With the model year update comes the introduction of a new kind of valve bank that offers several benefits. It is the same type of valve bank that was developed for C164, where it has proved to work well.

To start with, the new valve bank has a longer service life than the previous one, which has been verified in tests. The resilience against wear increases the reliability of the harvester head and contributes to more uptime and reduced costs of repairs. With the new valve bank, there will also be lower energy losses due to decreased hydraulic resistance in the valve block, which saves fuel.

Better stem holding performance during felling is another improvement, which comes from inverting the direction of oil flow in the feed system. Test operators who have tried the new Komatsu C144 say that they get more response from the head and summarize the feeling when operating as “distinct”.

The design of the saw box has been improved in a way that simplifies maintenance and increases reliability. Furthermore, the feed rate for the smaller feed roller motor (627 cc/315 cc) increases from 5 m/s to a full 6.5 m/s, which helps increase both productivity and profitability for the forest entrepreneur.