Procurement of Scots pine for saw milling is recommendable from thinning stands with large growing stock per hectare and good timber quality

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ANNUAL REPORT 2005

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Photo: Erkki Oksanen

A joint study project conducted by Metla and VTT indicated that procurement of thinning pine suitable for saw milling should be focused on stands with sufficiently large-dimensioned timber stock of good quality and good silvicultural status. Saw timber yield in second thinnings and on mineral soils is often at least of reasonable volume per hectare, but in first commercial thinnings and on drained peatlands it is usually too small for profitable saw timber procurement. In first commercial thinnings, the yield of saw timber is limited by small dimensions of trees and in second thinnings by technical defects in the stem, mainly sweep and crookedness. The yield can be almost tripled if crookedness can be allowed in logs. The basic requirement for reasonable procurement of saw timber is the possibility to saw small-diameter logs using a short cutting length.

The margins for profitable sawing of small logs from thinning pine stands in industrial scale are rather thin, which is due to the lower yield of products than that of normal logs, weaker quality distribution and usually higher production costs. Short logs improve the profitability of sawing thinning pine, if there is real market for short sawn timber and/or suitable in-house use in the saw mill company in manufacturing further-processed products.

The research and development project on procurement and sawing of Scots pine from thinnings was part of the Wood Wisdom Research Programme performed with joint public and company funding from the forest sector. The project was funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland, Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, and five middle-sized sawmill companies. In addition to the actual studies, the project included comprehensive extension activities with the sawmill industry and manufacturers of sawmill and shortwood logging machinery.

Additional information: http://www.metla.fi/hanke/7154/index-en.htm and http://www.metla.fi/hanke/3354/index-en.htm

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