Timber logging costs can be very high

Press, 13 June 1986, Page 11

Timber logging costs can be very high

Logging operations and transport can cost as much as growing a 30-year-old farm woodlot of radiata pine, according to a forest industry researcher, Mr John Galbraith.

Farmers considering planting or logging small forest woodlots should carefully examine harvesting options to ensure profitability, he said.

An introduction to logging farm woodlots, coauthored by Mr Galbraith and released by the New Zealand Forest Service, warns such projects are expensive. “Many disappointments associated with the sale of farm forestry produce could have been avoided had growers been aware of that fact,” he said.

Terrain, access, woodlot size and the distance to the mill all have to be considered when planning a forest venture, he said, as do log size and the cost of various logging systems.

Many woodlots are at the back of properties on sites of lower pastoral productivity and awkward topography, he said. Production drops and costs increase as more time is spent negotiating slopes and forming tracks. “As terrain becomes steeper and more difficult, log skidders and tractors are no longer viable, safe, or economic and cable systems have to be used,” Mr Galbraith said. Those factors could

double the cost of harvesting timber. Providing access roads capable of supporting 39 tonne logging trucks is another major cost, Mr Galbraith said.

Building 500 metres of road, at a relatively low cost of $15,000 a kilometre, to reach a 5-hec-tare block of trees would add $2 a square metre to harvest costs, he said. “High reading costs can only be justified if large volumes of wood are to be transported or part of the cost can be offset against other types of farming or forestry activities.”

The distance to the mill or export port and the road classes to be used should also be carefully considered, he said. Log (or piece) size is an important production fac-

tor and can be controlled by spacing trees and manipulating rotation length (the time taken for a tree to reach a usable size).

The size of a piece is the usable portion of the standing tree. The top and waste timber is excluded from consideration. Owners of small woodlots face higher logging costs than large-scale growers especially if contractors do the job, Mr Galbraith said.

.. In each new job contractors face problems of unconsolidated roads, gates and fencing to be shifted and unknown soils, adding to lost logging time. “A 5-hectare block takes about 10 days to log and a day can be lost to dead time,” Mr Galbraith said.

An option small-scale growers can consider is forming a co-operative to market, harvest and transport logs. They could also convert existing farm equipment to log their own trees, he said.

A farm tractor can be used, but while its use maintains growers’ flexi-

bility and reduces over-all costs, Mr Galbraith warned of drawbacks.

Anyone can fell a tree, he said, but few can do it safely and even fewer efficiently. Logging contractors are undoubtedly more efficient with their specialised equipment and training.