Soils with optimum water content for compaction below water field capacity and soils with poor drainage are more susceptible to compaction during forest harvesting operations. Knowing these soil characteristics allows ranking soils by their susceptibility to compaction. These laboratory analyses are time consuming, costly and require specific equipment. Collecting 13 soils with wide texture ranges, from two farms belonging to Cia. Suzano de Papel e Celulose, in the state of São Paulo, an index was developed, naming the average soil particle diameter, which allowed estimating the soil liquid limit, optimum water content and water field capacity based on soil particle distribution. Based on that and on daily water consumption by a Eucalyptus plantation, harvesting units were established that accounted for the number of days necessary for the soil water content to be under the optimum value for soil compaction. These harvesting units group soils that will need the same number of days (0 to 10 days) after rain to be harvested, avoiding soil compaction and the need of tilling soil for future planting.
Soil water optimum content for compaction; Field capacity e Eucalyptus spp.
