USING OF AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM OF PORTABLE WINCH AND THE CHUTE SYSTEM IN TIMBER HARVESTING OPERATIONS


ÜNVER OKAN S., Acar H. H., ÜÇÜNCÜ K.

FRESENIUS ENVIRONMENTAL BULLETIN, vol.27, no.10, pp.6560-6566, 2018 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 27 Issue: 10
  • Publication Date: 2018
  • Journal Name: FRESENIUS ENVIRONMENTAL BULLETIN
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.6560-6566
  • Karadeniz Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Today, every part of the wood material with any dimension can be evaluated in a multifaceted manner thanks to the development of the forest industry. Hence, it is very important to transport all parts of the wood material from the forest without any loss of quality or amount. However, the fact that there is no ecological, economical and ergonomic transportation methods for the logs which are located at the lower sides of the foothills of mountainous areas result in leaving them to rot in the forest. In this study, the transportation of logs over natural ground and artificial chute route via portable hand winch was examined. In this study, extraction of logs with hand winch were performed on artificial chute routes having average length of 55.8 m and natural ground routes having average 52.4 m in length. The duration for the fixing of the hand winch to the tree lasted 28 sec on average, whereas the placement of the log inside the chute route took 37 sec on average. While 19.8 m(3) of logs were extracted in 2.92 hours on artificial chute route, 37.8 m(3) logs were extracted about 13.01 hours on natural ground. In this study, the efficiency of the transportation of logs in artificial chute routes was determined to be about two times greater in comparison with that of natural ground. It was observed that the extraction of logs on artificial route with portable winch minimized damages to residual trees, saplings and forest soil.