%0 Research note
%T Harvesting of short rotation coppice – harvesting trials with a cut and storage system in Germany
%A Schweier, Janine
%A Becker, Gero
%D 2012
%J Silva Fennica
%V 46
%N 2
%R doi:10.14214/sf.61
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/61
%X Short rotation coppice (SRC) harvesting techniques are available in  Germany, but broad experience and knowledge about machine performance  and the related effective costs of harvesting operations are still  missing. This information is crucial, as harvesting costs strongly  influence the economic performance of the overall supply chain.  Therefore, it was the aim of this study to collect and analyze  productivity data of different harvesting systems for SRC. The combined  cut and chip system on the one hand and the cut and storage system on  the other hand were studied by literature review. Several studies  analyze the combined cut and chip systems and the reported machine  productivities showed great variations. The average was 30 green tons  per scheduled machine hour (gt smh<sup>–1</sup>). Few studies are  analysing the cut and storage system. They report that machines still  are under development and that further research is needed. Therefore,  time studies of harvesting operations using the cut and storage system  were carried out. Five trials were performed with the harvesting machine  “Stemster MK III” developed by Nordic Biomass. The share of productive  working time was 85% and the average productivity was 21 gt smh<sup>–1</sup>.  These results were compared with values from the literature. Resulting  harvesting costs were calculated per oven dry ton (euros odt<sup>–1</sup>). The advantages and disadvantages of both harvesting systems are highlighted.