Cutting equipment for harvesters : A technical study

Husqvarna is a world leading producer of chainsaws with a well-established brand name. Husqvarna now has an interest in investigating the possibiltiy to expand their production of chains and guide bars to include cutting equipment for timber-harvesters. This project is a technical study which aims to answer questions about cutting equipment for timber-harvesters that have been decided in cooperation with Husqvarna. The questions have mainly been focused on forces, cutting speeds, service and maintenance -as well as general questions regarding the size of the Swedish market. Two methods have been applied to answer the questions. Interviews with retailers of harvesters, producers of harvester heads and harvester drivers. The main findings in this project show that there is a relatively small selection of harvester chains on the Swedish market. In contrast to the selection of harvester chains the selection of guide bars is quite large. Ranging from solid bars to bars with a replaceable sprocket nose with a special alloy to bars with special easy to fit attachments. In total: timber-harvesters on the Swedish market demand for a number of harvester chains that is between 600 000 – 1 000 000 and between 85 700 – 167 700 for guide bars. There are big differences between chains and harvester chains when it comes to cutting speeds, chain forces and depth gauge settings. In general significantly higher standard of requirement is set on the harvester chain. When it comes to kick-backs and vibrations however, standards are higher for handheld chained machine