Ponsse

Ponsse is one of the world’s leading forestry machinery manufacturers and its customer-oriented operations are always guided by the wants and needs of forestry machinery entrepreneurs.

The factory in Vieremä, Finland, has grown from 300 m2 to four hectares, but the mission remains the same: to contribute to the success of customers with productive and reliable PONSSE forestry machines and services.

PONSSE forestry machines are based on environmentally friendly logging (CTL), where trees are felled, delimbed and cut into various assortments of logs before leaving the forest. The product range covers all categories of forestry machines, from early thinning and forest energy harvesting to intensive regeneration felling, as well as all logging sites, from soft soils to steep slopes . PONSSE products and their key components are designed and manufactured by Ponsse in Vieremä. This ensures that we remain at the forefront of development and that our products meet the requirements of forestry professionals.

The Story of a Forestry Machinery Pioneer

Einari Vidgrén, the son of a small farmer from Northern Savonia, started working at logging sites using a frame saw in 1957, at the age of 14. Einari was carried away by forestry and at the end of the 1960s, he developed a load-carrying forest tractor in a local village workshop. The machine was named after a mixed breed dog that roamed the village. Ponsse’s fur was a mottled grey, and it sure was an ugly dog. However, it was a persistent hunter, and you never had to return empty-handed from a hunting trip with Ponsse. When Einari drove his first self-made forest tractor out of the workshop, the villagers were amazed by the brute of a machine made from recycled parts: “What kind of a ‘Ponsse’ is that going to be?” “Now it even has a name – it’s going to be Ponsse!” Einari decided.

In 1994, Ponsse was the first forest machine manufacturer in the world to be awarded the ISO 9001 quality certificate. This led to intensified machine development work and an expansion of the product range. When the export market opened up, the company was listed in the stock exchange in 1995. Today, Ponsse operates in harvesting markets in 40 different countries, and 75 percent of its net sales come from exports.