For Maciej Urba­nek, coo­pe­ra­tion with Ponsse’s Polish dea­ler CDN Ergo Sp. z o.o., means easy access to main­te­nance, quick ser­vice, and pro­fes­sio­nal results. Trustworthy rela­tions­hips are impor­tant in the used mac­hine busi­ness. “When the coo­pe­ra­tion con­ti­nues as before, eve­ryt­hing is as it should be,” says Urba­nek.

Zakład Usług Leś­nych Grze­gorz Urba­nek is a forest ser­vice com­pany which has focused on pro­vi­ding ser­vices for state-owned forests since its incep­tion in 1996. The com­pany is led by Grze­gorz Urba­nek, with his son Maciej Urba­nek also invol­ved in the ope­ra­tions.

“I have been hel­ping my fat­her since I was little, and I joi­ned the com­pany pro­perly in 2012 as a co-owner. Now I train and assist ope­ra­tors as my father’s time is spent run­ning the com­pany and doing admi­ni­stra­tive work,” says Maciej Urba­nek.

The com­pany employs 10 people and works with one subcont­rac­tor. Accor­ding to Maciej, the com­pany has sur­vi­ved the coro­na­vi­rus period wit­hout sig­ni­ficant problems and cur­rently has fel­ling cont­racts for a total of 75,000 m³.

“In 2020, one of our mac­hine chains had a three-month down­time while the other one has been at work all the time. The demand for wood is very high and we have vir­tually no breaks. We work mainly in pine forests and har­vest 5,000–7,000 m³ per month with our har­ves­ters.”

THE URBA­NEKS TRUST PONSSE

The com­pany star­ted wor­king in the Polish forests using trac­tors and forest trai­lers. They bought their first har­ves­ter second hand in 2015. When the storm damage of the fol­lowing year gave impe­tus to the purc­hase of anot­her mac­hine, they chose Ponsse as the brand.

“Now our mac­hine stock con­sists of two PONSSE Elk forwar­ders as well as the Ergo and Bea­ver har­ves­ters. In addi­tion, we have other mac­hi­nes nee­ded for fore­stry work, such as a new trac­tor with a forest trai­ler.”

Maciej Urba­nek has been impres­sed by the qua­lity of the Ponsse dealer’s after­sa­les ser­vice and its avai­la­bi­lity. Having tried other brands and their main­te­nance ser­vices, he apprecia­tes Ponsse’s desire to get the mac­hine in order quickly and back to pro­duc­tive work in the forest.

“Assis­tance is avai­lable in the eve­nings, at wee­kends and even remo­tely if neces­sary. All in all, the PONSSE forest mac­hi­nes are user-friendly. I can sit with a new ope­ra­tor in a spacious com­for­table cabin and train them in the ope­ra­tion of the mac­hine,” he says.

SER­VICE AND COO­PE­RA­TION ARE VERY IMPOR­TANT

Accor­ding to Maciej’s expe­rience in buying used mac­hi­nes, in addi­tion to the ope­ra­ting hours, the sel­ler and the machine’s country of ori­gin are also impor­tant.

“In terms of mac­hine qua­lity, second hand mac­hine main­te­nance and pre­pa­ra­tion, other com­pa­nies do not offer the same level of ser­vice as the Ponsse dea­ler in Poland. When buying a mac­hine from CDN Ergo SP. z.o.o., I can rest assu­red that if somet­hing is bro­ken or doesn’t work as agreed, it will be fixed wit­hout ques­tion.”

The Urba­neks’ company’s ope­ra­tions are concent­ra­ted in the Zie­lona Gora and Wrocław regio­nal admi­ni­stra­tions in wes­tern and south-wes­tern Poland. It pro­vi­des a wide range of ser­vices in the field of tim­ber har­ves­ting, tree bree­ding and forest mana­ge­ment as a main cont­rac­tor.

“We need both big­ger and smal­ler mac­hi­nes. We have har­ves­ters sui­table for thin­ning forests that are about 30 years old. The Elk is per­fect for us as a gene­ral-pur­pose mac­hine and has also shown its strength in une­ven ter­rain. I defi­ni­tely want the PONSSE Buf­falo as my next for war­der because it’s a little stron­ger and more sui­table for chal­len­ging ter­rains.”

Maciej Urba­nek says that they have no plans to expand their mac­hine stock, rat­her to moder­nise it. Next year, we are plan­ning to replace one of the older mac­hi­nes with a new PONSSE Ergo har­ves­ter.