Recent developments in on-board technology have enabled automatic collection of follow-up data on forwarder work. The objective of this study was to exploit this possibility to obtain highly representative information on time consumption of specific work elements (including overlapping crane work and driving), with one load as unit of observation, for large forwarders in final felling operations. The data used were collected by the John Deere TimberLink system as nine operators forwarded 8868 loads, in total, at sites in mid-Sweden. Load-sizes were not available. For the average and median extraction distances (219 and 174 m, respectively), , , , and effective work (PM) accounted for ca. 45, 19, 8.5, 7.5 and 14% of total forwarding time consumption, respectively. The average and median total time consumptions were 45.8 and 42.1 minutes/load, respectively. The developed models explained large proportions of the variation of time consumption for the work elements and , but minor proportions for the work elements and Based on the means, the crane was used during 74.8% of PM time, the driving speed was nonzero during 31.9% of the PM time, and occurred during 6.7% of the PM time. Time consumption per load was more strongly associated with distance than with extraction distance, indicating that the relevance of extraction distance as a main indicator of forwarding productivity should be re-considered.Loading Unloading Driving empty Driving loaded Other time Driving empty Driving loaded Loading Unloading. Loading Loading Simultaneous crane work and driving Loading Loading drive

Crane work is the most time-consuming work element in forwarding. Hence, assist systems like boom-tip control are of interest. The first commercially available boom-tip control for forwarders was introduced in 2013. In this study we analysed whether replacing conventional boom control (CBC) with John Deere’s version of boom-tip control (named Intelligent Boom Control, IBC), increases crane-work productivity. We used data automatically gathered from 10 final-felling stands, covering typical logging conditions for southern, central and northern Sweden. Two John Deere 1510E and two John Deere 1910G forwarders were operated by seven experienced operators during the follow-up study, covering 1238 loads in total. A split-plot design was applied to isolate effects of the boom-control system being used (CBC, IBC). We found that using IBC for loading work (crane work and driving included) saved 5.2% of productive machine time compared to using CBC (p ≤ 0.05). The corresponding saving when using IBC for unloading work was 7.9% (p ≤ 0.05). Depending on geophysical factors, this corresponds to approximately 4% savings in productive machine time for forwarding as a whole, including pure transport (with and without load). Moreover, the study introduced in cut-to-length context a novel field-study design to collect a large follow-up dataset in the course of ordinary forwarding operations. We found the study design to be a cost-efficient way to combine the representativeness of conventional follow-up datasets with the ability to establish causal relationships. Establishment of causal relationships has traditionally been possible only through observational time studies or standardized experiments.

Sustainable forestry requires efficient regeneration methods to ensure that new forests are established quickly. In Sweden, 99% of the planting is manual, but finding labor for this arduous work is difficult. An autonomous scarifying and planting machine with high precision, low environmental impact, and a good work environment would meet the needs of the forest industry. For two years, a collaborative group of researchers, manufacturers, and users (forest companies) has worked together on developing and testing a new concept for autonomous forest regeneration (Autoplant). The concept comprises several subsystems, i.e., regeneration and route planning, autonomous driving (path planning), new technology for forest regeneration with minimal environmental impact, automatic plant management, crane motion planning, detection of planting spots, and follow-up. The subsystems were tested separately and integrated together during a field test at a clearcut. The concept shows great potential, especially from an environmental perspective, with significantly reduced soil disturbances, from approximately 50% (the area proportion of the area disturbed by disc trenching) to less than 3%. The Autoplant project highlights the challenges and opportunities related to future development, e.g., the relation between machine cost and operating speed, sensor robustness in response to vibrations and weather, and precision in detecting the size and type of obstacles during autonomous driving and planting.

Automatic collection of forwarding follow-up data has recently become possible. The objective of this study was to obtain representative values of fuel consumption for large forwarders in final felling operations. Since fuel consumption is dependent on time consumption, speed, and total driven distance, these variables were also included in the study. The study explored data collected and presented by John Deere forwarders’ conventional on-board computers (TimberLink). Nine operators forwarded 15,329 loads, in total, at sites with representative terrain conditions for large parts of mid-Sweden. A limitation with the used dataset was that load-sizes (e.g. volume or mass) were not available. The median driven distance was 670 m/load, and median total fuel consumption was 8.5 l/load or 12.4 l/km. Typically, Driving only and Crane work only accounted for most of the fuel consumption (50 and 40%, respectively). Median forwarding time was 43.1 minutes/load at average speeds of 2.2–3.3 km/h. Fuel consumption, time consumption and total driven distance were clearly correlated. Standard TimberLink data were found to be intuitively logical and to provide results consistent with current literature. It enabled gathering of high resolution fuel consumption data during whole years of work. However, elucidating main and interactive effects of predictive variables and operator behavior on fuel and time consumptions is challenging, and requires more detailed information about loads (e.g. volumes and numbers of assortments) and stand conditions (e.g. log concentrations and terrain conditions) than provided in this study.

Mechanized tree planting in Nordic forestry: simulating a machine concept for continuously advancing site preparation and planting | Jussi Manner, Back Tomas Ersson | Agricultural Journals