Performance of a cut-to-length harvester in a single-tree and group selection cut

Presents production and cost data for a mechanized and cut-to-length (CTL) harvester used in a single-tree and group-selection cut on the Groton State Forest in central Vermont. For trees whose average volume (size) was 7 to 18 ft3, production ranged from 464 to 734 ft3 per productive machine hour (PMH). The cycle time for processing trees into bunches to forward to a landing ranged from about 1 minute to 1.72 minutes per tree. There was little above-ground residual stand damage. The cost of the CTL harvesting system was $146.72 per PMH.