What a difference a skidder makes: The role of technology in the origins of the industrialization of tree harvesting systems

We examine in this paper the concurrent appearance of the first two woods machines--the skidder and forwarder. By replacing the horse they initiated the industrial revolution in tree harvesting. We describe their invention and technological development. We then assess their diffusion in the woods, revealing the greater success of the skidder. We demonstrate that this cannot be accounted for solely in terms of their respective technologies. Instead, we argue that the interaction of technology with the social organization of their respective harvesting systems must be analyzed. By doing so, we find that the skidder altered that social organization whereas the forwarder did not. This paper, contributing to the understanding of an important area of economic activity which has been seriously understudied, illustrates concretely that comprehending technology requires locating it in the social organization of work.