Freshly retired from five decades designing and building Bryce Suma post knockers, fencing aficionado Jock Bryce has turned his attention to timber harvesting.

This includes securing the UK sales rights for a Swedish-made mini forwarder that makes do with the modest power of an ATV up front.

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The Avestavagnen Ranger Pro, previously imported to these shores by Warwick-based Fuelwood, is a lighter and more compact alternative to Alstor’s popular eight-wheel-drive self-propelled.

And at £27,000, it comes in almost £60,000 cheaper, too.

So, if you’re on a budget, like the wind in your hair and scent of sap up your nose, it could be an attractive option – especially for ATV-owning farms and estates on which tree clearance and firewood collection is a side hustle rather than a full-time occupation.

© Jock Bryce

“I looked at machines from Kranman in Sweden and Palms from Estonia, which is good stuff,” says Jock.

“But Avestavagnen are the originators of these machines and have it refined to a fine art.”

Front legs keep the rig stable © MAG/Oliver Mark

For the past nine months, he’s been exploiting the Avesta’s many virtues around his Kelso base.

Chief among them is its ability to traverse sludgy, storm-battered slopes to extract birch windblow and conifer logs – some up to 14m long.

It can also self-load, transport and lay out fence posts – or, with one of umpteen retrofit attachments, carry brash and tip woodchip.

Driven wheels

Power is provided by driven cage wheels © MAG/Oliver Mark

Price aside, the primary attraction of the Ranger Pro is its mobility.

As well as being small and surprisingly strong – its 2t carrying capacity far exceeding the 800kg of trailer and crane – it matches the aforementioned Alstor’s eight-wheel drive.

This is thanks to moveable axles that can be powered inwards until their knobbly tyres hug hydraulically driven cage wheels on each side.

The relatively simple system offers two selectable speeds: 2kph for pedestrian progress and a faster 5kph where conditions are more forgiving – both are geared to work with the ATV in low range.

Synchronising the forward speeds of the two separate drivetrains relies on the rider monitoring a hydraulic gauge mounted on the front power-pack – the pressure needle rising if the bike is going too slow and falling in the case of the opposite.

The setup also incorporates a degree of braking via a restrictor in the trailer’s drive motor, which Jock says has allowed him to haul some big loads down ice-encrusted 20deg slopes, albeit gingerly.

“Driving it is like riding a thoroughbred horse; you have to know what you’re doing,” he explains.

“It needs a proficient operator that’s conversant with the conditions in which it is operating and who can read the terrain to travel safely. Without that experience, the quad could be pushed around.”

Hydraulic adjustment of the walking beam axles has a secondary benefit, in that it can be used to tweak the trailer’s weight balance according to its load.

Pushing them rearwards helps when handling long logs, and pulling them forwards while lightly laden reduces the turning circle to improve manoeuvrability.

Neither position limits the 30deg axle oscillation that allows it to clamber over old tree stumps.

Another of the Ranger Pro’s party pieces is a pair of chassis slewing rams.

These shunt the front of the trailer left or right, adding to its agility when weaving through tightly packed woodland and providing some extra reach for the crane.

Rocker switches on the handlebars control this and a reverse drive mode.

Dual electro-hydraulic controls © MAG/Oliver Mark

Honda power

ATV’s front rack carries a Honda engine © MAG/Oliver Mark

Powering the mini forwarder’s myriad hydraulic functions is a 14hp, electric-start Honda engine.

This sits on a tray-like frame bolted to the front rack, with over-centre clips allowing it to be hoicked onto a trolley and wheeled away in about 10 minutes, ready for the ATV’s reversion to more conventional pastimes.

The motor is linked to a neighbouring hydraulic pump, with a chunky pipe harness strung rearwards to the trailer.

Having these two components mounted on the nose adds 80kg of ballast for traction and balance, the latter further enhanced by fitting lock-out brackets on the rear suspension that slot over the shock absorbers to keep the backend solid.

In work

Options include a demountable trailer body © Jock Boyce

Once in position, a set of front stabiliser legs go down.

These pack enough power to lift the rig fully off the ground and provide essential support when the 5.4m crane is at full reach using the jib extension and slew.

For more challenging extractions, there’s a 1t radio-controlled winch with 25m of wire rope that can be tethered to out-of-reach logs and used to drag them within striking distance of the grab.

Jock has supplemented this with further 5m and 10m extensions – the extra 8mm double-braided nylon rope providing extra reach for hauling hung-up trees from inaccessible areas.

© Jock Boyce

The dual electro-hydraulic controls slot over a mounting pole on the rear rack, with the operator typically straddling the seat backwards.

This gives good sight of both sides of the trailer to make the most of the crane’s 240deg rotation. Loading procedure varies depending on the size and weight of the timber.

The log size limit is about 3.8m long and 30-35cm in diameter, for which the 1m telescope on the dipper is extended to grab one end and drag it in.

Should it exceed the crane’s 420kg rated capacity, making raising it over the trailer bolsters impossible, it can be part-loaded from the side or the rear before the final lift.

Optional extras

Jock plans to bring only the higher-spec Ranger Pro version to the UK.

“You could spend £5k less on a leaner spec, but you can’t expect the same performance,” he says.

And it can be enhanced further, with a bevy of options including brash trailer inserts, various scissor grapples and a demountable twin-ram tipping trailer body (£3,359) with a clam shell bucket.

The latter combination comes with a bolt-on central bar that allows it to be mounted or removed using the crane grab.

There are also smaller items such as toolboxes, chainsaw holders and crab-like timber pincers to grip trunks.

Chainsaw holder and toolbox © MAG/Oliver Mark