LOCATED right at the Forestry Expo entrance was the imposing F20D from Swedish manufacturer Rottne, which was making its trade show debut. The strikingly liveried forwarder took pride of place on UK dealer Jim Wilmer & Sons’ trade stand and proved quite the attraction across the two days.

The eight-wheeler offers a 20-tonne load capacity, achieves maximum torque between 1,000 and 1,500 rpm and features an automatic transmission with a tractive force of 27 tonnes (270 kN). Exclusive to the F20D model is the Wide Load XL option, which offers a load capacity of up to 8.4 m².

The ergonomic cab boasts large windows, low sound levels, Rottne’s Comfort Line suspension system – which has been designed to reduce shock and impact from crane work and rough terrain – and the D5 control system, which includes an armrest-mounted colour touchscreen.

The forwarder computer is compatible with Standford 2010 as standard and has the new Forester F30 and Geoinfo software with GPS equipment as an option. Forester F30 facilitates follow-up by receiving production files from the harvester and reporting how much timber has been driven to the road.

“It’s exciting times to finally get the blue colour into the country,” said David Wilmer, director/sales at Jim Wilmer & Sons. The firm has been the UK distributor for Rottne for the best part of a year now and currently has nine on order, the first of which was sold to Treetop Forestry and is due to arrive this November.

David said that it was important to let people know Rottne has a presence in the UK again and that the reaction at Forestry Expo had been very positive: “A lot of people are excited to see them. They’ve not had a presence in the UK for quite some time and it’s something different, something new.”

He added: “We are running a fleet of around 70 forest machines of our own and we’ve got our own workshops, consisting of a parts and service department. We also have 10 field service engineers, which provides excellent after-sales backup. We’re set up for it, so it’s exciting times.”

Arne Isaksson, sales and marketing director for Rottne, travelled from Sweden to attend Forestry Expo Scotland. He commented: “To me, it’s a fantastic opportunity to find an organisation with a well-functioning service support, as Jim Wilmer & Sons has with its vehicles, with its spare parts, with its workshop and everything else, because that is so fundamental to our customer – to give good support.”