THERE was something lurking in the forest of Longleat during the Confor Woodland Show, and it wasn’t an escaped animal from the nearby safari park. Tearing down swathes of infected ash on the estate across the two days was Lincolnshire-based KWR Plant Hire with the Sennebogen 718 E material handler.
Euroforest ran frequent shuttle buses from the showground to the active worksite throughout the show, where visitors had the opportunity to see the big, green forest machine in action, up close. The brief journey provided a much-needed respite from the air’s chill and looming rain clouds, as well allowing us a glimpse of the resplendent stately home and its grounds.
Upon arrival at the site, the 718 E was in full swing, effortlessly bringing down the towering ash as we watched on. The machine has a working height of around 15 metres and is capable of holding a tonne weight at full reach. With 160 bar of hydraulic pressure running straight to the head, KWR is able to utilise its mulcher, stump grinder and tree shear attachments, explained Alec Pearson, contracts manager.
“The other advantage of the Sennebogen is you can have a virtual wall. So, if we’re working on a highway and we cannot swing any part of the machine into the highway, we set up the virtual wall – it will slew to that point where you have set the wall up and it can’t go any further,” he explained.
Fitted with a full forestry guarded cab, bulletproof glass and a full ROPS, the 718 E has also been set up to allow KWR to attach a harvester head. Alec went on: “With the way that we’ve got it set up at the moment, it is not the most productive machine, so it’s not like a harvester where you’re banging timber out, one after another. We’re here to dismantle trees in a safe and calm manner.
“The way that the cab is designed, the visibility is fantastic so you can put the saw grab into whatever very, very gently, which means If you are just pollarding or leaving monoliths you’re not destroying the tree, rocking it around, pulling it out at the root.”
Not only is the near 22-tonner green in colour, but also in operation. The 718 E features a 119 kW Euro 6 diesel engine. Installed as standard, the EcoMode is described as offering up to 20 per cent fuel saving. Alec also noted that for a machine of its size, the 718 E it is relatively quiet, which eases the impact of late-night or residential work. It also features Sennebogen’s interactive SENCON control system, sliding-door entry and ergonomically optimised operator’s seat.
During the demonstration, the machine was fitted with the Vosch saw grab. Alec said: “That saw grab weighs 400 kg, so that gives us around 600–800 kg lift, which, when we’re working up at 15 metres, is a fair, fair chunk of tree. It has a low-speed chain but with high torque, so if we were to lose the chain it’s not going to send flying shrapnel into possible live traffic.”
KWR can also pair the Sennebogen machine with the firm’s Greentec 952 MEGA woodchipper, which has its own 20 m³ side-tipping bin, Alec explained. It also utilises a clamshell bucket to load lorries with woodchip or logs, removing the need to bring in an extra machine for the task.
KWR owner/operator, Kev Russell, has been using the machine for around two months and admits he didn’t know what he was missing.
“We previously used excavator-mounted machines with half the reach,” he told Forestry Journal. “We’ve used tracked machines, but the benefit of the wheeled machine, I didn’t realise until we got one, is how good they are, as long as you’re in the right situation. Just being able to nip to a job down the road, it’s so quick and easy.”
The 718 E cab can be elevated by 2.7 metres and tilted by 30°, providing an optimal view of the work area, which Kev said was greatly beneficial: “If you’re topping hedges, you can get up to the right height to see what you’re doing. When you’re reaching over a hedge, you can obviously see a lot more. We were putting some woodchip in a lorry the other day and I needed to see in the lorry; I just lifted the cab up and had a look.”
KWR is currently in talks with Sennebogen to come up with a tracked version, which would let the firm use the machine on softer ground.
“It will travel at 20 kilometres an hour – again, for those that have used excavator-mounted tree shears, that’s bloody quick!” Alec added.
Look out for more on KMR and the Sennebogen 718 E in a future edition of Forestry Journal.
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