Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2010
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Helmer BelboAbstract
In this study, the efficiency of a small multi-tree felling head, mounted on a farm tractor with a timber trailer was studied, when harvesting small trees for energy in thinnings. Both separate loading and direct loading of the felled trees was studied. Time studies were carried out in a mixed stand of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) and birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh.). The time consumption of the work elements in the different work methods was formulated by regression analysis, where the independent variables were tree size and degree of accumulation. The average size of the harvested trees was 0.035 m3. The time consumption for the harvesting and loading were similar for the two studied methods, 20 minutes per m3 at a tree size of 0.035 m3, but the two methods showed different characteristics for different tree sizes and level of accumulation. The direct loading method had the highest productivity when more than 0.1 m3 were collected in the felling cycle, whereas the separate loading method had the highest productivity when less than 0.05 m3 were collected in the felling cycle. The total effective time consumption for harvesting and forwarding the biomass 300 meters to roadside landing was 27 minutes per m3. The efficiency of the initial felling and collecting of the small trees was the main challenge. Both the harvesting technique and harvesting technology needs further development to provide a feasible production chain for woodfuel from energy thinning.
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No abstract has been registered
Authors
Antti Asikainen Karl Stampfer Bruce TalbotAbstract
Large volumes of spruce-dominated forests established on steep terrain are maturing in western Norway. The level of harvesting needed in utilising these forests calls for investments in cable yarding, processing and transport systems, and updated knowledge on the appropriate technology for Norwegian conditions. In the yarding-processing-truck transport operation, the processor cannot operate if the cable yarding system does not supply trees at a sufficient rate or when the buffer storage becomes full. As a result, the productivity of the whole system is often substantially lower than those of the individual parts in the system. Discrete-event simulation has been applied successfully in the analysis of a wide variety of wood harvesting and transport systems, where the productivities of different parts in the supply chain are interlinked .....
Editors
Helmer BelboAbstract
The OSCAR network was formed in 2005 and includes five Nordic forest research institutes Metla (Finland), Mesäteho (Finland), Skogforsk (Sweden), Skov & Landskab (Denmark) and Skog og Landskap (Norway) and SILAVA (Latvia). The network is open for all relevant research bodies in the Nordic and Baltic countries. OSCAR is one of five virtual centres of advanced research financed by the Nordic Forest Research Cooperation Committee (SNS). The main target of OSCAR is increasing the excellence and critical mass of R&D within the field of forest operations research by integrating research resources and expertise, besides promoting and developing efficient, competitive and environmentally friendly forest operation systems on a joint Nordic basis....
Authors
Bruce Talbot Nils Egil Søvde H. Fridén Lars WilhelmssonAbstract
This paper builds on findings from the recently finalised work package 3.9 of the EU Indisputable Key project. Three institutes cooperated in developing intricate models spanning from the standing tree to the dispatch yard of a Swedish window manufacturer. Numerous timber properties were assigned to RFID tags, applied to the log at felling by a specially adapted harvester head. Logs were allocated to each of seven sawmills according to their timber properties using an LP based optimisation procedure. Simulation was then used to compare the fate of traced timber throughout the production lines of one of the sawmills and its downstream manufacturers.....
Authors
Kjell Andreassen Birger Solberg Øyvind JacobsenAbstract
Four forest management systems, clear cutting, mountain forest selective cutting (50-90 % of volume removed), group system and single tree selection system (20-50 % of volume removed) were compared in two Norway spruce mountain forest stands. The sites are located 650 m.a.s.l., which is about 100 meter below the alpine tree line in this region. The background for this experiment was that the forest owner wanted to examine alternatives to clear cutting with silvicultural methods where some trees were left in the stand to protect regenerating against frost, to maintain biodiversity, and for recreational reasons in such areas close to the tree line. In twenty 400 m2 systematically sampled plots we assessed or measured vegetation type, regeneration, diameter of all trees > 2.5 dbh, tree heights, annual growth from increment cores, tree quality, old stumps and windthrows. In addition, time studies of the four harvesting methods were performed close to each other in the area. The following mean values were estimated in the two stands before cutting: Area 7 hectares, volume 170 m3/ha, mean diameter 23 cm, mean height 18 m, stems 550/ha, seedlings 150/ha, productivity 3 m3/ha/yr. The diameter distribution of the two stands was almost similar to a reverse J-shaped curve, but a larger amount of trees in some medium and large diameter classes were observed. However, most of the 230 m3 harvested trees were medium and large sized. Annual increment indicated growth reactions 3 years after harvesting. The operational costs were estimated according to time studies of the harvesting and extraction of 580 trees. Analyses of net present value, where bare land value and all future revenues and expenses were estimated and discounted backwards to the harvesting year, indicates less profitability for group selection and selection system than clear cutting and mountain forest selective cutting.