Low-Investment Fully Mechanized Harvesting of Short-Rotation Poplar (populus spp.) Plantations

Raffaele Spinelli; Natascia Magagnotti; Carolina Lombardini

doi:10.3390/f11050502

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Low-Investment Fully Mechanized Harvesting of Short-Rotation Poplar (populus spp.) Plantations

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Low-Investment Fully Mechanized Harvesting of Short-Rotation Poplar (populus spp.) Plantations

Raffaele Spinelli, Natascia Magagnotti and Carolina Lombardini

Forests, Vol.11(5), pp.1-12

2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/f11050502

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Abstract

European short-rotation poplar plantations are harvested at 5–8 year rotations and produce relatively small stems (0.05–0.10 m3), which represent a major challenge when designing a cost-effective harvesting chain. Until now, the challenge has been met through whole-tree chipping, which allows mass-handling all through the harvesting chain. However, the production of higher value logs for the panel industry requires devising different solutions. This study presents a fully mechanized low-investment system using an excavator-based feller-buncher shear, a grapple skidder obtained from the conversion of a common farm tractor and an excavator-mounted grapple saw adapted to work as a makeshift slasher. The system was tested in Northwestern Italy, achieving high productivity (between 14 and 20 t fresh weight per scheduled machine hour) and low harvesting cost (between 9 and 14 € t−1 fresh weight). However, crosscutting quality needs further improvement, because almost 50% of the logs did not meet factory specifications. Solutions to solve this issue are proposed. The tested system is suitable for local small-scale operators because it can be acquired with a reasonable capital investment (400,000 €) and it is versatile enough for use in a number of alternative jobs, when the coppice harvesting season is over.

Details

Title: Low-Investment Fully Mechanized Harvesting of Short-Rotation Poplar (populus spp.) Plantations
Authors: Raffaele Spinelli (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Natascia Magagnotti (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Carolina Lombardini (Author) - Istituto per la BioEconomia, CNR
Publication details: Forests, Vol.11(5), pp.1-12
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date published: 2020
DOI: 10.3390/f11050502
ISSN: 1999-4907
Copyright note: Copyright © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution(CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Forest Industries Research Centre; Forest Research Institute
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99466008402621
Output Type: Journal article