An analysis of production and costs in high-lead yarding.

Abstract

In recent years loggers and timber owners have needed better information for estimating logging costs in the Douglas-fir region. Brandstrom's comprehensive study, published in 1933 (1), has long been used as a guide in making cost estimates. But the use of new equipment and techniques and an overall increase in logging costs have made it increasingly difficult to apply Brandstrom's results in analyzing modern logging operations. As a result, the logger has tended to rely on his own experience and such average costs as are known for similar operations. This method is often inadequate and sometimes misleading because average cost records often fail to account for the effect of variations in volume per acre, topography, crew organization, working methods, and other conditions that influence the cost of logging. The need for up-to-date information on production and costs has led to a growing interest in the application of industrial engineering techniques in studies of logging operations.

Citation

Tennas, Magnus E.; Ruth, Robert H.; Berntsen, Carl M. 1955. An analysis of production and costs in high-lead yarding. USDA Forest Service PNW Old Series Research Paper No. 11: 1-37