Precision Silviculture in High Value Eucalyptus Plantations:
Testing Caterpillar Compact Machinery in Vegetation Clearing Activities
Gustavo Iglesias Trabado & Roberto Carballeira Tenreiro GIT Forestry Consulting - Consultoría y Servicios de Ingeniería Agroforestal- www.git-forestry.com - EUCALYPTOLOGICS
You never know what benefits having a forestry blog as EUCALYPTOLOGICS can deliver... until it happens. Last week we were kindly invited by Caterpillar and Barloworld Finanzauto to see an Atomic Ant in operation. Sounds strange? Then, imagine what a yellow toy-sized Bulldozer Micro-Machine as big as your golf cart can do when CAT engined!
Fig. 1: Compact Multi-Terrain Loader Caterpillar CAT277C on forestry work operations in a High Value Eucalyptus Model Forest of Galicia (Northwestern Spain). (Click image to enlarge)
And the funniest part of it all is that these guys did let us drive the machine even if you are a noob like us who had never tried before. So, there it goes a video of it all in a nearby pine plantation (do not make risky experiments in model forests, do it at the neighbour's yard ;-).
Fig. 2: Eucalyptologics staff driving the CAT around a pine plantation, trying to imitate the scrub clearing and mulching operation done earlier by Barloworld-Finanzauto professionals... and failing miserably! (Click play to watch the video!).
Very comfortable noiseless pressurized cabin with hydraulic seat! And after some simple explanations by their staff you soon start to drive the CAT Atomic Ant by using two joysticks, same way as if you were piloting a X-Wing.
So, after some fun, we got into the work part of the party. Which was nothing but a technical diagnosis of CAT 277C performance on forestry duty, quality of operation doing scrub slashing and soil mulching, unitary costs, efficiency and fuel thirstyness.
And particularly interesting for us, on the ability of this machine to work with high precision levels in this model forest, where damage caused by any operation to any standing tree has a bigger effect on the financial balance of a high value timber investment than in the case of a standard timber plantation!.
Fig. 5: GIT Forestry Consulting managed High Value Eucalyptus Model Forest is open to forestry machinery testing and any type of collaborative forestry research (Click image to enlarge)
The results were very promising. However, as with any machinery option, it is a balanced comparison of a range of technical factors what gives you a solid ground in which compare brands, machines, accessories... and cost/benefit ratios.
One thing is however certain. If a kid can drive Oddball's Sherman...
Eucalyptus Online Book & Newsletter are technical information texts written and made available free of charge to all people involved with the forestry and utilization of the Eucalyptus. It depends only on registering yourself to receive them.
This knowledge oriented service was made possible through sponsoring support provided by ABTCP - Brazilian Technical Association of Pulp and Paper and by Botnia, International Paper do Brasil, Conestoga-Rovers & Associates , Suzano and Votorantim Celulose e Papel. The opinions expressed in the texts are those of the author or coming from the referenced technical literature. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors.
Gustavo Iglesias Trabado GIT Forestry Consulting - Consultoría y Servicios de Ingeniería Agroforestal- www.git-forestry.com - EUCALYPTOLOGICS
Eucalyptus pulverulenta have started blooming in Galicia once again! Normal patterns for this specific small-leaved cultivar follow a more usual late autumn blooming period. However, depending on yearly climatic variation and the fertilization regimes, blooming can be delayed after the worst of the winter season is over. Hence, spring bloomers can be achieved!
Fig. 1: General outlook of a blooming E. pulverulenta cultivated in the tablelands of Galicia, Spain (USDA Zone 8b). Click image to enlarge.
Flower bud formation however is always from the previous growth season. This means any "delayed blooming" to next spring relies on the older remaining flower buds. So, the most likely case is a less prolific blooming than the usual happening by autumn, be it because of some of these having already flowered, be it because some of the yet immature buds have disappeared due to the effect of winter gales.
Fig. 2: Detail of flower arrangement on the silver-leaved branchlets of E. pulverulenta. Prolific flowering and gradual blooming can attract huge numbers of pollinators. Click image to enlarge.
No doubt one of the most strange looking ornamental eucalypts able to be grown in Mediterranean and temperate humid conditions, the silver-leaved mountain gum combines a mallee or straggly growth habit with great interest because of the texture and arrangement of its foliage. In addition, prolific flowering adds interest to the plant as a hummingbird or bee attractor, and, of course, as an extra ornamental feature that can be displayed at least twice per year in your garden.
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