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NPORS Log Handler Training (N106)
Timber does not sit still. A stack that looks solid will run the moment a grapple takes the wrong log out of it, and the machine doing the taking is heavy, articulated and working on soft ground. Five days for a novice covers the machine, the grapple, the stack and the loading, on your own site. Run on request, with no scheduled dates to work around.
Why candidates choose Acadame
What makes our N106 Log Handler different
About this course
The NPORS N106 Log Handler category is the operator card for the machines that move round timber in forests, yards, ports and mills: the heavy wheeled handlers with a boom and a grapple that lift, stack, destack and load logs onto transport. It sits in the crane group because the machine handles suspended loads on a boom rather than simply carrying them, and the load is round, heavy and free to move.
Five days covers the machine as a machine: the carrier, the drivetrain and the articulation, the hydraulics, the boom and the grapple, the pre operational checks and the manufacturer's handbook. Then the operating: manoeuvring across rough, soft and sloping ground, travelling with a load, working on uneven surfaces and understanding how the machine behaves when the boom is out and the grapple is loaded.
The rest of the week is about the timber. Picking a log out of a stack without bringing the stack with it. Building stacks that stay standing, on ground that will take them. Loading and unloading timber lorries, including where to stand and who is in the cab. Fitting and removing attachments. Moving the machine between sites. And the general things that cause injury in this industry: rolling logs, pinch points, the exclusion zone around a working machine and the person on foot who walks into it.
- The machine: carrier, drivetrain, articulation, hydraulics, boom and grapple, and what the handbook requires of the operator
- Pre operational checks, defect reporting and the daily routine that catches a problem before it becomes a breakdown
- Manoeuvring and travelling across rough, soft and sloping ground, and how the machine behaves with the boom out and the grapple loaded
- Stacking and destacking timber safely, building stacks that stay standing and taking them apart without bringing them down
- Loading and unloading timber onto transport vehicles, and managing people on foot around the operation
- Fitting and removing attachments, moving the machine between sites, and end of shift shutdown and parking
How completing this course helps you
- The NPORS N106 Log Handler category, registered with NPORS and recognised nationally
- A traditional NPORS card for forestry and timber work, or the CSCS logo version where operators also work on construction sites and hold a current CITB Health, Safety and Environment test
- Operators who understand the stack as well as the machine, which is where the injuries actually come from
- A consistent standard across a yard or a contract, which is what a client, an auditor or an insurer asks to see
Who should attend?
Forestry contractors, timber yards, sawmills, biomass and wood processing sites, ports handling timber, and plant operators moving across from telehandlers, loading shovels or material re handlers. It suits operators who have been running the machine on custom for years as much as new starters, and there is a route for each. Machine operation is what this category covers: if the same people also fell or cross cut, the chainsaw categories are separate and must be held in their own right.
Entry requirements. You should be at least eighteen, physically fit enough for the work including climbing in and out of a machine on rough ground, and able to follow spoken and written English for the theory test, though interpreters can be arranged on request. There is no prior card requirement, though experience on other plant helps and shortens the route for many people. For the version of the card that carries the CSCS logo you need a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years, which we book for you. Tell us at enquiry what machine you run, what timber you handle and what the ground is like, because the practical is built around it.
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Course content
What you will cover
Classroom on the machine, the law and the timber, then the bulk of the time on the machine stacking, destacking and loading, with testing at the end.
The machine, the law and the timber
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, PUWER 1998 and LOLER 1998 as they apply to log handling
- Industry hazards and the operator's responsibilities, including people on foot around a working machine
- The manufacturer's handbook and what it requires
- Machine components and functions: carrier, drivetrain, articulation, hydraulics, boom and grapple
- Stability: load, reach, ground conditions, gradients and the effect of a loaded grapple at height
- Stacking principles, ground bearing, stack height and the behaviour of round timber
- Loading and unloading transport vehicles, securing loads and working with drivers
- Attachments, machine transportation between sites, and shutdown and parking
Working timber
- Pre operational checks, fluid levels, greasing points and defect reporting
- Safe mounting and dismounting, starting up and setting the machine to work
- Manoeuvring across different terrain, including soft ground and gradients
- Stacking and destacking timber under control
- Loading and unloading logs onto transporting vehicles
- Fitting and removing attachments, then shutting down and parking at the end of the shift
Method of assessment
How the N106 log handler test works
NPORS assess the category by theory test and practical test. Training and assessment run together, with the practical covering pre operational checks, manoeuvring, stacking and destacking, and loading timber onto a vehicle.
1. Enquiry and group
Tell us how many operators, where, what machine and what timber. Three sit the novice course with one instructor and one machine; four are allowed on the experienced worker test. We quote per group.
2. Pre course check
We work out who is a novice, who is an experienced worker and who is due a refresher, agree whether a traditional NPORS card or the CSCS logo version fits your work, and take the details NPORS need.
3. Training
Classroom on the machine, the law and the timber, then the bulk of the time on the machine, ideally on your own ground with your own stacks.
4. Theory test
The NPORS theory test covering legislation, machine components, stability, stacking principles, loading and attachments.
5. Practical test
You carry out pre operational checks, manoeuvre the machine, stack and destack timber, load a vehicle and shut down, assessed against the NPORS test specification.
6. Registration and card
We register the pass with NPORS and apply for the card, traditional or with the CSCS logo depending on where your operators work.
After the course
The rest of the yard
A log handler rarely works alone. There is usually a material re handler or a loading shovel on the same yard, a chipper or a processing line at one end and a timber lorry at the other, and the safest sites are the ones where the whole operation is trained rather than one machine. NPORS have categories for most of it, and a yard putting people through the log handler usually ends up standardising the rest at the same time. Tell us what your fleet looks like and we will map it.
Two things sit outside this category and are worth saying plainly. Chainsaw work, whether felling or cross cutting, is a separate qualification in its own right and holding a log handler card does not touch it. And where the site takes deliveries and has lorries reversing among people on foot, a trained vehicle marshal is worth more than another policy: the N403 Vehicle Marshal is a single day.
- N722 Material Re Handler where the same yard runs a re handler as well
- N602 Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross Cutting, which is a separate qualification from machine operation
- N403 Vehicle Marshal for timber lorry movements around people on foot
- CITB Health, Safety and Environment test booked with us only where the CSCS logo version of the card is needed
Build your course
Who is coming, and how many
We do not run these to a timetable. The course is built around your people: how experienced they are and how many of them there are, which is what sets the length and the cost. Pick the mix and we will come back with a date and a price.
The course builder needs JavaScript. Without it, tell us how many people and what experience they have and we will price it up.
N106 Log Handler FAQs
A heavy wheeled machine with a boom and a grapple, used to lift, stack, destack and load round timber in forests, yards, ports and mills. It sits in the crane group because it handles suspended loads on a boom rather than simply carrying them, and because round timber is free to move once it is picked up.
Five days for a novice, with three candidates, one instructor and one machine. Operators already doing the job usually take the shorter test focused route, with four candidates allowed, and the refresher is shorter again. We confirm the length when we quote.
No. The NPORS category has to match the machine. Experience on other plant helps a great deal and often puts somebody onto the experienced worker route rather than the full five days, but it is still a separate card.
No, and it never will. Felling and cross cutting are separate qualifications with their own training and assessment, and holding a log handler card does not touch them. If your operators do both, they need both, and we will say so.
Only if your operators also work on construction sites. For forestry, timber yards and mills the traditional NPORS card is normally the right one and does not depend on a CITB test that expires separately. We will tell you which one fits rather than default your operators to a card they do not need.
The stack rather than the machine. Round timber rolls, a stack that looks solid can run when the wrong log is pulled from it, and people on foot walk into the working area without being seen. Those three account for most of the serious incidents and they get the time they deserve on the course.
Yes. We run it wherever the machine is, whether that is a forest road, a yard or a mill apron, and the ground you work on becomes part of the training. There are no scheduled dates: we run it when your work allows.
Three on the novice route and the refresher, four on the experienced worker test. Larger groups are sequenced across more than one course rather than squeezed into one, because the ratio is what gives each operator real time on the controls.
NPORS courses are priced per course, not per person. What you are paying for is the instructor, the registered tester and the machine time, so the figure turns on four things: the category, which route your operators need (novice, experienced, conversion or refresher), how many people are coming, and whether we run it on your site or at one of ours. It is also why a squad works out considerably cheaper per head than sending operators out one at a time. Use the course builder on this page: tell it who is coming and it works out how many days the course takes and how many times it has to run, which is what the price is built from. Then ask us and you will get a figure for that exact group rather than a list price with conditions attached.
We run NPORS courses across the UK rather than out of one fixed centre, and for most categories the better answer is that we come to you: your operators are assessed on the machine they will be using anyway, nobody loses a day travelling, and for a group it costs less. If you would rather come to us, we have centres at Trent House in Stoke, Pride Park in Derby, Europa House in Manchester and Kingsway House in Liverpool. Tell us where the work is and we will say honestly which way round makes more sense.
There is no fixed timetable to wait for. NPORS courses here are run to order, which means the dates are built around your programme rather than ours, and a single operator or a full squad can normally be booked in within a couple of weeks. If you have a card about to expire or a start date to hit, say so when you enquire and we will work to it.
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