METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HARVESTING TREES

摘要

A tree harvester harvests trees in a limited area of a forest without moving the harvester. It also processes the trees and can traverse cleared forest terrain to a new location for harvesting and processing trees in another area. The tree harvester includes a selfpropelled, ground traversing, supporting vehicle carrying tree processing station that is adapted to delimb trees and cut the trunks of the delimbed trees into logs. Apparatus for grasping, severing and handling is carried by the vehicle for grasping a tree remote from the delimbing equipment severing the tree from its stump and transferring the severed tree to the delimbing equipment. A power source on the vehicle energizes the tree processing equipment and the tree grasping, severing and handling equipment. A transfer device is provided to receive logs from the tree processing equipment and transfer the same to a log storage area of the vehicle.