Truck transportation and chipping productivity of whole trees and delimbed energy wood in Finland (original) (raw)

The present study aims to evaluate the competitiveness of various supply systems of smalldiameter wood harvested from young stands for fuel. Trees were harvested for the cost comparison either as (i) multi-stem delimbed shortwood or (ii) as whole trees or (iii) the harvesting was based on bundle-harvesting using the Fixteri II bundle harvester. The cutting of whole trees and multi-stem delimbed shortwood was carried out using a conventional harvester head equipped with multi-tree-handling accessories. Forwarding was carried out using a standard medium-sized forwarder. The comparison of procurement costs was done at stand level as a function of breast height diameter (5-13 cm) and on-road transportation distance (5-160 km). The harvested wood was chipped either at a roadside landing or at a terminal using a trailermounted drum chipper. The comparison of the supply systems was done using recently published productivity parameters and data obtained from complementary field studies repo...