Wood Harvesting

Production of wood/
timber in round or
sawn form either by
felling of trees or from
fallen trees may be
termed as Wood Harvesting
 Contd

Harvesting is a major silvicultural tool available

to foresters hence it is this one aspect of forest
management where professional foresters
inputs can be very effectively contribute to
maintaining healthy and productive forests in
perpetuity.
 Contd

Non-timber forest products are also extremely

important. While the general principles of forest
harvesting apply equally to timber and non-
timber forest products, the harvest of non-timber
forest products requires additional special
consideration.
 Contd
Logging is a broader
term synonym to
incorporate wood
harvesting

Marking of trees to
marketing of the
products thereof
 Contd

Logging practices largely depends on terrain

and tree growth.

Imp. international logging systems

a. Short-wood system
b. Tree-length system
c. Full-tree system
Planning and organization of
Logging Operations

- Annual logging area

- Logging system
- Equipment and necessary investment
- Man-power requirement
- Time schedule of operations
 Efficiency in Logging operations

Wastage of Precious wood at the Butt end

20% in Plains and 30-40% in Hills - wastage of
wood due to faulty logging
10% wastage negligent Marking
Wastage as high as 70% of Standing volume
Hand Sawing by Frame Saw 30-40% wastage
 Contd.

1957 - Logging branch in FRI

1965 - LTCP was founded -- FAO
North Zone - Dehradun (UP)
South Zone - Coimbatore (TN)
Central Zone Chandrapur (MH)
East Zone - Sukna (WB)
1982 Elevated to the level of an institute
LDI was granted status at par with ISI for
setting standards for logging tools in India
Basic logging tools

Axes
- Cutting Axe
- Splitting Axe
- Pruning Axe

Wedges
- Felling Wedges
- Splitting Wedges
 Contd.

Cross-cut saws
- Peg toothed
- Raker toothed (either 2:1 or 4:1)
- Bow saws
- Power chain saws

Dragging tools
- Hooks, Tongs, Cable pullers, Winches
 Sequence of Logging Operations

Marking of Trees
Lopping
Felling
Delimbing
Scaling for cross cutting
Debarking
 Contd.

Off-road transportation
Major transportation
- Surface
- Aerial
- Water
Grading and Stacking
Disposal to the market
 Felling
Prior to commence felling, check the trees for

- Shape of the crown

- Inclination
- Crookedness
- Wind
- Surrounding trees
- Understory
- Off-road transportation
- Desirable felling direction
- Escape route
 Contd

Felling Sink
Use axe or saw or both
Size - about D
(depends on shape of the trunk
and lean of the tree)
Open not less than 450
Low stump- less wastage
 Contd

Felling cut
- Horizontal cut - shortest distance
- Use of felling wedges avoid topple back
- A cut on both sides
of the break-off
counteracts splitting
- Break off acts as a
hinge and ensures
the direction of fall
 Contd

Safety distance between two felling teams

is twice the height of the tree
Have an escape route for use if a tree
suddenly starts falling backwards instead
forwards may be due to Rot or some
defect
No two trees are alike so decide upon
the sink and cut differently for different
trees
 Table showing stump vol. in m3
(Wasted wood in stump dia-classwise)
Stump Stump diameter in cms.
height 20 40 60 80 100 140
in cms
10 0.003 0.013 0.028 0.050 0.079 0.154

20 0.006 0.025 0.057 0.100 0.0157 0.308

30 0.009 0.038 0.085 0.150 0.240 0.462

40 0.013 0.050 0.113 0.200 0.314 0.615

50 0.016 0.063 0.141 0251 0.393 0.769

Depot management

A Grading of timber
- timber quality I, II, III and IV
- length and girth class segregation
Stacking of timber
- size
- spacing
Fire protection
Disposal Auction, tenders , allotment etc.
 Logging Plan
Is a document containing detailed description of all
the logging operations involved in harvesting a
specific forest area .
Chapter 1
- Location
- Climate
- Terrain
- Geology, rock and soil
Chapter 2
- Composition and condition of crop
- Area and distribution
- Evaluation of growing stock
 Contd
Chapter 3
- Current logging practices and costs
- Labour supply
- Market conditions and demand
- Market prices
- Royalty rates
- Annual coupes and sequence of fellings
 Contd..

Chapter 4
- Prescribed logging methods
- Logging operations
- Assessment of manpower requirement
- Machinery, tools and equipment requirement
- Off-road transportation
- Road planning
- Major transportation
 Contd..

Chapter 5
- Staff and labour supply
- Financial forecasts
Capital costs, felling and conversion, off-
road costs, on-road costs, depot costs, minor
construction costs, royalty and revenue
- profit and loss statement
 Work Study
Definition:
Analytical investigation of the
method, conditions and effectiveness of
work and thereby the determination of
the ways in which human efforts may
most economically be applied.
- is an approach to address
the problems pertaining to
enhancement of productivity.
 Contd.

Job of felling a tree

Actual felling - Basic work content

Bad design of product - Addition to work content

Or lack of standards due to defects in design

Wrong method or tools - Addition to work content

used, bad layout due to inefficient methods of operation

Wrong planning, short - Ineffective time utilization due to short comings

supply of tools etc., bad of management
supervision
Working slowly , late to - Effectiveness of time with in the control of
report, absent from work, the worker
accidents etc,.
 Contd.

Work study
- Method study
to improve methods of production

- Work measurement
to assess human effectiveness