From the Southeast to the Northwest, loggers are feeling the crunch of rising fuel costs, which have increased as much as 60 percent in the last two years. With fuel prices eating away at your profit margins, it's not enough to have forestry equipment that is highly productive. To survive, you need machines that are also extremely fuel efficient.

Deere forest harvesting machines not only haul and process more material, they are frugal, burning fewer gallons per hour than leading competitors. Simply put, our highly efficient machines burn the least amount of fuel per ton of harvested timber, which can save you thousands of dollars every year and pad your bottom line with more profit.

The Deere Advantage
John Deere is passionate about designing and manufacturing forestry machines that process more tons of timber per gallon of diesel burned. Consider the miserly 748H Skidder, for example. In a head-to-head comparison to one of the industry's leading competitors, the 748H moved 28-percent more tonnage per hour, while burning 14-percent less fuel. If diesel fuel costs $3 per gallon, that translates to savings of up to $200 per week, or $9,000 per year, and 13.5 more loads per week, or 607 more loads per year.

The Deere study matched the machines "apple for apple." The fuel savings figures assume 90-percent uptime at 10 hours per day, 5 days per week, 45 weeks per year, at $3 per gallon diesel cost. Actual conditions may vary.

Deere Knuckleboom Delivers
The 437C Knuckleboom Log Loader also delivers impressive fuel efficiency and performance. In a side-by-side comparison to a leading competitor, the 437C burned 34-percent less fuel (2.5 gallons per hour), while processing 12-percent more stems per hour and 11-percent more tons per hour. Using a 437C, a logger could save $230 per week -- or $10,400 per year -- while processing more tons than the competitor.

Factors impacting fuel economy
Fuel efficiency is dependent on several factors, two of the most important being machine weight and type of transmission. Here is what you need to consider when you are comparing fuel usage across brands and models:

Machine weight
Simply put, the lighter your machine, the better your fuel economy. Weight is a particularly important consideration for skidders. You want a machine that pulls a lot of timber out of the woods, but doesn't drag a lot of heavy iron back into it. On average, Deere skidders are 2,000 pounds lighter than comparably sized machines from other manufacturers. Knuckleboom loaders tend to stay put while they work, so weight is not a significant factor in fuel efficiency.

Transmission
The type of transmission is another key consideration. Direct-drive transmissions are the most fuel efficient, followed by the lockup torque converter. Direct drive is available on the 648H and 748H Skidders, while the lockup torque converter is available on the 648H and the 848H.
The lockup torque converter stays engaged when shifting gears and puts more power to the ground than a regular torque converter. With advantages similar to those of a direct-drive transmission, it is fuel efficient. Hydrostatic transmissions are the least fuel efficient and also generate a lot of heat.

Engines
If an engine is constantly cycling up and down and hunting for the right rpm, then it's probably burning more fuel.

John Deere PowerTech™ Plus Tier 3 engines boast best-in-class fuel economy, while delivering unprecedented power and performance. To achieve improved fuel economy and lower emissions, the engines employ three key technologies: cooled exhaust gas recirculation, a variable-geometry turbocharger, and a state-of-the-art engine-control unit.

Tires
Different tire widths can have a substantial impact on fuel economy. Wider tires are heavier and create more resistance, decreasing fuel efficiency. If you decide to demo several machines on your site to compare fuel efficiency, make sure all machines are configured exactly the same, including being equipped with tires of the same widths.

Hydraulics
The 437C Knuckleboom Loader employs a load-sensing hydraulic system that uses only as much power as needed. Unlike other systems that share flow, the Deere dedicated swing system features two-pump variable displacement with a dedicated swing pump. The reduced hydraulic load significantly reduces fuel consumption.

Cooling
The hydraulically driven fan on John Deere skidders runs only as needed, for more efficient cooling and reduced fuel consumption.

When you consider a typical Deere full-tree system, the total annual savings are even more impressive. On average, a logger in the South produces 450 tons per day (15 loads times 30 tons per load). Assuming the logger burns 240 gallons in a 9-hour day with diesel at $3 a gallon, it will cost him approximately $700 in fuel per day.

Here is where the miserly Deere forestry system helps you keep more profits. A typical system comprised of an 843J Feller Buncher, two 648H Skidders, and a 437C Knuckleboom Loader decreases fuel consumption 3.9 gallons per hour, or 35 gallons per day, for a savings of $105 per day.

If you cut 180,000 tons per year, you'd save $0.23 per ton on fuel, or over $25,000 per year. That's like receiving a fuel subsidy of $0.23 per ton.

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