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Logging Equipment & Their Uses

Logging is a physically demanding and intense business with pressure on loggers to work efficiently while also being as sustainable and environmentally-friendly as possible. In order to do both they employ the use of a number of equipment types that both help to extract timber and process them after extraction.

Debarkers
- Debarkers are machines used to remove the bark from tree trunks, thus eliminating any dirt or grime that could damage the saw blades used to cut the trunk. There are four types. Ring debarkers use pressurized tools to pull away park, moving in a circle around trunks that are fed into the machine one at a time. Drum debarkers roll trunks around in a rotating drum, removing bark by allowing the trunk to rub against the drum walls. Rosser head debarkers remove bark with spinning cutter heads that pass over a trunk lengthwise. Finally, flail debarkers use chains or a similar flexible material that are whipped across the trunk to loosen and remove bark.
Skidder
- A skidder is one type of equipment used to remove timber to a landing, where it is then loaded onto trucks. These have a steel enclosure to protect the driver and use a winch to drag cut timber out of the forest. They are used often in selective logging, being one of the only equipment pieces that can move large pieces of timber while leaving nearby trees intact. Another benefit of skidders is that they spread seeds into the earth along the path where they drag timber from the forest, allowing for future growth of the land.
Forwarder
- Forwarders are used to transport logs in "cut to length" logging. In this process, logs are cut typically to less than 12 inches in diameter and 16-18 feet in length. They are then left in piles in the woods. Forwarders resemble bulldozers with extended front ends. These front ends sit on four wheels and have an adjustable clamp that picks up cut logs by the bundle to transfer to landings where they will await loading and shipping.
Yarder
- Another piece of equipment used to extract timber is a cable yard. These are used to pull timber up and out of valleys or crevasse-type geographical formations. A yarder and tailhold are placed at opposite ends of a crevasse and a line is run between them. On this line runs what is called a skyline, which can be lowered and have timber attached to it. The timber is then lifted safely up and pulled to the yarder, where it is placed at a landing. This process does not harm wildlife around the timber and prevents loggers from having to haul timber up precipitous slopes.

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