As pressure mounts on operating margins and safety, machinery is playing a larger part in tree work and management.
Spurred on by those before them in allied (or common) industries, arborist and vegetation-management crews alike are rolling out new waves of equipment combinations onto tree-work sites across Australia.
Occasionally referred to as a ‘forestry package’, these units are destined to work anywhere but forestry.
Fitted out
Some of the big hitters, like converted excavators, can look as though they’ve come straight off a harvesting site rather than being designed for their original task of shifting dirt and rock. Heavy protective structures surround the cabin and critical components, while the operator’s vision of the work area is no longer through a basic, slide-open, toughened polycarbonate windshield. Today’s machines feature a thick, fixed, ballistic-protection-rated front window.
Fitted with a tree-cutting attachment such as a high-capacity shear or grapple saw, it’s likely that the transformed machine may never swing a digging bucket or rock breaker.
“Machines like this look impressive, perform well, and, with the right attachment, can tick all the boxes for projects with even the strictest of requirements,” said Forest Centre’s Rey Kell. “The journey toward ‘fit-for-purpose’ for a tree-work machine involves plenty of considered choices behind the scenes, though.”
Conversation
On a modern commercial timber-harvest site, it’s immediately obvious the equipment fleet is purpose-built for the job. Base carrier machines and attachments are all designed specifically for felling, cutting to length, loading, and transporting timber from the forest.
In the tree-care sector, on the other hand, equipment tailored for mechanised tree felling and removals is still a relatively new and niche area in Australia. As one would expect, excavator dealers have the knowledge and experience to steer customers in the right direction for earthmoving tasks, but for more specialised work, tool-attachment suitability usually comes down to customer preference. It’s important to kick off with a series of discussions to evaluate what an attachment supplier has to offer.
The right questions
How does a tree-care business make an educated choice for something like a shear or grapple-saw attachment, or even a complete machine package, for its particular tasks?
• Conduct research. Speak with industry counterparts already on a similar machinery path to the one you’re evaluating. Search online and take note of what reputable crews in other areas or other countries are using for their semi-urban removals, roadside works, or other specific projects. Are there any common patterns between them or new developments adopted since?
• Identify expectations, limitations or must-haves, and make potential suppliers aware of this during early discussions. Outline the basics of tree types and typical to maximum cut diameters the attachment is expected to tackle in current (and future) jobs, through to site-specific factors. Do you intend to work in the middle of nowhere, with no one else around? Or will you be on local government or major infrastructure projects, working near to the public, other personnel and property? These parameters should be made clear to help select the correct machinery for the purpose.
• Identify the crossover between operational needs and possible risks. For example, when a hydraulic grapple saw is used, the risk zone for the majority of manufacturers is a 90-metre radius. Is an exclusion zone almost the length of a football field practical or possible for your operations? Ask the supplier about chainshot safety, saw speeds, and whether they can offer solutions for reduced chainshot risk and exclusion-zone distance.
• Check compliance needs. Clients may request copies of operator manuals and risk assessments for every piece of equipment brought to the job. It may seem obvious, but if you plan to fell or trim trees, the operator manual and risk assessment should contain information that specifically addresses felling and trimming. Purpose-built machinery and attachments have all of these items covered from the factory.
“One of the top questions we’re asked is, ‘Can I put a saw on this grapple?’” said Rey.
“Add-on hydraulic grapple-saw cassettes were among the first products offered by Forest Centre in the 1980s, and we still supply them today. But if the client request is for tree-facing work, like felling and removals, our answer to that question usually disappoints.”
The stakes are high when taking cuts from a tree in proximity to other people and assets. There’s a solid range of purpose-built attachments available today, and the manufacturers have done all the hard work for you. It’s just not worth the risk to run machinery thrown together from a few different catalogues when so much is being asked of these tools.
For more information and to see Forest Centre’s range of tree-care attachments, visit forestcentre.com.au or follow on Instagram @forestcentre.
