Farm Forestry New Zealand

Milling, Drying and Marketing

Tree Grower articles

• Steam conditioning for air dried sawn eucalypts (Access: NZFFA membership)
  Bill Studd, August 2021
  It is a shame that many people think of eucalypts as fit only for firewood. In fact, when sawn and dried carefully, eucalypt timber provides good structural capability and excellent…
• The current value and future potential of the small-scale sawmilling sector (Access: NZFFA membership)
  Paul Millen and Harriet Palmer, November 2020
  New Zealand’s current small-scale sawmilling sector is made up of a diverse mix of businesses and individuals who produce specialty timbers for high-value markets. This includes a small number of…
• Testing the strength of Douglas-fir cross-laminated timber (Access: unrestricted)
  Minghao Li and Harriet Palmer, November 2018
  Douglas fir is New Zealand’s second most popular plantation species with a total current planted area of around 104,000 hectares. Renowned as a structural timber, Douglas fir has been generally overlooked…
• Milling blackwood in the Marlborough Sounds (Access: unrestricted)
  Paul Millen, February 2017
  My brother and I recently milled eight blackwood trees extracted from our Marlborough Sounds property. The sawmiller was Martin Douglass from Motuere, using a Woodmizer mobile sawmill. The trees were…
• Pathways to Building Code compliance for farm totara timber (Access: unrestricted)
  Dean Satchell, David Bergin and Paul Quinlan, November 2016
  Building Code compliance is essential for developing timber markets for any tree species. Therefore, understanding the labyrinth of the regulatory framework and knowing how and what to do in order…
• Harvesting a private woodlot (Access: unrestricted)
  Darrin Collett, May 2014
  This article focuses on harvesting and marketing a woodlot at Kaukapakapa, north of Auckland. During my 23 years of experience in forestry I have found that harvesting and marketing private…
• From trees to timber (Access: unrestricted)
  Dean Satchell, February 2014
  Farm Forestry Timbers, the NZFFA’s newest and first nationwide branch, co-hosted the annual action group weekend held in Wanganui in November last year. The theme was quite different from the…
• Shane Jordan portable sawmilling (Access: unrestricted)
  Shane Jordan, August 2013
  I own and operate a small portable sawmilling business east of Stratford. In my spare time I compete in timber sport competitions throughout the world. I am a current world…
• Lucas portable sawmills (Access: unrestricted)
  Ian Schulz, August 2013
  If you are involved in farm forestry and are thinking of buying a sawmill to process your own logs, then you should start by establishing a market. The three main…
• A farm forester’s experience with a Peterson mill (Access: unrestricted)
  Peter van Essen, August 2013
  I bought a Peterson automated swingblade mill in 2002 to use trees from young woodlots which I had planted. I chose this mill because of its portability, easy blade maintenance,…
• Finding the right portable sawmill (Access: unrestricted)
  Marlena Martin and Layla Robinson, August 2013
  Most portable sawmills sold in this country are purchased by farmers. They can see the benefits of cutting their own trees for farm fences, sheds, yards and other projects. As…
• Wood-Mizer for farm foresters (Access: unrestricted)
  John Fairweather, August 2013
  I have a mix of alternative species over 20 years old on my block in north Canterbury. Over 10 years ago I decided to try and add value to the…
• Using a portable sawmilling service (Access: unrestricted)
  John and Ben Bergman, May 2013
  Mahoe Sawmills design and manufacture a range of portable sawmills from the factory in Kerikeri. The first machines were made after a delegation of Russians visited the family farm to…
• Southern portable sawmilling (Access: unrestricted)
  Blair Stewart, May 2013
  I never set out to be a sawmiller. However, after a stint at farming as a teenager, and at the time looking for a change of direction, I was offered…
• Farm forestry timbers - Local timbers for local markets (Access: unrestricted)
  Dean Satchell, August 2011
  When it comes to growing special purpose timber species, in every part of the country I hear the same things − Can we sell our logs? Is there a market…
• Collective blackwood marketing (Access: unrestricted)
  Malcolm Mackenzie, November 2013
  I am keen to respond to the excellent ‘From the Patron’ in the August Tree Grower and hopefully stimulate a wide-ranging discussion among fellow members. I agree with Wink Sutton…
• Blackwood Milling (Access: unrestricted)
  Malcolm Mackenzie, November 2013
  I attempted to be a little more scientific when we did our third small milling of Tasmanian blackwood timber this year. I wanted to calculate the conversion of log volume…
• How does Douglas fir compare with radiata pine in framing timber? (Access: unrestricted)
  Mick Hedley, Dave Page, Jackie van der Waals, August 2009
  Douglas fir, which comprises around six per cent of the New Zealand exotic timber plantation, has been used as untreated framing timber for over 70 years. Historically, there were no…
• A pet project (Access: unrestricted)
  Mike Halliday, May 2009
  It all started with a trip to Kuratau to spend a weekend with a cousin who had a bach there. We fell in love with the place and put an…
• Selling alternative species (Access: unrestricted)
  Allan Levett and Dean Satchell, May 2009
  Interest in farm forestry circles these days is turning increasingly to selling our precious alternative species logs and timber. This is not only because some of the species Dad and…
• Helping farmers sell wood (Access: unrestricted)
  Peter Harington, August 2005
  So what is it about Woodmetrics that aligns us so closely with the farm forestry sector? Established in 2000 as a business unit of Carter Holt Harvey, Woodmetrics offers a…
• Understanding the stability of Douglas fir timber (Access: unrestricted)
  Author not published, August 2007
  Douglas fir has a history within the building industry as strong, stiff and stable timber, ideal for structural applications. Different interpretations of good stability can be given such as low…
• Responding to moisture: How do Douglas fir and radiata compare? (Access: unrestricted)
  Andrew Karalus, August 2007
  Three research projects undertaken for the Douglas fir Cooperative have set out to quantify the differences between Douglas fir and radiata pine in terms of the responses to moisture by…
• Harvesting and marketing some pruned redwood giants (Access: unrestricted)
  Jeff Tombleson, February 2007
  In 1997 Forest Research (now Scion) harvested and marketed 26 giant redwood trees which were felled for various reasons including their close proximity to buildings. The trees had been planted…
• Eucalypts for timber: My experience and my floor (Access: unrestricted)
  Don Tantrum, November 2006
  I began planting eucalypts about 30 years ago. I soon discovered that not all I wished to grow did grow. The Taihape climate soon curbed my enthusiasm. I will not…
• Use of New Zealand grown eucalypts (Access: unrestricted)
  Richard Davies-Colley, November 2006
  The development of industries using eucalypt timber is still in its infancy in New Zealand. We have only small areas of mixed species, limited knowledge of the product and therefore…
• Milling and grading New Zealand grown blackwood (Access: unrestricted)
  Mike Esson, August 2006
  Blackwood is a much sought after timber, especially by cabinet makers because of it rich dark colour and fine finish. Blackwood is a species that brings people to our yard…
• Furniture from blackwood (Access: unrestricted)
  Graeme and Betty Benjamin, August 2006
  Customers visiting the Everwood Furniture showroom in Mount Maunganui love furniture made from blackwood timber according to Graeme Benjamin. Graeme and his wife Betty have owned Everwood Furniture for a…
• Milling cypresses and the marketing challenge (Access: unrestricted)
  Don Tantrum, February 2006
  I have been selecting, propagating, growing and managing cypresses for over 25 years including everything from controlled pollination to milling. We now have over 25 hectares planted from well over…
• Macrocarpa – keeping faith with the old faithful (Access: unrestricted)
  Denis Hocking, February 2006
  In the first part of this issue of Tree Grower we are featuring articles covering some of the varying species and clones of cypress. The main generic name is Cupressus,…
• MARVL pre-harvest inventory system (Access: unrestricted)
  Jim Cooke & Rob Webster, May 2005
  No, MARVL is not shorthand for one of the wonders of the world but something much more prosaic. MARVL is an acronym for ‘method of assessment of recoverable volume by…
• The commercial reality of special purpose timber species (Access: unrestricted)
  Parnell Trost, May 2005
  Securing an adequate return for your stand of eucalypts or macrocarpa can be the most challenging part of the growing cycle. The market for special purpose timbers is relatively small,…
• Log value recovery in a woodlot context (Access: unrestricted)
  Andy Dick, May 2005
  Commercial forest owners and forestry research organisations have over the years attempted to maximise returns by developing tools, processes and disciplines called log value recovery. If you have a good…
• Adding value by milling on site (Access: unrestricted)
  Jonathan Walker, February 2005
  It is a well known fact that when you have a commodity to sell, there is an over-supply and the price falls. Conversely, when you are in the market to…

Blogs

• An eight Bullet Point summary of why the "Jones formula" to make NZ sawmilling great again is doomed to failure: Dennis Neilson's blog, June 03, 2020
  Some reasons why Minister Jones’ attempt to re-direct some or all of the ~20 million cubic metres per year of export logs to domestic sawmills to process more sawn timber…
• Building System Legislative Reform Programme, public consultation: Dean Satchell's blog, April 23, 2019
  The Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment (MBIE) administer the building code and are proposing major changes to NZ's building laws to: increase the quality of information about building products;…
• Is an IKEA store to our advantage?: Wink Sutton's Blog, February 23, 2019
  IKEA is possibly to begin trading in New Zealand. Should New Zealand forest owners be pleased? Already New Zealand has large retailers including The Warehouse, Harvey Norman, K Mart, Mitre10…
• Wood is as important as food: Wink Sutton's Blog, August 30, 2018
  For over 60 years I have had to defend a common criticism of forestry that ‘forests including plantations are occupying land which should be used for food production’. It is…
• The local market for Lusitanica and Macrocarpa timber: Murray Grant's Blog, May 13, 2018
  For the last 25 years I have been developing the local market for Lusitanica and Macrocarpa timber. Our sawmill sources trees from predominantly plantations. Coming from Dairying then owning a…
• Durability performance and structural timber: Dean Satchell's blog, November 15, 2017
  Hazard class H1.2 is an indoor decay hazard, introduced in 2003 as a regulatory reaction to the leaky building syndrome. This standard applies to timber used for structural applications protected…
• An export log market for "alternative" species?: Dean Satchell's blog, November 11, 2017
  I had a call a few days back from a guy in Australia looking to source eucalypt logs. On further enquiry, he told me that he represented a big manufacturer…
• Determinations, specialty timbers and the building code: Dean Satchell's blog, July 10, 2017
  What do you know about "Determinations"? Well... Determinations are best described as judgements made by MBIE where disputes arise between the Building Consent Authority (BCA) and those undertaking building work. BCA's must…
• Is there an environmentally acceptable alternative to wood?: February 2016, February 27, 2016
  In the 1990s I was on a two-year secondment to the Canadian Forest Service from Fletcher Challenge Forests. On a mid-term return to New Zealand I had a meeting with…
• Modern eucalyptus sawmilling technology in Tasmania: Dean Satchell's blog, December 31, 2015
  Whilst in Tasmania during December 2015 I had the fortuitous opportunity to visit Newood sawmill near Huonville at the invitation of mill manager Josh Turnbill. This mill was set up…
• Not all doom and gloom for alternative species: John Fairweather's blog, December 23, 2015
  The last issues of the North Canterbury branch newsletter covered some interesting issues associated with growing and harvesting alternative species. Two points stuck out to me. One was that there…
• Sawing fence posts from Eucalyptus maculata: Dean Satchell's blog, September 19, 2015
  I planted a small stand of E. maculata (Spotted gum) 21 years ago in Northland, after being really impressed with an old stand of trees that were milled by David…
• Radiata pine wood quality: Denis Hocking's blog, June 20, 2014
  Radiata pine may be an easy and productive timber species for us to grow, but it has long been recognised that the timber does have a number of quality problems.…

Headlines

Reports

Other sources of information

• On-Site Processing For Farm Forestry
  Stewart, M., & Hanson, I. (1998) On-Site Processing For Farm Forestry. Vol. UM22A, 98/079. Barton, ACT: Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, Au
  Publication from the Australian Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC)
• Processing trees on farms: a literature review for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation 
  Hanson, I., & Stewart M. (1997) Processing trees on farms: a literature review for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation. RIRDC Research Paper No. 97/20. Baron, ACT: Australian Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, Au.
• Building green in New Zealand: Wood - a sustainable construction choice
  FRI Bulletin No. 226, Collins, M., T. Barnard, K. Bayne, A. Duignan and S. Shayer (2003).
• New Zealand pine and Douglas-fir: Suitability for processing
  FRI Bulletin No. 216, Cown, D. J. (1999).
• Timber size control in sawmills: A do-it-yourself guide
  FRI Bulletin No. 189, Jappinen, A. and S. Offen (1995).
• A further examination of the clearwood properties of radiata pine grown in New Zealand
  FRI Bulletin No. 104. Mishiro, A., D. J. Cown and B. G. Walford, 1986.
• Drying radiata pine in New Zealand: Research and commercial aspects
  FRI Bulletin No. 206, Haslett, A. N. (1998).
• The 2nd New Zealand Sapstain Symposium: Proceedings of a Symposium held at Forest Research, Rotorua, New Zealand 18-19 November, 1999
  FRI Bulletin No. 215, Kreber, B. (1999)
• Strength properties of small clear specimens of New Zealand-grown timbers
  FRI Bulletin No. 41, Bier, H. and R. A. J. Britton (1999).
• Radiata pine: Wood properties survey (revised edition)
  FRI Bulletin No. 50 (Second edition), Cown, D. J., D. L. McConchie and G. D. Young (1991).
• Properties and utilisation of exotic specialty timbers grown in New Zealand, part I: Notes on timber properties and test methods
  FRI Bulletin No. 119, part I, Haslett, A. N. (1986).
• Commercial utilisation study of radiata pine thinnings for sawn timber production
  FRI Bulletin No. 116, Haslett, A. N. and D. L. McConchie (1986).
• Speciality Timbers: Their Properties and Suggested Applications
  Utilisation Development Division Report No. 81, M.R. Blakeney (1982).
• The mechanical properties of New Zealand-grown Douglas-fir
  FRI Bulletin No. 94, Walford, G. B. (1985).
• High-temperature kiln drying of radiata pine sawn timber
  FRI Bulletin No. 73, Williams, D. H. and J. A. Kinninmonth (1984)
• Density conversions for radiata pine
  FRI Bulletin No. 49, Collins, M. J. (1983).
• Grading veneers from photographs
  FRI Bulletin No. 52, part 2, Firth, J. and W. A. J. van Dijk (1983).
• A peeling study method for pruned logs
  FRI Bulletin No. 52, part 1, Park, J. C. (1983).
• The economics of fingerjointing for the production of clearwood
  FRI Bulletin No. 63, Maplesden, F. and J. McConchie (1984).
• Measuring the moisture content of wood
  FRI Bulletin No. 200, Simpson, I. (1982).
• Sawn timber in Japan, and New Zealand prospects
  FRI Bulletin No. 96, Fenton, R. T. (1984).
• Speciality Applications for Timber - Preferred Species and Some Alternatives
  Utilisation Development Division Report No. 73, R.A. Harris, C. Wiffen, J.J.L. Christmas, A.G. Coppens (1981).