Ripper Scarification: A Silvicultural Technique Developed in Northwestern Alberta

Abstract

There are currently several different scarification techniques being applied silviculturally in Alberta. All techniques are designed around a crawler tractor equipped with a front-mounted dozer or ripper blade. Although these techniques are effective on better drained sites, their efficiency is limited on wet or frozen ground.Summer is the most suitable time for general reforestation operations but is often a very poor time for good forest access and site operability in low wet areas.With these considerations in mind, North Canadan Forest Industries Limited, Grande Prairie, determined the most economical time to carry out its scarification would be in winter when access is best and winter logging is in full scale operation. A parallelogram ripper mounted on the rear of a suitably sized crawler tractor has proven to be best suited for this heavy work. Equipment was designed, modified and built for use on the parallelogram ripper.Three thousand acres (1200 hectares) have been treated to date at a very reasonable cost, many of these acres being virtually untreatable during the summer or winter by conventional means.