Yanmar TL100VP Forestry

Land clearing is where the Posi-Track undercarriage stops being a preference and becomes the specification, and this is Yanmar's answer at the top of the range. Standing above every other machine the company builds at 4,100 lb rated capacity, it pairs the 103.5 hp 4TNV94FHT with the 41 gpm circuit and 20-inch tracks, and puts the whole thing on the fully suspended ASV torsion-axle undercarriage that drops it to 4.1 psi despite an 11,570 lb operating weight.

The forestry package is the reason to buy it rather than the standard TL100VP, and it is not cosmetic. The cab is a sealed all-weather forestry enclosure with heat and air conditioning; the guarding on the smaller TL80VP Forestry runs to a 3/4-inch polycarbonate door and 1/2-inch polycarbonate side windows, which is the standard this line is built to. A hydraulically driven reversing fan keeps the cooling pack clear of the chaff a mulcher throws, which in practice is what separates a machine that works all afternoon from one that gets stopped every hour. What it costs is weight - 1,225 lb more than the base machine - and flexibility, since there is no open-ROPS version to fall back on. Running costs follow the ASV pattern too: all-rubber tracks that float beautifully on soft ground and dislike rock, with more wheels, bearings and seals underneath than a conventional undercarriage has.

Clearing and mulching on ground soft enough that flotation is the constraint is what justifies it. If clearing is a sideline and the rest of the week is concrete and demolition, a steel-embedded machine with a high-flow circuit is the cheaper tool to keep in tracks. Before signing, pin down three things in writing: that the 41 gpm circuit is on the order and not assumed, the measured bucket pin height Yanmar does not publish, and the undercarriage parts price list - on this design that list is the real cost of ownership.