Shortly after leaving school in 1982, Pat Doyle went to work in the forests, carrying out thinning and clearfell works with a chainsaw and a horse. Since then, he and his brother Andrew, based in Annacurragh, Co Wicklow, have operated almost every forestry brand of harvesting equipment on the market.

Komatsu 931xc timber harvester in action in Wicklow.

Pat purchased his first tractor, a 2wd Fordson Major, in 1984. Andrew joined forces with him in a full-time capacity in 1986.

From the Fordson Major, the Doyles moved to a County 1164, before purchasing a Logmaster skidder, a hydraulic-drive articulated tractor that was capable of turning 90°. It was one of only six ever built.

They later purchased a Massey Ferguson 1200 articulated tractor. They split the tractor at the articulation point and stretched the rear body to 9ft. They mounted a Botex crane behind the rear window and put a swivel seat in the cab. Acting as a forwarder with four-wheel drive, Pat noted this was a super machine to climb and 30 years later it’s still working for a guy in Wexford.

Pat explained, “The control layout and visibility is second to none. The only other brand out there I can see that comes close is Ponsse”.

Early 1990s

In the early 1990s, the brothers purchased a Bruunett 578 forwarder. They later fitted a new crane and a different cutting head and computer system to the machine, converting it to a harvester. They ran a number of these machines over the years. Bruunett was later purchased by FMG, which was then bought by Timberjack, which was eventually bought by John Deere, marking its entry to the forestry game.

Into the mid 1990s, the brothers ran a number of Swedish-built Silvatrac harvesters. They said these were super machines to travel on poor ground and cut timber, but it was difficult to keep them together. They also tried some Osa machines, one of which they converted from a six-wheel drive to an eight-wheel drive. They said these were very good at the time but soon became outdated.

In the late 1990s the brothers purchased some Teva machines. Teva was a company in Co Galway that originally built bog machinery before moving on to timber harvesters and forwarders. Pat said: “Teva built very good machines, but the forestry machinery manufacturing is a difficult business to break into and the company later went out of business.”

Early 2000s

In the early 2000s, the Doyles made their first move to Timberjack machines. Over the years, they had John Deere 1270As, Bs, and Cs. Andrew said the 1270A was possibly the best harvester they ever ran. They eventually sold this machine to Latvia with an excess of 25,000 hours on the clock. They also ran some smaller Timberjack machines for thinnings. These included a number of 1070Ds.

The brothers found the early to mid-2000s very tough. With the boom in the construction industry, they couldn’t compete with the high rates being paid and lost some good drivers.

The computer system is fully automated to cut to the required length and diameters. The driver only has to check if the tree is crotchet or not.

For a number of years, the duo were forced to scale back to running just one harvester and forwarder, operated by themselves. As the crash in the construction industry kicked in, the brothers again found their business going from strength to strength. They soon upped their business to four forwarders and four harvesters.

The Doyles purchased their first Valmet forwarder in the mid 1990s. They really liked these forwarders and ran a number of them right up until the 2010-2012 period, when Komatsu bought out the Finish company.

The cab has a self-levelling function that allows the operator to be always seated horizontally.

From here, the brothers decided to purchase the Komatsu-branded machines. They purchased their first new Komatsu 901 harvester in 2016 before adding a new 901 harvester and a new 835 forwarder earlier this year.

The business

Today, 80% of the Doyles’ business is harvesting thinnings and 20% is clear-fell. The brothers said half of this work is private, mainly for farmers. Pat said: “We like to think that over the years we have built up a solid reputation, and this is something we pride ourselves in as we’ve spent all our lives in the forestry game. In the past six to seven years we have begun carrying out a lot of work for farmers. In the coming years, we see more and more private work coming on stream.”

The harvester is equipped with a Komatsu head that has a 3t feeding force at 5m per second, with +/- 2cm accuracy.

The Doyles currently employ 10 full-time staff and for the most part operate in four counties – Wicklow, Wexford, Waterford and Kilkenny. Andrew also has his own farming enterprise, running 30 suckler cows and 250 ewes.

Latest purchase

We visited the Doyle brothers last week while they were harvesting timber overlooking Glendalough tower. In May of this year, the brothers took delivery of a new Komatsu 931xc timber harvester.

Shortly after leaving school in 1982, Pat (right) went to work in the forests before his brother Andrew (left) joined him in 1986.

They felt the visibility was a little poor in the John Deere machines and that the pump technology in the Logset machines was a little outdated, while the Komatsu ticked all the boxes.

Engine

The 931xc is powered by a 7.4l AGCO Power engine. This six-pot unit has a power output of 251hp (185 kW) at 1,900 rpm. It meets the Stage IV Final emission regulations. Pat said the engine has an abundance of power: “The machine operates at 1,800rpm and typically burns 16l/hr. This is an improvement on our John Deere 1270D that burns 20l/hr. The Komatsu burns in the region of 5 litres of AdBlue in a typical 10-hour working day.” Although it has a 500hr service interval, Pat said they like to ensure they will have minimal downtime and actually service their machine after every 250 hours of use.

The Komatsu 931xc timber harvester is an eight-wheel drive machine.

The Doyles ordered a roll cage to be fitted around the engine for protection.

The request for this protective system was originally sent to Komatsu by Irish contractors. This is because Irish forestry contractors work in difficult conditions.

The machine has a hydrostatic-mechanical transmission with two modes – 0-7km/h and 6-20 km/h.

Cab

Spending over 2,000 hours in the cab each year, the Doyles have a lot of time for the operator comfort and visibility offered by the Komatsu machines.

Pat said: “The control layout and visibility is second to none. The only other brand out there I can see that comes close is Ponsse.

“The computer system is very easy to navigate through. It’s fully automated to cut to the required length and diameters. The driver only has to check if the tree is crooked or not.

The Doyles ordered a roll cage to be fitted around the engine for protection reasons.

“The LED lighting package is fabulous, but quite expensive. It produces a clear white light that makes working into the dark winter evening much easier.”

The cab has a self-levelling function that allows the operator to be always seated in a level position.

The one issue the brothers have is that when transporting the machine, the lighting bar at the top of the cab is the highest point and needs to be removed, or it will get damaged if not broken. They noted that it’s difficult and time-consuming to climb up and take it off.

One feature Andrew really likes is the keyless system that can control both the heating and main circuit breaker/ lighting remotely.

One issue the brothers had was that when transporting the machine, the lighting bar at the top of the cab is the highest point and needs to be removed, or it will get damaged if not broken.

The machine can be set up to run the heaters for the cab and the oil, which clears the windows and warms up the water temperature, meaning the machine is ready to get straight to work once the operator arrives.

Hydraulics/Head

The harvester is equipped with a Komatsu-built head. Pat said it has a 3t feeding force at 5m per second, with +/- 2cm accuracy, which is super accurate. He noted that as there is so much power running through the centre rollers and they handle a lot of rough timber, they have had to replace them, but that this system has since been modified.

The brothers had to modify step system as they fell off both the new Komatsu harvester and forwarder.

The harvester is equipped with Komatsu’s three-pump hydraulic system. It has a significant 528l/min (139 gal/min) on tap at 1,600 rpm. The Doyles are very happy with the hydraulics. The cab and the crane can be rotated 360°. The Doyles are impressed with the machines stability when lifting logs with the crane at full reach.

The spec

Engine: Six-cylinder 7.4l AGCO Power

Horsepower: 251hp (185 kW) at 1,900 rpm

Torque: 1,100Nm at 1,500rpm

Transmission: hydrostatic-mechanical with two modes

Hydraulics: 528l/min (139 gal/min) on tap at 1,600 rpm

Kerb weight: From 21,700kg

Fuel tank: 480 litres

List price: €495,000 plus VAT