Back Tomas Ersson, Jussi Manner, Kalle Kärhä. (2025). Forest operations during continuous cover forestry in the Nordics: the need for cost-efficient harvesting solutions like single-machine systems. Silva Fennica vol. 59 no. 3 article id 25044. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.25044

Keywords: boreal forest; logging; harwarder; combi machine; dual machine; harvester forwarder; two-machine harvesting system

Highlights: Low harvest volumes per tract decrease the cost-efficiency of today’s conventional logging systems; Single-machine systems (SMS) like harwarders and dual machines are competitive when harvested volumes are low, for example during harvesting in continuous cover forestry (CCF); As CCF grows in the Nordics, so does the need for development and commercialization of SMS that can harvest large trees.

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Low tract size (ha) and harvested volume per hectare (m³ ha^–1) decrease the cost-efficiency of today’s conventional Nordic harvesting systems, which generally consists of a harvester and a forwarder. Low cost-efficiency is a problem because it reduces forest owners’ incentive to harvest wood and manage their forests. Today’s conventional harvesting system (two-machine system; TMS) was developed based on rotation forest management. As continuous cover forestry (CCF) grows in the Nordics, it is necessary to develop harvesting solutions that can operate cost-efficiently even when total removal (m³ per tract) is low. Single-machine systems (SMS) require only one machine to do all the harvesting activities; thus, SMS have only one machine-relocation cost per tract, instead of two per tract for TMS. SMS are generally categorized as either harwarders or dual machines, the difference being if the machine processes the logs directly onto the load space or not. In relation to TMS, the relative competitiveness of SMS increases with decreasing tract size, harvested volume per hectare, and/or average extraction distance. Because of site adaptation, CCF, and ever-expanding forest road networks, the trend in Nordic forestry over the last few decades has been that these three factors have been decreasing. CCF mainly entails thinning from above, which generally means the harvesting of large trees. SMS exist today, but almost exclusively as small-sized dual machines that cannot cut large trees. Thus, there is a pronounced need for commercially available SMS that can fell and process large trees.

Ersson, SLU, School of Forest Management, SE-739 21 Skinnskatteberg, Sweden https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2442-7482 E-mail: back.tomas.ersson@slu.se
Manner, Skogforsk, Uppsala Science Park, SE-751 83 Uppsala Sweden https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4982-3855 E-mail: jussi.manner@skogforsk.se
Kärhä, School of Forest Sciences, University of Eastern Finland (UEF), P.O. Box 111, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland E-mail: kalle.karha@uef.fi

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