A single logging feller-buncher costs $500K+ and sits idle 30-40% of the time

Modern mechanized logging requires equipment costing $300,000-$700,000 per machine — a feller-buncher runs $500K+, a forwarder $400K+, a processor $350K+ — and a typical logging crew needs 3-5 machines totaling $1.5-3M in capital equipment. Yet this equipment sits idle 30-40% of the time due to a combination of weather shutdowns (frozen or saturated ground makes operations impossible), seasonal harvest restrictions (wildlife nesting seasons, fire season closures), and the gap between timber sale contracts. When the equipment does break down in remote forest settings, there is no roadside assistance — a mobile mechanic must drive a fully-equipped service truck to the jobsite, often hours from the nearest town, and repairs that would take 4 hours in a shop take 8-12 hours in a muddy landing. Unplanned downtime costs $1,000-$3,000/day in lost production plus repair costs. This capital intensity is why the average logging business in the US is a 3-8 person operation that is one major equipment failure or one cancelled timber sale away from insolvency. The problem persists because logging equipment is too specialized for other uses (unlike construction equipment that can move between road, building, and utility projects), so utilization rates can't be improved through diversification.