Western Star 4900 Logger Review

The La Trobe River glistened in the dawn light, as the 4900 Constellation Western Star wound its way northeast out of Rosedale. The smooth run on the bitumen would take us as far as Maffra, roughly 40 kilometers away, from here we’d head left where the narrow bitumen quickly gives way to a well-used gravel road that winds its way up into the mountains.

Paul has lived in the area all his life and been logging for most of it. This is his second Western Star and with a little over two years bush work under its belt Paul admits he’s more than happy with the Star’s performance, ride and reliability.

Paul drives for Leeson’s Logging and Cartage, based in the small country town of Rosedale roughly 200 kilometers east of Melbourne. They harvest approximately 200,000 tonnes of softwood and 40,000 tonnes of hardwood using sophisticated harvesters that fall the tree, strip the limbs and then cross cut the log into the most value added product.

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The logs are then picked up using eight-wheel drive log Forwarders and placed onto the roadside for loading via a specialised loading machine.

The heart of this 4900 Western Star is a Cummins ‘Signature’ rated at 600 horsepower coupled to an Eaton (2050lb) 18-speed transmission that drives Meritor RT46-160 rear axles riding on an Airliner suspension.

Inside the cabin, the ride was smooth and quiet with only the gentle hum of the Cummins out under the hood audible, which made for pleasant conversation.

Paul’s local knowledge is one of pride that encompasses his community, his job and it sustainability. He told us that, logging in the Maffra-Heyfield area commenced as early as the 1800s.

Now well up into the mountains, deep corrugations in the road below were really putting the Airliner suspension to work. Apart from the odd rattle from the bolters on the trailers behind there was nothing inside the cab to indicate the road had deteriorated.

“It is a really well put together truck,” Paul said. “I’ve been really impressed with its overall performance and so far, I haven’t had any problems with any of it including the engine, which I cannot fault either.”

The ride inside the 4900 Western Star was exceptional. Paul added the handling of this truck is by the best he’s ever had. Observing his steady hand on the wheel from the rider’s seat it was easy to that its road manners were equally as impressive.

The purpose-built B-Double trailers are from Bairnsdale trailer builder Kennedy Trailers. It’s a family owned and operated business and they’ve been providing custom transport solutions for over 30 years manufacturing logging, mining and heavy transport equipment.

Garry Kennedy and sons, Lynden and Cory are at the forefront of innovation and cost awareness have invested significantly in research & development and streamlined their production processes to reduce manufacturing times.”

“These trailers were on my last Western Star,” Paul explained. “They’re well put together and very light weight and combined with the light tare weight of the Western Star means I’m getting one of the biggest payloads of all the trucks carting in this area.”

Just how big that payload is, is something Paul wasn’t keen to share, suffice to say this is probably the most profitable combination in the fleet.

Around another corner and the countryside changed once more, tall trees lined either side of the road. “They’re what they call swamp gums or Eucalyptus ovata”, Paul explained. “They are one of the softer hardwoods and are mostly used for producing veneer paneling.”

“You can see here in this clearing where they have logged this small coupe and are ready to replant it,” Paul added, pointing out the windscreen a few corners further on.

“The next coupe is left for several years, which leaves habitat for the animals and from a scenic point means the mountain side isn’t barren. A little further down the track you’ll see where timber was harvested five or so years ago and then around a bit further there is patch that was harvested ten years ago.

“As you can see it only takes a few years growth and it is very hard to tell where the harvesting has taken place.”

“These gums that are planted here are a fast-growing eucalypt tree that the forestry have developed specifically for the industry. It is not a scene of destruction but a renewable resource we have here,” Paul emphasised.

Like many loggers down this way, Paul gets a little annoyed when the community is misled with reports about how logging is destroying the forests.

“This is the third time this area has been logged,” Paul pointed out. “There has been a real evolution in the way timber is harvested and forests managed over the last four to five decades.

“You can walk around some parts of the coupe and see this evolution from the old tall stumps where the fellers would cut the shoe holes for their planks to the shorter stumps cut with the chainsaw.

“Some of them can’t see the wood for the trees,” Paul mused, referring to the extremist minority.

A call of the UHF radio broke the conversation. It was the bush crew checking his arrival time. “I’ll start heading down to the landing,” came the reply after Paul informed of his position. “Just coming in around spur three”.

Sure enough, around a few more corners a hint of red glistened through the stand of Radiata pine trees up on the ridge as the Valmet-890 log forwarder made its way down to the large stacks of logs neatly sorted on the side of the bank.

Paul eased off the throttle and nosed the Western Star into a small clearing, then selected reverse and backed alongside the log stacks. There were a couple of chains on the lead trailer to be undone, Paul selected low, eased out the clutch and then the rear trailer slowly rolled off the back.

Like most log trucks down this way, Paul’s truck is fitted with onboard scales, and the truck can be loaded accurately to the maximum weight.

Interestingly enough is how accurate Paul can load the logs, as the load is near completion, He monitors his readout as to how much weight is over each axle group. He can then move the log either forward or backward to achieve the correct axle grouping. The loading time is approximately half an hour from when the truck arrives until it is chained up ready to leave.

A whoosh of air exhausting from the spring parking brakes signaled it was time to leave, then as the big-bore Cummins under the hood bit hard and the tyres gnawed through the dust searching for traction in the soft powdery dirt track, Paul, his fully loaded 4900 Constellation Western Star slowly moved out of the landing.

It would take Paul another three or so hours to get to the mill to unload, before he’d head back for another load. Another typical day for this log-truck driver and his trusty Western Star.

In terms of drivability the package of smooth ride from the wide cabin of Western Star Constellation, the power of the Cummins engine under hood and rugged durability of the truck’s construction make it an all-round versatile logging unit.

Western Star 4900 Specs:
Engine: Cummins X15
Horsepower: 600hp (447kW) at 1900rpm
Torque: 2050 lb/ft (2779Nm) at 1000 – 1450rpm
Transmission: Eaton RTLO22918B 18-Speed
Engine Brake HP: 600hp (447kW) at 1900rpm
Front Axle: Meritor MFS73
Front Suspension: Parabolic
Rear Axle: Meritor RT46-160 with DCDL
Rear Axle Ratio: 4.56:1
Rear Suspension: Airliner
Wheels: Alcoa Alloy 10-stud
Rating: 70,000kg GCM
Bumper: Polished Alloy Bullbar
Exhaust: Dual Vertical
Cab Colour: White
Chassis Colour: Green
Interior Colour: Premium Soft Trim - Grey Graphite
Extras: Stainless Air Cleaners, stainless mirrors