Efficiency of small-scale firewood processing operations in Southern Europe

•The study tested 5 firewood processors for small-scale rural companies.•Productivity ranged from 1 to 2 t per hour, and cost from 20 to 39 € t− 1.•There were significant differences between machines.•Sorting logs before processing increased production and reduced cost.•Differences with Nordic studies are likely due to different wood species.

The study determined the performance of small-scale commercial firewood processing operations under the typical work conditions of Southern Europe. In particular, five units were tested, fed with the same 2.1-m long beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) logs. All machines were tested with sorted and unsorted logs. Productivity varied between 1.1 and 2.1 t h− 1, and cost between 20 and 39 € t− 1. There were significant differences between machines, which may partly be attributed to operator effect. Feeding the machines with sorted logs had a significant effect on the productivity of all machines on test, increasing productivity by 40% and reducing cost by 34%. Fuel use varied between 1.3 and 2.8 l t− 1. The energy balance was always very favorable. The ration between output and input was never smaller than 59 to 1 and peaked at 130 to 1. In other words, processing required about 1% of the energy contained in the firewood — or 1.7% in the worst case. The productivity figures reported in this experiment were much lower than reported for Northern Europe, which seems to confirm the significant effect of regional work conditions – especially different wood species – on firewood processing performance.