Introduction:

Sawmilling is the most important industrial activity in the forestry sector, being the most widely used methodology for the conversion of roundwood.

Objective:

To statistically compare volumetric yield and percentage distribution of sawn products by comparing two industrial technologies in ejido sawmills in the state of Chihuahua.

Materials and methods:

Three ejido industries with thin-cutting technology and two with band saws were studied, the sawing coefficient with and without bark was estimated, and volumetric yield of sawn timber according to thickness, width and length was determined. Comparison between industry types was made with Student's T-test.

Results and discussion:

Yield without bark was different between modern and traditional industries (P = 0.007) with sawing coefficients of 60.93 and 53.09 %, respectively. Log diameter and taper had no effect on yield, suggesting that yield is mainly affected by the technological capacity of sawing equipment. The percentage distribution of nominal thickness indicates that 88.90 mm wood shows the most important differences in yield according to the type of industry; however, they are not significant (P = 0.345). Furthermore, no significant differences (P > 0.05) were found in the nominal widths 101.60 mm, 152.40 mm and 203.20 mm or in the lengths from 2.44 to 4.88 m.

Conclusion:

The equipment with modern technologies allows the efficient use of raw materials because the sawing coefficient was higher in modern sawmills.

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