Horse logging

In the modern industrialized world, it is often part of sustainable forest management.

[1] Net net and gross production rates using horse logging in a Romanian study were of 2.63 m3/h and 1.44 m3/h.

[2] In the United Kingdom, there were three people employed as horse loggers in the 1980s but the number increased to 15 by 2009 with up to 1,000 part-time employed by that work.

[3] Horses can efficiently extract a single damaged tree from a forest without roadbuilding required for powered vehicles.

[4] The technique can be more efficient than using power equipment, considering the cost of transportation and fuel, especially on smaller privately held forest parcels.

A logger with a Clydesdale horse in Scotland
Logging sleds were instrumental in logging areas in northern climates that required transport through snow and ice.
Logging arch on display at Kauri Museum in New Zealand
Early 20th-century American horse logging with Michigan logging wheels
Elements of a skidding harness