The Building of our Woodland Harvester

Our harvester was built with the aim of being the ideal estate woodland harvester.

To this end we wanted it to be reasonably compact, with low ground pressure, good manouvrability as well as being versatile and able to cope with a wide range of tree sizes. Capital, running and transport costs were also an important factor so that we can ensure the harvesting of smaller parcels of woodland is an economically viable proposal.

To achieve our goals we worked closely with Jim Watt of Caledonian Forestry Services to put together the best components and then build them into the best possible end product. Jim and his team have done a fantastic job and I am sure you will agree from the pictures below that the final machine is an impressive looking tool.

Some info:

The base machine is a Hyundai R145LCR-9 zero-tailswing 14 tonne excavator supplied by Young Plant in Doune.
The head is a Kesla 25RHS 58cm roller feed head supplied by Caledonian Forestry Services.
All conversion, guarding, hydraulic and electrical work were carried out in-house by Caledonian Forestry Services.
Some pictures of the build process are shown below.

The base excavator as supplied by Young Plant in Doune

Fitting the guarding around the counterweight and the cab

Carefully shaped metalwork to fit around the curved body

The harvesting head having just been delivered from Finland

Hydraulic pipework added to the dipper to feed the head. All removable for digging

Protection around the cab prior to the bullet proof glass being fitted

Motomit computer and new joysticks installed in the cab

Rear guarding painted and looking factory fitted

The finished product. A very tidy looking, well thought out machine

The business end with neat, well protected pipework