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Timber Harvest Methods & Equipment

Started by Ron Scott, March 24, 2002, 02:14:52 PM

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David_c

hey swede heres a picture i copied from an ad by lakeshore equipment and truck sales in lumberman's equipment digest.
i hope this is o.k Jeff


Ron Scott

Timberjack 230A Loading Sugar Maple Sawlog. Corey timber harvest; 5/05.




~Ron

Tom

It doesn't have to be fancy :)


It's an old Super Major with a front end loader and an attached backhoe.  
The skid hook was being used on the loader to pick up logs to carry
to the sawmill.  The backhoe was used to get logs out of the woods.

SwampDonkey

Gary_C or Ron Scott:

Does anyone use 'Spill Check' on their hydrologics down that way. It comes in handy with busted hydrolic hoses.

www.spillcheck.ca
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Ron Scott

Not that I know of. Not sure anyone has heard of it here.
~Ron

Ron Scott

Cutter Trims His Tops. Tops are trimmed so as to lie within 4 feet of the ground in this hardwood selection harvest. The saw in use is also a Husky 385XP. Corey timber harvest; 5/04.




~Ron

Ron Scott

Sawyer Starts Cut on Large Sugar Maple. The saw in use is a Husky 372XP. Squires timber harvest; 5/04.


~Ron

Ron Scott

Timber! The faller exits to a safe distance with his Husky 372XP in hand as the sugar maple starts its directional fall. Squires timber harvest; 5/04.


~Ron

Jeff

Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

chet

A lot of guys wear saw pants that have the chaps sewn on the inside. There is another variation, where the chaps snap on the inside of the pants and tuck into pockets located further down the leg. Thats the style I prefer. I use the same chaps inside my carhart bibs,blue jeans or whatever.
I am a true TREE HUGGER, if I didnt I would fall out!  chet the RETIRED arborist

Ron Scott

Chet,

Thanks for the explanation on some of the chap types. That's what this faller is wearing. The chaps are in the pants, a nice looking jean type pant held up by heavy duty suspenders (I'd like to have a set of these myself). He's also wearing a carhart padded jacket, kevlar gloves, new helmet with ear muffs and face screen, kevlar boots etc.

He's one of our better fallers and one of the "best" dressed though not all is visible in the photo.

I haven't seen a faller without chaps or armored pants in ages though I've seen some well worn chaps.

Another photo will show a close up when I can get to it to see the PPE closer while he's bucking the tree.
~Ron

SwampDonkey

I've seen lotsa of people here without protection. But, they tend to be the weekend cutter or people working their own ground. Anyone working for a contractor has protection, but if WCB wasn't on their case there would be a few not bother. That's just human nature. My father would be one of those working his own ground without any kind of protection. One of them live for ever types who's now half deaf of course. ;)

One should always be geared up for the woods, especially if he/she is working alone. You can do alot of personal injury in a short time.  ::)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Ron Scott

Feller Bucks the Sugar Maple into Sawlogs He is wearing safety pants, padded carhart jacket, hard hat with hearing and eye protection, gloves, and safety boots.

His saw is a Husky 372XP. Squires timber harvest; 5/04.

 
~Ron

Ron Scott

Teamwork.l The forwarder operator helps the tree faller with bucking the heavy sugar maple tree. The tree is lifted to assist the tree faller with bucking the tree into sawlog lengths and prevent possible "pinching" of the saw.

Squires timber harvest; 5/04.

 


~Ron

SwampDonkey

That's big stuff. On crown land last week I was in a maple stand and those big ones are all dead with just big pecker pole stubs left. The average diameter was 10 inches and this stand had never been logged.  Its just that the old trees have lived their life. So the short of it is, you might as well use those big trees in pulp or logs or maybe veneer cause they don't live forever. But, they have value as wildlife trees too, for owls, pileated wood peckers and such. Depends on what your values are. ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Ron Scott

230A Timberjack Forwarder Loads Large Sugar Maple Sawlog. Squires timber harvest; 5/04.


~Ron

swampwhiteoak

Here's a harvest we did at one of the forests I work at last fall.  Salvage Harvest on steep terrain, we decided to do something different.  Carson Helicopters was the contractor.



swampwhiteoak

Carson uses a modified Sikorsky S-61.  The max lift is a little over 5 tons, a typical turn weighed 4 tons, or somewhere around 600MBF Doyle.  Logs were bucked in the woods prior to lifting.  Turns on this job took 45secs-2mins.



swampwhiteoak

Organization on this type of harvest is important.  When a turn lands, the co-pilot of the chopper releases the chokers.  These guys hurry out and unhook the chokers and recoil them.  Once every 2-3 turns they attach more chokers to the long line at the landing and take more chokers to the "hookers" in the woods.  Our staff got excited when we heard the "hooker crew" was coming only to be disappointed when they all turned out to be middle-aged men  :D


swampwhiteoak

Large choppers use a lot of fuel.  Typical refuels were once every 1.5-2hrs.  Weight is also an issue so they usually wouldn't fill up completely.


SwampDonkey

That's cool swampwhite. On the BC coast they used the sikorsky as support helicopter to bundle the wood for the sky crane which had 20,000 lb lift. Didn't know it was cost effective to use'm in the east. Were you cutting veneer logs?
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

swampwhiteoak

Carson is nearly full-service, they provide their own loader.  Not sure the model but it's a cat track loader, can work effeciently even in a wet landing.  This harvest produced 680MBF Doyle, I had cruised it at 1MMBF International (for all grades).  Low grade and pulpwood had to be left in the woods due to economics.  I was pleased at the utilization, I had feared that it would be much worse.


swampwhiteoak

QuoteThat's cool swampwhite. On the BC coast they used the sikorsky as support helicopter to bundle the wood for the sky crane which had 20,000 lb lift. Didn't know it was cost effective to use'm in the east. Were you cutting veneer logs?

It's borderline cost-effective.  It can make money but compared to conventional it isn't even close.  The advantages were speed, being low impact, and being able to reach areas that would have been near impossible with conventional equipment.  Disadvantages were that it's expensive so we get less utilization, lower stumpage prices, and the stand has to be good to even consider it.  It also cut out the local loggers.

A sawmill bought the job so I couldn't say the entire breakdown of what the wood went for.  There was a lot of large diameter trees -white oak, black oak, yellow-poplar, and some cherry, walnut, and red oak.  I'm certain a lot of it went veneer but it was mainly just nice sawlogs.

SwampDonkey

None of us would expect ya to give that private info about total $$, but price per thousand by species and grade would be nice. If nothing else, its nice to know what mill delivered prices are in different areas. ;)

Thanks for the photos and the scoop.

Cheers :)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

swampwhiteoak

well I can tell you this much:

This type of harvest will cost between 300-500/MBF for logging and loading.  Total cost depends on many factors and I don't want to go into the exact numbers.  It also takes a buyer that can handle 20-30 tractor trailers of sawlogs per day.  

This stand would have probably gone for 350-400 MBF when it was standing for conventional harvest.  After our ice storm which higher logging costs it would have probably been around 250/mbf.  We got 51/MBF for the total 1MMBF stumpage, which they probably took 80%.  Conventional Logging costs in this area were roughly 180-200MBF before the ice storm, and are now 225-260.  You can run the math and figure out how much a log needs to be worth to maximize return on a lump sum basis.

Mill delivered state-wide averages are available on the web, let me search for that link.

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