Business Publications

Elmia raises the bar again [Short reviews of products featured at Elmia Wood 2001 exhibition]

Canadian Forest Industries, Aug 2001 by Jamieson, Scott

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Swedish CTL manufacturer Gremo used Elmia Wood 2001 to introduce its 1250 prototype forwarder, an intriguing design that includes Gremo's "floating" seat. Rather than level the entire cab, or suspend it "Pendo" style, Gremo's engineers have developed a suspended seat perched inside an over-sized cab that keeps the operator level regardless of terrain. To prove the value of this concept, Gremo allowed visitors to test out its seat versus a conventional seat in a seesaw style demo, and as expected the difference in comfort was extraordinary. Also featured in the 1250 forwarder is a two-circuit hydrostatic transmission (17 tonnes tractive effort), 12-14 tonnes payload, and 8WI). Gremo, which currently makes forwarders and harvesters, will release the 1250 in 2002.

For more info circle reply card no 7.

SkogsOlle 40 for low-cost semi-mechanical thinning

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The Swedish-made SkogsOlle 40 is a selective cutting/commercial thinning tool used to take the back-breaking and dangerous elements out of manual thinning. Made by BJM Maskin AB, it combines limited capital investment with heightened production, suiting this tractor-mounted processor to small-scale or woodlot work. The unit at Elmia Wood 2001 was mounted on BJM's own 4080 Kotten carrier. After manual felling, logs can be loaded on via the 5.5-m crane, or logs further afield can be winched in first. The one fixed and two movable delimbing knives and rubber feed rolls handle logs to 40 cm (16 in), and length/diameter measuring is available.

For more info circle reply card no 8.

The Canadian link

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Quadco/Prolenc's Alain Perron and Kevin Hodgins had prime real estate to promote the benefits of the Canadian-designed and built Prolene Compact Swing Damper (formerly the Quadco Snubber). Handled abroad by feed roller manufacturer Lencab, the Prolenc Compact Swing Damper for harvesting heads and grapples is a robust cast steel link that the manufacturer says provides better braking power than competitive units. The design also features lower maintenance and is easy to adjust to the job at hand.

For more info circle reply card no 9.

Spider logging

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Some of the more popular stopping spots at Elmia included sites featuring wheeled, "walking" excavator-based harvesters. Designed for the steep-slopes and broken terrain of the Alps, these machines' articulated joints allow them to work at the wackiest of angles, suiting them for selection cutting on slopes. Elmia visitors could watch both the Menzi Muck and the Kaiser work.

The Swiss-made Menzi A71 Universal Harvester (1) is an updated 4[Symbol Not Transcribed] [times]4 Plus version for off-road mobility. It weighs 9 connes, ranges from 2.2 to 5.8 m wide depending on the footprint required and offers a swivel force of 9 900 lb (4.5 t). It uses the Woody H50 harvesting head, an impressive head well suited to twisty, bent wood and allowing delimbing to 50 cm (20 in).