Harvesting SRF poplar for pulpwood: Experience in the Pacific Northwest

The authors report on 6 years of tests with systems used to harvest pulpwood from the SRF poplar stands in the Pacific Northwest USA. Four systems are described and analyzed. All can produce in excess of 400 green tonnes per day and return delivered cost varying from $15–30 per green tonne. Transportation is a major item: depending on distance, it may represent 30–70% of total delivered cost. Two opposing strategies proved the most cost-effective. System 1—felling and bunching, forwarding and delimbing/debarking/chipping—is simplest and easiest to implement. System 4—the central yard option—is more complex and has higher stump-to-truck costs, but these are more than offset by substantial savings on transportation.