Cable logging opportunities for firewood in Calabrian forests

Giuseppe Zimbalatti, Andrea R. Proto
2009 Biosystems Engineering  
Cable cranes are among the most important means of yarding and transporting timber and their use in the mountainous regions of Europe is becoming more widespread. In contrast, the use of this kind of machinery in Southern Italy remains limited, particularly in forests for firewood production, where cable cranes are practically not applied. Forests in Southern Italy are mainly located in steeply sloping mountainous areas where ground based wood extraction are still the most common harvesting
more » ... niques employed. The productivity of different cable cranes was assessed to verify if the use of these machines should be efficiently recommended under the forest conditions in Southern Italy. The cable cranes tested have been the Greifenberg TG 700, Koller K300 and Greifenberg VSG 2000; the tests were carried out in areas of Calabria (Southern Italy) different for site features, forest management parameters and forestry. The time motion study carried out showed that the productivity of cable crane tested was satisfactory although there is a number of organizational aspects that could be improved in order to better exploit its potential.
doi:10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2008.10.008 fatcat:komk4r5t2ngeblvo76qouwewmy