Small forest landowners and loggers require information on the cost and productivity of available timber harvesting systems in order to make the best equipment allocation decisions, especially when the current generation of highly productive, capital-intensive harvesting machinery is well suited for clearcutting in large stands. Conversely, small-scale equipment is becoming more readily available that can help minimize the capital and operating costs associated with partial cuts and intermediate stand treatments or when operating in small-scale forests. The present study evaluated the productivity and yardings costs of four different yarding systems for old machines—a farm tractor, bulldozer, cable-skidder and forwarder—working in a group selection harvest of a mixed hardwood stand in the state of Maine, USA. A sensitivity analysis using the break-even technique and considering the same harvesting productivity and machines brands and models was used in this study to assess study differences between yarding machines costs in two different scenarios: old and new machines. Results indicate that the total machine and yarding costs for old machines were lower than for the new machines. For old machines, the yarding cost per unit delivered to the landing was lowest for the forwarder method ($2.34/m³) and highest for the cable-skidder method ($4.46/m³). In the case of new machines, the yarding cost per unit was lowest for the forwarder method ($3.95/m³) and highest for the cable-skidder method ($9.46/m³). The older machines might be a better option than new machines, particularly for small landowners who need to harvest small areas with low levels of harvesting.

小型森林的土地所有者和伐木者需要有关可用木材采伐系统的成本和生产率的信息，以便做出最佳的设备分配决策，尤其是当当前生产的高生产力，资本密集型采伐机械非常适合大型林分的伐木时。相反，小型设备正变得越来越容易获得，可以帮助最小化与部分砍伐和中间林分处理或在小规模森林中作业相关的资金和运营成本。本研究评估了美国缅因州的一套混合硬木林分群采摘工作中，四种不同的旧机器（农用拖拉机，推土机，集材机和集运机）的堆放系统的生产率和堆放成本。在这项研究中，使用盈亏平衡技术并考虑了相同的收割生产率以及机器品牌和型号进行了敏感性分析，以评估在两种不同情况下（旧机器和新机器）堆料机成本之间的研究差异。结果表明，旧机器的总机器成本和堆放成本低于新机器。对于旧机器，对于货代方法，交付到着陆站的每单位堆放成本最低（$ 2.34 / m³），而电缆打滑法最高（$ 4.46 / m ³）。在新机器的情况下，集运商方法的单位堆放成本最低（$ 3.95 / m ³），电缆集材机方法的单位堆放成本最高（$ 9.46 / m ³）。与新机器相比，旧机器可能是更好的选择，特别是对于需要在收成水平较低的小面积收割的小型土地所有者而言。