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Two FX versions
There are two versions of the FX; the G-series for general forestry use, such as processing, and the LL-series, which are set up specifically as log loaders.
The new LL versions arrive with straight booms and arms, fitted with an under-slung ram to provide more lift performance and the piping already installed, ready for mating to the buyer’s grapple of choice. Meanwhile the G-series can have factory-installed plumbing for processing on the standard forestry boom and arm set.
All FX models come with high and wide chassis and a ROPS/FOPS/OPS cab, along with standard heavy-duty bonnet and bump rails, under-slew guards, final drive guards and catwalks. All engines are carried over into the new models in Tier 3 spec and existing hydraulic performance is deemed suitable for forestry work, with the larger pumps able to handle multiple tasks with relative ease.
Ben went with the FX3230LL as this size machine suits the wood his crew is harvesting and he’s already familiar with the R290LC-9H/C, having started out with one when he established Kaitoa Logging four years ago – “and it’s still going,” he says.
While the FX3230LL arrived with an all-up weight of 34.2 tonnes, compared to a standard R290LC-9H/C’s 33.3 tonnes, the new model works out lighter when taking the extra guarding and strengthening that would have to be added locally to the standard excavator.
Ben is very happy with the result because it means he gets the benefit of a forestry machine that has factory-built quality, along with the good value that Hyundai excavators have traditionally provided.
It also meant that the new machine was able to go into the forest not long after arriving, unlike the Hyundai R430LC-9 processor he ordered at the same time, which needed to go through extensive engineering before it could join the new loader at Marakopa. The R430LC-9
sat in Hamilton over the duration of the lockdown before the guarding and other work was completed and the SATCO head plumbed in. Delivery finally happened in early June, on the same day that NZ Logger turned up to Iron Test the purpose-built loader, which had already clocked up close to 400 hours by that stage.
The old processor – a small Logmax attached to an R290LC-9H/C – was pensioned off not long after the Kaitoa Logging team arrived at this job late last year because much of the wood was too large, forcing them to revert to manual log making while they waited for the new processor.
“We got pushed down to a four-day week, then three days as the log prices crashed – then lockdown came, so we didn’t really have to do much manual log making,” says Ben.
The crew returned to their homes in Whakatane, in the eastern Bay of Plenty, when the country went into Level 4, while Ben stayed in one of the two houses that he purchased at Marakopa at the start of the contract as a weekday base for them.
Biggest boom
It took more than a week following the end of Level 4 to get the team re-assembled to kick-start harvesting. With no one on hand immediately to work the Thunderbird TMY45 yarder until his team arrived, Ben was able to make use of the new FX32030LL to shovel stems down the hill and then drag them to the skid site to provide sufficient wood to get the crew off to a flying start once they returned to work.
“Man, it’s awesome for shovelling,” says Ben. “And when it gets to a stump it doesn’t stop, it just climbs over it on those single grousers – I ordered those especially for shovelling.”
Ben also ordered the biggest boom available to make it even more efficient at shovelling – a 6,200mm straight boom borrowed from the larger FX3632LL, rather than the 6,000mm version that normally comes with this model. His machine retains the 4,000mm arm, which provides a total working reach
of 9,650mm, compared to 9,500mm if he’d stayed with the recommended boom. While the extra 150mm doesn’t sound a lot, every little bit helps.
When the Iron Test team arrived, Ben parked up the machine on the edge of the skid site for a closer inspection and the FX package certainly looks the part, with the big straight boom/arm set, forestry cab and guarding giving it a very purposeful appearance.
It sits on a beefy high and wide chassis, along with two-piece, extrastrength under-body protection and maintenance covers to guard against wayward logs or stumps sitting above the 765mm ground clearance from damaging the vulnerable undersides. The ground tackle is completed by a longer, heavy-duty track frame with substantial guarding for the rollers.
The guarding plate over the cylinders at the base of the boom looks strong enough to withstand a hefty whack from a log, as do the large bars protecting the front screen. Similar size bars are also fitted above the skylight, just in case the machine is working under the canopy.
Walking up the steps onto the bonnet, just to the side of the boom, you get a good appreciation of how substantial the cab looks from any angle. In fact, there’s plenty of protection all-round, including guards for the fuel and hydraulic oil inlets and the rear-view camera on the back of the bonnet.
Access to the engine under a manually-lifted hatch is similar to what you’ll find on the usual Hyundai R290LC-9H/C, meaning that bolted panels will have to be removed if you need to dive in further than just the top of the power plant. The engine itself hasn’t changed either. It’s still the same Tier 3 Cummins QSB-based 6.7-litre 6-cylinder engine that is described as the Hyundai HE 6.7 in the manufacturer’s brochure. Whatever name it goes by, it is a well-proven unit and does a very good job powering all the hydraulics and systems on the FX3230LL.
Back down on the ground, as another shower sweeps across the valley, the darkening skies are easily compensated by the great LED lighting package, which consists of a wide light bar above the door of the cab, plus four large lights above the front screen, another two on the rear of the cab and a pair of lights at the top of the boom shining onto the Ensign 1730 grapple. Ben, who shares operating duties on the FX3230LL with his brother, Joe, says the lighting is great for early winter morning starts before the sun rises.
We’re also interested to hear his opinion on the purpose-built cab and he reckons it’s as good as any of the locally made cabs, adding: “There’s a lot of room in there – you can almost lie down and go to sleep.
“It’s good and comfortable. Nice visibility and the A/C’s work pretty well, too.”
Roomy cab
Climbing up to check it out ourselves, we note that it sits on a small riser, probably no more than 200mm high. There’s a void under the cab floor that is only accessed with the door open, allowing for items like a shovel and any tools to be stored.
The cab is as roomy as Ben described, with lots of space behind the airsuspended seat for a big lunch box and wet weather gear. You won’t find the fancy plastic moulding and trim that Hyundai fits to the interior of its standard factory cabs, but the company has lined all the metal surfaces with a felt-like material to give it a much cosier feel.
Joysticks are the same as on a regular R290LC-9H/C, attached to the seat, but the screen down on the lower right is slightly different. It’s a 7-inch LCD job with a toggle switch that allows the operator to select personal preferences. Meanwhile, the usual dials and switches from the standard R290 are positioned alongside the bottom edge of the driver’s-side window. I’ll leave it to our Iron Tester, Stan Barlow to describe the functions and how they work in detail on page 22.
Ben, who started in forestry 23 years ago with Hayes Logging in the Bay of Plenty, has owned a few Hyundai machines since he went out on his own and rates them highly, saying: “They are very well priced and do the job.”
He heard about the introduction of the purpose-built models around the middle of last year when he was planning for this job and thought the FX3230LL would suit the loading task he had in mind.
“As a purpose-built machine this will go anywhere I want to take it,” says Ben. “Climbs really good. Running gear is good and the bigger pump in this one is what it needed. It has sufficient power and hydraulic pressure.
“Now we’re back from lockdown I have a contract to go balls-out and they (forest manager, Forest 360) will take as much wood as I can harvest. And we’ll need the new processor (Hyundai R430LC-9 and SATCO SAT3L2T) to cope with some of the big wood we’ve been pulling here. It’s been a battle trying to get wood out of here and this will make a big difference. Some good sticks in here. The average P size is 2.3. Good wood in this section.”
As we speak, the Porter Equipment boys turn up with the new processor on the back of a transporter and Ben leaves brother Joe to show Stan what jobs the loader needs to do so he can get started with his part of the Iron Test.
The first task is to shift all the logs that the cross-cutters have just sawn and then lay out stems for more logs to be cut in order to fill the two RFH trucks that have just turned up.
Joe walks Stan around the log stacks, pointing out homes for the big pruned
lengths to go down to Tenon at Taupo and the rest making up a variety of export lengths bound to Mt Maunganui. And then he’s off to join the rest of the crew helping to get the new processor off the transporter, leaving the NZ Logger team in charge of the site and their new loader.
No problems. Stan’s very happy with loading, even in a very tight skid site like this and he gets to work straight away.
On a boggy paddock, where the machine is sucked in by the deep, cloying mud, the power of the track motors and hydraulic pumps is very evident. It just powers through as if on a sun-baked surface.
Stretching out
Stan is able to grab three and sometimes four of the smaller diameter logs in the grapple, lift and swing them around with ease and no hint of tipping forward as he builds up the stacks. That’s down to slightly longer tracks than the regular R290LC-9H/C and a solid counterweight on the rear of the cab body.
Nor is the stability upset when he walks over to the de-limbed stems and picks up two very large examples – one of them weighing more than 4 tonnes – with the boom/arm at full stretch and walks them back to the skid.
Very soon he has filled the skid with stems for the log makers to get to work with their chainsaws. Except that we have to wait a while for them to return from the distraction of the newly arrived processor. But when they do turn up, the four cross-cutters make quick work of the stems, while one of the log trucks backs in for Stan to lift off the trailer and set it aside so he can load the back of the truck first.
Again, the Hyundai lifts the trailer with ease, stretching out the boom and arm to place it away from the stacks without any hint of rocking on the tracks and Stan starts loading. Once the truck is loaded, the driver moves forward for Stan to lift the trailer in behind to connect with the rest of the rig and he loads one packet of large pruned logs for the domestic market.
On a normal day, the Kaitoa Logging FX3230LL will fill eight trucks and trailers on this site, as well as go out to the hill and shovel/bunch logs to be pulled back to the skid site.
It’s perfectly suited to the job and it has the purpose-built armoury and equipment to continue doing it for years to come.
NZL