Not really, in my experience. I think maybe it's a matter of pounds per square inch on the surface. Horses push with the majority of their force with only one leg at a time...all that concentrated on relatively few square inches, relative to the tracks or big tires of a skidder.
Sure, a skidder can chew up the ground, no doubt...but I actually think horses are worse on average, in the same ground conditions.
We should get LJ to run the numbers.
I was talking more about selective logging, Burnham. Around here, skidders tear down anything in their path, either directly, or in the sweep of pulling a tree-length pull. With horses, the logs are usually cut to legth and hitched up one to three at a time and little damage is done to the surrounding timber. Not only that, but i've seen tracts logged by horses that you had to look to see where the horses came through with the skids. You never have to look for where a skidder came through. A horse can skid between trees four feet apart, unlike a skidder.
