ELMIA REPORT

It's not lonely at the top

In the world of forestry shows, there is Elmia Wood, and then there's everybody else. In fact that may be exactly the case, as this year's logging demo in J�nk�ping, Sweden, drew an international crowd of over 50,000 different visitors, likely more than all of this year's major North American logging events combined. With a crowd like that, nobody gets lonely.

As in past shows, the organization was outstanding, including parking, moving and feeding up to 19,300 visitors in a single day, and catering to the over 200 international journalists who cover Elmia, including yours truly.

Equipment ranged from the truly incredible to the truly bizarre, including a combination harvester head/ excavator shovel (how'd you like to dig a hole with all that money tied to the end of your boom?), and a combination yarder/processor head, just in case your yarder operator has too much spare time on his hands. Of course the remote-control Besten harvester was working to large crowds, and again there were too many firewood processors and portable mills to count, although very few are available this side of the pond.

One discernible trend is the increasing attention paid to export markets by major Elmia exhibitors, a trend most noticeable in the growing number of "Canadian" size CTL machinery (also suitable to other markets, like Germany, South America, Australia etc,..)� This included several new 300-hp harvesters, bigger forwarders (18 and 20-tonne), and bigger harvesting heads.

Over the next few issues, we'll try to cover as much of the news and gear that we can, to give readers a taste of the show, and perhaps the desire to attend the next Elmia in June of 2009. As Eric Johnson, my U.S. colleague and veteran editor of the Northern Logger said on this, his first trip to Elmia - "This show is like logger heaven." Except for the expensive beer, Eric may be onto something. - Scott Jamieson, Editor

I mean really steep

Elmia visitors got a glimpse at what Austrian and Scottish loggers are doing to tackle their ubiquitous steep slopes more efficiently. Clue number one could be seen at the Komatsu Forest site, where a Valmet 911 X3M (Extreme) was on display. This machine uses four sets of high-rise tracks in place of standard harvester tires and wheel tracks, which provides lots more contact area with the ground and a lower center of gravity thanks to the extra weight of the tracks down low. It also relies on the powerful CRH 18 boom for handling trees on adverse terrain, and a leveling cab. According to Komatsu Forest, this allows the 911 X3M to tackle up to 80% inclines with considerable efficiency and with a softer footprint than traditional steep slope track machines. Units are already working in Austria, as well as in northern Scotland, where flat ground is a rare treasure. Still, if you want to avoid cable systems altogether, you need a way to extract the CTL wood. The answer was on hand at the KWF (German machine testing organization) static site, where a Forcar steep slope forwarder was on display. This machine looks like a standard CTL forwarder, except it has a winch-assisted cable system at the rear that provides just enough pull on steep slopes to allow the machine to make headway without spinning. Now all you need are two operators crazy enough to run these things.

More info at <www.komatsuforest.com and www.kwf~online.de.

Logset goes big and leaves home

Front and center at the Logset site were two new CTL heavy hitters for such markets as Russia, Canada, and Germany. The Logset 1OH Titan harvester and Logset 1OF forwarder are designed to handle big wood, steep terrain, long hauls and whatever else eats away at the profitability of normal CTL machinery. The 1OH Titan is a 300-hp (Sisu 84 CTA diesel engine) machine with plenty of torque, but what catches the eye first is the never-ending Loglift L280V crane, a new model that combines 11 metres of reach with an incredible 270 kNm of lifting movement. This allows the 1OH to handle heavy timber in either selective cuts and/or steep terrain, while driving Logset's largest 8L harvester head with 73 cm (29 in) capacity. The head features the patented Syncro-Knife delimbing ring design which allows delimbing to very small diameter tops, something of potential interest to Quebec loggers struggling with reduced quota and stricter utilization rules. The 10H also boasts separate pumps for both crane and head, for 100% production all the time. Like all Logset harvesters, it is fitted with the Vision A/R/C large, sloped-screen cab, among the industry's best. According to Logset's Kristian St�n, the first few units are destined for the slopes of southern Germany.

The Logset 10F for its part garnered significant interest among both Canadian and Russian loggers challenged with long skids and restricted road building. Logset's first 18-tonne forwarder, it boasts a slick adjustable bunk design that allows operators to lengthen the bunk by 70 cm (28 in) to handle two or three tiers, and also widen it by 60 cm (24 in) for a more stable load in rough ground. It uses a hydrostatic tranny with twin drive motors to allow up to 13 km/hr travel speed in first gear. More info at www.iugset.com.

Have you seen the remote?

The Besten remote-control harvester made its first major public appearance at Elmia 2005, although the machine has been working for almost a year now (see CFI Sept/Oct 2004). The concept is simple - spare all the expense of building an operator cab on the harvester by allowing one or two forwarder operators to run the harvester module from the comfort of their own cabs. Aside from reducing the capital cost of the harvester, the Besten also removes the harvester operator from the jerky, high-shock environment of the harvester cab, an increasing concern in Scandinavia, and soon to be here by most estimates. Ideally, one Besten would be matched to two forwarders, whose operators would harvest the logs directly into the forwarder bunks.

Deere moves center stage; Donkey fades off left

Perhaps it wasn't as dramatic as all that, but John Deere took advantage of Elmia Wood 2005 to announce a new single-branding strategy to leverage the strong global identity associated with the John Deere brand and its trademark green and yellow colour scheme. As a result, the Timberjack brand, colours and donkey emblem will be retired across John Deere's global forest business, with the exception of three remaining Timberjack dealers in the U.S. All of the global supplier's forestry equipment will be sold under the John Deere brand.

"The John Deere brand carries a 168-year heritage for good stewardship of the land and a reputation for quality, innovation, integrity and commitment", explained Eric Hansotia, vice president, John Deere Forestry Group. "This change contributes to our single global focus on the forestry business, placing our customers worldwide at the center of everything we do."

Since John Deere acquired Timberjack in 2000, Hansotia continued, the two organizations have adopted the best practices of both organizations, through shared technology, business processes and distribution. Machines made under the Timberjack and John Deere brands already share key components, common suppliers, quality controls, and manufacturing processes.

Deere's Jim Mitchell, marketing manager, explained in a tele-conference that the move does not affect the product range, production facilities or technology now offered under the single brand. "It is a colour change only, and a recognition of what our dealers were telling us through their focus on the Deere branded side of the product line over the past few years. It is exciting to leverage the global recognition of the John Deere green and yellow colour combination, and the dealers are happy to see an end to the confusion of having two brands, now unified under the powerful Deere brand."

Still, retiring the donkey is not without its risks, especially in markets like Scandinavia and parts of Canada, where the Timberjack brand still has powerful historical and emotional currency. Yet if the crowds at Deere's massive Elmia site are any indication, there are no hard feelings in this corner of Sweden.

John Deere showed Elmia guests just what they've been up to since the Timberjack acquisition. The site included a dizzying complement of harvesters, forwarders, harvesting heads, handlers, simulators and control systems, as well as a good old Canadian full-tree system that had the locals scratching there collective heads. For the future, look for new and improved swing boom feller bunchers, the first 770 thinning harvester to work this side of the Atlantic, as well as the first bundler to go into commercial action in North America. Also introduced at Elmia were common model numbers with Waratah on felling and harvesting heads to eliminate confusion - for example, Waratah's new 4WD multistem harvesting head will be dubbed the 480 regardless of carrier. Also expect the introduction of Deere's own full-rotation felling head design in the near future. Look to future issues of CFI for coverage as this new gear hits the woods near you. More info at www.deere.com

Making tracks in Sweden?

While it was introducing its full line-up of forwarders at Elmia, the big draw at Tigercat's massive site while CFi was there was Tigercat's brand new H860C harvester. Tracks are rare in Scandinavia, and something this big on tracks is almost unheard of, although recent efforts to safely harvest the region's massive blowdown (75 million m^sup 3^) has brought in several tracked and/or swing boom machines with the extra hefting power required. The new C series from Tigercat is a common platform for a variety of forestry machines, from feller bunchers and harvesters to shovel loggers and delimber carriers. Features on all include a new design of retracting roof enclosure for excellent service access to both sides, top and bottom of engine; an advanced cooling system with fan speed matched to cooling to reduce fuel consumption and improve cold weather running; large, well-finished cab design with lots of inside storage and visibility; and a low-rpm Cummins 9-litre engine that produces 280 hp at 1,800 rpm. Both bunchers and harvesters use the ER boom for higher production and reduced fatigue.

More at www.tigercat.com

Cutting cleaner, cutting headaches

Anyone used to hanging onto a professional two-stroke chainsaw knows the emissions have not always been pleasant. For some, a day working in tight conditions or in winter snow packs can lead to evening headaches. Husqvarna has come to the rescue with its new X-TORQ engine technology, a pro saw engine with 60% cleaner emissions and 20% reduced fuel consumption for starters. Put simply, it is all accomplished via a new way of drawing fresh air and fuel into the combustion chamber and porting exhaust out, so that traces of the former are not mixed with the latter. The end result is an end to the exhausting of unburned airfuel mixture (hence the reduced fuel consumption), and an end to those headaches and nausea.

According to Husqvarna's business manager of chainsaws Jorgen Rosengren, there is little in the way of drawbacks to this new engine technology. Chainsaw weight climbs by just one pound, heft that is offset by a smaller gas tank (15% smaller but 20% less fuel consumption for similar production between fills) and improved balance and ergonomics. He adds that the X-TORQ concept delivers more torque at lower rpm's when compared to a standard two-stroke, making for easier cutting. This technology was released first in North America, and meets all existing and impending emission standards. It is available on 455 and 460 Ranchers and 575XP and 570 models.

Husqvarna also released three new heavyduty brushing saws at Elmia, all designed for handling the over-grown conditions and larger brush currently common in Sweden after years of reduced spacing investments.

More info at www.husqvarna.com

Swedes dying to clean up blowdown

A massive blowdown, a shortage of contractors, and thousands of impatient woodlot (owners can be a dangerous combination, as the forest industry in southern Sweden has discovered following this winter's Hurricane Gudrun. The storm damaged some 75 million m^sup 3^, most on private land. While the Swedish industry is highly-mechanized, the blowdown work is hard on gear, and the shortage of available or willing contractors means that many landowners are taking matters, and their lives, into their own hands. As of Elmia, 10 people had already died doing clean-up work with chainsaws in hazardous conditions. In response, forest owner associations are scrambling to promote proper training and certification in chainsaw use, and had sponsored Game of Logging events at Elmia to educate landowners to the dangers of motor-manual ielling. Ironically, the method being taught was developed in North America.

"This method was developed in the U.S., where insurance companies were pushing to increase safety and reduce accident statistics in forestry," says Mikael Sundberg of the training company Game of Logging, who adds that purchasing a chainsaw should be conditional on passing some form of training course or licensing test.

ExTe demos smarter log transport options

Front and centre at Elmia 2005 was the Com 90 system from Swedish transportation specialist ExTe Fabriks. Visitors could see an example of the remote-control operated log restraint system in action, a log trailer stake device that neatly folds over the centre of a load of logs and clasps to provide a secure tie down system. Aside from the health & safety benefits of not having to manually throw and secure tie-downs in all sorts of weather and footing, the company says the technology can save between 10 and 20 minutes per load. This may be a key factor for log haulers facing shorter hauls and lots of loading and unloading per day, where the possibility of an extra load per day may more than offset the extra cost and slightly higher tare weight.

For longer hauls where weight is more important than loading times, ExTe has a new series of lightweight aluminum bunks. The A Series of timber bunks were launched at Elmia 2005, and are 25% lighter than anything else currently on the market, according to ExTe. ExTe has North American representatives in both the east (New Brunswick) and west (Washington).

More info at www.exte.se.

Eco Log enters the fray with massive new harvester

Yes, you really do need a program to keep up with this industry. case in point is Eco Log, an independent Swedish-based company owned by Log Max and now manufacturing the old Caterpillar line of CTL equipment, which Cat bought from Skogsjan just prior to Elmia 2001. Eco Log had an impressive Elmia display, and was showing the full line of former Cat CTL gear, including four models of harvesters, all with Cat 3126 engines, and three models of Cat-powered forwarders. Still, the center of attention was a brand new 6WD harvester designed and built in-house by Eco Log, showing Elmia visitors just how serious this "new-comer" is. Eco Log bills its 59OC as the world's biggest wheeled production harvester. It boasts a 300-hp Cat engine and a purpose-built 25 tonne-metre crane with a 9.4-metre reach while sporting the powerful Log Max 7000 harvesting head. Several of the original Eco Log design machines are currently working in eastern Canada, and Eco Log president and ceo Stig Linderholm says distribution details should be worked out here in the near future. "We certainly see Canada as a significant future market for our machinery, and we have a lot of experience with the market through other equipment, so we know what's required." More info at www.eco-log.se.

Misery loves company

If that's true, then logging contractors need never be lonely. Echoing the state of affairs in Canada, the ErgoWood research project reported at an Elmia press conference that European contractors need better conditions and more security if they are to increase their efficiency and attract the next generation of loggers. The international research consortium reports that just half of Europe's contractors have written contracts with the mills they work for, and only one third have long-term contracts. The study also concludes that contractors have reached the limit of what they can achieve with current technology and work structures. You can learn more at http://www2.spm.slu.se/ergowood, where several reports will be published this year, including the Handbook to Ergonomie and Safe Forest Machines.

Bigger heads from one of CTL's pioneers

From the folks who invented the modern harvesting head comes a new big wood head designed for larger tracked carriers and bigger timber. In short, SP Maskiner's SP 751 LF is suited for a wide range of Canadian operations in bigger, limbier softwoods, and thanks to an available top saw, hardwoods as well. LF stands for Low Friction, and like all SP heads, the 751 uses a patented feed-roll system that modifies the feed rolls' angle of attack depending on the size of the tree - the larger the tree, the larger the angle of the feed-roll underneath the tree, and the more force applied to supporting the tree. "The more the tree is being supported by the feed rolls, the lower the knife pressure required, which allows us to run the tree through very fast even when dealing with large diameter trees," says Anders Gannerud, SP Maskiner export manager. The SP 751 LF is a 4WD head, with two serial connected motors in the frame and two in the grab arms. Plumbing of all hoses and wires is very neat. The maximum cutting diameter is 80 cm (32 in), maximum opening diameter is 70 cm (28 in), minimum delimbing diameter is 3 cm (1.2 in), and maximum feed force is 41-4 kN (9,300 lbf). More info at www.spmaskiner.se.

Watch out kids!