Fuel, Hydraulic Oil and Lubricant Consumption in Swedish Mechanized Harvesting Operations, 1996

When subjecting forest products to certification the total environmental load of wood harvesting machinery should also be assessed. In this study fuel, hydraulic oil and lubricant consumption in harvesting operations in Sweden has been examined by using machine data acquired through a questionnaire. The objectives of the study were to assess the contractor and forest company owned harvesters' and forwarders' average oil consumption in practical harvesting operations in Sweden, ascertain if the ownership and size of the machines give different consumption figures and estimate the use of environmentally acceptable hydraulic oils as well as the amount of oil spilled outdoors. Diesel consumption was found to be 935 l/1000 m3ub for forwarders and 1 167 l/1000 m3ub for single-grip harvesters. Hydraulic, transmission and chainsaw oil consumption was significantly higher in forest company owned harvesters while no significant differences were observed among forwarders. Hydraulic oil spillage was estimated for both harvesters and forwarders at 20 l/1000 m3ub. For felling and crosscutting trees a further 35 l/1000 m3ub of chainsaw oil is spilled. Ninety percent of the utilized hydraulic oil was environmentally compatible

Harvesting and silvicultural activities in Swedish family forestry – behavior changes from a gender perspective

Previous reports indicating that forest properties owned by women were less extensively managed than those owned by men were partly attributed to women not having been fully socialized into family forestry. It was assumed that this gap would have been reduced by targeted actions undertaken over the last 10–15 years with the aim of increasing women's interest in and knowledge of forestry, and strengthening their self—identification as forest owners. To examine this assumption, the management behaviors of male and female forest owners in 2003–2006 were analyzed and compared to results for 1992–1994. The data were obtained from the Data Base for Forest Owner Analysis and concerned almost 9000 forest management units. Although harvesting and silvicultural activities increased on both male- and female-owned properties over time, the “gap” between male and female owners did not diminish as expected

In competition with a brother: Women's inheritance positions in contemporary Swedish family forestry

Swedish family forestry is characterized by traditional perceptions of the farm as a project that spans generations and a strong desire to preserve family ownership in accordance with a paternal inheritance tradition. In this study women's inheritance positions in contemporary family forestry in Sweden were examined using three different sources: (1) a national register of all forest owners; (2) an inquiry study; and (3) narrative accounts from female forest owners. An asymmetrical ownership pattern was exposed in the analysis of all three materials. Gender had an impact on who, what and how family owned forest land was transferred from one generation to another. Furthermore, analysis of the narrative accounts showed that a minority of the women corresponded to the concept transitive element. A typology with three additional concepts, namely transitive agent, transformative element and transformative agent, is therefore suggested and discussed

Forest certification as an instrument for improved forest management within small-scale forestry

Since early 1990 ties, Swedish forest land is increasingly becoming certified. Today all major forest owners have joined the Swedish FSC-standard (Forest Stewardship Council), while small-scale forest owners preferably are joining the PEFC scheme (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification). With the overall aim of gaining a better insight into which small-scale forest owners that have decided to take up on forest certification, and how their forest management practices have been affected by this choice, two set of data has been analyzed; one consisting Data Base of Forest Owner Analysis (DBFOA) data relating to approximately 14,000 properties whereof 1955 were found to be certified, and the other one including data from a follow up questionnaire sent out only to owners with certified forest properties. Results show that certified and non-certified forest properties are managed differently and in particular that harvesting on certified properties has increased. Differences in management seem to be connected principally to the fact that forest owners from generally more active sub-groups embrace forest certification requirements. Moreover, our results shows that economic motives for joining a certification scheme are just as prevalent as environmental motives and a majority of forest owners regard certification as something that favors profitability rather than consider it to restrict economic yield

Assessing Material Consumption Due to Spare Part Utilization by Harvesters and Forwarders

The aim of this study was to i) develop and examine a methodology to handle spare part utilization data for work machinery for future inclusion into a life cycle assessment study and ii) assess the material consumption per 1000 m3ub harvested and transported to the roadside due to spare part utilization by three types of forest machinery. Thirteen forwarders, 14 single-grip harvesters and 10 two-grip harvesters operating in northern Sweden were followed up by repair records that covered a period from half a year up to 3.5 years. The replaced machine components were sorted in seven material categories - steel and iron, aluminum, other metals (brass, copper), plastics, rubber, glass and batteries. Two scenarios with different assumptions on the consumption of saw chains, guide bars and tires were developed. According to the low scenario about 46 kg of material will be consumed for harvesting and transporting 1000 m3ub to the roadside. The corresponding figure for the high scenario is 58 kg. The total component mass expected to be replaced during the operational lifetime (18000 E15 hours) of the machines was also calculated. According to the low scenario 38-45% of the mass of a machine will be changed during its operational lifetime. The corresponding figure for the high scenario is 50-56%