Does mechanised planting have a future in New Zealand forestry?
New Zealand’s forestry sector is steadily building a clearer picture of what mechanised planting can and cannot deliver across our steep, broken and highly variable landscapes.
Working with a number of industry partners, the Precision Silviculture Programme supported trials of two different machine types in the 2025 planting season, an excavator mounted Risutec SKB 240 and the adapted tracked base PlantmaX.
Both trials provided valuable, practical insights into machine productivity, terrain limitations, and the development required to improve performance so that mechanisation becomes a consistently viable alternative to manual crews, particularly in steep terrain.
Pan Pac’s adapted PlantmaX achieved positive results in the Hawkes Bay, recording up to 1,636 seedlings per hour in combined planting and turning time, showing potential to reach 1,799 seedlings per productive planting hour at peak performance.
Even with early phase delays, the machine’s strong planting rates produced planting cost estimates in the range of $0.28–$0.84 per seedling, a level that signals potential long term efficiency gains.
Mechanical planting in NZ: PlantmaX adaption report
Importantly, the planting unit itself proved reliable, indicating that with a more robust carrier base and improved terrain handling, PlantmaX could become a high productivity cornerstone of mechanised establishment in flat and rolling terrain.
Meanwhile, the excavator mounted Risutec SKB 240 indicated what’s possible on New Zealand’s steep and complex landscapes. This year’s trials made significant improvements over earlier excavator-based systems, especially in positioning efficiency and planting workflow.
Although operating costs well exceeded that of current manual planting operations, with productivity averages of around 98 trees per hour, the trials highlighted clear opportunities for gains in efficiency through enhanced cassette handling, fine-tuned beak settings and operator training.
Mechanised planting with the risutec SKN240: Trials, adaptions & planting quality report
Mechanised planting options in NZ – Risutec SKB240 planting head
Beyond productivity, both systems offer alternative strategic benefits to current operations. Mechanisation offers the opportunity for combining site preparation and planting, more consistent spacing, precise tracking of individual tree locations, and—critically—future integration of water, fertiliser or hydrogel application at the individual tree level. As climate pressures increase, these value-added capabilities are expected to become increasingly important.
It’s still early days for mechanised planting in New Zealand – with a long-way to go to understand their future in our forestry systems. Continued trial and evaluation, engineering refinement, better carrier platforms, improved guidance systems and more tailored seedling supply chains will all be needed before the full benefits can be realised.
These trials are just the beginning of a journey towards mechanisation of silvicultural operations, but expectations must be grounded in the realities of our terrain. Productivity will vary, development will take time, and the value of precision planting, integrated fertiliser and water/ hydrogel application will become more apparent as we monitor the performance of trees over the rotation.
Click here to read more: https://fgr.nz/document/what-land-is-available-for-mechanised-planting/
Planting in the Top of the South. Photo by Mitch White, Aspect Forestry
