A survey of the skidder fleet of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe

As a generalization, harvested timber is extracted from forests either as trees or stems by skidders or as logs by forwarders. Coupled with harvesters, forwarders team up to form cut-to-length (CTL) systems that are often perceived to be more modern than full-tree (FT) and tree-length (TL) systems, based on feller bunchers and skidders. As a result, CTL machinery has been extensively studied in Europe, while little information is available on FT and TL machinery and especially skidders. Using all available documentation, and relying on national experts, this paper reports on a survey of skidders used for timber extraction in Europe. The survey identified a total of 8370 skidders, whereby the authors accept this to be a lower limit with potentially many other units not identified through the survey. Also, while the focus of the survey was purpose-built skidders, many modified farm tractors are also used to extract tree-length material. Of the 8370 skidders, 5500 were found in the Central European region with Germany and France dominating the market. The survey also indicated an overall low level of replacement, with fewer than 5% being from new sales annually. Although CTL systems are a dominant harvesting option, this survey has shown that skidders continue to be a common and viable extraction method. Given their high level of extraction efficiency that is often restricted by a limit of clear-fell operations, further large-scale damaging storm events in Europe may offer a clear opportunity for their expansion.