HarvestPro, one of New Zealand’s largest harvesting companies, has named Porter Group as its key supplier of Hyundai excavators . . .

HarvestPro makes no secret of its desire to be New Zealand’s leading independent supplier of integrated forest extraction and management services, and one essential way to achieve this is to have a key supplier.
The company had been running a mixture of excavator brands throughout its 12 logging operations prior to this appointment, however Zane Cleaver, managing director of HarvestPro, says the idea of naming a key supplier was to reduce the age of the fleet and improve productivity and efficiency.
He says reliable machinery is key to the company’s growth and it’s important that there is never any downtime.
“Downtime is something you can’t recover particularly in a harvesting business and Porter’s are guaranteeing us a very high percent age of up time.”
As part of the agreement each machine will be replaced at just 6000 hours (around three years).

The selection process

Zane says Porter Group was the catalyst for the selection process.  “Prior to embarking on the project we had discussions with Porter Group’s national sales and marketing manager Darren Ralph about standardising the fleet. They then presented us with a proposal.”  After much thought and discussion, he says HarvestPro decided to open this up to other suppliers to see what they could offer.
“With the recession going on we felt the time was right to carry out this process and to see what real value we could get for our business.”  The process of selecting a key supplier was complex and took just under three months. HarvestPro gave detailed presentations to eight of New Zealand’s main machinery suppliers who then went away and prepared proposals. Once the proposals were presented, HarvestPro narrowed it down to three finalists. After further negotiations, the winner was announced.

The Porter Group difference
Porter Group was given the nod as HarvestPro’s key supplier on August 14.  Zane says all applicants presented impressive proposals but Porter Group’s had the edge.
The value for money package offered by Porter Group was compelling, but there was much more to their proposal that made them the obvious choice.  “The service we have received from Porter Group has always been outstanding. Over the past year we’ve seen their Auckland/North Harbour rep, Paul Gorrie, more than any other company’s and he always responds to requests in a very timely manner.”
Zane also has a great working relationship with Porter Group’s national sales and marketing manager Darren Ralph, who he says is very supportive of their business.  Scale was another factor in favour of Porter Group.
“Because of their scale and the type of business they’re in, they’ve got greater ability to trade out our existing fleet and swap it over. They can transform it into new Hyundai’s quicker than most of their competitors. They have more oprtions for reuse, resale or disposal of used equipment which gives them a distinct advantage.”
Zane says he’s given Porter Group a list of their current excavators and the hours, values and debt associated with each machine.  Being centrally located in Hamilton was another advantage for Porter Group as it is set between HarvestPro’s two main logging areas – Northland and the East Coast.

Hyundai Dash-9
Currently HarvestPro runs five Hyundai Dash 7s and all operators have been very happy with their performance and comforts. As part of this new arrangement, HarvestPro has requested the new Dash 9 excavators particularly because of their GPS system.
“With the GPS we can better analyse our business. It can tell us how much static time versus working time there are on those machines. Now we can understand what’s really happening out there.
“With the GPS system we can find out if the operators are using the machines as efficiently as they could be, if not, we can rectify the problem.”
As well as a tracking system, the GPS provides an alarm system. The alarm will notify send a text message to Zane if there’s a malfunction or if the machine is overheating. The text will tell him the machine’s location and the problem incurring.
All information from the GPS system is downloaded to a database and translated in to reports.
Zane says they are planning to gain access to the raw data from their central database to develop their own reporting system in order to drill it down for more complex purposes.
The company’s partnership with Porter Group is very timely, as there are a number of new business ventures in the pipeline including a joint venture with a trust called Ngati Hine. “Having a company on board that can provide top service and quality equipment is vital to the future growth of this company.”


About Harvestpro
HarvestPro was founded in 1998 by managing director Zane Cleaver, and executive chairman Andrew Chalmers.
The company has evolved from a forestry engineering consultancy to a harvesting company.
Originally the company was a key supplier to Carter Holt Harvey, but when the contract ended, it acquired its first harvesting operation located near Napier
Today HarvestPro produces around 600,000 tonnes of wood per annum. The greater percentage of which is exported to China, but Zane says a reasonable amount of volume is utilised domestically.
Currently HarvestPro employs 150 workers spread over 12 harvesting operations. Six operations are located in Northland and six on the east coast, from Gisborne to Ruatoria. Staff include a harvesting manager in Northland, a harvesting manager in Gisborne plus a foreman for each of the harvesting operations.
As far as servicing machines goes, HarvestPro has its own engineering division, which includes an engineering manager, a procurement manager and
seven mechanics.
The company runs eight cable logging operations and six ground-based. The engineering team maintains and rebuilds the cable haulers themselves.
“All we’re really interested in is outsourcing our excavator base because that’s what we have the most of.”
The company operates in excess of 50 major mobile plant items including excavator-based log loaders and harvesters, log skidders, crawler tractors, wheel loaders and mobile haulers.
HarvestPro contracts to four large-scale forest owners including Hancocks, which is one of the largest forest owners in New Zealand. Another is Juken, which has reasonably sized processing complexes in Kaitaia, Gisborne and Masterton.

Dash-9 features
Reliability and maintenance
Lubrication fittings – All lube fittings are centralised and in close proximity to each other for easy service.
Easy to maintain engine components – The cooling and pre-heating systems are designed for optimal and immediate operation, guaranteeing longer engine and hydraulic component life. Servicing the engine and the hydraulics has been considerably simplified due to accessibility.
Side cover with left and right swing open type – Unrestricted access to vital components allows easy maintenance and repair
Easy to access electric box
Easy to change air cleaner assembly
Large compartment for
extra storage
Structure durability proven via fem (finite element method) analysis and long-term durability tests

Improved performance and safety
Rearview camera (optional)
Cummins QSB6.7 engine – The six-cylinders, turbo charged, four-cycle charger air-cooled engine is built for power, reliability, and economy. This engine meets TIER 3 emission regulations. The QSB6.7 electronics have been used in our high-horsepower products in the harshest, most demanding environments, including dusty, nonstop mining operations, and meet worldwide emissions regulations. The combination of improved airflow and evenly dispersed fuel results in increased power, improved transient response, and reduced fuel consumption.
Safety lever
Master switch
Anti restart system
Anti-slip plates
Track rail guard and adjusters – Durable track rail guards keep track links in place. Track adjustment is made easy with standard grease cylinder track adjusters and shock absorbing springs.
Strong and stable lower frame – The reinforced box-section frame is welded using low-stress, high-strength steel. The X-leg type centre frame is integrally welded for maximum strength and durability.
Reinforced bucket and bucket linkage – Sealed and adjustable bucket linkage produces less wear of pins and bushes and offers silent operation.
Dial-type engine speed switch
Power boost control system

Reproduced courtesy of Deals on Wheels

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