In the waterlogged fields of rural Gloucestershire, a team of engineers has been working on an exciting project with big possibilities for the world of forestry.

THE tracked ATM 400 is a highly manoeuvrable and extremely adaptable machine which can be put to work in a variety of fields, from construction to transport and agriculture.

It could also soon be employed as a competitive, low-impact forwarder, the result of an innovative collaboration between American off-road truck manufacturer Ardco and British four-track vehicle specialist Moorend.

Established in 1955 in Louisiana, Ardco very quickly built a reputation for supplying extremely tough and durable machinery to the oil and forestry industries. Today, the company continues to make equipment designed to meet exacting standards, suitable for a range of construction, transport, drilling and forestry jobs.

Among its flagship products is the AMT 400, a wheeled, articulating, multi-purpose truck. At the heart of its development was the concept of a truck with the ability to carry a whole range of different tools, with a back-end modular platform allowing users to customise the vehicle and easily switch attachments.

Ardco believed this flexibility would give it a real advantage over other machines and knew that a tracked variant would appeal to a great many customers who require access where other machines would get bogged down or create massive surface damage to sensitive environments.

When Ardco received the green light to proceed with the project, it shipped an AMT 400 to the UK, where Andy Cox and his team at Moorend have been busy developing the prototype model.

Forestry Journal: Built with a heavy-duty tubular steel frame, the AMT 400 is designed to traverse difficult off-road terrain and features a universal attachment system that is designed to accept a wide array of equipment on an open rear chassis, meaning it could easily be converted for forwarder operations.Built with a heavy-duty tubular steel frame, the AMT 400 is designed to traverse difficult off-road terrain and features a universal attachment system that is designed to accept a wide array of equipment on an open rear chassis, meaning it could easily be converted for forwarder operations.

A spokesperson for Ardco said: “A tracked variant of the articulating multi-purpose truck was something that we had been wanting to construct for a number of years. Moorend was always our partner of choice in this project as we believe no one else in the industry has the same level of experience and knowledge of rubber tracks.”

Moorend was founded in early 2013 to establish a specialist business dedicated to the design, development and manufacture of state-of-the-art four-track construction machines. A long-time advocate for the four-track concept, Andy considers it a solution to the perennial problem of surface damage caused by wheeled and two-tracked skid-steer machines, when working on unstable, uneven or sensitive ground surfaces.

Tyres inevitably create deep ruts, which causes deep troughs, which then quickly transforms into a deep mud quagmire with runoff issues. Two-tracked vehicles provide a partial solution, but skid-steer mechanisms generate a tremendously powerful circulating-grinding effect, which in turn deteriorates the surface and mashes the substrate, and again can lead to runoff.

Moorend’s high-grip rubber four-track system is an advanced engineering alternative to wheeled and two-tracked vehicles, designed to give machines the upper hand in terms of traction, performance and efficiency, while causing little to no damage to the ground.

Forestry Journal: Gloucestershire firm Moorend designed and developed its rubber track system to provide increased stability and traction over tricky terrain.Gloucestershire firm Moorend designed and developed its rubber track system to provide increased stability and traction over tricky terrain.

To date, the company has installed its system on a variety of machines for a broad range of clients. Most commonly seen on display at shows are the tracked Norcar miniloaders, while others to have been developed and tested include a Wacker Neuson DV60 M6/12 tracked dumper, a lifeboat launcher for the RNLI and a two-tonne Mecalac dumper, which took centre stage at Plantworx earlier this year.

Over the past few months, Moorend has developed, installed and tested a complete rubber track system for the AMT 400 and Chris Hilldrup, project and operations specialist, said the initial results have been incredible.

“A lot of the projects we get involved in are about raising awareness that these tracks are out there and are very viable alternatives to wheels in situations where wheeled machines will lose traction and get bogged down,” he said. “The tracked machines can carry on operating, but more importantly, they do not cause so much damage. There will be slight surface compaction, but they do not cause the ruts that wheeled machines or traditional skid-steers will.

“We have had a really good relationship with Ardco. It was a project that had been in the discussion stages for years and finally came to fruition this year with them sending a machine over in March. Andy’s remit was fairly wide, which was brilliant. We knew what they were hoping to achieve and they left it to Andy achieve those results with a great deal of trust, meaning he was able to design the tracks he wanted to without compromises being made by having anyone looking over his shoulder.

“In field testing, we’ve had some very, very wet conditions and the AMT has performed exceptionally well. At the moment it’s being used on a local farm for hauling. Looking at the ground conditions, where the farmer’s been using tractors through the gates, the conditions are pretty bad and sticky. Our machine goes straight through, but when it returns to a normal field, what we’re seeing is surface compaction but not ruts, which is exactly what we would expect from that machine. We’ve calculated that, fully laden, it will have a ground-bearing pressure of 4–5 p.s.i., so that’s very low.

“The benefits for operators of increased stability and traction are obvious, giving them the ability to go where wheeled machines won’t. But we know landowners are spending thousands of pounds getting foresters in because they want to improve their properties. Being left with a big mess is the last thing they want. With our four-track system, once the guys have left the site, the grass will return within a couple of weeks to what it ought to be.”

Forestry Journal: Moorend and Ardco anticipate both operators and landowners will benefit from a machine that can go where wheeled machines can’t without tearing up the ground.Moorend and Ardco anticipate both operators and landowners will benefit from a machine that can go where wheeled machines can’t without tearing up the ground.

Ardco’s spokesperson said: “It was difficult for us being geographically so far away from the development work, but Andy totally understood our design brief and his considerable experience as an operator in conditions all over the world really shone through.

“Ardco visited the Moorend premises in the summer for a design review and the prototype was well advanced, but not rolling. We loved what we saw at that time and the level of excitement at Ardco has been palpable ever since. We have now seen the machine working and it exceeds all of our expectations. We can’t wait to get it back over the pond to really trial it and show it off to our customers.”

Moorend’s MD Andy Cox said: “I am hugely excited about this project. Moorend has built up a great relationship with Ardco over a number of years and when the project came to fruition it was the stuff of dreams.

“The AMT 400 is constructed to a very high standard and the integrity of the machine lends itself to having tracks fitted. The project brief and my remit enabled me to really stamp my experience on the prototype and, as a result, I have been able to construct tracks with no compromises.

“The machine performs superbly and is very capable in off-road and rugged terrain. I see this machine as being a genuine alternative to bolt-on steel tracks in terms of performance, and having the ability to maintain traction without causing massive and unnecessary damage to sensitive environments ought to appeal.”

While the Ardco AMT 400 tracked is still a prototype for now, plans are progressing to make it widely available in the near future. Both Ardco and Moorend expect it to fill a number of gaps in many markets.

Forestry Journal: The AMT 400’s tractor tyres were replaced with Moorend’s bolt-on rubber tracks over the summer.The AMT 400’s tractor tyres were replaced with Moorend’s bolt-on rubber tracks over the summer.

Ardo’s spokesperson added: “We foresee a great deal of scope and potential for forestry applications. A 12-tonne payload and great off-road capability, coupled to a full-engine mechanical PTO behind the cab, will be a very attractive proposition allowing customers to use their own attachments.

“It is fair to say that the AMT 400 on tracks, with a bespoke carrier frame, will be very competitively priced in comparison to traditional forestry forwarders. The current model has been 200 and 250 hp; however more powerful versions are planned.”