David Claridge

FOLLOWING IN his father’s footsteps, local axeman Daniel Gurr returned from the Sydney Royal Easter show with first place in the world championship tree felling contest.

Against many other competitors, Daniel seemed to lead the whole way, twice flying up the log on three boards, before taking a final swing and chopping the top off.

As the piece fell to the ground the cheer of the audience went to another level, giving Daniel a moment to get his breath back before waving to the crowd.

Daniel had added the family name to the winners list again. His father Matthew is famous at the Sydney Show for having won 16 times.

‘I guess you could say I was born to be there’, Daniel said after the event.

Matthew was dominant at the Sydney show for many years before Mitchell Hewitt started winning.

Daniel had a fierce contest against Mitchell in 2019, going down to his and his father’s rival by only 1/300 of a second.

With no Sydney Show in 2020 and Mitchell absent in 2021, Daniel is looking forward to a potential rematch next year.

‘It’s a shame we’ve missed a couple of years of competition. They would have been good races.’

When Daniel isn’t travelling the country, participating in Stihl Timber Sports events and adding to his many wood cutting accolades, he runs a forestry business with his brother

Daniel can often be seen around Deloraine, in his natural environment, skimming up problem trees on ankle spikes with his chainsaw in hand.