When it comes to forestry, it certainly has its own household names. But as one of just two believed to be working in the UK, Joe White’s LKT 120 skidder might not be too familiar to many. And it boasts a fascinating history to boot.
THERE is a certain boxiness to the way it holds itself together – each body part clinging onto another – that oozes an endearing, sepia-tinted quality. One quick glance and it’s obvious this is not a machine of the 21st century, instead caught somewhere between the days of axes and fire lookout towers, and the modern world’s drones, biofuel and instant, near-relentless feedback.
It is the middle of spring and Forestry Journal finds itself caked in mud and at the heart of a Storm Arwen-windblown site in Cumbria. A Ponsse Buffalo shifts logs in the distance while one of the manufacturer’s Ergo harvesters lies in wait, ready to spring into action at any moment.
But it’s a very different yellow machine that’s the centre of attention today.
With its faded, blocky façade, it looks like it could have been torn straight out of grainy images of the Soviet Union of the 1970s, but this Slovakian-built LKT 120 skidder is just as key to the forestry operations of one firm as any bit of kit developed since the turn of the millennium.
Once proudly owned by the late Ronnie MacVicar, it is now the property of Joe White of White’s Tree Services, who purchased it when the industry stalwart passed away.
On the day FJ joined Joe and 20-year-old handcutter Theo McNeill at the woodland on the outskirts of Ennerdale, the skidder was being used to fell oversized Sitka spruce, measuring at up to 1.4 metres in diameter. With a tug and a heave, it did just that with ease.
“Ronnie bought it brand new at the APF in the late 1990s,” Joe said as he explained how he came to purchase the 120, believed to be just one of two working in the UK today. “He did a lot of work for AJ Scots.
“Ronnie used to tell me that I should buy the LKT, but I just laughed while cutting away. I didn’t want to buy machines. He told me that it would make me money, and the price I would pay for it wouldn’t buy a three-point linkage winch.
“Randomly it popped into my head one day. I hadn’t heard from Ronnie so decided to phone him. His son Stephen answered, and it turned out Ronnie had just passed away.
“After the funeral, his widow asked me if I was still interested because Ronnie had mentioned that I might be. I couldn’t turn it down.”
And so the 120 became the first machine to be purchased by Joe. It wouldn’t be the last (and more on that later). For his money, he got two double-drum winches with a 14-tonne pull on each, which gives it a vital edge. The logging plate can be lowered and raised hydraulically to act as an anchor, and this creates a party trick he is only too happy to show off; it can move its wheels while lifted off the ground.
“The speed of the winches – which are LKT – is phenomenal, and so is the power,” Joe said. “The best thing I like about it is that you can drop the front and rear blades, meaning you have full winching force and don’t get dragged back. We use it for all sorts of work. Because of the double blade you can put it at the top of a hill and not be scared about going back down the hill!”
“I haven’t looked back”
After spending just an afternoon with Joe, it’s hard to imagine him doing anything other than tree-care work. But it could have been so very different.
“I’m a welder by trade and my dad is an engineer,” he said. “I did an apprenticeship as a mechanical engineer and applied to where my dad worked, but I never heard back. I then started to work for a local company.
“It was alright, but I soon became sick of getting to work when it was dark, shutting the door behind me, and welding all day, then leaving when it was dark.
“Then one day, out of the blue, I met a boy in the pub who asked if I wanted to be a tree surgeon. I wasn’t really into trees, but eventually decided to go for it. I haven’t looked back.”
After jumping into arb-focused tree care, Joe was convinced to give the woods a go by Deck Murray. A time on the saw followed – when he met and worked for Ronnie, as well as the likes of Joe McKnight – before he branched out on his own in 2016 and set up White’s Tree Services.
Today, his business is thriving and operates across the UK. As well as running the LKT and the two aforementioned Ponsses (plus a unique blue Wisent), the company boasts a Doosan 225 with a Ponsse H73e head, a Hyundai 125 digger, and a McCormick 120 tractor with Botex trailer, while it also owns Jensen 540t and Heizohack 300 chippers.
“The IRA was getting Semtex from Slovakia”
Originally designed to be exported into former states of the Soviet Union and into Germany, the 120 dates back to the 1980s. Manufactured at LKT’s Trstená base, the skidder was available in two modifications; a “basic” machine and a trailer tractor, featuring a grab claw. Given that LKT has no UK dealer, finding details on the company is a little tricky and some of the history a bit unclear, but it traces its origins back to the 1960s, with the first LKT 75 forest skidder leaving the production line in 1971. A simple machine, its design went down so well that it became the basis for pretty much every LKT model that has followed since.
Across the decades, LKT says it has produced more than 17,000 units that have been used in 26 countries around the world. Today, its models have a touch of green to them, sharing a not-too-dissimilar look to HSM’s forest machines.
Joe added: “When the LKT arrived originally ahead of that APF, they took it apart at customs because it was Slovakian and, at the time, the IRA was getting Semtex from Slovakia. So, they took it all apart to make sure it wasn’t full of Semtex!”
“The best thing I have ever done”
Back to the north of England, and FJ watches as Joe and Theo use the 120 to bring down several impressively tall trees on the edge of the site. Too difficult for a harvester to access – or even cut – it is the kind of job that only handcutters can do. The felled timber is destined for either BSW or Iggesund’s mill at Workington, a stone’s throw from the woodland.
“The trees we are felling are oversized timber, which the harvester won’t be able to handle,” Joe said. “We can handcut them and put wedges in the bottle jacks, but because we have the skidder as a winch we can use it. It’s quicker, easier, and we are not putting as much strain on our bodies.
“With that winch, you can push stuff about and manoeuvre it to where you want it. Places on this site are very wet. We need a lot of brash in places, and we can drag the timber to there so the forwarder can get it.
“Theo is on the saw, so he will put the gob and the cut in the tree. I’ll put the LKT in a suitable position that’s far enough away. We’ll then drag the winches to the tree and put it just above head height. Then I’ll walk back, we communicate with one another about when it’s safe to pull it over, and then I’ll use the winch buttons to pull it out to where we want it.”
Theo is particularly impressive. Having joined White’s Tree Services as a teenager, he has shown a remarkable talent for cutting, relying upon his Stihl 500I Cvw. And at a time when the industry is consistently moving away from hand cutting in favour of mechanisation, his skills with a saw are sure to set him apart. Joe agrees.
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“Theo came to us about two years ago,” Joe said. “He had left college and just dropped us an email, saying he was looking to get into tree surgery and wondering if we had anything for him.
“The best thing I have ever done is get Theo. He works so hard.
“I think people will try and go with machines as much as possible, and that will be bleak for handcutters. They don’t want us to do the work because they think it’s not safe – but things aren’t always completely safe. If you winch a machine down a steep slope, it could go wrong.
“It’s only dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing.”
Given the LKT’s near-unique nature, there are certainly some challenges that come with running one as part of modern-day forestry operations.
“Because it’s from Slovakia, trying to find parts is hard,” Joe said. “Google Translate is amazing. There are still parts for them but you have to look around. We also have to make bits and bobs for it ourselves.
“Luckily, my dad is a genius as an engineer and we’ve managed to find bits that fit over the years.”
Despite the challenges, it’s easy to see why Joe loves his LKT. There’s a history to it that can’t be matched by a shiny piece of new kit that’s more computer than machine. Then there’s the human connection, too. In Forestry Journal’s February 2004 issue, Ronnie MacVicar was featured alongside that very same skidder, operated by Jim Young. Back then it was being used to shift large timber and it did it with as much ease as it’s now doing for today’s new generation of forestry operators.
“I love it – although everyone hates it!” Joe said. “It was the first forestry machine I bought, which is probably why. It’s not used every day. Some days it works, some days it doesn’t. It has done everything.
“LKT were pioneers, but, while everyone knows LKT, no one knows the 120. That’s partly because it’s a pig to turn, but I’ve gotten used to it.”
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