Comparing operational and economic viability of integrated full tree roundwood and residue harvesting with tree length roundwood harvesting in a shelterwood system

Integrating roundwood harvesting with collecting traditionally unmerchantable harvest residue largely depends on the operational and economic viability for harvest contractors. This study compared machine time of motion, harvest volumes, productivity, and profits of two harvesting methods in a shelterwood system in the Canadian Great Lakes-St. Lawrence (GLSL) forest region. Conventional “tree length” (TL) harvesting only harvested merchantable roundwood and “full tree” (FT) harvesting residues and roundwood. FT harvesting required significantly more feller buncher time of motion compared to TL harvesting, but there were no significant differences in time of motion for other machines. FT harvesting yielded greater volumes of residue (34.1 ± 6.9 m 3 ha −1 ), small poles, and medium poles compared to TL. Average profits were 36% higher using FT harvesting ($611 ± 560 CAD ha −1 ), compared to TL ($450 ± 506 CAD ha −1 ), but these differences were not statistically significant. The increased profits at FT blocks were largely from residual management services (such as chipping) versus the sale of residues for bioenergy feedstocks. The results from this study suggest that FT harvesting recovers greater merchantable volumes and can be equally or more profitable at the contractor level than TL harvesting in GLSL shelterwood systems.