Reviewing productivity studies of skidders working in coniferous forests and plantations

Abstract

Skidding is an important element of harvesting operations, which contributes to the extraction of wood. A skidder can be used in different types of harvesting operations, such as thinning, clear fell, native forest thinning or salvage work. The main goal of this article was to review the available stud-ies on productivity of skidding operations in coniferous forests/ plantations. Information on skid-der productivity was collected from publications and then was classified in three regions, including North America, Europe and the Southern Hemisphere. The parameters affecting machine productivity included machine type/ size, tree volume/ log volume/ load volume, average skidding distance and slope of the ground for each reported productivity. The average productivity reported in the published reports ranged from 9.3 m 3 /PMH to 78.0 m 3 /PMH. Detailed information and conclusions collected from various studies can be of use to forest academic and industry users to gain knowledge about vari-ations of skidder productivity in different regions and site/ operation conditions, which can be helpful for predicting, controlling and improving current levels of productivity.