Forwarder training for women in forestry
Ponsse’s long-term partner and dealer Wahlers Forsttechnik invited women working and studying in the forestry sector in the areas of Tharandt, Göttingen and Rottenburg to forwarder training last November.
The training took place at the Lower Saxony Forestry Training Centre in Münchehof, and a total of 12 trainees, foresters and forestry students participated in the event. At the beginning of the day, the group went through some theory and familiarized themselves with the forwarder, its structure and operation.
After learning the basics of the machine, Ralf Dreeke, CEO of Wahlers Forsttechnik, gave his own lecture. He explained what kind of digital solutions can be utilized in logging today and what kind of opportunities digitalization offers to the industry. The topic aroused a lot of discussion, reflection and interest among the participants. However, everyone agreed on one thing: digitalization offers incredible opportunities, but it also requires professionalism from software users.
After the lectures, the group moved on to practical exercises. Part of the group started with forwarder and harvester simulators to familiarize themselves with the control devices of the machines. More experienced training participants got to test their skills directly with the real machines.
In the afternoon, both fixed loading equipment of the training center were in heavy use. The participants learned to load and unload the logs, as well as how to stack trees correctly. Accuracy was also practiced. As the day progressed, the machines’ controls became familiar and the work proceeded like a play.
The highlight of the training was PONSSE Gazelle and the participants got to drive a real forwarder. On the test track, a few logs were loaded into the cargo space, the load was driven to the unloading site and returned to the starting point. For some, driving a machine was a completely new experience.
New skills were learned from each training point on the training day. The level of requirements for tasks increased from task to task and required relentless focus. But yes, women could handle technology at least as well as men!
The event was a memorable experience for the participants, and the people of Wahlers Forsttechnik were thanked warmly for organising the training.
