The big easy
FOR A RELATIVELY BIG MACHINE, THE NEW Eltec 417 feels quite nimble and fast. Real fast. A bit of a handful, in fact.
It just needed a light touch on the controls and the Eltec was raring to go. Only later in the Iron Test did I realise that Jordan had all his settings turned right up to 100%, which made it feel very touchy and incredibly responsive.
But that was OK. Once I got used to the way the controls responded so quickly, I quite enjoyed the experience. I could have turned the settings down, but that would probably have dulled the feeling. Muzzled it, perhaps. I didn’t really want to do that, because this is a machine that should be allowed full rein.
With all that hydraulic flow, nothing struggled and even when I walked out and was driving the tracks and using the head, boom and dipper arm at the same time, it kept going without any hesitation. Once you get over the sensitivity of the controls you can make it work really well and it’s still smooth.
Eltec may be a completely new brand to this market, yet everything has a very familiar feel to it. Having grown up with Waratah all the buttons and switches on the joysticks are right where you expect to find them. And even though the Bigwood has been around forever, it was nice to see it brought up to date with the new TimberRite operating system – the touch screen is simplicity itself to use. It’s still a bloody good head.
And I like that calliper measuring system for checking log dimensions to make sure the head is calibrated.
Full marks for the cab design. Plenty of storage space behind the seat – just enough for Jordan to squeeze in for a while to give me a few pointers. In terms of training guys, that would be a real benefit if you had a slim person able to slot in there.
No bars across the front screen might make some people feel vulnerable, but I wasn’t concerned, the screen is thick enough. I had thought it would distort the view somewhat, but it was very clear. Good visibility most of the way around and for anything behind you just use the camera.
I didn’t miss the absence of hand levers to control travel. You don’t really need them because you find that over rocky ground your hands are pushing and pulling the levers and making it jerky. When I’m training I encourage the operators to use their feet.
It’s a nice quiet machine and the airsuspended seat is very comfortable. Good A/C, too. Nice place to spend a full working day.
On the uneven ground I found the Eltec 417 to be a very stable and nicely balanced machine – it’s been set up really well. I’ve not been used to having such a long boom and arm on a processor, but it really helps when you need to stretch out a little further to grab stems without having to move and although you could feel the weight of the Bigwood and a heavy stem, it never felt like it was going to tip forward.
The new Eltec 417 is hard to fault and easy to like
NZL