ORIGINAL RESEARCH
The Impacts of Ground-Based Logging Equipment
on Forest Soil
A. E. Akay, A. Yuksel, M. Reis, A. Tutus
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Department of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Forestry, Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University,
Kahramanmaras 46060, Turkey
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2007;16(3):371-376
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Skidding logs from stump to landing areas is one of the most important procedures in ground-based
logging operations. Rubber-tired skidders often increase soil compaction, which leads to an increase in soil
strength (penetrometer resistance) and bulk density (dry soil weight per volume). Woody slash materials
(tree limbs and tops) are generally distributed over the skid trails to reduce soil compaction due to machine
traffic. In this study, soil compaction was estimated by measuring the values of soil strength and bulk density
resulting from a rubber-tired skidder. The effects of not only woody slash materials but also various
other slash treatments (chip and sawdust) in reducing soil compaction were investigated by considering the
various numbers of vehicle trips (1, 5, and 10 trips) and two soil depth classes (10 and 20 cm depths). The
results indicated that soil compaction indicators, soil strength and bulk density, markedly increased as the
number of machine trips increased. Woody slash materials distributed over the skid trail provided better soil
support capacity than that of other slash treatments. It was also found that there was a significant correlation
between soil strength and bulk density with respect to the number of machine trips and slash treatments.