A conventional and grapple loader processor in second and third thinnings. A simulator experiment.

Abstract

Using literature and a simulator experiment, an ordinary processor and a grapple loader processor were compared in conditions corresponding to thinning later than the first commercial thinning. Visual bucking only was employed in the simulator experiment. The strip road spacing was 30 m and there was no preliminary skidding of the trees. The simulator experiment confirmed the view reached in the literature that work productivity of the grappler loader processor is 20–40 % greater than that of an ordinary processor provided that the stem size is under 0.2–0.4 m3. The PDF includes a summary in English.