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Cutting With A Harvester

Started by Gary_C, May 27, 2006, 04:15:08 AM

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Gary_C

I finally decided it was time to learn how to post pictures.

On March 8, I took my camera along in the harvester and late in the day I took these pictures as I was cutting. The first tree was a Hard Maple next to a large white pine. If you look close, you can see the orange slash mark just below the head.



The tree after cutting. I pulled it back to look at the butt. Notice the large brown heart and the crack on one side. I probably cut this into 100 inch lengths and sorted any good sawlogs out from the pulp logs.




Then I moved forward and found this marked Red Oak. I grabbed the tree and started cutting.



Now the tree is down.



I then moved the tree to my left and cut the first log. I then fed the tree forward for the next cut.



Now the third cut. Notice there is a large limb just above the head that will need to be cut off. I will have to drop the tree, grab that limb as close as I can get to the main trunk and cut it off as it is too big to automatically delimb.



Now the tree is cut up. Notice the small logs to the left that were the limb and the remainder of the top.



This is what is left behind.



If the Red Oak had been better quality, I would not have cut it into eight foot lengths in the woods. I would have just measured off a 16 or 24 ft length or just cut below the first large limb and processed the remainder in 8 footers.
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

Don K

Very interesting pictures. The industry has come along way since I was a young boy going into the logging woods with my grandfather. (I am 41 now) :o  Then it was just a matter of sawing the trees down and cutting into pulpwood, sawlogs, or poles.
Lucky to own a WM LT40HDD35, blessed to have a wife that encouraged me to buy it.     Now that\'s true love!
Massey Ferguson 1547 FWD with FEL  06 GMC Sierra 2500HD 4X4 Dozer Retriever Husky 359 20\" Bar  Man, life is getting good!

Ron Wenrich

Nice operation.  How large of tree can you cut with that setup?  What do you do about butt flare? 
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Quebecnewf

What type of machine and how would it do in rough soft ground. Could it also run in winter . Cold temp and deeper snow.

Quebecnewf

TeaW

Great pictures Gary_C ,just like being in the cab with you, Thanks.
TeaW

Gary_C

Ron

The head is rated at 16 inches maximum diameter. I have used it on trees probably up to 24 inches by precutting the back and one side.  It works best on softwoods and lighter hardwoods like Aspen and Basswood. I don,t like to cut the larger, dense hardwoods but as I get more experienced in cutting with the machine, it's hard to ignore the time savings. The sequence of pictures shown cutting the Red Oak took 10 minutes fom first to last. If I had not been taking the pictures, it may have taken about two minutes to complete.

I really do not have a problem with butt flare as much as I have a problem with larger trunks in general. Sometimes the butt flare will intrude into the saw box and prevent the saw from moving, but I can usually just move around the tree and find a place where I can cut. It can also block the trunk from feeding when the flare will hit the bottom of the saw box, but feeding the larger trunks is very difficult anyway. If it is a low quality pulp log, I will just drop the trunk and guess at the first cut or two and then feed the remainder. If it is a higher quality trunk, I can just lay it on the ground and feed forward and measure off 17 or more feet or up to the first limb.

Quebecnewf

My machine is a six wheel machine with tracks as you can see on the bogey wheels. It will go over soft ground that you would have difficulty walking on. Snow is not a problem, it will just pack it down. I have run in temps down to about -20 F. As far as rough ground, if you really had to, it would just climb over the pile of logs you just cut.  ;D
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

Woodhog

Thanks for the nice Harvester pictures..I like to watch those machines working and they seem to do a good job as they travel over their own brush roads..

I was wondering, if after long operating sessions in the cab do you have problems with your neck , arms or wrists, I have a small forwarder and after about 2 loads my neck sometimes bothers me as well as wrists...

Thanks

Ron Scott

Nice photos! Are the blue painted trees the cutting boundary??

Some photos of your inside cab controls, operator comforts etc. would also be interesting. Is the harvest system computer programed?
~Ron

SwampDonkey

Nice pictures Gary and good captions.  8)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Bro. Noble

Thanks Gary,  I'd enjoy seeing more of that type of pictures :)
milking and logging and sawing and milking

woodmills1

great pictures and description of how you operate.  Showed them to my wife and she said "Honey, you can't have a harvestor this year" :D

On the neck thing..............I have been doing a lot of driving now that I have the blue ox, and noticed on days that I do 2 or more loads I have a neck ache.  I thought about it and realized I was hunching oover the steering whell in concentration while pulling a load.  I adjusted the seat back more upright and noew remind myself to relax and lean back a little, no ache...only had to adjust the mirrors a little to compensate. :o
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

Gary_C

Woodhog

When I am running the harvester, the only thing that hurts is my left knee.  ;D   The right one has been fixed, and I guess I will have to get the left one done too. When I throw a chain or need a sharp one, it can be a welcome break to get out and change the chain.

Seriously, the joysticks on this machine seem to work fairly well. I do have one picture showing the left joystick and the keypad. Just to the right of the keypad is a single line display that indicates diameter, length beyond the saw bar, etc. It does have a computer that runs the head functions. You can set up multiple species, length tables, diameter limits, and many other functions. I can run in an automatic mode and it will control the saw bar cutting distance and many other variables.



An older forwarder that I traded this winter had manual lever controls. I hated those and at the end of a long day, my shoulders and wrists would be very sore. Plus, they were very slow compared to joysticks. The newer machines have what they call "mini joysticks" that you can hold just between your thumb and fingers and take very little movement to use.

I think that Jeff can tell you the problems with using your arms to pull levers better than I can.

Ron

That day I was cutting along the east boundary to mark a path so I would not stray into the next cutting block. The boundary was a little confused in that area. So yes, that tree with the blue paint is a boundary tree.
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

barbender

cool pics Gary- what brand machine is that you are running? Looks like a nice machine. What part of the state are you located in?  I've got a buddy that was running a Ponsse Beaver model harvester, I posted a bunch of pictures of that in the logging methods thread. That was a 2005 model machine, pretty sweet.  He just moved down to Georgia to run Ponsse down there, there is supposed to be a huge market for cut to length in the south, he's actually thinking about getting his own team down there.
Too many irons in the fire

Gary_C

barbender

I run a 1997 Valmet 546H Harvester. It is one of the later of the 546's and has one of the newer cutting heads. I would love to have one of the newer Ponsse Harvesters but there is a huge jump in price for that luxury and I can do just about as much with my machine.

I have cut mostly around Cloquet and between Sandstone and Danbury, WI. I live in the southern part of MN and have also done some work around Rochester.

Who does your friend cut for? Probably Rieger as the last I knew he had 12 cut to length crews running Ponsse's.
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

barbender

yep- he operated for Rieger. I don't know if it's true or not, but I heard Rieger is the largest cut to length operation in the U.S. He also has 2 or 3 conventional crews.  I  think those beaver harvesters are in the $400,000 range, sure is a lot of dough. 
Too many irons in the fire

woodsteach

Gary,
That looks AWESOME!

It was great visiting with you lastnight and it looks like you are harvesting basically the same size of trees that I am . . .  but a lot faster with your harvester.

I'll be in touch next week.

God Bless

woodsteach
Brand X Swing Mill, JD 317 Skidloader, MS460 & 290, the best family a guy could ever dream of...all provided by God up above.  (with help from our banker ; ) )

Bicboro

Quote from: Gary_C on June 02, 2006, 11:59:22 AM
barbender

I run a 1997 Valmet 546H Harvester. It is one of the later of the 546's and has one of the newer cutting heads. I would love to have one of the newer Ponsse Harvesters but there is a huge jump in price for that luxury and I can do just about as much with my machine.

I have cut mostly around Cloquet and between Sandstone and Danbury, WI. I live in the southern part of MN and have also done some work around Rochester.

Who does your friend cut for? Probably Rieger as the last I knew he had 12 cut to length crews running Ponsse's.

I ran the 546 valmet for 4 years.  Great machine.  3 years ago I got a Timberjack 1270d, and the cost was 4 times as much, but the volume was twice as much as I ever thought about with the valmet.  Worth every penny extra.  Have a good day!
In depth look into mechanical harvesting.  www.thetreeharvester.com

Gary_C

Welcome to the forum Bicboro

I did not know there were any harvesters operating in Tennessee.

Faster depends some what on what you are cutting. But yes, I know those newer Timberjacks, Ponsees, and Valmets are much faster than the 546. One of the better new machines I've seen is the Timbco (tracked machine) with a Logmax head that ran the first 4000 hours with less than an hour downtime.

We do like pictures!  8)
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

Corley5

I know a guy that bought a matched Ponsse harvester and forwarder.  Cost him a million bucks and he had to put his house up as part of the collateral.  He's in bankruptcy now, completely out of business and may very lose his home  :( :(  Liquidations of his assets including his log trucks and even the contents of his shop have begun  :( :(  A friend of mine bought the used oil shop heater.   Doesn't matter how much they'll produce if the markets are soft or disappear  :(
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

Bicboro

I am the fist one here, the new frontier.  The 1270 works well in these mountains, but the wood is all oak and hickory.  HEAVY!  So on April 16 I get my new one.
In depth look into mechanical harvesting.  www.thetreeharvester.com

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