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Machinery SpecialistForestry Attachment GuideQuote

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Which attachments will your machine actually run?

Most disappointing attachment purchases trace back to a buyer who knew the machine weight and guessed the other two numbers. Enter all three and the shortlist writes itself.

The three numbers

Read it off the machine plate, not the brochure.

Circuits fitted

4of eight categories suit this 8 t carrier at 70 L/min with the circuits you have listed. Add a case drain or a second circuit and the list changes.

The circuit is the constraint, not the weight

Forestry attachments differ sharply in what they demand from the hydraulic circuit, and a machine inside the published weight band still cannot run a tool whose circuit it does not have. These are the four configurations, drawn to the same scale.

The four forestry attachment hydraulic circuit typesSingle-acting runs one line between carrier and tool. Hammer line plus case drain adds a third, low-pressure return that takes motor leakage back to tank. Double-acting runs two lines so the tool can be powered open and closed. Dual circuit runs three, separating the saw supply from the grapple and rotation supply.CARRIERTOOLSINGLE-ACTINGCARRIERTOOLCASE DRAINHAMMER LINE + CASE DRAINCARRIERTOOLDOUBLE-ACTINGCARRIERTOOLDUAL CIRCUIT

Single-acting

Oil out, oil back, one direction

Mulchers, most trimmers

Hammer line + case drain

Third low-pressure line returns motor leakage to tank

Grinders, cutters, piston-motor tools

Double-acting

Powered both ways, so the tool opens and closes

Grabs, shears, pruners

Dual circuit

Saw line plus a separate grapple and rotation supply

Grapple saws

Every published carrier range on one axis

Carrier weight, tonnes

Published operating machine ranges, plotted on a log scale so the detail below ten tonnes stays readable. Find your machine on the axis and read down.

12510203050

How this is calculated

Carrier range is the hard gate

Published operating machine ranges come from the manufacturer figures quoted in each category guide. Outside the range means outside the range: undersize the carrier and you get tip-over risk, hydraulic starvation and a slow tool; oversize it and you overload the attachment structure until something cracks.

Circuit availability is the second gate

Each category needs a specific circuit — single-acting, hammer line plus case drain, double-acting, or dual. If you have not listed that circuit on the machine, the category is excluded rather than flagged, because fitting one is a workshop job with a real cost.

Flow windows are indicative

Flow narrows the shortlist, it does not replace a spec sheet. The one figure published in these guides is the OMEF GS grapple saw range, which runs from 15 to 50 L/min on the smallest model up to 160 L/min on the largest. Confirm the model-specific figure before you sign.

Send these numbers for a shortlist →Full compatibility matrix