FREE E-LEARNING COURSE NOW OPEN FOR ENROLLMENT The South African timber industry is geographically dispersed and gathering people to attend a course or training is often expensive and in the case of pandemics often not safe (to gather in large numbers). In order to...
Our Android-based Forest Operations Time Study app has been completely updated for March 2020. The other BIG NEWS is that the app is also now available for installation directly through the Google Play Store. The app is designed for Android-based smartphones running...
This study continues to build upon the database of average time consumption and productivity models of forwarder machines in mechanised CTL operations in South African pine sawtimber plantations. The aim of this study was to calculate the time consumption,...
This study explored the relationship between the productivity produced using two methods of data collection: Time Study – manual Time Study following the Standards for Time Studies for the South African Forest Industry and Stem File – using the machine...
In this study, a South African pine saw-timber mechanised cut-to-length harvesting operation was analysed with the main objective of describing and modelling productivity development learning curves of beginner operators in both clear-felling and thinning operations....
This study aims to determine the carbon balance of South African plantations by assessing the emissions associated with mechanised CTL harvesting and comparing these to the carbon stored in the logs harvested. The objectives are as follows: Estimate diesel and...
A time study of a mechanised cut-to-length system was conducted in Pinus elliottii sawtimber plantations in the Southern Cape forestry region of South Africa. A harvester and a forwarder were studied with the objectives of finding average productivity across the work...
This study sets out to see if the slope can affect mechanized cut-to-length harvester operations’ productivity and harvesting cost. To test this assumption, two different harvesters were applied to the study: an excavator-based machine (EBM) (Volvo EC210BF) and a...
The study was commissioned to test the durability, productivity and fuel consumption of different nylons used on brush cutters. Two nylons were identified, paired (by diameter) and tested in one trial (per nylon diameter) fitted randomly to two brush cutters. The...
This document contains summaries of three student projects (two Masters and one intern) recently completed or in progress under the supervision of Prof. Pierre Ackerman and Simon Ackerman. These project form part of the Forest Operations Project at Stellenbosch...
