Metsä forest logo
/ Wood trade and forest services / Request an offer on wood trade / Different felling methods for different needs / Wood harvesting

Progress of wood harvesting

In most wood sales, the buyer is responsible for harvesting. As part of the wood trade agreement, the parties agree the date by which the buyer must harvest the trees from the forest. At Metsä Group, harvesting and wood transport are handled by our skilled contractors.

Harvesting is carried out within the period agreed in the wood trade agreement. When exactly felling begins depends on the harvesting conditions, resources, wood reserves and wood use at our mills.

When felling is about to begin, the forest owner is notified by text message and a push notification in Metsäverkko. The progress of the work can also be viewed in the Metsäverkko service in the Monitoring of Logging Sites section (only in Finnish).

Over 95 per cent of the wood we purchase is felled using a harvester. Harvesting and transport are handled by Metsä Group’s skilled contractors. We oversee the quality of harvesting through self-monitoring carried out by machine operators and our forest specialists and through official inspections carried out in collaboration with the Finnish Forest Centre. We regularly collect feedback on the results of harvesting from forest owners.

Biodiversity is taken into account during harvesting

  • We take nature sites into account in our felling operations

    We take nature sites into account in our felling operations

  • We carry out harvesting in accordance with the principles of regenerative forestry

    We carry out harvesting in accordance with the principles of regenerative forestry

Request an offer

Submit a request for an offer for wood sales to our forest specialist. They can help you with all questions related to wood trade. Start by selecting the municipality where your forest is located from the list. You can also request an offer in the Metsäverkko service. This service is only available in Finland.

Subject of the offer request
I wish to be contacted


Metsä Group respects your privacy and processes personal data according to the applicable data protection legislation. We use the personal data you provide to contact you, and to maintain our business relationship and cooperation. If you are a customer or member of Metsäliitto Cooperative, your contact information will be updated based on the information you provide. Further information is available in Metsä Forest’s privacy statement.

* The fields marked with an asterisk are mandatory.

Näin puunkorjuu etenee

  1. 1

    The harvester operator plans the progress of work in the forest, and the location of the tracks used by the harvester and forwarder.

    The operator takes into account the terrain, land carrying capacity, weather conditions and any other special features of the felling site.

  2. 2

    The harvester operator fells the trees, lops the branches, and cuts the trunks into saw logs and pulpwood.

    They also grade them in the forest next to the track, where the forwarder operator picks them up and carries them to the side of the forest road. The harvester operator places some of the tops and branches over the tracks. This protects the terrain and tree roots from damage caused by the machine.

    If the forest owner or Metsä Group’s forest specialist has not indicated the location of retention trees, the harvester operator decides which trees to leave as retention trees.

    A harvester cutting a pine trunk.
  3. 3

    The forwarder operator collects the trees and transports them to the forest road.

    The forwarder operator sorts different grades of wood into different piles along the roadside to ensure the logging truck driver can easily load the right items.

    Roadside storage must not be located near an electric power line, and the loading of trees in general must be safe for the driver and other road users.

    A forwarder transporting trees from the thinning site.
  4. 4

    The trees are picked up and transported to the mills by timber lorry.

    Wood from a single felling site is typically transported to many different mills: softwood pulp goes to a different mill than hardwood pulp, and pine logs to a different mill than spruce logs.

    If the site produces veneer logs, they are transported to yet another mill for upgrading. The logging residue used for renewable energy production – branches and tops, that is – are taken to the energy plant. This ensures that we use every part of the tree efficiently, and that nothing goes to waste.

    A timber lorry loading logs on a forest road.
  5. +

    The forest owner is welcome to follow the harvesting, but the safety guidelines must be followed.

    Please remember that the safety distance to a harvester at work is 90 metres.

    Instructions for a safe visit can be found here.

    A forest specialist and forest owner walking around the felling site.