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Articles by Michal Brink

Category : Research article

article id 1599, category Research article
Andrew McEwan, Michal Brink, Raffaele Spinelli. (2017). Factors affecting the productivity and work quality of chain flail delimbing and debarking. Silva Fennica vol. 51 no. 2 article id 1599. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.1599
Keywords: modeling; plantation; coppice; efficiency; pulpwood; processing
Highlights: Machine productivity averaged 59 m3 ub SMH–1, with a 19% incidence of delay time; Productivity increased 70% if tree volume increased from 0.1 to 0.4 m3 ub; Debarking quality was good for 58% of the trees, medium for 29% and poor for 13%; The more trees in a bunch and the higher BWBS, the lower debarking quality.
Abstract | Full text in HTML | Full text in PDF | Author Info

Chain flail delimbing and debarking may improve value recovery from small tree harvests, without renouncing the benefits of multi-tree processing. The technology is mature and capable of excellent performance, which has been documented in many benchmark studies. This paper offers new insights into the relationship between the performance of chain flail delimbing and debarking and such factors as tree volume, load volume, tree form and bark-wood bond strength (BWBS). The study was conducted in Chile, during the commercial harvesting of a Eucalyptus globulus Labill. plantation. In an observational study, researchers collected production data from over 780 work cycles, and work quality data from over 1000 individual trees. The analysis of these data shows that productivity is affected primarily by load volume. Work quality is affected by BWBS and by the number of trees in a load. Work quality degrades with increasing BWBS and tree number, since more trees tend to shield each other. Tree form has no effect on either productivity or work quality. Regression and probability functions are provided, and can be used for predictive purposes when trying to optimize current operations or to prospect the introduction of chain flail technology to new work environments.

  • McEwan, Postgraduate Forest Programme, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20 Hatfield, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa E-mail: Andrew.McEwan@nmmu.ac.za
  • Brink, Postgraduate Forest Programme, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20 Hatfield, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa E-mail: michal@cmo.co.za
  • Spinelli, CNR IVALSA, Via Madonna del Piano 10, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9545-1004 E-mail: spinelli@ivalsa.cnr.it (email)

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