner was declared for two of the categories. Award recipients were: • Australian Paper, winner of the Innovation Award • Australian Sustainable Hardwoods, which received the Local Community Engagement Award and the Occupational Health and Safety Award • Fenning Bairnsdale, awarded the Environmental Sustainability Award • HVP Plantations, recipient of the Occupational Health and Safety Award • Ryan & McNulty, winner of the Skills and Training Award and the Community Engagement Award

finished timber products exported to countries in Europe and Asia, and paper sent to more than 75 countries in Asia, North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.”

The keynote speaker at the dinner was Peter Maddison, architect and host of television program Grand Designs Australia. Peter discussed sustainable buildings and the importance of sourcing local materials.

Lisa said the quality of the businesses that had nominated for the Sustainability Awards, and the talks by the Minister and Peter Maddison, showed there was much to be positive about for the forest and wood products industry, and timber manufacturing in Victoria.

“Forest and wood products are the environmental choice, they are renewable, store carbon and use less energy to produce than other materials,” she said.

“We manage our forests responsibly and we support an important local manufacturing sector.”

The 2013 VAFI Sustainability Report ― an overview of the forest and wood products industry in Victoria ― was also launched at the dinner.

VAFI’s new chief THE VICTORIAN Association of Forest Industries (VAFI) has appointed Tim Johnston as the new chief executive officer.

He replaces Lisa Marty who has held the senior post since January 2011.

Lisa and her husband Sam are expecting a baby this year.

Tim is already be known to many in the industry, having forestry through his roles in the offices of Federal Environment and Agriculture Ministers.

He is a qualified architect, and holds Masters in Environment

When your business needs a fresh approach to equipment finance, call us for a tailored finance solution that stacks up ¢ Lisa Marty.

¢ T im Johnston.

and Business Management. He has worked in a range of senior political and private industry roles, the most recent being Director of Public Affairs for the

Independent Schools peak body.

Tim started the transition into the CEO role with Lisa before Christmas and officially joined VAFI in early January.

1300 868 253

Turning Opportunities into Reality

10 – February 2014, Australian Forests & Timber News

All set to help offset thinning costs F

ORESTFARMER Pty Ltd is a small family-owned company that has been involved in forestry related activities for more than 20 years. The first 10 years of the business largely concentrated on projects involving rural planning, farm forestry and revegetation. Later it changed to forest silviculture operations.

In fact, it was a visit to Sweden in 2006 that led to the purchase of a Rottne H8 harvester.

“In Sweden I saw smaller harvesters aimed at small roundwood and first thinnings. The Rottne H8 struck me as being the best suited to our situation and the type of machine that would allow us to grow into new opportunities as they arose. So, in 2006 we took delivery of a H8,” recalls Rob Tap, who runs Forestfarmer along with his wife Glynis. This step allowed the business to specialise further and it moved into early thinning of plantations and, more recently, native forest “The Rottne has been very reliable and is perfect for what we do. It has a 140Hp JD engine; it’s only 2.2m wide, weighs less than 10 tonne, is self-leveling and has a reach of 7m. The H8 is light-footed and agile. The harvester is equipped with a Log Max 4000 which has an accumulating and stump spraying kit.

“The accumulating kit on the head allows us to maintain the high tree handling efficiency needed in our non-commercial thinning work.

Particularly in non-commercial thinning of eucalypt plantations, stem diameters are often less than 200mm and as little as 50mm, by being able to accumulate small stems you can keep per hectare costs down,” Rob Said.

The accumulating function of these small heads comes from the widespread interest in energy wood harvesting in Europe, where non-commercial

and commercial thinnings are often harvested at the same time (much of the non-commercial thinnings are then transported to power stations).

“We have worked on a wide variety of terrain and soil types in Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory. Our thinning operations have included felling to waste, felling and bundling of stems for whole tree processing (ready for chipping) at roadside, and felling of trees for sawlogs.”

“We provide a high quality service that is backed up by a depth of knowledge and understanding that is not commonly offered by other businesses working in mechanised thinning. Our unique background and broad practical experience gives our clients peace of mind when we interact with farming activities or operate in environmentally significant areas,” he said.

“We particularly enjoy working co-operatively with groups that share a common vision, embracing and creating industry innovations, coupled with sustainability and environmental best practice. With this in mind we feel that Victoria offers exciting opportunities for our business to provide potential clients with a small harvester that has a light footprint on-site and an enthusiastic and knowledgeable owner operator.”

And, for those who would like to know exactly what Rob’s machine inventory includes, he is quick to lay it on the line.

“This is what I operate with ...

Rottne H8 cut to length harvester equipped with a Log Max 4000.

The H8 weighs less than 10 tonne and is 2.2m wide. It has 4 rubber tyres, each 0.6m wide and is articulated in the centre. For a harvester, it is exceptionally manoeuvrable. The H8 can be transported on a tandem axle tilt tray.

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The Log Max 4000 has an accumulating function and can apply herbicide to stumps as the trunk is being cut. The maximum cut is around 400mm. The ideal operating range is around 75 to 280mm diameter at ground level.

When working in areas with smaller size classes, the accumulating function increases harvesting and bundling efficiency for operations such as infield chipping or whole tree extraction by forwarders. Multiple products can often be harvested in a single pass.”

Add to that a 4wd service vehicle including herbicide mixing and

Radical change for farm forestry thinnings

¢ Rob Tap.

Andrew Lang, president of the Farm Forest Growers Victoria, said he had seen Rob’s machine in action thinning a stand on slopey country north of Brisbane of Gympie Messmate that was about 20cm butt diameter.

“To my knowledge it is the only one of this type in the country but is the sort of machine that could radically change the way we do farm forestry thinnnings or fuel reduction thinnings around towns.

“In Finland (the area of Victoria) there are probably about 400 such machines working as they are generally able to do first thinning at significantly lower cost than their larger forestry machines.

¢ Stump herbicide treatment.

¢ Narrow H8 negotiates close work.

fuel storage. On the productivity side, Rob readily lists the possible outcomes...

Easy terrain, felling to waste, trees with good apical dominance, able to accumulate several stems … up to 280 stems/hr.

Easy terrain, felling to waste, trees with good apical dominance, larger trees, no accumulating… up to 240 stems/hr.

Processing… around 150 stems/ hr Larger trees, poor form, large branches, bundled on the ground for whole tree chipping… 130 stems/hr.”

“Victoria has some 40,000ha of farm forestry and MIS joint venture plantings, much of this is at or past first thinning age. The challenge is how to offset the thinning costs, this applies to all forest growers, of course, but it is particularly difficult for those with smaller holdings that lack scale.

“I look forward to being part of the solution.”

Rob can be contacted at 0418 786 143 or email robtap@forestfarmer.com.au

¢ T he Rottne H8 at work.

¢ Bundling for whole tree removal to roadside chipper.

Australian Forests & Timber News, February 2014 – 11

SAWMILLING

Iconic machines still the choice of many M

ENTION THE name Ron Grey to anyone in the timber industry and you’ll get a positive response; not that everyone knows Ron personally, but they sure as hell know all about the Grey Saw Benches!

It’s incredible to think that the first Grey One Man Saw Bench made its debut way back in 1965.

The man behind this rugged machinery, Ron Grey, has been involved in the sawmilling industry since he was a little tacker after his dad built a mill at Girvan (NSW) in the late 1940s. Ron served his apprenticeship as a fitter and turner in Newcastle then returned to the mill as a maintenance fitter.

And that’s where the Grey dynasty started.

All these years later and with countless Grey machines in sawmills throughout the land the iconic machine is still the choice of many.

Ron’s not boasting when he says the Grey Bench is still the best single saw machine to cut Australian hardwood with its ability to cut around the fault in the lower grade log that is available today... he’s stating a fact!

In recent times the new Grey

Auto Oiler (specially designed for early model Grey sawing systems) has been in demand. “It’s an air operated injection system that delivers lubricating oil to the sliding components of the hob assembly, including the square drive bar, extending the life of the hob bushes, square drive bar and nib/bearing/sprocket. It’s machined from a solid block of aluminium and with fewer parts it is more rugged and easier to maintain than the original oiler,” says Ron. “Simple repair kits containing pistons, valves and fittings are available off the shelf. Mounting is similar to the original and it will use the same screws,” he said.

Ron’s getting on in years but he still personally handles the spare parts side of the business with the help of his son Robert who capably machines most of the spare parts along with some of the machines and components. Sheila Grey handles the office and looks after the dispatch of spare parts on a daily basis. “We’re all set up with iPhones and have found that it is helpful for some customers that are having trouble describing a certain part to simply send a photo,” he said.

¢ T he first Grey Bench 1965. ¢ The new Grey auto oiler. ¢ The Grey product is wellknown throughout the industry.

Small plantation, timber plant on the market IF YOU’RE afraid of a bit of work then read no further. Gerry Driesen, now in his eighties, has his Hallston Pine Plantation on the market and it could still be a nice little earner for the right person.There’s more than 50 hectares of plantation timber plus all the gear associated with sawmilling, treating, cutting and living in an idyllic location south of Yarragon in Victoria’s beautiful Gippsland forests.

Gerry took over the property back in the early seventies with the aim of making a living from the venture. He added a timber treatment plant, cyclone and blower system, paling mill,

breaking down saw, Robinson 6-head moulder saw, Danckaert band saw, three-phase docking saw, three-phase diesel generator, plus vehicles and a swag of tools and opted for a special planting program.

In fact, this is planting procedure Gerry followed:

But, like most things, age started to take its toll on Gerry. As a result, the property has been idle for a few years and maybe some of the equipment may be a tad obsolete but Gerry is convinced there is someone out there who can still get the best out of the property and everything associated with it.

1976 – 16.19ha radiata pine 1978 – 18.21ha radiata pine 1983 – 6.07ha radiata pine 1990 – 8.09ha radiata pine 1990 – 100 twisted willow trees and 2ha Chestnut and Hazel nut trees 1991 – 6.54ha Mountain Ash and Tasmanian Blue Gum

To find out more about this property have a chat with Gerry (03) 9826 3158 or Sally Jones, Sally J Real Estate, Phone(03) 5623 5622, mobile 0417 037 079.

Email sallyjrealestate@dcsi.net.au. www.sallyjrealestate.com.au

FOR SALE. 146 ACRES IN South Gippsland (125km from Melbourne)

This now unused property for some several years is probably one of few completely self contained to produce treated pine and other milled timber. It contains approx. 120 acres of fully grown trees (approx. 105 acres pine trees and eucalypts approx. 15 acres).

• Old but workable saw milling equipment and support accessories.

• Fully installed and licensed treatment plant.

• Large sheds, fully powered including a 3 phase generator.

• Comfortable three bedroom cottage.

• Property would be ideally suited to a mechanically minded person.

$1.5million

Contact: Sally Jones Phone: 03 5623 5622 Mobile: 0417 037 079 Email: sallyjrealestate@dcsi.net.au 39 Smith Street, Warragul, Victoria 3820

12 – February 2014, Australian Forests & Timber News

FIRE SUPPRESSION

USC students’ research fired up by awards T

WO UNIVERSITY of the Sunshine Coast students have caught the attention of State and national environmental bodies for their fire management and ecology research.

Final-year Science students Brett Parker (28), of Sippy Downs, and Ross Waldron (36), of Alexandra Headland, were recently recognised for their separate studies into the effects of fire mapping and management on the Sunshine Coast.

Brett, who will start his Honours degree this year, received a highly commended and runner-up award from Australia’s peak body for spatial scientists, the Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute Australia.

He said he was thrilled to have his research acknowledged by the organisation and was looking forward to further investigating fire ecology.

“My research used state-of-the art remote sensing techniques to map and study burnt land in the Currimundi Lake Conservation Park,” Brett said.

“Remote sensing helps to provide an accurate geographical outline and profile of the burnt area, including the impact on inhabitants (animal and human).

“These techniques analysed ecological factors such as the intensity, frequency, seasonality and patchiness of the burn including whether the fire was naturally started or deliberately lit.”

He also received a special commendation and $1,500 towards his Honours from the

Smart software fighting fire with #fire AUSTRALIA’S KEY disaster management agencies have joined forces to tackle the problem of how to access and interpret information gathered during bushfires, and other natural disasters to help emergency services save lives and property.

“Currently, there are many ways emergency services and the community accesses official, crowd sourced and social media information during natural disasters,” CSIRO’s Digital Productivity and Services Flagship Research Leader Alan Dormer said.

“There is a real need for a united approach to help bring all of this information together in a way that makes it easier to understand, and make quick and informed decisions on how to respond to minimise the risk to life and property.”.

During the two-day Building a System of Systems for Disaster Management event key agencies from across the country will look at how they currently access vital information during emergencies, and how they can work together to improve on their systems for future benefit.

“Our aim is to develop a joint statement and plan of attack on how to address the research and information concerns that restrict our ability to achieve full situational awareness during a disaster at a national scale,” Dormer said.

“Technology has a major part to play in this, and we are working together to find solutions to big information gathering and sharing challenges faced by emergency services during natural disasters.”

Emergency services, such as the NSW Rural Fire Service, are already using some technologies, like the CSIRO-developed Emergency Situation Awareness (ESA), to supplement information from other sources.

“Minimising the time for communication and integration of this information frees up time for discussion, considering options and results in faster and better decisions,” Dormer said.

“Having this information in an accessible form also enables incidents to be replayed and reviewed so that we can learn and respond better next time.

“This discussion is just the beginning and we hope to form a core working group of national agencies and organisations which will meet regularly to work toward the development of a high-level architecture of the system of systems, linking industry best practise and collaboration pathways to support situation awareness and community resilience.”

CSIRO is also working on a suite of

information based tools for disaster management including, predictive modelling of floods, bushfires and tsunamis, risk analysis, support tools for community resilience and apps disaster recovery. During the recent NSW Bushfires, the NSW RFS used CSIRO’s Emergency Situation Awareness (ESA) and Vizie tools in their State operations centre to detect minuteby-minute, unusual patterns in tweets that would provide information on emerging fires.

Anthony Clark, Group Manager of Corporate Communications, NSW RFS, said that fire agencies like the NSW RFS have been using social media to push information out to and engage with the community during emergency situations.

“However the challenge now is how to harness social media and use it as a reliable source of information and intelligence,” Clark said.

“With more than 470 million impressions of the hashtag nswfires during the October fires, it’s a significant challenge to monitor, sort and analyse that amount of information.

“The CSIRO’s Vizie and ESA monitoring tools are helpful, filtering through the massive flow of social media information and presenting the NSW RFS with snapshots of what affected communities were seeing and saying.”

The National Safety Agency, supported by the Victorian Fire Services Commissioner, has developed a mobile test platform (or truck) called SAMMI, Strategically Activated to Monitor and Manage Incidents. Over a two-year period, NSA will deliver a new emergency services integrated communications vehicle, leveraging high-capacity broadband data for use on a smart phone for all emergency services front line and command personnel, providing them with access to the right information at the right time.

The vehicle will be located close to major emergency incidents, and incorporates over 30 screens including CSIRO software developed for analytics and disaster simulation. SAMMI provides a comprehensive incident management platform through multiple perspectives including weather location information via cameras, hydrology data, real time images from emergency services operators helmet held cameras, email information, dashboards with different knowledge sources, reporting from TV stations and videoconferencing capabilities between the vehicle and the State Control Centre (SCC).

"Challenge now is how to harness social media."

¢ Brett Parker examines an area that was part of an enforced fire regime burn.

South-East Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium.

Ross was awarded a full scholarship valued at $2,500 from the same consortium for his research on the effects of enforced fire regimes over a period of 30 years.

He also plans to complete his Honours degree at USC this year and said research into the complexity of fire management was critical for the Sunshine Coast.

“Much of the region’s vegetation is highly reliant on fire. However, it also is located closely to properties and key infrastructure,” Ross said.

“If we can examine how fire management strategies contribute to or help to avoid losses of

species as well as property, it could make a big difference to the overall impact fire has on the Sunshine Coast.”

Brett’s supervisor at USC, Lecturer in Geospatial Analysis Dr Sanjeev Kumar Srivastava, congratulated both students on their awards.

“To have both their research projects recognised by such highly respected and accredited organisations while studying as undergraduate students is a significant achievement,” Dr Srivastava said.

“Their success is a credit to their hard work at USC and I am very pleased we will have them both studying their respective Honours at the University this year.”

Forest industry welcomes debate on bushfire fuel reduction THE AUSTRALIAN Forest Products Association (AFPA) has noted the report released by the Climate Council on the Australian bushfire threat and welcomes a sensible debate about the role of effective fuel reduction to help control future bushfires.

“The Climate Council points to a scenario where fuel reduction may have to be massively increased to manage greater frequency and severity of bushfires.

AFPA agrees and argues that removing some of that fuel load by mechanical means instead of just burning must be part of the solution,” said Chief Executive Officer Ross Hampton.

Forestry and forest product industries are major stakeholders in terms of providing resources for bushfire suppression and prevention as well as bearing the direct risks to commercial timber and other forest values.

AFPA congratulated the Abbott Government for its pre-election policy of committing $15 million to a Bushfire Mitigation Program. To deliver the best

return for those scarce taxpayer dollars this program must include some mechanical removal as well as the usual controlled burns.

“In bushfire prone areas where people live the fuel load can be reduced by removing small trees from where there are too many, removing woody debris on the ground and taking out a lot of the bushy undergrowth. This can be followed by a controlled burn that is far less likely to get out of control because there is less fuel.

“These approaches to fuel management are being adopted in other fire prone areas such as in the western United States, where forest land management agencies such as the US Forest Service are undertaking combined tree thinning controlled burns to reduce fuel levels.

“This doesn’t mean an end to bushfires – it does however mean that they are less likely to develop into the uncontrollable infernos that destroy lives, property and wildlife’, said Hampton.

Australian Forests & Timber News, February 2014 – 13

FIRE SUPPRESSION

Safety service doesn’t cost the earth R

ECON INDUSTRIES Australia Pty Limited was started in 2010 by twins Cameron and James Gray with their mantra “we can offer you a new level of service that doesn’t cost the earth; from our family owned and operated business to yours we are committed to providing the highest levels of service”.

But exactly what is it that the twins have honed their business skills on?

It’s providing fire suppression and protection systems among other things.

“We started Recon to design remote controlled equipment for mining and heavy industry and through this we had a need for fire suppression systems on the equipment we were manufacturing so we each went and did the necessary courses to gain our Certificate 3 in fire asset maintenance,” explained James.

“Both of us are members of the NSW RFS, both having more than 10 years experience and being qualified as crew leaders with village, advanced and structural fire fighting qualifications as well being deputy captains in Killingworth Rural fire brigade.

“Cameron and I are qualified industrial electricians. We’ve worked on 33,000 volt switch yards and equipment through to 12 volt car electrical systems and

canbus/ automation systems as well and this has given both of us a very deep understanding of how electrical systems work and also how to fault find and repair them,” he said.

RIA’s connection and ties to the forestry industry started back at the beginning of 2012 when they had an enquiry from Dale Mitchell from Alpine Logging in Carboor, Victoria, about repairing a fire system fitted to one of his forestry machines, a Rottne H20 harvester.

“This turned out to be an electrical fault and we also conducted the annual service on the machine as well,” said James.

“This was our first customer in the forestry industry and we have been serving Alpine Logging’s equipment from that day.”

Recon has continued to expand from and now has customers in Mt Gambier, Bendigo, Traralgon, Melbourne, Wodonga and Albury, Tumut, Wagga Wagga, Bombala, Eden, Bega, Bathurst, Oberon, Sydney, Newcastle, Coffs harbour plus quite a few more places.

“We are a preferred supplier to William Adams Caterpillar in Victoria; we regularly work with Onetrak with the Tigercat forestry machinery that is fitted with the Amerex fire system, as well as many other customers including GCM Enviro which

are the Australian agents for Tana land fill compactors and shredders.

“We have five service vehicles ranging from a 3 tonne 4x4 Isuzu truck to 4x4 Toyota Hilux, and when required we have slipon service bodies that go onto Toyota Hilux that we hire during the busy periods,” said James.

Recon’s technicians are Cameron and James (both from Newcastle), Barry (who lives in Penrith and is a qualified mechanic who conducts mechanical repair work to earthmoving machinery, installs greasing systems and also services and installs fire systems), Jay (who lives in Newcastle and is qualified in fire suppression) and Shane (who lives in Newcastle and is qualified in fire suppression).

“We also have trades assistants to help the technicians with their service and installation work.

These trades assistants are also being trained to be technicians and gain Certificate 3 in fire asset maintenance.”

Recon is also certified to conduct mobile pressure testing of gas cylinders.

Although the business is only relatively young James and Cameron and their team say they’re in it for the long haul.

“We aim to build relationships with our customers that will last for decades.”

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14 – February 2014, Australian Forests & Timber News

FIRE SUPPRESSION

Fire protection equipment vital for forestry vehicles, says Wormald I

N THE highly specialised forestry industry first-class safety systems and procedures are essential. Fire protection specialist Wormald is encouraging the installation of fire suppression equipment on forestry vehicles to help prevent machinery fires.

Steve Oxley, Wormald’s National Product Manager for Vehicle Fire Suppression Systems, says due to the size, fuel carrying capacity and cost of forestry vehicles and machinery, it is essential they are fitted with fire suppression solutions that are best suited to their fire risk.

“Any fire suppression system installed on a forestry vehicle should be compliant to Australian Standards. Fire extinguishers suitable for smaller fires, or fires that may occur

outside the risk area should also be provided. Furthermore, heavy vehicle operators must understand the risks involved in their role and how to ensure their safety should a fire break out in or on the vehicle they are operating,” Oxley said.

Wormald offers a range of vehicle fire suppression (VFS) systems, which are suited to different types of forestry vehicles. In the event of a fire, the principal aim of the Wormald systems is to provide early detection and warning to allow extra time for the driver to safely evacuate, while at the same time quickly suppressing the fire to help minimise damage to the vehicle.

The Wormald Foam Water Spray VFS System consists of high pressure, small droplet nozzles which discharge a

¢ Wormald suppression system on Komatsu Forest vehicle.

continuous stream of foam water spray at high risk areas, such as engine and transmission compartments, and hydraulic areas. The system utilises the fire suppressing and containment features of Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF).

The ANSUL™ A-101 Dry Chemical Vehicle Fire Suppression System discharges a multipurpose dry chemical agent known as Foray® into the risk area to suppress the fire.

These systems can be designed to flood entire volumes with dry chemical agent or aim at specific high-hazard areas.

Both systems are installed with automatic detection and actuation systems as well as cabin and ground level manual actuators. These manual actuators allow the operator to activate the fire suppression system if required.

Wormald’s VFS systems are ActivFire listed to be compliant to Australian Standard, AS 50622006: Fire Protection for Mobile and Transportable Equipment.

In accordance with AS 5062, Wormald provides a fire risk assessment process which assists in determining the most appropriate system to use for each vehicle application.

Another major component of AS 5062 is the regular inspection, testing and preventative maintenance and survey activities for the VFS systems, to help ensure a system is fully functional and will perform as designed if a fire occurs.

OneFortyOne Leading scientists reject fire and Plantations to timber claims upgrade Penola North fire tower FORESTRY GROUP OneFortyOne Plantations will upgrade the Penola North fire tower at an estimated cost of $100,000. The Penola North tower is critical to bushfire detection in the plantations and rural areas, forming part of the fire tower network that covers the region.

A local engineering firm has been engaged to scope the works required to upgrade the tower, located north east of Nangwarry.

OneFortyOne Plantations Chief Executive Officer Linda Sewell said the work would provide safer access and a more functional stand at the top the tower for local firefighters.

“This tower has been serving the community since the 1930s and I have been told the last upgrade occurred in the 1970s,” she said.

“The upgrade will take place in a manner that ensures the tower can continue to be used throughout the fire season. This could mean work being delayed until this year.”

ForestrySA CEO Adrian Hatch said he welcomed the initiative.

“This is a significant contribution to our local fire detection network and will enable firefighters to operate in a safer, more secure environment,” he said.

“Fire surveillance is an important part of our firefighting strategy, enabling us to monitor fires and attend before they take hold. This upgrade will play an important part in enabling us to fulfil this role.”

OneFortyOne Plantations secured the harvesting rights of the South Australian Government’s Green Triangle plantation estate in 2012.

Forestry management of the assets is currently being undertaken by ¢ OneFortyOne Plantations ForestrySA. CEO Linda Sewell.

NEW RESEARCH by some of Australia’s leading fire scientists has rejected suggestions timber harvesting is making Victoria’s forests more fire-prone. The research, published in the internationally renowned Society for Conservation Biology journal, Conservation Letters, also found there is no evidence from recent mega-fires in Victoria to suggest younger forests burn with greater severity than older forest.

Lead author, Professor Peter Attiwill (Professor and Principal Fellow in Botany, University of Melbourne), said the research, ‘Timber harvesting does not increase fire risk and severity in wet eucalypt forests of southern Australia’, brings together new evidence and specialised knowledge from some of Australia’s best fire scientists.

“The intensity of these fires had nothing to do with timber harvesting,” Professor Attiwill said.

“This research shows recent major bushfires did not burn anymore intensely in forests where timber harvesting takes place than they did in National Parks and reserves where there is no harvesting.

“Suggestions timber harvesting is making forests drier and more fire-prone has been the cause of concern for residents in some fire-affected communities.

“Our research shows this is simply not the case.

“As an ecologist, I believe this is a most important paper,” he said.

This latest research was undertaken by academics and scientists from the University of Melbourne, the Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia), VicForests, Forestry Tasmania and the former head of the CSIRO’s Bushfire Research Unit.

Professor Attiwill said the analysis looked at the impact of the 2003, 2007 and 2009 fires on ash forests in Victoria, as well as the impact of fire on forests in Western Australia.

“Aerial imagery taken after the 2009 bushfires in Victoria shows that areas of young forest regrowing after timber harvesting were some of the only areas unburnt during the high-intensity stages of the wildfire.

“Experience in Western Australia and Victoria shows that regrowing eucalypt forests less than five years old may not burn at all even under extreme conditions,” he said.

“The research found the small amount of forest harvested for timber means these areas do not have an impact on overall fire severity. While harvested areas can provide some ‘green’ forest within a firekilled landscape, they are only a small proportion of the overall landscape.

“Studies of the 2003 Alpine Fires and the 2006/07 Great Divide Fires showed the severity of these fires was no different in parks and reserves which have no timber harvesting than in State Forest where there has been timber harvesting for decades,” Professor Attiwill said.

This new research follows on from a 2011 paper ‘Wildfires, not logging, cause landscape traps’ published in Australian Forestry (vol 74) which disagreed with previous assertions that timber harvesting is responsible for creating ‘landscape traps’.

The 2011 paper found that “contrary to assertions

by Lindenmayer et al. (2011), logging roads and the break-up of the landscape into areas of very young (1–4 y(ears)) regeneration assisted fire protection of adjacent older mountain ash”.

The latest research paper ‘Timber harvesting does not increase fire risk and severity in wet eucalypt forests of southern Australia’ (Professor Peter Attiwill, Michael Ryan, Dr Neil Burrows, Phil Cheney, Dr Lachie McCaw, Dr Mark Neyland, Dr Steve Read) can be found at: http://onlinelibrary. wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12062/full

Australian Forests & Timber News, February 2014 – 15

KILNS Major NZ business future-proofs its kiln capacity NIAGARA SAWMILLING and Timber Remanufacturing was originally established in the small Southland country settlement of Niagara in New Zealand. The company, which has been wholly owned by the Richardson family since 1954, has graduated from three sawmills to its present site at Kennington in 1966, which is situated on the outskirts of Invercargill.

Niagara concentrates solely in the production of radiata pine, which it sources from plantations in Southland and the neighboring areas of Otago and produces approximately 100,000m3 of sawn timber each year from its Kennington site. This product is used to service its many customers in Asia, USA and also the domestic market. Niagara also produces fingerjoint products at its state-of-the-art remanufacturing plant at Kennington, with the finishing of these products being completed at its site in Ashburton.

With the need to continue to grow and increase production through its sawmilling process Niagara was required to increase and future proof its kiln capacity.

“After an extensive period of research it was decided in late 2012 to use Mahild to convert four of our existing batch kilns (X2 26m Windsor Kilns & X2 20m Fogarty Kilns) into Continuous Drying kilns to work along side our existing X3 12m Windsor batch Kilns which remain unchanged,” said dry mill manager Nathan Harper.

“Mahild’s proposal allowed us to get increased production gains from using the new continuous drying technology while still using the existing kiln chambers with some small modifications. Our existing kilns were effectively doubled in length with new equalizing/reconditioning chambers added to each end.

“Mahild’s conversion has allowed Niagara to increase its productivity through these four kilns by approximately 55% per annum without the need to increase its requirement for electricity or fuel.

“With the continuous process of these kilns timber quality has also been greatly improved resulting in straighter more stable timber with every kiln charge. Any variables in the timber feeding into the Kilns are eliminated during the equalizing phase meaning more accurate drying with very little variation,” said Harper.

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ased in Bellingen, NSW, Solar Dryers Australia is the Australian designer/ manufacturer of a range of unique Solar Hybrid timber kilns. To date the company has sold more than 160 kilns to clients in the US, PNG, Africa, and the Solomon Islands, as well as in Australia.

Drying times in SDA solar kilns are similar to conventional kilns, but the big difference with these kilns is the savings in heat energy costs – typically $15- $25 less per m3 than equivalent gas kilns.

For larger clients drying say 10,000m3, this can represent savings of around of $200,000 per year!

SDA kilns are also used for drying a range of other products, including pine cones, macadamias, pecans, walnuts and even seaweed!

The latest unit commissioned is near Colombo in Sri Lanka, and is drying nutmeg for a Dutch spice merchant.

Nutmeg is a tree nut, not dissimilar to Macadamias and Pecans, and the SDA drying system appears to be ideal for this product.

This nutmeg dryer uses the SG 20 timber kiln, based on a 40’ insulated container.

The unit was built at Bellingen, run for a week, then dis-assembled and packed inside the container for

shipment. Re-assembly of these units usually takes less than a day.

This month SDA will build an SG 100 (100m3) in New Zealand to dry pine cones to facilitate seed extraction.

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16 – February 2014, Australian Forests & Timber News

KILNs

Counter-flow kiln: less energy, better quality lumber S

OMETIMES THE road to success isn’t straight forward. Canfor Southern Pine at Conway, Southern Carolina, had been investing in updates to its sawmill process. It wanted to increase its production to take advantage of the recent upturn in markets, and needed to increase its drying capacity. Its plans were hampered by a more lengthy permitting process required to change its dry kiln heat source.

Add to that the fact that its boiler was already at capacity, so the new kiln had to be super efficient. After extensive investigation it selected USNR’s steam-fired Counter-Flow Kiln with Kiln Boss controls. This custom-designed system is utilizing the existing steam heat now, with immediate gains in efficiency and lumber quality. And with a future conversion to a direct-fired process it will reach its desired destination.

The Conway, SC, operation has been manufacturing lumber products for over 55 years, and was started by the Wall, Sledge, Singleton and Campbell families. In 2006 Canadian Forest Products acquired the mill along with sister operations at Camden and Marion, SC and Graham, NC. Today the company operates as Canfor Southern Pine and is based at Myrtle Beach, SC. The Conway site comprises

a sawmill, dry kilns, planer mill and treating plant. The operation produces dimension lumber (2x4 through 2x12), 5/4 x 6 radius edge decking, 4x4 timbers, and boards.

The mill currently runs two shifts and has an annual capacity of 175 mmbf.

Eliminating bottlenecks With five conventional steam kilns the mill was still facing a bottleneck with lumber drying, and needed to come up with a way to increase its drying capacity. The decision was made to construct a sixth kiln, and this one would be a continuous flow design. Tim Papa, manager at the Conway site explained the challenge … “Our boiler was producing as much steam as it was capable of producing so we had to have an energy efficiency improvement with the steam we already had. For that reason we would not consider adding another conventional kiln and decided to go with a continuous flow design.

“Strategically we were taking Conway to two shifts for the first time in several years. With all the capital improvements we’d done in the mill it was performing past its drying capacity, so this addition was the next logical step. “Part of

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the reason for going with a steamfired kiln was that it was an easier permitting process for us. Long term we plan to convert the new kiln to a direct-fired unit. In fact it already has some of the duct work and design to make the transition a lot easier for us in the future,” said Tim.

Best value for investment Travis McDonald, chief engineer for the company, works out of the head office at Myrtle Beach, SC. He commented that this is the first continuous flow kiln for the Canfor Southern Pine operations. “We went through a pretty exhaustive research process that spanned a couple of years. We visited several mill sites with continuous kilns, with various manufacturers and various methods of heating the kilns. As far back as 2006 we considered putting a continuous kiln in our Graham, NC plant but it would not physically fit on the site. It had always been our plan to adopt this technology.

“Conway’s other five kilns are all from USNR, and we are very comfortable with the Kiln Boss software and the kiln itself. The USNR Counter-Flow Kiln gave us the best value for our investment,” Travis said.

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Preparing the site created the biggest challenge for the mill.

Tim related, “It’s a huge machine and takes up a lot of square footage. We had to do quite a bit of construction demolition and arrangement just to fit it in on site.

It turned out pretty well.”

Another challenge the company faced was the permitting process; it would be able to increase its drying capacity the fastest by

remaining with an all-steam kiln process for the time being.

The team said that they decided to run primarily 16’ lumber through the kiln. They related that their visits to other mills convinced them that stacking quality was paramount to efficient operation of the kiln. Travis said, “Conway really does a good job making sure that what goes into the kiln is uniform. We learned a lot on our visits, and that helped make our own start-up easier.”

USNR’s engineers designed the kiln with the capability to convert it to a direct-fired system once the required permits are in place, and the mill made space available to accommodate USNR’s Green Burner on the site. Converting the kiln will require removal of the fin piping, and installation of a duct system to distribute the heat from the Green Burner. The mill will be able to use the fin pipe in other kilns, and once the Green Burner is installed it will eliminate the need for steam heat from the boiler.

More efficient The new kiln has been operating since mid-June and Travis said he couldn’t be happier with USNR’s construction crews. “We were able to start it up about 2 weeks earlier than our project target. Getting it running was a fairly quick process.”

Tim also gave kudos to Morgan Lumber at Red Oak, VA for helping them out along the way. That mill installed a USNR Counter-Flow Kiln about two years ago. “I’ll tip my hat to them. They were very helpful, and we are very appreciative of their help.”

Tim credits the counter-flow design for improved quality of lumber as opposed to that dried in a conventional kiln. “We’re pleased with the lumber quality coming out.

The conditioning chambers on either end not only recover the heat that would normally be lost when you open the doors and push the lumber out, but by cooling it down and introducing a little bit of moisture back it does help to condition the

Australian Forests & Timber News, February 2014 – 17

KILNS

¢ T he kiln was designed to accommodate the future conversion to a direct-fired process, with additional height built into the roof for ducting from the planned installation of USNR’s Green Burner.

lumber. The lumber has less standard deviation and is straighter than that dried in a conventional kiln. With the continuous flow operation we get efficiency and conditioning both.”

He continued, “There is no doubt in my mind that it is more efficient than a conventional kiln.”

Kiln Boss controls Tim knew that he wanted an integrated system between the old and new kilns. The new Kiln Boss system controls all six kilns from a single computer.

“Having it integrated allows us

to monitor the old kilns from the new control station, or monitor the new continuous kiln from the old station.”

Besides Tim and Travis, members of the Conway team that played key roles in the project included Ernest Rabon,

maintenance superintendent, Randolf Rabon, millwright, and Bob Brouer, engineering consultant.

Going green Travis related that currently he is focusing his time and effort on the company’s Darlington, SC facility where Canfor Southern Pine is installing its second USNR Counter-Flow kiln, and this one will be a direct-fired unit utilizing USNR’s Green Burner technology. “We ordered a new kiln for Conway and then ordered another one for Darlington before the Conway unit was even started up.” He said that though

its configuration differs, it is designed for the same throughput as the Conway kiln. The new kiln at Darlington is expected to be commissioned in December to coincide with that site’s move to a two-shift operation as well.

The next step in Conway’s improvement process will be to convert the new kiln to a directfired burner. Travis said that with markets improving, the enhanced production capacity at Conway is helping the company’s bottom line tremendously. In spite of having to convert the kiln’s energy process, it is making the Conway operation more profitable, with higher throughput and better quality lumber.

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18 – February 2014, Australian Forests & Timber News

CHIpping - grinding

Biomass – the elephant in the green room

By Ross Hampton Chief Executive Officer AFPA

W

HO HASN’T had a tree or two removed from a front garden to make way for an extension or driveway and been positively amazed at the number of small branches and the amount of leaves and bark that ends up on the ground?

Even after you set aside the trunk for that outdoor table setting, you will still be confronted with an overflowing trailer of green waste.

But what if instead of taking all that renewable material to the local resource centre, you had

a burner in the back yard and could turn it to ‘green’ power?

Actually at a much larger scale that is exactly what people across Europe are doing right now. I have recently returned from the climate change talks in Warsaw.

On display there were examples of schools and local shopping centres staying warm through snowy winters thanks to the renewable energy provided by forestry offcuts.

But in Australia some folks seem determined to mislead us that ‘biomass’ energy is in fact a bad thing. Mostly, it seems based on a false assumption, that making use of these leftovers would lead to more logging operations. In reality, the power created from branches and offcuts as well as sawdust from mills could be used to displace coal fired electricity without removing another single tree.

At the moment there is an inexcusable impediment to businesses receiving renewable energy credits when they create electricity using left over branches and leaves from legal, sustainable

forestry operations. The arguments from opponents are becoming louder as the Abbott Government has reaffirmed it plans to move soon to remove that anomaly.

The claim that biomass energy means more logging is wrong on three fronts.

For a start the amount of forestry that takes place in Australia is tiny and completely bounded by already agreed areas. In fact it may come as a surprise but if our total forests were represented by an Aussie rules oval the area actually harvested in a year wouldn’t cover the centre circle - and it’s not all in one spot, that tiny area is spread right across the country. Oh, and foresters grow back what they temporarily remove - don’t ever confuse forestry with land clearing - they are two totally different things!

The second error is the rather bizarre idea that forest operators would abandon the very profitable markets for wonderful premium products like hardwood flooring and instead would send trees to the burner where they would

receive a fraction of the dollars they could have otherwise.

The third error is the already high level of environmental and planning regulation that makes sure logging practices are undertaken on a sustainable basis.

If we are serious about dealing with climate change we need to make use of ALL renewable energy including biomass. What is more renewable than a tree? t Ross Hampton. u Wood pellets. q Forest residue.

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Australian Forests & Timber News, February 2014 – 19

CHIPPING - GRINDING

Storm-struck city relies on recycling to aid cleanup efforts

By Amber Reed

W

HEN A massive windstorm struck Bountiful, Utah, the magnitude of the green waste to deal with was overwhelming. Partnering with a local tree-service and wood-waste processing company, Bob’s Tree Service, Inc., the City of Bountiful Landfill quickly developed a plan to clear out and process the excessive amounts of waste, relying on both organisations’ recycling operations to speed up cleanup efforts.

The storm hits In the early morning hours, residents in Bountiful, named both for the city’s reputation as a garden place and a city in the Book of Mormon, were awakened by hurricane-force, downsloping winds slamming into their city. Because down-sloping winds increase in intensity as they come over a mountain and down into a valley area, the National Weather Service registered sustained winds of 40 to 55 miles (64.4 to 88.5 km) per hour with gusts greater than 75 miles (120.7 km) per hour, as the massive windstorm struck, rattling windows, blowing over semi trailers, toppling trees and downing power lines.

“It was about 2:30 in the morning when we got the first call from police dispatch saying a tree was blown across one of the city’s main streets,” says Bountiful Streets, Sanitation and Landfill Superintendent Gary Blowers. “We worked to get it cleared away by 6am, and from then on, we were inundated with calls saying trees had been blown down citywide. Most

of the downed trees were those huge pines that had been uprooted. And when the trees go down, they take the power lines with them.”

The cleanup process begins As they emerged from their homes to assess the havoc wreaked on their town, city residents faced power outages, road closures, below-freezing temperatures, as well as the threat of another violent windstorm. In addition to the extensive property damage, residents also had to contend with an overflow of green waste.

“On Saturday, the weather forecasters predicted another round of down-sloping winds to strike soon,” says Blowers.

“We were concerned that all of the debris residents had cleared out of their yards and set along the roads for pickup could get airborne during the second storm. Along with the mayor and city manager, we contacted the local churches and urged them to cancel their services that day so their members could haul as much debris to our landfill as possible.”

According to local news reports, the line at the landfill on Sunday stretched for miles. To alleviate some of the congestion, city officials opened a secondary dump site that day in the parking lot behind Bountiful High School. Materials brought to this site were loaded into side-dump trucks and taken to the landfill.

Waiving the normal $3 dumping fee, Blowers says that the

landfill opened at 7:30 that morning and didn’t close until 9:30 that night. “It was incredible, the amount of people who came that day to drop off material,” continues Blowers. “It helped us clear most of what was on the streets from Thursday’s storm in a matter of just a couple of days.”

After the initial drop-off, residents still had three to four weeks’ worth of stumps and tree limbs to clear up and haul out.

According to Blowers, “If the residents got the materials out to the curb, we hauled it away.”

Dealing with the waste To accommodate the influx of green-waste material, Blowers says that the city’s landfill freed up several acres of space to set up four different staging areas — one designated for commercial use, contractors with large dump trucks; and three areas where residents could come in to unload their waste by hand.

Because of the amount of the green waste the landfill needed to recycle, Blowers contracted professionals to grind the green waste. One company that helped Blowers’ crews grind was Bob’s Tree Service of Wood Cross, Utah, which has been working with the landfill for over six years.

According to owner Dave Barton, BTS Land Clearing and BTS Recycling started as a small tree-service company with landclearing contracts, including projects tearing out trees for road

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continued on page 20.

20 – February 2014, Australian Forests & Timber News

CHIPPING - GRINDING

¢ Bountiful landfill.

continued from page 19. widening jobs, and eventually branched out to tackling demolition and green-waste recycling work.

“Rather than take all the waste material to the landfill, we decided to buy a grinder and started recycling all those trees,” says Barton.

To tackle green-waste recycling projects, Barton’s company owns three Vermeer tub grinders — a TG400 and TG400L, and one TG800.

“We were on-site at the landfill grinding three times in the aftermath of the storm, each time for six to seven days,” says Barton. Blowers also brought in a second contractor, Kimball Equipment from Salt Lake City, to supplement the work being done by Barton’s crews.

The grinders focused on getting the landfill’s main staging areas, where green-waste materials are normally dumped, cleared first, and then the grinders tackled the largetruck material. “We did it this way so we could get a big space opened back

up quickly, to manage new materials being dropped off,” says Blowers.

Managing the by-product To process all the waste quickly, the grinding crews first ground the waste into a coarse, 4- to 6-inch grind (10.2 to 15.2 cm) and laid it out flat in 6-foot-tall (1.8 m) piles to keep the material from composting, or “cooking,” as Blowers calls it.

According to Blowers, the landfill will not begin truly managing the material until they regrind it into finer material. At that point, they will start using it as their screening material for composting. “Instead of taking the time to grind it all fine and start composting while we’re so busy, we now have acres of excess material stocked up to process as we need it,” says Blowers.

Until the landfill is ready to begin the composting process, Blower’s crews have been watering the piles

when they get warm and turning them regularly, approximately every two weeks to prevent any issues. “We have a temperature gauge on the piles that we watch,” says Blowers. “When the temperature starts going up, we water and turn the piles to make sure we don’t have any spontaneous combustion.”

A lot of this activity is weatherdependent, added Blowers. “It’s been a pretty dry summer here so we’ve had to water and turn the piles a lot.

When we get monsoon moisture, that helps put a lot of water into the piles all at once, so then we have to water and turn less. Our winters are pretty wet, so we don’t have to manage the piles quite as much then either,” says Blowers.

Because of the windstorm, the city of Bountiful Landfill took in about 20,000 (18,143.7 tonnes) of green waste in 2011. In previous years, the average has been around 8,000 tons (7257.4 tonnes) per year of green waste. To give scope to the amount of waste processed in the aftermath

of the storm, Blowers says, “In the last six months, we have ground approximately a year’s worth of green waste. Most of it was brought to us right after the storm, in December and the first week January. The amount of green waste to recycle in the storm’s aftermath was enormous.”

Once his crews start composting and putting the material into windrows, Blowers says it will take about a year before the landfill will have a final product available. The final grind for the recycled green waste will be 2 inches (5.1 cm) or less.

“We just did our last grind in early July (2012),” adds Blowers.

The landfill will sell the screened, or fine ground, compost for $30 a ton.

They will have unscreened compost, or coarse material, available for $20 a ton, and wood chips will be available for $20 a ton. They also will sell a 30-pound bag of compost for $2.

Others chip in on cleanup efforts While keeping his TG800 busy at the City of Bountiful Landfill, Barton also used his two TG400 tub grinders back on their own yard.

“We were very busy at that time too,” says Barton, “helping our customers handle debris from the storm. Like the landfill, we also grind up and recycle green waste — we process around 10,000 yards (9144.0 m) of material a year. In our own yard, we also grind for other cities and counties throughout Utah, Idaho and Wyoming.”

Once the material is ground, Bob’s Tree Service then composted it and mixed it with their topsoil. “We have a program going at our yard that makes nice, weed-free topsoil with recycled green waste,” says Barton.

“To do this, we mix the grind with the topsoil, a little horse manure and enough mulch that it begins

to compost. We then heat up this mixture to about 140 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit (60 – 65 degrees C), and at that point it kills all the weeds in the topsoil. Finally, the mixture is screened resulting in organic rich topsoil.”

In the aftermath Now that the majority of waste produced by the storm has been dealt with, Blowers points out that he and his crew at the landfill learned many lessons by going through this experience. “One of the things we learned was to make sure we had plenty of spare space to handle the overwhelming influx of debris that came in all at once,” says Blowers.

“Also, by having the spare space available to handle the large amount of material we needed to process allowed us to get the people in and out of the facility as quickly as possible and allowed us to deal with the waste after people were away from it.

“Another lesson we learned is that we needed to have plenty of trained help, familiar with our facility, on-hand and ready to work,” says Blowers.

Finally, Blowers says, it’s critical to keep accurate documentation throughout the event in order to adhere to state permitting and to receive FEMA assistance. These agencies require a lot of groundwater monitoring, such as how much materials or chemicals are in the water, as well as dust control.

“A lot has changed in the solid waste industry over the years, and most of it is due to recycling,” finishes Blowers. “Because recycling — metal, electronics, carpet, batteries, and of course, green waste — is such a big part of our business, it’s important that we do all the paperwork to stay in compliance.” + Amber Reed is a freelance writer for Two Rivers Marketing, Des Moines, Iowa. Article provided by Vermeer Corporation, Pella, Iowa.

Bioenergy has a key role today and into tomorrow REPRESENTATIVES FROM 39 embassies and trade offices from around the world gathered at the beginning of December for the traditional get-together held by Elmia and the Swedish Bioenergy Association Svebio to focus on the latest news and innovations in bioenergy. Planning is also fully under way for World Bioenergy 3–5 June in Jönköping, Sweden, featuring conferences, site visits and workshops.

“Bioenergy is playing a major role today and will continue to be of key importance in supplying renewable energy for electricity, heating and transportation,” said Heinz Kopetz, President of the World Bioenergy Association (WBA), at the meeting held in Stockholm.

He presented a global vision of how renewable energy sources can meet almost 100% of the world’s energy needs for electricity, heating and transportation. The WBA’s vision for the future states that biomass is the most important source of renewable energy and will remain so for the next twenty years, until solar and wind power

are able to play a greater role.

The World Bioenergy event encompasses everything from visions, concepts and knowledge to practical management and business deals. One totally new feature is the solution-oriented workshops to be held within the frame of the conference.

“World Bioenergy is a unique meeting place for the global bioenergy industry thanks to its combination of theory, practice, problem solving and being a meeting place for business deals,” said Kjell Andersson, Information Secretary at Svebio, who is in charge of much of the conference program.

Handling and recycling ash, fossil-free agriculture for the production of energy crops, and the efficient transport of biomass are just some topics of the workshops to be held at World Bioenergy 2014. One facility for delegates to visit on the study tour is Stockaryd terminal, 60 kilometres south of Jönköping. Opened in 2008, the terminal is used for timber, pulpwood and biomass. Every year several hundred trains are

loaded there. One feature of the site visit will be a demonstration of pulpwood handling and large-scale wood chipping, all of which can be done efficiently at the terminal.

“Our workshops have study tours linked to them so delegates can see how things work in practice,” Andersson said. “We also want to create meeting places so people can compare experiences, make business contacts and do deals, and also to foster contacts between companies, researchers and innovators. Participants should be able to learn about ‘knowhow’ – what can be done in theory – ‘show-how’ – how to do it in practice – and also ‘know-who’ – how to find the right people and contacts.”

As part of World Bioenergy, SPCI (the Swedish Association of Pulp and Paper Engineers) will hold conference sessions on the theme of biorefineries.

“This is an extension of what’s happening in the forest industry,” said Marina Asp, Executive Director of SPCI. “We believe this is a new and exciting field that is expanding more and more

within the industry.” In addition, the prestigious World Bioenergy Award will also be presented on the fair’s opening day on 3 June. The award goes the individual who has made a significant and innovative difference to the bioenergy sector: a business leader, politician or researcher who in a crucial way has furthered the development of the sector.

Bioenergy issues bring the whole world together. That message was

clear at the international gathering of representatives from embassies and trade offices in Stockholm.

“We’re seeing a very great and unified interest in bioenergy from around the world,” says Klas Brandt, Project Manager and Exhibition Manager of World Bioenergy 2014. “We already have joint stands for Poland, Australia and Finland, and more international bookings are imminent.”

Australian Forests & Timber News, February 2014 – 21

SKIDDERS

Strength, power and comfort, too!

IF YOU’RE looking for a wheel skidder with the strength and power to handle a heavy-duty bunching grapple with a full load of logs then Cat’s C Series offers that choice. The line includes the 545C with 173 kW (232 hp) gross engine power, the 535C at 163 kW (218 hp) gross, and the 525C with 146 kW (196 hp) gross engine power. The 525C is offered with DualHP that provides 162 kW (218 hp) power in first gear lock-up drive and above for greater productivity.

The C Series skidders are equipped with the Cat C7 engine featuring ACERT™ Technology.

The C7 delivers power and torque to maximize productivity and the ACERT Technology combines improvements in fuel delivery, air management and electronic control to optimize engine performance.

“This engine burns clean, so with regular oil sampling, oil change intervals can be extended up to 500 hours,” said Matt McDonald, Caterpillar Forest Products product performance engineer.

The variable displacement hydraulic pump draws engine power only when braking, steering, blade or grapple functions demand flow or pressure. This conserves engine horsepower and increases fuel efficiency.

The five-speed transmission matches engine power to the load size and ground conditions and

electronic shift control boosts total productivity. The lock-up clutch allows the skidder to be operated either in converter drive for greater pull or direct drive for faster travel speeds and the most fuel efficiency.

Travel speeds can be as much as 15 percent higher with the lock-up clutch engaged. “With the lock-up clutch the operator doesn’t have to continually shift the transmission to maintain good skidder performance,” McDonald explained. “It’s easier on the operator, the machine is more productive, and it also helps the tires to last longer by preventing wheel spin while starting a load.”

Extensive computer analysis and field-testing resulted in the structural design of the C series. “These skidders can handle rough conditions.

The C Series mainframe, hitch and decking blade are designed and built to surpass loggers’ expectations,” McDonald said. The box section structures of the main frame are reliable and durable. Frames can absorb twisting and impact forces to provide a sound foundation and well-balanced system for the entire structure. All arches are also boxsection construction and are tested to exceed durability requirements.

A heavy-duty centre section features 3 in. pins and oversized plates and bosses to disperse forces.

A large double-tapered roller bearing is used on the lower hitch for reduced flexing stress and to maintain tight

joints. The wide spread of the hitch pins significantly reduces horizontal loading on hitch pins and bearings for greater durability and extended pin and bearing life. The extra room also increases hydraulic hose clearance and makes hose routing easier.

“The low centre of gravity and weight-forward design of the skidder gives it better balance and exceptional stability on grades, even when skidding a large load,” McDonald said. The C Series provides the tightest turning radius for superior maneuverability while still maintaining the excellent balance required for high capacity skidding.

The cab provides industryleading comfort for long shifts.

All transmission controls are on the steering wheel. The operator’s left hand controls all steering and transmission functions while the right hand controls the grapple. “This reduces operator fatigue by splitting the machine operations between two hands,” McDonald said.

Cat bunching grapples feature a strong box-section design and higher clamping forces for faster log loading and excellent hold on a load. The Auto-Grab grapple hydraulic system monitors and adjusts tong pressure as needed to maintain a secure grip on grapple loads without wasting power.

“With their raised edges, these tongs hold tight to every load,” McDonald

¢ Cat’s 527 track skidder.

said. Large, hinged engine doors make regular maintenance easy and fast. Key filters and lube points are accessible from the ground without special tools.

The Cat 527 track skidder delivers the balance and power needed for safe and productive skidding in steep terrain or soft ground conditions.

Track skidders are available in grapple or cable configurations to suit loggers’ requirements in Australia and New Zealand.

The 527 is powered by the 127 kW (166 hp) Cat 3304 DIT engine. A torque converter threespeed transmission power train, designed specifically for skidding applications, delivers higher drawbar pull. The long track roller frame and optimized weight

Fuel efficiency is a key factor THOUGH ECONOMIC conditions are slowly beginning to improve, high fuel costs continue to affect the forestry industry worldwide. To remain competitive, loggers continue to have a need for improved productivity and uptime, as well as lower daily operating costs for equipment. In sum, they need an efficient machine that minimizes fuel consumption, and skidders are no exception.

John Deere has the industry’s widest selection of grapple and cable skidders for all size and power needs. No matter the option you choose, there is one constant – fuel efficiency.

With their long wheelbase and wide stance, John Deere Skidders go where you want them to go. They’ll pull faster, and most importantly, won’t surprise you when you fill up the tank.

All John Deere skidders are powered with a fuel-efficient John Deere PowerTech™ Plus engine with both Tier 2 and Tier 3 options still available. By leveraging John Deere Power Systems technologies and the PowerTech™ Plus engines, John Deere Skidders give customers what they want and need in terms of fuel efficiency. At the same time, they offer the horsepower needed to move a low cost per ton.

John Deere offers two transmission options for skidders, Direct Drive and Lock-up Torque Converter (LUTC). In response to common productivity and operational challenges in the logging industry, John Deere developed an Autoshift functionality on the H-Series Skidders. The elimination of shifting allows operators to use their right hand to run the grapple and focus on pulling the load, which makes the skidder easier to operate, increases productivity and decreases operator fatigue. This Autoshift option leverages the fuel efficiency benefits of direct drive and

lock-up torque converter transmissions by automatically selecting the optimal gear for any given load.

Industry-leading, heavy-duty axles, available with a wide selection of tire configurations, whether running in single or dual tire applications, bolster long-term durability on John Deere Skidders. Large diameter arch pins, high strength bushings, an ultra-durable hydraulic pump and severe-duty fuel filters are just a few of the other features that make John Deere’s Skidders what they are today.

Cab features include a sealed-switch module, which provides the operator with convenient fingertip operation of multiple machine functions, including Autoshift, hand throttle settings, start-gear select, diff lock and transmission lock-up. The easyto-read diagnostic monitor provides vital operating information at a glance, including machine operating functions such as fluid temperatures and hours of operation. The cab is isolation-mounted which helps smooth the ride in rough terrian while keeping noise and operator fatigue to a minimum. Each seat offers increased lumbar support and armrest padding, added legroom, new joystick locations and more adjustments to better fit the operator.

John Deere’s H-Series Skidders were first to introduce the tilting cab, a standard feature today, giving easy access to major components. Simply unlatch the large service panels for fast and convenient access to filters, components and pressure check ports. The easy-to-navigate diagnostic monitor displays information to help speed-up troubleshooting.

It also delivers an audible warning to alert the operator of a critical issue.

distribution provide excellent traction in steep terrain, and lower ground pressure for better performance on soft underfoot conditions.

Ground clearance with Caterpillar’s elevated sprocket design is 711 mm (28 in.) for excellent maneuverability. Cat heavy-duty track components extend undercarriage life.

The Cat 527 track skidder is available with logging winch for larger diameter, select cut log harvesting, or the swing boom for smaller diameter, mechanized whole tree harvesting.

For ease of operation and operator protection, the 527 is available with open ROPS or enclosed cab configurations.

¢ With their long wheelbase and wide stance, John Deere Skidders go where you want them to go.

As with all forestry equipment, skidders need proper maintenance for maximum productivity, and the John Deere JDLink Machine Monitoring System is a feature that helps ensure equipment is running as efficiently as possible. The system, available as a website – JDLink.com – and iPhone or Droid application, remotely connects owners and managers to their equipment by delivering alerts and in-depth machine information like location, utilization, machine performance, and up-to-the-minute maintenance data.

Productivity boosting features include: JDLink’s in-depth metrics help track, monitor and maximize job costs such as fuel usage for lower daily operating costs, but also helps with long-term savings. Such

documented preventative maintenance translates to higher resale value on used equipment.

JDLink also provides the power to maximize a crew’s potential by monitoring a machine’s every detail. By keeping an eye on equipment utilization and performance, customers can quickly tell which operators are maximizing machine time.

For customer peace of mind, the service features an interface that shows current machine location as well as the location history of all equipment. The system can also help recover stolen equipment easily with geofences and curfews. JDLink will send an alert if a machine leaves its assigned area or is operating when it’s not supposed to.

22 – February 2014, Australian Forests & Timber News

SKIDDERS

The difference is in the drive “

TIGERCAT HAS developed a full line of skidders that lead the industry in durability, reliability, productivity, fuel efficiency, operator comfort and ergonomics,” says Onetrak (sole Australian agent for Tigercat) managing director David Hazell.

“All Tigercat skidders are designed and built for extreme conditions with strengthoptimised frames, robust, well-protected cylinders and a strong centre section with large pins and tapered roller bearings.

“Access to daily service points is good, major components are easy, with a spacious engine house and tilt cab for access to the pumps, motors and driveline.

The belly pans are generously sized.

Visibility is excellent with clear sight lines to all wheels as well as through the arch to the load. The cab is large and comfortable.

All of these attributes contribute to making the Tigercat skidder the best drive around,” he says.

Unique to Tigercat’s skidders is their electronically controlled hydrostatic drive system that increases efficiency and performance while reducing operator fatigue.

The electronic control technology combined with Tigercat’s unique hydrostatic drive system allows the skidder to operate at variable engine rpm, automatically increasing engine speed when additional horsepower is demanded.

The result is improved fuel economy and reduced engine noise.

No gear shifting is required. The operator commands infinitely variable speed control from zero to maximum simply by depressing the foot pedal. The skidder operator does not have to continually shift gear to maintain the optimal gear for the terrain. Operator fatigue is significantly reduced.

Because full torque is available at any engine speed, breakout performance is

significantly better than conventional skidders. The wheels will maintain the speed commanded by the drive pedal, regardless of the traction or pulling torque required. When maximum horsepower is reached, speed reduction occurs automatically. Smooth and continuous traction allows Tigercat skidders to operate with minimal wheel spin. The result is reduced site disturbance, longer tyre life, less driveline stress and improved performance in soft or steep terrain.

Because skidder travel ceases as the drive pedal is released on Tigercat skidders, there is virtually no reliance on the secondary braking system. Brake service is seldom required because secondary braking is rarely used. The operator can maintain excellent vehicle control on slopes. In addition, drive characteristics are identical whether in forward or reverse.

The line-up At 142 kW (190 hp) the 604C cable skidder and 610C grapple skidders share the same engine, drive system, cab and hydraulics systems. “The machines are quick, agile and fuel efficient,” says David.

“The 604C is well suited to selective hardwood logging and steep terrain while the 610C is a versatile skidder well suited to a variety of clear fell, thinning applications and specialty selective felling applications. Both machines offer excellent performance in soft and steep terrain.”

The 620D, 630D and 635D models are all available with the largest capacity grapples and widest tip-to-tip openings in their respective size classes. The 620D is rated at 164 kW (220 hp) while the 630D and 635D have 194 kW (260 hp) available.

The 620D and 630D are suited to the vast

majority of the world’s high production skidding applications, commonly used in clear fell and plantation thinning applications, steep ground and soft soil.

The six-wheel drive 635D with its long wheelbase, low-ground pressure and massive grapple is designed for long hauls, extremely heavy loads and very soft or steep terrain. The 635D is also approved for use in demanding, high duty cycle ground scarification applications and is proving to be the ideal carrier for scarifying.

The new 615C Skidder Tigercat welcomes its latest member to the family, the 615C Skidder. “The 615C is a quick, compact, six-wheel drive machine.

Similar in capacity to the 630D, the 615C is a niche machine best suited to extremely soft or steep terrain when volumes cannot justify the massive production potential of the 635D or when tight spaces limit the ability of the 635D to operate effectively,” says David.

“With the 615C, contractors can now have all the advantages of a six-wheel drive skidder – excellent traction, high performance in steep and soft terrain and a smoother ride – in a compact package with a lower initial purchase price.”

Other benefits include the high capacity, dual cylinder Tigercat grapple with a wide tip-to-tip opening for irregular bunches and an automatic variable pitch, reversing fan for improved fuel economy and excellent cooling performance.

Turnaround technology One of the most unique and innovative features of the Tigercat skidders is TurnaroundTM. The rotating seat has a two-position mechanical lock and provides full rear-facing drive capability and control of all functions. An armrestmounted joystick controls the steering

¢ T he six wheel drive 635D Tigercat skidder is great for steep incline work.

¢ T igercat 635D working in SA Blue Gum operations.

¢ T he 620D Tigercat Skidder in softwood operations.

¢ T he innovative and unique TurnaroundTM technology allows full rear-facing drive capability and control of all functions.

function for improved ergonomics. Drive pedals are located at both the front and rear of the cab.

With Turnaround, forward and reverse have become meaningless terminology.

The operator has control of all machine functions in either seating position and can drive comfortably with the full speed range available either blade-forward or grapple-forward.

Combined with Tigercat’s hydrostatic driveline, Turnaround is an asset in many skidding applications where long reverses are necessary such as first thinning applications where the skidder must back down the thinning corridors as well as short haul skidding where the time and fuel required to turn the machine around has an adverse effect on productivity and increases costs. Turnaround is also useful for picking up double bunches, loading the grapple with roadside debris and angling and placing the load optimally for the processors at roadside as well as other decking duties.

Waratah 618C Harvesting Head

Forest Equipment Specialist

ST 00+G $100,0

2010/11 model with 3900 Hrs. All current waratah updates fitted-covers, hosing from head to swivel, brand new outer feed motor & brand new knife arm. Has ¾ main saw, toping saw, alpine style rollers and hi torque motors.

l GST Set of standard outer feed 00 inc air ,0 3 $ p wheels to suit danfoss motors for the for 480 harvesting head Brand new still in box

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Tigercat L830 Harvester 2004 Model. 16,565 hours.

Includes Waratah HTH624. $185,000 + GST

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Classifieds

Sell your used equipment, advertise your tender, offer your real estate or find your next employee.

For rates and deadlines call David (03) 9888 4834 or email: d.drane@ryanmediapl.com.au

FIREWOOD MILLS

For Information, please, call 0419-536 804 or email your postal address to info@firewoodmills.com.au

Phone: O408 031 298

BELL LOGGER

Kobelco SK250-8 2007 model with 9,535 hours.

Includes Talon Grab. $90,000 + GST

New model Easy50 available now!

Tigercat 1018 Forwarder 18 tonne capacity with turnaround cabin, load cells, 8,050 hours. $79,950 + GST

Tanguay TF975 Feller Buncher Cummins QSL9 engine, new undercarriage and Quadco disc saw, 6,816 hours. $150,000 + GST

Bell Logger with grapple for sale. 2600 genuine hours. Just been completely overhauled, good tyres. Ready to put to straight to work. $80,000+GST. Call 0418 167 545/02 6495 7811.

Different sizes of mills with optional feeding table and drum cleaner. Tractor, Diesel Power Pack or Electric Power Pack driven models.

AVAILABLE NOW Softwood Bandsaw Processing Mill For high recovery sawmilling

FOR SALE Log forwarder Model OSA260 • Not working • Wrecking or sell as is

$9900.00 +GST ONO CAT 322CL Harvester

Located: Blue Mountains area Contact: Lorraine on 02 6652 9526 or 0417 898 962

Fire suppression includes Waratah 616 processor. $79,000 + GST

Upcoming timber events

Volvo EC210BLC Harvester Waratah 616C & T10 computer system, fire suppression system. $70,000 + GST

1300 727 520

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Forano Twin 60” Bandsaw Log Breakdown line Top dogging. Log handling. Remote operator. Log diameter 60cm – 12cm, 6m - 2.4m. Hydraulic sizing 30cm – 7.5cm. $188,000+GST Moreen Johnston 50” Horizontal Band Wing line With roundabout and wing transfer deck. $44,000.00+GST Windsor board twin edger With laser guides, pneumatic sizing and conveyor waste transfer. $37,000+GST Wadkin XE 220 moulder complete in good condition with cutters and blower Biesse twin head point to point automatic machine centre.

Komatsu WA500-3 12,000hrs. Fitted with either; Don Howe Log Forks, OR Dirt Bucket Well maintained. All service records.

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Robinson 54” wheels heavy duty bandsaw 50hp motor, Hydraulic feed. $12,500+GST $9,800+GST Austral Timber Group Contact Ken Baker 0438 643 992 ken.baker@ubteam.com

If you would like to promote a forthcoming event, please email details (including contact numbers, email, etc) to: editorial@forestsandtimber.com.au or phone 08 8369 9500 10-14 February 2014 World Congress of Agroforestry . New Delhi, India 17-21 February 2014 Gottstein Wood Science Course, Melbourne, www. gottsteintrust.org or secretary@gottsteintrust.org 20-22 February 2014 76th Annual Oregon Logging Conference – Eugene, Oregon, USA. http://www. oregonloggingconference.com 3-5 March 2014 Precision Forestry Symposium (Precision Forestry: The anchor of your value chain) – Stellenbosch, South Africa. www.sun.ac.za/forestry/pf2014 13 March 2014 Timber Transport Conference - Scotland, UK. http://www.timbertransportforum.org.uk/ 18-21 March 2014 IUFRO Acacia 2014 Conference “Sustaining the Future of Acacia Plantation Forestry”. Hue, Vietnam.

19 March 2014 ForestWood 2014. Te Papa, Wellington, NZ. Hosted by Forest Owners Association (FOA), Wood Processors Association (WPA), Pine Manufacturers Association (PMA), Forest Industry Contractors Association (FICA) and supported by Woodco, NZ Farm Forestry Association (NZFFA) and Frame & Truss Manufacturers Association (FTMA). http:// www.forestwood.org.nz/

WARATAH recalibrated

Even when you’re working in parts unknown, we know where you are, what you need, and when you need it.

And those times you have equipment down, we understand you need it back in service, pronto. That’s why we’ve recalibrated our parts-delivery system to work as hard as you do. Expect overnight or even same-day service from a team dedicated to keep you up and running. Call our service team 24/7.

Waratah is recalibrating to keep you working. And earning.

Melbourne Parts 24/7 Hotline 03 9747 4213

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Product Support 24/7 Hotline 08 9726 0411

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