In December I had a follow up visit with Peter Williamson for an update on the progress of the Balmec Forest OÜ Z30SC measuring wheel, which he has been trialing for the magazine.

With conditions continuing on the milder side, there has been no reason to change over to the Z30 winter profile measuring wheel. The Z30’s teeth are a bit more aggressive which will improve contact with the stem when harvesting in heavy snow or freezing wintry conditions. The Z30 SC – “scattered profile” the one we are trialing, are the most universal measuring wheel Balmec offer.

Peter was still working near Eskdalemuir, albeit on a different site, with Timber Tech Harvesting Ltd’s John Deere 1470G with the H415 head. This new area was more of a mixture with about 50/50 Larch and Sitka Spruce. However, the Larch had not grown so well and was of a poorer quality and smaller in volume compared to my previous visit.

It was a wet, misty day when I arrived; it had been raining for the best part of the week and ground conditions were incredibly wet. Luckily, Peter was working on higher ground as the surrounding low ground was flooded.

After harvesting 4,300m³ of large Sitka Spruce trees, Peter’s last review in the December issue was highly favourable towards Balmec’s Z30SC measuring wheel.

Here is Peter’s latest report:

“Following on from our last review on the Balmec measuring wheel I have spent the last month and a half cutting very small and twisted larch. I have now cut over 10,000m³ in total with the Z30SC and my thoughts on the measuring wheel haven’t changed at all.”

“It works very well –in the worst of the twisted larch I did find that it put out the occasional long length, but this is not a criticism as some trees were so bent that nothing short of a logger’s tape would be able to measure them accurately.”

“It performs exceptionally well when measuring trees with loose bark like the Larch. There are no signs of wear so far and Murray on the forwarder is still happy with the accuracy of the lengths when he is loading two bunks of 3m chip!”

Peter was in the process of finishing this block and will be heading into another compartment after the Christmas holidays, when I will catch up with him again for his third report.

Today, Balmec Forest OÜ offer a range of more than 480 different products and the company is constantly growing. In addition to the more common feed roller types – John Deere/Timberjack, Ponsse, Komatsu/Valmet, Waratah, Rottne, Log Max – Balmec also offer feed rollers for more ancient types of harvester heads. The company also produces harvester head parts such as feed rollers, de-limbing knives and measuring wheels, which can be customised to individual specifics. In addition, their product range includes a variety of spikes made using a unique, extremely durable alloy steel that is produced exclusively for Balmec. High quality steels are used so that spare parts last longer, thus increasing productivity. A particular positive is that all feed rollers have two-year warranties with unlimited working hours, while all other spare parts have one-year warranties with unlimited working hours.

Balmec will be exhibiting their latest innovative product, the new feed roller for debarking Eucalyptus trees, at ExpoCorma in Coronel, Chile on the 25-27 of March. If you are attending, please call in and see them there.

www.balmec.com

Forest Machine Magazine is written and edited by a forest professional with over 40 years hands on experience. We are dedicated to keeping you informed with all the latest news, views and reviews from our industry.

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