Productivity of a Scandinavian cut-to-length system while second thinning pine plantations

Cut-to-length timber harvesting systems have been used in the Scandinavian countries for many years. Only two machines, a harvester and forwarder, are needed to produce timber products on board a trailer at roadside. There are several reasons why these machines have not been used extensively in the United States: 1) they have a high initial cost; 2) service and parts are not readily available; and 3) operators must be trained on these machines. This paper presents a detailed discussion of the productivity of the Norcar 600H harvester and 490 forwarder while harvesting southern pine plantations. Each time element of the harvester and forwarder operating cycle was modeled