engleski

Timber forwarding from Croatian lowland forests - rutting and soil compaction

This paper is a contribution to the studies of environmental evaluation of Timberjack 1710B forwarder on roundwood extraction from Croatian lowland forests. The research was carried out at 3 felling sites in the area of Gornja Posavina. The effects of forwarder work are shown as changes of physical-mechanical soil characteristics and water-air properties in the soil due to the load exerted on the soil by forwarders, width of tracking, rut depth and structure of tracking area. Results of soil compaction raise doubts about environmental suitability of Timberjack 1710B forwarder use at the time of main felling, when moisture of hydromorphic soils in Croatian lowland forests is so high. The environmental suitability of the researched vehicle under said work conditions could be improved by using semi-tracks or by limiting vehicle’ s travel to skid-trail network with additional soil protection provided by covering skid roads with brushmates or by limiting the load volume.

timber extraction; forwarder; soil compaction; lowland forests

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