That’s the APF 2024 done and dusted until 2026
I missed the opening day of the APF 2024 but visited on the Friday and Saturday.
Traffic management on both days I attended was good, I was there for around 8.20am each day and drove straight in with no holdups whatsoever.
It was a vastly different show this year, most of the large harvesting equipment manufacturers were absent, although John Deere had a good presence without having their own display. A JD G series forwarder was being used for the forwarder competition held by Richard Court Forestry and Coombs Forestry, Euroforest and AW Jenkinson’s combined display had the 2510H forwarder and 1270H Harvester, Tillhill had the Dick Brothers Harvesting’s new 1270G harvester and GB Lubricants had an 1170G harvester along with their oils and greases
It was a clever move to have a good show presence without being there.
Komatsu Forest had a harvester and forwarder along with a tracked Komatsu excavator and Bracke tree planting bucket attachment. Pewag Forestry UK Ltd with Managing Director Stewart Kelley was part of the display with a selection of track profiles and was available to advise customers on their best options for the ground conditions they are working.
That was it as far as the major manufacturers go, FMS had an excavator conversion harvester which was modified in their workshop with an AFM harvesting head.
Tree shears, chippers, firewood processing, ground preparation equipment, mobile sawmills and minimal impact harvesting machinery were the mainstay of this event and there was a wide selection of equipment from a wide variety of manufacturers.
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That’s a remarkable amount of work hours for a single machine, the Norcar 600 owned by Erkki Rinne is taken well care of, it even has the original Diesel engine.
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Kieran Anders is a forestry contractor working in the lake district. His work involves hand cutting and extracting timber using a skidder and tractor-trailer forwarder.
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It is not possible to eliminate chain shot, but there are simple steps that can be taken to reduce the risk.
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Arwel takes great pride in the fact that the mill has no waste whatsoever, “the peelings are used for children’s playgrounds, gardens and for farm animals in barns in the winter and the sawdust has multiple uses in gardens and farms as well.
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Timber hauliers need to encourage young blood in, and also look after the hauliers we have, we need make the sector a safe and positive place to work.
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There was quite a buzz around the place on the Friday and many stallholders were reporting that there were numerous professionals attending who were genuinely interested in the products being displayed.
Fuelwood had an incredible amount of forestry, firewood and biomass equipment displayed over a massive area and one of their many UK distributers, Treeline from Scotland, were showing their minimal impact Malwa 560F thinning forwarder with a bogie trailer.
One of the star features on the Marshall Logging display was the Surrey Forestry M545 Menzi Muck with a Westtech telescopic dipper boom and Woodcracker.
It was an enjoyable two days and good to catch up with people face to face rather than by phone or email.
It is a pity that there is few timber harvesting contractors and operators from the northern part of the country attending this event anymore, there was very few faces that I recognised amongst the visitors as I was walking around.
Overall, it was well worth the trip, but the absence of larger harvesting equipment influenced the type of visitors attending, I did not recognise that many people out with exhibitors when walking around the show.
There was quite a buzz around the APF 2024 on the Friday and many stallholders were reporting that there were numerous professionals attending who were genuinely interested in the products being displayed.
Fuelwood had an incredible amount of forestry, firewood and biomass equipment displayed over a massive area and one of their many UK distributers, Treeline from Scotland, were showing their minimal impact Malwa 560F thinning forwarder with a bogie trailer.
One of the star features on the Marshall Logging display was the Surrey Forestry M545 Menzi Muck with a Westtech telescopic dipper boom and Woodcracker.
It was an enjoyable two days and good to catch up with people face to face rather than by phone or email.
It is a pity that there is few timber harvesting contractors and operators from the northern part of the country attending this event anymore, there was very few faces that I recognised amongst the visitors as I was walking around.
Overall, it was well worth the trip, but the absence of larger harvesting equipment influenced the type of visitors attending, I did not recognise that many people out with exhibitors when walking around the show.
My Hot picks of the APF 2024 Exhibition
Parker 797TC multi spiral hydraulic hose.
This is a game changer for hydraulics, Peter Brown from Apex Fluid Power explained that this hose has been tested to over two million cycles, the nearest competitor is Gates with one million cycles. The outside diameter and the weight of the hose is 30% less than others, no skiving is required for the fittings and the flexibility of is unbelievable.
John Deere forestry is using this hose when manufacturing new machines.
Novotny H512 Low Impact thinning harvester
There were quite a few minimal impact forwarders around the show, but Novotny were the only manufacturer with a purpose-built wheeled harvester for first and second thinnings.
This is an ideal sized harvester for working in tightly spaced crops, depending on your tyre option it is between 1860mm and 2060 mm wide, has 450mm of ground clearance and weighs just 7800kg. Novotny use tried and tested components, the 4 cylinder 3.4ltr 75hp engine is supplied by Iveco, the crane is made by Mowi with 6.5 and 7.5m reach options, Rexroth hydraulic system and the harvesting head is the Kesla RH16 II with a maximum cut of 45cm, 4 de-limbing knives and a 4m/s feed speed.
This is a compact harvester with a 45° steering angle and front bogie lift to minimise soil compaction on tight turns.
Novotny are looking for a distributer who could represent them in the UK.
Logosol Chainsaw Mill
They had a useful new attachment for their popular chainsaw sawmills so that you can mill the timber using a manual winder at the end of the frame to move the chainsaw along the log. I have always liked the simplicity, manoeuvrability, and affordability of these mills which can process timber in situ.
Toilets.
It was great to see proper toilet and handwashing facilities (but still mobile facilities) around the showground. They were clean and fragrant, a huge improvement on facilities at previous exhibitions 😊
Food and Drink
It was good to have more eating and drinking places spread around the exhibition instead of in just one place. At the last event I found myself starving when I was at the furthest point from the catering caravans
Moan of the Show
The cost of the food and drinks is extortionate. I am never sure whether it is a stall holders mafia getting together to set unrealistic prices or if the blame lies at the hands of the organisers for charging high pitch prices. Six or seven tiny chicken nuggets and chips was £11.00 and a cheeseburger (which I believe was vegetarian as I’m sure the ingredients were woodchips and cardboard) with onions was £9.50.
Forest Machine Magazine is written and edited by a forest professional with over 40 years hands on experience. We are dedicated to keeping you informed with all the latest news, views and reviews from our industry.
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