Speaker
Description
In Mediterranean forestry, thinning of pine forests is mainly done with traditional harvesting system (THS) due to its versatility and low investment and relocation costs compared to specialized machinery. However, THS is based on winch coupled to farm tractor with a large share of manual work for felling and processing tasks. The increasing lack of workforce for these activities may be solved with the introduction of highly mechanized systems. In this context, light multipurpose machinery harvesting system (LMM) may be a valuable alternative, providing a fully mechanized solution with an affordable initial investment and limited relocation costs. To assess its feasibility the performance of a LMM constituted by a unique harvester-forwarder combi machine, has been compared to the THS. The results show highest overall productivities of THS (2.87 m3/PMH15) compared to LMM (2.3 m3/PMH15). Yet, due to the higher hourly cost of the traditional system overall harvesting costs are lower in the LMM (38.8 €/m3) than in THS (39.7 €/m3). Additionally, LMM provides a larger number of timber assortments, leading to a higher value recovery with a difference of 4.5 €/m3 compared to THS. This provides an economic balance per m3 over threefold higher in LMM. Concerning damage assessment, the THS caused higher number of injured trees (8.5%) compared to LMM (2.8%), yet in both cases overall damages to the remaining stand are limited.
| Keywords | Light-machinery; Productivity; Thinning; Damage |
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