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Abstract
In the new forest management recommendations in Finland, one
cultivation alternative for Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is intensive
cultivation in which the quality of a poor or mediocre pine stand is improved
by carrying out an intensive, quality first thinning. This type of thinning
leaves ca. 700 trees per hectare. The research conducted by Metsäteho Oy
investigated how harvesting conditions and costs change when the thinning
intensity is increased and intensive, quality thinning is carried out in firstthinning
Scots pine stands. The study showed that the harvesting conditions
in intensive, quality thinning are superior, resulting in lower harvesting costs
than for normal first thinning. One item of particular note was the drop in
cutting costs. Intensive, quality thinning had less of an impact on the forest
haulage costs. The reduction in harvesting costs, and especially in the cutting
costs, was dependent on the extent to which the average stem size of the
trees to be harvested increased throughout the marked stand. When the
average stem size of the trees to be harvested increased by 25%, the
harvesting costs in the typical harvesting conditions of first-thinning pine
stands were 15–19% lower than in normal first thinning.