J. For. Sci., 2015, 61(7):277-281 | DOI: 10.17221/21/2015-JFS

Evaluating the machine utilisation rate of harvester and forwarder using on-board computers in Southern Tasmania (Australia)Original Paper

M.R. Ghaffariyan
University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, Queensland, Australia

This project used the recorded machine utilisation of two machines (harvester and forwarder) by MultiDATs in pine plantations of Southern Tasmania (Australia) to verify the impact of site conditions on utilisation rates over a long study period. The parameters of site conditions included type of forest operations, stand age, site productivity, ground slope and forwarding distance. The correlation ratio between each parameter and machine utilisation was low and not significant at a significance level of 0.05. Harvester's utilisation rate varied from 48.6% to 100.3% while it averaged at 77.3%. Forwarder's utilisation in this case varied from 47.8% to 96.5%. The average rate for forwarder in this study was 81.1%. The long-term machine utilisation rates can be applied by the operation management to control the current level of machine utilisation and to calculate the machine hourly cost accurately to obtain unit harvesting costs.

Keywords: cut-to-length method; harvester-processor; multiDAT on-board computer; correlation ratio

Published: July 31, 2015  Show citation

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Ghaffariyan MR. Evaluating the machine utilisation rate of harvester and forwarder using on-board computers in Southern Tasmania (Australia). J. For. Sci. 2015;61(7):277-281. doi: 10.17221/21/2015-JFS.
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