Increase of forwarding productivity and reduction of tree damages in thinning by use of loading grapple with tilt function

Kaleja, Santa; Petaja, Guna; Zimelis, Agris; Puzuls, Kalvis

doi:10.22616/erdev2018.17.n148

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…However, using a "tilt-grapple" together with the Assortment Grapple could perhaps reduce the extra time required. The tilt-grapple enables a bunch of logs to be tilted vertically into an upright position, which means that they can be steered more easily around remaining trees during the loading-crane cycles (Häggström et al 2016;Kaleja et al 2018).…”

Section: The Assortment Grapple's Development Potentialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovative productivity improvements in forest operations: a comparative study of the Assortment Grapple using a machine simulator

Manner¹,

Berg²,

Englund³

et al. 2020

J. For. Sci.

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Because of generally small log piles, loading forwarders during thinning is time consuming. The Assortment Grapple, an innovative grapple with an extra pair of claws which facilitates the handling of two assortments during one loading crane cycle, has been designed to decrease forwarders’ loading time consumption. A standardized experiment was performed in a virtual thinning stand using a machine simulator with the objectives to form guidelines for working with the Assortment Grapple and to analyse its development potential. Four experienced operators participated in the study. According to the results, the Assortment Grapple’s accumulating function is beneficial only when there are no remaining trees between piles loaded during the same crane cycle. In such cases, none of participating operators lost time, and 3 of 4 operators saved time notably. The problem with the remaining trees is the extra time required to steer the crane tip around them. Therefore, a harvester should place those log piles that are later to be forwarded together in the same space with no remaining trees between the piles. Furthermore, we recommend that the Assortment Grapple’s usability will be improved by adding an own rocker switch on the forwarder’s controls to command the extra claws.

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Section: The Assortment Grapple's Development Potentialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovative productivity improvements in forest operations: a comparative study of the Assortment Grapple using a machine simulator

Manner¹,

Berg²,

Englund³

et al. 2020

J. For. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A forwarder picks up the logs and delivers them to a roadside landing. In general, crane work (rather than driving) is the most time-consuming work element in forwarding (Kellogg and Bettinger 1994;Nurminen et al 2006;Brunberg and Lundström 2016;Manner et al 2016). Nevertheless, the time required for driving and crane work depends on many factors, including the terrain conditions, extraction distance, assortment-specific log concentrations at the harvesting site, and the assortment combination of the load (Manner et al 2013;Manner et al 2016;Strandgard et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lindroos and Wästerlund 2014). Alternatively, the need for multiple passes (and hence the impact on soil) can be reduced by increasing the number of assortments transported in a load (Kellogg and Bettinger 1994;Manner et al 2013). However, increasing the number of assortments in a load complicates the crane work (Nurminen et al 2006;Manner et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing forwarder boom-control systems based on an automatically recorded follow-up dataset

Manner¹,

Mörk²,

Englund³

2019

Silva Fenn.

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Highlights• Boom-tip control saves time compared to the conventional system. • This study introduced a field-study design enabling establishment of causal relationships during ordinary forwarding operations. • Although the study design requires some extra arrangements, it efficiently combines the representativeness of conventional follow-up datasets with establishment of causal relationships that traditionally have been possible only through observational time studies or standardized experiments. AbstractCrane work is the most time-consuming work element in forwarding. Hence, assist systems like boom-tip control are of interest. The first commercially available boom-tip control for forwarders was introduced in 2013. In this study we analysed whether replacing conventional boom control (CBC) with John Deere's version of boom-tip control (named Intelligent Boom Control, IBC), increases crane-work productivity. We used data automatically gathered from 10 final-felling stands, covering typical logging conditions for southern, central and northern Sweden. Two John Deere 1510E and two John Deere 1910G forwarders were operated by seven experienced operators during the follow-up study, covering 1238 loads in total. A split-plot design was applied to isolate effects of the boom-control system being used (CBC, IBC). We found that using IBC for loading work (crane work and driving included) saved 5.2% of productive machine time compared to using CBC (p ≤ 0.05). The corresponding saving when using IBC for unloading work was 7.9% (p ≤ 0.05). Depending on geophysical factors, this corresponds to approximately 4% savings in productive machine time for forwarding as a whole, including pure transport (with and without load). Moreover, the study introduced in cut-to-length context a novel field-study design to collect a large follow-up dataset in the course of ordinary forwarding operations. We found the study design to be a cost-efficient way to combine the representativeness of conventional follow-up datasets with the ability to establish causal relationships. Establishment of causal relationships has traditionally been possible only through observational time studies or standardized experiments. Silva Fennica vol. 53 no. 2 article id 10161 · Manner et al. · Comparing forwarder boom-control systems based …

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Performance of Forwarding Operations in Biomass Recovery from Apple Orchards

Cataldo

Marcu

Iordache

et al. 2022

Small-scale Forestry

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In recent decades, the use of forwarders in agroforestry systems has been increasing. In agroforestry systems, the possibility to use these machines in various operational contexts allows the reduction of hourly costs and favors its use also in small enterprises. In Europe, agroforestry or farm forestry represents an important resource that offers alternative and more sustainable land uses in agricultural or forestry areas. By covering large areas, fruit orchards represent an important source of income, but they require annual pruning which leaves abundant residues on the ground. And when fruit production declines, the trees are dismantled to make room for new ones. This study evaluated the performance of biomass recovery from dismantled apple orchards using a HSM 208 F forwarder. Time studies were implemented to estimate the productivity and fuel consumption of forwarding operations. Data was collected by means of a GPS unit, a video camera and an electric fuel pump, and 30 work cycles divided into elemental tasks were monitored. Models for time consumption and productivity as a function of extraction distance were developed by means of least-square simple regression, at different scales needed to characterize the forwarding operations. The average forwarding distance was of ca. 830 m and the net and gross forwarding production rates were of 21.79 and 15.35 loose m3 h − 1 (volume of woodchips produced), respectively. The study provides reference data for forwarding operations and demonstrates the successful use of forestry machines in the agricultural sector.

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Increase of forwarding productivity and reduction of tree damages in thinning by use of loading grapple with tilt function

Cited by 3 publications

References 4 publications

Innovative productivity improvements in forest operations: a comparative study of the Assortment Grapple using a machine simulator

Innovative productivity improvements in forest operations: a comparative study of the Assortment Grapple using a machine simulator

Comparing forwarder boom-control systems based on an automatically recorded follow-up dataset

Performance of Forwarding Operations in Biomass Recovery from Apple Orchards

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