Production, cost, and soil compaction estimates for two western juniper extraction systems

Elizabeth M. Dodson, Tim Deboodt, Glen Hudspeth

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Harvesting trials were performed during the winter and spring of 2003-2004 in central Oregon to compare the costs, production rates, and soil compaction impacts of two systems for harvesting western juniper (Juniperus occidentalism The two systems compared were a conventional system consisting of manual felling, delimbing, and bucking using a chainsaw and skidding logs with a rubber-tired grapple skidder and a mechanical system that used a feller-buncher, a rubber-tired grapple skidder to skid whole trees, and a stroke-boom delimber. Stump to deck harvesting costs ranged from $32.15 to $49.48/ton for the conventional system and from $60.07 to $63.11/ton for the mechanical system. A limited trial was conducted with the mechanical system that merchandized fence posts as well as sawlogs. When fence posts were produced also, stump to deck costs were reduced to $31.56/ton. Soil compaction was measured pre- and postharvest using a soil penetrometer. Paired t-tests showed a statistically significant difference between harvested sites and nonharvested sites at depths of 2 and 4 in. (P = 0.032 and 0.001, respectively) but no difference between harvest systems.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)185-194
Number of pages10
JournalWestern Journal of Applied Forestry
Volume21
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2006

Keywords

  • Commercialization
  • Range management
  • Watershed restoration

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Production, cost, and soil compaction estimates for two western juniper extraction systems'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this