A Preliminary Economic Analysis of Whole-Tree Chipping and Bark Removal

Technology is available to field chip felled trees without removing any of the bark, limbs, or foliage before chipping–“whole-tree chipping.” The Forest Engineering Laboratory in Houghton, Michigan has developed a process to remove the bark and foliage from these whole-tree chips, The result is a relatively clean chip material comparable to chips produced by conventional harvesting and debarking methods. Precise data is not yet available for a complete economic analysis, but a cursory analysis will be presented to show the advantage of the whole-tree system. Immediate cost effect is revealed by the increased utilization of whole-tree chipping; yield per acre has doubled in most cases. The elimination of delimbing, topping, and bucking results in a cost decrease. Skidding would show savings because of increased productivity due to concentration of trees. Hauling costs should decrease because of simplified materials handling and the resource is concentrated closer to the mill, most whole-tree harvest areas are clearcut leaving the site virtually free of slash and debris. Increased yield and elimination of site preparation are distinct advantages for regeneration. Utilization of the slash precludes the negative aspect of visual pollution or air pollution through burning. The Forest Engineering Laboratory is now prepared to test this whole-tree method on a continuous system with the establishment of a 2-to-3-cord per hour pilot plant. Preliminary investigation shows that the whole-tree system results in a $3 per cord cost reduction. In addition to this the increase utilization of our forest resource, better site treatment, species conversion, and utilization of stands considered unmerchantable are additional benefits.

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