Founded in 1994, Forest Machine Journal was originally conceived as a publication covering the diverse and increasingly complex array of machinery used in woodland maintenance and timber harvesting – machines such as forwarders, harvesters, timber processors, forestry tractors and trailers, chainsaws, chippers, winches, mobile sawmills, planting equipment, road making equipment etc.

Other subjects of interest include timber haulage, fencing and sawmilling, both mobile and static. The magazine also covers forestry shows, both at home and abroad.

Over the years, in keeping with changes in forestry which have seen a move away from skidding equipment and processors towards ‘purpose built’ machines, the focus has widened as more and more readers diversify into areas such as amenity work or tree surgery. Significant shifts in attitude towards green waste disposal have seen increasing use being made of large chippers and shredders, a change which is also driven by the role of forestry products and residues as a source of fuel for everything from domestic heating to power stations.

The magazine has also matured to the point where it is now widely acknowledged as an authoritative voice on the politics of forestry. Its original readership of contractors and machinery manufacturers is now supplemented by decision-makers in all the various walks of the industry.

The core principle behind the magazine has however not been lost. FJ remains a ‘hands-on’ magazine, and as such is essential reading for the contractor and machinery operator, for the estate worker and for the tree surgeon. These are the people who make machinery buying decisions, and as such they are the principle targets of machinery advertisers.