Productivity and cost of manual felling and cable skidding in central Appalachian hardwood forests.

Abstract

A field production study was conducted for a manual harvesting system using a chainsaw and cable skidder in a central Appalachian hardwood forest site. A partial cut was performed on a 50-acre tract with an average slope of 25 percent. Felling time pre tree was most affected by diameter at breast height and the distance between harvested trees while skidding cycle time was mainly affected by turn payload size and skidding distance.