Luštiak, Róbert: Methods for detecting damage of stand soil after skidding wood (Bachelor thesis) – Technical university in Zvolen, Faculty of Forestry, Department of Forest Harvesting, Logistics and Soil/Land Ameliorations. Thesis supervisor Ing. Michal Ferenčík, PhD., in Zvolen LF TU, 2020, 54 p.The bachelor thesis addresses the issue of methods for assessing the damage of timber soil after the skidding of wood mechanism. Nowadays, the skidding process is controlled by mechanization technology, which is harming on timber soil at the expense of its productivity. The size of the damage depends on many factors; however, the main factors include the design characteristics of the vehicle and the soil type on which the vehicle moves. The pressure caused by the mechanization on soil results in the soil compaction, the disruption of the upper layers, the damage to root systems, rut formation, or soil erosion. This thesis aims to describe individual topics and to test its implementation in the practice, as well as to classify the tracks into the damage classes and compare the track depth with limits. The damage assessment methods can be manual, laser, or using photogrammetry. The manual methods are cheaper but less accurate with the comparison with digital methods. The digital methods are a very good indicator of damage assessment because of its more detailed evaluation of the terrain surface; however, its realization is significantly more expensive than manual methods, and it requires knowledge about software control. Based on practical measurements of manual methods in the terrain, the erosion on the transverse profiles at the ruts was discovered. This represented the biggest changes on a steeper slope than 30%. When comparing depths, the two classes were exceeded above the limits in the percentage terms. The damage to the soil or the remaining stand cannot be completely prevented, when skidding the wood. However, the damage can be significantly limited by careful way of managing forests, correct division of stands, and by the deployment of a suitable skidding technique.