The Human Influence on Productivity in Harvester Operations

Purfürst, Thomas; Erler, Jörn

doi:10.1080/14942119.2011.10702606

Cited by 61 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Equipment operators in the current study had between seven and thirty years of experience working in similar stand conditions. Research indicates that operators can have a large effect on machine productivity ( Kärhä et al 2004, Purfürst and Erler 2011, Hiesl 2013, Hiesl and Benjamin 2013a. The effect of operators on harvester productivity has been as large as 40% (Kärhä et al 2004).…”

Section: Discussion Harvester and Feller-buncher Productivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Equipment operators in this study had between seven and thirty years of experience working in similar stand conditions. Experienced operators were chosen to minimize residual stand damage and to ensure high harvest productivity, as the operator can have a large effect on machine productivity (Kärhä et al 2004, Purfürst and Erler 2011, Hiesl 2013, Hiesl and Benjamin 2013a.…”

Section: Equipment Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating harvest costs and profit of commercial thinnings in softwood stands in west-central Maine: A case study

Hiesl

BenjaminJeffrey

RothBrian³

2015

The Forestry Chronicle

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Precommercial thinning (PCT) is a common silvicultural treatment in the management of young conifer forests. The positive effects of PCT on tree growth are well documented, however, there have been few operational studies of thinning productivity associated with later harvests in such stands and associated cost comparison with high-density, small-diameter stands. In the winters of 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 a long-term herbicide and PCT study in west-central Maine was commercially thinned using cut-to-length (CTL) and whole-tree (WT) harvesting systems in PCT and non-PCT stands, respectively. Thinning prescriptions consisted of three nominal removal intensities (33%, 50%, and 66% of the standing softwood volume) in a randomized block design with three to four replications. Stand density, basal area, hardwood content, and removal intensity were not significant in explaining variation in harvester and feller-buncher productivity. An analysis of unit cost of production indicated that wood chip production using a WT system in non-PCT stands is less costly than the production of roundwood using a CTL system in PCT stands. Profit, however, is similar for products harvested by either system. Our conclusion is that the WT system used in the study is economically feasible to treat highdensity, small-diameter stands in a commercial thinning.Keywords: PCT, non-precommercial thinning, NPCT, New England, harvester, feller-buncher, Ponsse Ergo, CAT 501 RÉSUMÉOn recourt souvent à l' éclaircie précommerciale (ÉPC) pour traiter les jeunes peuplements de résineux. Si les effets positifs de ce traitement sont bien documentés, on compte peu d' essais opérationnels comparant la productivité et les coûts de l' éclaircie combinée avec la récolte tardive dans ces mêmes peuplements à ceux pour les peuplements de forte densité et de faible diamètre. Durant les deux hivers de 2012/2013 et 2013/2014, on a effectué une éclaircie commerciale dans un bloc expérimental traité par ÉPC combinée à l'application d'herbicide dans le centre-ouest du Maine; la coupe s' est effectuée avec la méthode par bois court (BC) dans l'ÉPC, et par arbre entier (AE) dans les peuplements non éclaircis. Les règles d' éclaircie comportaient trois niveaux initiaux de prélèvement (33 %, 50 %, et 66 % du volume de résineux sur pied) dans un dispositif de blocs aléatoires avec trois ou quatre répétitions. La densité du peuplement, la surface terrière, le contenu en feuillus et le niveau de prélèvement n' ont pas affecté significativement la productivité de l'abatteuse-façonneuse et de l'abatteuse-groupeuse. L'analyse du coût unitaire de production a montré qu'il en coûte moins de produire des copeaux avec le système par AE que des billots avec le système par BC dans les peuplements éclaircis. Cependant, le profit aura été le même dans les deux cas. Nous en concluons qu'il est économiquement faisable d'utiliser la méthode de l' AE décrite dans l' étude pour effectuer une éclaircie commerciale dans les peuplements de forte densité et de faible diamètre.

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Section: Discussion Harvester and Feller-buncher Productivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Equipment Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating harvest costs and profit of commercial thinnings in softwood stands in west-central Maine: A case study

Hiesl

BenjaminJeffrey

RothBrian³

2015

The Forestry Chronicle

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“…Nevertheless, simply understanding that efficient seedling logistics is also a responsibility of the forest company might lead to greater efforts by the forest company [18]. Similar to all mechanized forestry work [37,38], the operator's skill level has a profound effect on planting machine productivity [12,14]. Thus, profitable mechanized tree planting requires access to skilled operators.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanized Tree Planting in Sweden and Finland: Current State and Key Factors for Future Growth

Ersson

Laine

Saksa

2018

Forests

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Abstract:In Fennoscandia, mechanized tree planting is time-efficient and produces high-quality regeneration. However, because of low cost-efficiency, the mechanization of Fennoscandian tree planting has been struggling. To determine key factors for its future growth, we compared the operational, planning, logistical, and organizational characteristics of mechanized planting in Sweden and Finland. Through interviews with planting machine contractors and client company foresters, we establish that mechanized tree planting in Sweden and Finland presently shares more similarities than differences. Some notable differences include typically longer planting seasons in Sweden, and a tendency towards two-shift operation and less frequent worksite pre-inspection by contractors in Finland. Because of similar challenges, mechanized planting in both countries can improve cost-efficiency through education of involved foresters, flexible information systems, efficient seedling logistics, and continued technical development of planting machines. By striving to have multiple client companies, contractors can reduce their operating radii and increase their machine utilization rates. Above all, our results provide international readers with unprecedented detailed and comprehensive figures and characteristics of Swedish and Finnish mechanized tree-planting activities. We conclude that cooperation between Sweden's and Finland's forest industries and research institutes could enhance the mechanization level of Fennoscandian tree planting.

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“…Numerous earlier forest work studies have been carried out to analyze the effect of the harvester operator on performance, and many studies have emphasized that there is a significant correlation between the work experience and skills of an operator and his/her productivity in forest machine work (e.g., [68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75]). For instance, Purfürst and Erler [74] have found out that together, the stem volume and the operator explain 84% of the total overall variation in cutting productivity, and the operator alone explains 37% of the variance. Previously, Brzózko et al [29,31] emphasized the effect of a harvester operator on cutting productivity at wind-damaged harvesting sites in Poland.…”

Section: Evaluation Of Datasets and Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, on the basis of the results of this study, it can be concluded that a big leap has not necessarily been taken in the development of forest machine technology during the last ten years. Nevertheless, when comparing the results of different forest work studies, attention must be paid to the effect of the operator and his/her skills on his/her work performance in cutting operations [68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75]. As the influence of the harvester operator on the cutting productivity in windthrown areas is significant [29,31], it is very important that the skills of operators are superior for the purpose of cutting windfalls safety and effectively.…”

Section: Evaluation Of the Main Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Salvage Logging Productivity and Costs in Windthrown Norway Spruce-Dominated Forests

Kärhä

Anttonen

Poikela

et al. 2018

Forests

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Different abiotic and biotic disturbances are expected to become more common in the future due to a warming climate. Globally, post-disturbance salvage logging is becoming more predominant to recover economic value from timber in disturbed forests. This study collected comparative time-study data and analyzed the productivity of cutting for windfalls in clear cuttings and determined the cutting costs of windfalls. Furthermore, the logging (i.e., cutting and forwarding) costs of wind-damaged trees and those of undamaged standing Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) trees in clear cuts were calculated in Finland. The results revealed that the cutting productivity of windfalls was 19-33% lower than that of undamaged stems. The cutting costs of windthrown stems with a volume of 0.3-1.5 m 3 were 35-64% higher and the logging costs of windfalls were 10-30% higher than those of undamaged standing stems. The study provided new understanding regarding the productivity and costs of salvage logging operations under Finnish conditions. Even if the logging of windfalls is expensive and laborious, salvage logging operations are important for forest stands and their health to minimize post-disaster damage outbreaks in coniferous forests, such as the damage caused by bark beetles-mainly Ips typographus L.

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The Human Influence on Productivity in Harvester Operations

Cited by 61 publications

References 4 publications

Evaluating harvest costs and profit of commercial thinnings in softwood stands in west-central Maine: A case study

Evaluating harvest costs and profit of commercial thinnings in softwood stands in west-central Maine: A case study

Mechanized Tree Planting in Sweden and Finland: Current State and Key Factors for Future Growth

Evaluation of Salvage Logging Productivity and Costs in Windthrown Norway Spruce-Dominated Forests

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