• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.341-346
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• 2015

This study was conducted to investigate the awareness tendency of the government employees who manage forest roads about problems of forest road use and how to improve them in the future using surveys. The results show there are more silvicultural operations than harvesting operations using forest roads. The main purpose of using forest roads is to transport workers; however, the road will be used more for harvesting operations in the future. The respondents wanted to be accessibility for forest operations within 200 m from road in both present and future. For silvicultural operations 1-ton vehicle is used at present, and 5-ton vehicles are expected to be used in the future. For harvesting operations 5-ton vehicle is used at present, and 10-ton vehicles are will be used in the future. The roadway width is 3 - 4 m at present, but should be 4 - 4.5 m in the future. The longitudinal gradient of roads is 7 - 10% at present, and will be below 10% in the future. The minimum curve radius of roads is 12 - 15 m at present, and will be 15 - 20 m in the future. The results provide basic data for making future forest road policies.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.104 no.4
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• pp.615-621
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• 2015

This study was conducted to analyze accessibility and reduction effect of forest operations cost before and after forest road construction based on actual silvicultural operations in 5 regional forest service(8 management planning district) where forest operations was enacted consistently. The result show the accessibility and the reduction effect of the operation cost, the accessibility of forest operation area within 500 m from forest road or public road increased about 3.2 times after the forest road construction. The reduction effect of the operation cost was averagely 576,000 won/km/year. According to the results, forest road had an effect on improvement of accessibility and reduction effect of forest operation cost. This result could be offered basic information to support policy of forest road expansion.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.105 no.4
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• pp.456-462
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• 2016

This study was conducted to analyze the effect of forest road network on accessibility and cost reduction for forest operations before and after forest road construction by investigating harvesting operations in 5 regional Forest Services (8 management planning districts). The results showed that the accessible operation area within 500 m from forest roads or public roads increased about 3.5 times after the forest road construction. The average cost reduction was 308,000 won/km/year. According to the results, forest road had a great effect on improvement of accessibility and reduction effect of forest operation cost. Therefore, the policy for expansion of forest road should be continued for preparing of effective harvesting system.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.197-204
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• 2019

A tree-length harvesting system using the HAM300, which is mounted on a farm tractor prototype machine, have been recently introduced in South Korea for thinning old (>30 years) forests. However, no research has previously been conducted on the characteristics of residual stand damage associated with cable yarding systems on thinning treatment stands in South Korea. Therefore, there were assessed on the degree and quantity of residual stand damage caused by felling and yarding process to broaden the knowledge of residual stand damage on semi-mechanized skyline thinning operations. This study investigated scar size, direction, area, shape type and their distribution on the residual stand damage caused by felling and yarding operations. Damage to residual trees was generated for 7.4% and 6.9% of residual trees in felling and yarding operations, respectively. Damaged direction of scars was located in front-side (38.9%) and up-side (34.7%) for felling operations while the highest scar damage was found on down-side (44.6%) for yarding operations. Scar heights of felling damage were higher than those of yarding damage. In yarding operation, the most of the scars was located within l0m from the center of the skyline corridor. These results should be useful information for forest managers and landowners to reduce residual stand damages and retain valuable timber volume from thinning treatments.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.109 no.2
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• pp.195-201
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• 2020

A forest operation is considered as one of the riskiest environments for the development of musculoskeletal disorders because operators are exposed to harmful environmental conditions such as rough terrain, inclement weather, and poor working postures. In weed and kudzu removal operations, manual application is still common in Korea. In this study, we evaluated the ergonomic conditions of weed and kudzu removal in regeneration forests and the associated risk of musculoskeletal disorders. The risk of musculoskeletal disorders was evaluated using the Ovako Working Posture Analysis System and postural risk index. Postural risk was significantly higher for kudzu compared with weed removal operations. This suggests that kudzu removal operations must be improved to decrease postural risk.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.110 no.2
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• pp.210-216
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• 2021

Musculoskeletal disorders affect workers' safety in most industries, and forest operations are classified as a musculoskeletal burden according to the Occupational Safety and Health Act in South Korea. In particular, felling and delimbing operations are mainly conducted by manpower, and then, it is necessary to evaluate ergonomic risk assessment for safety of felling and delimbing workers. Three ergonomic risk assessment methods, such as Ovako Working posture Analysis System (OWAS), Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA), are available for assessing exposure to risk factors associated with timber harvesting operations. Here, three ergonomic risk assessment methods were applied to examine ergonomic risk assessments in chainsaw felling and delimbing operations. Additionally, exposure to risk factors in each method was analyzed to propose an optimal working posture in felling and delimbing operations. The risk levels of these operations were evaluated to be highest in the RULA method, followed by the OWAS and REBA methods, and most of the exposed working postures were examined with a low-risk level of two and three without requiring any immediate working posture changes. However, two significant working postures, including the bending posture of the waist and leg in felling operation and standing posture on the fallen trees in delimbing operation, were assessed as the high-risk level and needed immediate working posture changes. Low-risk work levels were examined in the squatting posture for felling operation and the straightened posture of the waist and leg for delimbing operation. Moreover, the slope in felling operation and the tree height in delimbing operation significantly affected risk level assessment of working posture. Therefore, our study supports that felling and delimbing workers must operate with low-risk working postures for safety.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.104 no.4
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• pp.632-639
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• 2015

Working in the forest would require a wide range of skills and experience for specific tasks which involve with a high level of risks to worker's safety. However, there has been a concern on the current standard wage system for forest workers because it does not effectively reflect the characteristics of typical working conditions in the forest. In addition, the current standard wages for forestry workers was estimated based on the construction industry's wage system. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess a current wage system through the mail survey method and to develop a new wage system for forest worker which effectively reflects skill sets and experience required for successful completion of the work in the forest. We mailed the survey questionnaire consisting of 19 questions to 659 forest workers and received 188 responses resulting in a 28.5% response rate. The results showed that the current average optimal wages of forest worker, special worker and feller were 97,680won/day, 127,559won/day and 152,403won/day, respectively though there were variations depending on the regions. In developing the new standard wage system, this study suggest the current work types(worker, special worker and feller) could be divided into 5 work types (forest-environment workers, forest operations in beginner, forest operations in intermediate, forest operations in advanced and forest equipment operator) reflecting specialty of forest operation thereby stabilizing the new wage system for forest workers.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.108 no.4
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• pp.574-581
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• 2019

The present study analyzed the productivity and cost of winching operations for evaluating the efficiency of a tractor-attached winch in a Pinus densiflora thinning site located in the Yangyang County of Gangwon-do. The mean yarding distance and mean timber volume were 29 m and 0.15 ㎥, respectively. In the 95 cycles of yarding operations, the uphill and downhill yarding operations constituted 51% and 49%, respectively, of the total yarding operations. The productivity of the uphill yarding operation was 2.28 ㎥/h, and the productivity of the downhill yarding operation was 1.89 ㎥/h. The findings of this study revealedthat productivity would increase by 0.5 ㎥/h when the rate of utilization of the machine is increased to 80% by reducing the operational delay time. The cost of the downhill yarding operation was 44,116 KRW/㎥, whereas that of the uphill yarding operation was 53,369 KRW/㎥. The difference in cost resulted from the difference in the number of yarding stems (stems/cycle). Furthermore, the results of the multiple linear regression equation developed for predicting the yarding operation times showed that productivity was significantly affected by working conditions such as yarding distance (m), the number of stems per cycle (stems/cycle), and the terrain slope (%) in the uphill and downhill yarding operations. Further research is required for developing an accurate prediction model equation according to a yarding direction.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.84 no.2
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• pp.218-225
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• 1995

In this paper, a mechanical analysis model for steep-slope log-skidding operations of a rubber-tired tractor is discussed and the applicability of the model is investigated. The model largely consists of mathematical analysis models for log drag, dynamic vehicle weight distributions and soil-vehicle traction. For the case study, a theoretical data set for log skidding operations is used in investigating the effect of the factors influencing the results of mechanical analysis or the productivity of skidding operations. The analyses include 1) the effect of log choking methods on tangential log-skidding force, 2) the effects of the change in travel speed and log load on the required input power to the wheels and 3) the log skidding performance of a two-wheel drive compared with that of a four-wheel drive.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.108 no.4
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• pp.562-573
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• 2019

In a cable yarding system, a small-scale tower yarder attached to a farm tractor wasdeveloped and used for small-diameter tree harvesting operations. Based on this design, improvement of traction performance was required for medium- and large-diameter tree harvesting operations. In this study, the mechanical transmission employed for the tower yarder was modified into ahydro-mechanical transmission system. Maximum traction forces, including tractor engine speed and hydraulic power pressure, were investigated, and comparisons were made between the mechanical and hydro-mechanical transmission systems. Six tractor engine speeds (1,200, 1,400, 1,600, 1,800, 2,000, and 2,200) and three levels of power transmission mechanism pressure (4.9, 6.9, and 8.8 MPa) were investigated in the two different transmission systems. Results showed a maximum traction force of 15,146.6 N at an engine rotation speed of 757 rpm in the current mechanical transmission system, and 36,140.0 N at anengine rotation speed of 1,575 rpm in the modified hydro-mechanical transmission system. The maximum traction forces for the hydro-mechanical transmission were 2.4 times greater than those of the mechanical transmission, and may therefore be applicable to medium and large-diameter tree harvesting operations. Thus,as a modified version of the conventional transmission system, the new hydro-mechanical transmission system may be cost-effective for use in large-scale cable yarding operations. In the future, however, it will be necessary to investigate problems that may arise from field application tests.