CHILE - Service Manager Joe Hillenburg and Sr. Engineer Craig Gunter bring PACCAR Winch service to South America.

Hillenburg and Gunter spent two weeks in the Chilean province Bío Bío to help foresters maintain and rebuild CARCO SKW40 skidder winches. The winch, designed to pull 40,000lbs of timber per load over uneven ground, has had an impact on Chile’s thriving forestry industry.

Proper upkeep on all equipment is vital to keeping forestry operations moving. In Chile, an SKW40 can get 70 hours of use per week and pull over 300,000 tons of cut trees per year. Hillenburg and Gunter showed workers how to maintain these units by working with them to break down and rebuild multiple SKW40’s per day. They also interviewed foresters in the Andes Mountains and discussed better field service techniques.

“Everyone thinks we had a vacation…we worked every single day there including both weekends,” says Hillenburg. Though there was a short break to visit an ocean side restaurant in the town of Arauco, most of the visit was focused on learning more about technical needs in the field and teaching long term solutions.

PACCAR Winch brands are long lasting, durable and reliable under some of the most strenuous conditions. Each product is built on proven standards with innovative applications in mind. Whether it’s a simple recovery or complex lift, PACCAR Winch gets the job done and the PACCAR Service Team is there to make sure it happens. Find out more about PACCAR Winch at www.PACCARWinch.com.