A comparative study between Bräcke B-290 & B-390 line mounders
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Date
1998
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Publisher
University of New Brunswick
Abstract
In the attempt to produce larger, healthier trees at a younger age, Bracke
Scarification has developed machines for site preparation called line mounders. The line
mounders produce an inverted humus mound on which coniferous seedlings are planted.
Two different line mounding machines were compared based on the quality of the
mounds that they produced. These two line mounding machines were also compared to
an excavator with a mounding head attachment. The excavator was used as a control
setting because of its optimal results in quality of the mounds it produced. The quality of
the mounds is dependent on site location including soil types and terrain conditions as
well as the machine itself.
This study was conducted in two different locations in the Grande Prairie, Alberta
area. The Saddle Hills location contained soils of clay to loamy clay with gentle slopes of
no more than 15%. The Rat Creek area was located south of Grande Prairie in the foothills
of Willmore Wilderness Park. This location had similar soil types to the Saddle Hills and
slopes up to 40%. The steeper slopes resulted in a harvest with very high stumps
producing a roughness coefficient of a higher degree than that of the Saddle Hills.
The two line mounders used in the comparison were a Bracke B-290 2-row Line
Mounder and a Bracke B-390 3-row Line Mounder. The mattock units were of the same
size on both machines with the only physical difference being the arrangement of the
mattock units behind the prime mover.
From this study, the Bracke B-290 2-row Line Mounder produced similar results
having 92% of the mounds acceptable in both locations. The Bracke B-390 3-row Line
Mounder was found to produce mounds of relatively similar quality in the Saddle Hills
having 91% of the mounds useable. In the Rat Creek area the Bracke B-390 3-row Line
Mounder only produced 84% useable mounds.
Key Words: excavator, line mounders, mattock units, mounds, Rat Creek, Saddle Hills