Earlier attempts at mechanising pre-commercial thinning have been met with varying degrees of success. Most attempts have been based on techniques where residual stems are straddled. Early treatment is essential to limit damage on residual trees. One part of the present study is an evaluation of mechanised pre-commercial thinning using the new Vimek 404R. Vimek 404R is a fairly small machine that permits selective removal of stems, making it potentially suitable also for areas overdue for pre-commercial thinning. The study established the level of performance for the machine, as well as the improvement needed to make it an economically viable option.

In Sweden, harvesting pre-commercial thinning (PCT) stems for energy purposes is a interesting way of financing the high cost of preparing dense stands for a profitable first conventional thinning. This concept can be labelled bioenergy thinning. The aim of this study was to quantify the productivity of a Vimek 404R light harvester with an accumulating Naarva-Grip cutting head during the bioenergy thinning of a self-regenerated stand west of Sunnansjö in Dalarna. The stand was birch-dominated, contained 15 371 stems/ha, and measured on average 4,6 cm Dbh and 7 m tall. Even though the driver was well experienced with the machine, the stand in question was the first one that he ever thinned in this manner. Nevertheless, the driver strived to accumulate as many stems as possible during each crane cycle and chose to cut taller stems in half so as to make the handling and forwarding of the harvested stems easier.

The annual demands for forest fuels increases in Sweden. At present, large unutilized biomass resources is found in young, dense forests from which about five million oven-dry tonnes (ODt) (23 TWh) could annually be extracted as forest fuel. But harvesting small trees give high logging costs and new cost-efficient harvesting techniques are therefore required. The aim was to study the productivity of Vimek 608 BioCombi in forest fuel thinning of Lodgepole pine and to calculate the economy of the harvesting and estimate the thinning quality. The time study was performed in Åmarken in the county of Västerbotten.

Vid gallring kan två huvudmetoder urskiljas, nämligen gallring med stickvägsgående- eller med beståndsgående maskiner. Allt fler avverkningsmaskiner för småskaligt skogsbrukande har under den senaste tiden utvecklats, bland dessa utvecklare finns maskintillverkaren Vimek AB i Vindeln. Syftet med denna studie var att kvantifiera skillnader i gallringsresultat i tio bestånd gallrade med beståndsgående maskin typ Vimek, ?Vimekbestånd?, och i tio bestånd gallrade med stickvägsgående konventionella maskiner, ?Stormaskinbestånd?. Jämförelsen avsåg gallringsuttag, stickvägsareal, skador på kvarvarande träd samt totalproduktion och avkastning under en omloppstid för tre olika gallringsregimer. Analysen grundades på en provyteinventering där 5 provytor med en radie av 8 m och en total area av 0,10053 ha inventerades per bestånd.

Biobränslen har blivit en alltmer viktig energiresurs och i Sverige står skogen för en stor del av biobränslet. Detta har lett till en viktig marknad inom svenskt skogsbruk. Vimeks inriktning inom detta område har varit hantering av energisortiment som uppkommer vid röjning och gallring. Under de senaste åren har Vimek utvecklat prototypmaskiner med mål att lösa hanteringen av detta sortiment från stubbe till avlägg. Problematiken med att konstruera en maskin med god lönsamhet har varit stor.

The purpose of this report is to investigate and compare the difference between stand-thinning machines and strip-road thinning machines, and how they affect the stand on behalf of future growth, theoretical economic result, wind impact, snow pressure and density of stand. The investigation is regarding the first commercial thinning of pine stands, after pre-commercial thinning that was well conducted. The investigation area was located near Katrineholm, Sweden. The measurements that were measured were strength of thinning and amounts of wind throws, snow-breaks and hauling damages. The results that emerged, was that thinning with strip-road machines had a significantly higher strength of thinning over all, as compared with the stand- thinning machines (45 percent versus 30 percent). Comparisons between wind-throws, snow-breaks and hauling damages of the stand could not establish any significant differences between the two methods that were investigated. Conclusions, over all, were that if forest owners want to have more timber volume left for second thinning and final cut of the stand, the forest owners should choose the method with stand-thinning machines. From the point of view of gentle treatment of the stand and ground damages the choice should be the same. However, the method with strip-road thinning machines is the most common and accessible method in Sweden. Most likely it is the most economical way to manage the stand for forest owners in present time. If the method with stand-thinning machines is becoming more common in Sweden, it is suggested for forest owners to consider the stand-thinning method as a candidate for treatment due to economic aspects..