Hiab’s HiVision™ for forestry cranes uses external cameras to show the cranes surrounding. The operator sees the surroundings using virtual reality (VR) goggles inside the truck cabin. This improves productivity, reduces the weight of the equipment and provides a more comfortable and safer working environment for the operator. HiVision 2.0 has an improved camera system combined with a powerful computer …
Autonomous agricultural modular vehicle launched
Multi-use, modular platform Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) automates tree and vine crop tasks, starting with intelligent spraying Robotics Plus, a New Zealand-based agritech company, on 20 October launched its autonomous multi-use, modular vehicle platform for agriculture designed to carry out a variety of orchard and vineyard machine tasks – to alleviate ongoing labour shortages and transform the industry. The multi-purpose …
Celebrating long-term evergreen harvesting contract
In what must be one of the longest partnerships in NZ forestry, Safetree Certified Contractor Gamble Forest Harvesting celebrated 50 years working for City Forests in 2021. Safetree Toroawhi Richard Stringfellow talked to the companies about their long working relationship, particularly the benefits of their ‘evergreen’ contract – which has no fixed termination date but keeps rolling over. Tony Gamble …
Napier Port successfully trials prototype log grabs
On Friday 2 September, Napier Port’s senior crane operators safely and successfully loaded logs onto the Norse Mobile bulk cargo vessel using log grabs custom-designed and built for use on the port’s existing mobile harbour cranes. Napier Port CEO Todd Dawson was on board the Norse Mobile to observe the initial operational trial and was very pleased to watch this …
Rangatahi growing in forestry with iwi trust training
In New Zealand, a training initiative implemented by a central North Island iwi trust is taking rangatahi (youth) to new heights, three years since its launch. Rotomā No. 1 Incorporation’s mahi is mostly dedicated to the forestry industry, but at the heart of ensuring its sustainability is a scheme to secure a skilled and dedicated future workforce and a commitment …
Forest360 NZ log export market update
It would be nice to be reporting on a rebound in the export market on the basis of solid demand and improved overall global macro-economic factors, but that would be about as factual as the government’s recent announcement of lower crime statistics – during a year of repeated lockdowns. Not much has really changed in the past month in terms …
International softwood log trade declines 20%
Global trade of softwood logs plunged by 20% during the first half of 2022 y-o-y. Much of the decline was because of the Russian log export ban that came into effect on January 1, 2022. However, with weakening housing markets worldwide resulting in lower demand for lumber, other countries beyond Russia saw slowing exports of logs throughout the spring and …
Diesel-electric hybrid trucks for logging industry
If one guy can call his electric-car company Tesla, why not call theirs Edison, a couple of Merritt enrepreneurs figured. While the real-life Tesla and Edison, ground-breaking inventors, became fierce rivals, Edison Motors has a way to go before catching up with Elon Musk’s car company. But the journey has begun: Chace Barber and Eric Little are building hybrid electric …