German Forest Machine Sales decreased in 2024

German Forest Machine Sales decreased in 2024-Since 2008, the Kuratorium für Waldarbeit und Forsttechnik (KWF) e. V. in Groß-Umstadt (Germany) has been collecting market data on the sale of new forestry machinery in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. In 2024, 268 special forestry machines were sold in Germany and reported for statistics, 70 fewer than in 2023. Sales in Germany in 2024 reached 72.2 % of the long-term average of 371 machines.

German Forest Machine Sales decreased in 2024, 210 CTL machines (harvesters, forwarders) were sold, 16 % fewer than the long-term average of around 250 machines.

80,000 Hours

That’s a remarkable amount of work hours for a single machine, the Norcar 600 owned by Erkki Rinne is taken well care of, it even has the original Diesel engine.
Kieran Anders Forestry

Kieran Anders is a forestry contractor working in the lake district. His work involves hand cutting and extracting timber using a skidder and tractor-trailer forwarder.
Promoting safety in the workplace

It is not possible to eliminate chain shot, but there are simple steps that can be taken to reduce the risk.
Glasfryn Fencing and Sawmill

Arwel takes great pride in the fact that the mill has no waste whatsoever, “the peelings are used for children’s playgrounds, gardens and for farm animals in barns in the winter and the sawdust has multiple uses in gardens and farms as well.
Keeping Timber Hauliers Safe

Timber hauliers need to encourage young blood in, and also look after the hauliers we have, we need make the sector a safe and positive place to work.

FIND US ON

The following table lists the figures broken down by machine type.

Marked by the calamities caused by windthrow and, above all, by the bark beetle, a sharp increase in
new purchases was recorded in 2019/2020. The increased machine capacity enabled a flexible
response to the forestry situation. As has repeatedly been observed in the past, after such a brief
peak, sales figures decline significantly in subsequent years, which also has been evident since 2021.
Since 2016, data on special forestry tractors, forestry tractors, and combination machines have also
been recorded in the statistics; however, due to the low response rate, they are not included in the
further analysis. Data on forwarding trailers has also been recorded since 2023.
It should be noted that since 2021, only the figures of actually delivered sales are included in the
analysis; estimates in order to include missing reports from individual manufacturers into the
statistics are no longer made. Most manufacturers have provided information for the CTL sector.

1 Special forestry tractors are built for forestry purposes, often they have the same wheel size in front
and rear and articulated frame steering.
2 Forestry tractors are agricultural tractors (different wheel size in front and rear), additionally
equipped for occasional forestry tasks.
3 Combination tractors are capable to forward cut-to-length and tree length timber.
Particularly for combination tractors, special forestry tractors, and forestry tractors actual sales
figures are expected to be somewhat higher.

Harvesters
80 % of the harvesters delivered in 2024 were 8-wheel machines, and 95 % were equipped with
communication and positioning systems. Almost 5 % of the new machines were equipped with
traction or synchronous winches. Most machines were delivered to Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg,
and North Rhine-Westphalia, followed by Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Lower Saxony.
Forwarders
Almost all machines were delivered as 8-wheel machines, with tire widths of 700 mm or more for
almost all of them. 10 % of the machines are equipped with traction winches. The payload for
approximately half of the machines is 14 t or more, for a quarter it is less, and for another quarter no
data is available. The crane reach of 80 % of the machines is between 9 and 10 m, while only 5 %
offer a reach of over 10 m (no data is available for 15 %). In 2022/23, more than two-thirds of the
machines sold still had a reach of over 10 m.
Forwarding trailers
Almost two-thirds of forwarding trailers had a payload of between 5 and 10 t in 2023; in 2024, this
figure rose to almost 75 %. 8 % have a payload of less than 5 t, 3 % have a payload of over 10 t, and
no data was reported for 15 %.
The reported figures for special forestry tractors and forestry tractors are too small to allow
meaningful analysis. Starting next year, small forestry equipment carriers (“mini forestry tractors”)
will also be included in the machine statistics.