OPEN ACCESS
NFM, Volume 39: 1–12.
Original scientific paper
Soil Disturbance during Machine Felling and Forwarding of Thinning Cut in Broadleaved Stand
Zdravko Pandur, Andreja Đuka, Marijan Šušnjar, Marin Bačić, Katarina Ostović, Kruno Lepoglavec
Abstract
Soil disturbance is often an inevitable consequence of machine movements in the forest stand during which soil compression occurs and, depending on the soil bearing capacity, root system is prone to damage. In this paper, the analysis of soil disturbance was performed after harvester felling and cutting, and subsequent timber forwarding in thinning operations in a broadleaved stand. First, the trees for cutting were marked together with appropriate ghost trails as well as forwarding routes for timber extraction. Both harvester and forwarder were equipped with a Fleet Management System (FMS), which provided the spatial position and coordinates in the stand. By analysing the obtained coordinates in the ArcGIS 10.1 program package, movement and routes of both machines were obtained. The obtained results showed that the total amount of soil disturbance in the stand for both machines was 13.19 %, and due to the good soil bearing capacity and the lack of rutting, there was no soil damage in the stand. This research has confirmed the thesis that proper organisational measures can reduce soil damage to the minimum extent.
Keywords: soil disturbance, harvester, forwarder, FMS, GPS