Timo always wanted to be a logger. “I remember how my grandfather and father always took me to the logging sites in Finland from a very young age. These are some of the most cherished memories of my childhood!” This memory motivated Timo to pursue this dream and so he went to a three-year harvester operator school in Jämsänkoski, Finland.

It is clear that Timo has an incredible work ethic and a desire to settle for nothing but the top rung on the ladder. During his studies he started to have a desire to combine his language skills and forest machine operator skills.

He developed an interest in sales and marketing in the forestry arena. At that time AFM-Forest Ltd had a job opening that fitted Timo’s skills and interests perfectly and he took the job without hesitation.

AFM-Forest is a family owned, customer oriented company with their feet down to earth. As we have stated earlier, AFM is one of the first companies in the world to manufacture feeding harvesting heads or processor heads as they are well known in Europe, North America, Russia, and in other parts of the world.

Timo hosting the AFM annual Dealer Meeting.

His responsibilities grew to being responsible for developing the North American markets from zero.
During his employment as Area Manager AFM opened 8 dealerships in North America and recently one distributor in Italy. Timo spent a lot of time in Canada and USA searching the right partners for AFM. After finding the right partners, AFM trained their new distributors and dealers one by one to offer a state of the art service for AFM’s product line.
Today North America is one of the most important markets for AFM-Forest.

AFM soon realized the importance of social media and it has helped a lot in the development of AFM as a well recognized brand across the globe.

Loggers from around the world are very active on posting pictures and videos of what they are doing with AFM processors. Today AFM-Forest has 12000 followers on Instagram!

As with many brand builders, your responsibility as a brand developer do not stop at the development of brand awareness. You go that extra mile and stay involved in the product development for the company you devote yourself to.

As a forest machine operator Timo has an extremely good knowledge of how a good harvester machine should perform and his skills gives him a good point of view from an operator’s seat.
“We are spending a lot of time with our distributors, dealers and customers in the field. In my opinion the feedback we get from the field is extremely important for the development of our products and our company.

Every country and market is different and so the needs of our customers are different for each of the areas they work in.

Every single person who walks planet earth wants to have the assurance that tomorrow has been taken care of.

That whatever happens to us today will not destroy years of hard work or investments that has been made. That is the dream for so many business owners as well.

We are however living in an ever changing world. A world where things can change quickly and nothing is guaranteed to last forever. It is this certainty that things will change that fills us with uncertainty and this incredible search for security.

During the last few months we have experienced yet another setback in forestry, especially in the North of Canada, that proves this point.
Mills are closing and contractors are left with machines that they have no use for. 

Listen to what is being said in the market place. We all have contacts in this market and we are all individuals with enough experience to know when a down turn is coming.

Do not purchase machines based on today’s market values or a promise of success. Build your base first and ensure that whatever happens that you will be able to pay your debt with either an insurance that covers for a loss of work or cash. There is a saying that if you cannot purchase it twice you cannot afford it.

Even though we do feel that each employee should have his or her own plan in place – do have a strategy or savings plan in place where you will be able to pay staff a fair departure salary in case that you have to close shop for a while or you need to reduce your staff levels.

Never have a negative relationship with other mill owners just because you are supplying one specific mill. You never know when the mill you are currently supplying closes its doors and you may need to knock on a door that you closed in haste.

Never have a negative relationship with other mill owners just because you are supplying one specific mill.

You never know when the mill you are currently supplying closes its doors and you may need to knock on a door that you closed in haste. You may have to sell your equipment to them, or you may want to help your staff look for work elsewhere.

This may also help if you want to subcontract to another crew for a while to keep your machines operating.

Sany currently have the capacity to manufacture as many as 80,000 excavators per year and they are sold in all parts of the world.

Sany SY245F Specs

Machine weight – 25,000kg
Engine – Isuzu 6.49lt Tier II
Power – 175Hp
Fuel capacity – 340l
Oil flow – 2 x 252lt

The range of Randalls grapples has grown over the years off the back of strong demand from Countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

Due to the demands of log loading in these parts of the world so to the design and strength of Randalls grapples has been adapted to enable them to work in some of the toughest conditions in the world.

Today Randalls remain the sole Australian manufacturer of rotating log grapples.
Randalls products are built from start to finish in Melbourne using robotic welding and advanced machine tools in order to produce a top quality Australian product that will withstand anything you can throw at it.

We are all dependent on one thing, the need for wood.

Every single person reading this has some role they play in the forestry industry. When you read this you need to know that there are others, like you, maybe doing the same you do, maybe doing something different, who also depend on this industry. We all want to get to the other side of things. The other side is not just hoping that this industry will survive, but actually to make a living out of what we do, to support our families, to pay our debts and hopefully fulfill some dreams.

To be able to be successful with whatever you want to achieve in the end we also need to be prepared with whatever 2020 will hold. Not only to prepare ourselves but also to make sure that we can use every opportunity that comes our way so that we indeed, fulfill each of our own personal dreams.

First, let’s look at the state of the forestry industry today. To do this we need to look at the demand for wood first.

Wood as we know is used for so many things, one of them being housing.  Keep in mind that the housing industry will not find another resource to replace the wood needed to build houses. The industry will slow down, maybe, but the demand will be there for years to come.

The housing industry will not stop, it may slow down due to the lack of wood supply from the North of Canada but that wood supply will now start to come from other areas across Canada, the USA, Europe etc.

So how what does this mean for us?

It means growth in a similar proportion as to how it slowed down in the North of Canada in areas that were neglected before. If you are a logger elsewhere other than the North of Canada, know that wherever you are the industry will now grow in your area.

For those who are caught up in the areas of the slowdown: – there will still be some forestry operations albeit less.
You either need to reassess if you need to move or do something new. It is a sad truth but we all knew that this was going to happen to some degree at some stage in our careers.

Now the reality – things will grow but we need to understand something – as an industry we need to do things differently.

We now know and we had this experience before, things can change very quickly. This fact is one catalyst for the stress that many go through as we are all aware that we will have hanging debts that needs to be paid.

It is time to do a better job at what you do. For a long time, some companies only looked after the Canadian industry because for the most part that is where your income came from.
Other parts were, not necessarily ignored, but put on a lower priority list. Today you are dependent on these sectors to keep you going and to hopefully grow your business once again.
Learn that we are all important, every single customer and dealer that you have ever sold a machine to.
Support all sectors, not just where your immediate income comes from. Start to trust your dealers when they ask for help or make suggestions.
Learn that 90% of your designs comes from dealers who deal with your customers daily.

A few sides to this. You are in a big way dependent on the support that you receive from manufacturers. This is to some degree not completely in your control. What are in your control are the staff you have and the customers that you have. 

Ensure that all your staff are well trained, that they work in teams and they leave their ego’s at the door. Every single person in your dealership should focus on one thing – teamwork that result in excellent customer service.

Your dealerships growth depends on this in such a big way that you can no longer ignore it and it should be a priority for any business to get staff to start working together to deliver this service. The next thing to think about: Stop holding on to promises from your suppliers that solutions and backup are coming but while you wait for this to happen your customers and your good name suffers.

When we do our dealership training sessions there is one answer that comes back every single time from one question: What do your customers want?

The answer – service.

This service can come in machine setup, spare parts and backup service after a sale. The brand of product is always named second.
Yes some of your clients will hold fast to using only specific brands of products but they will soon change when they see other brands being more reliable due to your service.
When you look at the rise of new products in the forestry sector and how and why they made such an impressive entry you will find that every single time there is one definitive reason as to why they were able to outsell more well known brands – SERVICE.

Use some finances that you have reserved for advertising and spend this on training your teams to work as an integrated team, to deliver the service your clients deserve.

This way you are creating the best advertising that exist – word of mouth.

Focus on growth, how to develop your teams, how to provide a better service and you will win.

Quadco saw teeth have become the industry standard around the world, even more so with their two-piece system and shank less models. Available with sharp or chipped x-point tips with G1 or 11C carbide grades.

G1 Carbide grade are used in highly abrasive applications and 11C Carbide grade are used in areas where the soil is contaminated with gravel. Quadco carbide teeth use the patented overlapping design to prevent blow by and erosion of the teeth and disc.

Their steel teeth are heat treated to the highest Rockwell rating on the market without compromising impact resistance.

Their patented, segmented discs protect the disc with replaceable tooth holders making them ideal for high impact applications.

Quadco’s standard factory tips are all one piece.
In addition, they have designed a holder that has replaceable teeth and, in some instances, rotatable / reversible teeth for reduced cost and longer life.

As a true visionary and pioneer in the forestry industry, Quadco embrace quality craftsmanship, business relationships, and loggers needs.

Incorporated in 1989, Quadco are recognized worldwide for revolutionizing the forestry industry through development of the Quad Tooth® System as well as other valuable products used by loggers every day.

Success – that is what you want.

Strange angle to take when you look at the title of this segment. You don’t have to attend every fight that you get invited to.

When we grow up we tend to land ourselves amongst other human beings. Funny thing that, this is how life works.
What happens is we tend to start talking about our goals and dreams and at the same time we listen to what others have to say about their opinions about life, success etc.
You try to fit in, try to make sure that everyone likes you. So others start to say things about you, not always bad but not necessarily complimentary, only because they themselves feel they need to show who is the best, like the alpha male of the pack.

You do not have to attend every fight you get invited to.

Keep your eyes on YOUR prize, your goals, what YOU want to achieve.

Don’t the diminish what you can achieve through the distractions of others. Become a person who knows the direction he initially set for himself and stay on that track. If you live by this rule

– you do not attend –
– every fight you –
– get invited to –

success surely will find you.

Pick a name in the forestry industry today and my bet is you are amazed by their size, their strength and how big their market share is.

We get swept up in their shear size and we are proud to use their equipment, brag that we are a “part” of them and we almost form an alliance with them to grow their market share against others in the market.

That is the power of true BRANDING.

But building a BRAND in forestry is different from building a brand in any other business. Building a brand in forestry is built on service, reputation and giving your clients what they need and want.

When you look at brands that failed, are failing and who are losing their grip on the market it is all because of a lack of service and a lack of good staff that will go that extra mile to keep loggers running in the forest.

If you are able to grow through this medium, word of mouth, loggers telling each to use your service or products because of the service you give, it is then that giants are born.

One such giant has been growing since 1968… Randalls Equipment in Australia. Randalls Equipment has been delivering the same, exceptional service since the day that it has been found and it has not stopped.

And so, Randalls, who are one of the biggest forestry suppliers in the Australia is now also found in New Zealand.

Following the introduction of the first new Ponsse forestry machine sold in New Zealand, sales and service agents for both the North and South Islands have now been confirmed by Australasian distributor, Randalls Equipment. 

2 Tyre Tracks and Hire in Invercargill, run by Brett McIntyre, were appointed to cover the South of New Zealand and Hamilton-based Donaldson Mechanical, run by Jason Donaldson, will promote and support Ponsse and Randalls products in the North of New Zealand.

With the two new sales and service agents up and running, Mr Frankel says customers in New Zealand are in good hands.
He says: “Brett and his team have done a fantastic job helping us to get Ponsse established in this market and we’re very pleased to have Donaldson Mechanical joining the team.”

“Jason and Jo have a wealth of knowledge and experience in the forestry industry and they know what they are doing. They have a team of mechanics with the ability to work closely with us in New Zealand to ensure we get off to a good start when we do begin selling in the North.”

This bar combines the professional quality of their traditional Cannon SuperBar with the weight reduction that the industry has been demanding.
The new Cannon DuraLite SuperBar is made from a virtually completed SuperBar.
After the bar has been grooved and the rails have been flame hardened, Cannon eliminates weight by milling out pockets on either side of the SuperBar, leaving a steel core in the center for strength. The center section is then perforated with holes.
This method of construction is based on the same principal that one would see in an I-beam.

Kaitlin Scown, Vancouver Island, BC, pictured above.

“The Cannon Bar is doing great so far. I bucked a super loaded log the other day and it ripped my saw out of my hands, broke my chain tensioner and pinched my bar hard against the side of another log. The bar was fine.” – Kaitlin Scown, Vancouver Island, BC, pictured above.

 As hand fallers we work in a demanding environment, abundant with hazards. Our gear needs to be in top shape to give us piece of mind so we can perform physically and more importantly mentally. 

Over the last 60 falling days I have cut in burnt timber, small wood, big wood and the Cannon DuraLiteSuperBar performed way past my expectations, the best light-weight bar I have ran.