Analysis of the productivity of discrete action machines used for mechanized planting of seedlings

Abstract

Today in the world there are a large number of forest planters, devices and units. All of them perform one technological process - they prepare a seat for planting material, feed a seedling into it and close up the roots with soil. Mechanized landing technology can be divided into two types: discrete action and continuous action. One of the differences between these planting technologies is the implementation of the preparation of the seat: in the form of a continuous furrow (continuous action), or discretely located holes (discrete action). Since the need for mechanization of tree planting in Russia has recently increased, and this is due to the development strategy of the forestry complex of the Russian Federation, the introduction of advanced technologies and methods for artificial reforestation, in particular, planting seedlings with a closed root system, is an actual direction. In addition, in the Russian Federation, the share of manual labor when planting seedlings is large. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to identify a promising type of planting for the territory of the Russian Federation of seedlings with a closed root system for further improvement by analyzing the performance of discrete action machines. The objects of the study were three discrete forest planters common in Europe: Bracke (Sweden production), M-Planter (Finland production) and Risutec (Finland production). On average, the productivity of forest planters of discrete action is 300 seedlings per hour. The following factors influenced the performance: stoniness, stumps, surface obstacles, humus layer, cutting residues, number of planting heads on the planter, soil type and operator experience. The use of foreign machines of discrete action in the Russian Federation is irrational to use for the following reasons: low productivity;  significant cost; require high costs during operation, maintenance and storage.