FORE205-25S1 (C) Semester One 2025

Introduction to Forest Engineering

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 17 February 2025
End Date: Sunday, 22 June 2025
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 2 March 2025
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 11 May 2025

Description

History of logging and reasons for harvesting. Steps in the harvesting process; common equipment use in forest operations; machine capabilities and limitations. Developing harvesting systems, including ground-based, cable and helicopter. Introduction to harvest planning and forest roads; machine costing and system productivity. Environmental and safety aspects of forestry operations; the Resource Management Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Forest hydrology; with a focus on minimising impacts of operations on water quality.

Forest Engineering covers many of the operational aspects of working with forest resources, whereby this course focuses on providing an introduction to harvesting and harvesting systems, roading, environmental best management practices, safety and planning harvesting operations. The course starts with a history of logging and provides reasons for harvesting, including possible economic and environmental benefits. An important focus is learning the steps in the harvesting process and the associated equipment used with machine capabilities and limitations. These include ground-based, cable and helicopter systems and also covers machine costing and system productivity estimation. An overview of forest construction is also given.

To successfully carry out forest engineering operations a person must have a very good understanding of both environmental and safety aspects of forestry operations. In this course we will cover the development of both, as well as review the relevant legislation being the Resource Management Act and the Health and Safety at Work Act respectively.

The culmination of the course is the development of a harvest plan that takes all of the above elements into consideration.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, the student will:

Understand the importance of timber harvesting, including historical developments; (Washington Accord WA1; UC EEI3, BiCC4, 6, 7)
Be able to describe the steps in the harvesting process, including alternatives for each step; (WA1, 3, 9; EEI3)
Know the key factors and variables needed to develop a basic harvest plan; (WA2, 3, 9; EEI2)
Understand the importance of both safety and protection of the environment in forest operations. (WA6, 7)

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:

Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award

Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.

Employable, innovative and enterprising

Students will develop key skills and attributes sought by employers that can be used in a range of applications.

Prerequisites

Subject to approval of the Chair Board of Studies

Restrictions

FORE305, ENFO343, FORE578

Timetable 2025

Students must attend one activity from each section.

Lecture A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Monday 13:00 - 14:00 F1 Lectorial
17 Feb - 6 Apr
28 Apr - 1 Jun
Lecture B
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Tuesday 12:00 - 13:00 F1 Lectorial
17 Feb - 6 Apr
28 Apr - 1 Jun
Lecture C
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Wednesday 11:00 - 12:00 Ernest Rutherford 140
17 Feb - 6 Apr
28 Apr - 1 Jun
Lab A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Thursday 08:00 - 13:00 Forestry 152
17 Feb - 9 Mar
17 Mar - 23 Mar
31 Mar - 6 Apr
28 Apr - 1 Jun
Lab B
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Thursday 08:00 - 10:00 Beatrice Tinsley 111
10 Mar - 16 Mar

Lecturer

Campbell Harvey

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
Machine Costing Spreadsheet assignment 10%
Harvesting Practices Presentation 5%
Group Project 10%
Mid-Term Test 25%
Mid-Year Examination 50%

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $1,122.00

International fee $5,650.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see School of Forestry .

All FORE205 Occurrences

  • FORE205-25S1 (C) Semester One 2025