Chipping Headrigs in Alaska

Recent figures from the Forest Service for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska indicate an allowable annual cut of 824 million feet. It is estimated that 375 million feet will be taken by the pulp mills. It may be assumed that a good portion of the pulp-cut consists of sawmill-grade logs. It is proposed in this paper that chipping rig sawmills could be installed in Alaska to properly utilize all saw logs and thus upgrade the stumpage value of the forest, and still provide pulp mills with high-quality chips. The increased stumpage value will finance log roads, which in turn will assist in the harvest of both saw logs and pulp logs. The chipping headrig permits small logs to be directly squared into cants with chips as a by-product. In Alaska, the lumber industry interest is in cants for export trade. The strong pulp mill position on chips takes preference for the side wood, over l-inch boards from the side cut. For Alaska this means lower capital cost and higher output per man hour. The total cost of all machinery components necessary for a “typical” installation would be approximately $250,000. This does not include land, yard improvements, buildings, chip loading, lumber dock, and power supply. The manpower for this operation would total about 32 men. Production efficiency of sawmill deck, on basis of 150,000 feet per 16-hour day for 15 men from log cutoff through trimmer, is equal to 10,000 feet per man. These factors indicate an outstanding decrease in production labor cost. Based on the information on chipping headrigs and the logging situation. provided in this paper, private interests can lay out a definite program and, if necessary, get assistance from Federal programs, such as The Area Redevelopment Administration or Small Business Administration.

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