Trapezoidal drainage bucket and MPVS mounding device productivity and mound quality comparison
2021
Makovskis, K., Latvian State Forest Research Inst. Silava, Salaspils (Latvia) | Lazdina, D., Latvian State Forest Research Inst. Silava, Salaspils (Latvia) | Gusarevs, I., Orvi, SIA, Salaspils (Latvia) | Gusarevs, G., Orvi, SIA, Salaspils (Latvia)
Forest site preparation before planting leads to growth condition improvement, better tree survival rate, and less agrotechnical care. The most popular and mainly used soil preparation methods in Latvia are disc trenching and mounding. In sites with high groundwater levels, the mounding soil preparation method in Latvia is used. The mounding soil preparation method is more expensive compared to disc trenching. To reduce mounding costs, working productivity is crucial. The study aims to compare the productivity and planting spot (mound) quality of two different mounding devices: trapezoidal drainage bucket and MPVS (forest mound device with a sprinkler). Trapezoidal drainage bucket could be used for 4 different soil preparation methods: classic mound, inverted topsoils mound, scratched mound, and working method, where together with drainage ditch-digging, mound banks were made. Assuming that it is necessary to prepare 2000 planting spots in a hectare, using the trapezoidal drainage bucket, the working productivity for using only the classic mounding soil preparation method is 8.3 hours, the inverse topsoil mound preparation method – 7.2 hours, and the scratched mound method – 3.5 hours. The method, when ditch-digging is done together with mound bank preparation – 13 hours. MPVS bucket productivity for preparing 2000 planting spots is 7.8 hours. From all mounds done with the MPVS bucket and measured for quality parameters, 92.4–94.3% regardless of land type were good quality, while with the trapezoidal bucket, classic mounds (95%) and bank mounds (100%) showed good quality. Inverse topsoil mounds and scratched mounds did not meet the quality requirements, but could be used as extra planting spots in sites where classical mounds cannot be done or are unnecessary. Both mounding devices are suitable in Latvia conditions and could be successfully used for forest soil preparation in wet forest sites.
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