Forest Operations > Conduct Feller Buncher Operations > Introduction

Introduction

The Feller Buncher is a large front line forest machine used in modern forest harvesting operations.

Its main task of a feller buncher is to cut down trees using an attachment on the front of the machine; this is called a felling head

The feller buncher will present the cut down trees/stems in bunches for another forest machine to move away to another site for processing.

The feller buncher can be work in tree plantations or native forest thinning operations, clear fell of tree plantation or native forests or to cut down difficult break trees of some forest plantations or native.

Feller bunchers are large diesel powered machines that uses electronic and hydraulic systems to cut down trees.

Being a main front line forest harvesting machine, a crew of forest worker will depend on for a good supply of whole trees to run a successful forest operation. 

Felling heads vary in types from a large saw disc, large shears and chainsaw.

All these methods are quite affective; however the disc saw tends to be more productive.

On some models the head can cut and hold up to 4 or 5 trees, place them on the ground in large bunches.

The different types of feller bunchers and harvesting method will be discussed further along in this resource.

In This Section:

• Some Components of Base Machine and Felling Attachment
• Types of felling heads
• The role of the feller buncher
• Operating the feller buncher
• Safety Considerations