Forwarder versus Skidder: Cost effective thinning of overstocked eucalypt plantations

The renewed interest in export pulp and biomass for electricity has led to an influx of harvesting machinery and log trucks amongst some NSW North Coast eucalypt plantations. Abandoned by Forestry Corporation NSW and the MIS companies, many plantation owners are taking advantage of the situation and opting to clearfall their overstocked plantations, but some have taken the opportunity to mechanically thin their plantations down to final stocking for a future sawlog harvest.