Stora Enso’s newcomer is for terrain with poor load-bearing capacity
World premiere at Elmia Wood at the beginning of June. In full production with Stora Enso two months later. What is it? The TimBear Lightlogg C, a new machine concept that offers solutions to a growing problem.
Behind the concept is Jan Eriksson, better known in Swedish forestry circles as Skogsjan and well established as forest machinery innovator. This time the problem involves forestry operations on terrain with poor load-bearing capacity, increasingly warm winters, and a growing need for bioenergy.
“In the Baltic region you can only operate forest machines for six months of the year,” says Tommy Blom, business developer with Stora Enso Bioenergi AB. “Half the year it’s too wet and the ground’s load-bearing capacity is too poor.”
He used to be in charge of the company’s raw materials procurement in the Baltic region and came in contact with the TimBear project at an early stage. Jan Eriksson’s plans were very well suited to the situation in the forest industry, not only in the Baltic region but increasingly also in the Nordic countries. There was a need for significantly less ground load and a machine for both harvesting and forwarding in order to minimise driving operations in the forest.
Two machines – one chassis
TimBear did release some information about the machine this spring but a production-ready unit is being exhibited for the first time at Elmia Wood.
The Lightlogg C is a combi machine, which in its forwarder guise has a ten-tonne load capacity. The difference between it and existing combi machines is that the Lightlogg C is not a souped-up forwarder that can carry a harvester head. The Lightlogg C is two complete machines on one and the same chassis.
The basic machine has articulated steering and is supported by double, three-axled bogies with tracks. Because the tracks are completely flat, the ground load is reduced compared with conventional rubber wheels equipped with tracks. The point of having three axles is so that the entire bogie can turn around the central axle, rather like a sack trolley that goes up stairs.
“It gives the same accessibility as considerably larger wheels,” Eriksson says.
Future standard
The operator can singlehandedly transform the machine from harvester to forwarder and back in less than half an hour. In its forwarder guise it differs from the usual forwarders in one important way. Instead of building the load space across the width, the machine has double trailers, one of which can be made shorter and longer. As a forwarder the entire equipage is between 11.5 and 13.5 meters but is only 2.5 meters wide.
“In the long term, double, narrower trailers will be standard with all manufacturers,” Eriksson says. “They permit better accessibility and the weight is distributed across a larger area.”
Stora Enso has been involved throughout the development process and has bought the first unit to come off the production line – the unit exhibited at Elmia Wood. If the machine meets expectations, Stora Enso foresees a great need for it in the future, not least to ensure the supply of biofuel.
“In terrain with poor load-bearing capacity, a lot of slash ends up under the wheels so the machines can travel back and forth. That’s a lot of wasted biofuel,” Tommy Blom says.