Ground skidding and harvested stand attributes in Appalachian hardwood stands in West Virginia

A statewide logging-in-progress study was conducted in West Virginia to examine the associations among several ground skidding and harvested stand attributes. There was a strong positive association between skidding distance and cycle time, and a significant negative relationship between the percent of trees removed in the stand and total cycle time. The number of residual trees per acre and number oftrees per acre in the preharvest stand were not significant in explaining total skidding cycle time. In addition, the number of trees and volume skidded per cycle were positively associated with cycle time, as was the number of turn bunching moves. Additional results suggested that differences in operator behavior may be more important in explaining the size of payloads per cycle than, for example, the size of the skidder used.