SHAW’S WIRE ROPES IRON TEST
The 648L-II operated by Hodgson Logging of Benneydale is one of the first John Deere L-II series skidders to go to work in New Zealand. With 1,600 changes to reduce complexity and improve productivity, it proves its worth.
Main: One of the first John Deere L-II series skidders to go to work in New Zealand is this 648L-II operated by Hodgson Logging of Bennydale.
Inset: The new John Deere L-II series skidders have received 1,600 changes to reduce complexity and improve productivity.
BACK IN THE DAY, WOODLOT CREWS TYPICALLY RAN the oldest, most worn out and least-efficient machines in the forest, but times have changed. Many of the woodlot crews I visit now are equipped with gear that almost rivals their corporate colleagues as they seek to lift their professional standards, improve performance and safety. Like Hodgson Logging of Benneydale, which runs an impressive, up-to-date fleet of mostly CAT tracked machines in its tidy operation.
But a few months ago, a green interloper appeared amongst its sea of yellow – one of the first John Deere L-II series skidders to go to work in New Zealand.
The whole L-series range of skidders has gone through a makeover recently, with these Mark 2 versions receiving around 1,600 changes in the process.
Most of the changes are quite subtle and hidden from plain view, but collectively they add up to a real improvement on the previous L-series skidders, which in themselves were a significant step forward when introduced more than six years ago.
That much was evident when NZ Logger looked at one of the first L-series to arrive here in 2016, a top-of-the-range John Deere 948L run by Wild Hog Logging north of Gisborne. It was a machine built to pull massive drags in any conditions. And it did just that.
This time around we’ve gone to the other end of the scale to sample the 648L-II, which shares exactly the same architecture as the 640L-II rope skidder but comes with a grapple as well as a winch.
The more compact size and the versatility of having a grapple and a winch on the same machine makes it an ideal tool for woodlots. But can it hack it on the steep terrain where many forests have been planted in the King Country over the past 30 years?
Driving up the hill where this block had been established on a large farm just south of Te Kuiti, that question was upper-most in our minds, especially after a week of persistent showers, which had made the ground surface very soft. Just as well the farmer has a small quarry on his land and the tracks have been well metalled.
Arriving at the top, where the last few trees of this block are being harvested before the crew moves to a new loCATion, we’re greeted by Scott Hodgson, who has now taken over the reins of Hodgson Logging from his father, Bruce. They have kindly left some felled Radiata stems at the end of a 300-metre track for us to test the prowess of their new John Deere, which arrived on site in early January.
It will pull to a large skid site perched on the side of the hill currently being served by a CAT 541 processor, with a CAT 326D2L doing the fleeting and loading, both very nice looking machines. They also have a CAT loader on a separate skid at the bottom of the hill and, alternating between sites is a CAT D4 dozer taking care of track work and winching any stems off the slopes.
It’s clear that Hodgson Logging recognises the importance of investing in modern equipment, which can be put down to valuable experience years ago gained working on a Fletcher Forests job for Mike Bartels and later in road lining for Rayonier, and the need to update on a regular basis. It took a while to achieve that outcome, but having got there, it comes as no surprise then that the old CAT 525 skidder, which the John Deere replaced, had only clocked up 7,500 hours and still had a lot of life left in it.
And the reason for replacing yellow with green? The Hodgsons were offered a great deal and were impressed with the specifiCATions of the 648L-II, which offered more power and performance on paper, along with the advantages of the Series-2 upgrades that have resulted in a more simplified machine.
Boost to productivity
The 1,600 changes have mostly been aimed at reducing maintenance and increasing uptime for these new Series 2 machines, including more robust electrical harnesses, fittings, hoses and cylinder guards compared to previous models. Other changes see improved component placement and dramatically reduced complexity of electrical and hydraulic systems. Those are achieved through simplified electrical routing, which boost reliability and durability, along with similarly improved hydraulic routings and fittings to extend component life and ease of service.
Some of the changes provide a boost to productivity, with hydraulic speed and response improved. There’s a bigger grapple for the 648L-II and it also features increased squeeze force of up to 10%, which reduces the likelihood of dropping stems. Steering stops cushion impact at full articulation to reduce machine stress and deliver a more comfortable ride, while articulation steering sensors improve the operator experience, ultimately increasing productivity.
John Deere also says the skidders are better balanced due to improved weight distribution.
One change that has nothing to do with the machines themselves is that John Deere now has a regional base in Australia, which is closer to customers here and the forestry products are distributed and serviced in New Zealand through AgrowQuip NZ in the North Island and Drummond & Etheridge
in the South Island. Some of
the sales and service staff transferred over, too.
The Hodgsons have been pleased with the support since making their John Deere purchase and say the new skidder is also delivering on its promise. They harvest up to 150 tonnes a day, which is very good for a woodlot, particularly in such hilly country with a partially mechanised crew – falling still done manually.
According to Scott Hodgson and the skidder’s regular operator, Jordan Tutaki, the power and speed of the 648L-II is making its presence felt.
“She’s got some grunt,” says Scott, referring to the 6-cylinder, 6.8-litre, John Deere PowerTech engine, still supplied to our market in Tier 2 specs. Gross power output is 157kW (210hp) @ 1,800rpm and torque tops out at 943Nm @ 1,400rpm. No wonder it feels grunty with that amount of torque peaking at such low revs.
Six years ago. the L-series John Deere skidders were the first to get the much talked-about CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission), which combines the smoothness of a hydrostatic transmission with the fuel efficiency of a lockup torque converter, and it carries over into the new model. It’s very new to operator Jordan Tutaki, compared to the hydrostatic system in his old skidder.
John Deere’s CVT is a mechanical transmission with hydrostatic assist to maximise power and durability as well as productivity and operability.
New way of steering
The engine runs at a constant speed of up to 1,800rpm when the operator has his foot planted on the accelerator pedal, while the machine’s speed is governed by the ratios programmed into the box. The system is easy to operate and eliminates ‘shift shocks’ due to surging revs. Once the maximum speed is set, the transmission does the rest and there’s no hunting for the correct gear, as with traditional torque converter transmissions.
The CVT automatically senses the load and delivers the torque and tractive effort that is needed to maintain the desired speed using the ratios programmed into its brain (these are set by the factory but can be re-set by the operator) – there are six ratios programmed into Hodgson’s 648L-II.
So, if you come to an obstacle the operator can manually bump it down from 6 to 3 in the ratios and it will dynamically slow down to a slower speed until you get around it, then shift up again.
Jordan says he has adapted to how the CVT transmission works and now prefers it.
He’s also had to adapt to a new way
of steering – through joysticks instead of a traditional steering wheel. Like the CVT change, he is now sold on the joysticks, especially as they are fixed to the operator’s seat that swivels to allow him to almost face the way the skidder is driving – it also swivels back to the left side of the cab for easy exit/entry.
“Good to be able to turn the seat around – don’t break your neck stretching around anymore,” he adds.
All the controls and switches are attached to the seat and within easy reach, including the buttons to change the gears, which are on each joystick. Flick up to change up and flick down to go down a gear. Or you can just leave it to change automatically.
Mounting all the controls and switches onto the seat leaves the cab remarkably free of clutter and, with just two sets of accelerator and brake pedals on the floor and a display screen on the front/right pillar it feels quite roomy. Doors on either side of the cab provide a choice of entry for the operator, too.
Vision is pretty good to the front and sides, but still a bit restricted through the arch and crane at the rear, as it is with all skidders, although the open grille allows the operator to see the stems on the ground when approaching in reverse.
Sitting out at the end of the 2.6m boom, BABNABNAENRENR1ER4 1 the standard grapple for the 648L-II is now the 1.24m2 /13.3 sq-ft model, which can hold an extra stem compared to the previous grapple.
Tucked in behind the arch sits the John Deere 6,000 winch that can hold up to 60 metres of 7/8-inch rope or just over 81 metres of ¾-inch rope. It hasn’t been required since the skidder arrived and is currently empty, but Scott says they have some rope to go on it and he predicts that it will mostly be used to pull trucks out of the mud, although he is interested to see how it works pulling stems off the hill – the previous skidder was grapple only, so that job has always been entrusted to the dozer. Ditto the standard size blade on the front of the skidder, which is mostly used for pushing stems into bunches on the skid, while letting the dozer smooth out tracks.
Great machine
There are not as many lights fitted around the outside top of the cab as I had expected, but Jordan says the LEDs do provide good illumination for early starts. They could fit a light bar if needed.
After pulling off the panels on each side of the bonnet, we couldn’t really see much evidence of the re-routed electrics and hydraulic hosing but noted the good positioning of daily check items. The cab tilts over and the top of the bonnet can be removed for better access to the engine and transmission. This machine also came with a fire suppression system.
While it’s a great machine, their old skidder still had plenty of life left in it and most woodlot operators would have hung onto it. Why change now?
“We felt we needed to upgrade because of the mix of work we’ve got coming up,” says Scott. “This machine has got more power and it’s way, way quicker when it’s dry. We haven’t bothered with chains yet, although it has been very wet here over the last week, so the track is starting to get very boggy. “It’s able to pull five or six tonnes easily on good surfaces. We haven’t really loaded it up yet, this block is steep so we keep the drags down. But it’s still going places without chains that the other one wouldn’t. Traction is real
good. And we have the ability to lock both axles, which we didn’t have in our old machine.
“But I haven’t really sat in the cab much, Jordy won’t let me near it. Just did one drag when it first arrived.”
Iron Tester, Stan Barlow is hoping he’ll get a lot more drags than that. So we move over to the edge of the skid to look down to where a number of stems are laying, just off the end of the track.
A brief walk over the track to check the condition of the surface reveals some very soft patches, so Scott decides to blade it first to provide more traction and then sends down the CAT loader to shovel the trees closer to the track for the skidder to grapple. But as Stan drives down he hits a very soft patch in a dip and even switching in the lockers does little to get him out of the bog and he requires a nudge from the dozer.
After some more track work and shovelling the stems even closer, Stan is able to reach them and grab a decent bunch in the grapple to drag to the skid. Due to the tight bend in the track, the stems are hanging down the hill, making the task more difficult, but the improved grip ensures that none come loose and he uses the CVT to good advantage, in combination with the diff locks, to maintain traction.
Power in the grapple
Reaching the skid, he drops the load and positions the stems for the processor. The trees in here are 27 years old and their piece size averages 1.8. They have good, straight form and make very nice logs, with the pruned ones going to the Tregoweth mill in Te Kuiti and the rest to the port at Mt Maunganui.
As Stan drives out to grab another load I ask Jordan how long it took him to get used to the way the John Deere works and he says: “It took a few days to get the hang of the controls, especially steering with joysticks not a steering wheel – and that CVT transmission is very different to a powershift, but I like it.
“There’s a lot of power in the grapple and arch. It holds onto the trees real good. Comfortable and quiet inside – except for when the reverse cooling fan kicks in (it’s programmed to do that every 20 minutes).”
We watch Stan progress up the slope with his second load and agree that chains will need to be fitted soon, even with the lockers, as their next job near Taumarunui is expected to be much wetter in the coming winter months.
Bruce Hodgson arrives to see how the Iron Test is going. Although he had a hand in the decision to buy this machine, he mostly leaves the day-to-day running of the crew to Scott, preferring to spend his time doing farm drainage and other contract work with his own bulldozer.
“This is a young man’s game,” he says, nodding to the rest of the crew.
Bruce has spent a lifetime in the forest, starting out harvesting natives around Rotorua and over at Wairoa with an old Komatsu digger and a D7F dozer in the 1980s: “I used to do ag work in the off-season and got into woodlots through that, although we did do road lining for Rayonier, which was good experience.”
These days he’s happy to take a back seat to the next generation.
The track is now drying out nicely and the John Deere is making much better progress. Jordan says that on long flat stretches it really gets up and flies over
the ground, reaching a top speed of 25km/h, but Stan isn’t going to hit anywhere near that today.
In these tricky conditions, the John Deere 648L-II has proved itself very capable of pulling good-size logs and keeping the processor well fed. And that’s all you can ask of any skidder.