SHOW REPORT | FINNMETKO
SHOW AND TELL
Finland’s FinnMetko exhibition was one of few industry events to run in 2020 and it certainly did not disappoint, with dozens of highly specialised machines on display to get the juices flowing, as Eoghan Daly reports IMAGES EOGHAN DALY
USEWOOD
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inland is one of the few places in the world that has so far kept a lid on the coronavirus pandemic. So despite some early uncertainty, the 2020 running of the bi-annual FinnMetko forestry show went ahead as planned, albeit later in the year (September 3rd to 5th) and with fewer exhibitors than normal. Held in the town of Jämsä, the event showcases the latest innovations in forestry equipment and, despite its reduced scale this time round, almost 10,000 visitors attended the show in 2020.
COMPACT HARVESTING SOLUTIONS USEWOOD Already known for its compact clearing machines, harvesters and forwarders, Muurame-based Usewood presented the Combi Master, powered by a four-cylinder Kubota engine delivering 33kW. The machine resembles the company’s forwarder offering, but has a retractable rear chassis to shorten the overall length of the machine while in harvester mode. This has benefits when working within the stand off thinned racks or when using the machine to conduct clearing operations. Despite this compact
ALSTOR
form, when extended to use in forwarder mode the machine has no difficulty accepting log lengths up to 4m without the need for additional bunk extension structures. Usewood presented the machine with its own in-house produced UW180S harvesting head, which has the ability to fell trees to a maximum felling diameter of 22cm. The head is fitted with a roller feed mechanism executed by two feed rollers, and the delimbing function is fulfilled by two upper moveable delimbing knives together with a top fixed knife.
COMPACT FORWARDER OFFERINGS
ALSTOR Compact forwarders were popular at FinnMetko, with the Swedish-built Alstor 8x8 taking pride of place alongside machines from Kranman, Kinetic and Logbullet. Interestingly, all the machines have been engineered by people with firsthand knowledge of timber harvesting, with designs based on their own needs. KINETIC The Kinetic mini forwarder in eight-wheel configuration is another contender in the compact forwarder
KINETIC
market. The 8x8 machine weighs 1,790kg and has a load capacity of 3 tonnes. Power is provided by a Yanmar engine with crane reach extending to 4.7m. LOGBULLET Logbullet completed the compact forwarder line up with its eightwheeled hydrostatic drive unit, which was developed by Pekka Syvanen for his own timber extraction interests. The machine weighs a mere 1.7 tonnes and measures just 5m long and 1.5m wide. Ground clearance is a generous 40cm and power comes from an 18kW Kubota engine. Equipped with a Farma C3.80 crane, which offers a maximum outreach of 3.8m, the machine has a galvanised bunk structure for extended working life.
LARGER HARVESTER DEVELOPMENTS Larger forest machines also cried grabbed the attention of prospective end users at FinnMetko 2020, the most notable being from Finnish manufacturers Nisula and ProSilva. Such is the level of success both companies are experiencing, they have greatly increased their product ranges in
LOGBULLET FORESTRY MACHINERY SPRING 2021
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