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Nixin Contractors Ltd, Masterton (2026)

04/04/2026

Hi again peeps, time for an Easter ramble and some pics from our second crew. (Mr Chaney still won't let me go and annoy the big crew... lol) I've also stolen a couple of pics from some dodgy truck drivers that visit. hahaha
Cheers Patrick Chapman and Shaye Mitchell

We've just finished a side hustle on our current job, we got asked to pull a neighboring stand with an average haul distance north of 800 metres. Holy smokes, the poor old skidder has never worked so hard, we were thrashing the wheels off it from dark to dark. I'm just thankful we finished it before diesel prices really started to bite, it literally wouldn't be economic now. We'd have to pull the pin on it.
Luckily, we're back in the main block and pulling regular distances again, albeit we have one more landing to roadline.

And the topic that's gripping the nation. Fuel prices. F@$ken fuel prices. I can't decide what's going to be the bigger issue, the continual price increases, or supply running out? Or will the price increases get rid of supply issues as it makes jobs not worth doing, and we'll just stop using fuel and wait it out?
But, as a contractor, what do we do? Our wage bill is north of 100k per month. If we stop logging, where does that money come from? We have really good people in our business, and they have mortgages, and children, and other obvious costs of living, we can't just stop paying wages. So then what? Death by fuel bill? It's a s**t sandwich, and everyone looks hungry...
To be clear, we're not in danger of dying tomorrow, but we probably can't cope with this silliness forever, either.
And it's a problem for everyone, not just contractors. And we can't just FAF our way out of this, it's not the forest owners and managers fault. I think we're all gonna have to do our best to share the pain and get through with the least damage we can? What else can we do?

15/03/2026

Hi all, it's time for some Nixin pics again.
Our small crew is chipping away at Bideford, effectively roadlining ready for the harvestline to come and pull through the winter.
I've also included a pic of Kermit the second, I almost stepped on this little fellow walking down through the farmland to bunch some wood for the skidder.
Speaking of the harvestline, it's been out in the wild for a few weeks, subbing to another contractor. It's good to have it out and about, earning it's keep.

The main crew have just moved across their forest to clean up a couple of months worth of windthrow.
Low key amusing side note, we bought the pictured 548LL so that we could retire (or semi retire) the old 324DFM. Oh no, no, no, no! The poor old girl has been out shoveling and probably working harder than it ever has. **sigh** the best laid plans, of mice and men... lol

Last but not least. Fuel. Bloody fuel prices. ⛽️⛽️
What to do? Our fuel price has basically gone up a dollar a litre in the last couple of weeks. I nearly cried when I saw the price notification email for this week.
With margins in forestry already thin, it's gonna be great fun discussing FAF with the forestry companies, God help us. She's gonna be brutal for a few weeks, I'm guessing.

01/01/2026

Happy new year to all our logging peeps!!!

In saying that, it must be the time of year for the winds of change to blow through, as one of our operators is moving on to different pastures. So our late model, immaculate Cat next gen 538 is looking for an operator early in the new year.
As ever with us, character and attitude is more important than skill set. We can teach the skills to a good bu**er without too much drama.

We'd also entertain an operator for our Cat 336 processor as well, with the same or similar outlook as above.

If you're not squeaky clean on the drug testing front, don't waste your time either, we haven't got time for that silliness.

We have very low turnover and like to look after our people, and we're playing a long game. Hence, we don't mind training if you're a decent sort.

Pm Nick or text me on 0274 888 029 if you're interested.

22/12/2025

Holy smokes!!! The end of the year has rolled around again, faster than ever.

As always our team is what makes Nixin Contractors what it is, and we really appreciate their help.

Like everyone else, we had our ups and downs this year, but far more good than bad, which is good.
We've added a couple of machines to the fleet recently, both second hand, which is unusual for us, but the fragility of the forest industry these days, it seemed like the best option.
We put a Tigercat 855 into the second crew so it's effectively mechanized now, and a relatively low hour Cat 548LL to load out at the JNL crew.

Neil Anderson of HDT and his band of merry men gave both machines some serious loving after purchase, and they both came up a treat.
The 548LL effectively replaced our 324DFM which is about to hit 21k hours and we've had a really good run out of it. I think we re-sealed the final drives quite early on, and it's had a heui pump and injectors last year and that's all we've ever done to it. It's probably a testament to Cat quality that it's lasted so well.

07/12/2025

Just some pics from crew 6. Mr Chaney relented and let me me run their loader for the day which was good fun. Normally I'm not allowed on site as he's adamant I'm just a nuisance. Which is probably true, but oh well... hahaha

These boys are doing a bloody good job of it as we count the days going into the Christmas break.

All the gear will look nicer after their Christmas wash down, too. Especially the Eltec processor, it always comes up a treat.

Also, a couple of pics of both processors together, which is a very rare occurrence. Luckily, Jordy had the presence of mind to suggest a couple of pics before they went their separate ways.

20/09/2025

Well, one tether isn't enough, it turns out we need two of the blasted things... lol
We've decided to put a winch on the skyline to improve our ability to grapple wood with a tower yarder. So we commissioned Waka Welding to supply a winch package and our good friends at Shaws supplied a Sany base to go under it.
That's our third machine from Shaws now, it looks it's becoming a habit. Unsurprisingly, bloody woodcutter had his order book out on delivery day, trying to give the new Sany a little sister!! He's unstoppable. 🤣🤣🤣

25/12/2024

Merry Christmas to all our logging fam, I hope Santa was good to you all. I guess I'm just going to have to scoff all this chocolate over the holidays and clamber back on the healthy train when we go back to work next year... lol

Thanks to all our staff, you're awesome, and we really appreciate your work. You'll see from one of the pics that I clipped one of my wings at the start of December, and everyone stepped up a gear while I was in hospital and on house arrest. Things probably went better without me, truth be known.🤣🤣🤣 (side note, avoid mountain biking with Sophie Cusack at any cost, it's very risky.)

Also, thanks to Neil and Pies for keeping our gear running for us. We appreciate you working around the clock to try and keep Mr Chaney happy.

Lastly, I was reading Wisey's post last night, and I agree it's been a tougher year or two for loggers and contractors. We've burned up more machine hours for similar turnover than ever before.
I don't want to sound like I'm bitching, or woe is me, because this is the life we chose, but things are getting ever tighter for logging contractors.

PS, I know we shouldn't be on our phones on Christmas day, but who doesn't like looking at logging bo****ks between courses of food we really don't need? Let's be real. 🤣🤣🤣

21/12/2024

Well, we've basically finished for the year, so we might as well put some pics up.

I do love pics of the machines when they're all washed up, they scrub up well. Especially the Eltecs.

It was nice to fire up the second crew in December and get everything producing as they should be. We're just ground basing a blind face, before we hook into the main setting with the harvestline next year.
Speaking of such things, we're on the lookout for another operator next year. Preferably for a swing machine, processor, loader, or even the harvestline, we're pretty flexible, and can fit around the right person.

As always, good character is more important than hard skills, we can teach those. Ring or pm me if interested.

And have a good Christmas, one and all. Hopefully Santa drops something good under the tree for everyone! Low key hoping for another Eltec felling machine, but don't think it'll fit down the chimney... hahaha

27/09/2024

Well, it's been a while between posts, but it's time to put some pics on Facebook again. These are just a few pics from the week. The hauler is pulling a downhill setting, and the sumi is shoveling a bit of sneaky wood in from the side.

It's nice to have the days getting longer and the weather ever improving. Roll on summer!!

22/12/2023

Bu**er me days, if Christmas hasn't rolled around again!! I guess the old saying, time flies when you're having fun, must apply here.
We've had an interesting year, it's fair to say. We parked the minor species crew in July when it went negative for JNL, and who can blame them, it's no fun logging to get a deficit at the end of the month. That meant some interesting choices to be made to keep the ship afloat for the rest of the year. I'm fairly proud that we kept everyone on the payroll, and just counted every penny so we weren't bleeding too much money each month. Luckily, we have a fantastic team and everyone put in the effort to keep our costs down and we're scraping through.

On the news front, one of our OGs has decided it's time for a change. Nev is parking his log loader, and is off to to work for a roading contractor. Nev has been an outstanding employee for us, and we wish him well next year. We have worked together for about 12 years now and Nev would always go above and beyond the call of duty whenever we asked him to. Good lord, he cut some trees down for us as well.

Attached are few pictures from the second half of the year, since we've been a bit lighter than usual on social media.

As an aside, given the above news, if someone was interested in joining the team as an operator, we'd be interested in expressions of interest to jump on board in the new year. Probably prefer a processor operator, and we're happy to train someone who's relatively new but has good character.

Have a great Christmas everyone, and hopefully a prosperous new year.

06/05/2023

Who doesn't love new iron? We took delivery of our new tether from EMS and Komatsu recently, and holy smokes, it was worth the wait. This is such a nice package, they've built it like a brick sh*t-house, but it's easy on the eye at the same time. Jono from EMS and Rochey from Komatsu Forest did a fantastic job of delivering it, as usual.

The winch drags the felling machine up the hill like nobody's business, and I think it will change how we log once we master it properly. A week or so into it and we're only scratching the surface of what we'll be able to do with it.

The only downside, is it breaks my heart tromping my muddy boots into that saucy cab. Lol

Nixin Contractors Ltd

04/04/2026

15/03/2026

01/01/2026

22/12/2025

07/12/2025

20/09/2025

25/12/2024

21/12/2024

27/09/2024

22/12/2023

06/05/2023

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