Economic Feasibility Analyses 



3517 



Figure 28-1 1. — Swathe-felling mobile chipper teamed with two forwarders and equip- 

 ment to load chips in transport trucks; 1982 configuration for commercial fields trials. 

 See further discussion in text related to figures 16-49 through 16-53. (Drawing from 

 files of D. Sirois.) 



28-9 $603,000 to $975,000— CHIP HARVESTING BY 

 THREE SYSTEMS" 



Three methods of clear-felling and whole-tree chipping pine-site hardwoods 

 include conventional whole-tree chipping with feller buncher and grapple skid- 

 der (fig. 16-18), cable yarding with chainsaw felling and whole-tree chipping 

 (fig. 16-45), and harvesting with a swathe-felling mobile chipper (figs. 28-11 

 and 16-52). 



Each method yields whole-tree green chips at roadside; production costs 

 (1980 basis) of such chips are estimated to range from $9.42 to $22.75 per ton 

 with a 15 percent cost of capital. Costs are $12.01 to $29.12 per ton if a 30 

 percent return on investment is included. Initial equipment costs are $603,000 

 for a swathe-felling mobile chipper, $663,000 for a conventional whole-tree 

 chipper, and $975,000 for a cable logging-chipper system. Annual operating 

 costs including depreciation, fuel, labor, and interest are $426,499 for the 

 mobile chipper, $474,607 for the conventional system, and $694,529 for the 

 cable system. Costs cannot be compared directly because all harvesting methods 

 would not normally operate on similar types of stands. The cable yarding system 



•'Abstracted from Vasievich and Croll (1981). 



