265
Views
22
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

Productivity and Cutting Costs of Thinning Harvesters

, &
Pages 43-56 | Published online: 18 Jun 2013
 

Abstract

High harvesting costs are the main problems in first thinnings. Machines with lower operating costs could be one potential solution for cost-efficient first thinnings. The research investigated the productivity of the four most widely used small harvesters, i.e. thinning harvesters, and their cutting costs. Data were also collected on the productivity relationships between working methods and the differences between operators. In the time studies involving thinning harvesters, the Nokka Profi and Timberjack 770 represented the larger, more expensive machines, while the Sampo-Rosenlew 1046X and Valtra Forest 120 represented the more compact, less expensive thinning harvesters.

The productivity per operating hour (E15 including delay times shorter than 15 minutes) of the thinning harvesters was found to be 5.6–10.3 m3/E15 (stem size 50–100 dm3) in first thinnings and 9.1–12.7 m3/E15 (100–150 m3) in second thinnings. The productivity figures of the individual machines were similar. The differences were mainly attributable to the operators. The time study showed that the differences between operators using the same machines were as great as 40%.

The cutting costs for the thinning harvesters were 7.5–14.2 US$/m3 (50–100 dm3) in first thinnings when using the Nokka/Timberjack machine group. The corresponding costs for the Sampo/Valtra machine group were 5.7 and 10.5 US$/m3. It would appear that thinning harvesters can be operated at the same productivity level of medium-sized harvesters in thinnings and, consequently, they can be run at cutting costs lower than those of medium-sized harvesters.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.