Cost /economics of tree harvesters?!!!

[cessna]

I went to APF today for the first time. Some fantastic equipment there,"BUT",how ever much do some of those tree harvesters cost !!! I know they would be leased or on some sort of finance scheme but the monthly payments must be horrendous,that is before diesel and wages or drawings (self employed) are put into the financial equation of operating those type of machines,to leave one with a liveable weekly wage or income.

The same applies to the high horsepower mega size chippers etc. !!!

[cornish wood burner]

Its all relative. Big cost big hourly rate. Cannot comment on harvesters just chippers but I expect the same applies. A large chipper is the cheapest way to chip if you price it per ton. We have a "mega chipper" chip for us for our biomass boilers and we have never had it beaten for price. We therefore do not mind paying big hourly rates.

[Brushcutter]

Economies of scale really.

 

1 harvester 100t plus a day. It can work 24 hours a day if you put 2 or 3 drivers in it.

 

Hand cutters on average 10-15 tonne a day can only work 10 hours a day.

 

Harvesters only work on certain sites. If you look at the contracts with FC Scotland and Wales the volumes are massive.

[fergusonforestry]

yep 1000+ tons your gonna want a harvester, not the kinda thing you get in to do 6 trees in mr&mrs smiths garden

[arboriculturist]

Its all relative. Big cost big hourly rate. Cannot comment on harvesters just chippers but I expect the same applies. A large chipper is the cheapest way to chip if you price it per ton. We have a "mega chipper" chip for us for our biomass boilers and we have never had it beaten for price. We therefore do not mind paying big hourly rates.

 

A little off topic but as a 'Ball park' figure what is the £ daily rate for a mega chipper and what tonnage is the throughput of chip size larch in an 8 hour day? Thanks

[cornish wood burner]

A little off topic but as a 'Ball park' figure what is the £ daily rate for a mega chipper and what tonnage is the throughput of chip size larch in an 8 hour day? Thanks

We have had bigger but the one we use now is in the region of £250/hour

Tonnage depends on how its fed and whether it needs to move, MC of the wood, blown or conveyed from the machine, screen size, size of wood, type of wood and ease of handling it.

For us we get about 50 tonnes per hour of 25% MC G50 loading trailers.

[arboriculturist]

We have had bigger but the one we use now is in the region of £250/hour

Tonnage depends on how its fed and whether it needs to move, MC of the wood, blown or conveyed from the machine, screen size, size of wood, type of wood and ease of handling it.

For us we get about 50 tonnes per hour of 25% MC G50 loading trailers.

 

As you say, even at £250/hr it can't get much less expensive per tonne for G50 and if processed direct to a building even less.

 

I am assuming yours is chipped with a Komptech based on the output you quoted?

[cornish wood burner]

As you say, even at £250/hr it can't get much less expensive per tonne for G50 and if processed direct to a building even less.

 

I am assuming yours is chipped with a Komptech based on the output you quoted?

 

That's the one. Variety of reasons why we don't chip directly into the store but it works for us.

[arboriculturist]

That's the one. Variety of reasons why we don't chip directly into the store but it works for us.

 

When the time comes I will follow your approach - thanks for the insight into the process.

 

I think you said you stack your roundwood for 12 months then chip. Interest to hear the moisture level when chipped.

[roseyweb]

The big kwr komtech chipper that was on display we had I last Saturday. It wern't cheap but if we had hand chipped it all then it would have taken us a week + instead we felled heaped with 360 and chipped into grain trailer. So actually was really cheap as we did 200 odd trees with out breaking a sweat