The All Road, a new chipper by Pezzolato
The self-propelled PTH 1400/820 with great maneuverability, ample visibility and a totally renewed chipping unit is a versatile machine with excellent performance
The PTH 1400/820 mobile chipper by Pezzolato is putting in its first appearance abroad in Hanover following its presentation last June. The new self-propelled chipper was developed in collaboration with CNR Ivalsa (National Research Institute and Trees and Timber Institute) and Mombracco Energy Srl on a MCV 2 project. The machine is mounted on an industrial vehicle with two hydrostatic axles with type-approval for road travel at up to 40 km/h. The compact design of the truck and chipper facilitates transporting the machine to areas with infrastructural limitations, especially narrow roads and areas with little space for maneuvers. The maneuverability of the vehicle itself is enhanced by four-wheel drive and three steering options, with both axles separately, together or only the front axle. This new configuration for mixed mobility makes the model ideal for operations on fragmented and diversified properties. The fully glazed cap ensures excellent visibility and, for chipping operations, the cab can be lifted and turned by 45°. In this way, the worksite can be controlled with an optimal view of the the stacks of logs to be chipped, the feeder inlet and the chips expulsion fan. Other than the usual levers for maneuvering the crane, this work is performed by two color 12.1” touch-screens in the cab for quickly setting the controls and viewing telecamera images installed on the machine. The chipper, the most innovative component of the entire machine, has been completely updated. The drum has been designed to produce great quality chips to meet the growing demand of the more advanced plants, especially for gassification units. The new drum has a diameter of 820 mm and a width of 1400 mm for a weight of 3500 kg. The drum is equipped with five staggered knives and is section-divided in order to better distribute the machine stress on the different components, reduce vibrations, noise and fuel consumption.
The chips expulsion fan with hydraulic continuous speed regulation allows adjusting the speed regime to fit the real work requirement for lowering the power needed and fuel consumption. With this system, maximum velocity can be selected when chips must be discharged far away and vice versa for close discharge.
In conclusion, the feeding inlet is located relatively low to speed up work on small bundles of materials such as those in fruit orchards and poplar woods and can be set to low speed for handling great heaps of wood along the side of roads. To facilitate operations on bulky materials such as branches, the lower feed roller has been equipped with a longer chain able to bring these materials directly to the drum.
The power plant technology driving these machines is a 550 Hp turbo-charged Stage IV (Euro 6) engine equipped with the ERG (Exhaust Gas Recycling) and SCR (Ad-Blue) systems but not with a diesel particulate filter because the temperatures reached during regeneration would make the chipper, operating in wood dust conditions, unsafe.
