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New developments in operator protection for forest machines

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Mechanization of forest operations ha greatly improved saftey of woods work. However, increasing use of machines has introduced new hazards that must be addressed. Two of these hazards are rollover of swing-type forestry machines (currently excluded from standard protection) and the hazard of thrown objects from cutting devices. Ongoing research projects are developing basic information about the forces that must be resisted to protect operators from these hazards. Analytical modelling of rollover events suggest thst current rollover standards for crawler tractors may be appropriate for swing-type designs. Laboratory tests of thrown objects impacts on steel cab panels are determining appropriate specifications based on expected object energy levels.

Keywords

Mechanization, protective structures, rollover, saftey.

Citation

Rummer, Robert B.; Taylor, S.; Veal, M. 2003. New developments in operator protection for forest machines. In: Proceedings 2nd Forest Engineering Conference, May 12-15, Växjö, Sweden
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/20286