HarvestingIntroduction, Components, Work Elements, Planning

January 10, 2002

James B. Hart

Why Harvest? To satisfy public craving for wood products

(demand side)--yearly harvest of roundwood in the U.S.

So land owners (sellers), loggers, milling and equipment manufacturing enterprises and their employees can make a buck (supply side)

To accomplish silvicultural & other objectives(ecological, hydrological, recreational, fish & game habitat)

To salvage timber killed or damaged by natural agents (fire, wind, disease, old age, ice damage, etc)

Clear land for development (agricultural, industrial, or residential-urban)

The Forester’s Perspective & Objectives of Harvesting

Forester’s perspective – The territory of the logging contractor or the logging engineer,

but a forester must have significant knowledge of it to do his Objectives of timber harvesting

– production, from standing or naturally downed timber, of round logs or other useable elements

– their transportation to the mill site – in such a way that

value of logged material is maximized costs are minimized, with due consideration given to environmental, legal and other

constraints.

Wood Elements

Primary Products

Secondary Products

Harvesting Wood Products Processing

“HARVESTING --All work elements leading to the total

preparation of a primary product”

Trees,stump, logs, branches, tops, foliage, etc

e.g.lumber

e.g. furniture

0

1

2

3

4

5

Northeast

North Central

Southeast

South Central

Great Plains

Intermountain

Alaska

Pacific NE

Pacific SW

Volume of Roundwod Products (Billions of cubic feet)

Volumes of roundwood products harvested by region in US, 1991

(total of 17.9 billion cubic feet)

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Vol

umes

(B

illio

ns

of c

ubic

fee

t)

NortheastNorth Central

SoutheastSouth Central

Great Plains

Intermountain

AlaskaPacific NEPacific SW

growth removals

Annual Growth and Removals by region in US, 1991

hardwoods37%

softwoods63%

Distribution of hardwood and softwood product volume harvested in US, 1991 (percent of 17.9 billion cubic feet)

oaks13%

maples23%

aspens27%

other HW16%

Jack & Red Pine

14%

other conifers

7%

Distribution of roundwood product volume harvested in Michigan by species group, 1992 (percent of 391.1 million cubic feet)

A HARVEST SETTING in Arkansas

“CLASSIC” LOGGING SYSTEM WORK ELEMENTS

FELLING

LIMBING

MEASURING &

BUCKING

SKIDDING, YARDING

LOADING

TRANSPORTING

UNLOADING

LIMBING

LOADING

“EXPANDED” ELEMENTS (approximately chronological)

Planning--"Failing to plan is planning to fail”, or “6P’s - Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance”

Road design & construction--always a part of system, earlier or current

Felling, bunching?, bucking, limbing, --hand or completely mechanical (some may be done @ the landing)

Primary Transport -- (skidding or yarding or Forwarding)--move material to a landing

Transport--from the woods to the mill site (or may be an intermediate wood yard); road, rail or water

Unloading--in the wood and/or mill yard; highly mechanized Storage--awaiting processing; most of the time

Choice of a Logging System and Equipment determined by many things: Management and capital considerations Volume per stem and per acre Forwarding distance Limbiness & defect Underbrush Terrain Soils Weather Silvicultural considerations

Systems can be as simple as a single person with a chain saw, a tractor, and an old truck... to a highly mechanized (computerized) system

TYPES OF LOGGING SYSTEMS

Based on the piece length forwarded & equipment used Short-wood (pulpwood) --trees delimbed & bucked into 4 ft. or

100 in logs Long-log (veneer & saw logs) --trees delimbed and bucked

into 8, 16, or 32 ft lengths (or any length in between) Tree-length--trees limbed and topped at min. diameter limit Whole-tree--limbing and bucking () done at landing

Total system components do not vary but the expression of them has many variations...

– e.g. tree-length logs can be bucked into length at the landing or transported directly to the mill for merchandizing into the highest-value log package

Four Logging System Variations

Operation Planning and Scheduling

System components, whatever they may be, must be properly matched for effective performance in reaching objectives -- e.g. if the feller gets way ahead of the skidder, or if the loader cannot keep up with the skidder, etc., then the whole system is not optimized.

Planning is the first and most critical function performed in a logging business--it provides the discipline that weld together all parts of the harvesting system.

What is a plan? "A projected course of action which defines a necessary sequence of activities, identifies the techniques to be applied, and determines the timing requirements."

Planning must be done in the context of interfacing components and other system externalities.

HARVEST HARVEST PLANNING ADMINISTRATION

AREA LAYOUT HAUL ROAD &

CROSSING ANALYSIS

SKIDROAD DESIGN & LAYOUT

TURN-OUTS TURN-AROUNDS TRUCK

SCHEDULING

BOUNDARY MARKING HAUL ROAD

PERMITTING CROSS ROAD

PERMITING WETLAND, STREAM

CROSSING PERMITS ROAD CONSTRUCTION

CONTRACTING SAFETY TRAINING

TRANSPORT - ROADS

Skid Trail and Roads Overview

Road location, layout, and construction concerns significantly influence the logging system & equipment used.

Most Michigan commercial forest areas already have a good network of secondary transport roads. building permanent truck haul roads is usually not a forester or logger responsibility weight and season restrictions may require permits

Woods road systems (primary transport) are often inadequate Forester frequently locate and may lay out skid roads and skid trails operation in wetlands and riparian areas may require permits steep slopes require special consideration

Culverts and bridges may require engineer design, lay out and construction.

Many roads on public lands are being closed—current rule-of-thumb the fewer roads the better (not always popular).

A Forester’s Harvesting Plan should include: Management objectives—independent contractor (large or small) vs.

company crew

Silvicultural factors—impose constraints and limitations– What treatment (e.g. a thinning vs. small clearcut vs. large clearcut)?– Are there seed bed requirements? Will site preparation treatments be used?– How about insects and diseases?

Physical site characteristics - including topography, soils, hydrology– mostly affects equipment limitations, erosion, timing, and safety – also pertains to road issues

Environmental, wildlife & aesthetic limitations– eg. Threatened & Endangered species, wetlands, old growth– more and more stringent, whether set by law or landowner / publics

“There is less and less place for careless harvesting.”

FELLING

MEASURING, BUCKING

LIMBING

PRIMARY TRANSPORT

SKIDDING YARDING

PRIMARY TRANSPORT (CONTINUED)

FORWARDING

STORAGE ?, LOADING

SECONDARY TRANSPORT

UNLOADING