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

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%

Changes in technical performance, mechanical availability and prices of machines used in forest operations in Sweden from 1985 to 2010

This study describes developments in large-scale logging technology in Sweden from 1985 to 2010. Data were collected from manufacturers' sales material and from large forest enterprises. On average, forwarders manufactured in 2010 had 27–33% higher boom lifting torque than those manufactured in 1985–1989. The inflation-adjusted prices of medium-sized single-grip harvesters remained the same, but prices of forwarders increased by 30–50% in this period. The mechanical availability of various classes of machinery used increased from 70–80% to 85–88% between 1985 and 2008. The harvesting costs of thinning decreased between 1990 and 1998, while those of final fellings decreased from 1985 to 2006. However, in 2008 costs of both thinning and final felling tended to increase. The productivity of logging by the Swedish forest enterprise SCA increased almost three-fold in the period 1985–2010. However, since 2003 there have been signs of declining productivity. Currently, there is considerable interest in harvesting forest biomass for energy production. The new work tasks involved will affect the configuration of forest machines. A possible trend is that a new generation of forest machines and methods will be developed to facilitate integrated handling of roundwood and forest biomass for energy generation