Experimental site Clashindarroch Forest.
Images courtesy of Forest Research Newton, Elgin and John Keenleyside, Forres.
This experiment in 1981 but planted in 1982 is an attempt to treat the Sitka spruce brash residue following felling with a chopper in order to achieve a relatively clear site to carry out a comparison of cultivation and non cultivation techniques prior to replanting with Sitka spruce .
The picture shows a Nicolas Chopper stopped in its run over quite old branch and tree top debris left following clearfelling. The origin of the chopper and the county tractor are not known. The raised metal arms above the chopper may in fact normally have been in a lower position when the machine was working.
The first picture in the PDF shows the chopper mechanism more clearly with its heavy teeth swinging on shafts fitted around the edge of a revolving drum. It is almost certain the guard has been raised to show the mechanism which would normally be well covered for safety. The driver is unknown but can anyone name the two men standing nearby. Sandy Watson?
The second picture shows the before and after treatment on the dead brash. It certainly makes the site much more accessible to planters and ploughing machines and as a result better tree spacing and quality of planting was likely to have been the result.
The subsequent images show the three planting treatment types (1) directly into the ground (2) planting on the edge of double fuurow ploughing and (3) planting on complete cultivation.
The last picture shows the site from a distance in 1982. The three planting treatments show up in patches and strips where they are replicated in plots across the whole area. The site appears to be in Clashindarroch Compt No 3270 known I think as the Spit, next to the forest road that runs down from the Longbank down to Piccadilly Junction.
Groups: Forest Research, Forestry Areas, Northeast Scotland , Other Vehicles and Machines