Pruning in poplar plantations by mechanised devices

Abstract

The effects of factors (branch diameter, number of branches, plantation age number of prunings, working assembly of pruning devices, etc) on the duration of pruning in poplar plantations were investigated. Poplar branches were pruned by mechanized devices Stihl HT 75 and Husqvarna 250 PS. It was concluded that pruning time increases significantly with the number of removed branches in all plantations disregarding the plantation age and spacing. This correlation is represented by a degree function. Also, pruning time increases with the size of average branch diameter removed from the tree. The intervals of five branches can be taken as the working norms because within these intervals there are no statistically significant differences of pruning time.