The first edition of the Swedish Forestry Expo is over. I haven’t seen any figures for visitors, but the impression is that it was a success. The organizers, the Swedish Trade Association for Suppliers of Mobile Machines (ML) wanted a narrow fair for large forest machinery and equipment for those, and that’s exactly what it was. 
Swedish Forestry Expo – impressions
Figures might be good, but the most important is that visitors and exhibitors were happy, and they were. The exhibiting companies and their customers had time for each other. The fairground was small, meaning that the visitors/customers could come back a little later if “their” supplier was occupied when they came to the stand. So, both suppliers and customers could meet several times throughout the day.
Activities
There were no actual demos at the fair. Logically as there were no trees, and most machines were stationary. But there were other activities such as contests of different kinds. E.g., Rottne and Palfinger had crane operator competitions. 
There were some demos at the fair, but nothing that made noise. The “noise” was mainly music, and most “demos” were to be seen on large screens on the stands. 
Olofsfors took the opportunity to push for their fundraiser for the Pink Ribbon and the fight against breast cancer. On the stand, a pink track (= Ribbon = Band. The same words in Swedish) was displayed. 
News
I know that I’m difficult when it comes to news within forestry machinery. I want “giant steps” if I’ll call it “news”, like when the horses were replaced by machines, or the ax by chainsaws. Logically this fair was no exception. There was news, but mainly “old news” and finetuning. Let’s start with some old news:
Ponsse launched their Mammoth and Giant already a year ago, but they were also shown here. The Ponsse EV1, the electrical machine, had its Sweden premiere at the Swedish Forestry Expo. It was one of the few machines at the fair that was demonstrated.
Komatsu Forest showed the interesting concept-machine Centipede. And, of course, the new 8-wheeled 951XC harvester, which I would count as “finetuning”. After all, 8-wheeled harvesters have been around for quite some time now, just like 6-wheeled ones like the new Sampo harvester. 
More news
Furthermore, Rottne showed an updated cabin, Bracke Forest showed an updated planter, and of course, there were more updates and finetuning presented at the fair. More than you can cover in the one day I spent at the fair.
There was more news at the Swedish Forestry Expo. Enough for another article. So, stay tuned. The most exciting stuff is yet to come.
