Elmia Wood 2009 was a sign of strength in two ways. For the forest industry, which has an unwavering belief in the future and can glimpse the start of an economic turnaround. And for Elmia Wood itself as the meeting place for forestry professionals from around the world.

Twenty percent of the forest’s energy lies in the stumps. The problem is to make stump harvesting profitable. The Swedish machinery manufacturer Gremo is one step closer to that goal with a concept machine that had its world premiere at Elmia Wood.

Sweden’s small-scale wood processors are asserting their power. At Elmia Wood 2009 they created their own “square” within the exhibition site. The square was called Trätorget – wood square – the same as the project’s Web address: trätorget.se.
“Those of us who live in the countryside must be able to live from our forests,” says the project’s initiator, Erik Hjärtfors.

“This year’s Elmia Wood is the best I’ve exhibited at.”
Erling Lindberg, sales manager with the machinery manufacturer Eco Log doesn’t hesitate when he speaks.
“It feels like the economy is turning around.”

Several machinery manufacturers presented new cabins at Elmia Wood. The reason – upcoming demands by the European Union for lower vibrations in order to give operators better working conditions.
“The directive starts to apply in 2011/2012 and machinery owners without approved cabins will then have problems,” says Benny Sondell, CEO of Ponsse AB in Sweden.

Climate change drives the development of new forest machines. At Elmia Wood, Ponsse presented two new machines built to meet the new conditions. A harvester and a forwarder, both built for soft ground.

In recent years some minister of the Swedish government has visited every Elmia Wood fair. However, this year marks the first time the minister in question has an in-depth knowledge of forestry.
“I’m an active forest owner and I try to attend the fair every time it’s held,” says Minister for Agriculture Eskil Erlandsson.

Martin Svensson from Rimforsa, Sweden is the best forwarder operator in the world and also in the Nordic region! He captured the two titles at the Elmia Wood international forestry fair on 5 June.
“The competition was really tough, with many skilled operators,” he says.

 WebTV coverage of the Forwarder Cup

Bracke Forest has achieved an international breakthrough with its planting machine. Now the head is being launched with a bigger carousel that can hold 180 plants compared with the previous 80.
“The machine has been tested in Indonesia for a year,” says Bracke’s CEO Hans Hemmingsson. “The plants grow 25 percent faster than when they’re put in by hand."

At Elmia Wood 2009, visitors to the stand of Ingvar Persson AB found a back saviour for everyone who processes wood: a step feeder that brings the logs up to the work platform.

Combine well-tried frame saw technology with a fuel-efficient combustion engine.
The result is the Logosol Låks 500. It’s a world first and it premiered at Elmia Wood.

A newly developed, battery-powered chainsaw on a pole from Pellenc made many visitors to Elmia Wood look up.

It’s no longer just a concept – it’s now a clear trend in forestry. The forest machines of the future will be powered by electricity. John Deere presented its solution at Elmia Wood 2009.

Pine weevils are the biggest single cause of tree seedling destruction in southern and central Sweden, as in many other countries. Work to find solutions to this problem is a priority. The methods vary. At Elmia Wood exhibitors presented everything from sand and glue to chemical treatments.

They’re small, fuel efficient, and stand operated.
They’re the latest “must-have” machine for the active woodlot owner.
They’re one of the strongest trends at this year’s Elmia Wood.
They’re the mini-forwarders.

Swing, aim, let go and saw! It shouldn’t be any harder than that to work in difficult situations in the forest. At least, not if you believe the Swedish developers behind the Throw-Saw (Kast-Sågen): Svante Hansson and Agne Bergkvist. They demonstrated the saw in action at Elmia Wood.

It looks like a giant hedge clipper. Just mount it on a harvester and start cleaning your stands.
“The latest version of this attachment is only a few weeks old,” says Göran Normelli, a forest contractor from Eskilstuna, Sweden. “I’ve tested the previous version on my machine with good results.”

An exciting prototype of an eco-friendly feller-buncher is attracting an appreciative audience at Elmia Wood. The machine is radio-controlled, flexible and easy to steer.

Everyone working with small-scale wood processing dreams of making their own fuel pellets from all the sawdust they produce. The dream is blocked by the energy cost of drying the sawdust. The Swedish company Läppeställaren appears to have solved that problem.

Thirty years ago the Swedish forest was yellow. Then Volvo stopped making forest machines. Now they’re back in the forest in full force.
“Our goal is to be a total supplier to the forest industry,” declared Anders Barreng of Volvo Construction Equipment at the Elmia Wood international forestry fair.

The production rate in the forest for both round timber and biofuel can be increased. That’s the conclusion of a conference on forest residues at the Elmia Wood international forestry fair in Jönköping, Sweden.

Well-sharpened chains are the foundation of successful sawing, whether it’s with a full-size harvester or a handheld power saw.
But sharpening is a really boring job.
Pär Markusson has developed the latest medicine against boredom.

Rottne does the same thing every Elmia Wood. Not a word about innovations is heard before the fair and then at the fair there is a major surprise. This year’s surprise is the Rottne H10, a thinning harvester in a slightly larger format.

More machine in a smaller package. That’s what forest contractors want and that’s what Valmet and Komatsu Forest supplied at Elmia Wood.

World premiere at Elmia Wood at the beginning of June. In full production with Stora Enso two months later. What is it? The TimBear Lightlogg C, a new machine concept that offers solutions to a growing problem.

Cleaning at a higher level, or tops pruning, is a new way to deal with unwanted deciduous trees in regenerated conifer stands.
“Our new F35 FBx tops cutter is actually a hybrid between a brushcutter and a power saw,” explains Gösta Arvidsson, product specialist at Husqvarna AB. “It has been specially developed for pruning tops. Production of the cutter will start this autumn and it will be on the market in the beginning of 2010.”

“We exhibit at Elmia Wood because it’s the most effective way to reach the market.”
So says Bo Jadeborn, who has taken over the Swedish agency for the Finnish machine brand JAPA. At the fair he exhibited both JAPA’s well-known existing machines to their new wood processors.

”We have a broad range of pellet burners with outputs ranging from 15 till 1000 kWh, for everything from single family houses to industrial buildings.”
The speaker is Jörgen Andersson, who represents Green Energy, an innovative company which is located outside Göteborg, Sweden and is an exhibitor at Elmia Wood 2009.

A really “prehistoric” diesel engine – could it help solve the energy crisis?
That’s the belief of the Dutch company Gemjo, which exhibited something that most closely resembles a museum object at the Elmia Wood international forestry fair.

It’s easy to attach the rotary cultivator blade to your brushcutter. And hey presto, you have a machine for small-scale soil preparation projects.
“A small plantation of a couple of hectares or an area that is hard to tackle using big machines. Or a field containing protected ancient monuments or the like – then Terracut works perfectly,” says Per-Erik Elfgren.

Vimek have made a name for themselves for their in-stand machine concepts.
At Elmia Wood the machinery manufacturer is launching a harvester head, the Vimek 160, for the extraction, loading and unloading of biofuel.

In the midst of the deepest recession for decades, bioenergy is bucking the downward trend. Swedish manufacturers of biofuel pellets are predicting a 15 percent production increase during 2009. In the longer term, the need for biofuel in Europe is greater than the supply.

Elmia Wood is the world’s biggest international forestry fair. It is held every four years and it’s time again on 3 to 6 June 2009. The world’s leading forestry manufacturers and suppliers gather in the forest south of Jönköping, Sweden. This year’s fair is even more important than usual as a barometer of the situation in the forest industry.