Files
Abstract
In 2007, the first prototype of the Fixteri bundle harvester capable of
incorporating whole-tree compaction into the cutting phase was launched by
Biotukki Oy. The bundles are hauled by a standard forwarder to the roadside
storage, from where pulpwood bundles are transported by a standard timber
truck to the end-use facility. At the puplmill, bundle batches are fed into a
wood flow consisting of conventional delimbed pulpwood. Separation of the
pulp and energy fractions does not take place until the wood reaches the
debarking drum. Energy wood bundles are crushed and used for energy
generation. In the pre-feasibility study carried out by Metsäteho Oy and the
Finnish Forest Research Institute, the required performance level of bundle
harvesting (i.e. cutting and bundling) of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.)
dominated stands was determined by comparing the total supply chain costs
with most common pulpwood and energy wood supply chains. The system
analysis showed that whole-tree bundling enables the reduction of
procurement costs below the current cost level of separate pulpwood and
energy wood procurement in early thinnings. The greatest cost-saving
potential lies in small-diameter (d1.3 = 7–10 cm) first-thinning stands.