Pruning young-growth ponderosa pine: product recovery and economic evaluation

This report presents the results of a lumber recovery study recently completed on pruned and unpruned, young-growth ponderosa pine. The study included 98 pruned and 60 unpruned 16-foot sawlogs selected from a 102-year-old stand. Pruned trees had grown for 47 years after pruning and had clear shells ranging from 3 to 6 inches. Logs were processed into 4/4 and 5/4 Select, Shop, and Common lumber. Lumber grade recovery from the pruned logs was significantly improved over the unpruned sample: average lumber values increased as much as 40 percent, average log values 57 percent. An economic analysis of pruning was conducted on four hypothetical young-growth ponderosa pine trees. A present-value analysis indicated that $3 to $16 per tree could be spent on pruning the butt 16 feet of a tree at 4 percent interest.

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