GB Titanium-XV harvester bar review

HAVING tried out a number of different harvester bars over the years, I’m familiar with what most of them can do, but the GB brand is one I’ve been curious about for a while.

Thanks to Facebook and the Forest Machine Operators Blog, I get to talk to machine operators from all over the world, who send in pictures and videos of their harvesters in action.

You can often see the distinctive orange GB bars in these pictures. People comment on them. They crop up in discussions about which bars members prefer. They’re highly recommended.

Fresh out the box.

For years now, I’ve wanted to get my hands on one to test it out, but as popular as they are in Australia, Russia and the USA, here in Ireland and the UK, it’s been impossible to find one in stock.

Hopefully that will change now that GB owner Tom Beerens has established GB Product Development in Scotland.

It was Tom himself who offered me the chance to try one of the bars out and provide an honest opinion, which is what I agreed to do. I didn’t agree to endorse it and I’m not paid in any way. It’s up to everyone to decide for themselves what bar they use (and I’m sure there are some who will rush to disagree with me) but I’m happy to give my honest opinion of this one.

Specifically, the bar I tested was a GB Titanium-XV replaceable nose harvester bar HF2-29-80XV, to suit my Waratah 415 harvesting head, which requires a narrow-tail jet-fit mount.

The bar was supplied with a Stihl chain, though I did try it with others.

GB Product Development sells Stihl chains for its bars, which is what my bar was supplied with.

According to GB, the bar’s patented 15-tooth sprocket allows for higher chain tensions, improving efficiency. It works together with its unique oil feeder grooves to reduce friction and wear, which extends the life of the tip.

READ MORE: The harvester bar manufacturer planning to beat chain shot​

The ultra-high-strength titanium alloy steel bar body reduces bending and has been proven to be the strongest harvester bar available (again, that’s according to the manufacturer).

Throughout the test, conducted in November, I was in a small crop, cutting a lot of 1.9 stakes and other short lengths.

The bar I tested was a GB Titanium-XV replaceable nose harvester bar HF2-29-80XV, to suit my Waratah 415 harvesting head.

I gave it its first turn after about 900 m³ and found it was still in good order. The bar was straight as a die. It had one small chip on the side, which was partly my fault, but it didn’t make any difference to the performance.

At 3,000 m³ it was starting to show signs of wear on the nose, but was still generally in good nick. It hadn’t bent at all and there were no kinks.

Now, I don’t like to rate bars on how many cubic metres you can cut with them. Some people reckon a bar’s good if it gets to
7,000 m³, but I rate a bar on how many cuts you can do with it, because the number of cuts you make depends on the size of the timber.

In the kind of small timber crop I was working in, to get to 3–4,000 m³ requires a lot more cuts than getting to 7,000 m³ in big timber.

In the kind of timber I was cutting, anything above 3,500 m³ was a good result.

With that in mind (and going off my experience with other bars) I decided I’d be happy enough if the GB bar got to 3,500 m³ in what I was cutting. Anything more than that would be a bonus.

In the end, the bar did just over 4000 m³ before the rails wore down. That’s the most I’ve got out of a bar in the kind of timber I’m cutting, so a good result. If I was cutting bigger trees, I’m sure I could have got 7,000 m³ out of it.

Overall, I think it’s a good bar. I like the fact that you can put the chain on with your hands with ease, without having to hammer it on or having to get a screwdriver or anything to push it on.

Towards the end, the bar began to show signs of wear, especially at the nose.

I like the way it doesn’t quiver about. It won’t bend easily and the rails don’t spread, either. They did chip a little bit, but I think that’s because of the hardness. It’s certainly a rugged bar that can take a bit of abuse. It won’t bend, believe me.

As for negatives, the nose does wear slightly behind the sprocket. I think that’s probably because it’s softer than the rest of the bar. Aside from that, the only criticism I can offer would be to GB Product Development’s marketing department. They’ve got a very good product and they could have a lot more customers in the UK and Ireland if they were willing to shout about it a bit more.

Throughout its use, the bar remained straight as a die, with no spread from the rails.

As for the chain, I tested the bar with Stihl (which it was supplied with) as well as Carlton and Oregon. Stihl is the more expensive and, while it’s a good chain, I don’t think it’s a couple of quid better than others that are out there. That’s my honest opinion.

Now the big question: Would I buy GB harvester bars? Yes, I would.

In fact, I definitely will. I don’t think I can give more of a recommendation than that.

For enquiries about GB harvester bars, contact GB Product Development on 01383 414841 or email thomas.beerens@gbbar.com.cn.

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