“It’s a privilege to log up the Dart” says Willie Waldron, owner of CW Logging. The Dart has a reputation being challenging however Willie says, “You don’t often get scenery like you see up the dart, it’s a privilege to log up the dart – yes the job is harder, more technical and environmentally sensitive but logging like this doesn’t happen much anymore.”
Willies love for forestry came from growing up in Hammer, a community full of farmers, forestry workers and high voltage linesmen. It was while working on a sheep and grain farm in Amberley, where Willie spent most of his time grubbing thistles and cutting firewood, that he recognised he liked chainsaws and wood.
He moved on to silviculture and enjoyed it. “I had a mate who was working in a logging crew, and I would just hop in the wagon and go to work with them when I could, I liked the physical nature of the work, and the people were real characters.”
An advertised falling job in Rangiora saw Willie apply “The guy gave me a day trial, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing but he liked how I worked and saw that I wanted to be in the industry so gave me a job on the skid,” Willie smiles “I do remember there was a lot of gorse.”
Keen to continue in the industry Willie decided to gain some qualifications “The only place you could do a forestry course was in Richmond, so I came up and committed to the nine-month course.” The course consisted of book and practical work and getting up early each morning to be on site in all-weather elements. “It was a great course, we learnt a lot of good practical forestry skills and made lots of contacts within the industry.” Adds Willie.
Unfortunately, at the end of the course, in 1996, Willie was involved in a serious car accident where he was catapulted through the windscreen which resulted in a large piece of glass becoming embedded in one eye. The eye became infected and required multiple operations which were unsuccessful. “It wasn’t a great time, I spent weeks lying in hospital with both my eyes bandaged up. One thing that was amazing was how my other senses kick in, my hearing was heightened it was unreal.” The accident left Willie with permanent damage to one eye and while he adjusted to this, he returned to the Rangiora based crew and discovered that, thankfully, he could competently operate machinery and chainsaws.
The next few years saw Willie gain further experience in different areas of the industry, including Heli-Logging of Beech and Rimu on the West Coast. “I didn’t want to do anything else logging was for me.” exclaims Willie.
While working, and living in Tasman, abundant with forestry, a conversation popped up about him becoming a contractor. “That idea appealed and stuck with me.” says Willie. However, the opportunity didn’t come about for some years. “A good friend, who had logging gear, suggested we put a price in on a job.” Which they did - “It wasn’t easy to go from regular wages coming in, to being a contractor with no guaranteed work, especially when you have a young family and a mortgage,” Willie says seriously “we had a few months’ work then we had nothing.”
Willie explains he is still appreciative to a local logging company that stepped in and hired out their machinery during that time “This kept us afloat and fortunately we were able to secure some work.” The two men were the first new harvesting contractors that NFL (now OneFortyOne) had taken on in more than a decade.
Future loggers are something Willie is passionate about “I’ve always been keen to create loggers. I’m open to starting people and getting young people into the industry is a benefit to the whole industry,” he explains “It can be expensive and yeah it takes time, but someone needs to give them the opportunity.”
While logging is Willie’s passion, he acknowledges that by being a contactor achieving a work, life balance can be tricky. He’s found that time away from logging can be hugely beneficial in many ways. “I’m an active relaxer, I enjoy hunting and fishing and I love getting out on my block of land with my family” adds Willie.
Willie tells me honestly that some days he thinks of expanding and other days he thinks of retiring early, and I think we can all relate to that. For the time being Willie says, “Things are good, the crew has neat people in it, we have fresh air and awesome views, you can’t ask for much more than that.”
