Use of A Forwarder to Minimize Adverse Impacts on Logging Sites

Dr. Carlyle Franklin
Woodlot Forestry R&D Program, NC State University, Box 8006
Raleigh, NC 27695
Carlyle_Franklin@ncsu.edu
(919) 513-3852

Abstract
Objectives of this research were to study and demonstrate a forwarder logging system in a typical middle Piedmont, natural hardwood or mixed pine/hardwood stand to determine its capability, adaptability and economic efficiency to accomplish selective partial harvesting.

Results of this study supported the following general conclusions.

1. Piedmont stands of hardwood and mixed pine-hardwood can be effectively logged by partial cutting, by highly skilled operators with a mechanical feller buncher and a forwarder with minimum soil and litter disturbance, and minimal bole and crown damage to residual trees.
2. Skilled chain saw operators are essential members of the team to fell, limb and buck logs for maximum available grade.
3. Under most circumstances, it is probably not cost effective to have highly skilled, highly paid logging crews using expensive, sophisticated logging equipment to lop tops or fell non-merchantable trees. A post harvest, silvicultural crew may often be a better option.
4. The productivity of the forwarder and the cutting crew must be matched to achieve efficiency.
5. A large forwarder such as the Rottne SMV Rapid used in this study had three major advantages over smaller equipment:
   _ It allowed its operator to be more productive and therefore more valuable.
   _ It has the boom capacity to handle large logs effectively, and the boom reach to be more efficient.
   _ In the hands of a skilled operator, even this large machine accomplished a job which was silviculturally and environmentally excellent.

The Need
A site proposed for logging can be ecologically sensitive based on physical characteristics of the site such as hydrology (soil moisture, riparian zones, etc.), soils (highly erodible, extremely compactable, etc.), topography (steep slopes, rough terrain, etc.) or because of special fauna or flora occupying the site.

Related to but apart from these site characteristics are the use and management goals of the landowner, or restrictions placed on operations on the land by civil authority, which may often be as demanding on quality of the logging job as are the physical characteristics of the site. According to USDA-Forest Service statistics, over 90% of all forests in private non-industrial ownership are of natural origin. Natural stand management typically begins with a selective harvest to remove poor quality timber and leave better quality, advanced aged growing stock. Many landowners are quite aware of this through our education and extension programs. But when landowners solicit a customized, high quality selective logging job, neither the loggers nor the equipment are likely to be found. Our loggers have not been trained, and our equipment was not designed for this type of job.

So landowners who need cash flow, but would like to do selective thinning, can often be persuaded to clear cut, or endure a poor quality selective logging job. This latter alternative has been the bane of the chip mill industry, which is vital to support selective harvesting because they can use low grade pine and hardwood, but which has fallen into disfavor with some because they associate chip mills with widespread clear cutting. Loggers and equipment capable of consistently and efficiently doing selective thinning which will ultimately assure the sustainability of the resource are not available in most areas of the southeastern United States.

The System
To meet these demands, we need a family of logging systems which can efficiently extract timber with much less soil disturbance and damage to residual trees and other vegetation than what is routinely observed as a result of conventional grapple or cable skidder operations. Our observations and study of this opportunity over several years has led to the hypothesis that a forwarder-based system with grapple loader could be the core of very effective systems for the sites described above (Anon 1984). We have seen similar systems operating successfully in Wisconsin, Sweden and Switzerland (Thompson et al. 1995, Gullberg 1996a, Gullberg 1996b, Dasser (1997). The second vital component of this system is precision tree felling by chain saw or feller buncher to optimize use of the forwarder.

Forwarders are the machine of choice all over Europe, and are prevalent in the northeastern and north central United States. Even though forwarders have been extensively tested throughout the United States, including the southeast (Lanford and Rummer 1990; Lanford et al. 1991; Stokes et al. 1992; Thompson et al. 1995; Miller and Fleming 1995), they are rarely found in operation in the southeastern United States.

Objectives
Objectives of this research were to study and demonstrate a forwarder logging system as described above in a typical upper Piedmont, natural hardwood or mixed pine/hardwood stand to determine its capability, adaptability and economic efficiency to accomplish selective partial harvesting. Another objective was to evaluate how much impact the logging operation had on natural resource values of the site.

Methods
An array of variables related to site characteristics, timber description, ground vegetation, logging plan, system operation efficiency, and indicators of disturbance related to soil, water and residual vegetation were observed or measured (Franklin 2001).

Site Selection
The site for the project was predominantly hardwood which was 60 to 80 years old and had only small amounts of salvage logging applied to it from time to time, most of which was the result of Hurricane Hugo in 1989. The property called Cooleemee Plantation was in Davie County on the Yadkin River, was owned by the Peter Hairston family.

Soils
The soils were predominantly Pacolet series which are moderately well drained, clayey, kaolinitic thermic Typic Kanhapludults. There were small inclusions of Rion and Wedowee, with the Rion occurring in creek bottoms within the streamside management zones. These soils are similar in structure and texture and are rated as moderate to good for machine traffic.

Site Layout and Logging Plan
One of the most significant features of this site were the numerous streams and large streamside management zones (SMZ). This site was easy to plan for a forwarder because an adjoining landowner gave the use of their field for the North Loading Area which served Stands 1, 2, 4 and 5. There were two occupied homes on the access road so the haul trucks and the forwarder operated successfully right through their front yards, without complaint from the neighbors (Figure 1)

Silvicultural System Goal
Timber was marked to achieve a regulated stand in six age classes (multiple age management) consisting of cohorts with median ages of 1, 15, 30, 45, 60, and 75 years. This will be achieved by entering the stand at intervals of 15 years to remove some trees from each but the youngest age classes, and most trees from the oldest age class. Quality will gradually improve as the better trees are systematically given more room to grow.

Logging Equipment
We leased a Rottne SMV Rapid forwarder from Blondin, Inc., Indiana, PA for 20

Figure 1. Map of logging site in Davie County, NC.

days in May, 2000 (Figure 2). We leased the Bell Ultra feller-buncher from the Sienko Forest Products who did the logging. Chain saws and safety apparel were donated by Husqvarna through Mr. Mark Michaels, Charlotte, NC. David Sienko, boss logger, brought his own service truck and trailer.

Time and Motion - Economic Feasibility
Two basic study methods were utilized in determining the economic feasibility of the forwarder harvesting system in a North Carolina Piedmont harvesting situation by Dr. Earl Deal (Deal 2001). Detailed time and motion studies of each phase of the operation were conducted on a sample basis to determine the rate of production of each. The objective of this technique was to determine the potential production of each machine or operating phase, determine if the operation was balanced and develop information for production cost estimates.

Conclusions on Cost and Productivity
This study and demonstration successfully showed significant potential for this system in partial cuts on small tracts of timber. The relatively low production per unit of time and higher production cost per unit of volume was primarily a function of the felling, bunching and bucking phases of the operation.

Those stands containing smaller and lower valued timber proved to be marginal with the harvesting system as configured. The amount of silvicultural work

Figure 2. Rottne SMV Rapid forwarder at full capacity of 18 tons hauling across a lawn (ground pressure about 12 pounds/ square inch).

performed in conjunction with the harvesting increased the cost of production disproportionately to the cost of having the same work done by a post-harvest silvicultural crew. For much more detailed analyses and information see Franklin (2001) and Deal (2001).

To put our results into perspective compared to other recent studies, I reduced our forwarder results to a “lowest common denominator”: cost per log to load, haul and unload a log 1000 feet from the woods to the landing. Results showed that our operation was near the lowest in cost for the forwarding phase of the logging job and all forwarders were less costly than the skidders in this comparison (Table1).

Literature Cited
ANON. 1984. Development of skilled small-scale forestry contractors across the rural south. Woodlot Forestry R&D Program Research Note Series No. 31.

DASSER, MANFRED, Dasser Forsttechnik, Germany. Personal communication with Lislott Harberts regarding their line of forwarders seen by her in Switzerland, Fall, 1997.

DEAL, EARL L., JR. 2001. Production and cost analysis - Harvesting with a forwarder to minimize adverse impacts on logging sites in the North Carolina Piedmont. Unpublished report. 6 p. (Available from the Dr. E. Carlyle Franklin)

FRANKLIN, E. CARLYLE. 2001. Use of a forwarder to minimize adverse impacts on logging sites. Final report (unpublished) to the Lyndhurst Foundation through The Conservation Trust of North Carolina. 26p. + Appendices.
(Available from the Dr. E. Carlyle Franklin)

GULLBERG, TOMAS. 1996a.Comparing technical characteristics of two farm tractors equipped with grapple loader trailers and one small forwarder. Small Scale Forestry 2/96, p. 3-10, SUAS, Garpenberg, Sweden.

GULLBERG, TOMAS. 1996b. Comparing production and ergonomics for a farm tractor with a grapple loader trailer and a small forwarder. Small Scale Forestry 2/96, p. 11-20, SUAS, Garpenberg, Sweden.

LANFORD & RUMMER. 1990.

LANFORD ET AL. 1991.

MILLER AND FLEMING. 1995.

STOKES ET AL. 1992.

THOMPSON, M. A., STUROS, J. A., CHRISTOPHERSON, N. S., and STUROS, J. B. 1995. Performance and impacts of extracting logs on designated trails in an all-age hardwood stand. In: Kellog, Loren, and Milota, Ginger Ed. The way ahead with harvesting and transportation technology: Proc. IUFRO XX World Congress: Aug. 6-12, Tampere, Finland. OSU, Corvallis, OR: 197-213.

Acknowledgments
The following people helped significantly with this project:
Mr. Peter Hairston, owner, Cooleemee Plantation, Advance, NC.
Lislott Harberts, Forest Care Company, Statesville, NC.
Mr. Benic M. Clark, III, Vice-President, Lyndhurst Foundation, Chattanooga, TN.
Mr. Chuck Roe, Director, Conservation Trust for North Carolina, Raleigh, NC.
Mr. Mark Michaels, Senior Forestry Products Manager, Husqvarna Forest and Garden Company, Charlotte, NC.
Mr. Bill Alexander, Landscape & Forest Historian, Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC
Mr. Fred Broadwell, Self Help Credit Union, Durham, NC.
Mr. Doug Duncan, Director, Logging and Transportation, NCFA, Raleigh, NC.
Mr. Jeff Michaels, Director, Land Trust for Central North Carolina, Salisbury, NC.
Mr. Fred White, Forest Land Group, LLC, Chapel Hill, NC.
Mr. David Sienko, Hallstead, PA, Crew Boss and Forwarder Operator.
Mr. Larry Sienko, Hallstead, PA, Feller-Buncher Operator.
Mr. Steve Supa, Hallstead, PA, Chain Saw Operator.
Mr. Danny Somers, Wilkesboro, NC, Chain Saw Operator and Log Marketing Expert.
Larry Sale, Sale Lumber Company, Wilkesboro, NC.
Mr. Rickard Olofsson, President, Blondin, Inc., Indiana, PA, Rottne Dealer.
Dr. Robert Bardon, Extension Assistant Professor of Forestry, NC State University.
Mrs. Kathleen Summitt, Research Assistant, Woodlot Forestry Program, NCSU.
Dr. Dennis Hazel, Senior Research Associate, Woodlot Forestry Program, NCSU.
Mr. Brian Depenbrock, Graduate Student, Woodlot Forestry Program, NCSU.