October 8–12, 2012, Dubrovnik (Cavtat) 1 Mechanized CTL Technology among Italian Loggers: Results of a Survey Ester Ferrari 1* , Raffaele Spinelli 2 , Eugenio Cavallo 1 1 IMAMOTER-CNR, Institute for Agricultural and Earthmoving Machines - National Research Council Strada delle Cacce 73, 10135, Torino (TO), Italy 2 IVALSA-CNR, Trees and Timber Institute of the National Research Council Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy e.ferrari@ima.to.cnr.it Abstract: In the last decade mechanized cut-to-length (CTL) forest harvesting has increased significantly as a consequence of the need to address productivity, safety, environmental, and cost issues. However, the speed of its advancement varies depending on the country. In Italy, while the number of CTL machines is increasing, the majority of operators is still pondering whether they should acquire the new technology or stick to the old one. The objective of this study was to determine the attitudes of Italian loggers towards CTL technology, investigating their opinions and pinpointing real or perceived obstacles to its expansion. A survey was conducted during the 2011 edition of FORLENER forest machinery fair in Biella (Italy), one of the most popular events for forest mechanization in Italy. 90 Italian loggers filled out a questionnaire after interacting with a forwarder portable machine simulator. A sample of 44 valid questionnaires was selected to be included in this study analysis (only employers of logging firms were included in the analysis). Results show that Italian loggers are aware of the potential of mechanized CTL technology and of its benefits. Safety, processing time and ease of use resulted to be the most interesting features of mechanized CTL technology. Technical constraints (i.e. slope, branching) are considered secondary obstacles to CTL technology expansion. The main impediments to CTL technology expansion in Italy are financial. Keywords: CTL technology, firewood, Italy, harvester, processor, survey, questionnaire 1 Introduction Originally developed in Scandinavia, cut-to-length (CTL) technology has fast grown worldwide in popularity, due to the need of efficient harvesting methods. CTL machines (forwarders and particularly harvesters) present a high degree of sophistication. In particular, harvesters are integrated with on-board computers specifically designed to automatically measure the length and the volume of the log, and to cut it at the most economical point. Over the past few years the use of CTL forest harvesting, a completely mechanized system, has increased worldwide (Marshall and Murphy, 2003). In the Nordic countries almost all harvesting is currently done mechanically (Gellerstedt and Dahlin 1999). Its extensive diffusion is best represented by Finland, where in 2006 mechanized harvesting represented 98% of the total fellings of 50.8 million m 3 (Finnish Forest Research Institute 2007). Even in many Eastern European countries the traditional motor-manual methods is little by little losing ground to a mechanized system (Axelsson, 1998; Asikainen et al. 2009; Nuutinen et al. 2010). Nevertheless, the degree of mechanization varies considerably between countries (Divvela and Sinha, 2012). Noteworthy is the case of CTL technology in Italy. The rugged terrain, the close-to-nature forestry and the prevalence of non-industrial private ownership slowed the introduction of mechanization process into the Italian forestry (Spinelli et al. 2009). However previous research gave evidence that despite structural and socio-economic constrains modern forest technology has recently made significant inroads in this country (Spinelli et al. 2009). Compared to northern European countries the number of Italian harvesters and processor fleet is still small, nevertheless they have the potential for growth. This is especially the