¶ Mainly diggers in forestry configuration
Excavators — commonly referred to as "diggers" in the Australian forestry industry — are among the most versatile machines deployed in logging and silvicultural operations, and when configured specifically for forestry tasks they take on a wide range of functions well beyond conventional civil earthmoving. In forestry configuration, excavators are adapted with specialised attachments and protective features suited to the harsh conditions of cutover terrain: reinforced cab guarding (falling object protective structures and front screens), high-clearance undercarriages, and purpose-built hydraulic attachments including harvesting heads, processing heads, grapples, mounding implements, and stump grinding tools. This multi-role capability makes the forestry-configured excavator a backbone machine in Australian operations, particularly in steep or difficult terrain where wheeled harvesters and forwarders cannot safely operate. On steep ground harvesting operations — common in parts of Victoria, New South Wales, and Tasmania — swing-to-tree excavators fitted with harvesting heads can fell, delimb, and cross-cut trees while their tracked undercarriages provide stability that wheeled machines cannot match. Beyond harvesting, the same machine can be re-rigged with a grapple for processing and sorting logs, a bucket or mounder head for site preparation, or a mulching drum for slash management. The adaptability of forestry-configured excavators has made them particularly attractive to small and medium-sized Australian contractors who need a single machine capable of fulfilling multiple roles across different phases of a forestry operation. Equipment manufacturers including Komatsu, Tigercat, Waratah, and Log Max have developed harvesting and processing heads specifically optimised for excavator carrier compatibility, and ongoing advances in hydraulic control systems and machine telematics are extending the precision and data-capture capabilities of these machines in operational forestry settings.
| Field |
Value |
| Company |
Caterpillar |
| Country |
USA |
| Type |
Company |
| Employees |
closely realted to Weiler |
| FWPA RD&E |
4.4 |