A vibrant Elmia Wood 2025 bodes well

In keeping with a five-decade heritage, the trade show was defined by live machinery demonstrations, innovations, and an atmosphere filled with optimism for the future and business opportunities.

We’re very pleased with the positive response from both exhibitors and visitors. Elmia Wood 2025 became the meeting place for the forestry sector that we’ve worked towards – full of energy, commitment, and a fantastic atmosphere out in the forest. We are proud to uphold our position as the world’s leading forestry fair, and we’re already looking forward to welcoming the industry back in 2027, said Johannes Hansson, Business Manager for Elmia Wood.

Both debutantes and lifelong exhibitors

Elmia Wood attracted both first-time exhibitors and long-standing industry players who see the demo trade show as a natural venue for showcasing their latest solutions.

While most of the “big iron” forest machinery brands were missing from the exhibitor listing, for reasons previously communicated by the brands, others that did participate took full advantage of having less competition on site – for instance, Logset, IRUM, and ProSilva, the latter that launched a new suspended cab for its J20 forwarder.

Be that as it may, for Emil Glömmen from Swiss machinery manufacturer Menzi Muck AG, it was an Elmia Wood debut with the firm’s novel universal tool carrier.

While the flat, boulderless terrain in Bratteborg is anything but challenging for a Menzi Muck carrier, it provided an ideal platform to perform a spectacular “dance”, demonstrating the carrier’s unique capabilities when it comes to maneuverability while wowing onlookers.

Steep slope logging in neighbouring Norway is the first forestry application that comes to mind, but also other conventional vegetation control applications, such as roadside verges and utility right-of-way maintenance.

Our tool carrier has gained a lot of attention at construction fairs. This is the first time we’re exhibiting at Elmia Wood, and it feels like the perfect fit with the forestry applications our machine can now offer, commented Emil Glömmen.

No doubt, there are other applications that a savvy contractor might be inclined to Muck about with, as it were, and it will be interesting to follow the company’s progress in the Nordics.

Bioenergy tech – grinders, chippers, biomass boilers, and firewood processors

As ever, there were plenty of firewood processors and biomass boilers in action and on display. Hardly surprising since many forest owners, and other rural households, source fuelwood from their backyard.

A recreational and forest management activity that has an economic dividend.

Other bioenergy implements and equipment of note included various tree-shears and accumulating harvesting heads such as those from Farma, RagnarTech, and Bracke Forest.

The dedicated bioenergy area out on the forest trail comprised big iron names in shredders, grinders, and chippers such as Albach, Bandit Industries, Bruks, Morbark, Terex – CBI, and Vermeer, to mention a few.

We’re drawn to the broad international perspective Elmia Wood offers. The interest during our demo runs has exceeded expectations, said Thommy Nilsson, Sales Manager for Komptech in Sweden, who demonstrated their biomass crusher on-site.

While Albach had its Diamant, Bandit had its Beast, Komptech had its Axtor, Morbark had its Wood Hog, and Vermeer had its HG, all well-established and capable machines, what stole the show in terms of size and colour was the all-new RagnarTech UFKES 9400 from legendary size reduction machinery builder Anders Ragnarsson, founder of CBI that subsequently became part of Terex.

50-year exhibitors are still going strong

To mark its 50^th anniversary, Elmia Wood posted an array of information boards out on the forestry trail highlighting (technical) highlights of each event from its inception in 1975.

Some of these Elmia Classic machines were to be found scattered around the trail.

Exhibitors that have participated in all of Elmia’s forestry fairs over the past 50 years were marked with a special 50^th anniversary logo at their respective stands.

Local global “forest and garden” power tool manufacturer Husqvarna is one of a handful of exhibitors that have participated in all of Elmia’s forestry fairs over the past 50 years.

The atmosphere has been fantastic! Visitors are really curious about new developments and eager to try our chainsaws in practice. The test logs ran out almost immediately – that says something about the level of interest, said Lasse Strandell, Product Specialist at Husqvarna.

Germany-headed global power tool colleague, and cutting-edge competitor, STIHL AG, headline sponsor of STIHL Timbersports, which held the Nordic championships during Elima Wood, also celebrated 50 years at Elmia Wood, and shared the sentiment.

We’ve seen a fantastic flow of visitors and a strong interest in our latest products. The new trail layout has really helped – we’ve had people in the stand all day. We’re absolutely thrilled, said Clara Bergström, Product Manager for Stihl’s professional range at Andreas Stihl Norden AB.

Presumably, it was the flip of a coin that decided the chainsaw brand that the Elmia Wood project manager used for the board-cutting ceremony on day one to mark the opening of the event…

A trade event that drives business and innovation

For many exhibitors, old and new alike, a trade show like Elmia Wood is an ideal platform for product updates and launches.

Indeed, the 50^th anniversary exhibition, along with the Elmia Classic’s scattered about the grounds, is a reminder of just how much innovation and business

For instance, Logset, one of the few big iron forest machinery companies that participated, had a full demo stand showcasing its eight-wheeled harvester and a new version of its 4F GT forwarder.

Newswise, the company released four new harvester head models, thereby expanding its harvester head range. The 4.0 series replaces the 3.0 series, which was first introduced in 2009, with the TH60, TH70, TH80, and TH90, respectively.

Furthermore, Logset launched a new crane line, the H series, with three model sizes, the H245, H325, and H405.

Swedish forest machinery manufacturer Vimek AB, a Fassi Group company, launched a six-wheeled version of its popular 470 thinning harvester and 870.2 forwarder.

However, Elmia Wood is not just about showing products – deals are made right in the forest. Portable sawmill manufacturer Logosol used Elmia Wood to premiere its new bandsaw mill.

Elmia Wood is a real business platform for us. We know we make direct sales here at the fair. It’s unique to meet so many of our customers in one place, said Robert Berglund, CEO of Logosol.

Small-scale machine manufacturer Alstor is of a similar opinion.

Our target group is here, and they’re genuinely ready to buy. We’ve met customers from all over Sweden, and from new markets where demand is clearly growing, said Kristian Laurell, CEO of Alstor.

Traditionally, Alstor’s focus has been on the self-employed forest owner who wants a small, efficient forestry machine.

We still have our core customer group there. With our 840 series, which came out a few years ago, we saw that arborists and other professional segments became interested. And now with the 850 series, we are taking another step and obviously appealing to pure professional crews that perform thinnings. We are broadening our range without losing our focus on gentle, within-forest-stands machines, Kristian Laurell said.

The company also launched its first-ever roller-fed harvester head option, from Finnish Kone-Ketonen Oy. Stroke harvester heads have up until now been the standard for Alstor’s popular range of harvesters.

We know that our stroke-head units deliver. But we are still often asked if there are no roller-fed units. Now we were ready to take that step. Keto’s head has belt rollers that work incredibly well. The head is available for our new harvesters and our combi machine, said Kristian Laurell.

One of the most talked-about demonstrations came from PlantMa Forestry, presenting its PlantMax dual soil prep and mechanized tree planting solution.

It’s inspiring to showcase a fully operational and efficient planting system. Many still don’t realize how far this technology has come – this isn’t the future, it’s already here. PlantMax is spreading rapidly across the world, and demand will only increase after Elmia Wood, said Magnus Sandström, CEO of Plantma Forestry.

A vibrant meeting place

There’s been a wonderfully lively buzz throughout the area. Visitors and exhibitors together demonstrate that Elmia Wood is an important meeting place. You could really feel the energy radiating from the industry. I’m also struck by the mix – big and small players, Swedish and international, experienced and new. Together, we created something memorable in the Bratteborg forest, commented Anna-Karin Zinnerfors, CEO of Elmia, reflecting on her “Elmia Wood” experience.

Elmia’s project manager, Johannes Hansson, had similar reflections.

The best part of this year’s fair was the atmosphere – engaged visitors, active exhibitors, machines in motion, and a strong international presence. It truly became a vibrant meeting place for the entire forestry sector. The redesigned trail across the fairground proved to be a real success. Relocating over 100 exhibitors, enhancing the visitor route, and introducing new stages all contributed to improved flow and a more accessible, engaging experience for our visitors, Johannes Hansson said.

Although many of the traditional big iron names were absent, one can only concur with Anna-Karin Zinnerfors and Johannes Hansson – the atmosphere was buoyant and buzzing in anticipation.

There were tonnes of new kit to see, many in action, plenty of new companies, equipment, gadgets, services, and contacts to behold while catching up with friends and other familiar faces.

The redesigned trails with special interest arenas such as the Drone Zone, along with convenient and well-placed shortcuts, meant that visitors could make several trips to their area of primary interest with energy to spare, avoiding the ebb-and-flow surges between the field area and the forest circuit that previous editions suffered from.

All in all, this bodes well for the coming editions of Elmia Wood in Bratteborg in 2027, 2029, and 2031, respectively. Hopefully, some of those names and brands that were absent will be back with a vengeance, rolling out new forest technology and innovations that may yet become an Elmia Classic.