USING joysticks in a forestry industry is a specialist job - and even experienced forest machine operators need the tools to improve their skills.

Now a Swedish company has developed a simulator to train new and skilled foresters in joystick use, to help make the industry more profitable.

And Sure Grip joysticks - popular with forestry machine producers such as Caterpillar, John Deere, and Komatsu Forest - will be one of only three joystick options to be offered in this exciting new pilot project.

The exciting new simulation project is being led by forestry company SCA Skog, joined by Sure Grip customer Komatsu Forest and a few other stakeholders.

It uses video, real-life scenarios, and even Virtual Reality to encourage users to hone their joystick forestry skills.

And it focuses on working your joystick smarter, not faster - concentrating on planning the order of tree felling, crane movements, and machine manoeuvring.

The company have found that operators who work slowly, deliberately, and calmly, are the most efficient - but even the best in the business can improve in a simulator environment.

For example, you can ‘harvest’ the same stand of trees - in the same conditions - over and over again, trying different ways to find out which is most efficient. That might be something you wouldn’t try in the forest itself, where the pressure is on to get the job done.

With Komatsu Forest’s simulators, the machines behave exactly the same as they do in the forest - how the logs move, and how the machinery behaves when in contact with the tree.

You can even specify tree species and density of growth to duplicate the real forest where you work.

The training guides the operator through basic training and on to full operation in the forest – and an instructor can easily follow each operator’s progress. There’s a multiplayer function that allows teams to practice together - for example a harvester and a forwarder working in the same virtual forest.

Beginning with experienced operators, the simulator could be used in future to train the next generation of forestry professionals.

The simulators give a variety of options to choose from - ten different languages; machinery options including a standard crane and combi crane; a Virtual Reality Headset; and, of course, Sure Grip joysticks.

Sure Grip’s main customers are heavy equipment manufacturers, including forestry manufacturers and agricultural machinery producers, who rely on their innovative, high quality products.

Since it was incorporated in 1996, Sure Grip has grown its business from its beginnings in the Canadian forest industry out into Europe, the US and New Zealand, and now supplies mobile heavy equipment manufacturers around the world.

Nexus supplies a full range of Sure Grip products, including those suitable for heavy applications such as forestry. To see for yourself, visit http://nexuscomponents.co.uk/Manufacturers/Products/SUREGRIP

Photo by Jace & Afsoon on Unsplash