New slash bundler from John Deere
More horsepower plus new hydraulic and operating systems. Those are some of the innovations on John Deere’s new bundler, the 1190E, which was shown for the first time at World Bioenergy in Jönköping, Sweden.
“Machines for handling biomass are an important part of our product mix,” explained Per Väppling, marketing manager for John Deere in Sweden and Norway.
“Demand is constantly increasing and we want to help forest contractors to exploit the new income opportunities offered by the expanding energy market.”The 1190E gathers the slash (branches and tops) left after an area has been felled and feeds it into a bundling unit, which compresses it into compact bundles. It is easy to vary the length and diameter of the bundles. “If an area has been felled in a way suitable for slash, the production rate is up to 40 bundles an hour, otherwise it’s between 20 and 30,” Väppling said.
Bundling gives major logistical benefits throughout the entire production chain. The bundles can be transported to the end user by ordinary forwarders and logging trucks.
“The compact bundles store well, either in the forest or at a power plant as reserve fuel for spikes in energy consumption,” Väppling explains. “In fact, the bundled slash becomes a better fuel source if it is stored. Unlike wood chips, there is no risk of spontaneous combustion with bundles.”
The 1190E is also available in a version with a removable bundler unit so that the machine can be converted into a forwarder.
“This increases the machine’s versatility for users who don’t do bundling year round,” Väppling says.