Long-range timber handling and comfortable control: SENNEBOGEN 825 at Holzwerk Obermeier

'We need a material handler!' – has long been something that they've agreed about at the timber yard Holzwerk Obermeier in Schwindegg, Upper Bavaria. But a lot of thought had to be put into what the optimum solution for the wide range of tasks was. A visit to the Ligna trade fair clinched it: the SENNEBOGEN 825 material handler with its large undercarriage and supplemental hydraulic system was the final solution – perfect for this application, as the site visit showed.

Driver Thomas Mooser and Junior Manager Alexander Palloch are visibly proud of their new green material handler as they welcome us at the timber yard in Schwindegg on a foggy November day. The weather does nothing to dampen their enthusiasm at the new arrival in the machine outfit, particularly as the material handler, with its unique design, was custom-built to meet their needs.

'We have optimized our logistics and needed a material handler that can destack, cut to length and move the timber from the wet storage area, as well as act as a support for saw work. Particularly a challenge were the up to 12 m (39.4 feet) long round logs weighing up to 8 t, which need to be moved by the material handler. For this reason, we decided on a custom-built material handler,' Palloch explains.

Alongside the 12 m (39,4 feet)long loading attachment, the SENNEBOGEN 825 is equipped with an extra large, robust undercarriage with a 3.0 m (9.8 feet) track width, strong special axes and powerful 2 stage all-wheel drive. These features allow driver Thomas Moser to travel quickly from one side of the log yard to the other and work swiftly and safely without an outrigger. Only when he needs to reach the top of the high wet timber stack does he need the two support claws and the dozer blade. 'These help me to move all of the logs safely and position them accurately,' he explains. 'With the 2.70 m (8.9 feet) elevating cab it can even be fun, I always have everything in view and can work safely and efficiently.'

The SENNEBOGEN 825 is driven by a 129 kW diesel engine, which also supplies the supplemental hydraulic system for the drive of the Hultdins grab saw with sufficient power. This is the second feature that makes Obermeier so unique with their multifunctional SENNEBOGEN. Whereas in the past the beech wood, oak and ash - primarily supplied by Bavaria - was cut to length with the help of a sorting machine; now this is also done by the material handler. Obermeier has been in production as a medium-sized business since 1956. They now have two sites at which around 100,000 fm of logs are cut every year from a surrounding area of around 200 km (155 miles). The majority of them are processed and made into large-scale wooden boards, blocks and planks or pallets. Deliveries are made to the wooden furniture and construction industries, as well as to wood craft companies and private customers.

The machine has been operative since the end of 2016 and has been fully tried and tested, as Alexander Palloch confirms: 'We haven't regretted going with SENNEBOGEN for a second, the service provided by their distribution partner Fischer & Schweiger is excellent,' he stresses, adding: 'We speak the same language and SENNEBOGEN has met our requirements perfectly with this tailored material handler - what more could we want!'

Alexander Palloch has one last ace up his sleeve. As we head back towards the office, leaving the timber yard behind us, he says: 'In the future we would like to go into trailer operation with the SENNEBOGEN 825, as then we will be able to transport even more logs at a time.' So we could say that this is one machine with many options.