Teeth
I feel like the following post is particularly appropriate considering I just recently broke one of my front teeth (at the bottom oddly enough). No pain, but I think I'm still going to have a dentist check it out.
Anyways today I bring you a piece of logging equipment that is frankly rare to see in my neck of the woods, the...
...Tracked Feller Buncher (this particular model is of the self leveling cab variety)!
Feller Bunchers are great for logging productivity, and logger safety. The more metal and space between the logger and a falling tree, the safer the job. While it may look like a fancy construction excavator, logging machines in general are built to a much higher standard. That cab isn't made of flimsy 1/4" steel, it is 1/2" to 3/4" plates with welded in reinforcements; that arm isn't just designed to lift multiple 100' long stems, but to also flex and sway with the ungainly load.
Unfortunately, in the mountains the wheeled Feller Bunchers just can't safely cope with the more extreme slopes. That mean, generally, the logger needs to be on the ground with a chainsaw to fell the trees. On top of that the Feller Buncher is an expensive piece of equipment that is limited on the size of tree it can safely cut (there are ways around that issue), and can double the fuel consumption of an operation as the logs still need to be skidded. Thusly, they tend to be regulated to more uniform pine stands on relatively flat ground. Wheeled tend to be the most common, and tracked tend to be used in more swampy areas where equipment "flotation" is a concern.
This Feller Buncher however, has a self leveling cab so it can handle extreme slope with ease. It is still diameter limited, but the speed at which it can fell the smaller material in a stand more than makes up that. They are frankly pretty awesome in the lower value pulp stands of the mountains, especially for commercial thinning. They are still rare to see though, as the pulpwood market is still recovering from the early 00's housing crash, and they are the most expensive sort of Feller Buncher. Most small time mountain loggers, just can't afford these machines. This particular logger bought this off of a southern swamp logger, damn near at the end of it's useful equipment life. It has high hours and it is simply worn out, but the logger thinks it is still worth the investment of fixing her up.