With the current trend of all log procurement companies to reduce their cost of timber – seemingly at all costs – concerns have been raised with regard to reduced safety and environment standards.

            Forest Industry based employees are being injured at an alarming rate due to the pressure of increasing production. The other concern is that the forest floors, in some areas, are becoming a mud bog due to the retention of moisture which is usually utilized by a healthy forest and not one that is dying due to disease or insect infestation. Another factor that has an impact on the above two concerns is the sometimes use of the wrong equipment for a particular jobsite.

            Because of the increased logging costs and decreasing profit margin many contractors are again turning to ground based harvesting equipment which still proves to be the least cost option for harvesting equipment.

            Rubber-tired skidders or forwarders are still the least expensive to own and operate but can cause the bulk of safety and environmental problems when used in the wrong application.

            Rigid track frame crawler tractor type equipment is generally designed for moving materials via pushing or carrying it. They are more expensive to own and operate than rubber-tired machines as well as being less productive when it comes to skidding or forwarding logs. Also, due to their aggressive track style, they can create more environmental damage by soil displacement and/or compaction.

            The lesser known KMC High Speed Steel Track (HSST) LOG SKIDDER, with its uniquely designed balanced weight distribution, torsion bar suspension and “live” steel track, combines the speed of a rubber-tired skidder and the payload of a crawler tractor. The KMC Track Skidder, with its speed, power to weight distribution, low center of gravity, superior traction and stability combined with a light flotation effect on the ground surface, are the characteristics offering the most potential benefits to the forest industry both in safety and environmental concerns.

            The KMC Track Skidder is not designed to replace the rubber-tired skidder of crawler tractor in the forest industry. It is designed to be most effective when integrated with the existing equipment. It can work safely on adverse slopes of 40%, favorable slopes of 55% and contour on slopes of 40%. It can also work on wet/boggy ground or environmentally sensitive soils with minimal site degradation.

            The KMC (HSST) SKIDDER is often assigned to the harvesting of high cost skidding areas which are not considered economical to harvest with conventional ground based equipment or cable yarding systems. It is capable of skidding a substantially higher volume of logs per productive hours than any other log skidding equipment under these conditions whether steep or wet.

            When the KMC (HSST) SKIDDER is integrated with a contractor’s existing equipment, it will increase production in “hard-to-get” areas” while reducing costly repairs on the other ground based systems not designed to work in these types of conditions.

            BOTTOM LINE…An important goal of modern logging operations is maximum production in a safe working environment

 with minimal impact on the forest, protecting its ability to regenerate. The ability of a forest manager to consider a wide variety of planning and tactical options to meet his goal depends greatly on the flexibility of the equipment.

            The KMC (HSST) SKIDDER is one of the most flexible forest management tools at his disposal!

            Editorial space subsidized by KMC.