Made to Measure
Andy Looke of Nova Scotia has the first Canadian Deere 1470D, the supplier's largest rubber-tire harvester.
If variety is the spice of life, Canadian loggers running rubber-tire CTL harvesters have faced pretty dull fare. Until recently, they have been limited in their choice. For example, John Deere offered both the 1070D and the 1270D models, which fit a wide range of cut-to-length operations. Yet this was a case where even two sizes don't fit all.
Case in point is a Nova Scotia contractor struggling with rugged terrain and mixed wood sizes on the east coast of Canada. Andy Looke was looking at rubber tire models for a number of reasons, including rocky terrain and fuel economy. Yet he needed a bigger harvester to handle large pine and spruce stems in the province's south shore region.
In response to such growing needs, John Deere Forestry introduced two new models in the North American market during 2006. Already popular in Europe for many years, the 1470D harvester uses a powerful PowerTech 6081 HTJ diesel engine, balanced bogies, and a unique leveling cab, making it a productive and reliable harvester in slopes, rough ground, and bigger wood. Deere says this machine has the strongest parallel boom in its class, with a high slew torque and logical motion that makes it easy to steer.
On the other end of the spectrum, the versatile 770D model has the agility to get into dense stands and is the perfect choice for first thinnings and processing trees with small diameters. Its stable structure and even weight distribution keeps the machine steady in the toughest conditions. By co-incidence the first of this smaller model is also working in Nova Scotia, for Bill Fraser in the Cape Breton Highlands (look for a report on this in an upcoming CFI).
Andy Looke and the 1470D
In 1995, Andy Looke of award-winning Looke CanCut Ltd. in Barrs Corner, NS, received his first harvesting contract. Andy left behind the days of power saws, skidders, and roadside processing machines, and purchased his first cut-to-length product.
Over time, his operation kept growing - another forwarder and then a feller-buncher was added to make CTL harvesting in the regionŐs varied stands more efficient. Still, facing a wide range of trees from tiny to massive and limby, Andy needed a bigger processor that could handle the larger end of the scale.
He turned to the man who had provided his initial harvester training for two older 1270s he had purchased earlier. Tommy Altberg, a training specialist with John Deere, was familiar with Andy's application and suggested he look into the John Deere 1470D. This model had been working in the tough Scandinavian woods for years.
The owner-operator was curious, so he decided to go and see this machine for himself. John Deere was demonstrating a 1470D machine at the Elmia Wood 2005 live logging demo in Sweden, and Andy was impressed with its lifting capacity and the effortless way the head processed large diameter trees.
He became the first logger in North America to purchase the big 1470D harvester and proudly states that this machine has helped take his business to the next level. He's impressed with how the 1470D's balanced bogies get him over any kind of terrain, and how the self-leveling cab smoothes out the rough ride.
"The two 1270s work ahead and process the stems they can, and then the 1470 comes through and does up the rest. You may have two harvesters on the same terrain at times, but it's more cost-effective than beating up the 1270's in the really big stuff, and paying for the repairs and downtime. We're loyal John Deere customers and we really believe in their rubber-tire harvesters. These machines have boosted my productivity," he says.
Andy's 1470D sports a H480 harvesting head, which he describes as a beefed up 758. Given the wood he works in, it has not been without problems, but it does the job he bought it for.
"It's a piece of machinery, and in this business, something is going to break. The delimbing knives and feed roll arms have broken, but they are made of steel rather than cast so we can weld them, and the repairs are holding. Still, it's working out, and is doing everything we wanted it to."
The head is mounted on a new crane that has impressed Andy with its ability to handle just about any tree they come across.
"That boom can handle our wood no problem - It's got a lot of lifting power. It's day and night compared to the old 1270's on that front."
Like the original 1270s, the 1470D processes behind the company's Tigercat 860 buncher about 90% of the time, harvesting on its own the remaining 10% as required.
"The buncher is the way to go with our wood and stand density here, but I still like having the rubber-tire processors that can work independently as needed. Sometimes the 1470 will harvest on its own in wet areas or really rocky ground, and of course we can keep working if the buncher goes down."
As well, using the buncher up front reduces wear and tear on the harvesters, especially since Andy's operator uses his high-rotation saw head to do a rough delimbing job on the lower parts of some of the monster stems, something he started years back on the 1270s and continues today."
"That has really worked well, since it takes little time to do on the odd stem, and makes a big difference on production and wear and tear on the processors."
The one buncher works full out on two shifts to keep ahead of the three processors, making a balanced system in the local terrain and wood.
As far as maintenance goes, Deere says the 1470D allows 500-hr drain intervals, doubling the time between oil changes from the conventional 250 hours. This, however, is nothing new for Andy.
"We've been going with 500-hr drain intervals for over three years - with our hours 250-hr intervals means changing the oil twice a month on all our machines. We have over 23,000 hours on the first 1270, and 16,000 and 27,000 hours on our forwarders without any engine problems, so I guess it works."
Fuel consumption is a little higher on the much more powerful 1470D, Andy notes, although compared to tracked machines, both 1270 and 1470 sip fuel. Andy puts his 1470D at 17 to 18 l/hr, and his 1270s at 15 l/hr.
"Yet side by side in big wood, you'll get 20 to 30% more production from the 1470D I'd say, so it's really a question of the wood you have. If you need the 1470D to handle your wood, the extra fuel consumption will be paid for in production."
There is also a significant price difference between the 1270D and 1470D - Andy puts it at almost $100,000 - but in the right wood mix, Andy says it's the machine to have.
"I would recommend it to anyone with trees bigger than 10 trees/cord (four trees/m3), and certainly when you get into the 4 or 5 trees/cord (two trees/m3) range, it's the machine to have. There is no comparison."
*Part of this article originally appeared in John Deere's in-house magazine, but has been extensively modified for use in CFI. Additional reporting by Scott Jamieson.
