• Ebeling, Robert A.
  University of Maine Graduate School
  

An investigation was conducted to determine the potential value of a combined mechanical-motormanual density control system in dense young spruce-fir stands. A Hydro-Ax 520 prime mover equipped with a rotary swath cutter was used in association with manual brushsaw workers. Both methods were evaluated using time studies on three sites on Scott Paper Company timberlands in west-central Maine.

The Rotary-Ax effectively removed standing vegetation from an 8.7 foot wide swatch. Machine productivity was limited by increases in average material size in older stands. Areas containing a large quantity of hardwoods greater than four inches dbh tended to decrease machine productivity. Productivity of the brushsaw workers was strongly influenced by stand density. The presence of large hardwoods greater than two inches, rocks and blowdowns also limited production although their actual influence was not analyzed, Brushsaw operators were no more efficient when working in strips than in stands without mechanically created swaths.