Theoretical Stability and Traction of Steep Slope Tethered Feller-Bunchers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Boston K ; Chung W ; Leshchinsky B ; Sessions J ; Wimer J
• Description:
  Manual felling in afforested land is a productivity constraint and, more importantly, a safety concern. This has prompted the development of innovative mechanized harvesting systems to overcome the constraint, particularly on steeper slopes. The primary technique that has been developed and employed consists of cable-assisted, or "tethered," feller-bunchers, which use tension in a wire rope anchored upslope to assist with traction and gradeability. However, despite their deployment internationally, there is little quantitative framework with which to evaluate the relationship between tether tension, stability, ground pressures, and slip, especially in the context of machine specifications and site operative conditions. This study presents a theoretical framework that uses a moment equilibrium approach to evaluate the relationship between equipment dimensions and specifications and soil and site conditions to identify allowable slopes of operation and associated ground pressures. This quantitative framework highlights the facts that deeper grousers, higher cable tensions, wider tracks, and uphill boom orientation all increase gradeability and stability during operation. Inversely, effective track length (hence, increased soil pressures) and stability are decreased from grappling of heavier trees, operation on weaker soils, fully extended boom operation in the downhill direction, and increasing slope. Increasing soil pressure, increasing slope, and decreasing stability may increase soil disturbance but needs to be corroborated with future, planned field tests. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Forestry Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Tethered Assist Cable Assist Environmental Impacts Equipment Operation Logging Industry Machinery Slope Stability Soil Impacts Stability Steep Slope Harvest
• ISSN:
  0015-749X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Oregon ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  192-200
• Volume:
  63
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20060726
• Citation:
  For Sci 2017 Apr; 63(2):192-200
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  Oregon State University - Corvallis
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20150901
• Source Full Name:
  Forest Science
• End Date:
  20180831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b287547363fba45bb58a841079dfa321d00d80cc7d39b5c854b0389bb462041877cf2eccbf974d7567bf8b1dd1c82c47a9cbcc067656a92ab6877cc4001c1e87
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/224555/cdc_224555_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 685.49 KB ]