Comparison of harvester and motor-manual logging inintermediate cuttings of deciduous stands

Recently, new models of operational harvester heads that are suitable for work in deciduous forests and are able to process hooked trees or trees originated from stump shots have been designed. A mechanized harvesting method (harvester with head) is compared with conventional motor-manual harvesting methods in which a chain saw is used for felling, trimming, and crosscutting. Species composition of the sample stand was as follows: 58% aspen (Populus tremula), 19% lime (Tilia platyphyllos), 22% birch (Betula verrucosa), and 1% oak (Quercus robur). The study was completed under the aegis of the project of the 6th General Program of the EC. The labor efficiency was estimated using a time study method. Compared with common motor-manual harvesting, a UTC harvester with a CTL 40 HW head reduces the production time by about 70%. Depending on the number of timber assortments made per tree, operation of the harvester was from 1.7 to 3 times more efficient than chain saw operation.