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

Canadian Forest Industries, Aug 2001 by Jamieson, Scott

Unlike other combi machines designed to harvest on one pass and extract on another, the 801 is designed to fulfil Sydved's goal of Off-Ground Handling. In this method, the operator backs through the stand after cutting a strip, using the long reach to harvest over the bunk. The trees are felled, and then processed right over the bunk, with the produced stems dropped directly into the appropriate bunk. The Elmia operator was handling two sorts, dropping pulp in the 11 m[Symbol Not Transcribed] bunk in the back, and dropping the odd sawlog from the small-diameter stand into the 5 m[Symbol Not Transcribed] bunk up front. For stands with more than two sorts, the operator could sort the standing trees, harvesting just one or two sorts or species per pass and leaving the rest standing for another entry.

Sydved staff on site explained that their interest in the project stems from the need to lower per cubic metre costs in certain applications where a full two-machine CTL system is not justified. This includes prescriptions in small-diameter stands calling for low volume removal (first or second thinnings), or in cases where a lot of time is spent moving from site to site (one machine and two employees only sacrificed to non-productive moving time). Other factors determining the break-even point of a Combi system include forwarding distance (Sydved feels 300 to 500 m maximum is a good working range) and site sensitivity (one machine only, timber never touches the ground). The Valmet 801 weighs 15 000 kg and has a load capacity of 12 000 kg.

For more info circle reply card no 13.

Timberjack demos beefy 1470 harvester

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Contractors looking for a little more beef in wheeled CTL harvesters now have another choice thanks to the introduction of the Timberjack 1470. In all, Timberjack displayed four harvesters at Elmia 2001, including the impish 770 (not available in Canada), the new mid-sized 1070 (742 and 745 heads), the established 1270, and the brand new Timberjack 1470. Powered by a 245-hp Cummins diesel, the 1470 produces 730 lb.ft of torque at just over 1300 rpm, allowing operation at low engine revs for a quieter, more fuel efficient day. It also uses a large 190 cc hydraulic pump to handle the larger timber it will be fed, as well as the TJ210H parallel crane (with the 762C harvesting head it can reach 9.3 m or 30.5 ft). With the 4WD 758 head, the reach grows to a full 10 m (almost 33 ft). For the operator, the 1470 has a rotating, self-levelling cab, with all functions (including matching cab and crane/head rotation) operated manually or automatically via the TMC system. And because the cab and crane have independent turntables, the actions of each can be adjusted according to operator preference (i.e. cab following the crane, but at a smoother, less stressful pace).

For more info circle reply card no 14.

New wheels at Cat

In addition to showing off its highly-mobile wheeled CTL harvesters, Cat treated Elmia visitors to a new design wheel-track system. The prototype was installed on a Cat 574 forwarder, with conventional front bogies but the rubber wheel track design under the bunk. It featured two large rubber surfaced steel wheels with a heavy-duty agricultural style belt track running around each pair, and two small rubber surfaced steel support wheels in between the larger wheels.