Loader performance during woodchip loading

Woodchip is preferred to other biomass forms because it offers benefits in terms of load density and uniform sizes. Until now, many studies have been focused on woodchip: comminution wood productivity, the environmental impact of chipping operations, woodchip transportation, woodchip storage techniques, but few have been done on woodchip loading. The goal of this work was to evaluate the working time, productivity and work quality for four types pf loader used in woodchip loading. Front loaders and knuckle-boom loader were tested. The highest productivity was observed for a mechanical shovel equipped with a high dump bucket (303 m3 h-1) when handling woodchips to be stored in piles near a wall, while the lowest working rate was achieved by a wheeled loader with a clamshell bucket (176 m3 h-1) in the same work conditions. Frontal loaders storing woodchip in a pile near a wall showed a 12% increase in productivity. Independently of the pile position, the agricultural telescopic loader showed good performance (about 240 m3 h-1). All loaders achieved a good work quality, with the amount of ground losses always lower than 2 m3 (2% of load). From this study it is found that agricultural telescopic loaders equipped with a hinged bucket are the right machine for woodchip loading.