Operational Costs of Mid-Performance Forwarders in Czech Forest Bioeconomy

Dvořák, Jiří; Martin, Jay K.; Chytrý, Martin; Nuhlíček, Ondřej; Natov, Pavel; Kormanek, Mariusz; Löwe, Radim

doi:10.3390/f12040435

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Soil compaction can degrade environmental quality (bulk density and porosity) of various soil microorganisms and biota, thereby limiting their growth (Kretzschmar, 1991;Tan et al, 2008;Frey et al, 2009;Ugawa et al, 2020). The economic effect and the working safety are currently the criteria for evaluating economic activity, and this fact explains the rapidly increasing share of harvesting technologies used in forestry sector (Dvořák et al, 2019). However, the emphasis on the economic effect of production operations is in contrast to the impact on energy consumption and the global warming criterion.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment approach of silviculture and timber harvesting of Norway spruce – a case study in the Czech Republic

Hájek,

Pulkrab,

Purwestri

et al. 2024

Front. For. Glob. Change

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Compared to other sectors, the long rotation period in forest management makes it difficult to carry out a life cycle assessment (LCA). Data collection is not possible in a short time frame but would require decades. For this reason, forestry is often forced to rely on secondary data. To address this challenge, environmental impacts of the forestry sector in the Czech Republic were investigated according to the value chain corresponding to silvicultural and harvesting processes, without any further wood use options. The methodological procedure is based on the ISO 14040 and 14,044 standards, using SimaPro, an LCA software. The study was carried out in four phases of LCA in the scope of cradle-to-gate and focused on the early stages of the product life cycle. The system boundaries were set up to include seed collection, seedling production, establishment and tending of young forest stands up to 20 years of age, thinning, harvesting, maintenance of roads and extraction trails, with the endpoint is the hauling place. Three scenarios have been defined that differ in the method of harvesting. Scenario I– chainsaw felling, horse extraction. Scenario II– chainsaw (90% of hours worked) and harvester (10% of hour-worked), tractor extraction. Scenario III– chainsaw (23% of hour-worked) and harvester (77% of hour-worked), extraction by a tractor with a winch. The results show that the maintenance of the forest road network holds a significant share of the overall environmental impact of forest management. Other significant consequences are associated with timber harvesting. These impacts vary considerably depending on the mechanical equipment used. The highest impact was recorded for the third scenario, still, it is practically the most often applied, as it is the most cost-effective. The results show the need to optimize forest management practices in the future both from an economic and environmental point of view. The work on the life cycle assessment was particularly challenging because the silviculture and harvesting of raw timber involve 20 production operations. This research was based on long-term knowledge of forest typology, forest management planning, forest economics, experience with forest technologies, and regulatory measures. Thus, the findings serve for further analysis of LCA in timber production, and future analysis for other forest ecosystem services.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment approach of silviculture and timber harvesting of Norway spruce – a case study in the Czech Republic

Hájek,

Pulkrab,

Purwestri

et al. 2024

Front. For. Glob. Change

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“…In 2011, 380 harvesters were in operation in Czechia, in 2014-494 units, and in 2015-531 units [10][11][12]. The share of the CTL method in Czechia was 51% in the year 2021 [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of MHT9002HV Tracked Harvester on Forest Soil after Logging in Steeply Sloping Terrain

Kormanek

Dvořák

Tylek

et al. 2023

Forests

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The article presents the results of measurements regarding the impact of the MHT9002HV tracked harvester on surface deformations and changing the physical parameters of the soil of three operational trails. The measurements were made in the terrain with a longitudinal slope of up to 14.9° (33.2%) and a transverse slope of up to 8.8° (17.9%). Spruce deadwood trees in mountain forest habitats were harvested. Static Eijkelkamp Penetrologger 0615SA and dynamic own design penetrometer were used to measure penetration resistance, soil samples were taken to determine bulk density, moisture content, and ground deformations on the trails were measured with a laser profilometer. A statistically significant increase in soil penetration resistance measured with penetrometers occurred for trails in the left rut at a depth of 16–20 cm. The change in the bulk density and moisture content proved statistically insignificant. The maximum ground deformation on the trails reached an average of 5.9 cm. The selection of a machine with low unit pressures (33 kPa), under the given favorable atmospheric conditions (there was a high temperature reaching 35 °C), with low soil moisture, protective organic layer of high thickness, and post-limbing residues, was optimal. The comparison of the results of the compactness measurements made with different penetrometers shows that the values obtained for the static penetrometer 0615SA are lower than those of the dynamic penetrometer of our own design. This is due to the lack of registration of high compactness in the memory of the 0615SA device. In the case of the impact penetrometer measurement, this problem does not occur, however, the presented solution does not allow performing a large number of measurements, and data processing in the case of such a simple solution is tedious. There is a need to develop a new penetrometer useful for determining soil compaction under similar difficult measurement conditions.

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“…Fuel cost is indeed one of the strongest concerns of harvesting contractors [3]. It accounts for about 20% of total logging cost [4][5][6] and is subject to large fluctuations that amplify business risk. Fully mechanized groundbased harvesting requires between 1.2 and 2.8 L of diesel per m 3 , depending on forest type and work conditions [7,8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fuel and Time Consumption in Alpine Cable Yarder Operations

Spinelli

Magagnotti

Cosola³

et al. 2022

Forests

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A survey was conducted on 12 cable yarding operations in northern Italy, with the purpose of determining fuel consumption and time use. The observation unit was the individual operation, intended as all the activities needed to complete the harvesting of a sale (mean = 500 m3 of timber). All teams were equipped with a tower yarder, an excavator-based loader or processor and a truck or a tractor with trailer, if intermediate transportation to a larger roadside landing (two-staging) was required. The crew size was 3 or 4 operators. Time and fuel use were recorded separately for the following tasks: relocation; set up & dismantle; commuting; yarding; processing and/or loading; major delay events. Fuel consumption averaged 5.1 L m−3, of which 2.2 L m−3 was incurred by two-staging. In general, the yarder accounted for less than half the total fuel consumption of the operation: the processor was indeed the main consumer. Relocation had a very small incidence on time and fuel use. Set up and dismantle did not incur significant fuel consumption but occupied a meaningful share of total time (mean = 22%). Commuting also incurred unexpectedly large (and generally neglected) fuel and time use—with means at 13% and 7%, respectively. Technology developments aimed at reducing fuel consumption should target both main consumers: the yarder as well as the excavator-based processor. Significant benefits would also be achieved through improved planning and infrastructure development, aimed at minimizing the need for intermediate transportation (i.e. two-staging).

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Operational Costs of Mid-Performance Forwarders in Czech Forest Bioeconomy

Cited by 6 publications

References 26 publications

Life cycle assessment approach of silviculture and timber harvesting of Norway spruce – a case study in the Czech Republic

Life cycle assessment approach of silviculture and timber harvesting of Norway spruce – a case study in the Czech Republic

Impact of MHT9002HV Tracked Harvester on Forest Soil after Logging in Steeply Sloping Terrain

Fuel and Time Consumption in Alpine Cable Yarder Operations

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