For the first time the APF International Forest Machinery Exhibition (IFME) has been extensively promoted not only to its traditional trade visitors but also to the public. The processing sector has also embraced the event enthusiastically, with UPM-Kymmene, Nexfor, Iggesund, St Regis, James Jones & Sons, Howie Forest Products and AW Jenkinson all lining up as sponsors. A core aim of the organisers, exhibitors and sponsors is to show how a working forest operates and how timber is produced from seed to sawmill.
Visitors will be able to see every aspect of production from nursery production and planting, to felling. They will also be able to visit some of Europe’s latest state-of-the-art sawmills. There will be daily trips to James Jones & Sons, BSW Carlisle, Howie Forest Products and Forest Garden – all as part of the entrance fee.
Also unveiled at the show will be the results of a competition held among Scottish architects to produce a simple, commercial garden structure from native timber. The brief was to create a simple, functional timber building that was both practical and easy to construct and which demonstrates the performance and aesthetics of home-grown timber to best effect.
At the exhibition itself there will be over 200 trade stands to visit, giving a massive 3,700m frontage of working machinery. Every major manufacturer is exhibiting.On show will be scarifiers, flail mulchers, tree planting machines, forwarders, harvesters, skylines, chippers, shredders, firewood processors, stump grinders, timber wagons, ATVs, mowers – even helicopters!
There will also be displays from the Southwest axe racing team. Four of the best UK chainsaw carvers will demonstrate their skills throughout the four days and visitors will be able to learn about traditional woodland crafts, from the more common such as charcoal burning, to rarer ones such as coracle making. You can also reminisce over vintage machinery exhibits, including a steam driven rack bench.
Perhaps the centrepiece of the entertainment will be the 25th World Logging Championships which are sponsored by Stihl and have attracted over 100 competitors from 28 different countries. In addition, 25 competitors from four continents will race up an 80ft tree trunk in the world and European pole climbing contests. Over 70 people will take part in the largest axe throwing competition ever held in the UK and the best forwarder drivers and horse loggers in Europe will compete for UK and European titles. The UK’s best lorry drivers will race against the clock to load timber for European honours and there will also be the first staging of a harvester simulator competition.
With all this and more, it’s hardly surprising that the whole event is expected to attract 15,000 visitors from over 40 countries, double the usual number.
