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Timberjack Acquires Hudson

Timberjack Corporation has acquired the assets of the Hudson Sales Corporation, based in Birmingham, Alabama. Hudson manufactures delimber and slasher machines used primarily with knuckleboom log loaders. The acquisition is in keeping with Timberjack's strategy of expanding its product line in both tree-length and cut-to-length systems. In addition to North America, Hudson products have market potential in rapidly developing forestry markets in South America, Southeast Asia and Russia, says the company.

CAE Chip Sorter

The newly introduced CAE/CRC Optical Chip Sorter enables chips to be sorted according to lightness and quality; bark and rotten or stained wood chips can be removed with an accuracy rate of up to 90 per cent.

A metered flow of screen chips is fed onto an infeed shaker for even distribution across the width of the sorter. The chips are then fed from the shaker to a high-speed conveyor belt travelling at 1,200 fpm. The chips move past a series of sensitive line scan cameras, which examine the colour of the chips. A controller then compares the colour of the chips with set parameters. Materials selected for rejection are removed via precise blasts of air from any of 192 valves capable of up to 500 blasts a second.

The technology, already widely used in the food, tobacco, seed and recycling industries, lowers sorting costs and eliminates the need for bleaching agents. It allows for the production of quality chips from very low-grade logs and branches that are impractical to debark. The sorter can even be used to salvage charred timber.

The sorter has a capacity of up to 50,000 lbs. per hour throughput of wet weight, and up to 300 BDU per day. Defect removal is up to 85 per cent with bark, up to 75 per cent with rot, and up to 90 per cent with colour brightness.

Morbark Trommel Spiral Screen

A high-production screen for use with organic grinders, Morbark's new Spiral Screen is designed for applications that include wood recycling yards, whole tree chip screening and composting.

A three-sort trommel is equipped with continuous spiral flites from end to end. This serves to agitate material and break up clumps while advancing material quickly through the screen. The machine can produce in excess of 300 cubic yards per hour; it is well mated with the Morbark 1300 tub grinder.

The unit includes simple bolt-on screen panels with various size openings as well as heavy-duty stacking conveyors to handle fines, accepts and oversize material. The screen is completely self-contained and portable.

New Monocable System

A new monocable system from Miller Timber Services enables the economical harvest of trees at 8'' butt diameter or less. The system is designed to harvest stands on slopes too steep for cut-to-length systems or without sufficient volume for traditional commercial harvest. The system consists of a winch with a capstan drum to transfer power to the cable; a single continuous loop of cable; a choker to attach the wood to the cable; and open-sided blocks.

The yarder, depending on the desired configuration, is powered by a 13-hp to 18-hp gas engine. The gear train provides line speeds of 50 to 75 fpm. The powered storage drum holds 3,000' to 5,000' of wire rope.

The sheave on a zig-zag block is open on one side and equipped with 'teeth' which serve to hold the monocable in the block while allowing the hanging chokers or slings to pass around the block. The number of blocks needed varies for each setup. As a general rule, one zig-zag block per 75' of line is recommended.

The wire cable diameter is 1/2'', which can carry stems less than 120 lbs. and no longer than 10'. The length of the monocable is from 3,000' to 5,000'.

NEW FROM LINK-BELT, the Quantum series long front excavators includes this Model 2800, with a 51'-2'' reach, and the Model 3400, with a 60'-3'' reach. The 2800 weighs 47,190 lbs.; the boom and arm fold down to a height of 9'-10'' for transport.

Urus Skyline Yarder

Enviroquip Sales has been staging field demos on Vancouver Island of the Urus 1 Uni skyline cable yarder, built by Hinteregger (Austria and South Africa) and new to the Canadian market.

The model demonstrated is a trailer-mount package with a 34' tower. In a second-growth thinning operation, the machine was yarding at 300 metres with one intermediate support. The highest daily yarding total was 300 pieces, estimated at about 110 m3. A Stuefer HSK 2000 carriage was employed.