Cost and Productivity of Tethered Cut-to-Length Systems in a Dry-Forest Fuel-Reduction Treatment: A Case Study

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AbstractFuel-reduction treatments on steep slopes across federal forests of the western United States have been limited by the high costs associated with cable logging on steeper slopes combined with poor market prospects for small-diameter material (Bolding 2003, Rummer 2008, Han et al. 2016). The emergence of tethered cut-to-length harvesting systems and small wood markets (e.g., biochar) could decrease costs and increase revenue generated from treatments. Over the course of 3 weeks, we observed both tethered (steeper slopes) and untethered cut-to-length fuel-reduction treatment on the Fremont-Winema National Forest in south-central Oregon and interviewed operators. We used those data to derive and contrast hourly costs and productivity for the harvester and forwarder. This was the first time a tethered harvester and forwarder were used in a fuel-reduction treatment on federal forests in this region. We developed and tested a variety of work time model forms for each machine. The mean utilization rate for the harvester was 64 percent on 17 tethered consolidated corridors but 87 percent on 28 untethered consolidated corridors. Similarly, the forwarder had a mean utilization rate of 76 percent on 30 tethered trips and 89 percent on 114 untethered trips. This reduced utilization rate could be because of the direct effects of tethering, the increased complexities of operations associated with steeper slopes, and the stand characteristics (e.g., lower stand density and tree sweep) associated with steeper slopes. Costs during tethered operations were higher than during nontethered operations, but lower than previous reports using cable logging.