When big is beautiful: New Brunswick logger Robin Geldart has traded his Valmet 911 for the region's first 921, allowing him to handle big and mixed wood, as well as a steady diet of smaller stuff

Canadian Forest Industries, Nov/Dec 2003 by McCallum, Bruce

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Robin Geldart's reputation precedes him. The local PEI woodlands operations manager for J.D. Irving described him as one of their best contractors in New Brunswick when he brought him over to PEI in 2003.

Curiously, Robin has not actually been a forestry contractor all that long. He was originally a trucker working in the forest industry, and made his move to logging in 1997 with the purchase of a Rottne 8WD forwarder. In 2000, he made the shift to harvesting when he purchased a Valmet 911.

Robin raised a few eyebrows in the region in June when he bought a Valmet 921C harvester with the new type 370 head, the first of its kind in North America. The Valmet 921 made its impressive debut in 1997, at Elmia Wood in Sweden. The accepted view of virtually everyone at that time, including many Valmet reps, was that although it is a great machine, it's too large for the mainstream European and eastern Canadian markets. The big wood markets of the west coast or Australia were thought to be the most likely markets for the 921.

Winds of Change

But things change, and so do preconceived notions. Harvesters have got both bigger and more powerful in recent years. "Bigger, faster, better" still has a lot of supporters in the forestry field, as harvester models continue to be treated to bigger, more powerful engines, booms, and heads.

Robin Geldart's had his own reasons for moving up to a bigger Valmet harvester: for starters, the more than 13 000 hours on the dial of his 911 harvester. He felt he was facing substantial reconditioning costs in the coming years to keep machine availability where he needed it, given the long production hours expected of Irving loggers.

Secondly, the company wanted him to either go larger or smaller for his next machine to suit their anticipated needs. In addition, the 921C with the new 370 head is a lot more flexible in terms of the types of wood that it can handle efficiently, something that anyone who has seen the timber in central New Brunswick would appreciate.

"There is a lot of limby spruce in our part of the country. This new head will handle limby trees and small trees better than the 965 head. It is also good in hardwood (the region has a fair amount of mixed stands)," Robin adds. "This head does it easier with a lot less backing up (for limbing)."

The 370 head is the largest Valmet head built for use on rubbertired carriers, and was conceived from the outset as a head for the 921C. It has a much heavier and stronger structure and the feed rollers are much more powerful than those on the old 965 head.

Robin's 370 is also equipped with the optional two-speed feed roller motors. The motors start at low speed with high torque and change automatically to higher speed with lower torque as the processing cycle proceeds. This ensures easy starting, even in heavy lower limbs, without paying an excessive penalty in smaller trees or tops.

Buyers have a choice of steel or rubber feed wheels. "I chose the steel wheels," Robin explains. "They are pretty much maintenance free, and you get 35 to 40% more delimbing force, which is especially important in hardwoods and limby trees."

Robin's new machine also boasts a greater number of adjustment features that can be done from the cab, another benefit when working in mixed wood types. "For example, I can change knife pressure or the flow of chain oil with simple adjustments to the settings on the computer. That was not possible with the 911."

All the Options

Robin's 921C is the full meal deal, including the heavy-duty, 20-tonne bogie axles. This ensures longevity in the drive train and provides additional weight and stability. His 921C weighs in at over 19 000 pounds, 5 000 pounds more than his old 911, which is just fine by him. "It's a lot more stable on the hills and at full reach with the crane."

The 921C also comes equipped with the 1600 Cranab slideboom crane rather than the 1400, which is standard on the 911. The 921C has a six-cylinder Sisu Diesel engine that Robin finds to be a sweet performer.

"I like the Sisu Diesel. She's a nice working engine. It's quieter than the Cummins in the 911 and it uses about the same amount of fuel." The Sisu engine runs at between 1 700 and 1 800 rpm, vs. 2 100 to 2 200 with the Cummins.

Not that all this magic comes cheap. A Valmet 921C with all the trimmings will set you back roughly $650 000, according to Federal Equipment sales agent Marcel Comeau, depending on location, although Robin's machine was a demo model. Federal Equipment also went the extra mile in stocking an additional 370 head to be able to guarantee rapid delivery of spare parts for Robin's machine. As his 370 was the first one in North America, he wanted to be sure that he was not left waiting for parts from Scandinavia. "That spare head has come in handy on several occasions already," he says.

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Well Oiled Machine

As far as his own organization goes, Robin runs a tight CTL ship. Ken Murray, the PEI woodlands operations manager for JD Irving, is full of compliments.