Silviculture technology at FinnMETKO 2022

Forsilvitech visited the FinnMETKO exhibition which was held in Finland (Jämsä). The event was attended by at least 27,350 visitors in total during the three days (1 - 3 September 2022). This event is held every two years and comprises of exhibitors showing a wide range of offerings the fields of nursery, silviculture, harvesting, forest management, vehicles, trucks, education and digital tools to mention a few. Even though there were many things on offer, we took a keen interest on silviculture technologies. In this article we look briefly at companies which exhibited silviculture technologies.

Dipperfox is a manufacturer of stump crushing equipment. They exhibited the SC600 stump crusher. The Dipperfox Stump Crusher 600 is a robust stump removal tool which can be attached to an excavator-based carrier. The tool is easy to configure because it is fully hydraulic. For the tool to function, it requires a minimum power output of 35-83kW, pressure of 150 – 250 bar, oil flow of 65 – 150 l/min and an excavator weighing 6-14 tons. It allows a allows for a drilling depth of 500mm below ground level. At the demo the stump crusher was able to completely crush a stump in 15 to 20 seconds. For more details visit Dipperfox 

Bracke was also present under the banner of a local dealer. Bracke Forest has been manufacturing forestry equipment and machines since 1922 and this year celebrate a 100 years. On display was their two row M24.a which is a light mounder for attachment on a mid-sized base machine. It also had a the S35.a seeder attached to it. Over and above the mounder, Bracke also offers disc trenchers and fully mechanised equipment for planting in various conditions. With their recent acquisition by Komatsu interesting new products and technologies can be expected. For more information on their products visit Brackeforest

Interestingly, Risutec was the only company at the exhibition who had a fully mechanised planting machine on site for demo. Over and above their excavator-based planting heading heads, the company also offers the ASTA GPS documentation system and GPS guidance systems to improve precision in silviculture forest operations. At their exhibition stand the ASP-360 planting head, which can pit and has a capacity of up to 360 seedlings per cassette loading was on display. For our Southern Africa readers, this head machine is destined for somewhere in the area. For the European markets, the PM-160 planting head was available. The head can be used to create a mound and plant in a single operation. For details on Risutec’s product offering and precision solutions visit Risutec

SeedGun is a reforestation method, which provides seed on a prepared site so that it can sprout and grow into a healthy tree. SeedGun can basically be installed in any kind of excavator or tillage machine. The exhibition machine was an excavator-based carrier with an oval bucket attachment. It operates in three steps, the driver presses the sowing button in the cab, the dosing piston takes a carefully adjusted number of seeds from the seed container and a compressed air pulse shoots the seeds through the seed tubes to the sowing spot. The number of seeds sown on the site is displayed on the screen, providing easy access to accurate invoicing information. SeedGun is also compatible with the Risutec ASTA forestry GPS documentation system. For more information visit SeedGun 

Overall, the extent of silviculture equipment at the exibition was minimal compared to the wide variety of harvesting equipment and manufacturers. In the next few years I anticipate that we may see more silviculture offerings enter into the market. The 20th FinnMETKO event will be held on 29 -31 August 2024, hoping there will be more silviculture innovations to see!