Vimek launches six-wheeler versions of popular machines

Vimek’s 470 harvester has become a popular feature in first thinning thanks to its agility in the stand.

At Elmia Wood 2025, the same machine premiered, but with one important difference: six wheels instead of four.

This gives a much more stable harvester and lower ground pressure. At the same time, the excellent driving characteristics are maintained, said Åsa Eriksson, Technical Information Officer at Vimek.

Vimek is also developing its largest forwarder, the 870.2, in the same way. But this one is downsizing from eight wheels to six.

Incredibly manoeuvrable and agile in the forest stand. But still powerful. 6WD, as we call it, is an interesting complement. Both the harvester and the forwarder are available with the six-wheel concept or their previous versions with four or eight wheels, said Johannes Nilsson, CEO of Vimek.

Increasing demand from forest owners

Vimek’s machines have their roots in Vindeln, Västerbotten county, in northern Sweden. Development and manufacturing take place in Vindeln.

Sweden is large and has varying forestry conditions. With the 6-wheel concept, we are expanding further. We have customers both on the contractor side and on the forest owner side. We’re seeing increasing demand from forest owners who work in the forest themselves and constantly want better machines, said Johannes Nilsson.

Best in first thinning

The 470 6WD and 807.2 6WD perform best in first thinning. The combination of agility and performance is hard to beat when the machines operate in young forests.

And the response from visitors to the fair?

Forest owners like this size of machine. And in the end, the forest owner is our customer – after all, it is in their forest that our machines will achieve good results. Even if the machine is owned by the contractor, the forestry company, or the forest owner himself, the result in the forest is most important. And we know that the new 6WD concept delivers, ended Johannes Nilsson.