100 years in the forestry business!

In 1922 a small smithy was started by Mr. Hjalmar Ljungberg in north Sweden. Today that smithy has grown into an international enterprise with customers all over the World. This week, the 100-year history of Bracke Forest AB was celebrated in the town of Bräcke where the company is located nowadays.

100 years in the forestry business

Bracke Forest is mainly known as a manufacturer of equipment for reforestation. Scarifiers, planters, and seeders are its main products, but they also offer a felling head for biomass.

Already from the beginning, in 1922, the equipment that was made by the company was for forestry and agriculture. Horse pulled timber sleighs were one bestseller back then. Today’s focus on reforestation appeared by the beginning of the 60s as requests came for better equipment than what was available on the market at the time.

In 1965, the first scarifier was presented, the “Bräckekultivatorn”. The year after, serial production was started and in 1970 the first one was sold for export, to Canada. The rest is history.

Impressive demonstration in an impressive environment

The day of the celebrations, the 11^th of May was a full-day program where the guests went by busses to a (beautiful) demo site in the forest. At the site, we were divided into groups. Every group had a guide, and we followed a trail that passed all the machines in the Bracke range.

The guide gave a presentation on every machine, and we got to see the machines in action as well. There was plenty of time for questions and discussions at each station/machine. Overall, it was a good arrangement. Even the weather was good and the food, that was cooked and served in a tent on-site, was delicious.

The machines

The machines that were shown represented all types of machines in the Bracke range, and almost all models. The first scarifier model was also present which gave a good picture of the development the Bracke machines have gone through since 1965.

Here are some photos from along the trail:

Furthermore, the 2-row trencher T28, the 3-row mounder M36, and the biomass felling head C16 were shown.

The party

A 100th anniversary should also include dinner. This case was no exception. The Bracke factory had been transferred into a dinner salon where a five-course dinner was served in the evening. The guests were local politicians, customers, suppliers, dealers, employees, and other stakeholders. Many speeches were made.

The party went on until midnight. One customer made a thoughtful remark: “One might want to avoid the machines produced on the 12^th of May 2022”. However, I think Bracke Forest is professional enough to avoid such mistakes.

Happy Birthday, Bracke Forest! We look forward to the next 100 years.

Here is the official jubilee film.

Photos: Per Jonsson