“IT MAKES THE OPERATION SAFER BUT ALSO TAKES MUCH OF THE PRESSURE OFF THE MACHINES DOING THE WORK AND REDUCES GROUND DAMAGE”
A HELPING HAND
IMAGES EOGHAN DALY
Traction assist winches have become a popular choice for steep slope logging and offer benefits from operational, environmental and safety enhancing perspectives, as Eoghan Daly reports
A
n increase in clearfells located on steep terrain meant Brophy Timber Services Ltd was on the look-out for equipment that allowed safe harvesting and extraction. Recognising the appeal of harvesters and forwarders used in combination with a traction assist winch, a Timbermax T10 mounted on the boom of a Doosan DX300LC-3 was accepted on trial from UK and Irish agent RJ Fukes Forestry Services. The machine’s arrival coincided with commencement of a clearfell comprising
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AUTUMN 2021 FORESTRY MACHINERY
3,300 cubic metres with an average tree size of 0.31 cubic metres on a steep hillside at ‘The Cut’ deep in the heart of the Slieve Bloom Mountains in scenic County Laois in the Irish midlands. With the necessary induction and training completed by RJ Fukes in advance, coupled with installation of the necessary kits within the machines to work with the winch, harvesting was ready to commence. Steepness of the terrain coupled with the requirement to extract all material uphill meant conventional working approaches
were impractical. This was exacerbated by a deep layer of peat occupied by a block of fire damaged Lodgepole Pine across which marked part of the extraction route. Combining these factors meant the site had everything necessary for the Timbermax T10 to prove itself.
ON A HIGH Looking beyond the initial lodgepole pine, a quality block of Sitka spruce was encountered and yielded a range of quality log lengths including sawlog, various pallet
