52 | FORESTRY Nigel Bryant Logging Enviable reputation hard earned T T Richard Loader Established in 1978, Richmond based Nigel Bryant Logging now has 116 staff on the payroll, with about 70 employed as machine operators spread throughout the Nelson-Marlborough region. Three days before he was due to sit school certificate Nigel (Nig) Bryant left school, much to his mother’s displeasure, and embarked on a journey in forestry that led to the establishment of Richmond based Nigel Bryant Logging in 1978. A few decades down the track, armed with a forestry degree from Lincoln University, Kim Bryant joined his dad in the business and father and son have been a team ever since. These days Kim carries the mantle of General Manager, while Nig is the Managing Director and keeps his hand in the workshop and fields calls from the logging crews. Operating throughout the top of the South Island for a mix of corporate forestry companies and private woodlot owners, Bryant Logging has forged an enviable reputation for reliability, service and generally getting the job done very well. Kim says while most logging companies are family owned and operated, it is never the less an important ingredient in both customer and staff relations. “We always try to do a good job for our clients and have a good reputation. Being adaptable and flexible, having good customer relations and being able to work with multiple forest managers has been key for us.” Safety is a key focus for the company and Bryant Logging has an impressive record with no long terms injuries or deaths in the many decades of operation. With 116 staff on the payroll, about 70 are employed as machine operators spread throughout the Nelson-Marlborough region. Kim says every forest is different in terms of its size, the size and type of trees, and lay of the land. If it’s a large volume job a machine can be used to automatically prepare the wood and cut it to length on site. “We have around twelve crews operating at anyone time, with four to six crews involved in corporate forestry, mainly working for Tasman Pine and OneFortyOne. The rest operate in private woodlots. We have ground-based crews, swing yarder crews and tower crews. We’re mainly a fully mechanised operation, but there are a few occasions when the terrain requires manual falling with chainsaws. If you haven’t got lift then you can’t utilise grapples on the haulers, and have to use chains to hook onto the logs. Our annual harvest varies each year but on average it would be between 650,000 and 700,000 tonnes.” Bryant Logging markets about 30% of its annual harvest, mainly from private woodlots, injecting wood into both the domestic and export markets. “The domestic market is very buoyant right now, with all the new house developments that are happening. There are some challenging times in the immediate future with the export outlook and the uncertainty with China and how that will play out. China is the main export destination and exports are quite volatile at the moment. Just like New Zealand, the cost of housing in China has continued to escalate. There has been a lot of speculation investment using cheap money and Government incentives to get the economy going over the last ten years. China is now trying to rein that in, making it harder for development, and that is having an impact on exports of timber into China.” Looking into his crystal ball, Kim is optimistic about the future of forestry in New Zealand and says he expects New Zealand is always going to be needed for supplying the world with quality timber. “There are also new opportunities with the drive for zero carbon and the reduction in coal usage. With biomass, or hog fuel, there could be opportunities to grow trees specifically to burn in furnaces and replace coal. There is also a drive to replace steel with wood as the preferred construction material for high-rise buildings.” FORESTRY HARVESTER MACHINES • Harvester Chain Sharpening & Repairs • Harvester Bar Straighten & Repairs PEAK PERFORMANCEWORK SAWS • Porting New Pro Saws 70-100cc Scott McPherson 027 429 0049 | scottymacltd@gmail.com Broken window repair • Windscreen replacements & Stonechip repairs Forestry cab guarding with polycarbonates • Heavy machinery glass repairs Shower doors • Balustrades • Pet doors 03 542 4412 / 027 229 9022 contact@glassworxnelson.co.nz www.glassworxnelson.co.nz
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