1. Small and Smaller: New challenges and solutions for moving smallwood Bob Rummer US Forest Service Auburn, AL

2. Outline  Anticipating smallwood challenges  Merchandizing  Smallwood harvesting  Smallest wood (biomass) harvesting

3. Smallwood  Reduction in available supply of larger trees  Fuel reduction  Adaptation Idaho City, ID

4. Significant Trends  Fire  I&D

5. Significant Trends  Security  Economic impacts  Environmental

6. Its all about the green … Photo: Barry Wynsma

7. Costs define …  What trees are cut (the perceived value of the treatment)  What biomass has value in the market  What product sorting, processing, merchandizing occurs

9. Example Stand ComponentPrescriptionProducts <3” 3-6” 6-12” topwood Cut & leave Cut & remove Selection Remove None Energywood Small sawlog Energywood

10. Assume: GreenGas $1.75/gal Renewable Oil Int’l Bio-oil

11. Example Stand ComponentPrescriptionProducts <3” 3-6” 6-9” 9-12” topwood Cut & leave Cut & remove Selection Remove Energywood Small sawlog Energywood

12. Expensive to work with smallwood  Driven by volume/piece  Underutilization of equipment

13. Solutions  Match equipment to task  Accumulate/pre-bunch

14. Felling, Processing, Piling Cost 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 0246810 dbh (in) $/ton Manual Mechanized

15. Payload is key

16. Add the money

17. More efficient alternatives  Mulching  Piling Photo: Don Peterson Photo: Barry Wynsma

18. Integrated product recovery “The cheapest way to get the 4” stick is when it is attached to an 8” stick.” Steve Aulerich

19. Integrated recovery

20. Recovery of energy wood Conventional One-pass energywood Two-pass energywood 50%85%84% Rec. Vol $10/gt$7.50/gt$9/gt Harvest Cost

21. What about something new?

22.  Several designs  Reduced handling  Low-impact Valmet 801 Combi Improve efficiency: Harwarders

23. Performance 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 CTL DualCombi Site Move Forward Harvest Min/m 3 1 st Thin CTLDualCombi 2nd Thin CTLDualCombi Final harvest

25. System Productivity  Removed ~9 CCF/acre, 3.8 PMH/acre  Elemental times ~16 min/CCF  Gross time ~25 min/CCF  Misc. elements nearly half of all operating time  Production rates similar to the Scandinavian studies

26. TimberPro TF 820-E  250 to 300 hp  23’ reach w/6’  10.5’ wide, 33’ long  52000 lbs  $460K  Dual technology

27. Improve efficiency: cycle time  What if your skidder was never empty? Photo: MTDC

28. Increasing recovery of residues

29. Low density Forwarding residues, Flagstaff, AZ

30. Improve payload

31.  14 ton forwarder  9 ton payload  ~$90,000 Continental Biomass Industries BTS-1

32. Improve payload Photo: Dan Len

33. Photo: BLM, Alturas

34. Swath harvesters Nicholson-Koch Mobile Chipharvester, 1980

35. Merchandizing energy  Product is btu’s  Unique spec’s

36. Energy value includes …  Energy inputs  Emissions

37. Summary  Changing world for smallwood recovery  The smallest fraction will likely be merchandized for energywood  New technology to address barriers Improved handling efficiency Improved payload Processing for value  Its an exciting time to be working in the woods

38. The Future