Caterpillar Forest Products and SATCO Ltd. have signed an agreement that gives Caterpillar the rights to sell and support SATCO harvesting attachments and parts worldwide. Caterpillar is the exclusive distributor everywhere except Australia, New Zealand and Brazil, where SATCO products will be offered both through SATCO’s distributors and select CatÒ dealers.
Headquartered in New Zealand, SATCO designs and manufactures a wide range of forestry attachments. “With this alliance, we can offer a full line of processing and directional felling heads for our FMs, track feller bunchers and the 501HD harvester,” said Mike Duncan, Caterpillar Forest Products industry manager. “Cat dealers will offer a package fully supported by Caterpillar.” Products will continue to carry the SATCO brand name.
Built to handle the rugged logging conditions in New Zealand and Australia, the beefy heads are constructed using high-grade materials. Hoses from the carrier to the head are routed through the linkage and are not exposed. This protects the hoses from damage and prevents them from over-bending causing premature failure.
The line includes seven processing heads and two directional felling heads. The processing heads range from a weight of 1190 kg (2,618 lb.) with a maximum cutting diameter of 635 mm (25 in.) to 3850 kg. (8,500 lb.) with a cutting diameter of 800 mm (32 in.). The felling heads are continuous rotation with optimal single stem felling ranges of 305-508mm (12-20 in.) and 457-762mm (18-30 in.). SATCO also offers debarking configurations for its products, in addition to a specifically designed debarking processor head. All heads are designed to be matched with Cat Forestry Machines (FMs), track feller bunchers and the Cat 501HD harvester.
The computer system in the processing heads is simple and easy to use. Main valves are rated at 420 bar (6100 PSI) and can easily handle carrier pressures. Roller arm pins are 80 mm (3+ in.). The heavy duty 3/4 in. main saw system features a 45 cc saw motor and large diameter bearing for smooth cross cutting and felling of large diameter trees.
The directional felling heads are fully hydraulic with no electronics and have the same structural beefiness of the SATCO processing heads. Both heads can be used for shovel logging. One of the heads, the SAT420, can also be used to load trucks. Simple and strong, these heads are low maintenance and an economical first step up from manual felling.
For more information contact your local Cat dealer
