supported by the Industry 

 and run for several years 

 under the joint direction of 

 Louisiana State and 

 Mississippi State 

 Universities. Other work of 

 a similar nature was carried 

 on by Clemson University. 



Of lasting impact is the 

 Harvesting Research 

 Program's work on 

 equipment development, 

 including research on a 

 feller-buncher head for 

 small tree-to-tree machines, 

 a hydraulic grapple for farm 

 tractors, and a prime mover 

 (research base machine) 

 for a variety of forest 

 operations. 



The harvesting systems 

 evaluation, which included 

 studies and reports of 

 systems used by 

 cooperating companies, led 

 to a harvesting analysis 

 technique. This technique 

 involves a computer 

 simulation program for the 

 comparison of a variety of 

 machines and systems on 

 one stand of timber, or the 

 comparison of one machine 

 or system on a variety of 

 stands. The harvesting 

 analysis technique is 

 currently being used by a 

 number of pulp and paper 

 companies for machine 

 and systems analysis. 



Simulation of stands, the 

 fourth area of investigation, 



resulted in generation of 

 forest models of over fifty 

 1-acre, mapped stands. 

 Today, biometricians can 

 seek the best combinations 

 of pieces of equipment to 

 fit into a logging system by 

 using over 1 1 forest models 

 available from Virginia 

 Polytechnic Institute and 

 State University while 

 working in the comfort of 

 their laboratories. 



The Harvesting Research 

 Program was terminated 

 due to economic conditions 

 within the industry, a 

 not-unusual cause for 

 interruption of research 

 projects. Also, there was 

 some feeling among 

 cooperators that the project 

 was getting ahead of the 

 industry's perceived needs, 

 particularly in the area of 

 nonphysical factor studies. 

 But cooperators remain 

 unified in supporting 

 thorough training in 

 operations and safety. 



At least one major research 

 problem remains: design of 

 a thinning system that is 

 acceptable to a major 

 portion of the industry, 

 efficient for both natural 

 and plantation pine stands, 

 and priced within the 

 economic range of the 

 small pulpwood contractor 

 in the South. 



34 



