New generation forest harvester finalist for 2015 Swedish Steel Prize

Finnish company Ponsse Plc gave its designers a free hand to create a new generation of forest harvester. The result was the Ponsse Scorpion one of four finalists for this year’s Swedish Steel Prize. Built around the operator with a focus on ergonomics, high-strength steels enabled Ponsse to improve both harvester performance and control.

Forest harvesters usually feature a double frame construction with a crane boom mounted on the front or to the side of the operator cabin. The cabin is usually static and the boom in front of the operator makes for poor visibility. The Ponsse Scorpion features a symmetrical crane boom, where the operator sits at the centre of all movements. It offers the operator total visibility and a comfortable and efficient working environment.

Perfect visibility in all directions with less sideward swinging in the cabin during operation makes the driver’s work essentially easier and safer, and improves harvesting quality. The Scorpion is more environmentally friendly as a result of its long maintenance intervals, low-emission engine technology and low surface pressure. The harvester’s weight is divided evenly onto eight wheels.

Strenx 700 MC Plus high-strength steel is in the two-arm lift boom over the operator cabin together with steel casts. For the frame, Strenx 700 was chosen due to the high loads, stresses and resistance to fatigue. High-strength steel, e.g. Strenx 700, is also used in the chassis, allowing the unique three-part design. The harvester head is made of wear-resistant Hardox 500, which provides good abrasion resistance.

The powerful crane is easy to control, the cabin is quiet and the working position is optimized for comfort. By utilizing highstrength steels, the overall weight of the harvester is lower, which helps manoeuvrability in rough terrain. Lower weight allowed more bearings to be added, which gives the Ponsse Scorpion its stability. Furthermore, fuel consumption has been reduced and boom movements are faster. The low surface pressure of the machine is a benefit when working on soft soils. Ponsse has patented the crane and cabin arrangement, the tripleframe structure, frame stabilising system and cabin levelling encoder arrangement. All Scorpion harvesters are produced at Ponsse’s production facility in Finland.