Best older skidder for steep mtn logging

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That's why your a logger. Quit being a pantywaist. Don't try and skid the whole woods at once and don't run the ole girl like your in a race. That's why you have a cable machine not a grapple. Cable skidders are the machine for the steep. You can't skid on the steep like you can the flat ground. Don't be greedy take what you can get and come back and get another trip. At the end of the day you'll likely be further ahead and have less **** to fix.

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Its not like I can cut my logs in half to make them light enough to skid... I only get 1-2 logs on average... and the mills don't like anything under 30' here.

Besides read the post, and a few of my others, its ****ing steep here, Most times I barely have enough flat ground to make a landing for 1 or 2 loads at a time. So its not a matter of slowing down, cause a rarely get over half throttle or out of 2nd gear for pulling logs, its a matter of not rolling the best piece of equipment I have and not being able to stand it back up again, not to mention that whole dying, alone, without cell service in the middle of nowhere thing...

This ain't the ****ing ozarks or the blue hills, this timber is big, the slopes are steep and the ground is unstable, facts of live in the PNW.
 
Ok update I traded for the
Timberjack 240d
Got a question any of running your tires loaded ?
Thought about loading back tires but can t decide
 
Have calcium on all 4 tires on the 648D I run. The other skidder, a 648D-III doesn't. I don't really notice a difference. Both run the wide tires though.
Does your skidder have tire chains? That is a huge help for traction and helps to keep the tires lasting longer... at ~$3k each for tires a set of chains is pretty cheap.
 
chucker said:
! on steep ground the bottom line will say tracked skidder/dozer will be your best bet right out of the cage!!!! slower with a sure footing, and no roll like the tired/rubber wheeled skidders to worry about! sliding down hill sideways with a load on the back pulled in tight an slipping into a stump/rock can and will take out a bead seat! !!"OH ****"!!, YOU WONT LIKE!!..............
Click to expand...

Reminds me of a story about a cat skinner who thought it would be a good idea to drop down over a big buckskin on a downhill grade. The story teller who was catching a ride decided to watch. He kept all his fingers and his scalp. Soon as the cat nosed over and gave the turn a tug, the logs took off, mashing up the cage. The guy lost some fingers and apparently a chunk of his scalp. Duane, the story teller said had he rode, he probably would have been killed.
 
sammy riddle said:
Ok update I traded for the
Timberjack 240d
Got a question any of running your tires loaded ?
Thought about loading back tires but can t decide
Click to expand...


The back half of those short TJs need the most help. Trying to back up to some wood and the ass end just slides to & fro whilst the front tires are pushing dead ahead. Just don't fill them all the way up.
 
Ferguson system said:
One word: Forwarder!
Click to expand...

You'll still need a winch. A forwarder does well with shovels in moderate ground. Dozer for steeps. With the shovel you can hook up a saw buck & just drag it around to good locations for brief landings. But you still have to get them to a road

An outfit in NC that i cut for just got logger of the year there presented by Columbia. They have 2 cats 2 shovels, a 6 wheeled JD fowarder, (nice machine) and the sawbuck. I cut some steep ground by Robinsville NC and they did well with their arrangement. Aside from a patch where I sidehilled a bunch of good tall poplar, cutting 2 33s befor the first knot. Saved out every inch. Had i "walked em down the mtn", with the rocks there, there would have been some power bucking going on & i havent figured out how to get them to pop in 16' incriments yet lol. Anyways, laying them out nice, leaving some high stumps to keep things safe. Well as talented as some folks are. Old habits die hard and in Appalachia, they throw them down the hill With 2 roads cross the hill in my f&b and more than enough cable to be able to pull diagonal on down hill pulls. They manages to almost knock the winch off their 650 jd with a 33 that flumed right into it. Could have easily been prebented by walking the cat 10' foward. So i cut a real nice big oak straight down like they wanted, topped out right @ a road cross hill. whacked it in two, (dont like bucking a tree poised on rocks and pointed down the hill) and proced to watch them ***** foot the two logs down to the road. The first run slid down to them & kept on going, trying to take the cat with it. Had i side hilled that tree they could have hooked to it & had it in a road with bumpers with a 15 foot pull, no headache, less time spent.
Oh well nice folks, just stuck in their ways.
 
sammy riddle said:
Ok update I traded for the
Timberjack 240d
Got a question any of running your tires loaded ?
Thought about loading back tires but can t decide
Click to expand...
Calcium is nice ( or beet juice now) and it really helps with both traction and stability, but you have to consider how you plan on moving the machine, cause it does add a great deal of weight. If you're using low boys, or class A trucks no big deal, but if like me its under 26k then you need to consider total vehicle weight, i.e. truck, trailer, and machine...

The other thing to consider is who's going to change the tires when they go flat? No calcium is doable by yerself, Calcium... also doable but only if you're half Sasquatch, or half brown bear... and even then it sucks... a lot...
 
northmanlogging said:
Also if you do end up getting a Deere, they are known for being tippy on steep ground, and wear a hard hat when driving, one wrong bump and you can and will knock yerself out on the cage
Click to expand...

This made me laugh because it reminded me of this older gentlemen we had skidding for us in a TJ240. He decided to show us how it was done and played hog hauling pine up a very steep hill. He got all cock eyed with his machine and hooked a stump, I was certain that I'd be picking up bits.

Anyway he settled down on his tires (Thank God) and when we rushed over to check on him he was sitting there dizzy as all hell with a good shiner and both dentures sitting on dash of skidder. :laughing:

So don't forget to consider how well your teeth fit in the machine too!:p
 
sammy riddle said:
looking at
franklin 170
timberjack 240
both manual transamission
some people say frankilin gearin don't work as good steep mtns
not sure couples guys round here say 2nd to slow 3rd to fast to pull good what your guys experience
both mid 70'S year models
looking for some input thks in advance
Click to expand...

Define steep.
Steep to somebody out east, is flat out here.
What length is the "steep"? Is it a short pitch? Or is it a half mile of cow face down to a road? What are the forest practice rules in your area? What kind of damage to the soils is allowable? What do you want it to look like afterwards?

In my book, there's more to it than how steep of ground can my skidder go on.
 
slowp said:
Define steep.
Steep to somebody out east, is flat out here.
What length is the "steep"? Is it a short pitch? Or is it a half mile of cow face down to a road? What are the forest practice rules in your area? What kind of damage to the soils is allowable? What do you want it to look like afterwards?

In my book, there's more to it than how steep of ground can my skidder go on.
Click to expand...
cow face steep but usually no more than half mile ,
generally try to build roads around side of hills to pick-up logs the ups and downs are always steep and real steep
traded for the timber jack 240d haven't got to go pick it up yet
still undecided on loading tires
also looking into chains
 
northmanlogging said:
been running mostly bald tires for over two years now... had to get a used one earlier this year cause I can't ever seem to afford shiny new tires.
Click to expand...
guess anybody could put some of that tire shine stuff on them make em look purdy probably get even less traction then oh well ,, work harder every year ,make less every year, the American way I guess
 
northmanlogging said:
Fresh wax and armor all the tires, Railroad days are Sat. here in lovely Granite Falls...

Wait **** that, I put a fresh coat of paint on when I bought her, its still mostly in the right places... I got trees to kill.
Click to expand...
I may have a set of 2 sitting up your alley

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