It all began with two childhood mates, a digger and a couple of chainsaws.

Campbell Contracting co-owners Jeff McNeilly and Craig Campbell, who have been friends since their school days in Ranfurly, began their logging contracting business eleven years ago.

Campbell had been logging down South and had moved to Mid Canterbury for his wife's work as a midwife while McNeilly was working overseas.

"I was logging for another guy here at the time when we had all the winds. I thought we might as well buy our own digger. Jeff was over in the mines in Australia and getting sick of it, so he came back, and we got into it," Campbell says.

The excavator that started in all was on loan from a friend.

"Our mate just sort of gave a digger to us and said, if you make some money, pay for it. If you don't, give it back.

"We managed to pay for it and just went from there."

The business levelled up a notch when the pair bought a processor.

"It's the first step when you sort of jump up production because before that, you are sort of cutting up everything with a chain saw."

Between logging, land clearing and firewood, the business took off.

Just over a decade on, Campbell Contracting has grown to three logging crews, 13 staff, nine excavators, logging trucks, and skidders.

The business operates throughout the South Island, focusing on South Canterbury and Banks Peninsula.

"Basically we have to go where the work is. There's not a lot of wood left in Mid Canterbury."

All machinery maintenance and repair is done in-house in a dedicated workshop at the company's Mayfield yard, saving the business money and time.

"It's a cost-saving measure, and it gets repairs done quicker.

"If you need something done, you go into the workshop and build it up rather than trying to do it in the long grass and the rain."

The key to the business's success has been a strong work ethic, a willingness to take on jobs other companies won't touch, and diversification.

"We are well known for doing a good job, and there are not too many jobs we won't tackle," Campbell said.

The pair recently added a mobile Pezzolato solid drum wood chipper to their machinery arsenal, which means they can supply dairy farms with cost-effective wood chips for calf bedding.

The tractor-towed, PTO-driven wood chipper, complete with its own crane for efficiency, was imported from Italy last month and has already been put to work with impressive results.

"One of the reasons we bought it was because of the quality of the chip it makes, and being on a tractor means it's universal and easy to move," McNeilly said.

By Claire Inkson