Forwarders for thinning – a compilation

The sister site Skogsforum.se has compiled sales statistics on forwarders in Sweden. In connection with that, a list of forwarders for thinning was created. The attempt was to find all available forwarders on the Swedish market with a loading capacity of up to 12 tons.

Forwarders for thinning

Unfortunately, there are no official sales statistics for forwarders under 3,5 tons loading capacity. Forwarders that are sold in Sweden and with more than 3,5 tons loading capacity are registered by the Swedish Transport Agency in an official register which makes it possible to keep track of the Swedish market. For smaller machines, similar statistics are not available.

Highest load index on small machines

The list of forwarders for thinning is sorted after weight class based on loading capacity. All information about weight, loading capacity, and measurements are collected from the manufacturer’s home pages. The loading area* and the length of the timber decide how much volume the machine can carry.

The load index indicates the machine’s loading capacity compared to its weight (unloaded). At load index 1 the weight and the loading capacity are the same. Above load index 1, the machine carries more than its own weight and below index 1 it carries less. The smallest forwarders have the highest load index. The bigger machine the smaller the load index.

As an example of a classic forwarder with a good load index, the Mini Bruunett could be mentioned. It was quite light compared to today’s forwarders and had an empty weight of 8,5 tons and a loading capacity of 7,5 tons which gives a load index of 0,88.

Today, only one forwarder among the larger ones can match that – EcoLog 1050F (former Gremo 1050F). Compared to the Mini Bruunett, the 1050F has twice as strong an engine, a longer crane reach, and loads two tons more.

Vimek 870 NG has a load index of 1

Also the new Vimek forwarder Vimek 870 NG (New Generation) is interesting to compare to the old Mini Bruunett. The 870 loads almost as much as the Mini Bruunett, 7 tons. On the other hand, it’s 1,5 tons lighter than the classic, giving it a load index of 1. An impressive achievement for a modern machine with good operator’s comfort and good crane reach.

Another comparison is the old giant Kockums 875 from the mid-’70s which had a load index of 0,9. The Kockum 875, a 14-ton forwarder, had the same weight as today’s 11/12-ton forwarders but carried much more. One benefit of today’s machines is that the (often) eight, wide wheels give a much lower ground pressure and less ground damage than the machines from the ‘70s. Furthermore, today’s operators wouldn’t accept the working environment and the crane reach of the machines in those days.

Kranman Bison 10 000 6WD has the highest load index

Apparently, it’s easier to build smaller forwarders with a good load index. The one with the best load index of all is the Kranman Bison 10 000 6WD. It weighs 1520 kg (3351 lbs.) and carries 2500 kg (5512 lbs.). Here it must be mentioned that with a loading area of approx. 1 m², it’s not obvious that there is room for such a heavy load on the forwarder. The logs must be around five meters (16 ft) on average to reach the maximum weight.

Number of machines

As mentioned above, no official statistics are available for forwarders with below 3,5 tons loading capacity. Among those models, there are several that are sold in large volumes, such as the Kranman Bison forwarders. According to Kranman, they have also sold some 20 machines of the new, larger Kranman 960 forwarder.

We can only guess the total number of machines in this segment. Probably more than 120 machines in the last three years, or maybe more. For the forwarders with more than 3,5 tons loading capacity, there are good statistics available for Sweden anyway. It looks like this for 2020, 2021, and 2022:

Forwarders with a loading capacity of 4 – 6 tons: 84 machines

Forwarders with a loading capacity of 7 – 9 tons: 10 machines

Forwarders with a loading capacity of 10 – 12 tons: 268 machines

All forwarders for thinning – a chart

Below you will find the charts of all forwarders (that we found) for thinning. Of course, larger forwarders than 12 tons are also used in thinning, but those are not really “thinning machines”, so we chose not to include them in this comparison.

As mentioned above, the figures come from the manufacturer’s home pages and online brochures. We reserve ourselves for any errors. As for weights, it depends on how the forwarder is equipped. The minimum weights are often mentioned that could be higher depending on tire widths and crane reach.

The loading volume calculation for cubic meters of solid wood with no bark is done as follows:

*= Loading area x 3 meters (9,7 ft) log length x 0,56 solid volume percentage

**= Loading area x 4,2 meters (13,8 ft) log length x 0,56 solid volume percentage

***= Loading area x 4,5 meters (14,8 ft) log length x 0,56 solid volume percentage

Up to 3,5 tons loading capacity

4 – 6 tons loading capacity

7 – 9 tons loading capacity

10 – 12 tons loading capacity

Two classics

Links to the manufacturers

Here is a list of links to manufacturers of small forwarders. Most likely this list is not complete, but it gives a good picture of what’s available.

Kranman

Alstor

Kinetic

Vimek

Usewood

Terri

Malwa

Novotny

Entracon

Jarcrac

Rottne

EcoLog

John Deere Forestry

Komatsu Forest

Sampo-Rosenlew

Logset

Ponsse