His partner Kim Moore today said Mr Langford was working "endless hours" in the days and weeks leading up to his death, because he thought his bosses would not give him more work unless he performed.
"He was tired because he was worried that if he didn't get his job done to the satisfaction of his bosses, he would not get more work from them."
While Mr Langford was a contractor, Ms Moore said people further up the chain determined whether he would get work.
"Michael told me that they had promised him more work and he needed to please them to get it."
The inquest heard Mr Langford was contracted by Total Harvest Solutions Ltd to clear 7000 tonnes of logs from the site, and his family and co-workers described how he worked long hours, and felt under pressure to complete the job by Christmas.
However, the company and the owner of the site both told the inquest into his death that there had been no discussion about having the work completed for Christmas, and the end date on the contract was January, or whenever the marketable trees had been removed.
Ms Moore told the inquest Mr Langford had been working long hours. Since he had started the job in September, she did not think he had taken a full day off, and had been working an average 14-plus hours a day.
A co-worker said he showed signs of stress, while another said he was not his "normal happy self" that day.
Coroner CJ Devonport said it was impossible to conclude whether Mr Langford was suffering fatigue.
Only Mr Langford would know whether fatigue affected his failure to apply the handbrake on the skidder he was operating.
Ms Moore today said she understood an inquest into industrial accidents was to look at industry conditions and make recommendations to assist future policy.
She believed WorkSafe New Zealand had made a "shambles" of the investigation into her partner's death.
"I feel Michael has been badly let down by the process."
She described her partner as a good man, a hard worker and a leader.
"This industry has lost him and we have lost a husband and a father. His sons will grow up not knowing him."
A WorkSafe New Zealand spokesperson said it carried out a full investigation into the incident and its report and copy of interviews were provided to the coroner.
The issue of fatigue was considered and no evidence was found.
"Mr Langford's partner raised this again with us at the time of presenting our findings and we reviewed all the evidence and stand by our findings."
The spokesperson said it was the coroner's role to determine the factors that led to the death and it wasn't appropriate for WorkSafe to comment on them.
