Logging Equipment Appraisal

Introduction

Owning and operating costs of logging equipment are major expenses for a logging contractor, or, for that matter, most any contractor in any field. A Forest Engineer must be familiar with the production capabilities of specific equipment types and the factors that affect costs to logging contractors. This is increasingly important as one attempts to design, negotiate, and administer optimal harvest settings. The intent of this assignment is to familiarize you with typical combinations of equipment, equipment specifications, and costs.

Assignment

An organization representing logging contractors is interested in estimating the costs of the machines their members own. They have provided a list of equipment types including the make, model, and manufacturing year. These are typical machines found on northwest harvest sites. Your job is to provide them with a description of each machine. List your references including source, author, year and page number in a bibliography. Your description will include the items as outlined on the following page. A complete list of equipment groups is provided below. If your are unable to find infromation regarding a specific machine then provide estimates based on what you learned about similar machines. Work will be submitted in both hard copy and a soft copy (3.5inch floppy).

Resources

There are several resources one might use to estimate equipment specifications, and owning and operating costs. These include manufacturer specification sheets, equipment dealers, contractors with similar machines, accountants, equipment reference books such as the Caterpillar Performance Handbook(s), Forest Service reports, FERIC reports, Web pages (http://www.forestind.com/ as a starter), little salesman book, Loggers World, and scientific journals. These references may be found in Bloedel 389, the Forest Resources Library, or the Yellow Pages.

Report Format

The format of the report has to adhere to a specific format. The outline on the followiing page provides the type of information we are looking for