Due to shortage of large logs, sawmill industry has been forced to buy also smaller logs, which also pulp industry uses as a raw material. Sawmills must be careful in the pricing of the logs, because profitability of sawing of timber depends on the size of the logs. These industries use different measures when they buy timber: pulp industry uses piled measure in meters, while saw logs are measured individually in cubic feet. The aim of the study was to develop sets of figures on technical cubic measure of a saw log and its relation to a piled cubic meter from the same log used as pulp wood. In addition, the effect of form class on the measures was studied.
The relation was assessed for trunks that had good, mediocre or unfavourable form class, which distinction is easy to make for a forest worker buying timber. The relations can be used by a buyer of saw logs or pulpwood who need to compare the prices or when the seller of the wood compares the offers.
The PDF includes a summary in German.
When the volume of the pulpwood was determined from the dimensions of the stack, the practice was to add an agreed percentage to the height of the stack which took account of the sinking of the stack as the wood dried. The stack was piled to the agreed added height, or the percentage was compensated when the stack was delivered to the buyer. The aim of the study was to determine a more accurate percentage to be used in the pulpwood sales.
The dimensions of a stack of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst) pulpwood and the diameter of each log was measured during the drying. The 223 cm high pile sank by 0.8% to 221 cm, and the stacked cubic meter decreased from 4.46 m3 to 4.42 m3. However, the shrinkage of a solid cubic meter of the wood was 2.8%, markedly more than the sinking of the stack.
The PDF includes a summary in German.