Ponsses nordic customers look forward to the updated Wisent and Elk
The updated PONSSE Wisent and PONSSE Elk forwarders exhibited at the FinnMETKO trade fair are of particular interest to Finnish and Scandinavian customers. A particularly awaited new feature is the Active Cabin, cab suspension, which is now also available on these smaller forwarder models.
"Cab suspension has been requested also for our smaller machines, and sales started at FinnMETKO. Cab suspension increases comfort and efficiency. It is especially helpful when the forwarder is driven at higher speeds back to the logging site when empty and when the ground is frozen solid," says Jani Liukkonen, Country Director, Finland, at Ponsse.
Jaakko Laurila, Vice President, Nordics and Baltic, expects customers will be happy with the new package, which consists of numerous small improvements. For example, the frame of and the frame joints of both the Wisent and Elk have been renewed. This has resulted in increased load-carrying capacity, flexibility and durability, yet without increasing the machine’s weight.
“What all the updates share in common is that they increase comfort, speed and efficiency. These updates have been developed in collaboration with contractors and forest companies. The machines have been developed according to customer wishes, as already in Einaris time,” says Laurila.
Precision and comfort
The demand for energy wood has grown in Northern Europe in recent years, and the PONSSE Scale crane scale system responds to this need. The new scale is as accurate and reliable as the previous one, but it is wireless and automatic. The new scale is helpful not only when harvesting energy wood, but also in forwarding pulp wood and logs in order to optimise the size of the loads.
“Another new feature that customers will certainly appreciate is the electrically adjustable seat with memory. With the new seat, settings can be easily found in the seat's memory by pressing a button at the start of the work shift,” says Laurila.
Electronic seat adjustment is available as an option. The adjustment of the armrests on the basic model has also changed. While the old armrests were connected by a ball joint, the new armrests move on slide rails. Finding and maintaining the right position is now much easier.
Wishes of forest companies have been fulfilled
Even more accurate positioning has been requested by forest companies. With the new PONSSE High-Precision Positioning system, not only the machine itself, but also the position of the harvester head can be located with an accuracy of less than half a metre. In practice, the system can be used to locate the location of an individual stump or stack. The driver of the harvester can clearly see the boundaries of the area to be harvested on the display, while the driver of the forwarder can see even more precisely the path made by the harvester and the location of individual stacks by their type.
Laurila and Liukkonen believe that many other new features presented by Ponsse at the FinnMETKO trade fair will also please customers. For example, the updated H7 harvester head will appeal to contractors in southern Finland and southern Sweden in particular. The design of the harvester head has been changed in such a way that snow or debris does not get packed behind the cylinders, the feed speed of the rollers changes automatically according to the thickness of the wood, and the rollers now carry the wood from below and not from the side, so that the wood passes through the harvester head more lightly and more securely.
Active Crane tip control will now also be available on C5 and C6 sliding boom cranes. Active Crane makes it easier to use the loader and is especially helpful for new operators.
Most of the new features will also be available as retrofits for older machines through spare parts.
