Who said pruning must be complex and dangerous and requires several machines and operators? One of the new tools for the JF545 V-Max is the felling head made of a saw and a grabber, a new revolutionary solution for the tree care industry.
Let’s try to fully understand the pioneering extent of this new tool by explaining how pruning and felling activities are currently carried out. “Pruning can be usually made in two ways. The first mode calls for the use of a selflevelling platform or a crane with basket to lift the operator at the required height. He will then use a chainsaw but a second crane will grab the cut branch or log and will rest it on the ground. This procedure needs two machines. On the other hand, treeclimbing is also viable despite the possible hazards for the operator’s safety: a harnessed operator ascends the tree and carries out the cuts with a chainsaw. A crane is still needed to handle the cut pieces,” explains Emanuele Bendini, Bendini Autotrasporti. It is to be noted that the machines used – usually crane trucks or truck-mounted platforms – are bulky, difficult to control, heavy and often cannot get near enough the places where the intervention is needed, especially in urban environment, requiring for this reason a very wide reach.
The new application offered by Jekko easily overcomes all these issues. First of all you can cut, rest on the ground and sort the branches or trunks using a single tool and, as a consequence, a single machine and a single operator. The JF545 V-Max has compact dimensions and therefore reaches in very confined and narrow spaces getting as near as possible to the work area: “We can work with even higher safety and precision margins because the boom reach isn’t exploited in full” explains Mr Bendini. Moreover this model has minimally invasive operations, which is a crucial aspect when working for example in private gardens. Anyhow safety is one of the major features of this innovative machine: with a JF545 V-Max the operator can radio remote control both the crane and the grapple saw from a safe distance and with a broader view, and he won’t have to get harnessed, climb trees and try to avoid falling branches. This is a real turning point for a sector accounting for numberless, even fatal, accidents worldwide every year.
But there are more advantages to the JF545 V-Max. “This version is an evolution of the multiple functions featured by the JF545. In addition to the grapple saw for controlled felling, the crane can fit a man basket or a selflevelling platform, can work in traditional mode with a hook or winch, both with the main boom or the jib. A single machine will carry out many different types of interventions in endless application fields. Once the pruning/felling work is done, the grapple saw can be easily detached and a regular JF545 will be ready for industrial and civilian works all year round. Versatility is no doubt the strength point of this machine!” stresses Mr Bendini.
“The JF545 V-Max with grapple saw is ideal for those operators who’ve so far carried out green area management works in a traditional way, running unnecessary risks in the use of machines, people and treeclimbing activities. Several markets have already expressed their interest for this new solution: the United States and Canada as well as European countries such as Italy, Germany, France, Holland, Finland, Norway, etc.” closes up Alberto Franceschini, Jekko’s Export Manager.
