The Right Tool for the Right Job
Russell Jensen began his logging career more than 35 years ago in the planting, thinning, and pruning side of the business after several years with the Woodsman’s Training School at Kaingaroa Forest in New Zealand’s North Island. Jensen has since built Jensen Logging Ltd., a full-scale forestry operation with 40 employees.
Planting and pruning led to pre-plant preparation including clearing and crushing. Currently, Jensen Logging does about 50 percent production thinning and 50 percent clear fell of eucalyptus. Their wood is used by local sawmills for both exporting and pulp.
According to Jensen, the state of the logging industry in New Zealand has slowed down and he expects that to continue for several months to come. However, New Zealand has been at full capacity for the last two years, so he counts his blessings.
While the logging industry has, at times, been difficult, Waratah heads have made Jensen’s job easier. “My first harvesting head was a competitive head which was not successful as our timber is too rough,” said Jensen. “We changed to Waratah because it was made for New Zealand wood and we haven’t looked back since.” Jensen uses the HTH624C and HTH625C heads for clear felling and the HTH618C and HTH622B heads for thinning. “Waratah has been brilliant for my business as they backup their product and that has been great for us,” explained Jensen. “These are the only heads we use, so that is all we know.”
Jensen also explained that Waratah heads are great for use on a variety of carriers; he currently uses both Caterpillar and Valmet purpose-built machines.
With a business spanning more than 35 years, Jensen still has great things to say about his career in logging, “Working with people and production thinning are some of my favorite aspects of the logging business You can look back on what has been done and say, ‘that’s a great job!’” And he gives a little advice to Waratah as well, “Continue to look after your customers.” He said. And that is only part of what Waratah does best.
