In the first study of its kind, TECH4EFFECT partners reveal that energy-recuperating, slack-pulling carriages in cable yarding have the potential to improve profit margins.
T4E partner, Luke, publishes research paper in the European Journal of Forest Research.
Ponsse Scorpion harvester with a multi-stem processing harvester head in action during thinning operation in Joensuu, Finland
Compared with purpose-built units, excavator-based harvesters offer many advantages, but they consume more fuel. Fuel efficiency can be increased by a better interface between the excavator and the harvester head.
Spinelli et al from CNR just published testing results of a new adaptation kit in Forests 2019 (10(1), 43; https://doi.org/10.3390/f10010043). The kit is specifically designed to improve the communication between these two components. After installing the adaptation kit, productivity increased 6%, while fuel consumption per hour decreased 3.5%. Fuel consumption and CO2 emissions per product unit decreased 10%, as an average.
Read the abstract or download the full pdf!
Figure 1: One of the excavator-based harvesters at work (left); the adaptation kit (right).
Following extensive field trials, LUKE just published results on experiments with Ponsse harvesters:
Read the abstract or download the full pdf!
Whatch the video produced during the field trials: http://www.tech4effect.eu/fuel-economy-tests-harvesters/
Figure 1: The machines studied in the experiment, upper-left the Ponsse Beaver, upper-right the Ponsse ScorpionKing, below the Ponsse Ergo.
In August LUKE, CNR-IVALSA and PONSSE successfully conducted field trials near Jyväskylä, Finland, on the efficiency of cut-to-length harvesting machines in cooperation with a contractor and their operators.
The aim was to reduce the fuel consumption of harvesters during cut-to-length operations by applying various technical settings to the machines, like idle times, engine settings and fine-tuning of hydraulic power supply components. A team of three to seven researchers, three operators and representatives of the manufacturer was working on site, collecting lots of measurements, study data and video material. Three different PONSSE harvesters were studied but similar measures can then also be applied for other machine types, such as forwarders used in timber extraction.
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UPDATE! Results publication now available in our publication section: http://www.tech4effect.eu/media-corner/publications/#toggle-id-2
(c) LUKE
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LUKE