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August, 2008 – Colorado is seeing a faster, better way to manage their forests, and not a moment too soon. Over a million and a half acres of beetle-killed lodgepole pine is changing the landscape in the famous Breckenridge, Silverthorne, and Vail ski region. As a result, the area is in serious risk of massive forest fire – and with a generous population of luxury homes in the region, the situation is critical. The area is very ‘footprint’ sensitive when it comes to heavy equipment due to the ski and hiking paths, but things are looking up.
John Deere biomass harvesting equipment is turning heads and showing that things can turn around. A demonstration held August 11th – 13th has had very favorable reaction from the public, who want to see their homes safe and their forests green again. The event showcased a 1470D harvester, 1710D forwarder, and 1490D biomass energy harvester (or bundler). The equipment is big, powerful, and effective – yet extremely gentle on the ground, and providing products for new markets in the forest industry.
“What we’re showing is that there is a faster, better way to get the dead lodgepole out,” explains Mike Schmidt, Manager, Forestry Renewables for John Deere. “Plus we’re bundling the dead wood as well for several investors who are looking to put power plants in this region, or make pellets out of them. We’re doing this because there is a lot of interest from the ski resort, from the Forest Service, and from a wide range of different potential stakeholders.”
Mike says that the response in Colorado has been very positive, both from investors and from area residents.
“We’re right in the middle of these giant vacation homes, and so far there’s not been a single negative comment from anyone. They have over a million and a half acres of dead and dying lodgepole. It’s just devastating this region, and this is one way to at least try to protect the homes – take out the dead lodgepole, protect the aspen, the spruce, and what little lodgepole reproduction there is, to try to protect that as well.”
The 1470D, 1710D, and 1490D are part of a family of John Deere equipment classified as Advanced Harvesting Systems, or AHS, and is part of the Cut-to-length method of harvesting. One of the big advantages of these machines, Mike says, is the minimal impact on the ground.
“You only go in one time – you’re in and you’re out. You’re not waiting for somebody to come back and pile the slash, and you’re not waiting for someone else to come back and burn the slash piles.”
The equipment is also very gentle with the logs – so much so, that one of the uses for the processed wood is house logs for building log homes.
“We’re not taking saw logs, because there is no market for lumber logs here. We’re just processing in three sorts: it’s going to be house logs, logs that go to a pellet plant (a wood pellet mill), and the bundles. We’re going to cut them to the length they need. When they take them to the plant where they build the log home, they’ll peel them and turn them into the logs for the log home.”
The John Deere biomass harvesting equipment is proving a lot of concepts: the machines can handle the logs without damaging them; It saves a lot of steps; and it’s cheaper in the long run. The equipment is working on top of hiking trails, and can straddle the trails without dragging anything, thereby keeping the trails intact. There’s very minimal impact. And while the equipment is working around houses, it can cut the trees down without fear of the trees falling on the houses.
“It’s just a better way of doing it,” says Mike, “and that’s what we’re showing them.”
To learn more about AHS and biomass harvesting equipment, try these pages:
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