The dream of establishing a National Centre of Excellence for Forestry Technology at Barony College came a step closer at the end of 2002 with the opening of a £1m Scottish Forest Industries Technology Centre on the organisation’s campus at Parkgate, near Dumfries.

Co-funded by the EU and Scottish Enterprise Dumfries and Galloway, the centre houses Simulog computer stations to help students simulate forwarder operations and for the downloading of relevant harvesting and forwarding software. And the college has invested “a six-figure sum” in a harvester/forwarder simulator from Valmet in Sweden, which is thought to be the first of its type in the UK.

With the latter, students are surrounded by the same controls and displays that would face an operator in the forest. Graphics are projected on to a screen in front of the student. “The technology is just incredible,” enthused Richard Baines, Barony College’s section head for horticulture, forestry and the environment. “It offers a great opportunity for students to familiarise themselves with the controls.”

Gordon Hill, forest development manager at the college, added: “The simulator can also come into own when the weather conditions outside are not conducive. The graphics are excellent and so the students quickly forget that they are in a simulator. So by the time they get outside into the forest, they have a head start.”

Forestry workshop

Also as part of the Scottish Forest Industries Technology Centre, the college is unveiling a forestry workshop offering upwards of 1,000m2 of covered space for training in the use, repair and maintenance of forwarder and harvesting equipment. It is envisaged that use of the workshop will be extended to the likes of heavy goods vehicles and fork lift trucks. These facilities and the simulator resource will be made available not only to students at the college but also to industry in general.

Machinery currently available to forestry students includes two Ponsse S15s, a pair of Valmet 820s and an Osa 250, although the college is eager to build or extend partnership agreements with equipment suppliers in order to provide the broadest and most up-to-date training possible. The college has also bought some items of second-hand kit to provide students with an opportunity to practise their service, repair and maintenance skills. “We are keen to attract more kit from the industry, such as static units on which the students can practise,” confirmed Mr Baines. “We are looking in particular for eight-wheeled forwarders because six-wheelers can struggle in this area.”

Dedicated course

The technology centre is beginning to emerge just over a year after Barony College launched its first course dedicated to the use of forest machinery. Up until three years ago, Barony College’s forestry remit extended principally to an SVQ Level 1 introductory course aimed generally at school leavers, as well as a Level 2 course covering such areas as chainsaws and harvesting. The educational establishment offered a course on agricultural engineering but not one on forestry engineering.

Subsequently, the college became aware through its discussions with industry that mechanisation was becoming more important within the forestry sector and that training needed to be constantly updated. According to Mr Baines, there was an acknowledgement that a failure to update training provisions would result in an ageing workforce at a time when timber volumes were entering on a period of massive growth.

&#8220We want to emphasise that there are opportunities to have a rewarding and well-paid career in forestry”

Gordon Hill, forest development manager

Success rate

Lasting 19 weeks, the Forest Machine Operations course at Barony College covers a selection of National Certificate level units including: forwarder operations; machine servicing and maintenance; tree identification; mensuration; and repair welding. Risk assessments and checking of machinery are also addressed, according to Mr Baines. The final goal for students is the NPTC certificate which, he said, serves as prime currency among forestry firms looking for new recruits.

The initial intake began the Forest Machine Operations course in September 2001, with seven of the eight students passing all elements of the exam. A 100% success rate was recorded by the second intake who started the course in February 2002. Based on early experience, the structure of the course has been amended for the latest 12-strong intake “to maximise the time that the students spend on the machines”, explained Mr Baines. Three days each week are spent this way while the other two are set aside for lectures and for welding, servicing and repairs.

As a measure of its success to date, the college receives regular telephone calls from other organisations looking to offer similar courses, as well as from companies interested in employing the students themselves. “We have a worry about poaching,” acknowledged Mr Baines, “because we would prefer the students to finish the course.”

Mr Baines acknowledged that its organisers were “learning all the time”. In the period between the first and second intakes, for example, the college had worked on achieving closer collaboration with the Forestry Commission, with one result being that students have been allowed to practise their forwarding skills on timber harvested on FC land in the nearby Forest of Ae rather than, as with the first course, on windfall material from one of the college’s own sites. “We need to work closely with the equipment manufacturers, as well as with the Forestry Commission for sites [on which training can take place] and with Forest Enterprise on progressing the training after students have left the college,” said Mr Baines.

Although only a fledgling course, Barony College prides itself on the quality of its instruction. While students will now be able to use the simulator in the new centre building, one-to-one forwarder training in the forest itself is achieved via a two-way radio link between the student in the cab and the tutor standing immediately outside.

Financial backing

Reflecting the fact that the forestry industry is “such an important industry” to the south-west corner of Scotland where the college is based, the Forest Machine Operations course has attracted financial backing from the local enterprise agency. Funding has also come from the further education council budget. One of the objectives of the Forest Machine Operations course is to provide a greater sense of career progression and to overcome a widespread perception linking the forestry industry with low pay. Mr Hill said: “We want to emphasise that there are opportunities to have a rewarding and well-paid career in forestry.”

With the simulator now installed, Barony College shortly plans to turn its attention to the possibility of developing a harvesting course, while a Modern Apprenticeship in general forestry – to include forest mechanisation – is also under discussion. However, Mr Baines insisted that neither was likely to be introduced in the near term.

In addition, the college is aiming to build links with the Centre for Timber Engineering currently under development at Edinburgh’s Napier University. In the wider context of “adding value to timber”, Barony College believes it can complement the activities earmarked for Napier. Mr Hill commented: “We should be looking perhaps for their engineers to be coming to Barony to get a technology course on, for example, how wood reacts when it is cut. In other words, we can add a practical element to the theory.”