Morning of Grapple Yarding

The last couple of weeks have been a collection of activities at Western and the North Island.  From forestry to engineering to road layout to community involvement there has been plenty to learn and be involved with. 

One morning we got to visit an active harvest sight.  A grapple yarder was working off of Cluxewee Main.  A grapple yarder is a cable system that brings a grapple or claw-like tongs to grab logs and drag them to the landing decks.  This yarder had six-barrel drums of cable of varying sizes and uses.  The yarder booms was approximately 40ft tall and can move up or down depending on the amount of deflection needed to carry the logs down.   There were three crewmembers working on the sight that day.  A hooktender was the crew leader who decided where the next road changes would be established. He changed the roads and directed the yarder operator to the best logs to grab.  The operator stayed with the machine while the chaser monitored the guylines and conducted miscellaneous tasks. 

The yarder guyline on a stump anchor

Three out of six barrel drums on the yarder

The foresters had to reassess the terrain because the loggers and engineers realized that the initial harvest plan was not going to safely work.  The original plan was not going to give the yarder sufficient deflection to bring the logs to the landing safely.  The new system was now altered to go into an adjacent free growing block across a stream. This plan ensures better safety practices and the operator is in a better line of sight while fully suspending logs across the stream bed.

It is wonderful to see day-to-day collaboration between foresters, engineers, and operators.  Through the knowledge and experience from these professionals practical, environmental, and safety concerns can be addressed without incidents that could cause harm.