The semi-mechanized clear-cutting operations were evaluated regarding to chainsaw operator safety and to the quality of the felled log aiming at validating the thecnical recommendations from literature. This study was conducted in an Eucalyptus grandis plantation (spacing of 3m x 2m) established on Fazenda Água Limpa (FAL), which is an experimental area of the University of Brasilia. Ten treatments related to the tree falling techniques were proposed, whereas the control treatment was carried out according to the recommended procedures for fell trees according to the literature. According to the proposed treatments, the following variables were evaluated: deep and angle of the wedge cut, height of wedge cut to fell the tree. For each treatment the (a) operation safety, (b) log end-splitting, (c) fork formation and (d) remained volume of the tree were analyzed. Control and proposed treatments were compared by using the Dunnett test. According to the results, the control treatment showed the best result and it should be recommended to fell tree by using chainsaw.
Chainsaw; Security; Defect
