However, a serendipitous encounter between friends Andrew Morgan and Dave Wise at the campus bar resulted in the founding of Australia’s first drowning timber firm in addition to a lifelong friendship.
The two people pull rotting logs out of Lake Pieman, which was built in 1986 for hydropower and floods Tasmania’s remote north-west woods.
The logs can be more than 20 metres deep at times.
a drawn-out procedure
If you are wondering, “If this is so brilliant, why hasn’t it already been done?” you are not alone.
In a remote area of the forest, removing logs from cold water in tannin-stained, pitch-black conditions is proving to be a bit challenging.
For the Hydrowood boys, this meant creating many of the procedures from scratch.
They had to find personnel with specialised expertise and work around a lot of bureaucracy in order to create a sophisticated and durable underwater harvester.
We’ve undoubtedly faced some difficulties, Mr. Morgan remarked.
It was necessary for us to conduct a feasibility study, design the machinery, build it, hire our amazing personnel to run the business, figure out how to push the timber, advertise it, and maintain its flow into the market.”
From the conception of the idea to the first tree being cut down, it took three years.
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned, according to Mr. Morgan, is that business takes time.
“Because of those success stories where someone came up with an idea and sold it, I believe that the media is somewhat to blame.
