IFI Magazine Feb March 2019 International Forest Industries Magazine Feb March | Page 28

Mind-blowing
harvesting
progress
PONSSE COBRA
• Tyres: 26.5”
• Tractive force: 195 kN
• Power: 210 kW; Torque: 1,200 Nm
(Stage V)
• Working pump: 210 cm 3
• Crane: C44+ parallel crane or
C5 sliding boom crane with two
slewing motors
• Maximum reach: 10-11 metres
(C5: 10 m; C44+: 11 m)
• Maximum lifting moment: 250 kNm
It’s worth taking a step
back to appreciate
just how refined the
harvester has become
under the watch of the
contemporary group of
harvester suppliers
A
t the heart of the forestry
sector is the need to
harvest. It is, in theory, a
basic function and, at one point
many moons ago, it really was.
Man took a saw, walked into the
forest, chose the right tree and,
laboriously, cut it down.
Today, few of those elements
remain the same. Both men and
women are equally equipped to
harvest; the process is no longer
laborious and, in fact, has been
26 International Forest Industries | FEBRUARY / MARCH 2019
made increasingly comfortable by
improvements to ergonomics; and
the operator may choose the tree
or trees to cut but it is a control
system in the head that is linked to
the client that determines how the
stem is cut.
This year’s harvester technology
review is a testament to this
progress. It is the biggest for years
and therefore promotes a large
array of new developments from
a significant number of suppliers
from across the world.
It is tempting to be impressed
by major new breakthroughs
but, when the evolution of the
technology is so advanced, one
must accept that progress now
is largely tinkering around the
margins. Instead, if one draws
breath and stops for just a
moment, they should be blown
away by the sophistication of every
single unit in the following pages.