Bunching for Beginners

welcome to my bunching for beginners video in this video we'll cover good work practices how to proceed in cutting basic and advanced punching techniques as well as efficient production strategies but before we get started let's take a closer look at what the buncher does the feller buncher is most often the one to commence work in the log harvesting process similar to mowing lawn it starts cutting a strip into the designated patch until it reaches the boundary line a nother strip is then cut from the boundary line back out to the road strips are most often cut going in then out again from left to right and the wood is left in piles for the grapple skidder here's some basic information to understand before beginning boundary lines and brush wood typically cut during a date to help nighttime bunching it reduces the likelihood of mistakenly crossing boundary limits and/or wasting time in brush wood bunches are placed against the protected areas unless otherwise specified when roads are cut the bunches are placed on the outer perimeter inbound trips bunches are placed to the left of this trip with buttons pointed towards the road they are positioned on a 45-degree angle to prevent unnecessary breaking of the standing trees when pulled by the skidder piles cross over into previous strips outbound strips punches are placed but ends towards the road and within this trip itself this helps keep more tree standing and gives the skidder and or other equipment a place to start working without having to drive over piles bunches can be placed on either side of the strip but preferably to your right avoid putting them directly behind you as they could become an obstruction careful logging this is the trees and brushwood that are left standing in between each strip some laws require certain amounts of mature sized trees to be left standing the buncher should only reach site the site to cut ideal sized trees thus protecting smaller timber and brushwood do not leave careful logging closer than 100 to 150 feet from the road for this will give other machines room to work efficiently the buncher has to carefully select acceptable sized trees and discard the rest in its path the machine will be using today is John Deere's 903 J feller buncher with Ag and Roy felling head let's get started there are endless ways to go about cutting a strip which can often be overwhelming here are a few key points to help you focus on what matters strips should be as wide as the Machine can reach on both sides limit reach within one foot from being fully extended to minimize stress on the stick boom cylinder cut trees as low to the base as possible unless otherwise instructed only cut minimum allowable size trees when they are in your direct path and only reach side to side for trees that are of ideal sizes although when cutting road everything should be cleared working inbound when working in Bound focus on clearing an area to the left of this trip to place your Bunch [Music] at this point instead of moving back to where you previously were continued clearing a path ahead until the machine can swing freely without any obstruction [Music] from here swing the machine pointing and moving it backwards cutting the remainder of the area pay careful attention when dumping the wood keeping a safe distance between the saw and the tracks this is most dangerous when dumping at a 45-degree angle when the bunch is out of reach proceed and making a new one working outbound when working outbound clear an area to the right of the strip to place your Bunch similar to the inbound strategy continued to forge ahead until the machine can swing without any obstruction turn the machine pointing and moving it backwards cutting the remainder of the area when the bunch is out of reach proceeded to start a new one [Music] tips and tricks bunch sizes determining what size a bunch to make will depend on the size of the timber and the skitters grappling capabilities heavy trees with many limbs can create a lot of drag making it more difficult to move and skid this type of wood can be put into smaller piles and smaller wood can be put in larger piles if a smaller sized bunch is desired proceed and starting it alongside the buncher the key in making larger piles is to start your pile ahead of you the further ahead you start the larger your pile will be for example if you're working in bone focus on clearing an area to the left and ahead likewise if working outbound clear placed to the right and head once the budgets positioned cleared the vicinity in this pile [Music] discarding trees it is best to discard unwanted timber to the site of your upcoming strip for example if you're working in bound towards the boundary line this would be to your right whereas working outbound that towards the road would be to your left when possible pulling the trees towards you on an angle is optimal this method keeps your work and previous areas clean and has it free to lower chances of getting flat tires on skitters or other unnecessary damages break any pointed or distended timber and recut protruding stumps avoid pushing or discarding any timber ahead of you this will only clutter the ground slow you down and interfere with cutting if cutting around boundary lines discard the wood towards the opposing flag site so do not hit and lose sight of them preserve head cylinders by keeping grab arms and accumulators in the closed position when not cutting when large trees and Deadwood need to be discarded the best course of action is to cut or move these logs to the side out of the way if the log is still standing a more simplified method is to grab or cut the log tilt the buncher head backwards in the desired direction and releasing at the same time this can also be done with trees in the buncher head creating a separation between them by keeping the accumulators closed only using the grab arms grab the wood on the site it will be discarded on these techniques can be performed on either side grab arm and accumulator timing timing the grab arms and the accumulators to work smoothly together helps preserve more trees and creates less waste when the accumulators remain closed and a tree is cut the log will bind between the grab arms and the accumulators this will often break smaller trees due to the binding pressure from the grab arms you can counter this by opening the accumulators before the binding occurs the timing of this will change as the buncher head fills up when tree layout permits proceed cutting the first tree using the accumulators instead of the grab arms saw blade jams there are many things that contribute to the saw blades decline in rotation creating the likelihood of jams warmer temperatures snow large timber dull saw teeth cutting speed and method when saw speeds decline excessively cutting turns into ripping and must be avoided pieces of wood can easily get wedged against the saw and the guard causing it to stop if this happens turn off the saw using a stump or similar means force the blade to rotate in the opposite direction until it moves freely again then turn it back on and wait for the blade to reach proper rpm before cutting again in more severe cases which pieces may need to be removed manually using bars hammers or other tools thick wet or heavy snow can create extreme drag perform a quick sweep in front of the trees before cutting a simple left-to-right or right-to-left maneuver will remove the bulk of the snow get as close as you can to the tree before cutting and avoid pushing it any further than the log itself snow in trees during the winter months precipitation fills the trees with snow when cutting the snow falls and causes low visibility which can often force you to stop until visibility is restored the main objective is to find a way to knock down the snow without having to wait for it to settle before continuing simply use the trees in the buncher head as a tool to disturb the tops of the standing trees here are some suggestions alternate from side to side while cutting and come back to the area when the majority of the snow has settled when proceeding to dumped your wood tilt the buncher head slightly forward while swinging the machine to graze all the trees on the way avoid falling snow between cuts by slightly turning the buncher head clockwise and work downwind whenever possible it is always good to have a mental image of your next move so you can keep working when blinded large trees sometimes you'll come across oversized trees that are bigger than a bunch ahead itself therefore a different approach to cutting is required changing your tactic can also be a good method to preserve mechanical parts depending on the size of the tree it will require multiple cuts start the first cut in the direction you want the tree to fall clear the surrounding work area then cut the opposing side cut and push it simultaneously to manipulate the tree in the desired direction be sure to release your hold when it's falling to prevent mechanical failures if a tree has fallen into the wrong location and absolutely needs to be moved cut it in half to manipulate drop piling new operators should take their time to place their bunches properly and when comfortable consider the following technique this method preserves hydraulic cylinders and time by manipulating the wood in the buncher head to fall into position rather than precisely placing it in other words releasing the wood before it touches the ground this can take time to learn but is well worth the effort in the end timing distance and angles of the buncher head are the main factors for this technique if you are dumping at a 90 degree angle the tip of the buncher head ski will guide you in positioning the trees correctly however when dumping at a different angle the buncher head will need to be tilted forward and turned to the same angle as the bunch before releasing the less you tilt the head forward the further and more unpredictably the trees will fall therefore increasing the angle shortens the distance and makes it easier to predict ideally released the wood just before the tops of the trees land ensuring they line before the butts do this reduces the likelihood of logs bouncing out of position which is more likely to happen when the tree butts land first filling the buncher head promotes more successful drops correct any misplaced logs to help the skidder right side cutting typically most cutting is done on the left side of the buncher head but don't let this limit you a lot of times cutting to the right of the head would be less hassle and better in general ultimately your choice of what site to cut should be determined by the tree layout the only disadvantage to cutting on the right side is low visibility but this can be easily overcome with some practice when performing right side cutting be mindful of the buncher head stabilizer it is a great indicator of where the grab arms are when fully open align the right side of the stabilizer with the tree and proceed in cutting a saw spinning clockwise looking from the top is less likely to crisscross the wood with time you'll gain a better understanding of your machine and how to efficiently use the more concealed parts such as the grab arms and the saw blade crossed wood correcting logs as the crisscross and the buncher head can be done by using the weight of the treaty advantage rotate the buncher head into the right direction and quickly stop the rotation as you loosen the grab arms then wait for the shift to happen and retighten the grab arms to secure the trees the momentum of the trees will force misplaced logs into position loosening or completely opening the accumulators can also help if you're having trouble determining what site to rotate the buncher head depends on the direction you want the tree to move if the top of the tree protrudes to the left side of the buncher head turn it right or clockwise if the tree is sticking out to the right side perform the correction to the left or counterclockwise sometimes the top of a tree will jump over the stabilizer this can be due to dull saw teeth and/or a full buncher head and is most likely to happen with small and lighter trees if the buncher head is full it's best to dump the wood if it's not full and you haven't opened the accumulators yet then leave them closed if you have opened them then don't reclose them tilt the buncher head forward open the grab arms as you rotate the head in the direction of the log and retighten if you're having trouble with this technique dump the wood and try again next time soft terrain when working in soft terrain there is a risk of sinking the machine to avoid any possibility of this happening the operator must first identify soft areas and proceed with caution when on soft ground the machine will feel like a floating boat and stability will drastically decrease make sure to minimize travel and sharp movements as much as possible keep cutting close to the machine and limit the amount of wood in the buncher head create a brush mat by putting materials such as brushwood and trees before moving ahead note that in these circumstances unwanted wood can be broken towards the center of the strip if you happen to get stuck it may be best to wait for help then to make this situation worse completely avoiding soft areas is sometimes the best option inclines when cutting on slopes and hills you must be wary of two important aspects firstly the direction of the tracks and secondly the amount of weight in the buncher head when a slope is too steep cut what's within reach and work around it the buncher is more likely to slide sideways which is why it is best to always point the tracks in the slopes direction in a scenario where the tracks or sideways leaving higher stumps will help you from sliding when cutting down hill with sideways tracks extreme caution must be taken as the machines weight capabilities and stability are drastically reduced if the weight and the buncher head exceeds that of the machines counterweight the buncher will topple over working down hill also presents another problem when the top of the buncher head or stabilizer comes in contact with the tree before the saw it will often break the tree before it is cut to avoid this cut higher making sure the buncher head is level and if necessary recut stumps afterwards trees going uphill can be cut at the base as usual though the grab arms are more likely to run out of reach before grabbing the tree if this is the case cut the tree level your situation should determine how to proceed when traversing difficult terrain you can help yourself by using the buncher head to support the machine avoid trapping yourself where you are unable to move in swing ensure a safe distance between you and the standing trees when moving up slopes you can push or pull yourself up with the heel of the buncher head when possible grab a hold of solid timber to pull yourself turn to punch your head on an angle to avoid cutting it and grab as low to the base as possible pulling and moving simultaneously time management and production while you increase your knowledge about bunching start to examine areas that may help you save time shaving off seconds here and there can really add up at the end of the day the following are some good methods to explore fill up the buncher head to eliminate dumping times but don't overfill as this can be counterproductive work to minimize your travel until work area is clear and move in five foot increments start a new bunch when it is out of reach and drop pile the wood instead of placing it if the buncher runs multiple shifts then cutting around brushwood should be done during a day use the tree tops as a guide for cutting and making a separation between areas harvesting the better side and like with any machine servicing and maintenance is best done during the day in closing a productive Bunch wrap rater must instill good work habits and a desire to advance their skills don't be afraid to question yourself why am I doing this a certain way is there a better way to perform this task and most importantly learn from your mistakes once you have established an understanding of your machine speed will naturally follow don't give up and always strive to learn share your knowledge and take advice you only stop learning when you think you know it all thanks for watching you

Channel: arctic_dan

Views: 53,086

Keywords: arctic_dan, arcticdan, great, tutorial, best, 101, help, guide., John, Deere, Caterpillar, buncher, beginners, logs, wood, cutting, learning, tracks, saw, educational, how to, buncher for beginners, feller, trees, winter, logging, forestry, kenworth, hitachi, liebherr, komatsu, doosan, freightliner, feller buncher, truck, tractor, loader, feller bunching, bunching, beginner, john deere, tigercat, mountains, chainsaw, bunching for beginners, gn roy

Id: L1BNX7kKZlw

Length: 27min 53sec (1673 seconds)

Published: Wed May 20 2020