12 minute read
FLEET FOCUS
IMAGES
DAVID WYLIE
Advertisement
GREAT EIGHTS
David Wylie visits R Whittaker Farming & Forestry in Jedburgh to find out more about the company’s new Ponsse Buffalo 8W forwarder and Ergo 8W timber harvester
RWhittaker Farming & Forestry is based in Jedburgh and its owner is Robert Whittaker. Robert’s father and his grandfather had been involved in farming, so it was in Robert’s blood to start his own business with a small flock of sheep and to study agriculture at the University of Edinburgh. After completing his degree, he got the opportunity to rent some farmland in the area of Jedburgh. From his first single sheep – bought with his student loan – he quickly built a flock of 1,200, comprising of 1,100 Lleyns and 100 of his prize Charollais pedigree flock at the turn of the millennium.
As a tenant farmer, he was running his business without any subsidy and, more
The Buffalo’s Active Crane is fast-acting and precise.
critically, was being disrupted as various landowners sold or reused their land, thus Robert’s sheep business became smaller. By good fortune, a best friend from school worked for Euroforest and Robert ended up working for his subcontractor Treetop Forestry as an operator for extra income.
After spending 10 years at the controls of a big, tracked hill-climbing Tigercat harvester and seeing an increase in his forestry work, he eventually sold his reduced flock of 600 commercial Lleyn to fund his forestry business and bought a Tigercat 845LH harvester from Treetop Forestry, which is also the south east of Scotland as well as the north east of England.
Right inset: H8 head with 82cm sawbar and 97-link chain.
Tigercat dealer in the UK, to pursue a full-time career as a forestry contractor working for management timber agency at that time. However, he retained some of his prized pedigree Charollais flock as a weekend hobby, which is supported by his father and other family members, as Robert can spend over 60 hours per week in the forest, plus traveling time, as he tries to return home each day from a 4am start!
Robert has built up a long-standing working relationship with his current customer, Iggesund – part of the Holmen Group – based at Workington in Cumbria, where the pulp wood is made into high-grade packaging and bigger saw logs sizes are made into a variety of timber products. Generally, Robert covers the
SITE VISIT
I met up with Robert at a 6,500 cubic metre clearfell operation at Kershope Forest on the Scottish and English border to find out about his brand new Ponsse Buffalo forwarder and Ergo timber harvester. Robert explained that after buying the 845LH Tigercat in 2017, he had the opportunity to buy out a harvesting contracting business that was running a leased six-wheel Komatsu 931 harvester and an 855 forwarder.
Wishing to build up some financial equity in this business, he moved to buy the machines and then in 2018 invested again with a new eight-wheel 931 Komatsu
Left inset: The H8 boasts five knives.
Right: In terms of space, the Buffalo is fantastic.
Above: H8 head packs one hell of a punch.
Right: Tilt angle of crane base is +/-20 degrees.
harvester. Whilst the Komatsu machines and backup were good, he had a longstanding desire to operate Ponsse equipment as he considers them to be the leading ‘Rolls-Royce’ of forestry machines. This was reenforced with a trip to the Ponsse factory where he saw first-hand that this brand completely manufactures the machines – not just assembled them – with an extra level of durability and build quality he was impressed with.
PART OF THE FAMILY
Robert’s experience with Ponsse began when his Komatsu 855 forwarder had reached a high number of hours and he traded in that machine for a pre-owned Ponsse Buffalo forwarder. Then in early 2020, as Ponsse was celebrating its 50th anniversary, Annan-based Ponsse UK Ltd – the UK dealer and subsidiary of Ponsse – offered Robert its demonstrator model of the 50th anniversary Ergo harvester. Robert was so impressed with the performance and aftersales service from the local Ponsse dealer that he decided to buy the machine.
“It’s a special feeling being the owner of two new Ponsse machines,” said Robert. “The equipment is performing well, and we know that the backup from the local dealer is good, not that we’ve needed it. You are made to feel a part of the Ponsse family by MD Dean Robson and his team over at the nearby Ponsse dealership at Annan.” Robert also explained that, because he is now running Ponsse machines alone, under the manufacturer’s loyalty scheme he receives a 6% discount on top of the 1% received for each Ponsse machine operated.
Prior to the new Buffalo arriving, Robert operated a 2016 Buffalo model with 8,500 trouble-free hours on the clock. At the controls of Robert’s new five-week old Ponsse Buffalo is experienced forward operator Paul Grieve, who commented, “Our 2016 Buffalo model was a good, reliable and productive machine. However, this new Buffalo with the Active Crane is a great improvement as it is so much easier to operate – the Active Crane does most of the work when loading or unloading. I love it, as
Above: Easy to use controls, automated functions and great visibility on offer in Ponsse’s Ergo Harvester. Above: A portable Canon printer is fitted as standard and is hidden under a pop-up cover in the Ergo’s cabin.
your thumb control is made redundant because the reach and boom down is automatically controlled.”
Paul has also noticed a significant improvement in production as the Active Crane function has made loading and unloading a lot faster and smoother than the previous model. “Ponsse provided good training on the use of the new Active Crane function and set up the crane to suit my personal style and preferences,” he added. “The more time I spend using it, the quicker I’m getting. It’s an absolute joy to use.”
Ponsse says its Active Crane is a forwarder system which the operator uses to control the grapple movement instead of individual functions. The grapple height and movement are controlled by two levers. Once the appropriate grapple location has been given to the machine, it will perform the lift and use the boom and extension automatically.
To further increase productivity, Robert intends to fit a bunk widening kit removed from the older forwarder, as this particular site has been very wet underfoot and would be unlikely to support the extra weight of the forwarder with a maxed out load of timber. To cope with the soggy conditions, Robert has laid an extra deep layer of brash matting for both the harvester and the laden forwarder to travel over, and both have been fitted with wider highflotation tracks on the rear axles, plus climbing tracks on the front axles.
Robert finds the running costs per tonne, such as fuel burn, as good as, or better than any other machine he has operated in the past. He is also pleased to report that the new Ponsse machines come with extended service intervals. This has increased from the normal 500 hours service intervals to 750 hours for the Ergo engine oil changes, 600 hours for Buffalo engine oil changes, and 1,500 hours for the transmission oils.
Robert commented, “For me, one of the most important benefits of operating Ponsse equipment is the high availability, which is absolutely key to being profitable and completing the contract on time. The other benefit is operator comfort. We can be spending up to 16 hours in the cab, and I must say the cabs on both the forwarder and my harvester are the best in the business. They have so much room and offer great visibility, and they also have very comfortable seats and sets of controls to stay fresh at the end of a long day’s work.” Robert has a little dog called Coco who accompanies him in the cab. Robert said the Ergo’s cab is so big that you could sit on top of the rear storage unit, which contains a foldout printer to produce hard copy production information, should you need to provide in-cab training under controlled conditions (there is no formal training seat provided).
After years operating farming and construction equipment, Robert feels modern Ponsse timber harvesters and forwarders are way ahead of tractors and diggers in terms of comfort. Ponsse claims that its seat is the only one on the market specially designed for forest machine drivers and Robert has an optional Ponsse seat fitted to his new Ergo harvester complete with suspension, which decreases swinging and impacts.
Left: Pictured in the Buffalo is Paul Grieve.
Below left inset: Robert and his buddy Coco.
BENZ POWER
At the heart of both Ponsse machines beats a new, 286hp Mercedes-Benz Stage 5 engine with diesel particulate filter and AdBlue, plus higher torque (1,200Nm) achieved at lower revs (1,200 to 1,600rpm) than its predecessor.
The Ergo harvester has two hydraulic pumps: the head pump is 190 cubic metres and the crane pump is 145 cubic metres. The Buffalo forwarder demands less hydraulic flow – it has a single pump rated at 190 cubic metres and a load capacity of 14 tonnes, uprated to 15 tonnes with balanced bogies.
Robert selected the Ponsse H8 harvester head model, which is Ponsse’s largest and most powerful harvester head range for
Above: Sliding boom crane sits on back bogie. Below: Ergo’s controller falls easily to hand.
Above: The sliding boom crane has an impressive reach of up to 11m and yet the machine also feels super stable, reckons its user.
wheel-based harvesters. The H8 model is said to be a highly durable and powerful harvester head for processing largediameter trees. Smart automated systems ensure precise cutting, while the grip pressure of delimbing knives and feed rollers adjusts steplessly according to the stem size. Feed rollers support stems from below, ensuring low friction and a firm grip during feeding through the head.
HEAD OF THE GAME
The H8 harvester head is also said to have an excellent sawing efficiency ratio. Automated systems adjust sawing according to the tree diameter. More efficient sawing also extends the service life of the saw blade and chain. The strong and smooth tilt movement speeds up working, while reducing stress directed at the harvester head. And is also ideal for multi-stemming as the geometry of the rollers and delimbing knives are designed for collecting and cutting larger diameter trees.
Robert Whittaker estimated that the harvester would, on an average stand, cut and process around 30 cubic metres of timber per hour or more in ideal conditions. Robert praised the performance of the powerful feed motors and the five-knife design for its exceptional de-limbering performance. Robert uses Ponsse-branded chains and sawbars
on the head unit, and runs an 82cm-long sawbar and a 97-link saw chain.
The sliding boom crane is located on the back bogie of the Ergo harvester, providing an excellent balance between the front and rear frames. Any stress directed at the operator remains low, as the cabin stays stable, regardless of the tree size.
The hydraulic controlled tilt angle of the crane base is +/-20 degrees as standard, resulting in smooth working and making the crane power available even on the steepest slopes. And the powerful and accurate two-motor slewing action is a standard feature.
With a new fleet of modern Ponsse machines and good support from the local dealer, plus a busy forward order book with a long-standing customer, Robert and his team certainly have a bright future ahead.
PONSSE IN THE UK
The first Ponsse forest machine was seen in UK forests in 1994, and two years later the first Ponsse service centres were opened in the UK: one in Beattock, Scotland, and the other in Neath, Wales. Both operations were transferred to Lockerbie, Scotland at the turn of the millennium.
In December 2017, Ponsse UK Ltd, a subsidiary of Ponsse Plc, opened its new, bigger facility in Annan, Scotland. These premises can now service four machines at the same time. As well as spare part sales and warehousing, the service centre has training facilities for customer, driver and staff training. Ponsse UK’s machine fleet has been growing in recent years, making new facilities necessary. At the same time, work safety and working comfort have also developed in leaps and bounds.
Ponsse’s first UK customer in 1994 was M.G. Harvesting Ltd, based in North Wales. The company was founded in 1980 by Michael Gillet. Gillet’s plans for a career in engineering changed to forestry after summer work experience in the latter industry. “Work was a lot freer in the forest, and you could work a longer day if needed. I bought my first forest tractor in 1980, and at the beginning we mainly gathered the timber by skylining. The terrain in Wales varies so you need a versatile machine. We currently have 16 Ponsses and a few harvester heads on excavator-based machines,” Gillet explained at the launch event in 2017.
Above: Full customer support.
