August 29, Kronopark Lyckan outside Lycksele, marks the world premiere of a unique prototype that can be used for thinning crane corridors. This continuous harvesting unit gathers young energy wood extremely efficiently. It is the result of efforts on the parts of Sveaskog, Skogstekniska Klustret (forest engineering cluster) and SLU (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences).
"We are confident that this entails a significant technological breakthrough which will transform clearing into a highly profitable operation for the forest industry," says David Berglund, Forestry manager for Sveaskog in Västerbotten.
Some 70 people attended the first showing of the new crane tip-mounted unit that can gather young trees up to ten metres long in corridors with dense clearing stands. The prototype is the fruition of a degree project conducted by two students at Luleå University of Technology, Julia Forsberg and Rikard Wennberg, on behalf of Sveaskog. Since the spring of 2011, the newly qualified Masters of Engineering have, through Sveaskog and in collaboration with the Skogstekniska Klustret and SLU, furthered the development of a unit that can be used with a normal forest harvester. The big advantage is that the technology permits continuous harvesting, which is to say that harvesting occurs without the unit needing to stop to grip each individual tree.
"This entails a large increase in productivity in comparison to present day methods, which can only handle one or possibly a few trees at a time," says Julia Forsberg.
There are 2.77 million hectares of dense young forest with an average height below 12 metres in Sweden. This corresponds to 12.3 per cent of the country's total forest land.
"A conservative estimate is that five million cubic metres of biomass per year could be harvested in these types of stands," says Dan Bergström, SLU, who, through a doctoral dissertation, initiated the concept behind crane corridor thinning.
Today it is considered viable to conduct profitable harvesting in dense stands when the trunks are larger than 8-9 centimetres. But researchers at SLU feel that by using modern technology for harvesting in connection with crane corridor thinning, it should be possible to increase efficiency to the extent that trunks down to 6 centimetres can be profitably harvested.
Can be a major breakthrough
The Sveaskog Senior Vice President Forestry, Herman Sundqvist, tells us that there have been several attempts in the past to mechanise clearing.
"But up till now we have not had much success. The development of this prototype can be a breakthrough that will make clearing a really profitable forest stewardship investment," he says.
Tommy Nilsson, Senior Vice President Production within Sveaskog, also sees a bright future for crane corridor thinning and the new unit.
"In recent years, productivity within forestry has stagnated, which is alarming. My hope now is that the manufacturers of forest machines and the equipment for them will be motivated to move on this and develop it into a new technical advancement in Swedish silviculture," he concludes.
For more information contact:
David Berglund, Forest manager for Sveaskog in Västerbotten, tel. +46 (0)950-231 58, +46 (0)70-697 61 25
Christer Lundin, deputy Press contact manager for Sveaskog, tel. +46(0)76-101 98 17