Figure 9.- 

 terrain. 



-Landing operation on restricted steep 



Log loading. — The use of a tree processor was expected to 

 reduce the log loading time. In a conventional system, decked 

 logs are seldom completely limbed and a landing sawyer or 

 "knotbumper" is required to finish delimbing the logs. 

 Loading times for logs from stands similar to those harvested 

 in this study are typically 1 to 1 .5 hours per load. Loading 

 times for three of the study areas are given in table 9. 



The table shows that load times in all areas were well under 

 the 1 to L 5 hours required in conventional systems. The few 

 logs that had limbs after processing by the tree processor were 

 delimbed by the loader operator. 



Table 9.— Loading times for Hahn Harvester processed logs 



Area 



No. of loads 



Average 

 logs/load 



Average 

 load time 









Minutes 



Gold Creek 



12 



84 



28 



Sunflower Road 



4 



95 



31 



Sheep Flats 



54 



55 



24 



Fuel consumption. — Fuel consumption data for the tree 

 processor, chipper, and feller-bunchers are shown in table 10. 

 These data are given because of the relative newness of this log- 

 ging equipment. 



Table 10.— Fuel consumption rates 



Operating 



Machine hours Diesel fuel Consumption Rate 







Gallons 



Gal/h 



Tons/gal 



Hahn Harvester 



111.6 



439 



3.9 



5.8 



Trelan chipper 



111.6 



884 



7.9 



2.4 



(Model DL-18) 











International (Model 



142.7 



387 



2.7 



6.9 



3966-B feller-buncher) 











Bobcat feller-buncher 



77 



84.7 



1.1 



23.8 



(Model 1075) 











Evaluation as a Forest Management Tool 



The potential of the system to accomplish various forest 

 management tasks was evaluated in this study. Accomplishment 

 is evaluated in the following section. 



Two tasks were: (1) feasibility of thinning stands and 

 (2) clearing stands of small timber for regeneration on a com- 

 mercial basis. Silvicuhural method has little effect on the eco- 

 nomics of this logging system. Profitability is more closely re- 

 lated to the balance between saw log and hog fuel production. 

 In stands where the supply of hog fuel material was large, log 

 production was reduced. Unfortunately, saw logs are the higher 

 valued product, and idling of the tree processor increased costs 

 and decreased profits. 



Commercial thinning treatment is of little value if residual 

 stand damage is high. When cutting and skidding were properly 

 laid out, stand damage was minor and much less than conven- 

 tional logging in the same stands. Where stand regeneration is 

 desired, such as in clearcutting and seed tree cutting, the system 

 works very well since there are few standing trees to hinder 

 the skidding operation. In some cases, a good job of scarifica- 

 tion to encourage natural regeneration can be achieved in the 

 process of skidding bunches of tree-length stems. The effec- 

 tiveness of the scarification vvill depend on several factors. We 



10 



