THE 10,000TH PONSSE FOREST MACHINE IN VIEREMÄ ON 30 JANUARY

Einari Vidgrén delivered the first Ponsse Paz forest machine to machine entrepreneur Eero Vainikainen in 1971. On the wall of the shabby coffee room of the small machine shop, there was a map of Finland. A pin was placed on the location where the customer was based, Karttula.

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It was a difficult time in the Finnish economy. Industrialization was only beginning, farm fields had been rapidly removed from use and hundreds of thousands had migrated to Sweden to find work. It was a time of recession.

However, Einari firmly believed in the newly completed machine. “This will become the Mercedes of the forests” was the phrase he kept repeating in the small Vieremä village, far removed from industrial centres. In the beginning, the production quantities were modest, and the young entrepreneur could not get any financing. However, the machines built with hard work functioned well and were constantly developed.

Years have passed and Einari's work continues. Ponsse has reached the top of forest machine manufacturers worldwide.

We will hand over the 10,000th PONSSE forest machine to the customer on Friday, 30 January. The map that started from a single pin has since gathered pins in more than forty countries. The 10,000thPONSSE machine will again be marked on the map on Karttula.