Timberjack Bundling System

Timberjack Slash Bundling System

the Timberjack 1490D Energy Wood Harvester

A Short review

Three members of FERIC traveled to Medford, Oregon to attend a demonstration of the Timberjack Slash Bundling System on August 24 – 27. Patrick Forrester, Greg Baxter (Hinton Group) and Marv Clark attended the demo to evaluate the system for potential use in Canada.

The Slash Bundling System is designed to pick up harvest debris, compress it into cylindrical bales and then drop the debris bales, either in the cut block or along the roadside. A log forwarder can be used to transport the bales to roadside piles for subsequent loading onto log trucks for transport to an energy production facility. Removing the debris from the cut block acts to reduce the potential intensity of wildfires in the area. The Bundling System is capable of picking up harvest debris directly from the forest floor or from debris piles.

Background:

As part of the USDA’s initiative to reduce the amount of fuel in their forests (The National Fire Plan) the Slash Bundler is being tested in the western States in a number of different stand types. Not only is there a tremendous amount of material in the forests that acts to increase the consequences of fire, but this material can be used for energy production. The technology to gather and transport this debris is available and currently used in northern Europe. The objective of the USDA Forest Service research is to test the equipment in Western US stand types including various terrain, species, and pre-treatment and stand conditions. Production from the slash bundler is to be quantified for each stand type.

The benefits of this technology as reported by the USDA are the following:

Improved utilization of forest residues for energy production.
Improved transportability of forest residues.
Reduced fuel loading for areas where prescribed fire is not an option.

The debris management issue in Alberta is currently garnering a lot of attention by both the Province and industry (including oil and gas). Harvest debris (piles) have recently been involved in a number of high profile and costly fires. The debris has contributed to the containment difficulties of these fires, as well as causing other problems such as allowing fire to spread overnight. Even with these problems, companies are still hesitant to burn their debris as they believe the risk of burning still outweighs the probabilities and consequences of a wildfire involving their debris. This bundling technology offers a potential alternative to burning debris, in locations within an economic radius of energy conversion facilities. The system can be used to remove harvest debris in areas where burning may be difficult or it could be used to bale all the debris in cutblocks. Another potential use is where fuel reduction is taking place for community protection. The very recent interface fires in both BC and Alberta may lead to an increase in fuel reduction around communities and these programs could utilise this technology to handle the debris which is created.

How it works:

In short, the slash bundler compresses harvest debris into a sausage like bale resembling a round log 70 cm in diameter (Figure 1). The compressed debris bale is rapped with baling twine and cut into pre-programmed lengths between 3 and 5 m (Figure 2). Bales weigh between 400 and 850 kg depending on length, debris characteristics and moisture content. The bundler is estimated to be capable of making 10 to 30 bales per hour depending on terrain and debris type and arrangement.

Figure 1. The slash bundler at work.

Fig 2. Size of the bundle produced by the slash bundling system.

The bundler attachment is mounted on a Timberjack 1490D forwarder. The standard forwarder boom (10 m reach) is used to accumulate and load debris into the bundler (Figure 3).

Fig 3. The Boom Set Timberjack CF510 arm.

Cost of Machine: The cost of the slash bundling system (The 1490D Energy Wood Harvester by Timberjack) is estimated to be $425,000US or $600,000CDN.

John Deere is exploring opportunities to demonstrate this machine in Alberta in October 2003. If an Alberta demo occurs it could provide an opportunity to test the bundler working with aspen debris – a task not yet attempted with the machine in North America.

There are a number of websites where further information regarding this bundler is accessible. These are:

http://www.timberjack.com/products/forest-energy/1490D.htm