In the forestry industry, a felling head is an essential component to any operation, and the design, operation and efficiency of the equipment can result in either enhancing the operation or slowing it down.
In general, there are two distinctive options for mounting any of these heads. One is to be mounted to a chassis on a piece of equipment, often a Bobcat or similar type of tractor, or mounted on a boom on a larger tractor.
In general, heads can fall into one of several different types of categories. The most common are bunching heads, felling heads, and processing heads.
Felling Heads
The standard felling head will include a grapple head, which can hold the tree, and a bar saw that completes the cutting action. This allows the operator to control the direction of the tree fall, but it doesn’t allow for the actual bunching of more than one tree.
The grapple saw somewhat similar in use to the felling head, although it includes the grapple and is often used to trim material from the timber once it is at the landing.
Bunching Heads
A bunching head, which is the most commonly used type of felling head at any job site, is designed to gather and hold multiple stems at a time and then complete a full cut. This cutting actual can be provided by a bar saw, a disc saw, or a shear type of mechanism.
In most cases, disc saws are used for high efficiency and low cost. With new designs in these saw discs as well as with the careful selection of the right type of teeth, these are very durable types of heads that can be used on rough and rocky terrain.
These are a very cost effective option for harvesting a mixture of different types of timber. Different bunching felling head designs will feature smaller or larger cut capacities, will be essential when considering a model for a new purchase or a replacement head.
Processing Heads
As the name implies, processing heads do more than hold and cut. Typically most of the processing heads complete a full delimbing of the timber, but it is also possible to have these head actually cutting the stem into logs.
With the single pass operation of the processing felling head, they are a popular option in many types of timber operations. This is an essential consideration as it will help to keep fuel and equipment costs lower, something that is always important in any industry.
