Electrifying the diesel engine to boost power

Forest machinery needs to be reliable and robust, especially to cope with the sizeable trees, variable terrain and hard tree surfaces found in the forests of Central Europe and North America. In addition, machinery needs to be as powerful as possible so that foresters can maximize the number of trees felled in a given period of time.

Logset is a Finnish forest machine manufacturer that provides world-class solutions for sustainable forestry. The company develops, manufactures, distributes and services forest machines. With over 20 years of experience, Logset is knowledgeable about the challenges facing foresters.

Power at the flick of a switch

Forestry applications need instant power in less than a second. Such a fast power cycle, and the rapid response time, requires very powerful machinery but the pressure to fell as many trees as possible means diesel harvesters frequently run out of power.

There was no obvious solution: the diesel machines were already at the top of their power range, and increasing the size of the engine was not an option because a larger and heavier machine would flatten trees and damage the land before the trees could be harvested.

Taking logging to a new level

The Logset 12H GTE Hybrid is the first of its kind in forest machinery; it is a significant improvement on the previous diesel engine thanks to the integration of EDITRON, the world’s most sophisticated electric drivetrain system, which has been designed, manufactured and delivered by Danfoss Mobile Electrification. The software controls and optimizes each individual component of the hybrid drivetrain, making power distribution in the 12H GTE Hybrid far more intelligent.

The hybrid system reacts instantly to the workload, providing an extra power boost to the 7.4-liter TIER4 final diesel engine. Within a microsecond, the hybrid system can deliver up to 510 hp (380 kW) and generate an enormous torque of 2 000 Nm. The heavy-duty horse power guarantees the machine can manage demanding applications.

Despite the more powerful engine, the new hybrid machine is very compact, weighing just 24,500 kg. This power level could not be achieved at this weight without integrating EDITRON to electrify the machine and create the hybrid power train. The working efficiency of the 12H GTE Hybrid harvester is 27% higher than the traditional forest machine technology thanks to the hybrid system, which significantly reduces the fuel consumption and emissions per felled cubic meter, benefiting both the owner and the environment. Emissions are significantly lower than the diesel machine, based on the at-site measurements.

In comparison with the previous diesel machine, the Logset 12H GTE Hybrid is considerable 72% more powerful, with a 54% increase in torque, 27% increase in hydraulic flow, 5% noise reduction and 20-30% lower fuel consumption.

The most productive harvester in the world

The new hybrid harvester outperforms the previous diesel machine in three key areas:

• Efficiency – power, higher productivity through faster torque response, high capacity and consistent power, delivered without increasing the weight or fuel consumption
• Economy – 25% fuel saving, stable engine performance and reliability
• Environment – 25% lower carbon dioxide emissions, lower ground pressure and 5% reduction in noise

The harvester consumes significantly less fuel per felled cubic meter than a traditional powertrain solution, without compromising on the power output. Consequently, the running costs are lower, noise is reduced, engine performance is stabilized, and the hybrid system eliminates the power peaks normally required from the engine. The stable engine performance helps to reduce fuel consumption, prolongs the engine lifetime and lowers maintenance costs.

The bigger fuel tank means less down time for fuel filling, leaving more time for harvesting timber. The additional power makes it easier to use the crane – the longest in the world – and this makes the overall machine more flexible.

The Logset 12H GTE Hybrid is fully commercialized and in serial production in Finland.

Jukka Kivipelto, Technical Director of Logset said

During the 12 month project, we worked very closely with Danfoss Mobile Electrification to develop the most powerful forest machine in the world. Electrifying the machine by integrating EDITRON to create a hybrid harvester means our 12H GTE Hybrid customers have the power they need in a split second. The 12H GTE Hybrid machine also brings significant economic and environmental improvements.

Jukka Kivipelto

Tomi Ristimaki, Sales Director, OEM at Danfoss Mobile Electrification said

We are pleased to supply our EDITRON technology and extensive knowledge of electrifying heavy-duty machinery, to create the 12H GTE Hybrid harvester, the newest member of the Logset family. The machine meets market demand for more powerful harvester solutions that can handle the challenging forestry conditions found in Central Europe, Australia and Northern Europe.

Tomi Ristimaki

Specifications