COMPARISON OF POPLAR CHIPS QUALITY HARVESTED WITH DIFFERENT METHODOLOGIES: DIRECT HARVESTING-CHIPPING VERSUS CUTTING-WHOLE TREES AND SUBSEQUENT DRYING-CHIPPING

摘要

An innovative SRF harvesting system based on two steps operation, was developed by CRA-ING 1) thetree felling and inter-row windrowing performed by a feller-windrower equipment; 2) subsequent chipping performedby an harvester equipped with pick-up device. At the harvesting time, the windrowed trees showed a low moisturecontent affecting their physical qualities and mechanical strength throughout the chipping operation. This work aimsto analyze the moisture losses of windrowed trees, in relation to the windrow location, on field storage and weathercondition, as well as to characterize chips quality changes during on field storage by the two different harvestingsystems comparing the innovative two steps with the traditional one step harvesting systems.