Felling operation in artificial coniferous stands: Work productivity analysis

The increasing need in renewable energy production is fostering the utilization of Italian artificial coniferous stands for wood chips production. On the one hand, such interventions are crucial for the development of the forest stand, however, the low economic value of wood chips not often guarantees a positive stumpage value. According to this iussue, studies dedicated to analyze and improve working productivity in pine stands interventions are fundamental for the correct development of the value chain. The present work analyzed three different forest yards in Central Italy, in order to evaluate the differences in work productivity between motor manual and fully mechanized felling. In particular, two motor manual and one fully mechanized felling operations were analyzed. The work productivity in fully mechanized felling by Harvester TimberJack 1270 showed a very high value of 28.18 t h-1, which resulted substantially higher than motor manual felling productivity (1.84 and 4.18 t h-1). Obviously, the use of fully mechanized felling is linked to the improvement of forest operator skills, furthermore it can be positive not only concerning economic aspects but also for social purposes, through limiting the possibility of work accidents and increasing the comfort of forest operators.