Portable Sawmilling Costs for Landholders in Western Queensland

Abstract

Portable sawmilling trials with Acacia aneura (mulga) and A. cambagei (gidgee) have been undertaken to estimate the private landholder costs associated with small-scale timber production from woodlands in western Queensland, Australia. A time study of harvesting and milling operations facilitated estimation of landholder labour input requirements. The scarcity and small size of millable logs, coupled with the prevalence of timber defects, make harvesting and portable sawmilling of western Queensland acacias an expensive undertaking for landholders. The cost of producing sawn timber that meets the High Feature (HF) grade of Australian Standard AS2796 is estimated at between A3,000-m3 and A3,400/m3 of HF timber.