Forest Machine Magazine February 2021

FOREST MACHINE FOREST MACHINE MAGAZINE MAGAZINE CUTTINGS FROM THE FOREST FLOOR DELIVERED DIRECT TO YOUR DOOR

CUTTINGS FROM THE FOREST FLOOR DELIVERED DIRECT TO YOUR DOOR FEBRUARY 2021 + ISSUE 27 + ISSN 2398-8568

Ponsse UK Ltd, 4 Annan Business Park, Annan, DG12 6TZ +44 (0)1461 207 510 www.ponsse.com

A Loggers Best Friend

WELCOME

H

appy New Year to one and all!

Mine came in with a clatter and a bang; I was putting the rubbish out on a damp, miserable New Year’s morning, completely unaware there had been an overnight frost. I performed some spectacular arse-over-tit acrobatics for any neighbours who happened to be watching before finally ending up in a crumpled heap on the path. It’s good to know that I still bounce and the only real damage that was done was to my pride!

In this first issue of 2021, we welcome aboard some new writers. Anthony Carr is an experienced harvester operator from Bellingham in Northumberland and has published his first feature in this issue. In his mid-range harvester roundup, he has interviewed various operators to get honest feedback on the machines they use.

He has just started a mid-range forwarder feature, which will be featuring in our April Issue.

Matthias Wüthrich lives near Zurich in Switzerland and is passionate about his work in forestry. He will be contributing to the next magazine with interesting forestry features from around central Europe. We are still looking for more people passionate about forestry who have a working knowledge of the industry to join us on a freelance basis. We are looking for help to cover features and exhibitions both in the UK and overseas. We are happy to work around your full-time employment; writing skills are not essential as you will get full support, but you must be able to communicate and write in English. If any of this is of interest to you, please email Rab at: forestmachinemagazine@mail.com We have some original and exciting items planned for you throughout this year; we are starting off this issue with a free centrefold poster, which will feature in each magazine going forward.

Don’t forget to check out our free bi-monthly emag which has completely separate content to our printed magazine. If you sign up on our website it will keep you entertained in the months between our printed editions.

Take Care and Keep Safe!

February 2021

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FOREST

MACHINE MAGAZINE WRITTEN BY LOGGERS FOR LOGGERS

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CONTENTS 6

2 Subscribe

How to subscribe to your favourite logging magazine.

Don’t forget to tell your friends.

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Rottne F12 with 400 tonne winch for recovering bogged equipment.

6 News

Keep up to date with the latest industry news.

0 Hiab

Find out how a Hiab grapple is protecting fire-fighters.

9 Luke Hemmings

A foresters prospective on a completed harvesting site.

8

7 Justin Nyakudanga

1

2

RGL Forestry - A mulching and engineering company that thinks outside the box.

9

Looking towards the modernisation of forestry in South Africa.

2

0 Ford

Stihl MS881 - The worlds most powerful production chainsaw.

A look at the limited edition Ford Ranger Thunder.

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7 Young Loggers

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Some fun and puzzles to keep the next generation entertained.

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February 2021

When we started testing the first TMK MultiGrab prototype, one of the first jobs we took it on was a demolition of a burnt down building. On that job we first sorted the wood scraps from the ruins, then tore down the chimney which had survived the fire still upright. After that we scraped the ruins clean to the plinth as the insurance company wanted to check if that would still be salvageable. When it proved to be also damaged in the fire, we also dug up the plinth so the new house could be then built on top of the original concrete.

2

5

This was a great job to trial the new MultiGrab as it gave us plenty of more ideas on what were the most important features of the grab. Firstly, it had to be accurate enough to sort the wood scraps from the ruins. Secondly, it needed to have both “the finger tip” grip and the ability to close with a tight enough grip so you could just take any piece of plank in the grab and trust that it will stay in the grip firmly and not cause any danger to the groundwork’s working close to the machine. Thirdly, it had to be solid, but still agile enough to tear down the chimney safely and accurately. Then, when we were cleaning the foundation, we noticed that the grapple must open a fair bit so it moves out of the way and gives you a good visual on what you are scraping. Finally, when the plinth was removed it also had to be sturdy enough to work as a lever to get the big blocks of the foundation dug up. Later along the way we have already used the MultiGrab for digging up stumps from a felling site, digging up boulders from yards, stone wall building with both natural boulders and with square blocks, loading brush into the forwarder and so on. We have even used it to fold scrap cars in half.

8

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Find out what the operators think of their harvesters.

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FOREST M FAORES ACHINE MM G T A AZINEMAC

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February 2021

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Page 5

ALWAYS READY

RECOVERING SUNKEN TREASURE

BY TERO NURMI

J

ust like the fire brigade, Arto Vuorijärvi from Kauhava and his shiny red Scania lorry loaded up with his specially built Rottne F12 debogging forwarder, are fuelled up and ready to go anywhere in Finland at the drop of a hat.

His new Rottne F12 has recently replaced his old faithful, and still fully operational, 1983 Rottne Blondin which has rescued hundreds of sunken machines over the years and is still fully operational.

It all started when Arto Vuorijärvi was in his 20’s.

He was living in Kauhava and was employed at the Jorma Lillbacka factory. This was the foundation of Arto’s entrepreneurial hopes and dreams. He started out working as an engineer and his skills were soon recognised as he quickly progressed to become the industrial adviser Page 6

for the Jorma Lillbacka Power-Park, this is an amusement park in Alahärma.

“You could only work eight hours a day, being young and enthusiastic I wanted to work much longer, one of my co-workers, who was also operating a forest machine at the time, suggested that I build a recovery winch. This is where it all started.

My first winch was tractor-driven, it worked well enough but manoeuvring it around was quite a challenge. Firstly I had to make some money before I could even think about being able to afford to upgrade my equipment and purchase a Rottne Blondin,” IT HAS CARRIED OUT HUNDREDS OF RECOVERIES WITH A 100% SUCCESS RATE

www.forestmachinemagazine.com

February 2021

My

Above left: My faithful Rottne Blondin, is still fully operational today. The general appearance of the machine is deceiving, although it looks a little odd it is highly efficient and is a forwarder conversion.

Above: Tatu Rintamäki and Arto Vuorijärvi have known each other for over a decade, their chance meeting came about when Arto was called upon to de-bog his Timberjack.

Left: Rottne has semi-flotation tracks where Vuorijärvi has welded on 50-millimeter grousers for extra traction.

In a winching career spanning over three decades Vuorijärvi has de-bogged more than 800 machines and the tractor unit has only ever broken down once.

“The 400 tonne pulling force winch has been 100% reliable and has never let me down, the main cable is 120 meters long but we can extend it so we can winch from a distance of up to 1km.

It took quite a lot of thought in the beginning to build an efficient winch which was strong enough but we got it right as we have never run out of pulling power. Band tracks are used to increase the traction power of the base machine”.

When the Rottne F12’s first started arriving in the Finnish forests from our neighbours in Sweden we were delighted as we had found the perfect base machine to replace our faithful Blondin. The F12 was a lightweight 8WD forwarder which is ideal for travelling on wet and boggy ground.

“This wasn’t a straightforward project and a lot of ideas were banded around before a design was agreed on and work could actually commence.

The large wheels and low ground pressure of the Rottne F12 ticked all the correct boxes” said Tatu Rintamäki a forestry machine operator.

February 2021

Once we had all agreed on the base Peurala worked on the winch gearing, Vuorijärvi was responsible for the fabrication work and Suomen Työkone Oy designed and implemented the hydraulic system”.

Arto wanted this new winch to be fully hydraulic as the previous one had been mechanical. “The main advantage of using a hydraulic winch is that the winding speed of the winch is fully adjustable and offers a smooth and powerful pull when under load. This is much safer as there is no snatch and reduces stress and damage to the equipment.

We made the ground anchors so they could be raised and lowered with hydraulic rams, Tatu came up trumps with the design and the end result was much better than I expected.

I had much more time to spend on fabricating them than I initially thought. When Covid-19 descended all my holiday plans for the year were cancelled and I spent all summer in my workshop.

Everything was built for strength, most forestry and construction equipment is made so that although strong it is not overly heavy, with our winch it was the opposite and we made it as

www.forestmachinemagazine.com

Page 7

A

The extra working lights were a great investment.

strong as possible.

Another alteration we had to make was adding extra cooling so we could work in the hottest of summers as well as the cold winters.

Our new Rottne has much more power than its predecessor – I can safely say that there is sufficient power for our requirements, the only addition is band tracks for lower ground pressure and increased traction. Theoretically, the winch cable is the weakest link in the equipment, but it’s much stronger than before and nothing gets tangled up. The real challenge is the anchor points of the equipment we are winching,” Vuorijärvi states. “Our biggest challenge is attaching the winch to the bogged equipment, the anchor points are often to weak or in some cases they don’t exist at all. When the machine is severely bogged getting the winch attached can be a daunting challenge on its own. Good preparation is more important than the task itself; first, we need a secure and strong anchor point. When the machine starts to move you need wooden bearers or something similar in Page 8

front of it so it has something to climb up onto.

One machine was a nightmare and we pulled it 250m before it climbed up onto the surface”.

In mid-August, the machine was still new and shiny as It hadn’t been put to any real tests yet.

“So far, I had only de bogged one excavator and moved a large rock,” Vuorijärvi says. “The rock in question was between 150 and 200 tons and I winched it about 100 metres from a field to a garden, this was still well under the maximum pull of our new machine. We were going to do a presentation with the Rottne for the Finnish Forestry Department in the autumn, but due to the current Covid situation, the plans were changed.

SAFETY FIRST “Recovering bogged equipment can attract interest from curious members of the public. A successful recovery is collaboration between the machine owner, the operator and me. I assess the situation and pass on my opinions but the final decision is made by the customer who pays the bill”.

www.forestmachinemagazine.com

February 2021

Above left: The heavy anchor is in the ground when winching takes place Above: The stylish Scania R520’s V8 engine makes a beautiful noise and has more than 800 horsepower.

A

THE PAST YEAR HAS BEEN FAIRLY PEACEFUL Vuorijärvi recovers about 25 machines each year, usually one every two weeks, he also will operate equipment for local farmers during harvest time. He also carries out contract work with his own excavator and does engineering work in his workshop. His customers know that his recovery business takes priority over all his other work but since the outbreak of Covid his call outs for recoveries have decreased but luckily he has had plenty to do keeping up with his other work.

“Excavators account for about 90% of my recovery work with the remainder being forestry machines and equipment that has fell off the back of a lorry and ended up in places like ditches”.

“My advice is that as soon as a machine starts to get bogged stop immediately and ask for help, trying to get out on your own often makes the situation far more serious and can cause a lot more damage. Getting assistance from a nearby machine can often eliminate the need for me and my winch. When the engine submerges and the water starts to rise so does the repair bill “ says Vuorijärvi with a wise wink.

February 2021

Left: A scale model of the Rottne Blondin takes pride of place in Arto’s office.

VERY FEW PEOPLE ARGUE OVER THE COST. The minimum charge for Vuorijärvi’s winching service is five hours with all his travel expenses on top, after the machine has been recovered successfully the customers are delighted and never complain over prices.

“Often other machines have been used to try and recover the bogged machine and end up in the same situation. One time a customer called and thought I was too expensive so he used another machine for the recovery. This machine also got stuck so he called in a third machine which got stuck as well; he soon changed his mind over my prices then”.

Tatu Rintamäki and Arto Vuorijärvi got to know each other back in June 2009, Tatu was operating his father’s Timberjack when he got bogged. “I had been taught that if I ever got bogged I was to stop immediately and call for help. I phoned my father who in turn called Arto and within an hour he was on site. I questioned whether it was worth getting outside help as it wasn’t severely bogged.

My father explained that if you calculated the cost of moving another machines to my site, operator costs and the loss of earnings

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Page 9

while it was de-bogging me then it would have been more expensive and with no guarantee of success”.

Arto Vuorijärvi has travelled beyond Finland with his winch “I have recovered machines from all over Finland and also been to Estonia and Sweden, I have been asked to travel to Russia and East Germany but that was just too far to go.

Four Excavators and two winches had been trying for over a week to recover a Finnish contractor’s bogged machine in Estonia. In that time they had only succeeded in moving it one meter, when the Finnish contractor contacted me for the third time begging for me to help him I just couldn’t refuse. Once I arrived it took me just three hours to get the machine out” Vuorijärvi has recommended that contractors who are working on soft ground to purchase extra insurance cover which includes any recovery costs . “As far as I know, they have worked very well, even those who have broken through weak ice. With insurance, you can get the help you need and not have to worry about the costs and they also compensate you for any damage caused to the machine.

Page 10

Although when machines are bogged the circumstances may look similar but from my experience no two recoveries are ever the same.

Some have more resistance and bring more challenges than others but no matter what we face we always get there in the end”.

Text and photos: Tero Nurmi

www.forestmachinemagazine.com

February 2021

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February 2021

ounded over 30 years ago,

by Bob Little, RGL Plant (Moffat) Ltd. grew to become the leading specialist mulching contractor in Scotland for soft and challenging sites. The surge in wind energy and upland peat bog restoration works, opened up big opportunities for the forest sector, but there was a catch; you had to be able to first access the work and then be able to actually do the work. The vast majority of sites were situated in remote and highly inhospitable areas and included some of the deepest and wettest peat sites in the UK. A way had to be found to do the work, www.forestmachinemagazine.com

by existing contractors who had won contracts and for the small collection of firms that stepped up to meet these new challenges. The only way forward was to use LGP equipment and as everyone in the forest industry knows, this type of machinery is not available off the shelf and companies had to either turn to specialist engineering companies to convert their machinery, or as in Bob Little’s case, they decided that they would build their own.

The only real standard across the mulching industry, was that excavators would form the vast majority of mulching machines Page 13

for this new type of work. Although some tracked purpose-built equipment found its way into the North, it was the excavator mulcher concept that was to swiftly dominate the battlefield, when it came to durability and the ability to access and cover the different terrain and tree types.

Tree and vegetation clearance is hardly ever on good ground and this is of course why trees were planted on it in the first place. Almost all tree clearance falls into one of these ground types: Soft, rocky, steep or a combination of all three! Similarly, trees to be cleared are invariably one of a few types: Small and failed/checked crops on deep/wet peat.

Larger crops, such as Lodgepole, that had been planted back in the sixties, with almost no hope of ever being recovered as a viable crop, especially once the trees had fallen over or suffered windblow in the soft conditions.

Harvesting residues and stumps from cleared commercial crops on land that had been designated for restoration or change of use, such as bird habitat restoration, or simple large-scale clearance for turbine bases, access roads, powerlines and to minimise the effects of wind currents on turbines. The common denominator here is that any mulching machine for this type of work that has to make reasonable progress needs both low ground pressure and horsepower. Lots of horsepower!

Many sites also had very tight program deadlines and alongside the usual weather and ecology restrictions, many of these were simply huge, with thousands of hectares of trees to be mulched. This all added up to make a very tough working environment, with engineering and operational challenges that many would not survive and made the people involved into a pretty special breed.

RGL’s Hydraulic Thumb used with the bucket to grab stumps, rocks, concrete or other objects to safely remove them.

Page 14

With some exceptions, the majority of contractors opted for converting excavators to larger and wider undercarriage and then running conventional mulching heads, powered by priority valves (known as “stealing oil� from the excavators existing hydraulic system), but RGL decided to do something

www.forestmachinemagazine.com

February 2021

very different. Adding a second engine to an excavator is not a new idea and many examples of this exist around the globe, but what is unique, is the way the RGL went about it. Early machines utilised complete engine transfers – grafting in bigger engines and hydraulic systems, as well as adding powerpack engines to other, smaller, lighter excavators. Experiments with merging 30 ton excavator track bases, with 13 ton excavator top equipment were tried, all with varying degrees of success. Along this often difficult and testing road, other lessons were learned the hard way, like how much stress something that was primarily designed for digging holes on a building site, would actually put up with, but over time, the basic mulching machine methodology was refined into three basic designs. 1. A heavily modified excavator of less than 20 tons weight, with longer and wider track frames to reduce the ground pressure, with a second “powerpack� engine to power the mulching head. 2. A completely custombuilt machine, based loosely on an excavator and using some primary components/ features, but with enormous power and durability, all built onto a super-LGP chassis, that can accommodate 6 foot wide (1.8m) tracks, whilst still being narrow enough to be moved on roads, without being dismantled. 3.

The re-powered excavator base on a machine above 20 tons, where the standard engine is replaced with a much more powerful one, along with all the additional cooling, strengthening and other required features to cope with the stresses caused by this type of work. The final piece of the jigsaw puzzle was the mulching heads themselves. RGL quickly found that standard equipment fell way short of the sheer strength required to drag the machine about, as well as coping with 400hp and above at the rotor, so they set about building theirs from scratch. Without giving away too many technical secrets, the original design heads are all still in use today and have cut literally millions of trees between them, with almost no durability issues and a new design is about to be used, that will hopefully increase production by a further factor above other standard equipment.

February 2021

Doosan 130LCV with power-pack.

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Page 17

The result of all this was to end up with three primary mulching machines on the RGL “fleet” – a name that has loose connotations with shipping - and looking at some of the waterlogged sites that were worked over the years – seems very apt! The current fleet comprises of the 400hp V8 powered “Bogmaster”, a 530hp Doosan DX180-based twin-engine powerpack and a 600hp Kobelco based re-powered twin-engine excavator. The machines go to work on a variety of sites, many of international significance, such as Flanders Moss and many others. Powerline upgrades, including the recent Inveraray to Port Ann upgrade for Scottish Woodlands/SSE and other restoration works, as well as many diseased Larch sites have all been completed.

Further improvements to the setup included designing some bog mats that can be easily and quickly repositioned by the excavator on the wettest of sites, as well as building or modifying the usual collection of recovery equipment, tracked mobile workshops, bowser carriers and 4x4 vehicles.

What now for RGL? As the demand for specialist mulching rapidly gathers pace again, with powerline upgrades, new wind energy sites and the expansion of existing ones and a whole host of other restoration works, bird habitat creation and diseased Larch clearance, the rush is on again to expand the mulching side of the business again. A big upgrade is under way, with the existing machines being rebuilt and improved still further, along with some more new mulchers, that will be coming on stream as soon as they can be built. The engineering side of RGL is also starting a planned expansion and will soon be offering bespoke engineering solutions to the forestry sector.

We caught up with RGL on a diseased Larch site in Dunoon, where they were working for Craig Downie of Specialised Rural Services and RTS Forestry. Craig (a part-time operator for RGL) was operating the Bogmaster on some pretty challenging terrain, with the usual mixture of steep slopes, deep peat and rock and as they say in those parts, “That’s Argyle Page 18

www.forestmachinemagazine.com

Right: The crew at RGLForestry February 2021

for ye laddie!”. The machine was powering through the standing crop and was on it’s “standard” 1m wide tracks, rather than the 1.8m wide LGP setup, on account of the extremely uneven ground and large rocks that would have swiftly destroyed the wider setup.

With plans for a new “super-powerpack” well under way (and two more smaller 400hp powerpacks about to be pushed through the workshop into the mulching fleet), the RGL fleet will number five machines by the middle of 2021 and anyone who knows RGL from the past would be well advised to “watch this space”, as some very trick kit is planned. With forestry becoming more important than ever to the Scottish and UK economy, RGL are looking at a busy future. Get in touch if you have sites to clear or problems to solve. www.rglforestry.co.uk

enquiries@kingwell-holdings.co.uk

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Flexible usage 365 days a year www.pfanzelt.com

Logset 6H on test in Finland.

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MID-RANGE HARVESTERS

AN OPERATORS PERSPECTIVE

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By Anthony Carr

ver the last 40 years, timber harvesters have changed very little in appearance. Although in terms of productivity, reliability and comfort, they are a million miles away from their predecessors. Today’s harvesters are all very capable machines and all do a great job of harvesting the timber that this country needs. All manufacturers think their equipment is better than their competitors, but in truth some machines are more suited to certain types of conditions than others.

This feature isn’t about comparing one make against the other, our intention was for honest and open feedback from operators.

Anthony Carr interviewed a random selection of UK operators who have used their harvesters for a considerable length of time and are in a position to offer their opinions.

February 2021

●

Anthony Carr My interest in forestry goes back as far as I can remember, with me spending most weekends and school holidays alongside my father Mick Carr who ran his own contracting business.

I left school in 1981 at the age of 16 and went to work for my father using a chainsaw. After his death, I moved on to various other contractors including TPH and big Les Charlton until I left the industry in 1988.

After six years operating various plant machines I returned to my spiritual home to operate a forwarder for John Lawson. I then went on to operate harvesters for P.B.T before joining Walton Logging in 1999 were I remain to this day as a harvester operator.

HA ● RT O P E RR E T S E A RV H T ● R O REP R E EST V R A ● H

JOHN DEERE 1270G

Operator: Robbie Robertson

T

he John Deere 1270G is an eight wheel drive harvester and is available with optional IBC crane control. With IBC, the operator controls only the harvester head while the system takes care of the boom’s movement. The operator takes the harvester head to the desired place, sensors recognize the location of the head and the system adjusts boom movements and extension automatically.

The 1270G stands at 2750mm wide with 600 tyres. It has 710mm ground clearance, a steering angle of +/- 44° and weighs between 22,650 and 22900kg depending on the harvesting head. The high-performance engine is a John Deere six cylinder EU Stage V EPA Final Tier 4, with 286hp at 1900rpm with John Deere load sensing, power adjustable double pump system hydraulics.

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22,900kg

← ←

New: June 2020 Current hours: 1300

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Length 7930 mm

← ← 2750 mm2950 mm

The crane is a John Deere CH7 with a tilting base and has three reach options from 8.6m to 11.7m; there are six harvesting heads available for this harvester. The machine is fitted with a low noise 160° rotating levelling cabin (side tilt +/- 17°, front/rear tilt 9°) and TimberMatic control, TimberMatic maps and TimberManager systems installed as standard. The TimberMatic control system for John Deere G-Series harvesters includes

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“The game changer on this machine is the IBC as it is fast, smooth, precise and powerful”.

and thus improved uptime for the machine.

TIMBERMATIC MAPS

TimberMatic Maps registers the harvester’s route and felled assortments with the exact location of each log. The forwarders working at the same site are seeing an accurate, real time situation and the harvester operator also sees the location of the forwarders. The operators can mark avoidable or difficult areas on the map, or any other notes from the terrain. The communication between the operators will improve as the data is stored in the system and is not dependent on a person’s memory. The data between the machines is updated through a cloud service.

TimberMatic Maps is a standard feature in new John Deere forest machines and it is available with an upgrade kit for older models. The application requires 4G MTG and HPC15 (XL4) computer.

Operator: Robbie Robertson, 26 Walton Logging Ltd.

everything needed for base machine control and monitoring, measuring and bucking in one configurable user interface. The use of just one system makes the operator’s work faster and easier.

Several pressure sensors have been added to TimberMatic, making it possible to adjust most settings from inside the cabin – and even without tools. The pressure sensors make machine adjustments and condition monitoring easier via the machine’s on-board PC: • • •

work and transmission pump pressures delimbing knives feed-roller arms.

Additionally, the new software version enables Remote Display Access (RDA) via Internet (either MTG or other modem). RDA means faster troubleshooting by maintenance people

Robbie left school at 15 and went to college for a year before joining John Deere forestry at Carlisle. After serving a three year engineering apprenticeship in the workshop he then went on a service van for 18 month. After this he began working for the family company, Walton Logging LTD, where he has been ever since. He began with 18 months on the service van before operating various harvesters up to his current 1270 G. “Overall the 1270G is extremely reliable” said Robbie. “It has done 1060 hours and apart from a few small warranty issues I haven’t had to stop because of breakdowns. On my current site I am cutting a 0.34m³ crop which is mostly bent and twisted with a lot of multiple stems. Fuel consumption on this site is 17 litres per hour and production is 21.4m³ per hour. It will climb a house and to date the transmission has never blown off. It is good on soft ground; the head is fast, accurate and reliable, all in all an all round excellent machine”.

BASE MACHINE “The frame brake is really good with no real issues. After operating older machines in the past, the new frame brakes are a lot better. I had a drive on a 1270 test machine last year with a prototype frame brake which uses stabilising rams and it was so much better. These should be installed on future machines. Refuelling is by the quick fit coupling at the back of the machine. The only slight problem is that because of the eight wheels, the back end of the machine is higher. A bit more thought is required when I position the bowser so I can reach the coupling and switch”.

On the whole Robbie says the hose layout is good, the only issue is when the machine steering is on full lock the main feed hoses in the centre of the machine push up and rub on the bracket which causes failure through time.

When the machine is at an angle he can feel the vibration of the hoses rubbing.

“The machine is serviced every 750 and 1500 hours” continues Robbie. “John Deere takes care of the 1500 (big) services and Colin and I do the

750 ones. Servicing on this machine is pretty straight forward, the only problem being is with certain fuel filters needing a special tool to remove them, the worst one being so close to the chassis making it impossible to get a filter strap round it”. Robbie also pointed out that on other manufacturers’ machines, to save dropping the big belly plates, they have smaller access hatches underneath for draining the oil and greasing the propshaft, and he felt this would be a good addition to the 1270G. Robbie says he could do with more storage, one of his main complaints is there’s nowhere to keep his electric grease gun. A good addition in recent times though is that on the opposite side of the cab from the driver’s door is a compartment for the essential spill kit.

Overall Robbie thought that the lighting is very good; the only addition would be to add more lights at the back of the machine which would activate when reversing.

CABIN “The cab is really comfortable with everything where it needs to be and with more storage than I actually use. The computer is very easy to use with all the information needed on the work screen and straightforward to see. The vision is brilliant, obviously with the John Deere you have the blind spot with the crane in the middle but other than that it’s excellent. The levelling is really good it is instant and it keeps itself level when driving across the site. The one thing I feel that would improve it is greater levelling forward

Rotating and levelling or fixed cab

and back. Although the lighting is perfectly adequate more lights on the front would be a welcome addition”.

The cab greasing is taken care of by two banks of nipples under the cab. These are optional extras with Robbie saying these are well worth the upgrade. This system does away with getting unwanted grease on your head and shoulders when reaching under the cab to grease the standard set up.

BOOM: John Deere CH7

Gross lifting torque 197 kNm Reach 6,8,10 or 11.7 m

CRANE For the size of the Machine Robbie says the crane power is very good. “Reach is adequate but I could always do with more. The game changer on this machine is the IBC as it is fast, smooth, precise and powerful” said Robbie.

The hose layout is neat and tidy on the crane with the hoses under the kingpost causing the only notable problem. These hoses are kept

out of the way to improve vision, but as Robbie pointed out the downside of this layout are the hoses rubbing together under the kingpost leading to hose failures, which are awkward to replace. The crane lights are on the underside of the main boom which Robbie feels are adequate but additional lights on the underside of the dipper boom would be a welcome addition.

415 HEAD For performance Robbie feels that this supercut saw is now the best on the market. The downside coming from slightly excessive bar wear. He also says the tensioning could be improved as the chain occasionally runs off the rails. Chain wear is excellent though with chain breaking being an exceptionally rare event.

“Felling is generally good” said Robbie.

“Sometimes it is difficult to get the head square on the tree when felling large trees with big toes.

When felling with the head at an angle the head loses grip resulting in the saw getting stuck”.

When double cutting to make sure he cuts right through the stem he has to make sure to get the head further round the back of the tree due to the positioning of the saw box. This head is running after market V-TEC feed rollers which Robbie prefers to the standard ones. The single speed motors give really good torque and grip with excellent delimbing. As with most heads, feeding on large stems is a problem with grip.

The machine has slow feeding and feed limitation options but Robbie says a proportional feed would be a good addition.

Robbie uses sequence control to start the tree then uses manual saw for crosscutting.

Measuring is really good with calibration via callipers keeping everything accurate.

“The hose layout is shocking with lots of hoses sticking out which are prone to getting caught” continues Robbie. “They are a nightmare to change although it has been improved by putting a join in one of the feed roller hoses. This means it isn’t necessary to take the head cover off to change it. Some of the hoses under the head cover are awkward to change, with having to take other hoses off to get to the burst ones”.

Another thing Robbie commented on was hose quality maybe isn’t as good on new machines compared to the replacement hoses he uses.

The head is relatively easy to grease. The two issues with greasing is the access to the two nipples on the top knives which are really awkward to get to - a hole drilled through the chassis would be an easy solution to this problem. Another problem is the nipple behind the measuring wheel which is sometimes difficult to get at due to sticks getting jammed behind the measuring wheel electric hose”.

415 Maximum cut diameter 750mm

MARKS OUT OF 10

“9, there’s always room for improvement”.

FINAL POINTS CHAIN OIL USAGE

Between 5 and 10 litres a day.

LOW LOADER

Easy to put on

RELIABILITY

“It is very reliable considering the job it does. One problem though is the measuring wheel arm.

Although this machine is only eight months old I feel there is excessive wear on the arm”.

The only other point mentioned was feed roller hoses failing.

BACK UP

“Excellent Back up from John Deere” said Robbie.

“They are always at the end of the phone with advice and a van is always sent out when needed.

John Deere do regular tune ups on the machines and there is a noticeable improvement each time they are done.

Would have another: “Definitely”.

Quality Machinery speaks for itself

VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR ALL OUR PRODUCT INFORMATION www.marshalllogging.co.uk Tel: 01892 770 788 | Mobile: 07836 274 164 | sales@marshalllogging.co.uk Maschinenbau GmbH

Made in Austria

MADE IN

SWEDEN

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PONSSE SCORPION KING

Operator: Graham Robson

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he Ponsse Scorpion King Is an 8WD harvester powered by a 280hp Mercedes Benz EU stage V/Tier 4 Final engine. It has a unique three hull design that keeps the cabin level at all times and an overhead forked main boom, with either 10 or 11m reach crane option for a completely unobstructed view.

The Scorpion King stands between 2690 - 3085 mm wide. It has 655mm ground clearance, a steering angle of +/- //° and typically weighs 22,500kg.

There are three Ponsse harvesting head options available. It has a two circuit hydraulic system which is particularly good for regeneration felling.

Ponsse’s Opti information systems are designed to be user-friendly.

Therefore, their design takes into account the wishes of drivers and the requirements of forest companies. Ponsse Opti has a system for forestry machinery as well as logging control and monitoring. With the easy-touse programs of the Opti system, controlling, adjusting, managing the application files and calibrating the machine are convenient.

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22,500kg

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Length 8020 mm

← ← 2690 mm3085 mm

The Ponsse Manager connects forest machines to an information network.

PONSSE Manager, the modern digitalization platform for forest machines,

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“The vision on this machine is unparalleled.

With the cab rotting 320° you are mostly looking out of the front window the tree size in the crop he is in is a bit of a even while reversing”.

struggle especially with the bigger trees in the wind-blow, he is still managing. “Where the machine really comes into its own is in smaller crops. 0.4 m³ and 0.5m³ being the optimum size.

The machine is excellent in crooked stems. The Scorpion performs well on soft ground although I feel the back end of the machine does seems to go down easier than the front”.

Graham is currently harvesting on a local site cutting direct for the forestry commission. It is a second crop site with a 0.9m³ tree average across the whole site which includes patches of wind blow. The average tree size Graham has harvested so far is 0.78 m³. He is achieving an average production of 28.4 m³ per hour and using 18.5 litres of fuel per hour.

BASE MACHINE

enables comprehensive services now and in the future. The easy-to-use tool offers assistance in harvesting equipment maintenance and work planning, along with providing access to extensive reporting.

Operator: Graham Robson, 35 TPH LTD.

Graham Robson has worked for TPH off and on for 16 years. Graham started on a part time basis operating a forwarder on nights and weekends.

He began working full time 9 ½ years ago on a forwarder for two years before progressing to a harvester. After operating various John Deere harvesters Graham changed to the Scorpion King 18 months ago.

Graham is very happy with this machine; he finds it very operator friendly with visibility and stability being exceptional. Although

“The frame lock uses a ram either side of the chassis in the centre section which are linked to the cab levelling rams, this system gives unparalleled stability. One feature I really like is the alarm system which warns if the machine is in danger of tipping when reaching out too far on steep side slopes.

The refuelling point is at the rear of the machine and the hydraulic oil filling is under the front hood of the rear section. The hose layout is one area where the machine could be improved, especially the hoses under the cab and the centre section.

This machine is on a service contract with Ponsse, with services at 750 hour intervals.

Graham helps the engineer out during these services and he finds the machine very easy to work on with filters etc being easily accessible.

“Storage is adequate but I could always do with more. The side pod on the rear is handy though for storing hoses, and there

is another compartment in the front step. There are 2 led lights under the hoods

for servicing with a further one for refuelling”.

CABIN “Although the cab is small, the all round comfort is excellent. One of the main reasons for this is the stability of the machine as I am not getting rocked about all day and at the end of my shift I still feel really fresh. The seat is heated, has a cold air blower and is easily adjusted. The armrests are comfortable and I really like the comfort grip levers (pillars). The noise level in the cab is quiet, the only downside being caused by movement of the hydraulic pipes and hoses while being worked.

The vision on this machine is unparalleled. With the cab rotating 320 degrees you are mostly looking out of the front window even while reversing. Even if I have to look out of the side

and rear, vision is good because of the narrow pillars on the cab. When the machine was new the cab had to be calibrated a couple of times but since then it hasn’t needed to be touched at all. The levelling works really well, the only glitch being when pulling big trees from the side it will pull the cab down a little bit but other than that, perfect. Lighting is covered by a bank of lights on the front of the cab below the window and a bank on the top of the cab with further lights on the side and back.

Despite the fact that this is an easy computer to use I must admit it took a bit of getting used to after operating the John Deere system for years. I do feel however that there are a lot of similarities between the two systems”.

CRANE “I find the crane to be really smooth, with the slew power on the machine being really impressive but I feel the main lift could be better.

I have to work close to the crop to achieve the best results. The one function I do really like is the automatic extension which works automatically

in conjunction with the dipper arm, using the left lever.

The hose layout on the crane is excellent with hoses down to the head easy to change and there are two lights under the dipper boom and six on top of the king post providing excellent lighting”.

H7 HEAD “This saw is phenomenal. The machine is coming up 18 months old and I haven’t had any problems at all. Where the saw bar fits on is really

Three-frame harvester with a fork boom.

strong which does away with much of the sideways movement. Bar and chain wear is excellent. The head is good for felling but I am currently in a 0.8 metre average job so sometimes the head is letting go during felling on

BOOM: C50

Gross lifting torque 252 kNm Reach 10 or 11 m

the bigger stems.

as it very rarely alters”.

The feeding on the head is fantastic. In large trees it has a proportional feed, operated by a toggle on the pillar, which slows things down to get an accurate start on the tree. The head handles bent twisted stems with ease due to the reaction bar, and being able to feed the tree right out to the tip and then right back to the start without losing grip is a major plus point.

De-limbing is really good and capable even on edge trees”.

“The hose layout on the head is exceptional.

None of the hoses are exposed I have had problems with catching feed roller hoses on previous machines I have operated. The feed roller hoses are really well routed on the H7 head, and I’ve never caught one yet. All the grease points can be reached with the head in one position although the two nipples on the tilt frame swing arm are difficult to grease and could do with being extended so they aren’t as difficult to reach.

Graham uses the semi automatic system for sawing. This system is utilised by keeping the saw button pressed just before it reaches its length and the saw cuts soon as the length is reached.

“Measuring on the machine is very accurate; it’s the best measuring head I have ever used.

I calibrate the measuring on average once a fortnight but I do feel that it isn’t really necessary

Overall the head is very reliable and there has been very few issues with it. One problem though is the measuring wheel bearing wear. I have been changing these at nine month intervals, before they actually fail. Another issue is with hoses on the tilt frame manifold wearing through including the hose housing the electric cable”.

FINAL POINTS CHAIN OIL USAGE

The oil flow for the saw can be adjusted via the computer. Graham says he usually uses about four litres of chain oil a day, which is ample as he has no issues with excessive bar wear or broken chains.

LOW LOADER

If there has to be a bad point of this machine, transportation is it. The machine itself is easy to put onto the low loader but knuckling up the crane to get it low enough in Grahams words is a real headache. Fitting of quite a few guards is

needed and then some special manoeuvring techniques are required to get in to place.

RELIABILITY

Very few problems, covered elsewhere.

BACK UP

“Back up is A1, on the rare occasions I have had to call out a van, they have always been there the same day, even at 3.30 on a Friday”. If Graham needs spares he orders them over the phone and they are usually delivered to his house the next day.

H7 Maximum cut diameter 800mm

MARKS OUT OF 10

9.5.

Would have another: “Yes”.

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KOMATSU 931XC

Operator: Keith Palmer

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he Komatsu 931XC is an 8WD harvester with an AGCO 251 hp EPA Tier 4 Final and EU Stage 4. 6-cylinder turbo diesel motor. The modern engine reduces noise thanks to its intelligent variable fan control.

The 931XC stands at 2996mm wide with 710 tyres. It has 710mm ground clearance, a steering angle of +/- 40° and weighs approximately 21,000 depending on harvesting head.

The model features a type of double suspension. The articulated joint and a swing axle, along with the cab’s tilt cylinders and Comfort Bogie, lowers the machine’s centre of gravity and increases ground contact for added stability. The working hydraulics have a dual load sensing system with variable piston pumps offering a flow rate of 528 l/min @1600rpm giving 280 bar.

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Length 8015 mm

← ← 2776 mm2996 mm

Seven different Komatsu harvesting heads are available for the 931XC and three side mounted crane options with 8.7m, 10m and 11m reach.

The MaxiXplorer and Information system is a fully integrated CAN-based

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“The machine stays stable even at full reach out to the sides”. operating a forwarder for two years for Robert Lawson. He then spent 6 months forwarding for Ian (tiny) Elliott before joining Blacklock harvesting where he has remained for the last 18 years.

“Overall performance of the 931 is excellent” said Keith. “Stability when reaching out on steep ground is very good, I put this down to the centre of gravity of the machine being very central.

The climbing ability of the machine has been impressive”. He then regaled me with the time he reversed up an exceptionally steep slope with the crane and cab turned round and the head hanging over the back of the machine to aid traction! The machine also copes with soft ground without any issues.

Keith has been working on a difficult site at Cardrona which includes gullies and steep ground. Average tree size on the site is 0.5m³ with Keith producing 28m³ per hour and the machine using 19 litres of fuel per hour.

machine control system.

MAXIXT CONTROL

BASE MACHINE

The MaxiXT Control and information system controls the head, crane engine and transmission for optimum performance and economy.

Komatsu machines are MaxiFleet ready which makes it possible to monitor production and machine information, see each machine’s status, localise all machines, coordinate/optimise the machines and conduct proactive service measures.

The MaxiXl gives you full overviews on your smartphone, tablet, or your computer back at the office.

“The frame brake on the 931 utilises a ram on either side of the chassis, when coupled with the 8 wheels it provides faultless stability even on steep slopes. Refuelling is accessed via a removable step which clicks into place to allow access to the fuel and Hydraulic filling points.

Operator: Keith Palmer, 53

The autolube takes care of most of the base lubrication with four greasing points on the main slew bearing and two on the driver’s access step being the only ones needing to be greased manually”.

Blacklock Harvesting.

Keith spent his early years driving Lorries around the Scottish Borders area before

One issue I have though is that when checking the Hydraulic oil level, I have to remove the bonnet protection bars before lifting both bonnets to see the sight glass - a hole cut in the side of the bonnet would be an easy solution.

The hose layout on the base machine is generally good, the only problem being in the centre joint where the hoses go under the cab which has resulted in a water hose failure. Storage is good

with room for the toolbox etc in the front step although extra storage can be obtained by taking the plastic urea tank out which leaves room for hoses.

CABIN After year’s operating Komatsu 941’s, Keith went onto operate a different make of harvester for about two years. He found the computer a little bit difficult to use at first but became used to it over time. Now back on a Komatsu it has taken time getting used to the 931 XC computer.

He is now however, comfortable with it and say it is very user friendly. “Cabin comfort is excellent with the overall stability of the machine keeping things steady, along with a roomy cab and excellent seat. The levers are the wooden Komatsu ones but I find these better to use than the mini levers I have used in the past, I find them really comfortable with the buttons just where they need to be.

Storage inside the cab could be a lot better, if I put anything in the nets in the door they fall out when I shut the door. The two pockets behind the seat provide some storage but things rattle

around in them so much that they are very annoying.

Vision is excellent which really maximises performance, the only slight problem being if a tree gets caught in the crop on my right-hand side there is a blind spot due to the main boom.

However I can feel when the tree is caught so this doesn’t cause me any major problems.

Levelling is excellent on steep ground and it levels further than machines I have operated in the past”.

The cab has courtesy lighting which gives a red glow around the cab while operating in the dark with the lights becoming white when the door is opened. Cabin greasing is part of the autolube system which would probably last for two weeks, but is filled up weekly to keep things running smoothly.

CRANE Although the main lift is perfectly fine, working close to the crop gives the best results. One thing Keith did remark on was, when handling large trees or a full diesel bowser or site safe, he has to be careful that the head doesn’t come in and hit the front of the machine due to lack of power in the dipper ram. “Slew power is good as is the extension” said Keith. “The machine stays stable

Keyless system that can control both heating and main circuit breaker/lighting remotely.

even at full reach out to the sides”.

To keep the crane working at an optimum Keith calibrates the levers and all the functions on the crane at least once a fortnight, this is all done within the computer which is relatively straightforward to do.

“The Hose layout on the crane is generally good.

The one hose I have had problems with is the one that houses the electric cable down to the head.

BOOM: 230H

Gross lifting torque 229 kNm Reach 8.7, 10 or 11 m

This problem occurs while working on steep ground as it causes an acute bend on the hose where it goes into the electric box.

With 4 lights underneath the main boom and 4 on the side of the crane it provides excellent lighting”.

C144 HEAD “Felling with this head is good as the well designed saw box enables me to cut the stumps low. I fell the trees manually in larger crops and use fully automatic when I am in smaller stands.

One short press of the saw button is all that is needed to cut all the way through in the fell cut; this can be overridden by simply pressing the button again. Feeding is excellent it has a good grip on big trees and accurate measuring is achieved when care is taken with big butt logs.

On the rougher trees I am able to feed the tree all the way to the tip and then back to the butt with no loss of grip. The head is able to de limb rough trees but I tend to leave them for the cutter so as not to put too much strain on the head”.

Keith uses the semi-automatic method of crosscutting, holding his finger on the saw button before the tree reaches its length which results in instant cross-cutting.

“The measuring is good on this machine. There

have been problems in the past with Komatsu machines but I feel that they have it right now.

Calibration is done via callipers every 1000 m³ which are very easy to use.

“Very Quick when the bar and chain are 100 %” were the words Keith used when describing the saw, and he added even when the chain goes dull it still cuts reasonably well but he doesn’t recommended this as it causes excess wear on the bar and chain. Chain snapping is minimal with the only slight problem being the chain sometimes catches the side of the saw box.

This Head has done 3500 hours. The only hoses that I have had to change were two knife hoses which had not been crimped properly when new.

The feed roller hose layout is perfect unlike other heads I have used in the past. Greasing on the head is well thought out with the inner greasing points all accessed via a bank on the outside of the head with the other ones easy to locate”.

FINAL POINTS CHAIN OIL USAGE

About 5 litres a day.

LOW LOADER

“The machine is easy to put on the low loader.

Folding the lights on the cab forward, and

moving the lights under the main boom to the side, give the only minor gripes to folding the machine up for transport”.

RELIABILITY

“Overall the C144 is a good reliable head;

C144 Maximum cut diameter 750mm

MARKS OUT OF 10

9 the Achilles heel has been the inner feed rollers. The rollers are in line rather than side by side with the top one being powered via a sprocket between the two rollers.

If the top roller becomes jammed and the bottom roller keeps on turning it results in either blowing the motor seals or breaking the bolts on the sprocket. The last time this happened new stronger bolts were used and so far they seem to be okay. Apart from this a failure with a top knife has been the only other notable issue”.

BACK UP

“Good and getting better. A lot of the original engineers have left over the years and the younger lads that have replaced them are doing a good job”. One aspect Keith is really impressed with is the Team Viewer system, this allows for an engineer from Komatsu’s base in Longtown to be able to alter his machines computer no matter where it is. This system can be accessed even without phone signal, with the engineer being able to change settings as though he was actually sitting in the machine. “I was recently working in Ireland and had a problem with the knives not working properly, by turning the cab and crane round and dangling the head out the back of the machine, the engineer was able to watch what the head was doing via the reversing camera and diagnosed the problem”.

Would have another: “Yes”.

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LOGSET 6H GTE

Operator: Colin Forder

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his 21,000 kg harvester is available in six or eight wheel drive and uses a six cylinder AGCO Stage V 258 hp engine and the hydraulic system offering 285 l/min at 1500rpm.

The 6H stands between 2640 and 2930 mm depending on tyres. It has ?? mm ground clearance, a steering angle of +/- ??° and weighs approximately 21,000 depending on harvesting head. This model is supplied with a Mesera 221H crane and has three reach options; 8.3, 10 and 11m and can be fitted with a choice of three Logset harvesting heads - TH45, TH55 and TH65.

Logset have developed a base machine control system, the TOC 2.

This control system has been designed so that it is user friendly and straightforward to navigate. Recently updated, the settings for the TOC 2 control system are divided into two parts: basic settings and advanced settings. Anyone can simply change the basic settings of the program, for example, drivers can save their own crane settings in the program. Access to the advanced settings on the harvester can be restricted to qualified technicians. Logset has developed a new measuring instrument system for their harvesters: Total Operation and Measuring Device 2 (TOC-MD 2),

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“Comfort in the cab is excellent and larger than I expected”.

In 1991 Colin teamed up with Nigel Greenacre, who had also worked for the forestry commission, and formed the company GNF Forestry. Together they worked cleaning up windblow following the 1987 storm. This is the company they are still running today with Colin operating the harvester and Nigel operating one of their two forwarders.

Colin and his son C J were double shifting the 6 H on a flat site in Suffolk, with Colin describing the crop as “mediocre”. They are producing an average of 26 m³ per hour with a tree size of 0.3m³ and fuel usage of 18 litres per hour.

“Overall reliability of the machine, over the 10,200 hours, has been excellent” said Colin.

“The only problem that hasn’t been run of the mill was a broken wire under the cab. RJ Fukes fixed the problem in two hours by replacing the wiring harness”.

TOC-MD 2 which is a Linux-based system.

The TOC-MD 2 is able to connect to the TOC 2 control system directly which eliminates the need for a separate PC. TOC2 and TOC-MD 2 control systems are the result of 10 years of development, the TOC control system has been used in Logset forest machines since 2007. The TOC-MD was introduced in Logset machines in 2010. TOC-MD 2 navigation has been recently updated with the latest navigational software.

“GNF Forestry has been loyal to the Logset brand since 1997. Starting with excavator based harvesters before going onto purpose built machines. The machines have gradually improved over the years with each model being better than the previous one. The 6H has been very productive and reliable. The majority of our work is carried out in Norfolk, Suffolk area where the sites are relatively flat with good ground conditions. With the 6H never running tracks and it being fully ballasted to aid stability, it is reasonable on soft ground with extra care being needed to get the most out of the TRS tyres”.

Operator: Colin Forder, 65

BASE MACHINE

Colin Forder spent the first years of his career working as a mechanic on timber drags which he described as AEC Matador Lorries with an A frame on the back which was used for skidding timber. At the age of 21 he started work as a chainsaw operator for the Forestry Commission based in Thetford forest.

“The frame brake on the Logset works via a ram on either side of the machine chassis and it does an excellent job on the work that we carry out.

Access for refuelling and replacing hydraulic oil are on a side compartment towards the rear of the machine and is accessed by a lift up hatch with both connections easy

GNF Forestry.

BASE MACHINE to get to. There is a compartment on the main slew bearing and two other side of the machine which houses the batteries.

The various greasing points are easily accessed and the hose layout on the Logset is excellent with no failures in the centre joint during the 10,000 hours the machine has worked. The LED lighting on the base is also excellent.

Servicing on the machine is done by the operator on the interim 500 hours service, whereas the

main 1000 hours service is carried out by RJ Fukes. The servicing is straight forward; the only thing which was a little awkward to change was the transmission filter” said Colin.

A common theme among those I have interviewed is lack of storage. Colin commented he could always do with more. There is storage under the front of the cab for chains, with 2 drop down hatches at the rear of the machine for bars etc. There is also storage in the refuelling compartment for the toolbox.

CABIN “The computer on the 6H is very user friendly.

The right joystick of the machine is all that is needed to navigate the computer.

downside with the crane is that it is in front of the cab. I have operated Logset’s for years so it doesn’t bother me that much.

Comfort in the cab is excellent and larger than I expected, there is ample room. There are side pockets on either side of the seat with further storage in the door pocket and room behind the seat for the spill kit. With the cab following the crane I find the vision excellent. The only

Levelling on the cab is very good but it is rarely stretched due to the majority of our jobs being relatively flat. The lights on the outside of the cab are all LED’s giving a good spread for working, and inside the cab there are 4 lights including 2 reading lights. Greasing points for the cab are all easily accessible”.

CRANE “The Crane could do with a little more power on bigger trees. But, as the majority or our work is predominately thinning and smaller clear fells,

The 500 litre fuel tank means less downtime for fuel filling

the crane is more than adequate for our needs.

The ten metre reach comes into its own in the thinning’s. The hose layout on the crane overall is very good but if I could make one change it would be a guard either side of the main boom to stop branches getting under the metal pipes. This isn’t

BOOM: Mesera L221V

Gross lifting torque 188 kNm Reach 8.3, 10, 11 m

This isn’t an issue in clear fell but as we do a lot of first thinning’s this can be a problem.

Lubrication is via one easy to access greasing

point which services the whole of the crane and the crane lighting is via 2 LED lights either side of the link above the kingpost”.

TH65 HEAD “With the saw running an uprated saw motor and a 14 tooth sprocket it gives excellent performance, good bar wear and minimal chain failures. The head is great for felling and the sturdy well positioned saw box keeps the stumps low. The TH65 gives excellent results even in rougher stems and the feeding is very good. Due to being the owner of the machine as well as the operator I tend to leave the rougher trees to the hand cutter to save on breakages”.

Colin also uses the manual crosscutting option as it is what he’s used to.

“Measuring of length and diameter is accurate.

I do the Calibration manually to keep things in check when needed.

The hose layout on the current TH65 head is an improvement over the previous model, the main improvement being the feed roller hoses which have been rerouted forward then up, rather than straight up. The only failures we have had was due to catching the hoses in tight first thinning’s, none have occurred on clear fell sites. The head is easily maintained with all greasing points being readily accessible”.

FINAL POINTS CHAIN OIL USAGE

10 litres a day.

the machine having done 10,200 hours, nothing stands out as having been a major problem.

LOW LOADER

BACK UP

Straightforward and easy.

RELIABILITY

“Just the normal run of the mill problems, with

The morning I spoke to Colin, he had a saw valve fail and before replacing it from the spares out of the service van, he rang RJ Fukes to order a new one which would arrive at his house in the post

TH 65 Maximum cut diameter 720mm

MARKS OUT OF 10

9

FINAL POINTS the following morning.

“I can’t rate them highly enough” is how he described the back up from RJ Fukes. “Somebody is always at the end of the phone, and a service van readily available if needed”.

One other thing Colin commented on was that Logset are always willing to listen to feedback from operators to help improve their products.

Would have another: “Yes”.

D E M O N S T R AT I O N S During 2021 we will be demonstrating the hybrid harvester, forwardersindustry and timbermax OfferingLogset the forestry traction system throughout the UK and Ireland.

MORE Please get in touch for more details!

rjfukes.co.uk rjfukes.co.uk Llandovery: 01550 721 641

Llandovery:01550 721 641 Longtown: 01228 791 111 Longtown:01228 791 111

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ECO LOG 560D

Operator: Neil Fraser

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he Eco Log 560 is a six wheel drive pendulum arm suspension harvester weighing 19,100kg with its Volvo Penta 6 cylinder Stage V Tier 4F 252hp engine.

This is a self levelling harvester with adjustable ground clearance from four inches to almost four feet. The independent pendulum arms are able to raise and lower each axle individually. The side mounted crane has reach options from 9m to 11.5m and can be fitted with your choice of four Log Max harvesting heads - 3,000, 4,000, 5,000, 6,000.

Eco Log use the DASA Forester operating system. Forester is the latest generation of systems for optimised logging and is the 6th generation system from Dasa which draws on the company’s experiences from previous systems. Development was undertaken in close cooperation with leading manufacturers of harvesters, forwarders and logging units. The result is a product that takes bucking and mechanised logging to an entirely new level.

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The Forester product range will shortly be joined by system solutions including: H-series bucking system for harvesters, F-series production

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“The levelling of the base machine is taken care of by the pendulum arms”. forwarders before progressing to harvesters.

Last year Neil decided to go it alone starting up his own company Fraser Timber Harvesting Ltd working for Norbord in the Inverness area.

The site Neil is currently harvesting is mixed with some spruce, rough twisted pine and quite a lot of windblow and dead trees. Neil is achieving roughly 15 m³ per hour in a 0.25m³ size crop with the machine using 11 litres of fuel per hour.

“One of the major assets to this machine is the way it can keep itself level due to the pendulum arms” said Neil. “This system is used while traversing the site and its second nature using the joystick control to keep things level. Another advantage with this system is its ability to sit level going across steep side slopes, where with the powerful crane I can fell the trees and then place them in more accessible areas where I can process them, allowing easier access for the forwarder”.

system for forwarders, Navi navigation system for harvesters and forwarders, Monitor operation monitoring system for forwarders and harvesters and a Care telematics system for communication and monitoring machinery.

Although the machine hasn’t come across any very steep climbs so far, Neil feels the hydraulic drive motors will be up to the task if needed.

“With this machine running an upgraded crane and hydraulic system that is usually found on the 580 D, it really is on top of the job. With the smaller Logmax 5000 D head along with the 11 metre reach crane it is a perfect combination for the type of work I do”.

Operator: Neil Fraser, 44

Fraser Timber Harvesting Ltd. After leaving school in 1993 Neil attended the Scottish school of forestry on a basic forestry course. While doing this course he also took part time chainsaw work to make ends meet. After a year at the college Neil then went to Finland for three months attending two different colleges where he gained further experience in operating and maintaining forest machines.

On returning home he started working for various contractors, including G&A Watt and Douglas Timber Harvesting, on

BASE MACHINE “With the centre joint of the machine only allowing steering movement, the levelling of the base machine is taken care of by pendulum arms rather than the 2 way centre joint and frame lock systems used on most other machines. Levelling of the machine is controlled by a separate 4 way manual Joystick which once I got used to it, I really like.

Fuelling up is done at the very front of the machine with an easy to get to hose attachment.

Autolube takes care of the base, crane and the pendulum arms. I have no problems with the hose layout”.

Neil was very happy with the storage on the 560.

He was one of the few operators who didn’t comment on needing extra storage. “In the front

of the machine there is a slide out tray above the diesel tank which is good for larger tools with additional storage at the front for a toolbox, fuel filling hose, bars and chains etc. Also stored in here is a concentrated 10 litre urea tank, which before being used is diluted with water from a tank in the crane pillar”.

Neil stated that the mixture of xenon and LED lights work really well.

CABIN “The cab is comfortable, everything is easy to access the only issue I have had was vibrations coming up through the floor which is all but eradicated as I fitted extra sound proofing.

Because the crane is alongside the cab vision is excellent, even looking past the crane on the right hand side causes no problems due to the large side windows.

With the machine chassis levelling with the pendulum arms there is no levelling on the cab itself. For storage there is a compartment above

my head and also a pocket on the left hand side of the cab.

Control of the machine is taken care of by the Dasa 6 forester computer which is situated on the driver’s door at the front of the cab.

The computer is simple but efficient. It has a touchscreen to alter any settings and is very user friendly and easy to use.

Lighting is taken care of by a lightbar above the front window with additional lights on the side and back of the cab”.

CRANE “Strong and Sturdy” were the words Neil used to describe the crane. This Machine is fitted with an upgraded 260 crane that is usually found on the 580 D. “It gives it more power, and with 11 metres of reach, coupled with the Logmax 5000 D head it is more than capable for the work I do.

The hose layout on the crane is generally good,

Ground clearance can be adjusted from 4” up to 4’

the only issue is the badly protected crane cables down to the head. I have caught these a couple of times but this is probably due to working in rough UK conditions. This problem has been addressed in later machines and the cables are now being housed in a hose. The crane has two lights on the extension hose bracket and one on either side of the crane Pillar”.

BOOM: 260

Gross lifting torque 255 kNm Reach 9, 11.5m

LOGMAX 5000 D “The saw is fast and reliable with no significant bar wear. Because I harvest a lot of windblow I do get chains breaking but this is normally down to the saw getting stuck.

Felling with this head is good. One thing to mention is the rubber mounted plate that is connected to the side/bottom of the saw box.

This plate acts as a shock absorber taking out the stress to the head when feeding down to the ground to locate the fell cut position. Its fast and powerful at feeding. I recently finished a really rough Lodgepole pine job and the 2 wheel drive head coped really well with the bent and twisted crop. Although the head is capable of much rougher trees I tend to leave them for the cutter to save stress on the head”.

Neil uses the semi-automatic method of crosscutting and a manual override when needed.

“As a requirement of the main contractor I calibrate the head every day. The calibration is done with the quick and easy use of the callipers which keeps everything in check and leads to very accurate measuring.

I feel the hose layout on the head is nice and compact with nothing causing any problems in

the 1200 hours I have worked so far with the machine. The head is straightforward to grease, the only issue being sticks getting jammed behind the top knife guard’s which hinder access to the greasing points.

When I first got the 560 D I used the Greasing system for lubrication rather than chain oil. The reservoir for the fluid grease system is located on the side of the boom extension bracket. It needed filling twice a day so I switched to the chain oil system which only uses 3 litres of oil a day.

I am pleased with the guarding of the head especially the hydraulic rams which are well protected from debris and tree sap, extending the lifetime of the seals. The hydraulic hose of the rams are also protected by effective guards.

I have had the machine for over a year now but due to being stopped because of Covid-19 I have only done 1200 hours. In this time the overall reliability has been very good. I have replaced two knives which had already been repaired, and replaced a top knife spring these being the only real issues I have had.

I have also had a few leaking rams which is to be expected on a machine of this age. The rams are easily taken off and resealed which I do myself.

FINAL POINTS CHAIN OIL USAGE

3 litres a day.

LOW LOADER

Loading the machine is no problem driving the

5000D Maximum cut diameter 570 mm

MARKS OUT OF 10

8.5 machine straight on the low loader and placing the head on the neck of the trailer.

RELIABILITY

“The Eco Log was sourced from Eco Log in Sweden by Scott Burton of SB Forestry. It was covered by a parts warranty for the first Month after I bought it. This came in handy when a solenoid developed a fault on the injection system of the Mercedes engine. It was replaced with a second-hand solenoid. The only other major problem was that one of the pendulum arms failed due to fatigue and had to be replaced with a stronger version on the front of the machine. The one on the other side is due to be replaced in the near future in case it also fails.

Apart from the usual run of the mill, burst hoses etc the machine has been very reliable overall considering the hours it has done”.

BACK UP

“Back up for the machine is provided by S B

Forestry of Lauder who is the UK Ecolog dealer.

I tend to repair most things myself and Scott is always on the end of the phone to offer advice, send parts and a service van will be dispatched if I need it.

Back up for the head is provided by Treetop forestry. The Treetop service vans often pass near to where I am based in Inverness so I can arrange to meet up with them to collect any parts I have ordered.

I carry out all but the most difficult repairs myself and the servicing at 500 and 1000 hour intervals.

Servicing is relatively easy with the removal of side panels allowing easy access to the filters etc”.

Would have another: “Yes”.

Forestry of tomorrow

K U W NE

*LER

*ECO LOG DEA

UK AGENTS FOR VIKING HEADS UK NORTHERN DEALER FOR PFANZELT FOREST MACHINES

SALES AND SERVICE CONTACT SCOTT BURTON sales@sbforestryltd.co.uk | service@sbforestryltd.co.uk | parts@sbforestryltd.co.uk Parts: 01483 906 913 | Sales: 07795 438 341 | Lauder, Scotland | @SBForestry

www.sbforestryltd.co.uk

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PONSSE ERGO

Operator: Simon Hern

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he Ponsse Ergo is available in six or eight wheel drive and has the option of Ponsse’s proprietary Active Frame cabin suspension system which ensures that lateral swings affecting the driver are eliminated.

The Ergo stands at between 2630 and 3085 mm. It has 600 mm ground clearance, a steering angle of +/- //° and has a typical weight of 21,500g. It is fitted with a Mercedes Benz EU Stage V/Tier 4 Final 286hp Engine with advanced transmission for maximum machine control when working ion uneven and steep ground.

Two cranes options are available, the C44+ parallel crane with 8.6, 10 or 11m reach and the C5 Sliding Boom Crane with 8.6, 9.5 or 10m reach.

Three Ponsse harvesting heads can be fitted.

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New: December 2020 Current hours: 20

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Length 8020 mm

← ← 2630 mm3085 mm

Ponsse’s Opti information systems are designed to be user-friendly.

Therefore, their design takes into account the wishes of drivers and the requirements of forest companies. Ponsse Opti has a system for forestry machinery as well as logging control and monitoring. With the easy-touse programs of the Opti system, controlling, adjusting, managing the application files and calibrating the machine are convenient.

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“The Ergo handles everything from first thinnings to large clear fells making it the best on the market for our needs”.

After leaving school at 16 he went on to a YTS scheme with Fountain forestry learning about all aspects of forestry. After this he started hand felling before progressing on to the winch tractor at 17, where he stayed for another three years.

At 20 he spent two year on a forwarder for Grosvenor forestry before moving on to Kleen Kutt forestry where he stayed for 16 years. He moved to his current employer Cox Forestry after this and has been on Ponsse Ergo Harvesters for the last 4 years.

Nick Cox started Cox Forestry in 1993 working for Euroforest, with 95 % of their work still coming from Euroforest. First up was a County tractor with a Botex roof mount crane, trailer and a gang of hand cutters. He then progressed to a JCB 814 with a Ponsse head. Nick has stuck with the Ponsse brand ever since which has included ownership of 8 Ergo’s, the most recent one arriving the week before Christmas.

“The Ergo handles everything from first thinning’s to large clear fells making it the best on the market for our needs”.

The Ponsse Manager connects forest machines to an information network. PONSSE Manager, the modern digitalization platform for forest machines, enables comprehensive services now and in the future. The easy-to-use tool offers assistance in harvesting equipment maintenance and work planning, along with providing access to extensive reporting.

Operator: Simon Hern, 42

Simon is currently on a difficult site consisting of a poor larch crop. The majority of the trees are being felled down to him off a bank-side by a cutter. The average tree size is 0.4m³ and he is averaging 13m³ per hour and using 15.8 litres of fuel per hour.

BASE MACHINE

Cox Forestry.

Simon’s introduction to forestry started at an early age. He spent as much time as he could going to work with his father who was a contractor for Fountain forestry. An early indication to his future career was his enthusiasm to, “have a go” any time his father would have time to let him take the controls of the Massey Ferguson 390 tractor.

Stability on the Ergo is taken care of with a ram on either side of the chassis, which Simon said works really well.

“Refuelling on the machine is easily accessed behind the cab access step, with both the fuel connection and Ad blue tank being located at this point. Hose layout in the centre joint was one of the main bugbears of

the recently departed Ergo with around 10 hoses failing in the 3 years of having the machine. The only good point of this problem is that with the box above the hoses being on a pivot, and with help from the forwarder it is easily moved out of the way to allow good access to the hoses.

Storage is adequate. The storage area next to the

exhaust has been cut by 50 % due to a new emissions system. However as the machine doesn’t come with a urea system there is ample storage where the tank would normally be in front of the crane. This compartment isn’t waterproof and is prone to debris getting in. Care has to be taken placing the chain oil, bars, chains and hoses in it to make sure they stay clean”.

CABIN “As the seat in the Ergo cab turns around the cab is very roomy with space for a passenger if needed. The seat itself gives sideways levelling which is operated manually. The downside of this is the seat actually touches the side of the cab on steeper side slopes.

One of the highlights of this latest machine is the addition of a night heater which is a first for me. I look forward to a nice warm cab and clear windows in the mornings. Vision is excellent with the long windows and narrow pillars. The only downside I have with vision is, as the crane is towards the front of the machine, it is a little

difficult to judge in first thinning’s, but second thinning’s and clear fells aren’t a problem. The computer on the ergo is straightforward to use with settings changes being done by touch-screen and a keyboard.

With storage under the operator’s seat and also under the passenger’s seat it is more than adequate. The usual all round LED’s are excellent.

The only thing I feel would be a good addition to the Ergo is central locking with the function also operating selected lights that would illuminate my path up to the machine on dark mornings/ nights”.

CRANE The crane on the Ergo is the C5 telescopic version which is best suited to the work Cox Forestry does. “Small first thinning’s jobs right up to large clear fell jobs where 4 m³ trees aren’t uncommon.

The telescopic crane is the making of this machine. I wouldn’t be so keen to use the parallel crane option. The two motors provide excellent slew power and along with a strong main lift and good reach makes for a very good crane. The only downside is that there is a little more maintenance to do than on normal

The active frame increases operator comfort and reduces stress

cranes. This is due to the extension chains needing regular adjustment to keep things running smoothly.

Another plus point on this crane is its ability to easily fold away lower than the cab, which makes moving on the road, from site to site, a much easier task. The hose layout on the crane is excellent too, including the internal hoses down the boom.

Greasing for the slew ring is done via four points at the crane base. The rest of the crane is greased at various points which are easily accessible.

BOOM: C5

Gross lifting torque 248 kNm Reach 8.6, 9.5, 10 m

Once a fortnight I grease the rollers for the telescopic boom which is also relatively straight

forward. Lighting under the main boom is good”.

H7/H8 HEAD As this new machine was fitted with the H8 head, and Simon had only one day operating the new harvester before being interviewed, the questions he answered were mainly about the H7 head.

“The saw motor set up has been difficult to get the correct combination of chain speed and feed force of the bar, which has caused some chain snap. The improved saw on the H8 will rectify this.

Felling with the head is good with Simon telling me of a setting which is new to him which only opens the head up in relation to the average tree size of the last 100 trees. As the head is never fully open it is a lot easier to manoeuvre between the trees in first thinning’s.

As Simon had only operated the machine for a day, he couldn’t say if the feed was much better.

But he did add how impressive the H7 was in the rougher trees and how well it has served him in the past. “One of the changes on the new head are the plated spike feed rollers which have a cleaning system to stop debris building up. I am not sure about this set up as when the head hits a bend in the tree, the feed rollers seem to do a lot of damage to the stem while spinning.

I am not convinced they are any better than the original rollers on the H7.

Simon uses a combination of automatic and

manual saw for crosscutting with logs and stakes on fully automatic and manual saw for other sizes.

Concentration has to be kept up while using the automatic saw with Simon able to override the system to avoid cutting substandard products.

“With a choice of single or double measuring wheel, we opt for the single version which gives excellent measuring. Lengths and diameters are checked daily with calibration being done manually as and when needed but it is a doddle to do. With the Knives floating and the head tilted up all the greasing points are accessible without having to move the head. The only downside being that the grease is quite hard to pump into the nipples on the H7 even with a Milwaukee grease gun. With the new H8 head I am hoping this problem to be a thing of the past.

Simons only niggle with the H7 head was the hose manifold on the tilt frame where he says the mounting pin wears then breaks causing hose failure, hopefully this should have been rectified on the H8 with a bigger stronger pin.

Other than the above issue, reliability was described as overall very good, with feed roller hoses needing replacing about every four months and the measuring wheel bearing every 12 months being the only other things Simon commented on.

H8 Maximum cut diameter 740mm

MARKS OUT OF 10

9

FINAL POINTS CHAIN OIL USAGE

“Very frugal, 3 litres a day and the chain always feels well lubricated”.

LOW LOADER

“Folding down the light bar on the cab and supporting the head with chains is all that needs done to prepare the machine for transportation, after this it’s just a case of driving the machine on”.

RELIABILITY

“Apart from the hoses in the centre joint, covered elsewhere, the only other problem has been the header tank on the cooling system. The tank has been replaced three times because of leaks, which Ponsse have rectified. The new harvester has a re vamped system which I have been assured will cure the problem. Other than the

above problems and the usual run of the mill issues we have been more than pleased with the overall reliability of the Ergo”.

BACK UP

“The machine is on a service contract with Ponsse UK. Cox forestry take care of the fairly straight forward 750 hour service, but the main 1500 hour services are done by Ponsse. Ponsse service engineer Chris Davies, who is based in Wales, takes care of 99% of the work at Cox Forestry, even though Chris has about a four hour drive from home, he is usually on site by 7 in the morning.

Cox forestry have used Ponsse for years and their back up is excellent. They use DPD next day delivery who are very good. The parts are sent direct to the operator’s respective homes when needed”.

Would have another: “Yes”.

Hold it There!

The tried-and-tested system of the FH constant pulling force winch is now also available as a traction assistance winch attachment. The attachment unit is suitable for mounting on excavators, harvesters, forwarders, skidders and more. Since all the components, including the hydraulics and the FH traction assistance control unit, are mounted in a single add-on unit, little modification of the host machine is required. The minimal modification undertaken to the host vehicle means the add-on unit can easily be used for various machines. For instance, if added to a 25 Te excavator, the TWFH120 can support another machine on a slope(s) using the variable control traction feature as determined by terrain and conditions.

Moving the controls from one machine to another is a matter of taking the control unit to the next machine requiring stability. The host excavator can still be universally used without needing to modify or remove the winch which makes for cost effective solutions to many harvesting and processing requirements.

Visit it our web site for more information and the whole range of high-quality products and services we can deliver throughout the UK and Ireland

Tel: 01434 230852

info@forestmachineservices.com www.forestmachineservices.com

HSM 405H3 U

nfortunately at this time, we were unable to get any operator feedback on this model as there isn’t any of these harvesters currently working in the UK.

The HSM 405H3 is strong and stable environmentally-friendly harvester which is equally at home in mature thinnings or final felling and is available in a 6 or 8-wheel drive configuration.

The 405 has a levelling comfort cab which enables an ergonomic working environment with excellent all round vision and is available with harvesting heads from Waratah, Logmax and many other manufacturers.

This harvester uses either the Volvo Penta TAD882VE 286hp or the TAD884VE 340hp EU Stage V engine with a hydrostatic mechanical NAF 2 speed gearbox and NAF balanced portal tandem axles with selectable differential lock.

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26,200kg

← ← Length 9147 mm

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Height 3745 mm

There is a choice of two cranes, the Mesera (Loglift) M280 V110 with 11m reach or an Epsilon X270 with 10.9m reach. Both are parallel cranes with a 260° slewing angle and a tilting kingpost with forward/rear +24°/-30°.

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ergonomic cabin rotates through 270° with the levelling cabin tilting; forward/rear +11°/-13° and side to side +/-9°.

On the cabin there are 20 LED work lights, 4 work lights in front of the crane, 2 LED work lights on the crane column and 2 LED work lights on the rear frame.

Standard equipment includes; front bogie lift which can be operated independently, voltage converter on-board to reduce voltage from 24 V to 12 V, cushioning for crane and steering cylinders at the end of their travel, radio, fire extinguisher, first-aid kit, warning triangle, tool set, bypass filter, Diesel filling pump, hydraulic filling pump and a vacuum pump.

Storage is not a problem as HSM won the KWF innovation prize for the storage system which is built in to this harvester.

The two circuit braking system has disk brakes running in an oil bath with a spring loaded parking brake.

The harvester is frame steered and has a steering angle of 50° with the torsion lock via hydraulic rams for excellent stability during harvesting.

A large radiator with an additional oil cooler keeps the harvester working efficiently no matter what outside temperature you are working in.

Maintenance and repairs are easily carried out with good access to components and hydraulically fold-able engine bonnets.

There are three tyre sizes 600mm, 710mm and 800mm with sufficient room for fitting extra wide 3060mm flotation band tracks for harvesting on very soft and peaty soil conditions.

The roomy, soundproof, air conditioned

Ease of access and service are at the forefront in the design of the harvester. HSM offers stateof-the-art tools for optimising and monitoring important machine data with the E-command intelligent control system and the Econnect telematics and remote diagnostics system. This makes a critical contribution to the efficiency and productivity of a state-of-the-art forestry business.

The load sensing variable pump hydraulic system has a flow rate of 532 l/min @1400 rpm with a maximum working pressure of 380 bar.

Other optional equipment includes a GPS system, Data Transfer, Rear Bogie Lift and Traction Assist Winch for working on steep ground.

The Traction Assist winch can hold up to 450m of 16mm cable and has an integrated rope coiling system with lighting and two inspection cameras for the operator to see that everything is functioning correctly. It has a quick change over system so it can be used on multiple machines.

ROTTNE H11

U

nfortunately at this time, we were unable to get any operator feedback on this model as there isn’t any of these harvesters currently working in the UK. Although some will be arriving in the near future and will feature in an upcoming issue.

This H11 is available in six or eight Wheel Drive and uses a John Deere Power Tech PVS Stage V 220hp engine. It has a hydrostatic transmission with two mechanical gear stages and balanced bogies which gives a high tractive force and excellent operating characteristics on both soft and steep ground conditions.

The Rottne H11 is suitable for thinning and clear felling with the bogie lift on the front and rear bogies giving excellent manoeuvring capabilities with minimal ground disturbance. The parallel RC 185 harvester crane is available with a single extension 10.3m reach or a double extension dipper with 11.3m reach, the kingpost tilts 25° forward and 19° to the rear.

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Length 7940 mm

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There are a selection of harvester heads available which include Rottne’s own EGS 596, Logmax and SP. The braking system uses a two circuit electrically/hydraulically operated

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can largely be performed via the machine control system’s operating screen.

Rottne use their own D5 machine control system which is based on CAN-bus technology which controls and monitors the engine, transmission and crane. The system comprises a main computer and a number of control units on the machine. The operator can adjust settings for the crane, transmission and engine, monitor pressure, temperatures and fluid levels and perform troubleshooting via the touch screen.

Alarms are indicated by visual and audible signals and in clear text on the screen.

Rottne Forester is a quick and easy-to-use bucking system that is common on all our harvesters. A large and clear touch screen shows all the information in a well-arranged manner and makes it simple to program.

negative wet disc brakes, automatic load brake and spring-assisted parking and emergency brake.

All Rottne harvesters use the same cab; this is a spacious, quiet, rotating, levelling cab with comfort line suspension. Comfort Line reduces shock and impact and makes crane work and driving in terrain significantly smoother. Comfort Line was introduced in 2007 as the first cab suspension system on the market and is thus a tried and tested system which is continuously updated and improved.

The entire rear section of the harvester, housing the engine and transmission, can be quickly opened up for inspection and servicing. The hinged belly plates facilitate servicing work, but also make the entire rear section very easy to keep clean.

Troubleshooting on the electrical system

A Rottne Connect subscription gives owners and operators the ability to easily access up-todate details about the machine you are working which saves time, money and a lot of problems.

Rottne’s internet based telematic system lets you login using any mobile phone or computer and gain access to all the data you need.

NEWS dry wood, an additional volume of oil can be added by the user.

TOOL FREE FILLER CAPS Special catches on the fuel and oil tanks for easy opening and locking without the need for tools.

STIHL MS 881, THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL CHAINSAW

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he new MS 881 is a direct replacement of the MS880 and has a displacement of 121.6cc and 6.4 KW of engine power. This chainsaw has been eagerly anticipated and is built for forest professionals capable of high performance work. It is available with 30, 36 and 41” bar options and uses a .404” rapid super chain. It weighs 9.9kg and has many features as standard:

compression pressure when starting, as well as reducing the effort needed to pull the starter rope. The decompression valve is semi-automatic; it must be pressed manually before starting, but then closes automatically.

STIHL ELASTOSTART STIHL ElastoStart reduces the shock caused by the compression of the engine during starting.

The compression shock is taken HD2 FILTER away from the user’s joints and The HD2 filter is made from muscles through a spring or polyethylene filter material with rubber element in the starter up to 70% finer pores than fleece handle. and polyamide filters to trap even very fine dust. In addition, SIDE CHAIN TENSIONER it is oil and water-repellent and The tensioning screw can be thus very easy to clean. The found on the side of the chain PET-covered filter cartridge saw through the sprocket cover. with quick-release lock enables This removes the need for the filter to be assembled and contact with the sharp saw chain. disassembled in next to no time, without using tools.

VARIABLE-DISPLACEMENT OIL PUMP DECOMPRESSION VALVE Allows a precise, demand-based The decompression valve is part delivery of oil. It’s possible to of the easy starting system. The reduce oil production by up to valve should be pressed before 50% in the E position. For very starting to reduce the long cutting attachments or very Page 66

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ANTI-VIBRATION SYSTEM Intense vibration at the handles of power tools can lead to longterm effects on blood vessels in the hands and arms. STIHL has therefore developed an effective anti-vibration system whereby the oscillations from the machine’s engine are dampened which significantly reduces vibrations at the handles.

SINGLE-LEVER MASTER CONTROL All important functions such as start, choke, throttle and stop are operated via a single lever.

COMPENSATOR This controller in the carburettor prevents the fuel-air mixture getting richer as the air filter becomes clogged. The correct quantity of fuel is delivered to the carburettor depending on the quantity of air passing through the air filter. This keeps the fuel/air ratio in the combustion mixture constant and hence also the engine power. The filter doesn’t need to be cleaned until an appreciable drop in power occurs.

EMATIC CHAIN LUBRICATION SYSTEM The Ematic chain lubrication system ensures pinpoint lubrication of the saw chain links and guide bar rails. When used with STIHL OILOMATIC saw chain, February 2021

it will provide maximum lubrication, longer wear and less oil consumption than conventional methods of chain lubrication. The Ematic system can reduce bar oil consumption by up to 50.

CARBURETTOR HEATING (V) By changing the chain saw from summer to winter operation, the intake air is pre-heated over the engine fins. This ensures that the carburettor does not ice up and you can continue working in freezing temperatures.

No other chainsaw offers the same 121.6 cc displacement and 6.4 kW engine power, giving it unrivalled performance. The 2-MIX petrol engine complies with EU5 emission regulations ensuring it’s safe for both the user and the environment. The advanced HD2 filter filters out even finer dust particles ensuring a long service-life. Featuring a one touch stop function for simplified starting. A rounded handlebar makes it comfortable to hold and a hand guard protects the users hand from debris.

FEATURING A TOP QUALITY ROLLOMATIC ES BAR The MS 881 boasts the highest quality Rollomatic ES bar for high performance demanded by forestry professionals. The bar nose is fully replaceable for low cost maintenance and upkeep, and angled holes allow for optimum lubrication resulting in a cleaner cut. Sealed bearings in the sprocket nose ensure longer durability and less maintenance saving time and money. www.stihl.co.uk February 2021

CONNECTED TECHNOLOGY OPENS UP NEW POSSIBILITIES IN MAXIFLEET

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ow you can easily turn on the forest machine’s engine heater wherever you are – whether the machine is running or not.

The MaxiFleet engine heater function has been made both easier and better thanks to new, connected technology that makes it possible to interact directly with the forest machine’s computer. The new technology brings great opportunities for improvement and this is only step one.

The MaxiFleet engine heater function has received several practical upgrades that makes it both easier and better. Information about current battery capacity, cab temperature and machine position is regularly sent to MaxiFleet – regardless of whether the machine is running or not. This allows the operator to see, for example, that the heater is working and has warmed up the cab, that

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there is sufficient battery capacity to start the machine, and so on.

Most operators have programmed a schedule for the machine’s engine heater based on their usual working hours. But sometimes you need to work at other hours and with the new MaxiFleet functionality it is easy to program the engine heater to start, for example, an hour earlier. The machine’s preprogrammed engine heater schedule can be displayed in MaxiFleet, but changes to this schedule can only be made in the machine. It is also possible to manually switch the engine heater on or off through MaxiFleet.

The upgraded engine heater is the first improvement made possible by the new, connected technology, but more news is to be expected. www.komatsuforest.com Page 67

NEWS transformed boggy areas for the better, and allowed us to create a scenic area for glamping pods.

The application process for forestry grants has become so much easier and more user friendly. The less time a crofter has to sit down doing paperwork the better – that is how it should be.”

When Mr Hall and his wife first bought the croft it was run SHETLAND CROFTER USING TREES TO down and it took them years GROW HIS BUSINESS to renovate the house and outbuildings. In 2005 he received his first forestry grant which crofter on Shetland is challenges of establishing trees taking advantage of grants in places similar to Shetland and funded around 3,000 trees on former silage ground close to from Scottish Forestry introduced their highest grant to grow trees to revitalise rate specifically for the Northern the crofthouse. Since then, Mr Hall has planted more trees and his business. Andrew Hall, of and Western Isles. bushes to transform his croft, Burravoe Croft, has successfully Through the Croft woodland all with support from Scottish received forestry grants on four Project, of which Scottish Forestry. He says planting Willow occasions in the past years, Forestry is a key partner, over contributing to his hard work 800 site visits have taken place to and Poplar has worked very well, however, Rowan and Hazel to diversify his business into a help crofters discuss woodland struggle with the conditions. success. creation and this has led to nearly 100 separate Forestry Establishing trees on Shetland Grant Scheme applications being The forestry grants covered many aspects of getting trees submitted. is said to be notoriously difficult planted on the croft, including due to the climate and poor soil, livestock fencing, gates and but Mr Hall is busting this myth.

Mr Hall said: “Diversification is annual management grants over He has just received approval vital for the financial viability a number of years to help get the for more funding from Scottish of our croft. It has taken a good woodlands established.

Forestry which will help him number of years of very hard plant another 2,500 trees. All work to get where we are today, He added: “All the tree planting the paperwork for the planting but it has been worth it. In our and bushes is great for the was carried out himself and it planning, we factored tree environment, as well as our took only seven weeks for his planting from the start, along proposals to be approved and with introducing kye and sheep to business. It’s a win win situation. funded. the croft. The trees have provided We now have an amazing variety of birds visiting the croft which is Scottish Forestry recognises the shelter belts for the livestock,

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BEES RESPOND TO WILDFIRE AFTERMATH BY PRODUCING MORE FEMALE OFFSPRING Page 68

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esearchers at Oregon State University have found that the blue orchard bee, an important native pollinator, produces female offspring at higher rates in the aftermath of

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wildfire in forests. The more severe the fire had been, the greater percentage of females – more than 10% greater in the most badly burned areas relative to areas that burned the least ← February 2021

NEWS brilliant to see. The reality is that all this tree planting would only be possible due to the financial help through Scottish Forestry. I carry out the hard work of the planting myself, so at the end of the day, the effort I’ve put in should result in a hard earned surplus in our croft bank account.”

Jonathan Hawick, Scottish Forestry’s woodland officer at the Highlands and Islands Conservancy office said: “If we are to meet our Scottish Government target for woodland expansion, we need everyone to participate. Small woods are just as important as the larger woodland creation schemes that we help to fund.

Crofters in the Northern and Western Isles have many challenges and we have a specific funding option available to help them which is the highest available. We are very pleased that Andrew is getting the many benefits that tree planting brings. He’s put a lot of hard work into his croft and we are delighted trees are central to his plans.”

Scottish Forestry has recently published a new easy to understand ‘walk-through’ guide to planting trees which can be found at www.forestry. gov.scot severely.

Pollinators enhance the reproduction of nearly 90% of the Earth’s flowering plants, including many food crops. www.today.oregonstate.edu February 2021

JAMES JONES & SONS PALLETS SUPPORT DELIVERIES OF COVID-19 VACCINE

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ames Jones & Sons is supplying the pallets for distribution of millions of doses of Covid-19 vaccines across the UK. The company is sole supplier of EPAL pallets to the manufacturer of one of the three new vaccines, which are currently being rolled out across the country.

Gil Covey, Executive Chairman of James Jones & Sons (Pallets and Packaging) Ltd said: “This is an excellent example of the vital role that wooden pallets and packaging play in keeping supply chains of essential products, including food, drink and pharmaceuticals, moving.

During the pandemic, supply chains and government have

come to understand this better, which was evidenced by employees involved in the production, treatment, repair and transport of wooden pallets being designated essential workers.

Pharmaceutical and other highvalue goods need to be given protection while in transit by robust, high-quality pallets such as EPAL, which are kiln-dried for additional strength and durability.

James Jones & Sons is proud to play its part in these essential vaccine deliveries and the country’s fight against the pandemic.” www.jamesjones.co.uk

HOME BUILDING STATS SHOW SECTOR IS BOUNCING BACK

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upport for all of those involved in the housing market and construction industry has led to an increase in the number of completed homes. The official statistics show 35,710 homes were started in July to September 2020 – a 111% increase when compared to the previous quarter – while, 45,000 homes were completed in the same period, representing a 185% increase on the previous quarter.

Housing Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:

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“The housing industry is key to our economic recovery, which is why we’re investing £12 billion in affordable housing, providing £400 million to build more homes on brownfield land, and investing £7.1 billion for a new National Home Building Fund over the next 4 years, unlocking up to 860,000 homes.

We extended planning permission deadlines and flexible working hours on sites so that builders, architects and developers have been able to continue working, while following public health advice”. www.gov.uk Page 69

NEWS fires, as rescuers do not have to go to work on the roof of a burning building. Traditional methods for extinguishing a A quenching and clearing grapple building fire is that firefighters either work on the roof of a (SaRa grapple) developed by burning building or from a hoist, Saku Tauriainen is attached to a HIAB loader crane. Water or a combination. nozzles are built into the grapple, “The best thing about innovation, which produce water mist with I think, is that it works in practice. a low flow. Water mists target A real life example is that the the burning cavity directly and effectively extinguishes the fire SaRa grapple efficiently can and reduces water damage. The create an opening in the roof grapple can also create a smoke to let the smoke out. After an outlet on the roof of the burning opening has been created, water can target the fire directly from building. the top of the building”, says Tauriainen.

The fire and clearing grapple improves the work and personal www.hiab.com safety of rescuers in building firefighters to work safely on the ground and not on the roof of a burning building.

HIAB GRAPPLE USED TO CREATE FIRE FIGHTING INNOVATION

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ire station master Mr Saku Tauriainen has won Finland’s Fire Protection Fund Innovation Award for developing an extinguishing and clearing grapple, which is a modified LOGLIFT Grapple RX 31. It allows

NEW STUDY QUESTIONS THE CLIMATE BENEFITS OF RECYCLED PAPER

Sustainable Resources, in a press release.

ecycling paper materials may not be all it’s cracked up to be according to a study conducted by researchers at Yale University and University College London. Published in Nature Sustainability in October 2020, the study points out that the recycling of paper materials in particular could have a negative impact on the climate.

recycled paper uses more fossil energy than the production of new paper. Paper recycling uses electricity from the grid or natural gas – energy sources with a high fossil content. Fresh fibre paper can be produced with fossil free energy made from by-products of the wood pulping process.

“These conclusions are in line with what we see on the market,” says Johan Granås, Sustainability Director at Iggesund Paperboard. “It is quite clear that the production of paper or paperboard from recycled fibre generally has a higher climate impact than producing paper from fresh fibres.”

The report adds that without The writers warn that circular radical changes to the energy economy efforts should carefully mix used for recycling, fossil fuel consider the energy implications emissions will increase. “We need of recycling paper products. They to be careful about assumptions conclude that recycling paper is that recycling, or a circular likely to have a limited climate economy in general, will always benefit and a higher climate have a positive effect on climate impact than the production of change,” says one of the report’s fresh fibre-based paper. writers, Paul Ekins of University The main reason is that making College London’s Institute for

Granås points out that Iggesund, for example, emits 33 kg per tonne in direct CO2 emissions when producing Invercote paperboard, while one of Europe’s leading recycled fibre producers emits 294 kg per tonne CO2 emissions, according to the company’s own environmental report. Emissions are even higher among some American ←

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February 2021

FORD OFFERS DRIVERS “GUARD MODE” PROVIDING REMOTE, REAL-TIME SECURITY ALERTS VIA SMARTPHONE APP

customers moving and the tools inside keep them working”, said Mark Harvey, director, Enterprise Connectivity, Ford of Europe.

“FordPass Pro and Guard Mode help owners protect their vehicles – and their businesses – by keeping them one step ahead of the criminals. And this is just the start. As all new vehicles now come connected, we see huge potential in developing additional security features to help our customers’ businesses thrive.”

Guard Mode is the first feature that Ford will activate with an over-the-air (OTA) software ord has introduced Guard An alert will also be triggered if update and will be progressively Mode for commercial a vehicle is unlocked or started rolled out across the vehicle vehicles, a new connectedusing a key – an action that vehicle security system to would not activate a conventional line up. These updates will use monitor vans in real time via vehicle alarm and may be useful FordPass Connect, which is now fitted as standard across the vast smartphone. in light of a key being stolen or majority of Ford commercial cloned. This builds on existing vehicles.

Guard Mode notifies owneralarm notifications in FordPass operators and drivers via Pro, including Trailer Theft Alert, their smartphone of potential which sends an alert if it detects FordPass Pro helps owners to manage and control up to five breaches in security through an attached trailer is being vehicles, ensuring their fleet is Ford’s app for commercial vehicle unhooked while the vehicle is ready for work with maximum operators, FordPass Pro. locked. uptime. Features include “Live Lock” status, which enables When activated – for example The Guard Mode screens in the users to check all vehicle doors after business hours or at the FordPass Pro app highlight the are locked at a glance, and lock weekend – Guard Mode employs times the vehicle was accessed, or unlock doors remotely, and sensors to detect when someone the reason for alarms, when Remote Zonal Locking, which enters the vehicle, opens the trigger actions happened and bonnet or load compartment, or the vehicle’s last known location. controls the cabin and load doors separately, allowing someone starts the engine. It then sends Users will also soon be able to access to the cabin while keeping a notification to the owner’s schedule when Guard Mode is the load compartment secure. smartphone using the vehicle’s activated. www.ford.co.uk FordPass Connect modem.

“Our vans help keep our

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paper recyclers that release more especially if more renewable than 1,000 kg per tonne. energy can be used. “Fresh fibre and recycled fibre are parts of Nonetheless, Granås believes the same material system and that fibre-based materials should extremely interdependent. If no continue to be recycled, one produces fresh fibre there February 2021

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won’t be anything to recycle in the long run. And if we didn’t have recycled fibre, today’s fresh fibre production would not be able to cover all of the needs,” he points out. www.iggesund.com Page 71

about. The real credit belongs to Richard, it is he who handles 100% of Tamtron business here in the UK. It is Richard who talks to the customers, sells units and trouble shoots all issues”, says Douglas Clark from Clark Engineering and continues, “Our company is very busy, the forest industry is definitely picking up. We are very excited CLARK ENGINEERING about the new One Timber scale, it has great potential, we IS PARTNER OF THE just need to get the message YEAR 2020 out next year and this award could be of great assistance. year ago, Tamtron So, life for us right now despite decided to start Covid-19 is good and your recognizing the most award puts the cream on our valuable partners annually cake, thank you.” with the “Partner of the Year” -award. In 2020 Tamtron is Tamtron Group congratulates honoured to present the and deeply thanks this year’s “Partner of the Year” to Clark winner Clark Engineering Engineering for long-term commitment and for providing from UK as well as all active Partners for their work and their customers the topcommitment. Let’s create quality equipment for tough successful 2021 together! environments.

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Clark Engineering is delighted to accept the recognition. “It is a great honour and one which we can tell our customers

Clark Engineering has provided engineering and forestry services for almost 100 years www.tamtrongroup.com

ROTOTILT LTD ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE APPOINTMENT OF ANDY LITTLE AS SALES MANAGER UK Andy joins Rototilt Ltd as Sales Manager UK and will take on responsibility for the sales function and the future sales strategy and initiatives for the rapidly developing UK tiltrotator market.

“Bringing more than 30 years of industry knowledge and experience we are delighted to have Andy on the team” says Malcolm Long, Rototilt Ltd Country Manager.

Andy has first-hand experience of how the tiltrotator market is growing in the UK and has seen the potential it has to make a real difference for companies and individuals that invest in the system.

“It’s a great time to be involved with Rototilt in the UK as this exceptional technology continues to gain momentum in our market – we have exciting times ahead!” Andy says.

“In this expanded role Andy is well placed to provide the dedicated focus we need to meet our customers’ expectations and more” adds Malcolm. www.rototilt.com

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February 2021

SUPPLIED BY SPALDINGS

TMC CANCELA RANGE EXCLUSIVE TO SPALDINGS IN THE UK & IRELAND

Fitted with heavy duty carbide tipped hammers – especially for top soil penetration and mulch

MPK-225

Multi-purpose Forestry Mulcher

TMC CANCELA MPK-225 Forestry Mulcher c/w roller UP TO:

2.25m WORKING WIDTH

30cm

MANUFACTURED WITH

FINANCE DEALS LE AVAILAB E PLEAS ASK!

TOP SOIL MULCH

BUILT FOR TOUGH SITE CLEARANCE AND LAND REGENERATION IN FORESTRY APPLICATIONS — LEAVING A FINE, FIRM TILTH READY FOR WOODLAND RE-PLANTING

• Large diameter roller for depth control and consolidation of soil and mulched material

• Two-speed gearbox for shredding and incorporation, and for grinding tree stumps

• Patented hydraulic top-link system provides permanent PTO alignment for reliable power delivery

DEVELOPED TO MAXIMISE PRODUCTIVITY The MPK multi-purpose forestry mulcher has been engineered to deliver impressive mulching ability.

Capable of grinding deep stumps up to 45cm in diameter, mulching roots and surface residue, working to a depth of up to 30cm. Incorporating the resulting mulched material into the finely tilled topsoil, before consolidating to a firm level finish, ready for woodland re-planting or land regeneration applications.

For further details and to see TMC Cancela mulchers in action visit: www.spaldings.co.uk Call our dedicated team on: 01522 507100 facebook.com/spaldings.ltd • twitter.com/spaldings

email: forestry@spaldings.co.uk

THE ONE GRAPPLE DESIGN OF TMK TREE SHEAR

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e have left our mark in the tree shear market with our unique one grapple design. Many copies from several different companies only proves that we really made an impact. And now we are ready to change the world of attachments again.

”AND NOW WE ARE READY TO CHANGE THE WORLD OF ATTACHMENTS AGAIN.” Are you tired of dragging a trailer full of different grapples to the job site? Or constantly switching from one grapple to the other? If you answered yes, we might have the best solution for you! This is exactly the point of view where TMK’s newest addition, TMK MultiGrab was born.

We were tired of the constant switching of the attachments, just because one wasn’t strong enough and the other was too clumsy for the task at hand. We wanted to create a grapple that would be unique and would bring something new into the market. The MultiGrab was originally designed for demolition jobs, but along the way it has proven to excel in various different jobs as well.

GRAB

MULTI

TMK MULTIGRAB FITTED WITH NTP-10 BRACKET

When we started testing the first TMK MultiGrab prototype, one of the first jobs we took it on was a demolition of a burnt down building. On that job we first sorted the wood scraps from the ruins, then tore down the chimney which had survived the fire still upright. After that we scraped the ruins clean to the plinth as the insurance company wanted to check if that would still be salvageable. When it proved to be also damaged in the fire, we also dug up the plinth so the new house could be then built on top of the original concrete.

This was a great job to trial the new MultiGrab as it gave us plenty of more ideas on what were the most important features of the grab. Firstly, it had to be accurate enough to sort the wood scraps from the ruins. Secondly, it needed to have both “the finger tip” grip and the ability to close with a tight enough grip so you could just take any piece of plank in the grab and trust that it will stay in the grip firmly and not cause any danger to the groundwork’s working close to the machine. Thirdly, it had to be solid, but still agile enough to tear down the chimney safely and accurately. Then, when we were cleaning the foundation, we noticed that the grapple must open a fair bit so it moves out of the way and gives you a good visual on what you are scraping. Finally, when the plinth was removed it also had to be sturdy enough to work as a lever to get the big blocks of the foundation dug up. Later along the way we have already used the MultiGrab for digging up stumps from a felling site, digging up boulders from yards, stone wall building with both natural boulders and with square blocks, loading brush into the forwarder and so on. We have even used it to fold scrap cars in half.

ROCKS DO NOT SLIP FROM THE HOLD

AVAILABILITY

2020 2021 DECEMBER JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUGUST -15 TN

F OR 2 0-35 T N

S

F OR 8

F OR 1 3-25 T N

M

ESTIMATED

GRAPPLE QUICK CONNECTOR

TMKMULTIGRABTMKMULTIGRABTMKMULTIGRABTMK

The grapple of the MultiGrab is detachable with a quick-connector. In the future we will bring different grapple options to compliment different tasks even better and the grapple can be changed within a minute to suit the current job perfectly. The grapple is designed so that it has a whopping 180° range of motion, and it’s both agile and accurate. The main frame in strong enough to handle fair levering which is often needed in the challenging job sites.

Many other optional attachments are in the pipeline for the MultiGrab, as our goal is to make it the perfect Swiss Army knife for excavators in pretty much any job site.

The first serial production patch of the MultiGrab M size for excavators 13-25 tn Is just being finished at the factory and the first prototype of the S size for excavators 8-15 tn is going through the manufacturing line in the coming weeks.

The wide spread sales of the MultiGrab will start around March, but we are looking for pilot users to help us further improve the MultiGrab. So if you are interested to work in the front line of innovation, now is the perfect moment to jump into the TMK family. For more information, you can email me, contact us on TMK’s social media platforms or get in touch with your TMK dealer.

THE ONLY WAY IS FORWARD AND ONLY OUR IMAGINATION IS THE LIMIT! TONY KOPONEN tony@tmktreeshear.com Export & Marketing Director TMK Tree Shear

WATCH MULTIGRAB IN ACTION!

WWW.TMKTREESHEAR.COM/MULTIGRAB/

www.ncdequipment.com The TMK range now offers shears that fit on 2 to 30 tonne excavators.

The TMK 300 will also fit onto Telehandlers.

The TMK now offers shears that fit on 2 to 30 and tonne excavators.

TMK shears canrange cut between 200mm - 400mm softwood between 180mm to TMKcapabilities 300 will also onto Telehandlers.

350mm hardwood. The Cutting arefitdependant on the model of shear being TMK shears can cut between 200mm used.

- 400mm softwood and between 180mm to 350mm hardwood.

Cutting capabilities dependant on the cut model being Each shear comes with a fixed grapple,are which holds onto treeoforshear vegetation before and after it has been cut, allowing used. the operator to safely place it onto the ground.

Each shear comes with a fixed grapple, which holds onto the cut tree or vegetation before and after it has been cut, allowing the operator to safely place it onto the ground.

“Half the cost, half the time”

AVAILABLE NATIONWIDE “ Half the cost, half the time”

“ Halfsales@ncdequipment.com the cost, half the time” Email TMK Attachments Follow us: Email sales@ncdequipment.com Followextension us: Hydraulic beam suitable for the TMK 300 07956 087549 Call Nick 07535 211338 or Emma Call Nick 07535 211338 or Emma 07956 087549 Tree Shear The TMK Hydraulic extension beam offers a further 3.6m reach when cutting those difficult to reach branches. As pictured on the machine.

Collector suitable for the TMK 200, 300 & 400 Tree Are you involved in hedgerow management or tree cutting Shears Are you to involved inshear hedgerow management orfor tree cutting need see this working!

Contact us more info Opens and closes with a separate control to the shears need to see this shear working! Contact us for more info grapple to allow the user to hold onto what has been cut while the grapple opens again to cut the next branch, tree etc. This is TMK’s most popular attachment.

www.ncdequipment.com

Delimber suitable for the TMK 200, 300 & 400 Tree Shear The delimber is ideal for stripping smaller branches from straight trees and can be used without electricity.

The TMK Tree Shear can cut up to 400mm softwood and fits on 2-30 tonne machines, dependant on model.

Tree Shears are available for hire.

Are you involved in hedgerow management or tree cutting? If so, you Are you involved in hedgerow management orfor tree cutting?

If so, you need to see this shear working!

Contact us more information The TMK range now offers shears that fit on 2 to 30 need to see this shear working!

Contact us for more information The TMK 300 will also fit onto Telehan Cone Splitter

The TMK now offers shears that fit on 2 to 30 TMK shears canrange cut between 200mm - 400mm softwood

TMKcapabilities 300 will also onto Telehan 350mm hardwood. The Cutting arefitdependant on www.ncdequipment.com machines (dependant on TMK shears can cut between 200mm used.

- 400mm softwood

* fits on 1.8 - 10 tonne

model). * Cone screw with interchangeable head * No drain line required less expensive mounting. * CanFollow be supplied with us: timber grab, as pictured Follow us: Call (optional).

Call

350mm hardwood.

Cutting capabilities dependant on Each shear comes with a fixed grapple,are which holds onto before and after it has been cut, allowing used. the operator to saf Each shear comes with a fixed grapple, which holds onto before and after it has been cut, allowing the operator to saf

“ Half the cost, half the time” “ Halfsales@ncdequipment.com the cost, half the time” Email Email sales@ncdequipment.com Nick 07535 211338 or Emma 07956 087 Nick 07535 211338 or Emma 07956 087

NEW

The TMK range now offers shears that fit on 2 to 30 tonne excavators.

The TMK 300 will also fit onto Telehandlers.

Mulcher The TMK now offers shears that fit on 2 to 30 and tonne excavators.

TMK shears canrange cut between 200mm - 400mm softwood between 180mm to * Fits on 1.8 - 13 tonne machines 350mm hardwood. The TMKcapabilities 300 will We also onto Telehandlers.

Cutting arefitare dependant on the model of shear being (dependant on model).

TMK shears can cut between 200mmexcited - 400mm softwood and between 180mm to used. to hardwood.

Cutting capabilities are dependant on the cut model being Each shear comes with a fixed grapple, which holds onto treeoforshear vegetation * Self leveling independant linkage 350mm be supplying Auger used. before and after it has been cut, allowing the operator to safely place it onto the ground. (floating head).

Torque attachments Each shear comes with a fixed grapple, which holds onto the cut tree or vegetation before and after it has been cut, allowing the operator to safely place it onto the ground.

“ Half the cost, half the time” Email - sales@ncdequipment.com “ Halfsales@ncdequipment.com the cost, half the time”quoting FMM Email Email sales@ncdequipment.com Call Sales - 07561 649614 Call Nick 07535 211338 or Emma 07956 087549 Follow us: Follow us:

Call Nick 07535 211338 or Emma 07956 087549

LEAVING NO TRACE

By Luke Hemmings

L

uke is a Woodland Officer working within Forestry Commission England’s Yorkshire and North East area team. He currently covers an area from County Durham up to Hexham and the Tyne Valley. He is responsible for issuing Felling Licences, approving management plans and investigating Alleged Illegal Felling incidents. He also works with owners and agents to develop grant scheme applications for new woodland creation or management that help deliver on the Government’s commitment to tree planting and sustainable forestry. Luke has a history of working as a private forestry agent, contractor and sawmiller and is keen to promote the more positive sides of our industry which rarely make the headlines. He sent in the following article after an impromptu site visit turned into a series of tweets on Twitter about forest management.

The tweets attracted a really good response and encouraged people to think twice about how they view forestry. Twitter & IG: @lwhemmings Blog: https://thebeardedforester.wordpress.com/

February 2021

A few weeks ago, just as the days were starting to close in, I had a nice walk through the woods.

I wanted to have a look at some felling work I knew had been going on during a period of wet weather and see the results. The area in question had been a fairly even-aged crop of Norway spruce (Picea abies) that had been planted along a burn (no buffers, pre UK Forestry Standard / UKFS). The forester was planning to remove the crop of spruce away from the burn and replant / allow to naturally regenerate with alder, willow, oak and other native broadleaves.

This woodland (unlike others nearby) is not designated as a Planted Ancient Woodland Site (PAWS), though it would not be too much of a stretch to assume that this would have been broadleaved riparian woodland in the not too distant past.

This area of Hexhamshire is rich with hairy wood ant (Formica lugubris) which relies on sunny

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that will be used to build houses, create packaging and generate warmth.

An oak sapling retained above the cleared burn (a Northern / Scottish word for stream). woodland clearings and rides to build its nests using pine or spruce needles. A nice side effect of the felling will be increased sunlight and better conditions for this species over the next few years before the new trees grow.

I was really impressed at how little ground damage there had been, given this was down in the soggy valley bottom next to a watercourse.

The operators had used brash (tops) from the felled trees perfectly and protected their timber extraction route, which could have easily become rutted. Given that this was such a long, thin strip to work, there would have been a lot of traffic back and forth, especially to the far end to reach all of the timber. The results speak to a well planned operation and conscientious operators keen to achieve best results for the wood.

The forester was not forced into removing the conifers from this watercourse; it was their own recognition of bringing the management of the woodland in line with UKFS and sacrificing a relatively small area in terms of productivity to bring extra benefits.

It’s living testament to #ForestsThatWork delivering ecological, economic and landscape value.

In any case, all this is to say; this is what modern day, mixed, commercial forestry can look like. I feel like it needs to be spoken about more widely, as there are so many misconceptions.

I also found a really nice rock in the woods and sat on it like Simba on Pride Rock.

As a forester it’s great to recognise good working practice – Colin Stevens forestry did the harvesting, managed by Euroforest. Ben Anderton is the Forester at Edwin Thompson charged with organising the felling licences, sale, and with overall responsibility for the forest.

The area to the left of the picture above will continue to be thinned and managed as a productive Scots pine woodland (this area is also a red squirrel stronghold), and this one burn is just part of a much larger forested network that delivers many benefits including growing timber Page 80

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February 2021

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FAO FAR SO GOOD Rab Easton visits Douglas Matheson from Walkerburn to find out about his recent purchase of a Fao Far 1542 trailer with the Cranab EC7 from Clark Engineering.

F

orwarding trailers are more popular today than they have ever been, as demonstrated by the sheer number of models on display at forestry exhibitions. I am pretty sure that if demand declined and no one was purchasing them companies would soon switch to manufacturing other products.

In 1985 I purchased my first agri-spec forwarder, a Roadless 75 tractor, with a Chief eight-tonne trailer and crane. This combination was excellent for the type of work being undertaken as it Page 82

could easily be converted back into a skidder by unhitching the trailer and attaching my fivetonne Fransguard three point linkage winch. I was working a thinning roughly two miles away from the main road which could only be accessed via a narrow, twisty, single track road – it was virtually inaccessible to any vehicle larger than a Ford Transit.

Our work involved line thinnings which had been planted in furrows, with every third row being removed. This was commonplace at the time

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February 2021

Above: Well routed and protected valve chest.

Centre: Superb vision from the operators seat.

Bottom: Clark’s bracket keeps hoses from tractor to trailer up and out of harms way.

February 2021

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time as the trees were extracted in full lengths by a skidder and crosscut and stacked manually at the loading bay. Due to the poor access we secondary extracted the timber using our (fortunately narrow) forwarder trailer, stacking in a lay-by on the main road ready for collection.

The forwarding and haulage had to be planned with military precision because if any wood was left in the lay-by overnight it would be deemed as communal property by the locals, disappearing in the wee small hours. My trailer extracted a lot of timber over the three years that I owned it and it was definitely a step in the right direction.

In some circumstances my daily production increased and the end users were always pleased that we were able to supply clean, stone free timber.

Although I have seen Fao Far trailers at forestry exhibitions in the past, they were not a manufacturer that I was familiar with. What I did know, having been a Clark Engineering customer for the best part of 40 years, is that the trailers had to be something special before Clark’s would endorse and distribute them.

What I found was that Fao Far are from Southern Poland – a region famous for the quality of its engineering – and the company was formed in 1992. The organisation is owned and managed by Janusz Glajcar, who had been a skilled engineer prior to setting up on his own carrying out repairs and fabricating special projects on behalf of his customers.

In 2000, he saw an opportunity to start manufacturing his own forestry equipment. Now, Janusz is the largest private forestry equipment manufacturer in Poland with an impressive 5,200m² manufacturing facility. Fao Far have been increasing in popularity year on year and to keep up with the rising demand they have established a network of distributors throughout Austria, Germany, the UK, and the Ukraine.

Richard Gordon from Clark Engineering was in touch to see if I would like to visit Douglas Matheson from Walkerburn, near Peebles as he had purchased the first Fao Far trailer in the UK. This trailer had been fitted with a Cranab EC7 crane by Clark Engineering at their workshops in Parkgate. We arranged a meeting with Richard and Douglas just outside of Walkerburn. Douglas Page 84

had some chipwood that had to be secondary extracted through a farmer’s field and up a forest track to the stacking area. The Valtra T183 Tractor and Fao Far 1542 trailer with the Cranab EC7 7.2m reach crane were perfectly matched and looked in proportion together.

Douglas suggested that Richard and I follow him in our vehicles as the extraction site was close by. We turned off the tar road and proceeded downhill through a mature stand of timber on a narrow track, which included a couple of narrow, almost hairpin corners to negotiate on a particularly steep section. I thought it looked pretty tight for the tractor and trailer with standing trees on both edges of the track.

There wasn’t room to take a wide swing with the tractor and I thought Douglas might have to complete a few backward and forward shunts, but the trailer’s hydraulically steered drawbar came into its own and made manoeuvring around the tight corners look easy.

When we arrived I had the opportunity to have a good look around the trailer and chat to both Douglas and Richard. The trailer, which is manufactured using STENX and HARDOX steel and has a single beam chassis design, is clearly built to very high standards. The bolsters can easily be moved along the chassis for loading different product lengths and they also have hardened large diameter bolster pins that wouldn’t look out of place on a purpose built forwarder.

The rear trailer section is adjustable via a sliding inner box section and has a length of 4.45m to 5.5m when fully extended; this means it can easily carry two bays of 3m, a length of timber which is used frequently in the UK. The headboard is impressive, solid, strong, and built to last but still provides a good view of the loading area from the tractor cab. The lights and indicators have a hinged cover for off-road use and fold out for travelling on the main road, while the wiring for the lights is routed along the box chassis and therefore none of it is exposed or vulnerable.

The 15 tonne load capacity trailer is 2540mm wide with a generous 700mm of ground clearance and weighs between 4600kg and

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February 2021

Cranab 28 grapple has a good capacity for chipwood.

5500kg (including loader).

Douglas opted for the non–driven trailer as it will primarily be used for secondary extraction; an optional Black-Bruin hydraulic drive is also available on two or all four wheel hubs for increased traction when working on difficult and challenging conditions.

The Cranab EC7 crane with the 280 Grapple is everything you would expect from Cranab. The hydraulic pipe and hose layout is excellent as they are clamped along the full structure, which prolongs service life by preventing rubbing and chaffing. Although well routed and protected against accidental damage, all the hoses are easy to access when they need replacing.

Cranab use a long kingpost on their cranes and the hydraulic valve block is fixed at the base just in front of the slewing pods. Again this is a highly efficient system which is uncluttered and doesn’t affect vision during loading/unloading. Clark Engineering have added their own extra bracket for protecting the main feed and return hydraulic hoses between the tractor and trailer, and they have also included a deflector guard to the valve chest for extra protection.

The stability legs are robust with a large surface area in contact with the ground, providing February 2021

excellent stability even when working on softer soils. The rotating seat mounted EHC controls were installed by Clark’s and they had used the Danfoss lever system.

As Douglas started to load the trailer it was obvious the crane was precise and very well set up; movement was quick but smooth with no apparent jerkiness. Douglas admitted to being a bit nervous with us watching him and was still acclimatising to his new equipment; however, given the quality of the product he looked like an operator who had years of experience under his belt.

This is a quality trailer that will easily stand up to the rigorous demands of working in the forest.

I will leave the final words to Douglas: “I’m very impressed with our new crane and trailer. It was supplied and set up by Clark Engineering from Parkgate near Dumfries and fitted with electric controls in the cab of the tractor. I’ve had it out working on a few sites so far and no doubt there will be many more to come in the future. It’s extremely well built, easy to maintain, and carries a good bit of timber too.

I am delighted with my purchase.” www.clark-engineering.com

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TOWARDS MODERNISED SILVICULTURE IN SOUTH AFRICAN FORESTRY

I

Justin Nyakudanga Justin holds a Bachelor’s degree in Technology- Forestry and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business management. He has 20 years experience of Commercial and Extension/Community Forestry.

recently had the opportunity to attend a forestry webinar hosted by the Nelson Mandela University Forestry faculty whose theme was “Towards Modernised silviculture”. I must say the Covid virus has forced us to relook at how we go about our normal day to day activities and find alternative ways of connecting as foresters. Under the old norm such seminars or workshops would have be accompanied with a braai (barbeque) and some potent drink to ease the nerves for the road. Anyway, that’s the past, the webinar was hosted

by Dr Muedanyi Ramantswana and attended by more than 300 people from different parts of the continent including African, Europe, and South America.

On the programme were seven presentations from; Shawn Biggs from Sutherland seedlings, Jacob Zimbodza a forestry contractor from SMS Contractors, Helgard Steenkamp from Novel Equipment a forestry equipment manufacturing company, Shaun McKenzie from Silvix a company that manufactures herbicides and tree planting & weeding hand tools, Nicky Gwende from Thuthungani silvicultural contractors, Dean Da Costa from Mondi South Africa and Professor Saulo Guerra from Brazil.

The concept of modernisation silviculture in South Africa includes updating forest operations in

February 2021

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terms of both mechanisation and other modern systems improvements with the goal of improving wood/fibre quality and reducing production costs to remain locally and internationally competitive. So why the drive towards modernised silviculture in South Africa? It is because silviculture operations in South Africa have been traditional and labour intensive, with methods being region specific and haven’t changed much for the past 2030. For example, according to Jacob Zimbodza research about 56% of the land preparation in South Africa is manual, 10% motor manual and only 34% mechanised.

However, the changing labour demographics, climate change, tight labour legislation, timber price competitiveness, safety and ergonomics requirements and artificial intelligence requires that South African forestry industry relooks at how things are done.

Therefore, silviculture operations in South Africa presents the opportunity for the next quantum developments in the forestry industry.

DRIVERS OF MODERNISED SILVICULTURE IN SA What are the drivers of modernised silviculture in South Africa? According to Mondi’s Dean Da Costa these include; • An aging rural workforce, with an annual 5% decline in the rural population due to rural Page 87

•

• • • • • •

to urban migration and natural attrition.

Young adults do not look as forestry work as a job of choice.

High labour turn over (20-30%) and absenteeism. Due to the fact that the forestry work is manual and repetitive, forestry workers are easily fatigued and tend not to turn up for work.

The impact of HIV/AIDS, with about 30% (through tests) of the forestry workforce infected.

Low productivity and quality challenges as a result of manual operations.

Poor ergonomics and posture as manual work requires that one bends or carry heavy loads.

Social status (esteem) and education. Young high school graduates look down on manual forestry work.

Migration patterns in the South African labour market.

Sectorial wage determination, labour legislation and social grants. The introduction of the minimum wage has made labour very expensive and this impacts on profitability of forestry operations and the recipients of social grants don’t feel motivated to seek work opportunities.

FACTORS ENABLING SILVICULTURE MODERNISATION So, what are some of the requirements or enabling factors for a forestry company or tree farmer to be able to effectively modernise his/ her forestry operations? According to Nicky Gwende from Thuthungani Contractors, there are 4 keys to successfully transition from manual to mechanised silviculture operations in the South African context from a contractor’s perspective.

These include the following; •

•

•

Establishing operating procedures – this involves the establishment of standard operating procedures for the silviculture operations and involves high level planning, risk analysis and the safe movement of people.

Machinery to be deployed – it important to understand the slope limitations of the machinery to be deployed to avoid roll overs or tipping and to maximise its functionality in any given environment.

People – it is paramount to get the buy in of the people involved in the operation. Training

Page 88

of the operators and technicians is also key to the success of the operation.

• Support from the client – the grower company/farmer should also be willing to assist the contract were possible in order to achieve sustainable results.

Shawn Biggs from Sutherland Seedlings further cited the deployment of high-quality seedlings propagated in Elle pots infield as key to ensure survival of seedlings and maintaining high tree stocking after planting. Ello pots are also tipped as being more compatible with mechanical planters used in the South African silviculture environment. Ello pots are better compared to the normal pine bark medium based plastic seedling trays because; • • • • • •

They have good air circulation Have stable substrate which does crumble Have good drainage.

Have better field establishment.

Higher density/weight compared to standard loose filled plugs Have a greater infinity for water once planted

CHALLENGES TO MODERNISATION OF SILVICULTURE IN SA Some of the challenges to modernisation and mechanisation of silviculture in South Africa according to Helgard Steenkamp include the following; •

•

•

Paradigm shift - modernisation of silviculture requires the renewal of the mind as some people still prefer the traditional and conventional ways of doing things.

Residue and stumps – stumps and residue limit the movement of machines infield and are energy hungry (high diesel consumption) activity when being removed. Stumps also decrease the area to be re-planted leading to underutilised land due to inaccessibility.

Environmental considerations – such as carbon emissions from machinery.

Helgard suggested a Web based solution application to bring precision to mechanised planting operations based on digitisation and telematics. Each seedling planted is therefore geo referenced which in turn makes follow up mechanised operations such as weeding and tree felling easy to manoeuvre. His company Novel

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February 2021

Equip manufacture machinery which integrates land prep, planting, seedling firming and fertilising into one operation. The machinery can be operated during both day and night.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR SA FORESTRY? Asked what were their future predictions for the SA forestry, the webinar presenters had this to say;

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Page 89

FORD RANGER THUNDER

W

hen the Ford Ranger Thunder was released in 2020 is was limited to 1,400 models in the UK and 30 for Ireland (only 4,500 Thunder models will be built in total).

The Thunder is a comfortable, quiet pick up with good traction and handling with a retail price of £32,965 excluding VAT. Based on the Ford Ranger Wildtrack, the double cab Thunder edition is available in a stunning sea grey colour with a contrasting red trim highlights around the roll bar and front grill. The red distinctive and stylish 3D Thunder logo’s appear on the bottom of the drivers and passengers doors and tailgate.

This is a well finished pick up with attention to every detail no matter how small. The 18” black alloy wheels are exclusive to the Thunder and the ebony black executions for the front grill, rear bumper, skid plates, fog light surrounds, load bay sports hoop and door handles gives it an edgier Page 90

look and unmistakable presence for drivers who want to stand out from the crowd. LED headlights with darkened bezels and darkened tail-light bezels at the rear are fitted as standard.

The interior colour scheme is primarily black with red stitching on the seats, instrument panel and the steering wheel and you also get black floor mats and red illuminated door sills.

A top powder-coated roller shutter with a bedliner divider is available as an optional extra on the Thunder, enhancing load bay practicality with style. The load capacity is 1024kg, just over 100kg less than other Ranger double cab models, and it will tow up to 3,500kg while still feeling like a regular pick up.

The 10 speed automatic transmission is effortlessly smooth and offers performance and durability which has been well proven in the Ford F150 and Mustang. It offers a wide spread of ratios and real time adaptive shift-scheduling

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February 2021

Raised driving position, clean design, and quality partial leather seats ensure you’re sitting in comfort, wherever your journey takes you.

Red contrast stitching is present throughout the cabin, and the signature Thunder emblem is proudly featured on the seats.

that adapts to its changing surroundings with the optimal gear selected for performance and fuel economy. The sports mode is well named as it holds onto gears longer and will down-shift earlier when required, a well engineered package that steps up to the mark when you have the urge to drive a bit faster.

This pick up is equally at home cruising along a motorway as it is climbing a mountain.

According to WLTP (Worldwide harmonised light vehicle test procedure which are much more accurate and often 20%lower than the old NEDC figures) testing standards this pick up will return 31 mpg with CO² emissions of 239g/km.

There are no significant mechanical changes to Europe’s best selling pick up with the top spec Ford twin-turbo Ecoblue 2.0 litre 210 hp engine with 500Mn of torque coupled up to Fords 10 speed automatic gearbox.

Ranger had its best-ever year in 2019, with 52,500 vehicles sold across Europe and more than 16,000 of those in the UK alone. Total UK Ranger sales are expected to pass 150,000 in 2020, since it was launched in 1998. This is third generation Ranger Thunder, with the first making its debut in 2003 and the second in 2009.

I better get my order in now! www.ford.co.uk February 2021

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Crewe, the largest purchasers of round hardwood timber in Britain. The company purchase both standing and felled hardwoods and softwoods, and Willie is employed to fell and extract many of their standing timber sites. This site predominantly consisted of mature Oak and the trees to be removed had to be felled and extracted without damaging the remaining crop.

W&V LAING TIMBER CONTRACTORS A CUT ABOVE

L

ooking back, one of the favourite parts of my forestry career was felling big trees. This will probably piss off the tree huggers and snowflakes big time, but, hey ho, who cares about their uneducated opinions. If these people actually read a dictionary and found out what the word sustainability means, then they might learn something “Regardless of the regarding forestry weather conditions or the and how it works. size of the tree, we accept Perhaps if these the challenge. There’s idiots would stop not many people can say shouting about they see the countryside deforestation and like we do…up above the listen for a change, treetops” Willie Laing they might find that

Willie was working along with two others – Tommy Garrow, who alternates between his own tree surgery work and working with Willie, and Willie Carrie (or Willie C to prevent any confusion). Willie also has one other employee – Jimmy Garrow (Tommy’s father) – who works full-time operating a Komatsu 875 forwarder extracting behind a harvester.

The trees were reasonably close to the forest road we had to

commercial forests all over the world are in effect largely increasing in size year on year rather than decreasing.

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Tigercat 615E Indeed, rather than destroying it, sustainable forestry is helping to heal our planet and improve air quality. The big trees I have felled over my career have either been commercially grown softwoods for the timber products they yield or individual trees that have been deemed a hazard by local authorities.

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Contractors are one of the few tree specialists that have the necessary equipment for felling and extracting large and awkward trees. I was thrilled when Willie phoned to let me know he was starting a mature oak thinning near Perth using his Tigercat 615E grapple skidder and his Komatsu 895 forwarder. I was looking forward to seeing Willie and his team and I had been assured I would get to try out both machines for myself.

Willie was working on a private estate with approximately 70 large trees that required felling and extracting. The branches and crooked timber were to be cut into 3m lengths for firewood, while the straight stems would be used for sawn timber, beams or veneer.

This site was being worked for Chantler Timber from

Willie felling a nice Oak tree.

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