History
Forestry machinery developed alongside the expansion of commercial timber harvesting and the move from manual felling and animal hauling to mechanized operations. Early equipment focused on basic extraction and transport, while later machines added hydraulic power, tracked and wheeled mobility, and purpose-built attachments for cutting, bunching, loading, and processing wood in the field. As forest management became more organized, equipment design also adapted to selective harvesting, terrain limits, and higher safety requirements.
Applications
Forestry equipment is used to fell trees, gather and move logs, clear land, process brush and residual wood, and load timber for transport. Common machines include feller bunchers, harvesters, forwarders, skidders, mulchers, horizontal grinders, knuckleboom loaders, and forestry attachments for excavators and loaders. These machines support logging, site preparation, biomass handling, right-of-way clearing, and land reclamation in both commercial forestry and contracting work.