Horses return to logging

UPM Tilhill have turned back the clock by using horse power to extract logs in Dumfries.

Billy, a seven-year old Belgian draught horse, has been extracting larch thinnings from a steep bank in Auchencairn Forest.

“As traditional heavy machinery could not access parts of the site, horse logging was the obvious solution,” said UPM Tilhill forest manager John Jefford.

Of the 500 tonnes of timber awaiting extraction, 80 tonnes of logs were pulled by Billy using chains, with the remainder taken out by a forwarder.