Publications

From cutting to order to cutting for value. A handbook for chainsaw millers

Publication

Authors: Andrew Mendes and Nick Pasiecznik

Guyana - 2015

ISBN: 978-90-5113-126-0

Language: English

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Chainsaw ripping or milling is the on-site conversion of logs into lumber using chainsaws. This handbook provides tailored information to improve the efficiency, safety and profitability of chainsaw milling, and thereby improve its sustainability in both an economic and environmental sense. It offers guidance for chainsaw operators, with recommended best practices, some basic principles, and useful information. The goal is to shift the focus from the common practice of cutting to order, to one in which timber production decisions are based on cutting for value. The reasoning behind this is that value recovery dictates the profitability, viability and sustainability of any enterprise, and this must become the main motivation for everyone involved in the chainsaw milling industry.

The handbook is structured in five main parts, as a practical guide for individual chainsaw operators, and has also been developed for use by trainers as part of wider training courses.

  1. Introduction – why this handbook is needed and the background to chainsaw milling in Guyana.
  2. Using your head – ‘thinking dollars and sense’, and introducing what must be considered before felling a tree, considering the value chain, conducting a forest inventory, marketing and monitoring.
  3. Using your chainsaw – from basic chainsaw safety and maintenance, to sawing techniques and the use and benefits of milling attachments.
  4. From forest to market – from log inventory, felling, sawing, grading, marketing and handling, to stacking, storing and selling.
  5. Information – useful books, manuals, websites and other information, a glossary of terms, and imperial-metric conversion charts.

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