Abstract
Aim of the study: The objective of this study was to evaluate recent technological improvements to forest bundlers: a new cutting device with shears and a mechanism which allows the bundling pressure to be changed by the driver.Area of study: eucalyptus plantations in Northern Spain.Material and Methods: Several time studies were performed in order to compare and calculate productivity depending on the machine: John Deere bundler working with the traditional chainsaw and Monra bundler equipped with the technological improvements of shears and adjustable bundling pressure.Research highlights: Significant differences were found between cutting devices (shears and chainsaw) and between the Monra working at maximum pressure and at lower pressure. Shears were shown to be a more robust and reliable cutting device, with 1.02 cutting attempts per bundle compared to 1.55 with chain saw. The use of shears made the loading more efficient as it eliminates the need to shake the residues before feeding the bundler. A great advantage of this technological improvement is that it can be incorporated into other machines and thus improve bundling efficiency.In spite of this, working at standard bundling pressure, the productivity of the Monra bundler is only 3.2 per cent higher than that of the John Deere due to the fact that in the latter bundling is faster and it produces bundles with significantly more dry mass.For the Monra bundler, the option of producing lighter bundles further reduced productivity compared to when standard weight bundles are produced. However, it would be of interest to study the effect of the machine working at various pressures in order to optimize the work system. It is possible that working at higher pressures would have advantages in terms of increasing transport efficiency.Keywords: bundler; time study; shear; cutting device; slash collection; forest biomass.
Highlights
The use of biomass has gained more importance in recent years as a way to reduce both atmospheric CO2 emissions and dependence on fossil fuels
Three forest bundlers were evaluated in this study: a John Deere bundler (JD_CS245), a Monra bundler at standard bundling pressure (M_S250) and a Monra bundler at a lower bundling pressure (M_S220)
Significant differences were found between cutting devices
Summary
The use of biomass has gained more importance in recent years as a way to reduce both atmospheric CO2 emissions and dependence on fossil fuels. The objective of the European Union (EU) is to achieve a minimum quota of 20 per cent of energy from renewable sources in gross final energy consumption. Of particular relevance to the present work is the fact that of the 91.5 Mtoe of primary energy in the EU which comes from biomass, 5.4 Mtoe of this is accounted for by Spain (EurObserv’ER, 2015) and is mainly derived from the forestry sector. At present the use of forest biomass in Spain represents about 5,500,000 green tonnes, the potential available forest biomass from forest residues of Sandra Sánchez-García, Lars Eliasson, Eduardo Tolosana, Juan Majada and Elena Canga final cuttings and from whole-trees in thinning operations is approximately 3,000,000 and 15,700,000 green tonnes per year respectively (IDAE, 2011). There is great potential for energy production from forest biomass
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
