Tree harvester

Abstract

Abstract A mobile tree harvester, especially on a wheeled frame, having tree severing, transferring and delimbing apparatus or processes combined. Specifically a harvester operating to cut, manipulate or transfer from a vertical to horizontal position and delimb full length trees at the site. Standing trees are severed at the ground by a cutter such as an hydraulically operated shear located at the front of the machine. A delimber, fixed in relation to the cutter and operating generally longitudinally of the machine, receives the severed tree, delimbs it out to usable length and then automatically tops off the rest. A tree transfer mechanism is operable between the cutter and delimber to grasp the severed tree above the cutter, lift it through a prescribed arc and deposit it on the delimber. An axial hold or clamp secures the tree against axial movement in the delimber while the cutter and transfer mechanism return for a second tree. A preferred embodiment of the harvester has a combined processor able to swivel on the frame as a unit in a limited horizontal arc, about 35° total, and employs a crowd boom of restricted reach, about six to ten feet, to extend the cutter and transfer mechanism; the combined effect of which is to reduce the availability of trees in a given path of advance, this however increasing overall productivity of the machine by forcing it to rely on its greater mobility to clear a greater number of paths. A number of improvements in various parts and subassemblies of the processor are also disclosed.

Inventors

• 👤 Douglas Stanley Guy
• 👤 Ian McKenzie
• 👤 Charles Robert Sturtz, Jr.

Bibliographic Details