Given the proper lead time we can fill your order for a wide variety of products. This includes logs, lumber, framing, exterior decking, beams, and much more.  You can rest assured that any product purchased through us comes from the  most innovative and stringent Green Certification standards in the business.

    Draftwood Green Certified Forest Products have been used in L.E.E.D building projects and can provide extra points through that system for innovative certification methods and locally sourced materials.  Use Draftwood Green Certified Forest Products in your next building project.

    Our Practitioners use ground-breaking and innovative inventory management for our wood products.  Inventory is stored 'on the stump', thereby decreasing storage inputs and allowing your lumber to be as fresh as possible. This method allows the material to actually grow in value while being stored, as opposed to any other method where storage is a cost. 

        Why Draft Animal Power?

     We believe modern horse logging is the ultimate overland extraction technique for a number of reasons. We present some considerations below showing our reasons for using and promoting horse power in the woods. However, this list must be taken with the thoughtful consideration of two things.

First: just because a logger uses horses doesn’t guarantee that they will do a good job. There

Second: the advantages of horses are further amplified when used in conjunction with the proper outlook on forest management. A restorative/sustainable forest management perspective is the specific context where this occurs.

 With that in mind, here are some points to consider:

  The spot compaction of animal feet is far less damaging to the forest soil and tree roots than the continuous tracking of rubber tires or steel tracks. New research suggesting that forest soils are much more important to the vitality of the ecosystem than previously thought puts this issue at the forefront.

  Horses operate on solar fuel in the form of hay and grain. Not only is their 'exhaust' not harmful - it is actually beneficial to the woods. And the ability to source feed locally reduces our dependence on foreign oil, and can keep more of the money produced in the community that it came from.

  Horses are much more maneuverable than most equipment. This, coupled with the fact that horses most often pull timber in log length (as opposed to tree length) allows

 them to avoid damage to the residual tree trunks.  Their narrow footprint only requires
6’ wide trails or 3’ for a single horse.  In contrast, most equipment creates wide roads of 10-12’ or more and usually pulls tree length in the name of production, often rubbing the bark off trees. Horses allow the utmost degree of sensitivity towards the residual trees.  And we believe that the trees we leave behind are more important than what we take. 

  Animal powered techniques are labor intensive and low volume in production.  These are often cited as negative features of our system, but we believe them to be positive. In addition to the fact that requiring more work creates new job opportunities, it also opens up smaller tracts of woodland to be economically and sensitively harvested.  New research shows that 70% of the forested land in Virginia is private property in tracts of 10 acres or less, and that the trend of fragmentation that has been occurring will continue.  Because of our much lower relocation costs and lack of drive to cut all the best trees in order to cover costs, we are positioned to offer owners of small tracts some of the best options available. 

 Horses tend to promote local communities and sustainability. A lot of the money produced when large machinery is used goes to large corporations outside of the local

areas. Horses on the other hand utilize locally grown hay and grain. The neighborhood farrier shows up every two months to reset the shoes on the horses. Veterinarians are employed in the care of the animals. Local harness shops keep busy making sure the horses are properly equipped. More money is kept local, stimulating the economy that is directly involved in the woods where the income is produced.

We do not view horse logging as a nostalgic throwback to the past, although there are certain aspects of what we do that can evoke such emotions. What we do is thoroughly modern. We utilize modern nylon harnesses, vet care, and shoeing techniques. A modern steel mechanical logging arch is used to provide front end suspension of the logs, further minimizing damage to the forest floor, and maximizing the pulling capacity of the horses. And of course, we use chainsaws for felling timber. We simply believe that the utilization of horses is one of the best way to address some of the problems in our forests today.