Request for Quote Template for Forestry Attachments

A forestry attachment quotation is only as good as the information behind it. Send a supplier the words “20 tonne excavator, need a mulcher” and you will receive a price for a head that fits the class, chosen on assumptions about your hydraulics, your species and your hours that nobody has written down. When that head underperforms, there is no document that says who was wrong. Send the same supplier a full carrier and site specification and the recommendation becomes carrier-specific, the assumptions become visible, and the quotation becomes something you can hold someone to. This guide gives you the data sheet to send, the list of things to demand in writing, and the method for comparing two quotations that look similar and are not.

The data sheet to send

Copy the block below, fill it in and attach it to every enquiry. The top half describes the machine that will carry the attachment; the bottom half describes the work it will do. Both halves are necessary, because carrier capability without application detail produces a technically compatible attachment that is commercially wrong, and application detail without carrier data produces a recommendation that cannot be plumbed.

CARRIER
Excavator make:
Excavator model:
Year and serial:
Operating mass (t):
Engine power (kW):
Auxiliary flow at working rpm under load (L/min):
Maximum operating pressure (bar):
Return line pressure (bar):
Case drain fitted (yes / no, line size):
Number of auxiliary circuits (single or double acting):
Quick hitch make, model and weight:
Boom and stick configuration:
Counterweight fitted:

APPLICATION
Primary application:
Tree or vegetation species:
Average stem or stump diameter (mm):
Maximum diameter (mm):
Stems or stumps per hectare:
Expected annual hours:
Terrain and ground conditions:
Typical and maximum slope:
Location (town, state) and travel radius:

Two entries deserve emphasis. The auxiliary flow figure must be the flow the circuit delivers at working pressure under load, not the pump’s headline output, for the reasons set out in hydraulic matching. Ask the carrier dealer for it in writing and pass that figure on. And the diameter fields should come from sampling rather than memory, because a median diameter and a maximum diameter describe two different machines: see maximum diameter versus production diameter for how to sample a block properly.

The application detail is what turns a category recommendation into a model recommendation. A stump program on 6 to 12 tonne carriers points at a Dipperfox SC600 rather than an SC850 Pro; dense hardwood at the top of the diameter range may point the other way and force a carrier decision as well. Species matters more in Australia than most brochures allow, which is the subject of the Australian hardwood guide.

What the supplier must confirm in writing

The quotation should not simply be a price and a model name. Ask for each of the following as a written confirmation, and keep the reply with the purchase order. Anything that cannot be confirmed is a risk you are accepting knowingly rather than discovering later.

• Exact attachment model and build specification, including every option fitted
• Carrier make, model and year used for the compatibility assessment
• Minimum and maximum continuous hydraulic flow
• Required operating pressure
• Maximum permitted backpressure on return and case drain
• Whether a case drain is required, and its line and coupler size
• Number and type of auxiliary circuits required
• Electrical requirements, including cab switching and any control module
• Attachment weight in the exact ordered configuration
• Bracket and quick-hitch weight
• Rotator weight where applicable
• Additional counterweight requirements
• Hose and fitting package included, with lengths and coupler type
• Guarding requirements
• Fire-suppression recommendations
• Installation and commissioning inclusions
• Operator training included
• Warranty term and any commercial-use exclusions
• Australian parts location
• Typical lead time for critical wear parts
• Field-service coverage for your operating region
• Delivered price including freight, and GST treatment
• Current model availability and manufacturing lead time

Several of these are quietly the most expensive items on the list. The weight confirmations decide what the carrier can hold at radius once bracket, hitch and rotator are added, which is the arithmetic in lift charts and attachment mass. The hose, fitting and electrical package is routinely excluded from a headline price and routinely needed, as is any second circuit. Warranty exclusions for commercial use matter to a contractor in a way they do not to a farm buyer. And parts location and wear-part lead time are the difference between a broken blade being an afternoon and being a fortnight, particularly on remote work: see wear parts to price before buying and the mobilisation consequences in transport and mobilisation.

Comparing two quotations like for like

Two prices for the same category of attachment are almost never comparable as written. Build a simple comparison sheet and normalise both before you look at the number.

Start by putting both quotations into that shape, so an attachment that arrives ready to work is compared with one that arrives needing several thousand dollars of plumbing. Then confirm that both are quoting the same build: options such as rotation, an accumulator, a tilt frame, a heel, a grapple or a different saw motor displacement change both capability and mass, and two heads in the same family with different options are different products. Confirm that both are assessed against your carrier, using the same flow figure. Confirm that both weights are stated on the same basis, because a base weight and a weight with rotator differ substantially: the Powerhand EX28 forestry grapple is published at 496 kg base and 617 kg with rotator, and a comparison that takes one figure from each supplier is meaningless.

Then look past the purchase price entirely. Wear-part cost per hour, parts availability, field-service coverage and residual value usually outweigh a few thousand dollars of purchase price across a few seasons, and total cost of ownership sets out how to convert them into a single hourly figure. A cheaper attachment with a six week wear-part lead time is not cheaper on a contract with liquidated damages.

Finally, record the assumptions each supplier made. If one has quoted on the basis that your auxiliary circuit delivers a given flow, write that down, because it is the thing you will point to if the head does not perform. A supplier confident enough to state the assumption is usually the supplier who has actually done the assessment.

Before you issue the enquiry

Two short pieces of preparation improve every quotation you receive. Use the attachment matcher to narrow the category and carrier class so your enquiry is specific, and run your expected flow and pressure through the hydraulic power calculator so you can tell immediately whether a proposed pairing is plausible. Then send the completed data sheet to every supplier on the same day, with the same deadline, and ask for the written confirmations as part of the response rather than afterwards. When you are ready, you can request a quote and attach the filled data sheet directly.

Confirm before issuing the enquiry

• Carrier auxiliary flow under load obtained in writing from the carrier dealer, not taken from the brochure
• Diameter distribution sampled on a representative block, with median and maximum recorded
• Annual hours estimated honestly, including the hours the attachment will sit idle
• Attachment options you actually want listed explicitly, so every supplier quotes the same build
• Site and access conditions described, including slope, ground and travel radius
• The same data sheet and the same deadline issued to every supplier
• Written confirmations requested as part of the quotation, not after the order
• A comparison sheet prepared that normalises delivered price, installation, commissioning and initial wear parts

Frequently asked questions