Development and Benefits of Winch-Assist Harvesting

Purpose of Review Winch-assist systems have seen rapid development, adoption, and implementation in many parts of the world in the past decade and can be considered one of the major recent innovations in steep terrain harvesting. Though a comparatively young topic, the literature around this topic has grown considerably during the last decade. This review summarizes the present body of literature on winch-assist systems and provides a comprehensive introduction to the topic. Recent Findings The analysis showed that work safety in steep terrain harvesting operations has increased through winch-assist systems by removing workers from the many hazards of manual and motor-manual work. The extent of rutting, subsequent erosion, and soil densification after working with winch-assist systems was found to be similar to operations on gentle terrain or cable logging. Winch-assist harvesting is considered more productive than conventional steep terrain harvesting. While case studies provide indicative utilization and productivity values, a robust understanding of economic viability under varied stand and terrain conditions is not yet well established. Winch-assist is proving to be a robust, safe, and high-performance forest harvesting technology that has increased the operating range of ground-based, mechanized harvesting. It can help increase access to forest grounds in steep terrain that are previously considered economically marginal for forest management. Besides steep terrain, the potential benefits of winch-assist in reducing soil disturbance from ground-based equipment indicate that its operating range can also expand to gentle terrain where environmental impacts are of great concern due to wet or unstable soils. As the technology is relatively young and still evolving, there are many unknown social, environmental, and economic challenges and opportunities associated with the winch-assist technology. More research is certainly warranted.