%0 Research note %T The effect of boom-tip control on harvester time consumption in Picea abies dominated final-felling stands: case study %A Manner, Jussi %A Lundström, Hagos %D 2025 %J Silva Fennica %V 59 %N 1 %R doi:10.14214/sf.24062 %U https://silvafennica.fi/article/24062 %X
Crane work accounts for the majority of a harvester’s productive working time. Boom-tip control assists operators by coordinating end-effector movements, offering the potential to improve productivity. With boom-tip control, the operator steers the boom-tip directly rather than controlling individual crane joints. Despite being commercially available for several years, research on boom-tip control’s impact on harvester work – particularly compared to forwarder work – is limited. Therefore, this study analysed the effect of boom-tip control on harvester time consumption (s m-3) in final-felling stands, involving two experienced operators (A and B) driving a John Deere 1470G harvester. John Deere’s boom-tip control system, Intelligent Boom Control (IBC), was compared to a conventional boom-control system. Data were analysed separately for each operator. While operator A saved time using IBC, no statistically significant difference between IBC and the conventional boom-control system was observed for operator B. For operator A, IBC reduced total time consumption (s m-3) by approximately 10%. The results indicate a need for further research, involving multiple machine manufacturers, operators, and work environments such as thinning and final-felling stands. Moreover, future studies should preferably utilise automated data recording to generate large follow-up datasets on harvester work.