BIAXIAL ARTICULATED TIMBER VEHICLES IN THE CONDITIONS OF A FELLING: ASSESSMENT OF APPLICABILITY

The study can provide decision-making support to loggers and participants in forest relations who are obliged to carry out reforestation activities to assess the factors that change the effectiveness of forestry and logging operations. The balance of production and environmental effects from the use of forest transport machines in the development of forestry is an important step in effective quality management of forest landscape restoration. The degree of compaction of the forest soil from the impact of propellers directly affects both the fuel consumption of the power plant of the forest transport machine and the ability of forest seeds of the main breed to germinate. The primary transportation of trees and their parts (whips, balances, assortments, waste residues and other waste of logging production) occupies an increasing volume in the energy balance of the timber transport machine. It is necessary to solve complex problems of choosing energy-efficient and maneuverable biaxial articulated timber transport vehicles in comparison with machines with a continuous frame for performing transport work in the conditions of a cutting area. In order to maximize the requirements for the efficient operation of machines in difficult cutting conditions, it is necessary to ensure, along with high operational properties (traction, cross-country ability, maneuverability, smooth running), a high level of technical and economic indicators. The assessment of the applicability of existing structures of forest transport vehicles was carried out by statistical methods of Ward and intergroup relations according to the criteria of soil compaction, patency, maneuvering, power circulation, traction losses, balance of weight distribution and purpose. When planning future research, it is necessary to answer a number of questions: which criterion should be used as a universal one for unambiguous selection of the type of forest transport vehicle? Is it possible to estimate the geomorphology of the future cutting area in advance with the use of unmanned aircraft systems and predict the effective trajectories of movement of articulated timber vehicles?