Cut-to-length logging

Cut-to-length logging (CTL) is a mechanized harvesting system in which trees are delimbed and cut to length directly at the stump.^[1] CTL is typically a two-man, two-machine operation with a harvester felling, delimbing, and bucking trees and a forwarder transporting the logs from the felling to a landing area close to a road accessible by trucks.^[2][3]

CTL is the primary logging method in European countries,^[4] while full-tree logging and the even older technique of tree-length logging are more popular in North America and less developed countries, where tree sizes can exceed the capacity of the harvester's felling head, i.e., tree stems with a butt diameter of over 90 centimeters.^{[citation needed]} CTL lends itself to timber harvesting in plantation forestry where stems are often harvested before they reach large dimensions.^[4]