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simon lenihan
Participantmore pics of wire crane
ParticipantI hope this works
ParticipantAt the forestry of grapenberg, which is part of the swedish university of agricultural science, research in the subject area of ” The horse in the forest ” started again in the early 1980s. The goal of this research was to improve knowledge, methods and equipment for horse logging. This was at a time when other countries throughout western europe were gearing up towards large scale mechanised operations, paying huge grants towards the purchace of Timber harvesters and forwarders, the ” horse in the forest ” a distant memory. It is no surprise that the scandinavians are leaders in harvesting timber with horses. I remember reading the results of the research years ago, time and motion studys extracting timber full pole and the more favoured shortwood system and realising that these scandinavians were on to a winner. The development of horse drawn forwarders, wire crane, 8 wheel bogie wagons etc, helped to mantain and encourage young people into the horse logging industry. Fast forward 30 years and we have hydraulic drive assist horse drawn forwarders, battery powered wire crane forwarders and 8 wheel bogie forwarders with floatation racing discs and racing braking pads. I know alot of people on this tread have spoken about keeping it simple and to a certain degree they are right but as others have mentioned alot is down to geography, markets, etc. I think alot of the philosophy around this new development is to try and make the job easier and encourage people back in to the industry. This is not easy as you only have to pick up any countryside magasine and from front page to back it is covered with adds of quad bikes and small tractors with all the above mentioned horselogging equipment available as attachments.
We have found that using horse drawn forwarders, 8 wheel bogies etc has opened up alot of extra work for us and has kept us in business during these tough times. However there are times when a tractor based unit is the best combination with horses and we will use this system if we have to. I will try and post some pics of wire crane forwarder and take some measurements next time i visit my friend up north so folk can get building during the winter, sorry in advance for spelling mistakes, long day.
simon lenihanParticipantsingle wire crane / 8 wheel bogie / grapple loader
simon lenihanParticipantyes that is the wire crane forwarder in the picture. The back wheels are bogie and the front has an ackman type axle which means it can ride over stumps and the load stays level. There is a pin under each bolster which when pulled will drop the bolsters at the opposite side making it safe to unload. There is also a ram connected to the front axle which locks the frame when loading. I have taken close up pics of all the forwarder but can not seem to locate them on my computor. When i find them i will post them on here.
simon lenihanParticipantThere is a wire crane horse forwarder on the market that is very slick and very simple to build. It has a 13hp honda engine which runs the winch system. It carries approx 50 meters of cable which also helps when you meet a very soft area where the horses can not travel. It is less than half the weight of the horse drawn grapple loader and has a capacity of approx 6000lb. I have seen a team of small north swedish horses take this up a moderatly steep banking fully loaded. There is also a smaller model for a single horse with a capacity of approx 3000lb. The power assisted horse drawn grapple forwarder is a great piece of kit but the drive motors are small and only assist and not drive like a mechanical forwarder. We might move 4000lb with the horse drawn grapple loader on a 30 degree incline [ purpose built track ] a purpose built forwarder can move 34000lb. With most forest owners and forestry agents [ middle man ] driven by pounds / shillings / and pence, it simply means we have to park our horse drawn forwarder. The smaller tractor forwarder that carl uses is also a very efficent piece of equipment but it brings us closer in being able to compete. I think the difficulty arises [ it does for us any way ] when you have to hire in a tractor driver and have to keep him moving constant. There is the problem of room at track side, bottleneck of timber, extraction distance might be relativly short but has a very steep incline so you are forced to use a mechanical forwarder but can not possibly keep it going unless you take on extra hands. I am hoping that in the future that foresters and forestry owners will decide that the best forest practice is to put in less roads and encouage selection thinning thus creating a niche market for horses and horse drawn equipment.
simon lenihan, http://www.celtichorselogging.comParticipantTom,
Monster skidder working around regenaration?, ground scarification with a skidder?. It is very rare to see a skidder working this side of the pond now. Horses skidding to a purpose built forwarder is the preferred method, the horses skid to a hard track for secondary extraction by forwarder. This minimises the amount of ground compaction and allows for single tree [ worst first ] removal using horses.
simon lenihan, http://www.celtichorselogging.comParticipantMitch,
The swedish sledge is similar in principal to the log scoot and i am sure could be set up similar. The swedish sledge can be fitted with a wire crane or even a grapple loader and i can not see why the scoot could not be set up similar. I will see if i can find pictures.
simon lenihanParticipant8 wheeler, light, strong and multi purpose.
simon lenihanParticipantmore examples including battery powered wire crane forwarder.
simon lenihanParticipantjim,
The front axle for the wire crane forwarder has to be ackman type where it pivots at the center point. There has to be a hydraulic arm fitted either side of center to allow the whole unit to be locked during loading. The forwarder should be at least 6 foot 6″ wide and as low as you can get away with for stability. I will try and get some pics of my friends forwarder.
simon lenihanParticipantI can not see why you can not have a low hitch point on the arch, the pole extends a few inches from the rig, drops at 90degrees lets say 12″ from the ground and the pole then comes up at an angle similar to shafts on swedish equipment [ i stand corrected ]. I can see an arguement for ground clearance if the log was lifted more than 12″ off the ground but in alot of cases it seems to be just a couple of inches off the ground and also i can see the pendilum effect having adverse effect working on rough uphill pulls. Nearly all swedish equipment has a low hitch point to maximise the load a single horse can pull due to the tight confines of the conifer stands. I have seen the fisher arch in action with jason and chad and it is simple and efficent and can move large loads and as Tim said the larger wheels make up for the high point of draft. They all have there place.
simon lenihanParticipantJohn is correct, straight line of draft back to hitch point on most swedish equipment, why is it not possible to do the same on skid carts used in usa. Why is it not possible to have the pole on skid carts at the same angle as the shafts on swedish equipment to achieve a straight line of draft.
simon lenihanParticipantJim a smaller version of the wire crane.
simon lenihanParticipantJIM,
Yes you are right the crane has to be over the front axle, this is a pic of a sjm wirecrane forwarder, i will try and post better pics when i find them. Once you get this up and running jim you will never look back. It will allow you log for many years to come.
simon lenihan- AuthorPosts