In a paddock behind the Borlase Transport yard at Wakefield is the small machine that started it all for Duncan Borlase.

The 41 trucks in the Borlase Transport fleet now working in the Nelson region forests are the result of a casual conversation which drew 17-year-old Duncan into forestry work in early 1977. Pretty good timing as it turns out with work in the Nelson forests beginning to ramp up during the 1980s.

“We got into forestry a little bit by accident,” says Duncan.

“I came from a farming background and my brother still has the farm up at Lake Rotoiti.

“We had a little CAT 922B wheel loader with a bucket on it. One of the forest managers for H. Baigent & Sons had a bach up at the lake, and we were doing a little job on the road for him.

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