The Country 29/10/25: Jack Jordan talks to Jamie Mackay

This King Country sheep and beef farmer is also New Zealand's top axeman. He won the Stihl Timbersports World Championship individual event in Milan, Italy, last weekend for the first time. He went one better than his frustratingly close second-place finish at last year’s event. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A next guest on the country would be very handy
in Southland at the moment on the end of a chainsaw,
because this bloke can chop through a log three times
and six point three seconds, and he did so to
win the Still Timber Sports World Championship last weekend in Milan, Italy.
His name is Jack Jordan, well known to the country

(00:23):
King country farmer. Jack, you held your nerve, you finally
got there. How good does it feel to be at
the top of the tree, no pun intended, Yeah, No, it.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Feels really good to finally get the job done or
the training in preparations goes then yeah, I guess you're
just still relieved after everything you've been through the last
few months. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
Wood chopping or timber sports is a bit like cricket.
You've got short form or short formats and you've got
longer formats. I think you'd already won the faster format
World Trophy three times, but this is the longer version.
This is the test match version if you want of that.
You've just been beaten at the post. Bad pun intended

(01:04):
again last year, Jack, But you got there this year
and you beat a great competitor in the Aussie bloke
whose names just eluded me.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah, Bada May. He was the Aussie bloke and he
was I guess everyone sort of had to be the favorite,
so yeah, a goin over. I sort of knew what
I was up against and knew what it needed to
do to the beat him. So yeah, luckily it all
played off.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
It's six disciplines in the longer form event, and the
finishing one is the volatile hot saw with the super
powered chainsaw. And I remember asking you this question on
a previous occasion, Jack, but I'll ask you again. A
good question is worth asking again. How powerful is the
chainsaw you're using that you can make three cuts of
a log in six seconds?

Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yeah, so my saw is three hundred and thirty see seeds,
They sort of vary from three hundred ccs to I
think the biggest one is four hundred and thirty. So yeah,
they're all sort of custom built hot saws that are. Yeah,
they've got parts from all different sort svengines, So yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
How heavy are they?

Speaker 2 (02:09):
I think mine's about thirty QoS. But when you try
and pick it up when it's not going, it's like
lifting a bloody lead brick. It seems quite heavier out
in front of you. But once you've actually started it with,
it's got so many RPMs, it's sort of basically picks
itself up the hardly notice, Yeah, picking it up because
of you just weaves up and wants to go up

(02:30):
into the ear.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
Does it rip your arm off trying to pool started?
I'm assuming it's a pool start, is it.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, No, it's not too bad. It's got decompression. Bloody
button there. If it wasn't the decompression that you'd certainly
pull your arm off. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Well I did joke that you'd be handy in Southland
at the moment you've been away from the King Country
farm and I know you're flat out. You've got a
sheet and beef farm. I think your the beef cows
are carving at the moment. You've got some docking. We
call it tailing down this end of the country. To
do it was a bit of a hit and run
miss to Italy.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
Yeah, for sure. Usually we sort of usually austin again
and get the timerswaks out of the way before get
on and yeah, we're building on the farm, so you'll
be get into it. It's yeah, you're sort of your
see on social maybe all the stuff that's going on.
What's the country as far as flooding and that goes
the rough weather, it's pretty hard to see what some

(03:21):
people are gone through. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yeah, And I guess for all those poor Southland farmers,
Southwest Otago farmers and farmers around the country have got
trees to chop up. The secret to a good chainsaw, Jack,
because I spent a winter on one many many years
ago when I was a young man, I always figured
the secret to a good chainsaw was a sharp chainsaw.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
Yeah, dead right. If you haven't got a sharp chainsaw,
you your baggat. I just showed overseas for me.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Well I didn't this time, because you are the still
Timber Sports World Champion. Three cuts of a log and
six point three seconds, Jack Jordan Safe travels back to
the King Country farm. Good luck with the carving and
the docking.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
I thank you, really appreciate it.