This is a YouTube video titled "John Deere Middle East Africa | Forestry | Testimonial" containing a testimonial from Gordon Date, a timber harvester with 33 years of experience in the Eastern Cape. He discusses his work harvesting oversized timber, the use of John Deere machinery in forestry, and praises the product support and quality of John Deere equipment. Another speaker briefly comments on the excellent customer support from John Deere dealerships. The content focuses on forestry operations and equipment endorsement.
My name is Gordon Date. I've been harvesting timber for 33 years in the Eastern Cape. A lot of, a lot of the time. I represent two companies, Protea Timber International and Loggerheads. And we specialize in oversized gun in the more difficult areas. The main operation is exporting veneer logs to the Far east and to Europe. We source oversized timber and we harvest that, extract it and send it off to Durban where we containerize it and export. We do about 250 cubic meters of timber a day. We use locals to harvest the timber, creating employment for them. And then we bunch with an excavator, extract with a skidder and load onto forders and move them to a depot where the trucks can get into and then run it up to the harbor in Durban. I started using John Deere machinery in Forestry in 1989 and have used John Deere machines whenever I can. You know, with the equipment that they've had available since then, I'm very happy with John Deere. They've given good product support and their products are the best. I think that they are available in forestry. With the skidder, we pre bunch for the skidder with an excavator and then the skidder grapples the timber, as you can see, to a depot where we then process it. And it works very, very well and does its 250 cubes with ease a day. From the first John Deere's I used 33 years ago. The research and development that's taken place leading up to this new machine behind me is definitely the best that we've had and I look forward to any new developments that might come along. I think the thing is with John Deere is when you buy into them, you're buying into a family. You're proud to have a John Deere sticker on your van.
With regards to the John Deere dealerships and the way that they've given their customers support, I've never had a problem with them and I've always been very, very happy. And that's why I continue to support them and buy John Deere equipment. They always look after us. It's like a family, you know, really.
That'S what John Deere is like. Once you bind to them, it's.
