The aim of the research was to verify the impact of selected parameters on the efficiency and organization of chipper operations. The paper analyzes chipping operations in Polish forests with a focus on work site location, overnight chipper location, chipper workload per site, fuel consumption, and work shift duration, as all of these factors may affect operating efficiency. The mean chipper travel distance between sites during a shift ranged from 4.74 km to 9.5 km (chippers moved on average every other day). The mean work shift duration was 12.4 h. At the end of a shift, the chippers traveled on average from 4.2 km to 6.3 km to an overnight location. At the beginning of a workday, the chippers were dispatched to sites at a distance of 2.5 km to 4.0 km. The average fuel consumption of the forwarder-mounted chippers was 16 L/h and that of the truck-mounted chipper was 7.7 L/h. It was found that the following actions have a decisive influence on the effectiveness of the operation of the chippers: determination of the size of individual tasks and the deployment of successive forest areas, indication of the proper location of the machine base, and the method of accessing the forest area.
Management of Chipping Operations in Polish Forests
