The impact of feed rollers on the productivity of harvesting work and the quality of the end product should not be underestimated. The ingenious, uncompromising design and low price of the V-Tec give forest machine contractors the opportunity to improve the productivity of the harvester.
The gripping surface machined onto the diagonal shank in the direction of the axle forms a circular outer sphere, which feeds timber evenly. Cutting length is achieved faster, the operation becomes more effective, improving profitability. The spikes on the diagonal shank provide sturdy support for the timber. The rollers provide excellent grip in both feeding directions, backwards and forwards. The grip also minimizes surface damage. Gripping pressure may be lowered, which also provides savings in fuel costs. V-Tec has an open, light, non-clogging structure. The rollers are made of hard, tough Hardox 450 steel.
MenSe has over 20 years of experience in manufacturing feed rollers for harvesting machines. The company’s first product, developed in the 90s, a rubber-damped steel feed roller, combines the benefits of steel and rubber rollers. Now V-Tec rebuilds the feed roller structure once more. We are continuously developing our products, taking into account the wishes and needs of forestry professionals and their stakeholders.
Machine-operated pre-clearing – releases scarce human resources for important seedling stand maintenance work
Cost savings are achieved when pre-clearing and harvesting of the forest can be done simultaneously. Forest owners in particular will benefit from this new method, according to a survey carried out by the Finnish Forest Research Institute Metsäteho. (Metsäteho result slide series 12/2016.)
A pre-clearing attachment device is an intelligent solution, which is intended to be used both for harvesting and energy wood grapples. The device comes in two sizes. The contractor can provide a more complete service for the customer. Fair compensation must be paid to the contractor for the additional work. The harvesting clearing method can also be considered to improve diversity in forests given that the driver can select trees that restrict the harvesting work. In this way, as much undergrowth as possible will remain as forage, which also benefits wild animals.
According to Research Institute Metsäteho’s results, the attachment saves EUR 86 – 151/hectare when compared to conventional pre-clearing methods. (Ovaskainen et. al., 2012.) With the clearing blade, clearing is more economical when the density of the trees is below 12,000–14,000 trunks per hectare. (Ovaskainen & Sandström, 2016.) In addition, it was observed that rewetting was very limited when the MenSe clearing blade attachment was used.
A clearing blade attachment for a harvester grapple or energy wood grapple is a device which can be mounted easily with a quick mounting unit. As a novelty, the machine is equipped with a blade rotating to the side. When no cutting is being done, the blade rests against the grapple frame, so it in no way obstructs the normal operation of the machine.
The weight of the RT7 is 58 kg and the distance between the cutting blade teeth is 7cm (for the smaller RT5: 47kg and 5cm).
MenSe Oy also provides log processing rollers with a flexible structure for sawmills. Thanks to the structure the bearings and axles are spared many problems.
Contact: Elisa Mentula Tel. +358 50 321 5929
e-mail: elisa.mentula@mense.fi
http://www.mense.fi/
