A Comparison of Harvester Productivity
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A COMPARISON OF HARVESTER PRODUCTIVITY AND STUMP VOLUME WASTE IN COPPICED AND PLANTED EUCALYPTUS GRANDIS PULPWOOD COMPARTMENTS IN THE KWAZULU-NATAL FORESTRY REGION OF SOUTH AFRICA MUFHUMUDZI MUEDANYI RAMANTSWANA Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of MAGISTER TECHNOLOGIAE in FORESTRY at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University June 2012 Supervisor: Dr J.C. Steenkamp Co-supervisor: Mr A.M. McEwan DECLARATION I, Mufhumudzi Muedanyi Ramantswana 207050046 , hereby declare that the treatise/ dissertation/thesis for MAGISTER TECHNOLOGIAE in FORESTRY is my own work and that it has not been submitted for assessment or completion of any postgraduate qualification to another University or for another qualification. ____________________________ Mufhumudzi Muedanyi Ramantswana i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere appreciation and thanks is dedicated to the following: Sappi for allowing and sponsoring me to do my Masters full-time and for partially supporting me financially when I conducted my research; Mr. Andie Immelman and Mr. Andre Boshoff from Sappi for constant support, and for providing me with much-needed guidance and information as well; Mr. Sean Brown from Mondi for allowing me to conduct my research at the New Hanover plantation; Mr. Darryn Braithwaite from Mondi in New Hanover who assisted me in identifying the representative research sites and providing information; Bruce and his team from DS Preen Contracting (Pty) Ltd for assisting me with moving the machines and providing much-needed assistance during the field trials; Struan Robertson, a NMMU Forest Engineering BTech student, and Mxolisi Mtshali, a Mondi second-year practical student, for all the assistance with infield data collection; Luyanda Mbelu, Martin Eggers and Nomcebo Mnculwane for providing the much needed logistic support during the field studies; Dr. Jaap Steenkamp my supervisor – thank you very much for the overall guidance and support during my whole research; Mr. Andrew McEwan my co-supervisor – thank you very much for the all the knowledge and experience shared, financial support for the research and direct involvement from the very beginning of my Masters; Mr. Willie Louw, my Forest Management lecturer, for providing much-needed assistance and support with regard to my infield data collection measurements; Mrs Jeanette Pauw, the NMMU statistician, for helping me with my data analysis and all statistic-related support; Many thanks to my friends Mpumi, Mulanga, Nonku, Mnqobi, Lebo and NkhosingPhile for constantly forwarding literature related to much of the research and offering a helping hand when needed; ii A special thanks to my family for their support and encouragement during my studies, especially my parents Jackson and Nditsheni Ramantswana, and siblings Bulavhurena, Muneiwa, Mothipana, Hulisani and Thabelo Above all I thank God for His abounding grace upon my life, and wisdom and understanding to compile this research. iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AIDS Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome BWBS Bark-wood bond strength CCS Combined coppice stem cm Centimetres DBH Diameter at breast height DAFF Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries HIV Human Immunodeficiency Syndrome m Meters m3 Cubic meters MAI Mean annual increment PMH Productive machine hours Vol Volume iv ABSTRACT Over the past decade the South African forestry industry has gradually experienced the ramifications of labour scarcity, increases in labour costs, the effect of HIV and AIDS and increasing timber demand. Consequently, this has led to an increase in the mechanisation rate, especially in timber harvesting operations. Due to the labour challenges in South Africa, mechanised forestry equipment has increasingly been required to operate in complex forest conditions, such as coppiced compartments, where they have not operated before. It therefore occurs that harvesters are either used in certain coppiced compartments with uncertain productivity expectations, or the harvesters are not used in these compartments due to a lack of productivity knowledge. The influence that certain factors have on harvester productivity and stump volume loss – factors such as coppice regeneration practices and stem form – is poorly understood and has not been quantified. No scientific research exists regarding the effects of coppice compartments on the productivity of a harvester and the amount of stump volume waste. This research aimed at determining the influence of tree volume, tree form, stem felled first and distance between stems on the productivity of an excavator based harvester in coppiced double, coppiced single and planted Eucalyptus grandis pulpwood compartments. Furthermore, the research determined whether there was any stump volume waste, and quantified how much of it was due to excessive stump heights by the harvester. Through regression analysis, productivity equations were derived to make productivity predictions in both coppiced and planted compartments. All stumps were evaluated for waste and the average stump volume waste in coppiced double, coppiced single and planted trees was determined. The research results showed that planted trees had the highest productivity across all tree sizes, followed by coppiced single trees and then coppiced double stems. When harvesting a 0.2 m3 tree, the mean harvester productivity was 8.7 m3 per PMH in coppiced double trees, 13.8 m3 per PMH in coppiced single trees and 16.1 m3 per PMH in planted trees. In coppiced double stems the productivity was not significantly influence by the distance between stems. However, the productivity was significantly v influenced by the stem felled first. The regression results showed that if the smaller stem was felled first, the productivity would increase if the larger stem’s volume was less than 0.18 m3; however where the larger stem was greater than 0.18 m3, the relationship was reversed. In addition, the productivity for both coppiced single trees and coppiced double stems were significantly influenced by stem form. The poorly formed trees had low productivity compared to the trees with good form. The stump volume findings showed that coppiced double stems had the highest average stump volume waste per stump, with 0.00307 m3 waste, followed by coppiced single trees (0.001954 m3) and planted trees (0.001650 m3). The average stump volume waste per stump with waste for the planted trees was negligible. This research provides forestry companies and harvesting contractors with information on the effect of tree volume, tree form and stem felled first on harvester productivity in E. grandis coppiced double, coppiced single and planted compartments. This information will assist in making equipment and system selection decisions and improve operational management and control. In addition, they will also be aware of stump volume losses that will occur in the three scenarios. vi DEFINITION OF KEY CONCEPTS Key words and concepts are explained below to ensure that the interpretation and understanding of the concepts in the text are clear. Coppicing - vegetative regeneration from sprouts following a disturbance such as fire or timber harvesting (Ribeiro & Better, 1995); Coppiced double stems - two first rotation coppice stems per stump that are left with the objective of achieving the original compartment density during the coppice reduction operation (Norris, 2000); Coppiced single stems/tree – a single first rotation coppice stem that sprouts from a tree stump. A coppiced single stem originates from the remaining tall and dominant shoot left on a stump during the coppice reduction operation (Norris, 2000); Distance between stems - distance between the coppiced double stems measured with a tape measure at a height of 1.3 m above the previous rotation’s stump; Harvester - a machine that fells, debranches, debarks and crosscuts a tree at the stump (Kellogg et al., 1993); Felled first stem - whichever stem between the two coppiced stems the harvester grabbed, felled and processed first; Tree form - straightness or crookedness of the bole and the branch density (Puttock et al., 2005); Planted trees - first rotation seedling planted trees; Productive machine hour (PMH) - the fraction of time spent by the machine producing output or doing its primary task or support task (Wenger, 1984); Stump - The lower part of a stem remaining after felling, and which is still attached to the root complex (McEwan, 2011a); vii Stump volume waste - The volume of excess timber left on a harvested stump that should have been removed in accordance with the minimum utilisation standards of the cutting authority (Singh, 2006). viii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ................................................................................................................................ i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................ ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................ iv ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................... v DEFINITION OF KEY CONCEPTS ................................................................................................ vii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ..........................................................................................................................