What is a feller buncher?

[MtnHermit]

According to this article, a feller buncher will be employed fighting the High Park fire in Colorado. The High Park is now the 3rd largest in Colorado history at 50,000 acres and still growing. Much of the forest that the fire is running in is 70% beetle kill, log pole pine.

Found this video doing a search: [video=youtube;Ei9LlLLZwAU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei9LlLLZwAU[/video]

Is the whole machine a feller buncher? Or is just the part at the end of the boom?

 

[Oldtimer]

That machine is a harvester, not a true feller-buncher.

These are feller bunchers.

[video=youtube;fn8MZc15vcY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn8MZc15vcY[/video]

 

[MtnHermit]

Those multi-photos really explain that the device is independent of the mobile unit. This one is particularly helpful, appears that the arms continue to contract as the rotating cutter chews into the tree. Seems this simply drops trees unlike the video I linked. Much more suited to large trees as well as small.

Thanks for all the photos.

 

[mad murdock]

A feller buncher is any machine dedicated to felling trees in the woods, the operator places the trees is a "bunch", with all the butts together, and in a totally mechanized operation, they are skidded to a landing with a grapple skidder and delimbed with a slasher/loader/delimber then bucked and sorted and stacked or loaded directly on trucks. A cat can be outfitted with a shear head, and operated as a feller/buncher as well. A good feller buncher operator on a typical logging show can lay down from 40-60 cords a day, depending on timber, terrain etc.