CASE STUDY - STUMP HARVESTING
Following the announcement in 2008 of UPM Caledonian’s Targe CHP Biomass Boiler a new stump harvesting project began in south west Scotland.
The project was overseen by a Steering Group including senior UPM Tilhill Managers as well as experts from UPM Finland. Three forests were chosen, all owned by UPM Tilhill and all with different conditions and soil types.The Project Team commissioned a literature review from Bangor University. The trials and literature review have assisted our understanding of the operational constraints within which stump harvesting can take place.
Two different stump harvesters worked on the trial, one with the ability to mound as it de-stumps. The original specifications and techniques were based on those used by our Finnish colleagues but as the trial progressed they have been adapted and improved on each site to match UK conditions.
Importantly the trials included dialogue with the Forestry Commission, Scottish Environment Agency, Scottish Renewables Forum, Bangor University and other players in the biomass sector. UPM Tilhill took the lead in developing a forestry private sector protocol for stump harvesting that has subsequently informed Forestry Commission Scotland's own guidance on stump harvesting.
To achieve the environmental requirements a combination of untouched ground and buffer zones is left. To compare ground preparation techniques, and allow cost comparison, one site has been mounded as the stumps have been extracted and another has been partially scarified.
The recovered stumps will be left at roadside for over a year to allow the weather to clean them and dry them out. They will then be ideal fuel for the Targe CHP boiler at UPM Caledonian.
For more information on stump harvesting Freephone 0800 3 28 21 28, or ask a question|.