Timber extraction by cable yarding on flat and wet terrain: a survey of cable yarder manufacturer's experience

Highlights

• Survey of all European cable yarder manufacturers on flat-terrain yarding
• Manufacturers are frequently contacted concerning flat-terrain yarding
• Forest resource inaccessibility, regulatory and environmental considerations are most important motivations
• Lack of clearance, tree stability and installation costs are major challenges
• Mobile, self-anchoring tail spar is considered a chief adaptation
• Cost-competitiveness with ground-based systems cannot be achieved without subsidies
• Increasing environmental awareness and climate change present opportunity to expand flat-terrain cable yarding.

Abstract

Cable yarding is a general solution for load handling on sites not accessible to ground-based machinery, and is typically associated with steep terrain. On flat terrain, such conditions can primarily be found on soft or wet soils, most frequently encountered in Central and Northern European countries. Today, changed environmental and market conditions may offer an unprecedented opportunity to the actual implementation of cable yarding on flat terrain in commercial operations. The study goal was to collect cable yarder manufacturers experience regarding the use and adaption of cable yarding technology on flat terrain. European manufacturers of cable yarding technology were interviewed about customer experience, particular challenges, adaptation potential, future potential and main hurdles for the expansion of cable yarding on flat terrain. Almost all manufacturers have received requests for flat-terrain yarding technology solutions, primarily from Germany. Temporal or permanent inaccessibility, regulatory or environmental reasons were the most frequent motivation for considering cable yarding technology. Installation was considered particularly challenging (clearance, stable anchoring). Potential adaptations included higher towers, artificial anchors, mechanized bunching before extraction and un-guyed yarder-systems. An artificial, highly mobile, self-anchoring tail spar was considered the most useful adaptation. While concerned about limited profitability and qualified labour shortage, most manufacturers demonstrated a positive or neutral view concerning the expansion of cable yarding on flat terrain. However, cable yarding is not considered to be cost-competitive wherever ground-based systems can be employed and cable yarding is not subsidized.