These pictures of a pine plantation first thinning operation were taken in Kemper County. The contractor had two loaders, two log skidders, and one cutter.
Click on any of these thumbnail pictures to see the full size image.
Pictures of the Timberjack loader:
Pictures of the Timberking loader:
Here's the thinning job as it takes place. Notice the row trees have been cut and are laid out to be pulled to the loading deck to be placed onto a log truck:
After a first thinning, you will still have some forked trees, some trees with fusiform rust (catface), as well as other not-so-desirable trees. The main objective is to open the stand by reducing the number of stems per acre enough to stimulate growth and prevent stagnation. Here's a couple of pictures of areas that were finished at the time:
This webpage was last updated on 9/12/2008.
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