Hank Thomas of H.E. Thomas Logging and Landclearing sits in his feller buncher as he waits for the tree cutting machine to warm up in freezing weather on Wednesday, January 12, 2022 on a plot of land where he and son, Nick are clearing a swath of land 1,500 feet by 250 feet in Northfield. A feller buncher is a type of harvester used in logging, a motorized vehicle with a saw attachment that can rapidly gather and cut a tree before felling it. Thomas is a fourth generation logger.
Hank Thomas of H.E. Thomas Logging and Landclearing sits in his feller buncher as he waits for the tree cutting machine to warm up in freezing weather on Wednesday, January 12, 2022 on a plot of land where he and son, Nick are clearing a swath of land 1,500 feet by 250 feet in Northfield. A feller buncher is a type of harvester used in logging, a motorized vehicle with a saw attachment that can rapidly gather and cut a tree before felling it. Thomas is a fourth generation logger. Credit: GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

The temperature was in the single digits as Hank Thomas and his son, Nick, deliberately walked around the piles of felled logs and branches to warm up the logging equipment. Hank climbed into the log cutter with the funny name — a Feller Buncher — as Nick warmed up the skidder. Once the engines warmed, the pair from H.E. Thomas Logging and Landclearing headed to the partially cleared piece of land that one day will be a golf driving range to fell more trees last week. The fourth and fifth-generation loggers can do more with a feller buncher and skidder than a group of loggers could do just a generation ago. The feller buncher can grab the trunk of a tree, cut it with a 20-inch blade and carry it to a skidder, where it can be piled up and eventually cut with a giant band saw.