Performance of Small Harvester Head in a Thinning Operation

Abstract

Medium to large size harvester heads mounted on large machines are popular in Japan. These machines encounter some problems during thinning operations, e.g. damage to residual stand and the compaction of soil. The performance of these large harvesters was compared with that of smaller ones operating simultaneously in the same line thinning operation of the same stand. The results of a time study showed that mean cycle times for the smaller and larger harvesters were not significantly different. This means that the work efficiency of the smaller harvester can be at the same level as the larger harvester on sites similar to those of this study. The mean values “Feed” element of the cycle time, however, were significantly different. Although this time difference appears to provide an advantage to the larger harvester, simulation results show that the advantage is not great enough to significantly shorten the total cycle times. That is to say, the work efficiency remains essentially the same even if the feeding performance of the small size harvester becomes as high as that of larger ones. The small harvester performs adequately in thinning operations, and is not inferior to the larger ones. This result indicates that there is economic potential for small base machines that can be mounted with small harvester heads, resulting in less damage to residual trees and site soils during thinning operation.