Paul standing in front of the Rosin RD 980 mounted on a Timbco. It was one of his very early harvesting heads
Tumut-based Rosin Developments’ Paul Rosin passed away on May 24, aged 55. A service celebrating Paul’s life was held at the Tumut Lawn Cemetery on 5 June.
The following is a eulogy for Paul prepared by Komatsu Forest Managing Director Brett Jones.
It was a great honour to know Paul, I certainly don’t need to tell anyone who knew him about his qualities.
I would just like say a few words regarding Paul from an industry and product development point of view.
A Valmet 901 which was the first harvester Paul purchased back in 1990.
I first met Paul back in 1990 when I delivered his very first harvester being a Valmet 901-wheel harvester. Paul and Steven had just won their first harvesting contract with ANM paper in Albury and were based in Shelley.
Over the following years, I learnt Paul was an extraordinary person in many ways, unique certainly comes to mind. He had such a great understanding of equipment which is what placed him at the top of the field in so many ways.
Whilst the 901 was a nice little harvester for its time, Paul had far bigger ideas which were to go to the next level. So, during the mid-’90s Paul started to develop what would become the Rosin RD980 harvesting head. This product soon developed into other models being the RD970 and the RD975 along with several other attachments.
These products were all sold in many different countries around the world and were a great success in their time.
Paul was always able to see an opportunity and had a very strong association with Valmet or KF as we know it today.
During these years Paul also formed a very strong relationship with the KF engineering team in Umea Sweden. He also established a very strong relationship with the engineers and the owner of the Timbco factory in the US.
I personally know that Paul was highly respected by these two factories, especially by the engineers who admired him.
In the mid 2000s Paul continued to develop new products which is when the CF or KF felling heads were developed. This product range has now become a leader in its field, to the extent other companies have now copied Paul’s design.
Due to the very strong relationship Paul had with KF, it was decided that Komatsu Ltd would acquire this product range.
This product has now been rebranded under Komatsu Ltd Quadco brand with the following model numbers being QB2500, QB3500, and QB4400. This sale was another feather in Pauls’ cap as it involved an ongoing royalty agreement.
In more recent years Paul decided to place a stronger focus on his harvesting business but this didn’t stop him from thinking of or creating a new concept on the spur of the moment. In some cases, it was just about changing a design of another product, so it became a better product, I believe Paul saw this as his duty and responsibility to himself.
They say the ground support crew for Apollo 13 were a smart team when they were able to come up with a design where they joined a round filter to a square filter from within the spacecraft of Apollo 13, I think Paul managed many missions of this nature on a regular basis, his ability to solve a problem was amazing, he was a true pioneer when it came to the timber industry, many people could only wish to be at this level, he just seemed to always have another new idea.
The last harvesting head Paul built. It was for Gary Birtch and his son Greg who are in the photo.
To show my respect for Paul, I had an old favourite Valmet jacket that I was meant to stop wearing approximately 10 years ago when Komatsu Forest became our new company name, on the front of this jacket the words “Logging Pioneers” are embroidered, this Valmet jacket now rests with Paul, may he rest in peace.
