It’s not every day you see a shovel logging machine operating in the middle of a heavily populated neighborhood. When a tree fell onto a business in a residential and commercial neighborhood in Corvallis, it quickly became clear that the surrounding treeline posed a serious safety risk. With buildings located directly below the steep hillside, the potentially hazardous trees needed to be carefully harvested to help protect the community and prevent future incidents.
A steep slope and densely populated area made the removal of these potentially hazardous trees more complex
Local contractor EWY’s Tree Service led the project, utilizing a Link-Belt 3240B TL as the shovel logger on the jobsite. As the crew felled the timber, the 3240 moved the logs into position to be loaded onto trucks. The proximity to an urban area made this a particularly unique and challenging project.
This Link-Belt 3240B TL working with the arborist team to organize felled timber
The operation also served as a valuable learning opportunity for students in the Forestry program at Oregon State University, who visited the jobsite and met with the timber felling team. The combination of steep terrain, tight working conditions, and nearby buildings created a highly technical environment that gave students firsthand exposure to the realities of complex urban-adjacent forestry work. With safety as the top priority, there were considerations about the public, as well as moving efficiently and working cooperatively. The arborist team worked side by side with the log loader’s operator, all of whom spoke with the students about their role in the project.
Oregon State Forestry students spent the day on the jobsite, working with EWY’s team to keep the project moving
Despite the challenges presented by this jobsite, the project was completed safely and efficiently while also helping provide the next generation of forest professionals with meaningful, hands-on experience. Triad Machinery has been a longtime partner of OSU’s Forestry Program, and this was an opportunity for students to witness a project that provided real-world training.
This project also spotlighted the importance of forest management in keeping communities safer. From removing hazardous trees before they fall can keep buildings and people safe, to the process of fuel mitigation (harvesting or removing trees that are a wildfire risk), properly maintained forests are safer forests.
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