2017 International Forest Industries Magazines April May 2017 | Page 8

John Deere Forestry PRESS EVENT for the launch of NEW G-Series Forwarders 1110G/1210G/1510G Joensuu, Finland, March 29-31, 2017 J ournalist’s were invited from Europe & Scandinavia to a press-only event held at John Deere’s Joensuu factory. John Deere, as always made us very welcome in Finland laying on a snowmobile safari, target shooting, superb wining & dining and of course ‘Sauna’ followed by a dip in the ice lake. Not everybody took up the latter challenge, including me! On the business side John Deere provided a logging demonstration of their new mid-size G-Series forwarder models, and provided advance information about their new products being showcased in June at the Elmia Wood forestry fair in Sweden. John Deere G-Series forest machines share uncompromised product quality, convincing performance and excellent fuel efficiency. Their customers have particularly praised the performance and the precise boom control of the new mid-size 1110G, 1210G and 1510G forwarders. We were to discover this for ourselves in the forest. Deere’s forwarders are also known for their rotating and levelling cabin that improves operator comfort and working capacity. It offers a significant improvement in machine productivity and reduces vibration during operation by as much as 50%. Intelligent boom control is another unique feature of their forwarders. 80% of their Nordic customers opt for intelligent boom control in their forwarder. Intelligent boom control was introduced at Elmia in 2013.Their new innovations for this year’s Elmia were equally anticipated. At the opening press conference we were given a sneak peek preview of the innovations and the new mid- size forwarders – followed by a tour of the Joensuu factory. Robin Peach IFI Associate Editor NEW FOR ELMIA The new mid-size G-Series forwarders’ engine, new control modules, simple CAN busses and streamlined electrical system create a balanced and strong combination. John Deere’s G-Series mid-size forwarder models 1110G, 1210G and 1510G have the new 6.8L John Deere 6068 PowerTech Plus engine meeting the latest Stage 4/Final Tier 4 emissions regulations. The better coupling of the powerful diesel engine with the power train results in a clear improvement in performance. The control system and user interface on the G-Series forwarders have been further developed and improved to maintain high uptime. The TimberMatic F-16 control system features a configurable user interface, cruise control and inclination display. The new software version enables service personnel remote access to the machine. New MECA control modules, simple CAN busses and a streamlined electrical system improve the efficiency of machine functions. John Deere test new machine models for a minimum of 2,000 hours before starting serial production. Intelligent Boom Control Steadfast traction and easy-to- use boom The Intelligent Boom 6 International Forest Industries | APRIL / MAY 2017 The new 1210G forwarder (see page 76 for full report) The 1210G with long bogie option (see page 77 for full report) Control makes boom handling more efficient and increases productivity by as much as one load per day. In the new 2.0 version of IBC, the precision of the grapple control has been improved, especially in long reaches. 80% of Nordic customers opt for IBC for their forwarder. tractive force efficiently. Also the response of the drive pedal and frame steering have been improved with smart electronic filtering. Adaptive driveline control Adaptive driveline control is a new, unique feature available only for John Deere G-Series mid-size forwarders. The software- based control system improves the drivability and productivity of the G-Series forwarders. The operator selects the desired RPM setting (Eco, Normal, Power) for the operating conditions, and the system automatically adjusts the engine’s RPMs to correspond with the engine load and keeps the engine’s RPMs steady also during high loads. During high-load situations, the new driveline control ensures that the diesel engine runs smoothly and uses the available maximum Continued on pages 76-79