The Swedish forest machinery manufacturer Gremo has now begun to build their new harvester. The aim is to build a faster and stronger harvester for thinning projects without increasing weight or width. The new Gremo harvester will become, as far as I know, the first harvester to be delivered with a Stage V (5) diesel engine according to the EU emission regulations that will come into effect in 2019.
Engine manufacturer Volvo Penta showcased a Stage V diesel engine at Elmia Wood last summer, and it’s expected to hit the marked in 2019. But already this year, Gremo will deliver a harvester with Cummins QSB 6.7-liter Stage 5 engine installed. The first engine (Stage V in beta version) is already in place in the Gremo harvester frame. If you’d like to read more about engines and the emission regulations, check out this thread.
Stronger crane, more torque and traction power, but fewer horse powers
The new harvester is to replace the Gremo 1050H which has been with us for many years. The goal has been clear from the beginning: to build a smooth and effective strip road harvester with greater capacity than the older model. The capacity is to increase without also increasing the weight or width of the machine. The new harvester will be equipped with a stronger and more powerful crane, a Mesera 200 which is actually a modification of the Mesera 220 (Mesera was previously named Loglift). The harvester can be delivered with a 10 or 11 meters crane length and it will be optimally built to handle a SP 461LF harvester head. In terms of efficiency, the new harvester will be placed slightly lower than the older 1050H. The new engine will yield 200 horse powers compared to 220 in the older model, but the torque will increase to around 1100 Nm compared to 950 in the 1050H. Despite the decreased effect of the engine the traction power will increase from 12 to appr. 14 ton according to Gremo.
Material knowledge and a weight-effective engine
The new crane is heavier, but the new harvester will still be a few hundred kilos lighter overall. Gremo has a strong focus on keeping the weight down, and through their excellent material knowledge of steel it is possible to build low-weight structures that are still durable. It should be a unique feat to build a new version of a harvester, increase the engine level from stage 3B to 5 without increasing the machine weight, and on top of that deliver increased traction power and crane capacity. The development has not exactly been going in this direction over the past few years when looking at machine weights. A contributing factor which explains this, despite the knowledge regarding material, may be that the Cummins Stage V engine is relatively compact and “weight efficient” compared to some Stage IV applications currently on the market.
First new Gremo harvester is now under construction
The very first one of the new harvester is currently under construction. When I visited the factory in Ätran near the Swedish west coast the engine part of the harvester started to take shape and the new Stage V engine was being mounted (the first version in beta) into the framework. The machine has not yet been given a model name, but we will return as soon as we have updates on this.
The aim is to have the machine ready to be tested in the forest within a month or two. An official launch date on the market is planned for mid-2018, however the first machines have already been pre-ordered. You can trust that nordicwoodjournal.com will be lurking in the bushes with a camera once the new Gremo harvester gets to work!
More info on the Cummins QSB 6.7-liter Stage V engine can be found here.
Read more about the CTL-machine manufacturer Gremo a their website.
