Delimbers Logging Equipment Dismantled Machines

About Delimbers

Forestry involves a wide variety of specific jobs, each of which requires its own tools, and each type of tool might be available in multiple forms. If the current task is a thinning operation with the goal of reducing crowding, then it may be acceptable to use less-refined machinery, but if you want to ensure the quality of the log throughout processing, then you’re probably looking for something more specialized. Delimbers are a great example of a tool that’s available in a variety of forms, depending on the granularity of the work that needs to be done. There are still some classic forms in use today, like flail, gate, and pull-through options that fulfill that first use case, and then there are delimbers attached to larger equipment that provide you with a little more control. Additionally, there are more compact and even portable delimbers that fulfill the needs of smaller operations.

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CSI PTD-264 Ultra Delimber

Active Cutting

Dedicated delimbers mounted on an excavator or a knuckle boom loader are often called “stroke-boom processors.” On these machines, one end features an overhead sliding boom equipped with three or more delimber knives and typically a cross-cut saw at the end of the boom. The other end of the stroke-boom processor is a grapple or end clamp that can pick up a log and hold it in place as the overhead sliding boom removes limbs. The cross-cut saw is often equipped to measure and cut logs at predetermined lengths.

Other powered designs feature a bed processor, where a tree is fed into a bed equipped with rollers and knives to precisely delimb logs and cut them to desired lengths. The quality of the final product with stroke-boom delimbers are generally better than static delimbers that operate with the help of other machines. Stroke-boom delimbers are often used in a landing where they can process trees into sorted piles prior to transport.

Static Delimbers

Gate delimbers, pull-through delimbers, and flail delimbers lack their own feed mechanisms and are often used in situations where quality is not as critical. Gate delimbers, for example, are a welded steel structure with a grid system; a grapple skidder pushes trees through the gate’s grid to break off limbs. Gate delimbers are sometimes used to delimb trees prior to processing at a landing.

Chain flail delimbers use chains on rotating drums to beat stems or branches off. Because the flail delimber often beats the bark off the tree, the machine is often paired with a chipper to produce clean chips.

Pull-through delimbers work with a loader that places the tree in a processor head featuring multiple knives. As the loader pulls the tree through the machine, the knives remove limbs from the tree. Pull-through delimbers might sit on the ground or be attached to a trailer bed, and are a popular choice for jobsites working with whole trees rather than cut logs.

Find The Right Delimber

When looking for new and used delimbers for sale on ForestryTrader.com, you’ll find different models from Caterpillar, CSI, Deere, and others. Deere and Cat typically sell delimbers attached to hydraulic excavators, and there are a variety of manufacturers that make static delimbers.