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LVM Tests the Swedish Forest Planting Machine PlantMax

increasing costs of forestry work services, JSC “Latvia's State Forests” (LVM) has started testing one of the world's most efficient mechanized planting machines – PlantMax.

In cooperation with Plantma Forestry AB experienced operators from Sweden and Latvian State Forestry Institute (LVMI) “Silava” researchers, the first PlantMax planting machine testing and efficiency trials took place in the Latvian conditions. Such machines are currently used in Sweden, Canada, USA, Australia and Brazil.

While researching mechanized forest planting solutions worldwide, the attention of LVM experts was attracted by the planting machine PlantMax offered by the Swedish company Plantma Forestry AB. In 2023, representatives of LVM and a delegation of Latvian private entrepreneurs from Latvia visited Sweden to get to know the forest planting machine in action. Although the prototype of the technology was already created back in the eighties of the last century, the development of the PlantMax equipment was renewed and its production in Sweden was started in 2018.

“The machine promises productivity of up to 3 000 seedlings per hour, which is a little more than one hectare of renewable area per hour. This means that you can plant about eight hectares of forest in a day. For comparison, using hand tools, a person plants an area of ​​about 0.3 to 0.5 hectares per day, in previously prepared soil. Unlike other mechanized solutions that have been used so far, PlantMax stands out both with its work capacity and its application in different types of forests – this machine could be used not only in dry areas, but also in wetter forest types, also in areas with a thicker layer of peat, using chains,” says Edmunds Linde, LVM Forestry Planning Manager.

During the test, when 30 hectares were planted with the PlantMax machine, researchers from LVMI “Silava” were engaged, who equipped the planting machine with video cameras to record the progress of work, calculate productivity and evaluate the quality of planting. The restored forest areas will be regularly surveyed in the following years to evaluate the success of the restoration.

Development of technology and mechanized solutions

The development of technologies and the introduction of innovative mechanization solutions in forest management contribute to the increase of safety and work efficiency of workers, as well as help to solve the current labour shortage in the forest sector.

LVM has been using mechanized forest planting with an excavator on elevated sites since 2018. Although planting takes place simultaneously with soil preparation and allows work all year round, as long as the ground is not frozen or until a prolonged drought, planting on uplifts is mainly done in wet areas and the productivity is relatively low – no more than one hectare per day.

In 2022, LVM implemented mechanized sowing practice, where soil preparation is combined with seed sowing. When studying the effectiveness of the method, it was concluded that the yield is adequate for soil preparation with disc ploughs, namely from 5 to 12 hectares per day. However, mechanized sowing can be carried out in dry non-vegetative areas where the forest needs to be reforested with pine

PlantMax innovation

The basis of the machine is a medium-class forwarder, for which the tumbling blocks are removed, a soil preparation unit is installed between the front and rear tandem, a planting machine is mounted instead of the tumbling blocks, and instead of the forwarder manipulator, there is a truck crane with a lifting capacity of 1.2 tonnes, which makes up the weight of a full seedling container. There are two planting “arms” at the rear of the machine, each capable of performing a planting operation once every three seconds.

Two people work in the machine: the machine operator plays a key role in the team, as he is the one who chooses the path of the machine and controls the soil preparation unit. Where the soil preparation unit has prepared the soil, the planting unit does the planting work. The option of changing the planting location or even choosing to plant in unprepared soil can be manually selected by the operator of the planting unit, who sits in the cab at the back of the machine and places seedlings from cartridges or boxes into the planting unit.