I SUPPOSE I’M A WINCH-ASSIST VETERAN now, with five years’ experience using the Waka Engineering machines designed by my boss, Bill Winmill.
But it’s always good to try something that’s a bit different.
When I got the call to come and operate this Timbermax for AB Equipment at the Demo Day I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I ended up being quite impressed with what it could do.
Coming back again, I’m still impressed. Compared to the Waka that I’ve got, it has more speed, so you can move down the hill quicker. It has similar pulling power. But the first thing that you always question is how well it is anchored. We use a big bucket that we can dig deep into the ground. The spade on the Timbermax looks a lot smaller and you wonder how long it would stay anchored. But the harder you pull the more it digs in. That rope being right on the ground pulls it down more.
The control system works similarly to what I am used to and it’s very user-friendly. I love the screen and I did ask Matthieu if he’d sell it separately, but you have to buy the whole thing. Really impressed with the way the screen is laid out. Very easy to understand, just a quick glance and you know exactly what it’s doing. It can tell you which way your pedals are moving, pressure on your ropes, everything all at a glance.
Starting off you set your holding weight, set your walking down the hill weight, and then the weight for going uphill. You don’t have to tell it you are going up or down, that is done through your travel pedals. Very easy to use.
Then just drive the harvester as normal and make sure the ropes aren’t binding. Working with a smaller diameter rope means you have to be especially watchful for wear – I know this one was replaced after 540 hours. Our ropes are bigger and we do our replacements at 1,000 hours.
The camera watching the drum is very useful, as without it you wouldn’t know what was going on, but the rope seems to lay perfectly. It would be nice to have another camera looking down the hill.
When the weight goes onto the rope you do find it delays a bit but never to the point where I thought it wasn’t going to pull me up the hill. The ground here is good and firm so that helps.
We have a 855E on our winch-assist, so I did feel at home in the cab and didn’t have to think about what I was doing because it’s all very familiar. These E-series are a definite improvement in the stability, the new engine is good and there’s better visibility. And the rear-view camera is useful to show you where the rope is.
I have not been inside a skidder on the...
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