A forwarder is a

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

vehicle that carries big felled

log Log most often refers to: * Trunk (botany), the stem and main wooden axis of a tree, called logs when cut ** Logging, cutting down trees for logs ** Firewood, logs used for fuel ** Lumber or timber, converted from wood logs * Logarithm, in mathe ...

s from the stump to a roadside landing. Unlike a skidder, a forwarder carries logs clear of the ground, which can reduce soil impacts but tends to limit the size of the logs it can move. Forwarders are typically employed together with

harvesters Harvester may refer to: Agriculture and forestry * Combine harvester, a machine commonly used to harvest grain crops * Forage harvester, a machine used to harvest forage * Harvester (forestry), a type of heavy vehicle employed in cut-to-length lo ...

cut-to-length logging Cut-to-length logging (CTL) is a mechanized harvesting system in which trees are delimbed and ''cut to length'' directly at the stump. CTL is typically a two-man, two-machine operation with a harvester felling, delimbing, and bucking trees and ...

operations.

Load capacity

Forwarders are commonly categorised on their load carrying capabilities. The smallest are trailers designed for towing behind

all-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is stra ...

s which can carry a load between 1 and 3 tonnes. Agricultural self-loading trailers designed to be towed by farm tractors can handle load weights up to around 12 to 15

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

s. Light weight purpose-built machines utilised in commercial

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

and early

thinning Thinning is a term used in agricultural sciences to mean the removal of some plants, or parts of plants, to make room for the growth of others. Selective removal of parts of a plant such as branches, buds, or roots is typically known as pruning. ...

operations can handle payloads of up to 8 tonnes. Medium-sized forwarders used in clearfells and later thinnings carry between 12 and 16 tonnes. The largest class specialized for clearfells handles up to 25 tonnes. Forwarders also carry their load at least 2 feet above the ground.

Manufacturers

* Barko Hydraulics, LLC *

Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar Inc. (stock symbol CAT) is an American ''Fortune'' 500 corporation and the world's largest construction-equipment manufacturer. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 65 on the ''Fortune'' 500 list and number 238 on the Global ''Fo ...

John Deere Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, ...

(

Timberjack Timberjack is a manufacturer of forestry machinery for both cut-to-length and whole tree logging, and was a subsidiary of John Deere from 2000 to 2006. History Timberjack was founded in Woodstock, Ontario in the 1950s by Wesley Maggill and ...

) * EcoLog *

Fabtek Fabtek Inc. was a thriving video kit company founded in Bellevue, Washington, United States and started its operations there in 1987. Fabtek's name was derived from the initials of its founder Frank Ballouz (F.A.B.-tek), a former Atari and Nint ...

* HSM * HSM (Hohenloher Spezial Maschinenbau GmbH, Germany) * Komatsu Forest (

Valmet Valmet Oyj is a Finnish company and a developer and supplier of technologies, automation systems and services for the pulp (paper), pulp, paper and energy industry, energy industries. Valmet has over 200 years of history as an industrial oper ...

) * Kronos * Logset * Malwa * Neuson Forest *

PM Pfanzelt Maschinenbau PM or pm (also written P.M. or p.m.) is an abbreviation for Latin ''post meridiem'', meaning "after midday" in the 12-hour clock. PM or Pm or pm may also refer to: Arts and entertainment *Palm mute, a guitar playing technique * ''PM'' (Australia ...

Ponsse Ponsse Plc ( fi, Ponsse Oyj) is a company domiciled in Vieremä, Finland, a forest machine manufacturer run by the Vidgrén family. Ponsse manufactures, sells and maintains cut-to-length forest machines such as forwarders and harvesters and a ...

Rottne Rottne is a locality situated in Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County Kronoberg County (; sv, Kronobergs län) is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. Kronoberg is one of three counties in the province of Småland. It borders the coun ...

* Strojirna Novotny * Tigercat * Timber Pro * Zanello

External links

Engineering vehicles Log transport Forestry equipment {{Forestry-stub