2019 International Forest Industries Magazine December / January IFI Dec Jan 2019 Digital | Page 28

KIWIS HELPING CANUCKS
To safely get more production out
of its cable-logging operation,
Island Pacific Group has needed to
innovate. The answer came from
the other side of the Pacific in New
Zealand.
In recent years, New Zealand’s
logging industry made major
changes to improve the safety of
logging on steep slopes. In 2013,
the country’s largest forest owner
mandated that 100 percent of
groundbased harvesting and 80
percent of steep-slope harvesting
needed to be mechanized. Since
then, hand felling has been
almost completely replaced by
mechanization. But one of the
biggest changes — and the
one that has improved safety
to the greatest extent — is the
introduction of winch-assist
harvesters. With its strong
reputation for safety and
productivity, the system is steadily
gaining popularity in British
Columbia and the U.S. states of
Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.
“They’ve been doing it in New
Zealand for over a decade, and the
remote-operated bulldozer (ROB)
system has been operating for five
or six years now,” says Newton.
“We brought it over here because
it makes our operations safer
and more efficient. Now instead
of four hand fellers, we have one
harvester. It’s opened up a lot of
cutting opportunities because
many other companies can’t afford
to make it work on steep slopes.”
ISLAND PACIFIC LOGGING
Island Pacific Group is an early
adopter of the ROB system,
which was designed by New
Zealand logging contractor Lars
Rosewarne and engineer Iain
May. The company currently runs
It’s opened up a lot of
cutting opportunities
because many other
companies can’t affort
to make it work on
steep slopes
Lyle Newton, Owner of Island
Pacific Group
26 International Forest Industries | DECEMBER 2018 / JANUARY 2019
three ROB systems, which allow
machines to work on slopes up
to 45 degrees. By comparison,
untethered machines become
unstable on slopes of about 20
degrees. Island Pacific is the
exclusive distributor of the ROB
system for North America. The
ROB system the company employs
comprises a John Deere 909MH
Tracked Harvester tethered to a
Deere 850J Dozer, which provides
a solid anchor. Twin winches, each
capable of supporting up to 21
tons, are mounted on each side
at the rear of the dozer. Fairleads
are mounted at each end of the
dozer’s blade, giving the harvester
a wide swath to work across. The
dozer’s hydrostatic drive provides
smooth, remote control of the
winches by the operator from
the harvester’s cab. The winch is
synchronized with the movement of
the machine working on the slope
and maintains a constant tension
in the cable. “The system provides
traction assistance to the harvester
by helping keep the tracks flat on
the ground,” explains Newton.
“Without it, the tracks would just
spin and you simply wouldn’t be
able to log on steep ground.” There
is minimal site damage because of
the increased traction of the felling
machine.