The Ae
Demo
“Must dash – there’s a demo over at Those who reached for their paid for everything they harvested, events.
Ae,” I told a friend in Dumfries. “Oh, mobiles at this point were disap- defraying the costs of the demo. • Similarly, if a joint demonstration
I saw the signs,” he said. “What are pointed: there was no signal. But Over 5000 cubic metres of timber were to be included into another
they protesting about?” the place was buzzing and the were felled and processed over the ‘forestry event’, the cooperation
No, it wasn’t that sort of demo. weather was hot – on the Friday at two eight-hour working days. In of the committee with the event
This was an opportunity for John least. On the Saturday things had fact, by the end of Saturday after- organisers would be considered,
Deere, Komatsu Forest, Ponsse UK cooled down, and there seemed noon, the harvesters had moved provided it was held in the North
and Tigercat to show off their har- to be slightly fewer visitors, but the some considerable distance from England/South Scotland area
vesting equipment. organisers say there were 2400 over the road from which demo visitors and offered a cost-effective alter-
Caterpillar, miffed at not being the two days. Many travelled from looked on. native for the participants in the
allowed to join in, had parked two far afield, including the south of At a celebration dinner after the recent demo at Ae.
excavators in the car park in Ae and England, Wales and Ireland. event, the joint demo committee Certainly all four major protagonists
were handing out Cat hats. But the What pleased the organisers most agreed the following: seem enthusiastic about repeating
demo still lay some way distant. was the quality of the visitors. Many • There is a proven demand from the demo in a few years’ time. One
Entrance to the demo was free, people in forestry will never own or both the buyers and the sellers possibility that has been discussed
but the ‘modest charge’ for car operate a harvester or forwarder. of forest harvesting equipment to is that it be held alongside the APF,
parking mentioned on the website These all did. have similar events in the future. with buses ferrying visitors between
turned out to be £10. With seven million pounds’ worth • The members of the committee the two sites. This is a well proven
Five miles and two bus rides later of equipment on site, the clearfelling are prepared to organise/support formula at some foreign shows,
we were there. A huddle of smaller operation was proceeding apace in a similar event in 2014, (avoiding such as Germany’s KWF-Tagung.
stands, including Barony College, a crop of P60 Sitka, and the raised the APF and Elmia shows). Indeed, Mike Box, APF Exhibition
the FCA, Forestry Journal and William road gave onlookers a good view of • The committee would not rule Director, visited the demo, and the
Clark, who were involved in organ- proceedings. out the possibility of other possibility of combining the two
ising the demo, were arranged at The standing crop, on peaty established UK forest harvesting events seems to be a real one, pro-
the entrance, with the harvesting ground, had been bought by Treetop equipment manufacturers being vided a suitable site can be found.
site stretching into the distance. Forestry, and the participants were considered for inclusion in future
(Left) Visitors to the demo were able to get up close and personal with the action on a real harvesting site, and some took the opportunity of riding aboard the
harvesters and forwarders while they were working. (Right) Jim Christie, who coordinated the organisation of the event.
Forestry Journal 7/11 www.forestryjournal.co.uk
37
The 1910E is the most powerful forwarder ever built by Deere. As with all Deere machines, the work always takes place straight in front of the operator.
With over 200 UK deliveries since clearfell and final thinning opera- found under the red colour of the of aftersales products and servic-
its introduction, there will be few tions. Waratah brand on the John Deere es, John Deere also had special-
in this market who have not been All Deere forwarders are equipped stand. Waratah branding is used ists on hand to discuss all cus-
introduced to the John Deere with cabins which both level and where the heads are fitted to com- tomer requirements, from machin-
E-Series range of equipment. The rotate, resulting in excellent visibil- petitors’ machines, and on display ery maintenance programmes to
demo, however, gave Deere a wel- ity and operator comfort. were both the H414 and the H290, Timberlink data analysis, a tool to
come opportunity to showcase a With large harvesters dominat- a head built for the largest, most ensure customers get the best from
wide range of equipment in typical ing the UK and Irish markets, John demanding applications. their machinery.
forest conditions. Deere were represented by the With the growing importance
The main talking point amongst 1470E and 1270E, both equipped
customers was the mammoth 1910E with the recently updated H480C
forwarder, seen for the first time at harvesting head. The 1470E contin-
a UK demonstration. It is built with ues as the popular choice for large
the stability, power and durabil- crops and punishing terrain, whilst
ity to haul 19 tonnes over difficult the 1270E has seen a resurgence
terrain. under the E-Series design and has
Joining the 1910E was the popu- driven a general trend towards this
lar 1510E with the latest available size of machine. The new CH7
upgrades, notably the new Deere boom boasts lift and slew torques of
CF7S boom which boasts 10% 197kNm and 55kNm respectively.
more lift torque than the previous The 1170E harvester offers a new
model. The machine on display was size class. Although not hugely com-
also fitted with a revised loadspace mon in the UK, the 1170E has dom-
boasting a capacity in excess of 30 inated harvester sales in Ireland and
cubic metres, increasing its ability to beyond and brought many favour-
cope with the UK market’s multiple able comments from the audience
timber sizes and densities. at Ae, where it was working in an
For versatility there was the unusually large crop with the H414
1110E, which offers contractors a head performing admirably.
The 1110E is at home both in thinnings and clearfell.
forwarder which is at home both in The H414 head could also be
(Left) Although intended mainly for thinnings, the 1170E with H414 head handled the large Sitka crop well. (Right) The 20-tonne 1470E with H480C head.
38 www.forestryjournal.co.uk Forestry Journal 7/11
Two Komatsu harvesters: the 931.1 with the new 4-wheel drive 365 head and (right) the 941.1, which relayed a live video feedback to the Komatsu stand.
Komatsu relished the prospect the Komatsu’s harvesters’ perform- attracted interest with its new LED Sinclair.
of wading into the 18,000 cubic ance and cab comfort, and feed- lights. These are now available on all David Mcllwraith and the staff
metres of Sitka spruce, with forestry back was very positive. new Komatsu machines and are also at Komatsu would like to thank all
contractors and operators from all Three Komatsu forwarders were available through Komatsu spare its customers, drivers and staff who
over the country looking on, wait- working at the demo – the 840TX, parts as replacement units. helped make the demo possible,
ing to be impressed. 860.4 and 890.3, all running on a Komatsu had another two and they add that the company is
Externally the new Komatsu single set of band tracks, despite the machines on their stand – a 941.1 already looking forward to the next
branding was the major visual soft terrain. Their performance was belonging to Elliot Henderson, one.
change. Under the covers of the assisted by Komatsu’s Comfort Bogie and an 840.4 belonging to Adam
new 911.5 with its 360.2 head, and which is now benefitting productiv-
the 931.1 with its 365 head, there ity on the 840 range, the 860.4,
was much more to report. Komatsu the 911.5 and the 931.1. The bogie
now have the first forest machines design provides increased manoeu-
with the new Tier 4 SCR after- vrability up and down steep inclines
treatment engine, reducing emis- as well as on soft and wet terrain,
sions of NOx (nitrogen oxides) and where the limited ground impact of
particulates by 97%, and reducing the forwarders comes to the fore.
fuel consumption by 16%. The new bogie improves climbing
The ever-faithful 941.1 gave a ability and maintains ride comfort
very good demonstration, with when driving over obstacles.
live video feedback to the Komatsu The 14-tonne 860.4 has enjoyed
marquee, providing visitors with a significant sales success in recent
bird’s eye view of the 370.2 head times and received a great deal of
in action. It made easy work of the interest at the show. Komatsu as
trees, which had an average size of a company is keen to stick with
0.4 cubic metres. Customers were proven machines and products –
also given the opportunity to ride ‘evolution not revolution’.
in the machines to witness up close Gary Thomson’s new 860.4 also Another fistful of logs for the 19-tonne 890.3.
(Left) It might be a ‘Thinnings Xpert’, but the 840TX performed well in the clearfell. (Right) Surging in popularity – the 860.4.
Forestry Journal 7/11 www.forestryjournal.co.uk
39
Eight-wheel harvesters with parallel cranes – Ponsse’s Bear (left) and Ergo.
Eight was definitely the number addition to the Ponsse harvesting operators Aki and Kai Laaja. Unlike less wear, and greater efficiency
on the Ponsse stand. They had line-up and has only just entered the others, which were fitted with in movement translates into better
eight machines on display, all with serial production after two years of conventional C4 cranes, the Laaja fuel consumption for the harvester.
eight wheels, and they took the development and extensive testing brothers’ Ergo had a C44 parallel Other comments from the cab
opportunity of showing off some in the demanding conditions of the crane which will go into serial pro- also centred round fuel efficiency.
innovations in their harvester range UK and Germany. Ponsse’s philoso- duction in October. It has a reach of Visitors were impressed with the low
alongside their familiar Elephant, phy is that ‘quality can’t be rushed’, 11 metres when using the H6 head rpm (just 1650) that the harvesters
Buffalo and Wisent forwarders. as one member of staff put it. and can lift 1420kg at 10 metres. operate at.
Hard at work was Ponsse’s larg- There were two Ergo harvesters Also sporting a parallel crane, in Ponsse Group Sales and Marketing
est harvester, the Bear, with an present, as well as one on static this case a C22 with 10.3 metres Director Jarmo Vidgrén flew in from
11-metre C55 parallel crane and H8 display. One had made the jour- reach, was a Fox harvester. This is Finland to join the Ponsse UK staff
head. The 8-wheel Bear is the latest ney from Finland complete with a best-seller in Europe, though not on the stand, and commented that
in the UK; it is really designed for the demo had been a very positive
thinning work, which is something experience. Both Ponsse and the
we seldom see here. It was fitted visitors enjoyed the fact that it was
with an H6 multi-stemming head, possible to see machines operating
designed with biofuel gathering in the whole time, and Jarmo Vidgrén
mind, but it was also able to tackle said he would definitely be inter-
the Sitka clearfell without a problem. ested in repeating the demo in the
In normal fuel-gathering operations future.
this head can gather half a dozen Area Sales Manager Gareth
smaller stems. In fact some felt the Williams added that although eve-
Fox was the star of the show. People ryone now knew that Ponsse sold
were impressed with the speed of eight-wheel harvesters, this was the
the machine, particularly its saw. first time that some people had
The parallel cranes drew praise seen them up close. “We got some
from all who had a chance to try very positive feedback and picked
them out. “A lovely, smooth, accu- up a number of enquiries,” he said.
rate crane,” was a typical reac- He was especially pleased with the
tion. With far fewer moving parts quality of the visitors that the show
(rams, hinge points, etc) they suffer drew – “Genuine forestry people.”
Ponsse forwarders. The
Elephant (above) showed
what a big, yet nimble,
machine it is.
The Buffalo (right) proved
a big hit with the visitors,
but due to the present
market climate and
harvesting conditions the
Elephant is taking over its
position as Ponsse’s best-
selling forwarder.
Meanwhile the Wisent
(far right) lived up to its
reputation as a small,
powerful mid-range
forwarder.
40 www.forestryjournal.co.uk Forestry Journal 7/11
Three models of Tigercat harvester: (above) the LH845C, (top right) the
LH855C and (below right) the LH870C, all with Log Max heads.
Tigercat demonstrated five harvest- Max and self-levelling cab on 3.1-
ers with Log Max heads as well as a metre undercarriage showed off its
Tigercat forwarder. skills tackling the windblow along-
It was a chance for the machines side its big brother, the aforemen-
to demonstrate their flexibility, not tioned LH870C, with its wider and
only harvesting the straightforward heavier 3.4-metre undercarriage
standing timber on the site, but also The new LH855C with twin slew
tackling some rough, tangled wind- motors, twin lifting rams, 12-metre
blow on some very wet and boggy reach and Log Max 6000 cleared a
ground, with an uphill extraction path 24 metres wide.
route. The other Tigercat LH845C, also
The Tigercats come into their fitted with a 9000B Log Max, gave
own in this type of environment, visitors at the entrance to the demo
with their robust build, long track site the opportunity to see a Tigercat
base, and long-reach parallel boom harvester working its way through
cranes of 10.5 and 12 metres. This standing timber.
made extraction simple for the According to Stewart Booth,
Tigercat 1075B forwarder which “These machines do not need
stimulated a lot of interest with its expensive band tracks to buy, put
build quality (it weighs just over 23 on and off, or spikes added to them
tonnes) and its simple expandable to make them climb, etc. They just with a Log Max 9000B on the stand, Hemek in Sweden. Tigercat bought
bunk system. get off the loader and start work. as well as a new 1135 8-wheel har- out Hemek a decade ago.
The LH870C with Log Max “They are easily maintained vester with a Log Max 4000D. This Tigercat and Log Max would like
10000 made short work of the and cost-effective in servicing – no specialist thinnings machine was en to thank all their customers for mak-
large, rough trees around the site’s bogies and diffs to fill with expen- route to Sweden. It takes over from ing the show a success for them,
outer boundary. sive gear oil.” the H09 in the Tigercat product and also the operators and staff of
The LH845C with the 9000B Log There was also a Tigercat LH845C range. The H09 was designed by Treetop Forestry Ltd.
The Tigercat 1075B forwarder and (right) the specialist 1135 thinnings harvester that enables forwarder racks to be as far as 30 to 40 metres apart.
Forestry Journal 7/11 www.forestryjournal.co.uk
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