About

Our Journey: Learn about why we do what we do, where we've come from and where we're going.

Humble beginnings

Our mission is to create a safer and more productive steep slope industries throughout the world. We design and manufacture a range of mechanised steep slope equipment that significantly reduces the health and safety risk to workers whilst at the same time increasing the overall efficiency and productivity of crews.

Based in the New Zealand town of Brightwater at the top of the South Island, we produce the Falcon Forestry Equipment (FFE) range as well as providing maintenance and repairs services to logging crews and FFE equipment owners.

Each product is based around the fundamental principal of developing uncomplicated, easy to use equipment that reduces health and safety risks to workers whilst increasing the productivity of the entire crew. This is achieved through developing specific equipment to remove workers from the riskiest parts of the process. The mechanised equipment then provides the crew with the ability to carry out their tasks more efficiently and in greater volume.

Our history

DC Equipment was founded in 2010 as DC Repairs by Dale and Christine Ewers owners of one of New Zealand’s largest independent steep slope harvesting companies, Moutere Logging. DC Equipment started out as small two person repair business responsible for maintaining Moutere Logging’s forestry machinery. In 2009 Dale, Christine and the staff saw an additional purpose for the business. Driven by the intent to reduce the amount of health & safety incidents and the potential for serious harm to their logging crew members involved in log extraction, DC Equipment began developing a mechanised grapple carriage.

After an extensive design and trial process, DC Equipment began commercially producing the remote operated Falcon Claw Grapple Carriage. With two models and over 30 sales in New Zealand and Chile, the Falcon Claw has considerably reduced the number of accidents in the crews where it is used. In Moutere logging crews alone the introduction of the Falcon Claw has seen an 87.5% reduction in overall H&S incidents from 2011 to 2015. In doing so the Falcon Claw has also proved to be just as efficient as the older method of crews attaching chains to trees and is even more productive than the older method on easier slope terrain.

After the successful introduction of the Falcon Claw, DC Equipment has developed further products including the Falcon Grapple Camera System for Swing Yarders, the Falcon Hydraulic Winch Assist for mechanised felling and most recently the Falcon 60 Tower Yarder.

Today

Today, DC Equipment sells products throughout New Zealand as well as exporting to Chile and Canada, North America and Australia. We are continuing to build on our current product range by developing new products that will progress our mission towards zero Health & Safety incidents and greater productivity for high-risk, steep -slope industries.

To keep up to date with our latest developments and products, please sign up to our mailing list or for more information please use the contacts us using the links below.

Our Mission

Is to create a safer and more productive steep-slope logging industry throughout the world.

We design and manufacture a range of mechanised steep slope logging equipment that significantly reduces the health and safety risk to workers whilst at the same time increasing the overall efficiency and productivity of crews.