Work productivity assessment of small forwarders in forest operations: An international review

Abstract

There are two types of forwarders available in the practice including conventional forestry forwarders and farm tractors equipped with a trailer/grapple loader that operate as a forwarder. Forwarders loading capacity can vary depending on the machine size. This paper aimed to review the work productivity of small size forwarders (payload< 10 tonnes and engine power< 120 HP) to create an overview of their performance for small scale operations within the small-scale forestry/ plantations management or agroforestry systems. According to the review, small forwarders were mainly used for harvesting small trees over gentle slopes. Main machine types include light tractor-trailer and purpose-built forwarders. The reported productivity by international scholars ranged from 3.4 to 19.2 m3/PMH0. Main variables impacting the productivity of small forwarders included forwarding distance, load volume, piece volume, number of logs per turn, season, operator skills and harvesting intensity. This report has summarised recommendations from literatures on proper application of small forwarders to improve harvesting efficiency which can be of use to the forest industrial and academic users for practical and research purposes.