_____________________________________________________________________________________________ Barko
Hydraulics
From
‘ stump to mill’
After building a name in forestry, Barko Hydraulics is entering new markets with innovative machinery
Since 1963, Barko Hydraulics( Barko) has been synonymous with rugged, reliable forestry equipment. Now, more than 60 years after developing the industry’ s first hydraulically powered knuckle boom log loader, the company is channeling the same engineering DNA into an entirely new zone – demonstrating that even the most established manufacturers can still find fresh ground to break. Starting as a family-held company,
Barko’ s pioneering breakthrough as the first company to develop the hydraulically powered knuckle boom log loader was achieved in Duluth, Minnesota. What began as a single innovation soon blossomed into a full product line and, as demand grew throughout the 1970s, Barko relocated to a larger manufacturing facility in Superior, Wisconsin.
“ The product line grew organically as we shifted further into the forestry market,” begins Justin Rupar, President of Barko. Backof-cab loaders gave way to merchandising loaders, and through acquisition and product development, the company expanded into harvesters, wheeled feller bunchers, and vegetation management equipment.
A pivotal moment came in 1987, when Barko was acquired by Heico Companies; a diversified Chicago-based industrial holding group.“ That presented us with a fantastic opportunity to grow and expand our reach even more,” Rupar continues – and today, Barko equipment operates in forestry markets around the world, with its core expertise remaining rooted in timber harvesting and processing.“ We take timber from the stump to the mill,” he explains. The current product range includes utility loaders, merchandising loaders, purposebuilt grapples, self-processing harvesters, wheeled feller bunchers, and industrial wheel tractors, the majority of which are fitted with mulching attachments for land clearing and vegetation management around power lines and construction sites.
After building a comprehensive offering over several decades, Barko is certainly not resting on that legacy. The company has
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