A TimberJack 530B Knuckleboom loader loading a hungry chipper that is loud as hell.

Timberjack was founded in the 1950s in Woodstock, Ontario by Wesley Maggill and Robert Simons, who designed an articulated all-wheel drive tractor with a winch at the rear. They built a prototype and production started from there. There were links with the King Trailer ind. and Timberland Ellicott Corp. and before Eaton Corporation bought Timberjack and renamed it Forestry Equipment Division. The traditional color of all Timberjack products was reddish orange. In 1992, the color was changed to green with black and yellow trims. John Deere bought the Timberjack and continued the green, black and yellow painting scheme. Timberjack belonged to the Eaton Corporation in the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. In 1984, Timberjack took advantage of Eaton's acquisition to become an independent company.

Timberjack was acquired by FMG (ForestMachineGroup), owned by the Finnish Rauma-Repola. Shortly after moving the double named FMG-Timberjack, Timberjack became the brand of the group in 1993. Other well-known forest machine brands included in FMG-Timberjack are Swedish Kockums, ÖSA and Bruun System and Finnish LOKOMO. In December 2000, John Deere purchased Timberjack from Metso Corporation (formerly Rauma-Repola) for $ 570 million, including the acquisition of a separate company called Waratah, a leading manufacturer of heavy-duty combine heads. [quote required]

As of June 2006, at the forestry fair "Florence Wood", the Timberjack product line was discontinued and its parent company, John Deere, became the single largest forestry equipment brand. Global market share for both cut-to-length and full tree equipment was very strong shortly after acquisition