Whilst working for a contractor in North Wales, Alun Hughes saw an opportunity to offer his services to landowners requiring estate maintenance, something his employer at the time didn’t do. The purchase of a used 8t machine saw Alun undertake several jobs before taking the full time leap into running his own company.

With the estate management work decreasing and an increase in jobs asking him to cater more in forestry works, Alun looked to replace the 8t machine he was running with a small timber grab and upscale to a JS130 with a larger attachment. Once this step was taken, there was no looking back and eventually ALH Forestry Limited was born.

Over the past six years, such has been the demand for his services that he now has a healthy regular client list and clients willing to wait for his services. “We started off looking to put the timber we were felling and handling in for logs or fencing, this has rapidly changed with a huge demand for biomass chips.” He comments. “This has now pushed us down the path into supplying large quantities of biomass chip almost exclusively for Jenkinsons, the largest dealer in the UK.”

Whilst many companies look for the easy to harvest timber, Alun and his team very rarely get any of these jobs, instead, they concentrate on the more awkward projects that demand a little more skill, thinking on their feet and ultimately higher returns. With his 13t machine starting to show its age, Alun looked to the market for an upgrade. “We wanted a larger, compact tail swing machine that will allow us easier access into some of the regular sites we work on.” He explains. “I looked at several makes but some of the dealers never even bothered coming back to me, and if they did, they quoted ridiculous lead times and eye-watering prices even for a base machine. We weren’t asking for huge additions just proportional rollers on the joysticks and the hydraulic lines to allow us to use a grab or a tree shear.”

Visiting the Arb show in Warwickshire last year, Alun happened upon the SANY stand. Looking at the SY155U on the stand he enquired about a deal but was told he would have to speak to the Welsh dealer Fitzgerald Plant Services. A call to Fitzgerald put him in touch with Mid and North Wales Salesman David Rollinson who invited him up to the company’s new office in Corwen, just 20 minutes from Alun’s base near Denbigh. “I had the chance to try the machine out there and then and found it to be a huge improvement over the old JS.” He comments. “It was spec’d as we wanted it and was available within a week or so. We looked at the components and they were the same or similar to what you find on almost any other machine of this size. What really impressed us was the structural warranty SANY give you. We had total confidence in both the mechanicals and the build quality to sign on the dotted line.”

The SY155U is one of the latest additions to the growing SANY product range. With an operating weight close to 16.5 tonnes, it sits above many of its peers in weight, but also in its performance in the field. Powered by a tried and tested 4-cylinder Isuzu engine kicking out 105hp. Mated to a Kawasaki hydraulic system, Alun says the excavator has more than enough grunt for undertaking their excavation or tree handling operations. The components, like any compact tail swing machine are squeezed into the curve upper structure and whilst access is okay, any daily checks are all carried out either from ground level, or via the touch screen in the cab.

Alun’s machine was supplied with a dozer blade, an addition that he finds incredibly handy for keeping the machine planted in some of the poorer sites they work on. “We often work with a lot of wood or greenery under the tracks and whilst the weight increase over the last machine helps, having the blade just to dig into the ground stops the machine from sliding.

The SANYs standard front-end equipment allows a potential dig depth of over 6m, but it is the pin height of over 9m that has impressed Alun. “We sometimes encounter trees that need holding while we saw cut them. Being able to hold them higher up the trunk makes the operation far safer for us.” He comments.

We caught up with Alun as he and his two-man saw as they were undertaking clearance works for a regular client at their pheasant shoot.

The small copse had been damaged in 2021 by Storm Arwen leaving several of the large poplars and oaks either on the ground, partly broken or worse still leaning into other trees. The ground surrounding the trees also threw up issues as it required flattening before the saws could enter. Grabbing a felled tree with the Intermercato grab, Alun was able to bend over the cover plants enough to forge a path through the undergrowth. This allowed access to the trees earmarked for clearance and also revealed fallen timber which had been quickly covered by greenery and also revealed the overgrown drainage channels crossing the site.

With access gained and an area cleared to stock timber, Alun was able to start pulling the fallen timber into place allowing it to be assessed and cut into a variety of lengths depending on its final use. “We have some reasonable timber in here, especially the oak that can be sawn instead of chipped.” He commented. “We’ll pile the material up and assess whether it’s worth bringing our chipper in or transporting the material back to the yard.” The chipper in question shows Alun’s commitment to the job and the fact that if you are going to do something, do it right. Alun has recently invested in a Heizohack chipper mounted on a Mercedes 6×6 truck. A rare site across North Wales and Cheshire (the areas Alun and his team regularly operate) adding this huge production machine to the fleet has opened up massive opportunities for the company and now enables them to handle large diameter timber with ease. “We used a smaller chipper before, and this required the excavator to be loading it and therefore taking it off production. If we are on a large job, we now produce and chip at the same time making the job quicker and more productive.”

Whilst handling timber on the ground is one thing, putting it there is another. Using the Intermercato grab to stabilise a tree whilst it is cut ensures there are no surprises for the team. On the softer ground, the SANY stays solid at full stretch even with a grab full of a 4m high oak trunk. “We have been very impressed with the way the SANY handles some of the larger timber.” Alun points out. “It is very strong on the slew which helps us out massively when moving timber out of the undergrowth.” One of the large poplar trees damaged during the storm was leaning against the canopy of another tree and for the uninitiated, a quick cut with the saw would have dropped it. On closer inspection, the trunk could be seen to have cracked vertically and could potentially have exploded when cut with devastating effect. Alun and his team decided to push the tree back to its vertical position before putting in a wedge cut at its base. This allowed the SANY to push the tree over yet still resulted in it splitting uncontrollably, but now in total safety for the lads on the ground and Alun in the excavator.

Alun’s drive to mechanise his operations making them safer and more productive that has seen the company expand massively in just a few short years. Adding the SANY into the fleet has opened up further possibilities and with the machine performing far beyond his expectations. “We have been impressed with the response from David and Fitzgerald.” He comments. “They are very proactive with David calling on a regular basis just to make sure everything is okay. Having their depot right in the centre of our operational area gives us peace of mind that if anything did need looking at, they’re not too far away.”

Article and photograph courtesy of Paul Argent at RPA Media