EXTRACTING ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT

In small urban or urban fringe woodlands there is often a need for selective felling of trees to improve access, to create glades, to provide space for new planting and to generate income from the timber. Timber extraction should be carried out with the minimum amount of damage and the cost should be kept as low as possible. This calls for alternatives to the heavy machinery which is usually used in large scale forestry.

Heavy horses provide one of the most environmentally sensitive means of extracting timber from small, inaccessible woodlands. They proved highly popular with local people but is not a simple operation: the animals need constant specialist care and there are few contractors with the necessary skills, horses and equipment. We are unaware of any island contractors using horses.

Forwarders were effective in extracting timber. Several island contractors have these, along with winches and cranes.
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The terrain and size of some Island woodlands makes extraction tricky.

To find Island contractors able to offer this service please use the Directory