It was a choice of man or machine for Adrian Strudwick, Brentwood Tree Surgery boss.
After weighing up the pros and cons, he bought an Avant 630 compact loader, which has not only accelerated operations across his tree surgery and firewood businesses but also has unlocked fresh opportunities to turn the machine into what he calls “the centre of the firm”.
Adrian was an aviation engineer before joining the Armed Forces in 1982. After leaving the military, he retrained in arboriculture, graduated in the subject and set up Brentwood Tree Surgery.
The business has expanded to include firewood processing, site/estate management and driveway installation — and the Avant 630 has been instrumental in driving that growth.
Pivotal in driving that growth, The ‘630’ is more than a forestry machine for Adrian – it’s a versatile workhorse, he says. Used on-site and at the yard, the loader handles tasks as varied as loading trucks and towing trailers to moving hay bales for horses and feeding timber into kilns.
“We use it for shifting machinery, unloading our Unimog, clearing the yard, moving crates of firewood – you name it,” says Adrian. “It’s sped up production so much. What used to take multiple people and hours of manual labour, we can do faster, more efficiently and with less fatigue.”

Loader size, agility and range of attachments confer added versatility: Adrian uses forks, loading bucket, power rake and a stone burier, with plans to add a stump grinder and flail mower to his kit.
On-site at Barrack Wood, a historic woodland near Warley and Thorndon Country Park, Adrian, the ‘630’ helps him to manage timber extraction with “minimal impact on the environment.
“It’s relatively light on the ground, so you don’t get the damage you would with a 10-tonne forestry vehicle,” he explains. “You can trailer it in and out easily, and you don’t need to leave it on site overnight.”
Barrack Wood is a delicate environment. Careful management and the loader’s low ground pressure combine to deliver sustainable woodland work.
Adrian also runs a kiln-dried firewood company, reportedly the only one in the area with a wood kiln capable of drying 15 te of timber in just five days.
“All waste wood is burnt in biomass boilers to fuel the kiln,” says Adrian. “The Avant loads the firewood processor, moves the crates into the kiln, and unloads them when they’re ready.”
The firewood meets DeFRA and Woodsure standards – a status he credits the ‘630’ for helping him achieve. “You can do so many different types of work with it – and the quick-release hydraulics allow switching attachments in seconds.”
Three years after buying the loader, Adrian’s eyeing a second unit or upgrading the original.
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