Forestry in British Columbia pushes excavators and forestry equipment to their limits. Uneven terrain, steep grades, and remote timber blocks require machines that can climb, clear, and survive where standard excavators cannot.
When a machine was needed for steep-slope work, slash management, and silviculture restoration, the Cat 330 Next Gen was selected as the platform. From there, Waycon Manufacturing was tasked with engineering the conversion.
This project involved rethinking what a Cat 330 excavator could do as a custom forestry machine, then designing a build capable of working where others stop.
Forestry-Ready Protection and Attachments
This build was equipped with a range of forestry-specific protection and attachment upgrades designed to support durability, safety, and performance in demanding operating conditions.
Key features include:
- Forestry Cab for enhanced operator protection
- Tool Box Guard to shield external storage from impact and debris
- 3/8″ x 9″ Catwalks for secure access and footing
- 3/8″ Belly Pans to protect critical components from slash and ground hazards
- Side Guarding for added machine protection in tight forestry environments
- Boom Cylinder Guard to reduce exposure to damage during heavy clearing work
- Heavy-Duty Quick Change for efficient attachment swaps
- Progressive Link Thumb, professionally installed, to improve control and handling of logs, brush, and debris
Together, these upgrades prepare the machine for forestry work where protection, reliability, and material-handling capability are critical.
Waycon’s Fabrication: Custom Cab, Bucket, and Progressive Thumb
With the undercarriage in place, Waycon handled the operational systems. We engineered a custom forestry cab, designed for field visibility and operator protection, and fabricated a Cat 330 bucket and progressive thumb system optimized for slash handling.
Custom Cab Features
- Reinforced guarding designed for forestry impact and debris
- Forestry-grade glass and structural reinforcement
- Custom louvers added to improve visibility at critical angles
- Additional lighting for early-morning or low-light timber work
- Emergency escape hatches
- Catwalks and an additional step to support safe entry and servicing
- Cab tilt maintains a level workspace even when the undercarriage is angled up to 45 degrees
The result is a forestry excavator conversion that is comfortable to operate, field-safe, and built for long working hours on steep ground.
Cat 330 Bucket and Progressive Thumb
Waycon fabricated a heavy-duty bucket and thumb built for forestry material handling, stumping, and grubbing work.
Bucket and Thumb Design
- Wear-liner package for longer service life
- Progressive thumb maintains full articulation through the bucket’s range
- Close-cut precision and extended reach capability
- Ideal for tangled timber, slash piles, and site clearing
Two of the forward teeth feature Canadian flag plates, which serve as a subtle signature of the build. A Canadian forestry excavator, built by Canadian hands, for Canadian terrain.
Operational Use: Slash Management and Silviculture
This machine is currently being used in British Columbia forestry operations, where it plays a key role in silviculture and slash cleanup.
After harvest, the forest floor is covered in branches, brush, and non-merchantable fibre. Known as slash, this material must be removed to prepare the site for replanting. The steep-slope traction of the TK-732 undercarriage, combined with the progressive-thumb Cat
330 bucket setup, makes this machine highly capable for piling and burning.
Burning returns nutrients back into the soil. Once cleared, the block can be planted again and the forest begins its next cycle.
Harvest. Clear. Replant. Regrow.
This custom forestry excavator now supports that cycle on steep British Columbia terrain.
A Custom-Built Forestry Excavator, Made in Canada
This project reflects Waycon’s ability to engineer complete custom forestry machine builds from the ground up. When the industry needs something that does not exist off the shelf, Waycon helps design it, fabricates it, and puts it to work.
Watch the Field Walkthrough and Build Feature
Video by Earthmovers Media
Need a machine built for your environment?
Waycon manufactures custom equipment for forestry, mining, industrial, and extreme operational terrain.
Request a design consultation at https://waycon.net/contact.
