FORESTRY DEVELOPMENTS | NEW MACHINES
Germany’s Agritechnica may be best known as one of the world’s largest trade fairs for farm machinery, but equipment for the forestry sector is also well represented. Graeme Kirk took a look at some of the new products found at last year’s Hanover show IMAGES MANUFACTURERS Pfanzelt’s Moritz Fr50 tractor is remote-controlled
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ike agriculture, the forestry sector is undergoing a process of major renewal; machines and technology are taking over, displacing manual labour and allowing those that remain to work smarter, not harder. At Agritechnica 2019 there were products for people working at every level of arboriculture: from farmers diversifying into firewood supply and new ways of operating for tree surgeons, to new, app-linked technology for professional foresters and the latest high-output wood-chipping systems for biomass production. Here are some of the developments we found.
PFANZELT MASCHINENBAU Agritechnica’s Innovation Awards judging panel rewarded this exhibitor with a Silver Medal for its Protective Screen for tracked forestry tractors. This new development is designed to protect tree fellers who are at risk of injury from falling branches and treetops, especially when felling or cutting dead timber.
An outdoor area allowed smaller machines to be demonstrated to show visitors Unlike existing solutions where the protective screen is suspended from a forwarder, this solution offers the advantage that fellers are not working under an unpropped crane. Another advantage is that the new screen is used in conjunction with a tracked tractor, which is less expensive to operate than a forwarder.
In view of the increase of dead timber in forests as a consequence of climate change, the new protective screen has been judged a contribution to safety in forest work, and this tractor-based screen presents an effective and comparably cost-effective way of improving work safety for tree fellers.
PFANZELT MASCHINENBAU
THE FORESTRY SECTOR IS UNDERGOING A PROCESS OF MAJOR RENEWAL” The new protective screen can be attached to Pfanzelt’s Moritz crawler tractor and is opened when the tractor is at the tree. The screen embraces the tree at 2.0m from the ground and offers effective protection to fellers, especially in the preparatory phase. For the actual felling, only one half of the screen stays open so that the movement of the remaining half can be used in the felling job.
Above: Used attached to the company’s Moritz crawler, Pfanzelt’s screen not only protects the tree feller while he is working, but with one half of the shield open helps guide the tree to fall in the right direction FORESTRY MACHINERY SPRING 2020
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