%0 Research Notes %T Comparison of two harvesting methods for complete tree removal on tree stands on drained peatlands %A Laitila, Juha %A Väätäinen, Kari %A Asikainen, Antti %D 2013 %J Suo - Mires and peat %V 64 %N 2-3 %U http://suo.fi/article/9888 %X This case study represents a novel complete wood biomass harvesting method for woody peatlands, which are to be prepared for peat production for energy use. The productivity and cost-efficiency of complete tree harvesting in a peatland forest dominated by Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) was examined in this study. In complete tree harvesting, a single-grip harvester lifts a whole tree with its roots from the ground and divides the tree into stump and stem part sections by cross-cutting. This work method was compared to the conventional harvesting method, wherein the stem wood and stump wood are harvested in separate operations with different machines. The work study was conducted for complete tree cutting and conventional tree cutting by a single-grip harvester. In total there were 97.6 solid cubic metres (m³) of wood harvested in the study. The harvesting cost of the extracted wood (stump section, stem wood and crown mass) to the road side landing was calculated for both harvesting methods by using time study models of cutting obtained from this study and the separate stump lifting and biomass forwarding models acquired from the literature. According to the results, the complete tree harvesting was cost-competitive to conventional harvesting (including stem wood, crown mass and stump extraction) when the breast height diameter of the trees to be removed was below the range of 16–20 cm.