PONSSE News 1/2011 ENG In English

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THe foresT worldhaNNu'S lONG PilEJämsänkoski resident Hannu Jokiperä has forwarded timber forthe better part of 36 years. When combined with the fact thathis employer has stayed the same as well throughout the years,that spells the correct career choice and satisfaction toward theemployer, Metsäkonepalvelu.Hannu's career choice was strongly influencedby his forest-institute educated olderbrother. He was the one responsible forluring the man working in three shifts at aParkano plant to the forest. The forwarderhas been Hannu's workplace from the verybeginning. When harvesters first enteredthe forest scenery, Hannu decided never toget involved with these machines sufferingfrom continuous failures."I do remember the first harvester operatorsbeing under quite a bit of pressure. Iwatched the cycle of repairs and trials anderrors from the sidelines and decided tostick to the forwarders," says Hannu Jokiperä,adding that modern harvesters are in aleague of their own with regard to functionalityand reliability.Hannu is happy with the fact that thecompany has forwarders driving in one shiftonly. A designated machine stays in mintcondition when always operated by the sameperson. Hannu is able to pile a nice amountof timber during the roughly ten-hour workday,since downtime has remained at a minimum.According to Hannu, he has operatedhis current Elk for 10,000 hours without anysort of overhaul whatsoever, including tirework.The machine's durability and accomplishmenthave a lot to gain from composedprofessional skills. Every now and then,Hannu has come across a young and enthusiasticoperator under whose operation evena forwarder seems to fly. Apparently the guysare looking to break records of some sort.But a work pace that is too fast is easily wastedin additional remedial manoeuvres andservice. The daily goals that Hannu Jokiperäsets for himself do not comprise a certainamount of cubic metres or hours. Rather,his goal is to keep his machine intact and inconstant motion."Once you manage to strip your performanceto the bare minimum, your resultswill speak for themselves. Or maybe I'mjust lazy enough not to be bothered with toomuch manoeuvring, felling, dipping – notto mention service overhauls," says HannuJokiperä.Solitude is the only downside Hannu canthink of in relation to a machine operator'swork. The programming offered by radiostations has become quite familiar throughoutthe years. Indeed, Hannu has at timestoyed with the idea of becoming a critic, becauseit could be done quite easily with thehelp of a handsfree phone while toiling away.When asked for advice for younger operators,Hannu says that having some patienceis valuable, even if the work does notseem that rewarding in the beginning. Thatis because the forest machine industry doesnot reveal itself at a glance. Even if one possessedgood professional skills, the mentalside requires its own period of growth. Ittook Hannu many years to decide whetherto continue or move on to other work beforethe forest industry took root. Conclusionsthat are drawn hastily seldom lead to afavourable outcome.When considering the more than80,000 hours Hannu has put in during his36 years of forwarding, it is easy to agreewith his opinion. He has put together quitea pile of wood as well. The average volume ofcubic metres stacked at the side of the roadamounts to roughly 200. When factoring inthat his annual working days average 250,one comes up with 1.8 million cubic metresof forwarded timber.34Ponsse News 1 • 2011
THe foresT worldwhen it comes to harvesting, the menof Karttulan metsätyö have vision andexperience.from the left: Esa Jauhiainen, hannuliikanen and ari moilanen.karTTulaN mETSäTyö Oy:GETTiNG ON TOGEThErKarttulan Metsätyö Oy, founded 20 years ago, hasestablished its position among harvesting operationscarried out in the vicinity of Kuopio. The company, whichperforms harvesting for Metsäliitto and Harvestia, alsoemploys other contractors in the region.The company is owned by Ari Moilanen,his mother Anna-Liisa Moilanen, HannuLiikanen and Esa Jauhiainen. The company'sfounder Ari Moilanen calculatesthat, in addition to seven harvesters andfour forwarders, the work employs six parttimecontractors, whose combined harvestinglast year amounted to approximately200,000 cubic metres. The fluctuation inharvesting quantities is substantial, sincethe company has accomplished twice thatin the best years.STaNdS chaNGECubic metres accumulate rapidly whenworking final-felling stands. Correspondingly,trunks are handled in large quantitiesduring thinning, while the cubic volumesremain low. The size of stands hasalso diminished noticeably during the pastfew years. Prior to the end of area taxation,the average size of a stand easily stood ataround 500 cubic metres. The average sitelast year was maybe half that size. Ari, Esaand Hannu recall that slightly before thechange in taxation policy, the largest standwas somewhere in the ballpark of 10,000cubic metres. Last year's record was a1,200 cubic-metre site.The decrease in stand-size is a sourceof concern for the men, since it inevitablyleads to more difficult harvesting. Valuableforest machines increasingly often standon platforms, on their way from one siteto the next. The reasons for this unfavourabledevelopment are many, but the breakdownof forest tracts during estate distributionsis one of them. One way to increasestand-size would be jointly-owned forests.The experience of Finnish jointly-ownedforests has been overwhelmingly positivefor all parties involved.harVESTiNGThe partners of Karttulan Metsätyö emphasisethe fact that they focus on harvestingin particular. Machines with maintenancecontracts do not pose service ormaintenance concerns for the entrepreneurs.The arrangement allows both maintenancecontractors and harvesting professionalsto concentrate on what they knowbest. Due to good cooperation, the com-pany's base at the southern edges of Kuopio isrelatively modest.The company also has experience of workingoverseas, and spent three months clearingup storm sites in Sweden in 2007. There is continueddemand on the other side of the Gulf ofBothnia, but operating in two countries has itsdifficulties. That is why the company intends tostay within a 100 km radius of Kuopio.According to the entrepreneurs, the Finnishforest sector has developed in the right direction.From twigs and stubs to the sturdiest logs,the entire forest produce has always had takers.The large-scale exploitation of the forest, carriedout in a sustainable way, is a fact that pleases theEinari Award winning entrepreneurs.The harvesting of energy wood from thinningstands has also increased strongly. The biomassand chip-run power plant set to becomeoperational in Kuopio during the current yearwill multiply the quantity of wood chips duringharvest. The harvesting of energy wood is a challengingundertaking, which needs continuousdevelopment. Ponsse's Dual has proven to bean efficient machine, as suitable for felling as itis for forwarding.aTTiTudE cOuNTSAri, Hannu and Esa have not had a shortageof operators for a while. The area's institutionstrain new operators, who tend to develop intofully blown professionals relatively quickly. Accordingto the entrepreneurs, attitude is decisivein terms of the development of a new operator.An appropriately enthusiastic operator quicklydevelops the skill set demanded by modern machines.However, the institutions should increasethe supply of practical cutting and driving opportunitiesgiven to students. Relying on traineeopenings supplied by the region's entrepreneursalone is not a sustainable solution. The instructors'practical skills could also do with somepartial honing, since the machines advance ata rapid pace. Simulator-based training is sure toprove useful, but the downside of it is not havingto explain one's mistakes to anyone. Mistakesmade in an authentic stand are visible fora long period of time and forest owners do givefeedback on them.Managing a forest machine company thesedays requires genuinely multiple skills. Managementskills have become a particularly desirableasset, because a forest machine contractorneeds to be able to calculate what is worth doingand what is not. The three-man cooperation ofKarttulan Metsätyö provides the company withthe vision, experience and synergy it needs todevelop.Ponsse News 1 • 2011 35
Page 1 and 2: PONSSE NEWSThe spearhead of product
Page 4 and 5: Hardware, sofTware and serviceEiGhT
Page 6 and 7: Hardware, sofTware and servicePonss
Page 8 and 9: Hardware, sofTware and servicePONSS
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Page 14 and 15: Hardware, sofTware and serviceharve
Page 18 and 19: Hardware, sofTware and servicedO yO
Page 20 and 21: aGiliTy aNd POWEriN ThiNNiNGThe new
Page 22 and 23: Ponsse on logging sites for 40 year
Page 30 and 31: THe foresT worldThE EiNari VidGréN
Page 32 and 33: THe foresT worldONWard iN GOOd SPir
Page 36 and 37: THe foresT worldaaTTo silvenToinen:
Page 38 and 39: logging HeroesThE liTmuS TEST Of ma
Page 40 and 41: logging Heroes"Despite the power of
Page 42 and 43: logging HeroesVeljekset knuutinen o
Page 44 and 45: logging HeroesGENEraTiONS chaNGE -P
Page 46 and 47: logging HeroesEarl St. JOhN - ThE r
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