Global Forestry Equipment

3rd Edition

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This study analyzes global supply of and demand for forestry equipment, including both purpose-built forestry machinery and agricultural and construction equipment adapted for use in forestry applications. The following types of products are covered:

• felling equipment, which is segmented into three product categories:
  • chainsaws (encompasses all chainsaws used in forestry operations, including chainsaws utilized only in on-site processing applications.
  • harvesters (excluded are combination harvester-forwarder machines – also called hardwarders – which are included in the feller bunchers and other felling equipment category. Also excluded are machines with processing heads that are not used in felling applications, which are classified as delimbers, slashers, and other on-site processing.)
  • feller bunchers and other felling equipment, which includes feller directors, feller chippers, feller forwarders, feller skidders, harwarders, and harvester-skidders.
• extracting equipment (e.g., forwarders, skidders, cable yarding systems, farm tractors, shovel loggers, all-terrain vehicles, helicopters, combination machines)
• on-site processing equipment, including chippers and grinders, delimbers, slashers, and wood splitters. Excluded are chainsaws and harvesters used to delimb and buck trees at the stump immediately after felling them, as is machinery used to process wood at sawmills and other off-site locations.
• other forestry equipment (e.g., loaders, mulchers, dozers and other logging site preparation machinery, brushcutters, scarifiers, tree planting machines, spreeders/sprayers, slash bundlers)
• separately sold parts and attachments (including harvesting and other cutting heads; saw chain, guide bars, blades, and teeth)

In addition to equipment used directly in mechanized and motor-manual (principally chainsaw-based) felling, extracting, on-site processing, and loading operations, the study covers equipment (such as dozers) used to prepare sites for harvesting operations.

There are two main types of feller bunchers: drive-to-tree and swing boom. On a drive-to-tree feller buncher, the head is mounted directly on the carrier, and the whole machine drives up to the tree to cut it. On a swing boom (or swing-to-tree) feller buncher, the head is mounted on a boom, which is swung to the tree being cut.

There are three major types of skidders – cable, clambunk, and grapple – that differ in the way they assemble and hold loads.

• A cable (also called a line or choker) skidder uses a winch cable and choker set to assemble and hold a load of wood that is dragged behind the vehicle.
• A clambunk skidder uses a grapple loader to place the butt end of a whole tree end in a top-opening bunk that clamps down on the wood before transporting it.
• A grapple skidder lifts and holds the ends of the wood being extracted clear of the ground using a grapple. Grapple skidders are the most popular product type.

Delimbers include debarkers, delimbers, slashers, and wood splitters. Among the types of delimbers are flail, gate, pull-through, and stroke models.