Research results - Logging productivity using a farm tractor

Timber was extracted using an agricultural tractor with a winch and sulky.

The title of the article was “Wood Extraction with Farm Tractor and Sulky: Estimating Productivity, Cost and Energy Consumption”, and the authors were Raffaele Spinelli and Natascia Magagnotti. The article was published in the Small-scale Forestry Journal, Volume 10 (2).

Farm tractors and their attachments usually have lower capital costs, making them suitable for small-scale logging. The winch and sulky can convert an agricultural tractor into a wheeled skidder. The authors developed a productivity equation for the productivity of this machine in logging operations. Studies were carried out at eight different sites. The productivity equation developed made provision for piece size extracted, winching distance, tractor power, skidding distance and crew size.

The results found that depending on tractor power and piece size, the average volume can exceed 2 m3 per cycle, and 4 m3 per Scheduled Machine Hour (SMH). Using heavy tractors and large logs can result in productivity of greater than 8 m3 per SMH.

Please access the journal for a more complete account of the research. Source: http://www.springerlink.com/content/120445/  and image from www.gov.ns.ca