A forwarder carrying a 20-ton plus load of pine logs down a 50% slope drew gasps from a group of experienced foresters and harvesting contractors attending a field day in the KZN midlands recently.

The forwarder was a TimberPro TF 840D, distributed and supported in South Africa by Zululand-based Logmech. The occasion was a field day hosted by Logmech on Sappi’s Clan plantation in the KZN midlands, the highlight of which was this demonstration of the TimberPro forwarder’s supreme power and balance.

When the highly skilled and experienced forwarder operator, Enoch Mthembu, stepped out of the vehicle having safely brought the load to roadside at the bottom of the slope, the foresters and contractors in attendance broke out in spontaneous applause. Enoch was clearly surprised by this reaction, as working in such steep terrain is all in a day’s work for him.

Sappi Clan is located on the edge of the Karkloof escarpment with a lot of steep slopes, providing the mechanised harvesting team with plenty of challenges. It also provided an ideal location for Logmech to demonstrate the flagship logging equipment in their stable, namely the TimberPro forwarders and harvesters, SP Maskiner heads and their own Logmech grabs.

The day started with a static display showcasing the iconic red SP heads that are well known in South African forestry, and the MF42 and big MF86 grabs which the Logmech engineering team has developed specifically for the African market.

Also on display was Oregon equipment including saw chains, guide bars and sprockets.

The first stop was the TimberPro forwarder doing its thing on a ridiculously steep slope that did not look do-able. But the TimberPro forwarder, with a load of around 20 to 22 tonnes of pine logs on board, handled it with apparent ease with experienced operator Enoch Mthembu at the controls. A set of chains on the bunk wheels provided extra traction.

This demo should come with a cautionary advisory: don’t try this unless you have a machine like the TimberPro and an operator with the skill and experience of Enoch!

Next up was a demo by a tracked, levelling, purpose-built TimberPro harvester TL 725D, equipped with a big SP 761LF head. It operated efficiently on a steepish slope, felling, de-limbing and cross-cutting some pretty big pine trees with speed and precision.

Then it was on to a flatter compartment where the iconic SP 591LX, attached to a Hitachi excavator, was put through its paces. As Anders Gannerud of Swedish manufacturers SP explained, the 591LX is the head that put them on the map. It was developed in close collaboration with the Logmech team over many years, and is perfectly adapted to conditions in southern Africa. Productive, easy to maintain and tough as nails, the 591 has proved its worth and is now also widely used in some of the vast Eucalyptus plantations of South America.

Logmech’s Leon van Eeden said that the company has been operating in South Africa for 23 years, and they have been distributing and supporting SP heads since the very beginning. They carry a huge spare parts inventory, they know the heads inside out and are able to provide the back-up to ensure they keep working productively for thousands and thousands of hours. Logmech has sold 140 SP heads in the region to date.

They are also sole distributors in South Africa of the highly versatile TimberPro range of machines which include wheeled and tracked harvesters, feller bunchers and forwarders. The TimberPro’s are manufactured in the USA and are renowned for their durability, productivity and power. They are relatively simple machines to operate, are easy to maintain and are therefore well suited to rugged African conditions.

The TimberPro’s come standard with 360° continuous rotation, allowing the operator to work effectively all around the machine. They are highly versatile and can be used as combo machines as they are equipped with a quick detached boom to allow conversion from a forwarder to a harvester.

The Logmech team has also launched a range of grabs which they have developed in partnership with an international manufacturer.

The field day was well attended by leading contractors and technical foresters who expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to see the harvesting equipment in action.

For more info on Logmech, TimberPro and SP heads in South Africa, visit www.logmech.co.za