The effect of wood species on chainsaw vibrations during bucking operations

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the role of wood species on the levels and characteristics of vibrations transmitted to a chainsaw operator. Three different wood species were chosen from the forests located in the Northern part of Iran, and a “no-cutting” regime was also used as a control treatment to test the sole influence of cutting on the induced vibrations. After collecting the vibration data, the frequency-unweighted and frequency-weighted accelerations of different tests were calculated and compared to find the influential factors in determining the vibration characteristics. The effect of wood species on the vibration acceleration was found to be significant, while no significant influence of this factor on the vibration total value was detected. Instead, the cutting process amplified the vibration total value due to an increase in the vibration acceleration at lower frequencies. The results of this study showed the influence of the cutting process on the levels and characteristics of the vibrations induced by a chainsaw.

KEYWORDS:

• Forest
• hand-arm vibration
• health
• tree cutting
• Vibration White Finger (VWF)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.