The Conversation

by Rick Hansen

Original - Not For Sale

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14.000 x 11.000 inches

Title

The Conversation

Artist

Rick Hansen

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

Logging operation in winter, with heavy machinery. The loggers are going over their plans for the operation, as they prepare to go further into the woods, to pickup some of the logs that they have already cut down. The machine that is in the foreground is called a "Skidder", which is used to pickup the logs, and the other machine is called a "Forwarder". That will be used to transport the logs out of the woods. It has a heel grapple on it to pick up the logs.

The Wikipedia definition of a Forwarder:

A forwarder is a forestry vehicle that carries big felled logs from the stump to a roadside landing. Unlike a skidder, a forwarder carries logs clear of the ground, which can reduce soil impacts but tends to limit the size of the logs it can move. Forwarders are typically employed together with harvesters in cut-to-length logging operations.

Load capacity[edit]
Forwarders are commonly categorised on their load carrying capabilities. The smallest are trailers designed for towing behind all-terrain vehicles which can carry a load between 1 and 3 tonnes. Agricultural self-loading trailers designed to be towed by farm tractors can handle load weights up to around 12 to 15 tonnes. Light weight purpose-built machines utilised in commercial logging and early thinning operations can handle payloads of up to 8 tonnes. Medium-sized forwarders used in clearfells and later thinnings carry between 12 and 16 tonnes. The largest class specialized for clearfells handles up to 25 tonnes. Forwarders also carry their load at least 2 feet above the ground.

The Wikipedia definition of a Skidder:

Contemporary skidders are tracked or four wheel drive tractors with a diesel engine, winch and steel, funnel-shaped guards on the rear to protect their wheels. They have articulated steering and usually a small, adjustable, push-blade on the front. The operator/logger is protected from falling or flying debris (or parted cables, or rolling over) by a steel enclosure. They are one of the few logging machines that is capable of thinning or selective logging in larger timber. Forwarders can haul small short pieces out, but if mature timber is to be thinned, a skidder is one of the few options for taking out some trees while leaving others. While selective logging can be done badly in a host of ways, taking some trees while leaving some may be a preferred alternative to taking all the trees.

The skidder can also be used for pulling tree stumps, pushing over small trees, and preliminary grading of a logging path known as a "skid road".

A positive thing about the skidder is that while wood is being yarded (pulled), tree particles and seeds are cultivated into the soil.

Uploaded

April 5th, 2022

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