Performance of Forwarding Operations in Biomass Recovery from Apple Orchards

In recent decades, the use of forwarders in agroforestry systems has been increasing. In agroforestry systems, the possibility to use these machines in various operational contexts allows the reduction of hourly costs and favors its use also in small enterprises. In Europe, agroforestry or farm forestry represents an important resource that offers alternative and more sustainable land uses in agricultural or forestry areas. By covering large areas, fruit orchards represent an important source of income, but they require annual pruning which leaves abundant residues on the ground. And when fruit production declines, the trees are dismantled to make room for new ones. This study evaluated the performance of biomass recovery from dismantled apple orchards using a HSM 208 F forwarder. Time studies were implemented to estimate the productivity and fuel consumption of forwarding operations. Data was collected by means of a GPS unit, a video camera and an electric fuel pump, and 30 work cycles divided into elemental tasks were monitored. Models for time consumption and productivity as a function of extraction distance were developed by means of least-square simple regression, at different scales needed to characterize the forwarding operations. The average forwarding distance was of ca. 830 m and the net and gross forwarding production rates were of 21.79 and 15.35 loose m3 h − 1 (volume of woodchips produced), respectively. The study provides reference data for forwarding operations and demonstrates the successful use of forestry machines in the agricultural sector.