In previous articles we have written about two of the big harvesters in the forest; The Rottne H21 and the Komatsu 951. Now, the time has come to present another giant in the woods – the Ponsse Bear.
Ponsse
The Ponsse company has been around for 50 years now which makes them one of the younger forest machine manufacturers. Nevertheless, nowadays they are one of the largest manufacturers of CTL machinery in the World.
Ponsse is a family business that has a reputation of going their own path. As for an example, they have never had the older type of harvester, two-grip harvester, in their range. They went straight for today’s crane mounted harvester heads.
Ponsse Bear with H8 harvester head
We visited the contractor Niklas Savilahti on a nice clear-cut site where he was operating his Ponsse Bear. In his early career, as an employee, he was operating also other brands, but since he started his own business, he has stuck to one brand – Ponsse. This is his sixth Ponsse (third Bear) since he started the company in 2005.
The Ponsse range
Ponsse has seven harvesters in their range today, and seven forwarders. They also have a range of eleven harvester heads, and a dual machine (combined harvester and forwarder).
You can read all about the Ponsse range here.
Ponsse Bear in figures (Source; Ponsse.com).
Model type 8-wheeler
Dimensions
Minimum weight 23 800 kg
Typical weight 24 500 kg
Length 8 990 mm
Width 2 990 – 3 130 mm
Ground clearance 700 mm
Transportation height 3880 mm
Crane Ponsse C6
Slewing torque (gross) 67 kNm
Tilt angle ±20°
Turning angle 250°
Lifting torque (gross) 310 kNm
Crane reach 8.6 m / 10 m
Engine
Name MB OM936LA Tier 4 Final
Market area North America
Engine power 260 kW
Engine torque 1400 Nm (1 200 – 1 600 rpm)
Tractive force 230 KN
Fuel tank volume 400 l
Hydraulic system
Control system PONSSE OptiControl
Hydraulic circuits Separate hydraulic circuits for the harvester head and crane.
Crane pump 190 cm3
Harvester head pump 190 cm3
Hydraulic oil tank volume 290 l
Tyres
Front tyres 26,5″
Rear tyres 26,5″
H8 harvester head
Minimum weight 1 250 kg
Feed system 3 feed rollers
Feed force 36 KN
Maximum opening 740 mm
Feeding speed 5 m/s
Film clip
Here is a film clip of Niklas and his Ponsse Bear:
Film and photos: Per Jonsson
