This years Interforst was well worth visiting with a great range of equipment, accessories, and tools on display
Interforst 2026-This year’s Interforst was smaller than previous events I have attended, but the showground still had a strong buzz. Because of a busy work schedule, my colleague Harold Taylor and I could only make it to Interforst on Friday and Saturday this year. All in all, the two days were probably enough to see most of what was on display, but to join the discussions and presentations, you would probably have needed all four days.
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The WeighPro Wireless Weighing Link represents a precise and dependable weighing system designed specifically for round timber, eliminating the need for re-calibration. This system offers operators minimal maintenance requirements, boasting an impressive battery life of up to two years between recharges.
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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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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.
FIND US ON
Interforst is held in Munich, with excellent transport links and a short walk from the underground station. We were staying in the city centre, and fortunately it was a direct journey from the central railway station, with the final stop at the exhibition centre. Even after sampling many fine German beers the night before, we still found our way quite easily.
The organisers did a first-class job: the electronic prepaid barriers eliminated queues at the entry points, and we were in the showground within minutes of arriving.
The event had been moved from its usual July dates because the weather was over 30°C and too hot to walk about in direct sunlight. On Friday, although it was mid-October, the weather was glorious and sunny, well into the 20s, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was too hot again. The next one could be in January, four years from now 😊.
It is always exciting to enter forestry exhibitions and feel the buzz from visitors, with the sounds of chippers chomping through massive logs and chainsaw hot saws filling the air.
One of the first stalls to catch our eye was the Italian-made MTS Mountain Spider. This remote-controlled, self-levelling 8WD timber carrier is a sight to behold. It is best described as something you’d expect to see from NASA for lunar exploration. Daniel Tonel, MTS CEO, was on hand to explain more and give us a demonstration. It was an incredible feat of engineering with many forestry applications. It was interesting to meet the people who can turn innovative ideas into reality, and their Italian coffee was delicious. I will have a follow-up feature on this coming up quite soon.
With Interforst exhibitors’ display avenues running north to south and east to west, it took real effort not to get sidetracked, so we covered the site methodically and didn’t miss anything. Many demonstrations took place within the displays, keeping people entertained.
Palfinger had two large display areas: one for a roadshow and another where the public could try its latest forestry cranes and technology. Lots of simulators were spread across the ground, and it was great to see so many schoolchildren attending and getting hands-on with the equipment.
Walers Forsttechnik represented Ponsse very well, with a huge display and regular demonstrations of the Scorpion harvester and fire-fighting trailer technology. However, they were the only one of the big three attending. John Deere Forestry and Komatsu Forest were both missing, but fortunately there were many smaller harvesting and steep-ground manufacturing companies, such as Welte, HSM, Konrad Forsttechnik, Koller, WF Trac, and Rottne, to name but a few, who had some really interesting equipment for these two Scottish visitors to drool over.
After speaking with many German forestry professionals around the exhibition, I soon realised that many in the timber-harvesting business are in as bad a situation as, if not worse than, those in the UK. Many contractors have had their equipment repossessed because of cash flow problems, and some forestry experts predict that 80% of contractors could leave the industry or face bankruptcy if circumstances don’t improve soon.
I find this so sad, as most people I know who work in forestry are honest and hardworking, and they sacrifice so much so their families are well cared for. As we passed the Logset display, I stopped suddenly. The lovely aroma of German sausages was overpowering, so we made a U-turn to see if we could blag a couple of free hot dogs. They were delicious, and after a good look around their 4F thinning forwarder, we continued our quest. Harold spotted an old friend at the Log Max display, where they offered us beer. After a quick discussion, we decided it would be incredibly rude to refuse, so we ended up having a great chat with the team over an ice-cold German beer. Log Max is fortunate to have a wide range of heads compatible with most harvesters. They are experiencing a bit of a slowdown in Europe and in the Baltics, but have good, solid sales growth in South America.
I didn’t meet many people from the UK at Interforst, but we did spot Martin Neve of Even Forestry, who was visiting with some colleagues, and we managed a nice but brief catch-up, as it was their last day and our first.
Alstor had their new 851 model with twin wheels all round for soft conditions. I was a bit sceptical about this setup, as it would put immense strain on the transmission, bogies, bearings, and wheel studs. Personally, I think you are inviting trouble.
Our next stop was at Welte. They are a first-class manufacturer and offer a comprehensive range of 4-, 6-, and 8WD skidders and forwarders. They work with the University of Freiburg and its engineering students to reduce the impact of their machines on the forest floor. Rottne also had an interesting display. Their machines are very popular in Germany, and Harold and I thoroughly inspected the H21 harvester; we were both impressed by how well-made it was. They definitely involved operators in the design phase, and the number of storage areas for tools, spare hoses, and bits and pieces is brilliant. The cabin is an operator’s dream, with so much thought having gone into storage and comfort.
Clark Tracks generated quite a buzz with their demonstration of adjustable Terra X tracks with haggis links. Visitors could appreciate the benefits of shorter adjustment distances and how quickly the tracks could be tensioned.
Some of the paintwork on their lorries had to be seen to be believed, and it is exciting to see the configuration for full tree-length haulage from the forest to the mill.
It was very busy, but I soon noticed that Doll, Neuson Forest, Konigstiger, Atlas Kern, Indexator, Pfanzelt and many other manufacturers were also missing. I believe exhibitors’ prices had increased significantly, and, coupled with the market slowdown, that put many companies off attending. The cost and logistics of a big display are horrendous when you add staffing, haulage and hospitality on top of everything else.
This didn’t detract from the show, as 400 companies from 28 countries showcased products and solutions in forestry and forestry technology. The theme of INTERFORST 2026 was “Shape the forest together. Utilise diversity. Secure the future.” Over four days at the Messe München exhibition grounds, about 42,000 visitors experienced numerous innovations and trends related to the key themes of A Healthy Forest of the Future, People in Focus, Forestry Technology on New Paths, and Digitalisation of Forestry & Wood.
Tractor cable winch extraction is still popular in Germany, as the exhibition had an unreal number of three-point linkage winch displays. Many private forest owners are also farmers, so tractor quick-release attachments are a perfect solution, letting a tractor multitask for both farming and forestry.
One thing that surprised me was a plaque at the forest safety area entrance that reads “In memory of the 119 people lost in motor manual timber harvesting since the last Interforst in 2022”. For a country which places strong emphasis on safety and properly trained, skilled operatives, this shows that forestry remains a high-risk occupation.
We were both getting a bit weary, and it was nearing closing time, so we decided to head for the underground back to our hotel. We met up with Tero Nurmi from the Finnish Forestry Magazine Metsatrans on the train and were having such a good catch-up that we almost missed our stop. After a quick freshen-up, we enjoyed a few more German beers and some delicious food before heading to bed.
We decided to head in a little later on Saturday, as we thought it would be more of a family day. Although it was quieter, the showground still had a good vibe. Now that we knew where everything was, we could pick and choose who we visited. Alloys Van Osch had a nice display of his Vosch grapple saws and ground care equipment. These are sturdy, robust pieces of equipment, which, if anything, are over-engineered, and I mean that as a compliment. Harold and I were chatting to Alloys when we were politely interrupted. It turned out he was a forestry engineer from Australia and had followed me on my social media pages for over 15 years.
Unfortunately, the weather had changed, and there were spells of light rain throughout the Saturday.
We decided to have lunch in the huge marquee at the far end of the showground, and this was a sight to behold. Row after row of bench seats and tables stretched out, and you could probably seat over 1,000 people, with a stage at the far end for live music. The atmosphere was fantastic, with happy German oompah sing-along music playing. The food counter offered an excellent choice of salads, sausages, chicken, chips, and pork, along with ice-cold beer and soft drinks. It was so well organised: you chose what you wanted, paid for it, and got individual tickets to hand in at the respective counters- again, almost instant service with very little queuing.
Another company worth spending time with is Konrad Forsttechnik from Austria, they are one of the most innovative manufacturers in forestry. Their Woody heads are still as popular as ever and they offer a huge range of their own skylining equipment, the Highlander combi machine along with specialised extraction and harvesting solutions. Many other skyline manufacturers and specialised equipment, like the Menzi Muck, also see the advantages of the Woody harvesting head, as seen on several displays throughout the exhibition.
Some great accessories included chainsaw winches, mechanical tree-felling wedges from Bast-Ing, bolt-on climbing bands for excavators, guide bars, chainsaw chains, and Markusson chain sharpeners from Iggesund. Every corner and avenue was full of interesting, exciting products; the hard part was not getting sidetracked and walking farther than you needed to.
The inside halls were equally interesting; the HSM Project Outreach Harvester with 20m reach took centre stage, and booths showed heli-logging operations, specialised winches, hand tools, and other must-have specialised equipment.
By then, Harold and I were both worn out, so we headed back to the hotel. We hit Munich city centre for a steak dinner, then went back to our hotel for a few drinks. Unfortunately, our two bar staff members had fallen out, and the queue for drinks stretched for a mile as they argued instead of serving customers. We got our first drink after about an hour’s wait, had one more with a lesser wait and decided it was time for bed.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable trip; the showground had a brilliant buzz, and the exhibitors were very friendly and hospitable. The event itself was well organised, with plenty to see, excellent facilities throughout, and it wasn’t overpriced.
A big thank you goes to the Interforst people behind the scenes for hosting a great, well-organised event.
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