Skyline Costing Factors

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Skyline Costing Factors

• General Overview of Factors That Influence
  Skyline Logging Costs
• Steve Rheinberger
• Forester, Logging Engineer, USFS
• Forest Resource Enterprises

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Major FactorsCost Centers Stump-to-Truck

• Equipment selection
• Labor
• Moving and equipment rig up/down
• Miscellaneous costs
• Production rates (i.e. logs delivered to
  landing). Not really a cost, but the determining
  factor in final cost per CCF

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Equipment SelectionSome Equipment to Consider

• Skyline yarding equipment is expensive
• Yarder/tower
• Carriage
• Log loader
• Landing tractor
• Radio

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Logging Equipment
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Yarding Labor

• Labor is a significant factor in skyline yarding
  cost determination (stump-to-truck)
• Consider the following basic labor needs and how
  many of each
• Choker setter(s)
• Rigging slinger
• Chaser
• Yarder engineer
• Log loader operator
• Experienced labor may have to imported

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Skyline Yarding Labor
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Moving Equipment Rigging

• Initial equipment move in out distance, longer
  distance higher move costs
• Yarder/tower, carriage, rigging, etc. may have to
  be transported from locations out of area or
  state if poor availability
• Moves within a unit to new landings and to new
  units
• Rig-up and rig-down time
• Can transportation system handle equipment

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Miscellaneous CostsStump-to-Truck

• Falling and bucking of timber
• Chokers, length size
• Operating lines
• Tail tree and/or intermediate support hardware
• Landing construction costs
• Other misc. costs (i.e. temp roads, slash,
  complex anchors, etc.)

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Miscellaneous Costs
Chokers
Wire rope
Intermediate support hardware
Tail tree hardware
Rd/landing const
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Production Rates

• How much net volume can be delivered to landing
  in a given day or hour
• Factors to consider
• Average yarding distance
• Log or piece size (cf volume)
• Terrain, uphill or downhill yarding
• Skyline deflection, average payload, available
  lift
• of corridor changes
• Complexity of corridor changes, rigging, of
  chokers
• Corridor spacing (lateral yarding distance)
• Landing size, efficiency, crew experience

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Approximate Skyline Yarding Cost Per Hr
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Cost Per CCF
Cost centers are summed on a per hour basis and
divided by the production rate also on a per hour
basis. This results in the cost per CCF. It is
easy to see why the production is so important,
the higher the production the lower the cost and
vice-versa.
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