High performance forestry equipment;deep consideration of their effectiveness and use

"In the initial period when High Performance Forestry Equipment (HPFE) was first being introduced, the public hope was for volume production of wood products. However, at present the social environment is quite different from those days. If we consider in these modern times of new social background, HPFE and their use form basic technology which allows the maintenance of healthy forests for future generations, there is great need to re-evaluate the capabilities of these HPFE to evaluate whether or not needs of modern society are being met. When making such an evaluation, we need not only good performance data taken under ideal conditions, but also must consider the demerits of sometimes hidden or unclear information such as that related to mechanical failure as well as usual expenses for equipment maintenance. Through this research including employing methods such as conducting surveys at logging sites, hearing information directly from forestry workers, collecting opinions via interview and questionnaire, and after having looked at actual working conditions in the field and gaining a clear understanding of actual conditions I was able to consider methods for the effective use of HPFE. In order to clarify the popularity of the HPFE in present Japan, historic records of Japanese forestry companies were investigated with regard to their utilization of such equipment. Distribution, type of machinery, combination of type and number of machines maintained were investigated. As a result, it was discovered that the Hokkaido region has the greatest number companies utilizing HPFE. It was also found that the Central Japan region known as Chugoku-Shikoku has a high concentration of Grapple-Loader (GP) and Grapple-Saw (GS) users. In this region the shift towards use of heavier equipment has been made, and next step would seem to be towards use of HPFE. In this case GP and GS are not treated as HPFE. However their current use shows that arge-scale mechanization is already advanced in the Chugoku-Shikoku region and the transition toward increased HPFE use should come soon. As a result of investigating cases where companies possessed a combination of HPFE types, the following was discovered: 54% of all companies have only one type of HPFE and about 31% have two types. Next, interviews were conducted and questionnaires filled out with regard to actual usage of HPFE and their effect. HPFE operator-trainees, experienced operators and managers of forestry companies utilizing HPFE were queried. Their responses contained many useful suggestions and information, which often does not come out on the surface easily. For example, it was learned that the use of new technology such as HPFE is effective in recruiting new employees, and necessity of maintenance of cash reserves for unexpected machine trouble. To clarify in more detail the risks and costs associated with running HPFE, the operation records of"