The operators of site preparation equipment are subjected to high levels of whole-body vibration (W-BV) because of the prerequisite for a continuous travel work cycle and for full coverage of the area to be treated. This study defines the magnitude of these levels for a sample of machines working in various site conditions, and shows how machine and operating characteristics can influence W-BV levels. The machine sample encompasses both tracked and wheeled prime movers, with these either pulling or pushing their site preparation implement.
The Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada (FERIC) carried out a short-term study of the Bräcke Planter mounted on an excavator. The study took place near Kamloops, B.C. on a small cutblock with slopes ranging from 0 to 35%. This report describes the planter, and its productivity and suitability for use in western Canada.
There is uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of using caulk boots vs. non-caulk hiking boots in silviculture work in the interior of British Columbia. WorkSafeBC regulation 8.23, states “caulked or other equally effective footwear must be worn by workers who are required to walk on logs, poles, pilings or other round timbers”, but does not specifically require caulk boots to be worn on steep slopes. Caulk boots are used almost exclusively by silviculture workers in coastal B.C. but are not commonly used in interior B.C. even though there are many situations where they may provide superior traction. Instead, workers in interior B.C. have a preference for non-caulk hiking boots. Workers will often select their boots based on personal preference rather than on information about the boot’s traction performance. Additional information regarding the differences in the traction of caulk boots and non-caulk hiking boots on various forest ground surfaces would help most workers make better-informed choices. Understanding the differences in traction is one of the most important factors when selecting a work boot in any situation and is especially true in the hazardous ground conditions of forest workers. For this reason, FPInnovations constructed a testing apparatus designed to measure and compare the static coefficient of friction of caulk boots and non-caulk hiking boots on four common types of ground cover surfaces in B.C. forests.
Motor-manual scarification attachments mounted on brushsaws were tested under four different site conditions to compare their performance short-duration time studies and observations of the treatments results formed the basis of the analysis of five scarifiers (ECO, EIA, ORDFOREST, SCARRI and La Taupe) and a manual tool (Mattock). Technical, ergonomic and economic considerations are presented to assist the potential user in the selection of a scarifier.
FERIC undertook a comparison of five site-preparation methods (scalping with a bulldozer, scalping with an excavator, windrowing, mulching of the full site, and strip mulching) in central Ontario. The study was designed to measure equipment productivity, assess the results in terms of microsite quality, and calculate the costs of the various operations. The results suggested that each treatment within the study conditions should be facilitated by biological follow-ups that will be carried out by the Ontario Forest Research Institute over the next few years.
