Time consumption analysis of the mechanized cut-to-length harvesting system

By T. Nurminen, H. Korpunen, J. Uusitalo. 2006

386 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The time consumption and productivity of harvesting are dependent on stand conditions, the operators’ skills, working techniques and the characteristics of the forestry machinery. Even if the basic methods and machine types of the cut-to-length harvesting system have not changed significantly in 10 to 15 years, improvements in the operators’ competence, technical solutions in forest machinery and changes in the working environment have undoubtedly taken place. In this study, the objective was to discover the special characteristics in the time consumption of mechanized cutting and forest haulage in Finnish conditions. The empirical time study was conducted with professional operators and medium-sized single-grip harvesters and forwarders in final fellings and thinnings in easy terrain in central Finland. The models for effective time consumption in the work phases and total productivity were formed. Stem size, tree species and bucking affected the cutting, whereas timber density on the strip road, the average driving distance, load capacity, wood assortment and the bunching result of the harvester operator had an effect on the forest haulage performance. The results may be used in simulations, cost calculations and education.

Subfields: Agronomy and Crop Science, Global and Planetary Change, Mechanics of Materials

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/60e12efd77b0b12d20816c620f814a7bd1745a8b

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Citations in the corpus

Determining the shape of the productivity function for mechanized felling and felling-processing (2012, background): “Typical stand variables include piece size (e.g., Iwaoka et al. 1999; Wang and Haarla 2002; Visser and Stampfer 2003; Nurminen et al. 2006), stocking density and thinning intensity (Eliasson 1999), type of cut and total volume (Suadicani and Fjeld 2001).”
Estimating harvester productivity in Pinus radiata plantations using StanForD stem files (2013, methodology): “Few such models have been developed (e.g. Combining studies-Nurminen et al., 2006; Spinelli et al., 2010).”
Effects of the number of assortments and log concentration on time consumption for forwarding (2013, background): “However, the low data resolution in respect of log concentration and the assortment proportions in previous studies (Table 1) does not allow for such conclusions to be drawn safely (c.f. Kellogg and Bettinger 1994; Kuitto et al. 1994; Nurminen et al. 2006).”
Comparison of two harvesting systems for the production of forest biomass from the thinning of Picea abies plantations (2010, background): “The introduction of mechanized harvesting units in the late 1970s dramatically increased the felling and processing productivity (Åkerman, 1976), and the increase has been most significant with small to medium-sized trees (Tufts & Brinker, 1993; Nurminen et al., 2006).”