Table 15.— Income and cost data for the four study units on a per-acre basis 



Unit 



Item I II III IV 



Gross income 1,552.82 1,565.38 907.55 1,442.26 



Cost 183.18 398.16 472.50 394.96 



Net income 1,369.64 1,167.22 435.05 1,047.30 



Total costs and income. — Prices used to determine income 

 were: $128/M bd.ft. log scale, $12/bone dry unit of pulp chips, 

 and $0.69/fencepost. Cost data for the logging systems on the 

 individual units are shown in table 14, and the income and cost 

 on a per-acre basis in table 15. Hog fuel chips and fenceposts 

 are included in the income for units I and II, as is the produc- 

 tion cost of the fenceposts. However, because the chipper was 

 of the wrong capacity, the chipper costs were excessive and are 

 omitted. The data show that units I and II were the most prof- 

 itable. These units also were left with a suitable stocking of 

 young trees, and no postharvest treatment was necessary. 



In addition to the income, other land management benefits 

 were derived from operating in these young stands. Cleaning 

 the stand will make future access easier. Removal of the smaller 

 trees makes additional minerals and growing space available to 

 the residual stand. Also, removal of the insect-infested trees 

 should provide some protection to the crop trees. In addition, 

 opening the stands should increase forage production and per- 

 mit ready access for timber salvage or harvesting (fig. 5). 



Land management consideration. — The unit data also pro- 

 vided information for comparing limbing, bucking, and slash 

 disposal at the landing and the same operations at the stumps. 

 Also, sanitation-salvage cutting could be compared with saw 

 log removal. 



Limbing and bucking at the landing reduced the skidding 

 cost, especially if the trees contained more than one saw log. 

 Another advantage of whole-tree skidding was reduction of 

 slash in the logged area. Limbing at the stump and skidding 

 tree lengths to the landing for processing eliminates this advan- 

 tage. In salvage operations, concentration and disposal of the 

 slash is an important insect control measure. If partial cuts are 



Figure 5.— A typical stand after l>eing thinned. 



made, the slash may be concentrated in stand clearings before 

 being burned. 



The quantity of logging residue left on an area can be used 

 as a criterion of good or bad harvesting practices. Residue 

 percentages derived from different bases are shown in table 16. 

 The residue percentages of the original and residual stands indi- 

 cate the need for and degree of slash disposal activities re- 

 quired. The large percentage of residues in unit II resulted from 

 operator carelessness and his expectancy that the residues would 

 be cleared and burned. 



Conclusions 



The results of this study indicate that thinning and salvage 

 operations in young second-growth ponderosa pine stands can 

 be done at a profit only if a sufficient amount of sawtimber 

 can be removed. Recovery of other products, such as fence- 

 posts and pulp chips, is not great enough to cover operational 

 costs. 



Commonly available ranch and farm machinery proved to be 

 well suited for harvesting work in young timber. Farm tractors 

 can be fitted with grapples for whole-tree or log skidding and 

 these machines can also be used to deck logs and pile slash. 

 Properly used, the tractors were economical and efficient, and 

 did a minimum amount of damage to residual trees. 



Feller-bunchers were more efficient than chain saws in sev- 

 ering the trees, and grapple skidding was better than choker 

 skidding. Full-tree skidding with processing at the landing did 

 less damage to the stand than log skidding, as fewer stand en- 

 tries were needed to remove all the small trees. Log making at 

 the landing concentrated the tops and branches so that this 

 material could be made into pulp chips or hog fuel. Tree-length 

 skidding also permitted production of several different 

 products — saw logs, posts, house logs — and concentration of 

 these items at a single location. 



Competent, well-trained personnel are required if small 

 timber stands are to be profitably harvested. ^ 



Table 16.— Residues by cutting unit as a percentage of 

 original and residual stand volumes and 

 log volumes removed 



Cutting unit 



Item ~i li ill iv 



Percent of original stand 4.9 11.3 4.5 9.5 



Percent residual stand 24.8 96.0 12.7 49.9 



Percent volume removed 6.6 14.6 7.5 13.2 



11 



