https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2023.1419

Productivity analysis and costs of wheel cable skidder during salvage logging in European beech stand

Vol. 54 No. 2 (2023)
Published: 1 August 2023
Post-disturbance, damaged timber, forest operation, timber harvesting, ground-based systems
Abstract Views: 664
PDF: 279
HTML: 80
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

Stanimir Stoilov
Department of Technologies and Mechanization of Forestry, University of Forestry, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Salvatore F. Papandrea
salvatore.papandrea@unirc.it
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2974-7760
Department of AGRARIA, Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Italy.
Georgi Angelov
Department of Technologies and Mechanization of Forestry, University of Forestry, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Delyan Oslekov
Department of Technologies and Mechanization of Forestry, University of Forestry, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Giuseppe Zimbalatti
Department of AGRARIA, Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Italy.
Andrea R. Proto
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4630-8986
Department of AGRARIA, Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Italy.

Salvage logging is increasing in Central Europe because of the growth of severe meteorological events, and timber harvesting in these conditions is challenging in terms of both productivity performances and safety of the operations. In recent years, with the increase of natural calamities, several researchers studied machinery productivity performances regarding salvage logging carried out by ground-based systems. In fact, a common post-disturbance management approach is salvage logging which consists of the widespread removal of damaged trees. In this research, system productivity and the cost of salvage logging are analysed in European beech stands affected by wet snow. The accretion of heavy wet snow poses the greatest risk to forests in the Northern Hemisphere. This type of snow attaches more effectively to tree crowns and branches when temperatures are close to freezing at the time of precipitation. As a result, trees may break or bend and may be uprooted when the soil is unfrozen. This study has been implemented to evaluate the productivity and cost-effectiveness of extraction in salvage logging deployed with a skidder in beech stands affected by two different types of wet snow damage. The results show that the productivity of the four-wheel-drive cable skidder, despite operating in salvage cutting with a removal intensity of 10%, is 14.73 m3·SMH–1, similar to skidder performances in ‘ordinary’ cuttings. Skidder’s productive time was 86% of the scheduled time, whereas the delays were due to organisational reasons, mechanical delays, and adverse weather conditions. The mean travel speed of the cable skidder obtained in this study is close to the results obtained from other studies on similar machines. The costs per unit are lower than effective cost consumptions for the other cable skidders and agricultural tractors, adapted for skidding operated in hardwood salvage logging. Therefore, under the given conditions, the operation of the fourwheel-drive cable skidder is viable from a silvicultural, technical, and economic point of view in the salvage operation logging.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC
Ackerman P., Belbo H., Eliasson L., de Jong A., Lazdiņš A., Lyons J. 2014. The COST model for calculation of forest operations costs. Int. J. Forest Engine. 25:75-81. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14942119.2014.903711
Bodaghi A.I., Nikooy M., Naghdi R., Venanzi R., Latterini F., Tavankar F., Picchio R. 2018. Ground based extraction on salvage logging in two high forests: a productivity and cost analysis. Forests 9:729:1-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/f9120729
Borz S.A., Ignea G., Popa B., Dinulică F. 2013: Time consumption and productivity of skidding Silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) round wood in reduced accessibility conditions: a case study in windthrow salvage logging from Romanian Carpathians. Ann. Forest Res. 56:363-75.
Borz S.A., Ignea G., Popa B. 2014. Assessing timber skidding efficiency in a group shelterwood system applied to a fir-beech stand. Afr. J. Agric. Res. 9:160-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5897/AJAR2013.7537
Borz S.A., Ignea G., Popa B., Spârchez G., Iordache E. 2015. Estimating time consumption and productivity of roundwood skidding in group shelterwood system - a case study in a broadleaved mixed stand located in reduced accessibility conditions.
Croat. J. Forest Engine. J. Theory Appl. Forest. Engine. 36:137-46.
Cadei A., Mologni O., Marchi L., Sforza F., Röser D., Cavalli R., Grigolato S. 2021. Energy efficiency of a hybrid cable yarding system: A case study in the North-Eastern Italian Alps under real working conditions. J. Agric. Engine. 52:3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2021.1185
Cadei A., Mologni O., Röser D., Cavalli R., Grigolato S. 2020. Forwarder productivity in salvage logging operations in difficult terrain. Forests 11:341. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/f11030341
Carbaugh E., Hensle A. 2005. Farm tractor harvesting systems; college of natural resources. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA, p. 7.
Cataldo M.F., Proto A.R., Macrì G, Zimbalatti G. 2020. Evaluation of different wood harvesting systems in typical Mediterranean small-scale forests: a Southern Italian case study. Ann. Silvicult. Res. 45:1-11.
Georgiev D., Stoilov S. 2007. Wheel cable skidder productivity in selection sylvicultural system. pp 70-74 in Proc. International Symposium ‘Sustainable forestry - problems and challenges’, 24-26.10.2007, Ohrid, FYR of Macedonia.
Kramer K., Brang P., Bachofen H., Bugmann H., Wohlgemuth T. 2014. Site factors are more important than salvage logging for tree regeneration after wind disturbance in Central European forests. For. Ecol. Manag. 331:116–28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2014.08.002
Kärhä K., Anttonen T., Poikela A, Palander T., Laurén A., Peltola H., Nuutinen Y. 2018. Evaluation of salvage logging productivity and costs in windthrown norway spruce-dominated forests. Forests 9:280. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/f9050280
Magagnotti N., Picchi G., Spinelli R. 2013. A versatile machine system for salvaging small-scale forest windthrow. Biosyst. Eng. 115:381-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2013.05.003
Olsen E.D., Hossain M.M., Miller M.E. 1998. Statistical comparison of methods used in harvesting work studies. College of Forestry, Forest Research Laboratory, Oregon State University Corvallis, OR, USA.
Orlovský L., Messingerová V., Danihelová Z. 2020. Analysis of the time efficiency of skidding technology based on the skidders. Central Eur. Forest. J. 66:177-87. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/forj-2020-0016
Proto A.R., Skoupy A., Macri G., Zimbalatti G. 2016. Time consumption and productivity of a medium size mobile tower yarder in downhill and uphill configurations: a case study in Czech Republic. J. Agric. Engine. 47:216-21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2016.551
Proto A.R., Macrì G., Visser R., Russo D, Zimbalatti G. 2018. Comparison of timber extraction productivity between winch and grapple skidding: a case study in Southern Italian Forests. Forests 61:3-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/f9020061
Schelhaas M.J., Nabuurs G.J., Schuck A. 2003. Natural disturbances in the European forests in the 19th and 20th centuries. Glob. Chang. Biol. 9:1620-33. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2486.2003.00684.x
Schmiegelow F.K., Stepnisky D.P., Stambaugh C.A., Koivula M. 2006. Reconciling salvage logging of boreal forests with a natural- disturbance management model. Conserv. Biol. J. Soc. Conserv. Biol. 20:971-83. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00496.x
Spinelli R., Magagnotti N. 2012. Wood extraction with farm tractor and sulky: estimating productivity; cost and energy consumption. Small-Scale Forest. 11:73-85. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-011-9169-8
Spinelli R., Magagnotti N. 2011. The effects of introducing modern technology on the financial, labour and energy performance of forest operations in the Italian Alps. Forest Policy Econ. 13:520-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2011.06.009
Stoilov S., Proto A.R., Angelov G., Papandrea S.F., Borz S.A. 2021. Evaluation of salvage logging productivity and costs in the sensitive forests of Bulgaria. Forests 12:309. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/f12030309
Stoilov S. 2021. Logging equipment in Bulgaria - current state and future prospective. Forest. Ideas 61:19-28.
Stoilov S., Krumov T. 2016. Study of wheel cable skidder productivity in West Balkan Mountains. Manage. Sustain. Develop. 61:103-7. [In Bulgarian].
Stokes B.J., Ashmore C., Rawlins C.L., Sirois D.L. 1989. Glossary of terms used in timber harvesting and forest engineering. Gen. Tech. Rep. SO - 73. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station, New Orleans, LA, USA, 33 p. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2737/SO-GTR-73
Thorn S., Bässler C., Svoboda M., Müller J. 2017. Effects of natural disturbances and salvage logging on biodiversity - Lessons from the Bohemian Forest. Forest Ecol. Manage. 388:113-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2016.06.006
Wang J., Long C., McNeel J., Baumgras J. 2004. Productivity and cost of manual felling and cable skidding in central Appalachian hardwood forests. Forest Prod. J. 54:45-51.
Zhu Y., Liu S., Yan W., Deng D., Zhou G., Zhao M., Xie M. 2022. Impact of ice-storms and subsequent salvage logging on the productivity of Cunninghamia lanceolata (Chinese Fir) forests. Forests 13:296. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/f13020296

How to Cite

Stoilov, S. . (2023) “Productivity analysis and costs of wheel cable skidder during salvage logging in European beech stand”, Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 54(2). doi: 10.4081/jae.2023.1419.
Copyright (c) 2023 the Author(s) Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.


Similar Articles

<< < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.