The Impact of Weather and Slope Conditions on the Productivity, Cost, and GHG Emissions of a Ground-Based Harvesting Operation in Mountain Hardwoods
Mountainous hardwood mixed stands offer challenges to timber harvesting operations in practice, including a harsh climate, variable topography, steep terrain, and large-sized timbers. This paper aims to develop productivity and cost models for a mountain-ground-based harvesting operation across the...
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MDPI AG
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Forests |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/12/1612 |
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| author | Sättar Ezzati Farzam Tavankar Mohammad Reza Ghaffariyan Rachele Venanzi Francesco Latterini Rodolfo Picchio |
| author_facet | Sättar Ezzati Farzam Tavankar Mohammad Reza Ghaffariyan Rachele Venanzi Francesco Latterini Rodolfo Picchio |
| author_sort | Sättar Ezzati |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Mountainous hardwood mixed stands offer challenges to timber harvesting operations in practice, including a harsh climate, variable topography, steep terrain, and large-sized timbers. This paper aims to develop productivity and cost models for a mountain-ground-based harvesting operation across the terrain (e.g., slope conditions), stand (e.g., tree volume) environmental (e.g., weather), and yard (e.g., winching distance) variables and to assess GHG emissions related to the equipment in use. This development was implemented in a timber harvesting practice under single-tree selection in mountainous forests of Iran where a motor-manual chainsaw is used for felling and a rubber-tired cable skidder is used for log extraction. The average delay-free productivity was 4.55 m<sup>3</sup> for felling and 14.73 m<sup>3</sup> h<sup>−1</sup> for skidding. Lower production costs and higher productivity rates were observed over the gentle slopes and in sunny conditions. The average production costs ranged between USD 4.27 m<sup>−3</sup> for felling and USD 5.35 m<sup>−3</sup> for skidding. The average emissions ranged between 0.96 kg m<sup>−3</sup> for felling and 7.06 kg m<sup>−3</sup> for skidding in snowy conditions over steep slopes. The study’s results confirm avoiding harvesting operations on steep slopes (greater than 35%) and in extreme weather conditions to obtain higher work efficiency and to minimize adverse effects of machinery on forest ecosystems. The results should be of use to harvest managers and forest planners considering the application of ground-based harvesting operations using a semi-mechanized system on a range of operating conditions in mountain hardwood stands. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:07:02Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:07:02Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-35ce441cd68a40a29fb9ee4de2f994d92023-11-23T08:19:55ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072021-11-011212161210.3390/f12121612The Impact of Weather and Slope Conditions on the Productivity, Cost, and GHG Emissions of a Ground-Based Harvesting Operation in Mountain HardwoodsSättar Ezzati0Farzam Tavankar1Mohammad Reza Ghaffariyan2Rachele Venanzi3Francesco Latterini4Rodolfo Picchio5Department of Forest Resource Management, Gorgān University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgān 49189-43464, IranDepartment of Forestry, Khalkhal Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khalkhal 56817-31367, IranForest Industries Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Locked Bag 4, Maroochydore, QLD 4558, AustraliaDepartment of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, ItalyConsiglio per la Ricercar in Agricoltura e L’Analisi Dell’Economia Agraria—Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari, Via della Pascolare 16, 00015 Monterotondo, ItalyDepartment of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, ItalyMountainous hardwood mixed stands offer challenges to timber harvesting operations in practice, including a harsh climate, variable topography, steep terrain, and large-sized timbers. This paper aims to develop productivity and cost models for a mountain-ground-based harvesting operation across the terrain (e.g., slope conditions), stand (e.g., tree volume) environmental (e.g., weather), and yard (e.g., winching distance) variables and to assess GHG emissions related to the equipment in use. This development was implemented in a timber harvesting practice under single-tree selection in mountainous forests of Iran where a motor-manual chainsaw is used for felling and a rubber-tired cable skidder is used for log extraction. The average delay-free productivity was 4.55 m<sup>3</sup> for felling and 14.73 m<sup>3</sup> h<sup>−1</sup> for skidding. Lower production costs and higher productivity rates were observed over the gentle slopes and in sunny conditions. The average production costs ranged between USD 4.27 m<sup>−3</sup> for felling and USD 5.35 m<sup>−3</sup> for skidding. The average emissions ranged between 0.96 kg m<sup>−3</sup> for felling and 7.06 kg m<sup>−3</sup> for skidding in snowy conditions over steep slopes. The study’s results confirm avoiding harvesting operations on steep slopes (greater than 35%) and in extreme weather conditions to obtain higher work efficiency and to minimize adverse effects of machinery on forest ecosystems. The results should be of use to harvest managers and forest planners considering the application of ground-based harvesting operations using a semi-mechanized system on a range of operating conditions in mountain hardwood stands.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/12/1612timber harvestingskidderproductivity analysissystem modelingtime studygreenhouse gas emissions |
| spellingShingle | Sättar Ezzati Farzam Tavankar Mohammad Reza Ghaffariyan Rachele Venanzi Francesco Latterini Rodolfo Picchio The Impact of Weather and Slope Conditions on the Productivity, Cost, and GHG Emissions of a Ground-Based Harvesting Operation in Mountain Hardwoods Forests timber harvesting skidder productivity analysis system modeling time study greenhouse gas emissions |
| title | The Impact of Weather and Slope Conditions on the Productivity, Cost, and GHG Emissions of a Ground-Based Harvesting Operation in Mountain Hardwoods |
| title_full | The Impact of Weather and Slope Conditions on the Productivity, Cost, and GHG Emissions of a Ground-Based Harvesting Operation in Mountain Hardwoods |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of Weather and Slope Conditions on the Productivity, Cost, and GHG Emissions of a Ground-Based Harvesting Operation in Mountain Hardwoods |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of Weather and Slope Conditions on the Productivity, Cost, and GHG Emissions of a Ground-Based Harvesting Operation in Mountain Hardwoods |
| title_short | The Impact of Weather and Slope Conditions on the Productivity, Cost, and GHG Emissions of a Ground-Based Harvesting Operation in Mountain Hardwoods |
| title_sort | impact of weather and slope conditions on the productivity cost and ghg emissions of a ground based harvesting operation in mountain hardwoods |
| topic | timber harvesting skidder productivity analysis system modeling time study greenhouse gas emissions |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/12/1612 |
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