Researchers set out to answer this question by examining a tractor-mounted winch operation.
Tractor-mounted winching is common in small-scale forest operations and thinning applications. Often chokerman must pull out the cable long distances on steep slopes, where tractors cannot reach the logs inside the forest. Pulling out the cables is known to be a heavy task which exerts a high physiological stress on crew members. Researchers investigated the relationship between workload, work conditions and operator fitness. The results of the study confirmed that fit, young operators experience a lower workload than older ones. The amount of workload depended on winching direction, and was clearly higher, as expected, when winching downhill than when winching uphill. When winching downhill, the chokermen need to drag the cables uphill against gravity. This was a more important factor than task type and tool weight. Walking uphill with no tools has a greater workload than walking downhill and carrying a steel cable. Therefore, trying to reduce the weight of cables and tools will only ease the problem slightly. For this type of work, the crews should be composed of fit, young workers. When the task is assigned to older workers, it is necessary to allow longer rest breaks, accepting a lower productivity. The title of the research is “Forest Workers and Steep Terrain Winching: the Impact of Environmental and Anthropometric Parameters on Performance” It was published in the Croatian Journal of Forest Engineering, Vol 37(1), 2016. The authors were G Ottaviani Aalmo, N Magagnotti and R Spinelli. Source: http://www.crojfe.com/articles-973