An overview of work productivity evaluation of farm tractors in timber skidding operations

Abstract

Farm tractors have been applied in forest operations to carry out several tasks such as tree/felling/process-ing, forwarding, loading, skidding and cable yarding. Farm tractors can be equipped with special logging equipment that allows for their safe and efficient work in the harvesting of forest stands. This research is aimed to collect and review available literary sources on the productivity of farm tractors during skidding operations. The study results showed that work productivity of farm tractors for timber skidding has been studied by several researchers around the world. According to the results, the reported work productivity of skidding with farm tractors varied from 1.2 m3/PMH0 to 15.8 m3/PMH0 among international studies. Main variables impacting the work productivity of skidding included skidding distance, load volume, number of pieces per turn, tree diameter, tree length, slope of skid trails and engine power. Proper skid trail planning, applying suitable skidding equipment (e.g. winches, sulkies etc.), considering suitable engine size and prop-er safety standards can all help improving the work efficiency of the farm tractors during timber extracting. The information provided in this research can help the forest industry users and researchers gain proper knowledge on the work productivity of farm tractors applied for timber skidding. The study results can be also useful for planning and development purposes within small-scale forest operations.