ShortCuts FROM SKOGFORSK. NO 1 | 2011 | RESEARCH FOR TOMORROW’S FORESTRY
SKOGFORSK TESTS:
MULTI-TREE IN FINAL FELLING
PrOFItABLE FAST-GROWERS | FOrESt FUEL – PRICE STATISTICS BEttEr dAtA – GREATER PROFITS | PrEvENtINg GROUND DAMAGE ”Ett“ – LONGER & SMARTER | AUtOMAtION – MAJOR BOOST TO PRODUCTIVITY 5 PrOJEctS TO SAVE PROFITABILITY
PHOTO: SKOGFORSK
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PHOTO: SKOGFORSK
PREVENTING GROUND DAMAGE
PROFITABLE FAST-GROWERS By 2020 half of all the energy produced in Sweden is to be based on renewable sources. Focus on fast-growing tree species can be part of the solution according to a study carried out by Skogforsk and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Higher production, shorter rotations, greater returns and better risk-spreading compared with traditional agriculture and silviculture encourage a greater focus on hybrid aspen and poplar. This is shown in a new study “Preliminary Study from a Swedish Research Programme for Poplar” that Skogforsk and SLU have carried out, commissioned by the Swedish Energy Agency.
vely,” says Lars Rytter, researcher at Skogforsk. The study identifies two obstacles to greater use of fast-growing tree species in Sweden – a lack of knowledge and, where there is knowledge, it is not widely-known and applied. ”Very few people are aware of what we already know, which is why Skogforsk and SLU will be focusing on training measures,” says Lars Rytter.
”the trial plantations have shown a return of 5–13 percent. This is an encouraging result as the average requirement for return in agriculture and silviculture is usually six and three percent respecti-
Final felling after 20–25 years on agricultural land.
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3 KEY FACTS ABOUT FAST-GROWING SPECIES The best types produce 20 cubic metres of wood per hectare and year – considerably more than the best spruce types.
Today, there are approximately 2,000 ha. For large-scale energy production, 25,00050,000 ha would be needed.
250 cubic metres in 17 years. Martin Larsson of Svenska Skogsplantor shows an experiment northwest of Stockholm. He is one of the many people helping the researchers with experimental plots.
READ MORE www.skogforsk.se/ poppelrapport Contact: Lars Rytter, Skogforsk. 0418-471304, lars.rytter@ skogforsk.se
Ahead of the spring thaw and difficult logging conditions, a joint working group comprising representatives of the forestry sector, the Swedish Forestry Agency and Skogforsk have defined what ground damage is acceptable – and what is unacceptable. Eight types of serious ground damage were identified, e.g. damage that affects streams and rivers or conservation, damage that makes access to paths difficult and reduces experience value in recreational areas, and damage to ancient relicts. Damage on solid ground away from streams and rivers is regarded as less serious. ”We’re proposing ’good practice’ recommendations for transport in forests,” explains Skogforsk’s Eva Ring, who led the working group. Operating machinery according to good practice assumes that there is a clear and considered strategy within the logging organisations about how to prevent ground damage. ”Naturally, forest machinery operators play an important role because they are the ones actually on site. At the same time, they are the final link in a chain of decisions and processes that determine whether a logging project is environmentally detrimental or not.”
READ MORE www.skogforsk.se/ markskador Contact: Eva Ring, 018-188545, eva.ring@ skogforsk.se
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In Skogforsk trials, the new 90-tonne timber truck ETT (En Trave Till = One More Stack), which is 30 metres long, has been shown to consume 20 percent less fuel per tonne than a conventional timber truck. Over two years, the truck has been driven 525,000 km and has transported over 110,000 m3sub. ETT is more efficient because it transports an extra stack on the trailer. Trans-
port accounts for one-quarter of the costs in the forestry sector from stump to mill, so major benefits are possible, both for the sector and for the environment. Road safety issues are now being analysed – these involve studies of filmed sequences of overtakings, as well as interviews with other road users and the drivers of the test vehicles. Skogforsk’s
PHOTO: SKOGFORSK
LONGER & SMARTER project manager, Claes Löfroth, hopes the project will be extended. ”We’d like more test vehicles. This would give us more experience of how the vehicles function in the traffic environment in large-scale use. We would also be able to test new logistics solutions, not least transports that combine truck and rail.”
READ MORE Resultat 17/2010. Contact: Claes Löfroth, 018-188507, claes.lofroth@ skogforsk.se
FOREST FUEL How much does it cost? Price statistics for 13 million m3s
BETTER DATA – GREATER PROFITS Maria Nordström has a simple message. ”There is valuable information about the wood – use it!” Data about each individual log is stored in the harvester’s computer. Better use of this data could greatly improve profits in the forestry industry, because the raw material produced would more often be the raw material that is required. All modern harvesters can store data about every log that is produced in the forest. By linking this data to calculation programs, the deliveries from the forest
and the properties of the wood can be described in much greater detail. ”If the mills can then place specified orders, the forestry companies can deliver a raw material that is more comprehensively described and is better suited to the end user’s requirements,” explains Maria Nordström who carried out the analysis. ”The mills can raise product value and reduce costs by reducing the proportion of waste and the need for buffer stocks.”
15 YEARS OF HIGH STUMPS Ever wondered how high stumps benefit conservation? Line Djupström has been studying the effects of high stumps and presents her findings in two forthco-
RESEARCH FOR TOMORROW’S FORESTRY
ming Resultat publications from Skogforsk. She also presented her results at the SLU Flora and Fauna Conference in Uppsala on 4 May.
Maria Nordström: "Use the data!"
READ MORE Resultat 21/2010 Contact: Maria Nordström, 018-188514, maria.nordstrom@ skogforsk.se
READ MORE in forthcoming Resultat. Contact: Line Djupström, 018-188508, line.djupstrom@ skogforsk.se
SEK 170 per m3s – this is what forest fuel costs to buy, harvest and transport to the energy plant. Skogforsk’s latest survey shows that stumps from final felling are the most expensive raw material for fuel (SEK 174/m3s) while smalldimension trees from thinning cost SEK 165/m3s from stump to energy plant. The survey responses concerned approximately 13 million m3s. According to the questionnaire, 50 percent of the volume derived from logging residue, just under 40 percent from energy wood, and 10 percent from small-dimension trees from thinnings. Stumps comprised only one percent.
READ MORE All cost items in the forest fuel chain from forest owner to end customer can be seen in Resultat 12/2010, which can be ordered from skogforsk.se. Contact: Torbjörn Brunberg, 018-188563, torbjorn.brunberg@skogforsk.se
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NEW RESULTS FROM SKOGFORSK
Forest fuels – methods, assortments and costs 2009 RESULTAT No. 12 2010. torbjorn.brunberg@skogforsk.se the Supergrip II A-series of grapples – high performance in forwarding logging residues, and competitive performance with roundwood RESULTAT No. 13 2010. lars.eliasson@skogforsk.se Low growth in heavily moosedamaged pine stands RESULTAT No. 14 2010. folke.pettersson@skogforsk.se Final felling in Sweden is a minor source of nitrate to the Baltic Sea RESULTAT No. 15 2010. lars.hogbom@skogforsk.se
theme | quest for the percentages
5 WAYS TO REVERSE THE TREND Labour productivity in the forestry sector has been falling for several years. Costs are increasing, but production is lagging. At the same time, the saw and pulp mills’ wood and energy costs are increasing. Consequently, forestry companies are under strong pressure to get their act together.
Text and photo | sverker johansson, bitzer@live.se
A comparative study of thinning with and without harvester corridors between striproads RESULTAT No. 16 2010. isabelle.bergkvist@skogforsk.se two years with Ett: lower cO2 emissions and fewer timber trucks on the roads RESULTAT No. 17 2010. claes.lofroth@skogforsk.se Better operator seats needed on forest machines RESULTAT No. 18 2010. petrus.jonsson@skogforsk.se chipper truck with container system – a flexible alternative RESULTAT No. 19 2010. lars.eliasson@skogforsk.se Strong support for regeneration material from seed orchards RESULTAT No. 20 2010. bo.karlsson@skogforsk.se
What is productivity? Productivity is a measure of the return that results from a given measure (output/input). The outcome may be, for example, revenue or cubic metres of wood, and the measure may be, for example, time consumtion, energy or financial investment. In this edition of Vision we focus particularly on labour productivity (m3 per work day) and various ways of increasing it.
Forestry has picked itself up before. With the motor saw in the 1960s, mechanisation in the 1970s, the single-grip harvester in the 1980s, contract work in the 1990s, and the focus on flows and wood values in the 2000s. Now everybody is hoping for a technology lift in the 2010s… but it is not enough to live on hope. Shortcut has talked with the seven members of forestry’s own crisis group – Skogforsk’s Record level 2005 Reference Group for 28 m3sk/day Productivity. We asked them to define the five areas where the 2011 sector must 24 m3sk/day improve.
THE TEAM DEDICATED TO REVERSING THE TREND: Magnus Thor, Skogforsk Magnus Bergman, SCA Sten Frohm, Södra Lars-Göran Göransson, SmF Vegard Haanaes, Stora Enso Urban Nordmark, Sveaskog Jan Åhlund, Holmen
Harvester data can provide important advance information to end users RESULTAT No. 21 2010. maria.nordstrom@skogforsk.se
1960 4 m3sk/day
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RESEARCH FOR TOMORROW’S FORESTRY
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PEOPLE
FOLLOW UP
TECHNOLOGY
We must find ways to develop the inner efficiency of the machine crews and their clients. We want to develop leadership, but also the driving forces that encourage employees to constantly improve performance and quality. This requires new training forms and coaching to give the people in the forest more responsibility, thereby allowing them to grow as team players and professionals.
In order to improve, the nature of the development potential must be known. This requires more systematic measurement, and feedback to both the team and individuals. The forestry companies must be better at seeing follow-up as an encouragement rather than a whip. Tools are now also available in the form of sophisticated measurement and forecast instruments, for example the John Deere software, Timberlink, which developed out of the strict rationalisation of US agriculture. In addition, the forestry companies are planning a common operational follow-up, where causes of disruption can be found at component level in the machines.
Here major innovation investments are in the pipeline. Forestry companies, machine manufacturers and researchers are planning a national focus on discreet, environmentally sound and efficient forest technology. At the same time, there are attempts to establish a higher profile at the large universities of technology. But until the next technological leap, it is the battle for percentages that matters – every one percent in the logging work is worth SEK 80 million per year! Machines and their various components can be developed to make tasks more efficient and discreet: everything from new machine types like direct-loading harwarders and remote-controlled machines, to multi-tree handling, pivoting outer boom (POB) cranes, grip tilts, faster saw motors, dampening, adjustable supports and levelling. These are just a few innovations – but they all represent small steps on the journey towards tomorrow’s systems.
Promoter. Magnus Thor is leading the technology programme at Skogforsk and the group’s work by forcing the productivity issue.
OPERATOR SUPPORT Forest machines become increasingly sophisticated and even a really motivated operator falls short of the machine’s capacity. The productivity level between different operators also varies greatly – up to fifty percent. Improved decision-support and automation of some of the stages of mechanical work will increase productivity – while reducing the strain on the operator, both mentally and physically, thereby allowing greater focus on what is necessary.
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CULTURE Convert words into action through more efficient innovation and implementation. We must strengthen the culture of supporting development and innovations, see their commercial benefits and implement them faster. Investments in well-supported developments must be seen as good business rather than costs and, for the large steps, system analyses are needed. We must also increase the rate at which new technology and smarter methods are tested, introduced and disseminated – turning words into action.
The list is long, and we must work together in order to reach the target.
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theme | quest for the percentages
MULTI-TREE HANDLING – GETTING BIGGER Multi-tree handling is mostly associated with thinning of small trees, but it also gives very good results for harvesters in final felling stands. A new study shows that productivity increases by approximately 15 percent. ”Furthermore, operating the machine is less stressful… and that’s worth a tremendous amount,” says Mikael Söderberg who operates forest machinery for Ånge contractor, Pelle Rönningås AB.
Text and photo | sverker johansson, bitzer@live.se Mikael Söderberg welcomes me to the cab. He and the 1170 are popular with visitors in the forests south of Liden. What attracts people is the multi-tree handling procedure used in final felling. The stands often contain trees with varied diameters, with many smaller, suppressed trees. These cost a lot to fell – unless this can be done in a smarter way of course. “We avoid a lot of the crane operation that is the major consumer of fuel in the larger machines,” says Mikael Söderberg. “We have a large 1470 that also has the technology. If you can extend a long boom arm and feed several smaller trees towards the machine, a lot of time and fuel are saved.” You’ve been operating a multi-tree unit for a year now. Would you ever switch back? ”Not a chance. It increases production, with calmer days and less stress. It means more trees for less crane operation, and it improves everyday work, quite simply.” Are there any pitfalls? ”You mustn’t feel under pressure to use the technology just because it’s there. If you start looking for trees to accumulate in the unit – well... there’s the benefit lost immediately! On some shifts, you don’t accumulate any trees at all. I use the techno6
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Forest innovation. Mikael’s colleague Fredrik Andersson shows how the team protected the unit’s grip arms by welding on a steel protector.
logy when conditions are right and that’s something you learn – if nothing else, we see it in the follow-up. Just now I accumulate 15-30 cubic metres per shift, out of a total of 170-180 cubic metres. Say 10-20 percent. No complicated hand grips? ”No, the machine asks if I want to accumulate more trees when the diameter of the stem I’m working on is 12 cm. If I accept this by pressing a button, the extra arms hold the tree in place and I can grip the next tree before I start processing. Often I take
the large ones first and then grip the smaller trees standing close to one another. And the components are robust? ”No problem. We modified it ourselves – we welded protectors over the pistons to the grip arms – otherwise there would have been problems. Apart from that, there are still some quite basic faults on the machines, and that lowers productivity. On this 1170, the back axle broke three times in the last year… and a circuit board seems to have gone in the manoeuvring panel.”
Results from Skogforsk 16 percent improvement in productivity at final felling, and fuel consumption reduced by 14 percent (litres/m3sub). These were the results of Skogforsk’s studies of a large final felling harvester (JD1470D) and the JD H480 unit, equipped with extra grip arms and modified feed rollers. ”The study corresponds quite well with experiences from eastern Canada, where around 50 harvesters are now operating with accumulating units in final felling,” explains Skogforsk’s Torbjörn Brunberg, who carried out the study together with Hagos Lundström. Later this year, further trials will be carried out using a different machine in a different type of stand. ”This is mainly to check that the results from the first study also apply under other conditions.”
RESEARCH FOR TOMORROW’S FORESTRY
When I grip a small tree, the system asks if I want to accumulate. I respond with a simple press of a button.
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rear-view mirror. Mikael Söderberg looks back on a year of multi-tree handling in final felling. “I would never switch back,” he says.
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AUTOMATION
MAJOR BOOST TO PRODUCTIVITY Automation of crane work is a very efficient way of increasing the productivity of logging. This is shown by several studies at Skogforsk – in fact, this could be a major revolution, a considerable percentage increase in productivity. Skogforsk’s harvester simulator 2007: Some forestry students first operate the simulator like a normal harvester, where every single boom movement must be steered by the operator. Then they get to operate the machine in automated mode. The unit swings automatically in the right felling direction when it approaches the tree to be felled, lifts itself automatically when the tree falls and, after felling, the crane moves automatically to the right position for processing. Productivity increases dramatically. These are inexperienced operators, in fact almost totally inexperienced. When they operate the simulator as a conventional harvester, their productivity is only a quarter of that of professional operators. But in automated mode, they almost reach the productivity of professionals – just 20 percent less!
productivity, raise their levels,” says Björn Löfgren. “And the productivity differences between operators can be as much as 50 percent, so there is a lot to gain! But the study also showed something else – the operators in the study felt that work-related strains were considerably less when the simulator was in automated mode. “I think that is the really big benefit. The operators get small rests automatically, when the crane is doing its work. This helps them stay alert throughout the shift, which increases average production noticeably. Furthermore, risk of repetitive strain injuries is decreased.” Why has the technology not broken through? Well, it’s not very easy to build a crane that thinks for itself, explains Björn Löfgren. It needs sensors that can accurately read off the positions of the different parts of the crane in relation to the machine. And sensors are a
EKEBO Ekebo 2250, SE-268 90 Svalöv, Sweden Phone: +46 418 471300 UMEÅ P.O. Box 3, SE-918 21 Sävar, Sweden. Phone: +46 90 2033350 www.skogforsk.se
“We’ve been active in trying to stimulate development, but it’s been hard to get any development companies interested. As far as I know, there is only one embryo of a project, and even that is on hold right now.” This is symptomatic, he feels, because there are two major obstacles to innovation in forestry. Firstly, it is difficult to develop new technology because the machine series are so small. Secondly, no contractor dares to buy a machine with unknown and untested technology. And that of course reduces the drivers for the manufacturers. ”It’s a shame because crane automation is perhaps the strongest tool we have to increase productivity in forestry again. Furthermore, if we solve the issue of the sensors, this will open the door to boom tip control, a technology allowing the operator simply to point, using a
Björn Löfgren, Skogforsk.
single control, where the boom tip is to go. Then a computer calculates the most efficient combination of valve openings to get the unit in position as quickly as possible. The gains in productivity and work environment would be enormous, as our calculations and studies have shown.”
Virtual forest Automation is being analysed in the Skogforsk simulator ‘Troedsson Forest Tech Lab’, since the technology has not yet been applied in real machines. In the red field (left) processing is taking place – in this case timber, small-dimension logs and pulp wood are being sorted in the three blue fields. The tests show that automated boom movements allow much better utilisation of the machine’s capacity – for example, the crane can reach maximum speed faster. In manual case, such fast operation would make the crane impossible for the operator to control!
”One of really big advantages of automation is that inexperienced operators, or operators with low
UPPSALA (Head Office) Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala, Sweden Phone: +46 18 188500
challenge in a tough environment.”
RESEARCH PROGRAMMES WOOd UtILIzAtION Lars Wilhelmsson lars.wilhelmsson@skogforsk.se. Phone: +46 18 188555 FOrESt tEcHNOLOgy Magnus Thor magnus.thor@skogforsk.se Phone: +46 18 188596 LOgIStIcS Gert Andersson, gert.andersson@skogforsk.se Phone: +46 18 188567
FOrESt BIOENErgy Rolf Björheden rolf.bjorheden@skogforsk.se Phone: +46 18 188509 trEE BrEEdINg NOrtH
Bengt Andersson bengt.andersson@skogforsk.se Ph: +46 90 2033358 trEE BrEEdINg SOUtH Bo Karlsson bo.karlsson@skogforsk.se Phone: +46 418 471305
SILvIcULtUrE
Lars-Göran Sundblad lars-goran.sundblad@skogforsk.se. Ph: +46 90 2033369 ENvIrONMENt Jan-Olov Weslien jan-olov.weslien@skogforsk.se Phone: +46 18 188505
Editor in chief: Jan Fryk | Form: Pagarango | Editor: Bitzer | ISSN: 2000-2726 | Photos: Sverker Johansson unless otherwise stated Printed by: Gävle Offset, 2011