New Zealand forest contractor Scott Bradley needed a machine change for his one-man forwarding business, so he opted for a Cat® 584HD.
The 20-ton forwarder has now clocked up almost 6,500 hours and, according to Bradley, he’s pretty impressed. He says the machine is bigger, more comfortable, has heaps of lifting power and is great on fuel.
For a contractor who started in the forestry industry almost two decades ago and has seen many changes in machines, that’s quite a testimonial.
“I was on a forwarder working for DT King,” Bradley said, “when I saw these guys carting this blue gum out and I thought, I can do that, and I can do it better than them.”
Scott made the decision to “go it alone” about eight years ago and started Brad Forwarding, based in the southern tip of New Zealand’s south island. “It was just me and my Forwarder,” he said.
Unfortunately, his first Forwarder (not a Cat) didn’t work out well. “I had to look at something else. I stuck all the paperwork on the table, all the specs and went through them and thought I’d give the Cat a go, so, I got the 584HD – it’s a heavy duty machine.” He made his purchase through Gough Cat, regarded as one of the longest serving Cat dealers outside North America.
To read the full story from the November 2013 issue of Australian Forest & Timber, visit http://www.timberbiz.com.au/aft/.
