STUDY 2 



A second study, made in the same general area, was started 

 in the fall of 1980 and extended through the winter to the 

 following March. During this interval, 8 areas totaling about 

 134 acres of second-growth ponderosa pine were sanitized and 

 thinned. Sanitation consisted of removing living and dead trees 

 that showed signs of the presence of insects, holes, or pitch 

 tubes on the stems, and thinning to improve the spacing be- 

 tween residual trees. 



Procedure 



Experience gained from earlier work in the same ponderosa 

 pine stands was used to determine procedures adopted for this 

 investigation. The selected procedure consisted of three tree- 

 felling phases. 



The first phase was to go through the stand with a three- or 

 four-man crew. One crewmember used a chain saw to fell trees 

 less than 5 inches d.b.h. The other crevvmembers bunched the 

 trees, butt ends together, for skidding. 



The second phase was to use the feller-buncher to cut and 

 pile the trees between 6 and 10 inches in stump-high diameter. 

 A small and a large Melroe Bobcat, Models 825 and 1075, were 

 used. The fmal phase was to fell with a chain saw the trees too 

 large in diameter for the feller-buncher shear opening. 



All trees were skidded with either a John Deere 440 skidder 

 or various farm tractors fitted with rear-mounted, shop-built 

 grapples. Tree lengths only were moved to the landing. At the 

 landing the larger trees were cut into stud and saw logs and 

 decked for later removal. Tops, branches, and smaller trees 

 were chipped in a Morbark Model 12 Chiparvestor, and the 

 fuel chips were discharged into 40-ft flat-bottomed pulp chip 

 van. To utilize the chipper near capacity, the smaller trees were 

 stockpiled in a near-vertical position at the landing (fig. 6). 

 After chipping had started, the stockpiled trees were used to 

 maintain a continuous flow of material to the chipper, supple- 

 menting the tops and branches from freshly skidded saw-log- 

 size trees. 



Figure 6.— Stockpiling of thinned trees at the landing. 



The objective of the study was to determine the productivity 

 and costs of this harvesting system. Productivity was measured 

 by a physical count of trees cut in each of the three felling 

 phases, by sampling the skidded bunches, and by recording the 

 time needed to complete each operation. With the exception of 

 the small hand-felled stems, the diameter at the butt end, 

 d.b.h., length to a 6-inch diameter, and total length were 

 recorded for each tree in the sampled bunch. Butt diameter and 

 total length only were recorded for the small tree sample 

 bunches. Total costs were calculated by using the machine and 

 man-hours and the hourly cost of each. Prorating these costs 

 permitted calculation of individual tree-feUing cost and bunch- 

 skidding cost. Chipping cost per unit was determined by re- 

 cording the time necessary to fill a van of known capacity. 



Values recovered from the areas were based on 200-ft- hog 

 fuel units blown into the van at S16 each, stud logs at $80/M 

 bd.ft. Scribner log scale, and saw logs at S164/M bd.ft. 

 Scribner log scale. Log prices were for the material decked at 

 the landing. 



Results and Discussion 



Hourly and daily rates for the different pieces of study 

 equipment are shown in table 17. In addition, a S50 rate per 

 day per man was used in computing the costs of felling, skid- 

 ding, and processing individual trees as well as per-acre costs. 

 Cost data for the individual study areas are shown in table 18. 



As would be expected, per-acre cost for the various opera- 

 tions varied widely, reflecting the different stand and operating 

 conditions. Hand thinning cost per acre ranged from S43.68 to 

 S147.20, and the weighted average cost per acre was S86.12. 

 Machine thinning cost per acre ranged from S7.99 to S87.65, 

 and the weighted average cost was S32.25 per acre. The total 

 skidding cost per acre, for all trees, ranged from S40. 18 to 

 S149.14, and the weighted average per-acre cost was S76.72. 

 The total cost of producing chips, stud logs, and saw logs 

 ranged from S102.99 to S498.09 per acre, and the weighted 

 average cost was S166.45 per acre. 



Income data and the net return per acre are shown in 

 table 19. The total cost per acre ranged from S185.66 to 

 S814.26. The income per acre from hog fuel ranged from 

 S70.50 to S681 .33, with a weighted av erage income of S219.09 

 per acre. Stud log income ranged from S33.60 to S468.27 per 

 acre, and the weighted average income was $321.43 per acre. 

 Sawtimber was obtained from five areas and the value of this 

 product ranged from S43.74 to $210.46 per acre, with a 

 weighted average of $150.31 per acre. Total per-acre income 

 ranged from $226.95 to $919.35, and the weighted average in- 

 come per acre was $648.50. Net return per acre ranged from a 

 loss of $99.77 to a profit of $439.43, with a weighted average 

 return of $308. 80 profit. 



In general, the value of the hog fuel was at least one-third 

 and as much as 86 percent of the total per-acre costs. Income 

 from the stud logs and saw logs provided most of the profit 

 margin. The two areas that had a net loss per acre produced no 

 saw logs. 



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