Original scientific paper
Impact of Season and Harvester Engine RPM on Pine Wood Damage from Feed Roller Spikes
Zbigniew Karaszewski
orcid.org/0000-0001-8037-021X
; Wood Technology Institute Wood Investigation and Application Department ul. Winiarska 1 60-654 Poznań POLAND
Agnieszka Łacka
; Poznań University of Life Sciences Faculty of Agronomy and Bioengineering Department of Mathematical and Statistical Methods ul. Wojska Polskiego 28 60-637 Poznań POLAND
Piotr S. Mederski
; Poznań University of Life Sciences Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest Utilisation ul. Wojska Polskiego 71A 60-625 Poznań POLAND
Mariusz Bembenek
; Poznań University of Life Sciences Faculty of Forestry Department of Forest Utilisation ul. Wojska Polskiego 71A 60-625 Poznań POLAND
Abstract
Harvesters have become a common solution for wood harvesting in coniferous and broadleaved stands. Unfortunately, not every customer will accept logs with damage on the lateral surface of the roundwood caused by feed roller spikes. The extent of the wood damage caused by the spikes of harvester heads depends mainly on the type of feed rollers and tree species. The objective of the study was to investigate the external damage to pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) roundwood from harvester head spikes depending on the season of the year and harvester engine RPM, as well as the significance and potential consequences of such damage. The scope of the study also included an analysis of wood damage depth in three stem sections. The experimental plots selected were all in an 85-year-old pure pine stand. Logging was performed using a Ponsse Beaver harvester with an H60e harvester head manufactured in 2006. The mean depth of wood damage at all the points of measurement was 4.1 mm, while the maximum depth of wood damage totalled 5.3 mm. The depth of wood damage depended on the season of the year in which the logging work was performed, the harvester engine RPM and the stem section from which the log was processed. The damage was the deepest during summer operations and the shallowest during winter and springtime. The differences were statistically significant, however, the difference in the depth of damage was only 1 mm in average. Deeper wood damage was found at a lower engine RPM. Wood damage depth differed axially, and the least damage was found in the bottom logs.
Keywords
bark loss; harvesting head; mechanised logging; pilodyn; Pinus sylvestris L
Hrčak ID:
204186
URI
Publication date:
25.7.2018.
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