The goal of this research was to establish an accurate mobile measuring system for measuring the mass of Valmet 840.2 forwarder’s axles. Mobile measuring system will be used in future measurements of forest biomass as biomass today becomes more and more important in Croatian forestry. Analyses were made to determine the effect of load characteristics, horizontality of vehicle axles and ground characteristics (even and uneven surface) on measurements. Mobile measuring system consists of two mobile scales type WLS 101/R2K (BARK System-und Wiegetechnik GmbH & CO.KG), which were placed on a metal board (height of 2 cm) in all series of measurements. Mobile scales tolerate up to 10t/by platform, and resistance to fracture is 150% of maximum load. Measurements on mobile scales were compared to measurements made on weighbridge scale.
Measurements were divided into three series:

• Measurements of unloaded/loaded forwarder with one type of load: on uneven surface, on even surface and on even surface along with placement of wooden boards (height of 2.50 cm) on mobile scale platforms.
• Measurements of five different loads along with the research of how heightening vehicle wheels with wooden boards (height of 7.60 cm) affect mass discrepancy. Wooden boards (height of 2 cm) were also placed on axle scale platforms. Load types:

Roundwood processed from five different trees, forwarder fully loaded.
Sweeped roundwood, forwarder fully loaded.
Straight logs, forwarder fully loaded.
Straight logs, loaded up to 2/3 of loading area height.
Straight logs, loaded up to 1/3 of loading area height.

• Measurements of unloaded/loaded forwarder with one type of load, but with mobile scales placed in a metal case.

In the first series of measurements, discrepancy was recorded between mobile scale and weighbridge measurements due to uneven surface (5.0%) and placement of wheels on the mobile scale platforms (22.07%). In the second series, boards were used for heightening vehicle wheels in the following combinations: 1) heightening all wheels with boards, 2) without heightening wheels with boards, 3) combinations of interchangeably heightening different wheels with boards. Discrepancy between mobile scales and weighbridge measurements was also recorded, but with less value. Relative mass discrepancy was from -4.30% (for measurements without heightening axles with boards) to +5.44% (measurements with heightening all wheels with boards). Load characteristics did not affect accuracy of the measurements, but placement of wheels on the mobile scale platforms did. Upon understanding how placement of wheels on the mobile scale platforms affects measurements, in the third series mobile scales were placed in a metal case. Use of a metal case provided the most accurate measurements (relative mass discrepancy was from -1.00% to 2.46%) which is satisfactory for field measurements, even though emphasis is still on careful placement of wheels on the mobile scale platforms.

Keywords: forest biomass, vehicle axle load, mobile scale system, forwarder

This paper presents the research whose aim was to assess the load of the so-called choker-man, who pulls out the steel cable of the forest winch, based on measuring manual forces and defining their output patterns, all in accordance with the criteria contained in the »Regulations on Protection at Work during Manual Load Transfer« (0fficial Gazette »NN« 42/05).

Based on investigations of force output pattern for manual pulling out of the steel cable of the forest winch Hittner 2 x 35 installed on the skidder Ecotrac 55 V in the forest stand with 5 different slopes (-19°, -10°, 0°, 10°, 19°), as well as on measurement of choker-man speed, calculation of output power used for this operation, and application of the equation proposed by the Regulations, which involves 6 factors for defining the criteria that have to be taken into account in assessing the worlcers’ safety and health risks in manual load transfer, the choker-man work was estimated as work under heavy load. This estimate was not significantly affected by the fact that the manual force of pulling out the cable is increased with pulling length and that when moving uphill it is considerably higher than when moving downhill.

During the research, a considerably higher output power (energy consumption) was recorded when pulling the cable uphill than when moving on flat terrain, not to mention moving downhill.

Further to the above said, it may be concluded that the criteria of the Regulations are suitable for the assessment of choker-man load during pulling of the cable, especially if it is performed for the purpose of estimating the risk of damaging the worker’s back. lf physical load is to be taken into account based on energy consumption, which is high when the cable is pulled uphill, then the Regulations require some amendments. In order to cover this, as well as moving on the felling site or forest stand with serious obstacles, on uneven ground with high risk of getting stuck or slipping, the easiest way is to amend the Table showing Job Factors.

Keywords: protection at work, manual load transfer, choker-man

This paper presents the results of morphological analysis of 93 different types of farmi winches intended for installation on three-point linkage farming tractors during timber skidding. Dependencies between certain pairs of technical characteristics of farmi winches were determined by morphological analysis. The following technical characteristics were chosen: winch mass, nominal pulling force, tractor engine power needed for work with farm winch, average rope velocity and rope diameter.

On the basis of the achieved results it may be concluded that farmi winches are produced in a wide range of technical characteristics and hence they are very suitable for timber winching and skidding in various working conditions. A new forest vehicle could be easily obtained by installation of farmi winch on a three-point linkage tractor, which can fully meet the working requirements in thinnings, where a small amount of timber needs to be extracted.

According to the manufacturer data, there is a large variety of technical characteristics of farmy winches and they are not systematic. The main reason lies in the fact that farmi winches are not specially designed for professional forestry work and many different design solutions are used in their development.

Keywords: farmi winch, farming tractor, morphological analysis, technical characteristics

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool used for evaluating all environmental effects of a product through its entire life cycle: production, use, recycling, and final disposal. LCA is also useful for comparing environmental aspects of specific products because it enables ecological comparison of products made of different raw materials, but used for the same purpose. The main reasons for performing LCA are: 1) obtaining quantified and reliable information on the environmental impact and benefits of wood products, 2) improving production and recycling techniques by reducing environmental impact and highlighting compatibility between processing technologies, 3) emphasizing areas where information on the environmental impact is still unknown, 4) enabling comparison between different materials.

LCA in forestry is especially difficult because of several reasons. Classical LCA corresponds to a static approach where temporal and spatial dimensions are not taken into consideration. On the other hand forestry is a dynamic mo¬del where temporal dimension is fundamental because all predictions are based on time dimension of growing stock (rotation period) and spatial component is crucial, as forests cover 30 % of the earth (40 mil. km2) and therefore have a huge effect on the environment. In forestry it is difficult to differentiate products and waste, because product value can be added by transforming the product output (waste) to energy by which the output instantly becomes a product. Availability of forest data is usually dependent on management and landowner structure. Data on forest land use, growing stock, increment, harvesting volume are usually available, but specific data such as fuel and energy consumption, productivity, exhaust gasses (CO2, NO x, SO2, VOC, CO, particles), etc. of different forest operations are rather insufficient. Some manufacturers also provide data regarding environmental impact and pollutions throughout (Fig. 7) different life cycle phases of forestry machines, along with its recyclability rates. Also, data on non-wood products are not usually available (LCA studies of non-wood products were not mentioned till 2001: COST Action E9). And last but not least, forest roads are also an important part of timber harvesting and therefore should be included into LCA study of wood products. Environmental loadings caused by road construction and maintenance are significant: effluents to soil and water (leaching of metals) emissions to air (CO2, NOx, SO2, VOC, CO, particles), wastes, other loadings (noise).

LCA is a developing science, but nevertheless it is an important tool for evaluating environmental impacts of forestry and forest products.

Keywords: life cycle assessment study, environmental acceptability

The paper describes the possibilities of Data Envelopment Analysis application in forestry and explains the importance of models and techniques which can contribute to easier analysis and planning in forest management. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a determining, non-parametric methodology for assessing relative efficiency of comparable decision making units with more inputs and outputs. The paper explains the concept of relative efficiency and describes mathematical and statistical basics of DEA. It compares traditional techniques for measuring efficiency to DEA, and describes the advantages and limitations of DEA methodology. The survey of a part of previously conducted investigations with the use of DEA gives the examples of possible applications of DEA in forestry. Based on the given examples, characteristics of DEA and described possibilities of use, it is concluded that the Data Envelopment Analysis in forestry, as well as in many other business systems, can be a very powerful support to planning and decision making.

Keywords: forestry, business success, efficiency, Data Envelopment Analysis

This paper presents the past, present and future of the university forestry education in the Republic of Croatia. The origin of forestry education dates back to 1860 when the High School of Agriculture and Forestry was established in Križevci. In 1885 according to forestry experts it was highly necessary to found the Academy of Forestry at the University of Zagreb, so that further activities were focused on founding a higher education establishment – the Academy of Forestry, which started its educational activities at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Zagreb on October 20 1898.

Due to poor conditions of our forestry after World War 1 and some considerations that it would be impossible to manage state forests without foreign experts, the teachers of the Academy of Forestry Dr. Andrija Petračić and Dr. Đuro Nenadić brought up the idea of restructuring the Academy of Forestry into an independent department of the Faculty of Philosophy. On August 31 1999 the Decree was signed on founding the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry in Zagreb, which started its activities in the academic year 1919/1920.

From 1919 to 1960, forestry education was organised together with agricultural education, and by the Act on Founding the Faculty of Agriculture and the Faculty of Forestry in Zagreb (0fficial Gazette »NN« of December 8 1959) both departments of the then faculty gained independence.

Today the Faculty of Forestry of the University of Zagreb consists of the Forestry Department and Wood-Technology Department. The Forestry Department offers two undergraduate studies, two graduate studies, seven postgraduate specialist studies and one postgraduate doctoral study (two programmes).

In order to maintain in future the highly ranked position of the higher forestry education in the Republic of Croatia, the rightfully deserved leading position in the region and one of the leading positions among higher forestry establishments in Europe, it is necessary to further develop the reputation of the higher forestry education at the Faculty of Forestry, provide professional training and education for teachers and lecturers, organise undergraduate and/or graduate study in English, organise inter-faculty (inter-university) postgraduate doctoral study in English, provide lifelong education, establish a training centre, etc.

Keywords: Academy of Forestry, Faculty of Forestry of the University of Zagreb, Forestry Department, higher forestry education

The Croatian Chamber of Forestry and Wood Technology Engineers was founded in accordance with the Act on Croatian Chamber of Forestry and Wood Technology Engineers of February 2006, and the Foundation General Meeting was held in September of the same year. The first certification exams were held during the first half of 2008, and most candidates applied for the certification exam in the field offorestry, for the programme: Certified Forestry Engineer. Along with the Chamber Secretary, the authors of this paper attended to all certification exams held so far in the said programme as members of the Exam Commission. In this paper they present their experience identifying problems and possible (necessary) changes in the content and manner of passing certification exams of the Croatian Chamber of Forestry and Wood Technology Engineers. Everything said in this paper presents their own opinion and should not be interpreted as the Chamber’s official point of view.

When the Forestry Chamber was being founded, a significant issue was the intent of establishing systematic additional education of forestry engineers, directly engaged in performing professional forestry operations. As a matter offact, in the last thirty years there was no systematic professional training offorestry experts, and the opinion prevailed that getting a forest engineer diploma was the end, but rather the beginning of professional training.

In the period of several years, certification exams should become much more serious and demanding. This is necessary so as to raise the quality of performance of forest operations, upgrade the reputation of forestry profession as a whole and open the work market and possibility of progressing within the forestry profession.

Laws and regulations related to the Forestry Chamber must be amended. These amendments are not only related to the content and manner of passing certification exams but also related to many other aspects of the Chamber’s activities.

Keywords: Croatian Chamber of Forestry and Wood Technology Engineers, certification exams, certified engineer

U Pragu je od 26. do 30. svibnja 2008. godine održano treće međunarodno znanstveno savjetovanje FORTECHENVI pod naslovom »Šumarstvo, drvna tehnologija i okoliš« u organizaciji Fakulteta šumarstva i drvne tehnologije iz Brna, Instituta za cjeloživotno obrazovanje iz Brna i suorganizaciji Ministarstva poljoprivrede Republike Češke, te pod pokroviteljstvom IUFRO-a, razreda 3, radne grupe 3.05.00. Ekološka sastavnica šumskih radova (Forest Operations Ecology), i Europskoga društva inženjera agronomije (European Society of Agriculture Engineers).

Cilj je savjetovanja bilo predstavljanje novih znaristvenih i operativnih dostignuća ekološki prihvatljivih tehnologija u šumarstvu i drvnoj industriji. Neke od tema izlaganja su bile: glavni tehnički, tehnološki, ekonomski, društveni i ergonomski problemi u šumarstvu i drvnoj industriji, uporaba obnovljivih izvora energije u šumarstvu, utjecaj šumskih operacija na okoliš, biotehnologije i bioproizvodi, važnost cjeloživotnoga obrazovanja u šumarstvu…

FORMEC je međunarodna udruga koja promiče primjenu mehanizacije u šumskim radovima. U njezinu djelovanju do sada su sudjelovali u prvom redu istraživači iz Europe, no u posljednjih nekoliko godina na godišnjim savjetovanjima prisutni su i znanstvenici iz SAD-a, Južne Amerike, Afrike i arapskih zemalja. Zbog toga se značajno povećava opseg razmatranih znanstvenih tema iz šumarskoga inženjerstva.

Od 2. do 5. lipnja 2008. godine u Schmallenbergu (Njemačka) održano je 41. međunarodno savjetovanje udruge FORMEC s temom »Novosti u razvoju šumarske tehnologije i logistike« (New developments in forest technology and timber logistics). Organizacija je povjerena Kuratoriju za šumski rad i šumsku tehniku (Kuratorium fiir Waldarbeit und Forsttechnik — KWF)…

U Zagrebu je 16. listopada 2008. godine održano međunarodno znanstveno savjetovanje pod nazivom »Izazovi u šumarstvu i drvnoj tehnologiji u 21. stoljeću« (Challenges in Forestry and Wood Technology in the 21st Century) u organizaciji Šumarskoga fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, a povodom 110. obljetnice utemeljenja Šumarskoga fakulteta.

Cilj je savjetovanja bio da se prikaže prošlost visokoškolske šumarske nastave u Republici Hrvatskoj, te da se upozori na probleme i nove izazove koje šumarstvu donosi budućnost i u Republici Hrvatskoj i u čitavoj Europi…

Od 2. do 5. lipnja 2008. godine studenti 3. godine Šumarskoga fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu i Šumarskoga fakulteta u Beču (Universität für Bodenkultur Wien) sudjelovali su na združenoj terenskoj nastavi u Austriji. Cilj je terenske nastave bio upoznavanje s tehnikama i tehnologijama značajnim za austrijsko šumarstvo. Terenska se nastava izvodila iz kolegija: Pridobivanje drva I, Šumske prometnice i Osnove mehanizacije u šumarstvu. U četiri dana terenske nastave posjećena je tvornica šumskih žičara Mayr-Melnhof-Forsttechnik GmbH, energana na šumsku biomasu Wien Energie Bundesforste Biomasse Kraftwerk GmbH, rasadnik LIECO GmbH & Co. KG. Na terenu je prikazano iznošenje drva stupnom kamionskom žičarom Syncrofalke te posebnosti projektiranja i izgradnje šumskih cesta na strmim terenima u Austriji…