Ponsse, a manufacturer of forest machines, has developed a new technology solution for forest regeneration. The PONSSE Buffalo Planter is a tillage and planting unit mounted on the frame of a forest machine, enabling mechanised and automated planting. This is the first tree-planting innovation in the company’s history. 

“The Buffalo Planter is Ponsse’s solution for mechanised forest regeneration, with the entire planting process carried out by a single machine. “Built on the Ponsse Buffalo forwarder platform, the planting machine performs spot tillage, plants the seedlings and waters them – all in one seamless process,” says Juha Inberg, Ponsse’s Chief R&D and Technology Officer.  

Ponsse aims for better support for the forest life cycle 

Developing the Buffalo Planter marks a new step for Ponsse, moving from harvesting technology into forest regeneration solutions and broader life-cycle support. In the first phase, the primary market for the planting machine is South America, where its benefits are most evident on plantation sites. 

“The Buffalo Planter improves the productivity and cost-efficiency of forest regeneration by enabling large areas to be planted in a shorter time. The automated planting process ensures a high-quality and consistent planting result, creating good conditions for seedling growth and reducing the need for later replanting. Outside the planting season, the system can be converted back into a conventional forwarder, which improves the machine’s utilisation rate,” says Inberg. 

The new planting machine has a reliable and familiar foundation: the Buffalo has long been Ponsse’s most popular forwarder model.  

Focus on the operator 

In addition to speeding up the work, the Buffalo Planter brings safety and ergonomic benefits to the planting process. Digital systems support the monitoring, reporting and documentation of work. To ensure the high quality of the work, the cameras installed on the planting device transmit information about ground-level events to the operator in the cabin. Thanks to automation, only one person is needed to control the Buffalo Planter and carry out the planting work: the operator of the machine. 

• The planting system consists of four planters, two on each side of the machine.  

• Each unit has a separate tillage head, as well as a planting head that takes care of planting, watering and compacting the seedlings.  

• The planting interval of the trees is adjustable both laterally and in the direction of travel.  

• The seedlings are fed through four seedling cassettes with a total capacity of up to 960 seedlings per load.  

• With spot mounding, the working rate is around 750 seedlings per hour, while without tillage, the machine can plant around 1,300 seedlings per hour. 

The innovative Buffalo Planter was developed in collaboration with Ponsse’s technology company Epec and Novelquip Forestry, a South African company specialising in planting equipment. 

Further information for the media: 
Mr. Juha Inberg 
Chief R&D and Technology Officer 
Ponsse Plc 
Tel. +358 400 661 368 
juha.inberg@ponsse.com   

Ponsse Plc is a company specialising in the sales, manufacture, servicing and technology of cut-to-length method forest machines and is driven by genuine interest in its customers and their business.Ponsse develops and manufactures sustainable and innovative harvesting solutions based on customers’ needs.

The company was established by forest machine entrepreneur Einari Vidgren in 1970, and it has been a leader in timber harvesting solutions based on the cut-to-length method ever since.Ponsse is headquartered in Vieremä, Finland.The company’s shares are quoted on the Nasdaq Nordic list.