In 1997, FERIC studied a partial cutting operation in the Interior Cedar-Hemlock biogeoclimate zone, on a site west of Kitwanga, B.C. The operation used a Skylead C40 16000 skidder-mounted yarder and Mini-Maki II radio-controlled carriage in a standing skyline configuration and in single-and multi-span applications. The study provided information on productivity and costs for the harvesting system, impact on soil surface conditions, and damage to the residual stand. Productivity functions were derived to predict yarding productivity and costs over a range of operation conditions.
FERIC studied manual and mechanized felling operations with extraction by cable skidder within the Turkey Lakes Watershed in central Ontario. The study compared manual and mechanized clearcutting and partial-cutting operations (shelterwood and selection cuts) and found that felling and extraction productivities were greatest in clearcutting. However, site disturbance depended as much on how the operation was conducted as on the harvesting system used. From the perspective of riparian-zone management, each cut intensity and harvest system offers different advantages with respect to slash distribution and mineral-soil exposure, and their respective merits must be considered in light of the silvicultural objectives.
The Mountain Alternative Silvicultural Systems (MASS) study is a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency project initiated both for silvicultural and social reasons. MacMillan Bloedel Limited, the Canadian Forest Service, and FERIC cooperated in the study, with participation by the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia. Three alternative treatments representing a range of canopy removal levels - uniform shelterwood, green tree retention, and patch cutting - were implemented in the research area, located on the east coast of Vancouver Island. FERIC monitored the productivity and cost of the falling and forwarding operations, and measured site disturbance and coarse woody debris for each harvesting treatment. The results of FERIC's study are presented.
This report summarizes work that was performed at the request of Quebec’s Ministère des Ressources Naturelles et de la Faune (MRNFQ) as part of updating their economic models for hardwood forest. The study compared the productivity of mechanized felling in a selection cut with the productivity of the same equipment and operators working in a regeneration cut. This comparison generated regression equations for the productivity of mechanized felling as a function of mean stem volume for each type of cut in hardwood and mixed forests.
