hi
just wondering what sort of method other people in the world to log hardwood etc(processing,dragging,loading)
thanks tiny
Logging hardwoods in my part of Pennsylvania involves mainly felling with chain saws, skidding with grapple skidders and bucking and loading with a sawbuck and loader mounted on a tri-axle truck.
Very little mechanization from the chain saw. That is due to the high value of the hardwoods, the difficult terrain in many areas, and the way hardwoods grown. Also, the expense of mechanized fellers are pretty hard to overcome for a small operation. Mechanized fellers are mainly used in pulpwood operations.
Some guys are using forwarders. Not many, since skidding distances are pretty manageable.
Many guys have gone to sawbucks, which eliminates the need to hand measure every log before bucking. Larger independent loaders are being used. More logs are being shipped by trailer than by tri-axle.
I was out inspecting a timber sale today of hardwood trees I previously marked and sold for a private landowner in western Kentucky. Here is what the loggers were using: 2 John Deere 640 skidders (one grapple and one cable), 1 Bell 3-wheel harvester with a chainsaw type cutting head, and a Hood loader and slasher, again with a chainsaw type cutting head. Logs were moved to the mill with tractor trailers.
Most jobs I mark don't require or need the Bell harvester, but this 42 acre sale had a 10 acre clearcut section which made the Bell ideal as the terrain wasn't too steep and productivity is much better when cutting 8-12 inch DBH pulpwood sized trees.
The only highly mechanized tree harvesting machines I have seen used in this area are for row thinnings or clearcuts of loblolly pine plantations on large acerages, such as Mead-Westvaco properties in western KY.
thanks for your replies,over here we use a timbco t445d with a disc saw which falls and bunches for the skidders(deere 748g and 748e).then is pulled to the landing which a 35ton komatsu with a rosin processing head(30 in ;D)which barkes and cuts the pulp,peeler,sawlog,chipwood,etc and stacks it on the side of the road for the loader(komatsu pc300)to load on the trucks.when it is to steep or rough for the skidder a hitachi(ex400)sets the trees up for the skidder.we also have two komatsu(pc200)excavators for landing work and putting tracks/landings/matting in place.a prentice625 handles the sawlogs.thanks tiny
you may be new, but with the nick name of tiny, I suspect you can lick anybody in the house, including our esteemed host, or that could be steamed host, depending on how he takes this message. ;D ;D
thanks don,i think ;D
Tiny, around here it all depends on what the wood is to be used for. Larger operators usually use a feller buncher to move whole trees to in woods chippers. Some contactors use a harvester and a grapple skidder to to forward tree lenths with are then taken to mills to be chipped. There aren't to many big hardwoods around here so i didn't get to see many hardwood sawlog jobs. one that did see was CTL. it was a timberjack 1010 forwarder paired with a komatsu 200 harvester. the sytem worked quite well except that the harvesting head (a logmax i think) had no top saw. Also just so you know, I prefer CAT ;D
hello again,thanks for all the replies very interesting :P