Forestry contractor's new Eco Log has Volvo Penta's 1,000th engine

A family business in the countryside, an unexpected celebration, and an engine that just keeps going. 

WHEN a forestry contractor purchased an Eco Log harvester, little did he know it was the start of a decade-long love affair. When that same contractor ordered an updated model this year, he was shocked to discover it was a milestone machine – the 1,000th Volvo Penta-powered Eco Log.

In the spring, Frans Spetz bought one of the manufacturer's new 590Gs, 10 years on from acquiring his 580E. Fitted with the very first Volvo Penta engine ever installed in a forestry application, its D8 Stage IV engine is still running today – more than 11,000 work hours later – in the same harvester, and with only routine maintenance since its installation. 

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And when Frans – the co-owner of Nitta Rundvirke – met with Eco Log and Volvo Penta to collect his new model, running on the latest D8, he was greeted by an unusually great number of people out in the forest, who told him of his landmark purchase. 

He said:  “They had brought cake and stuff, and there – under the hood of my new harvester – was the engine with the golden cover.” 

Working out of western Sweden, Frans’ D8 Volvo Penta engines – old and new alike – are put to the test every workday (Image: PR)

Working out of western Sweden, Frans’ D8 Volvo Penta engines – old and new alike – are put to the test every day, by him and his colleagues. The engines’ robustness and reliability make his forestry operations more efficient, and contribute to a more worry-free work environment. 

“The engines just keep going, meaning that we can keep going, too," he said. "No repair needed, only occasional routine maintenance. It’s cool to know that the thousandth engine sits right there, in our harvester. Not that we get that many opportunities to look at it, since it rarely ever needs to be checked.”

Frans inspects the D8 engine (Image: PR)

Adding that many in the forestry industry partly choose Eco Log’s machines because they are equipped with Volvo Penta engines, Frans said: “When you dimension everything correctly, and the engine is easy to work with, it just makes everything a lot easier."