From Felling to Transport

24.09.2002

A Comprehensive Valtra Range for Forest Terrain

As the only tractor manufacturer in the world to do so, Valtra offers a full range of forest machines, ranging from 8-ton forest trailers to heavy-duty driving and felling machines designed for professional thinning operations.

The F Line

Valtra has designed its new F line in co-operation with forest contractors to meet the ever-higher standards set for forest thinning operations. When it came to the design work of the new F line, based on the frame-steered Valtra, a special emphasis was placed on higher throughput in thinning operations. In particular, new technical solutions have contributed to a higher utilisation rate. Valtra’s felling machine has been designed in close co-operation with machine contractors, resulting in a markedly light system considering its high power. Based on a high utilisation rate and extremely low maintenance costs, we have succeeded in creating the new F line, which will meet future challenges better than ever.
The driver formed the crux and core of the design. From the very beginning, cabin ergonomics, visibility and overall driver comfort, coupled with high machine productivity, were the determinant design factors. We created a comprehensive system for thinning operations, combining the high standards set by customers with the designer’s artistic view and the engineers’ technical know-how. The new Forest 2002 cabin is also comfortable for working even longer hours.
The power transmission in the basic machine, adapted to forest use, is based on Valtra’s proven apparatus, in which no slide or transmission-line losses occur. Engine start-up, initiated by pressing a pedal, is soft with a minimal effect on the environment, and reversal, controlled with handles, quick and easy.
Transferring the new F line machine from one stand marked for cutting to another proceeds swiftly, eliminating the need for a separate pallet. Our well-known serial production-based basic components guarantee low maintenance and service costs.

Agri-Forest

The principal idea in the design of Valtra’s Agri-Forest line was to enable the raising of farming tractor utilisation rates by diversifying the machine’s properties. Since modern farming tractors are more and more often equipped with a front loader, Valtra also developed a frame fit for the rear for grab loaders and shovels, through which equipment to be connected there can be quickly fastened and removed.
At the end of a forest drive, the basic tractor for fieldwork is “remodelled” on the basis of the Agri-Forest by removing the front loader and the equipment connected to the frame fit from the rear. When work on the field is finished, the forest features can be quickly restored. The more versatile the tasks on the farm, the greater the benefits of the Agri-Forest for the Valtra owner. It is possible to build frame fits for each Valtra machine, ranging from the A Series to all others. The hydraulic power of Valtra’s frame-steered models can also easily be increased with high-power hydraulics.
The cut-to-length method, typical of the Nordic countries, does not suit all forests, trees sometimes growing in places inaccessible to a harvester. In rough terrain of this kind, the forest worker fells the trees and the trunks are skidded in the most handy and cost-effective manner, and in one piece, by the roadside, using a tractor with winch equipment either at the front or back. The basis of the skidder is more and more often a Valtra, whose ideal weight distribution, good ground clearance, and easy and more cost-effective equipment alternatives for conversion into a skidder than in competitors’ examples, have increased in popularity. Valtra is putting dedicated efforts into co-operation with winch manufacturers with a view to offering our customers increasingly improved solutions.

Forest Trailers and Cranes

Valtra’s customers can choose from four forest trailers. The 8, 10 and 12 tonne trailers provide the host line with excellent equipment for wood driving. Four-wheel drive is available for the 10-tonne and 12-tonne trailers. The 14-tonne trailer is designed for contracting use and has a unique triangular fastening for Valtra’s back axle, while the roller haul from the bogies provides excellent working properties on different types of terrain. Four-wheel drive, as a feature of the trailer, is completely removable while driving on roads, which improves the possibilities for extended short-haul transportation and provides the maximum benefit from the road travel properties of the towing machine.
Valtra’s forest trailers are equipped with Valtra’s own loaders. The world-famous brands of Cranab and Loglift are now also available via Valtra’s sales network, attached to the forest trailer at the factory. The package is ready for work as soon as it enters the farm, no time being wasted on waiting or finding a place in which to install parts, since servicing and spare parts are provided from the same place as tractor servicing.
Valtra machines have also always been used in forests. This has been made possible by the Valtra’s basic structure, which is especially suitable for forest use: high ground clearance and a machine weight almost evenly distributed on the front and back axles, guaranteeing the grip of the tyres in forests and on wet surfaces. Forestry is a sector in which Valtra has decided to invest heavily.

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