Assortment-Based Forwarder Productivity In Northeastern Italian Alps Salvage Logging Operations

Salvage logging operations have grown increasingly common in response to the rising frequency of severe events, such as windthrows, droughts, wildfires, and insect outbreaks, which impact forest ecosystems. To maintain the sustainability of salvage logging, precise planning and execution of harvesting operations are essential, particularly in sensitive areas. In these contexts, fully mechanized harvesting systems are preferred for their safety level, cost-effectiveness and adaptability to complex terrains This study aims to address the knowledge gap concerning the efficiency and productivity of cut-to-length (CTL) harvesting operations, with a particular focus on forwarding operations. It examines the impact of multiple variables on productivity and fuel consumption, including wood assortment, load size, extraction distance, and terrain slope. Data collection campaign was carried out through a follow up study, where the data were automatically recorded by a CSS electronics® Controller Area Network bus (CAN-bus) data logger, able to register engine parameters while performing the harvesting activity, such as fuel consumption rate, engine speed, wheel-based speed, torque percentage, etc. Additionally, a detailed time and motion study was carried out using on-board digital cameras (Drift®, Ghost-HD) allowing the identification of 227 working cycles and 7 product assortment classes. Finally, high-resolution LIDAR flights were performed before and after the hauling operation, in order to identify the potential terrain disturbances. Preliminary results indicate that the type of product assortment and the average log size significantly impact productivity and fuel consumption, confirming that biomass and pulp and paper assortments are the most expensive to forward and have the highest fuel consumption rates per cubic meter extracted.