Machine System for Harvesting Small Diameter Woody Biomass and Reducing Hazardous Fuels: A Developmental Report

摘要

This is a report on field testing and refinement of the first generation FECON BioHarvester, designed to swath harvest small diameter woody biomass of mixed species and size classes. The machine system consisted of a unique harvesting head, a FECON FTX440, a silage dump wagon and roll-on-roll-off bins. The cutting system consists of a rotating drum with cutting tools, followed by an auger and a material fan which blew the harvested biomass into the silage dump wagon. The harvesting head is PTO driven. The machine system was tests in natural forest understory, between rows of pine plantations and in a Pocosin ecosystem. The sites had 6 to 20 green tons per acre of small diameter woody biomass. Below are the resulting harvesting productivity and cost.