A Combination of Traditional and Mechanized Logging for Protected Areas

Teaming draught animals with modern forest machines may offer an innovative low-impact solution to biomass harvesting in protected areas. Machine traffic only occurs on pre-designated access corridors set 50 m apart, while trees are cut with chainsaws and dragged to the corridor’s edge by draught horses. The operation presented in this study included one chainsaw operator, two draught horses with their driver, an excavator-based processor with its driver and a helper equipped with a chainsaw for knocking off forks and large branches, and a light forwarder (7 t) with his driver. Researchers assessed work productivity and harvesting cost through a time study repeated on 20 sample plots. Descriptive statistics were used to estimate productivity and cost benchmark figures, which were matched against the existing references for the traditional alternatives. The new system achieved a productivity in excess of 4 m3 over bark per scheduled hour (including delays). Harvesting cost averaged EUR 53 m−3, which was between 15% and 30% cheaper than the traditional alternatives. What is more, the new system increased labor and horse productivity by a factor of 2 and 7, respectively, which can effectively counteract the increasingly severe shortage of men and animals.