cable logging

[cascadia]

i am just moving into cable logging in the NW. average yard dist about 1200ft. 1/2 feller bunchier, 1/2 hand felled. usually decent deflection and decking. mix of uphill and downhill. should i go with swing yarder and grapple or tower and carriage? any advice on specific equipment?

 

[RPM]

1200' (350m) is getting alittle long for a grapple yarder...you will loose deflection and get slower production. Probably have to rig tail trees for lift out that far with a grapple. Shorter yarding in the 150-200m range is good esp. if you can use mobile back spar. 250m is the longest we lay out for grapple and under ideal deflection. Madill 120 is pretty common here in the Okanagan. Since we are allowed to clear cut in BC go grapple if you can....otherwise Madill 070 mini tower with a carriage if you are going long distance / skyline.

NW BC .... Terrace area? Wood is bigger ...up size to Madill 123 /124 grapple yarder or Madill 172 tower ($$).

Cable logging is expensive ... hope you have lots of good sales lined up.

 

[cascadia]

Skylead

Any opinions on skylead c40 1600 skidder mounted yarder?

 

[coastalfaller]

My two cents, and take it for what it's worth as I'm no logger, just the guy who puts them on the ground for you, and it's certainly not my money! RPM or other guys more knowledgable on that end may have another opinion. The skidder mounted yarders always seemed very limiting. Which is a polite way of saying hokey! If indeed you are going to the Northwest area of the province, you would indeed be better off with either a grapple yarder or a pipe. I know there were a couple pipes in the last auction in PG. If you search Richie Bros online you will be able to see what they went for, I would guess a song!

If you are going to work for a licensee, speak to them first about the yarding distances. They may be open to laying out ground more for a g/y. Again, this is just my two cents, but you would have more options, in terms of areas to work with a g/y. I don't think it would take up one hand to count the number of pipes still working on the coast.

Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[Metals406]

You forgot swinging yarder and carriage. We used an old lattice boom LinkBelt 98 -- rubber tire (self mobilizing was a huge bonus). It'd do just fine out to 1,200.

Find ya a rubber tire or tracked machine and get to logging! Also, mechanical carriages are underrated (compared to motorized).

If you're clearcutting, and the fallers are worth a salt, you can yard out some wood in a hurry.

IMHO, towers are good, but only if your distances are greater. . . They're big, powerful machines, but might be overkill for 400 yards. They also cost more to mobe, and to purchase.

Just do some good research, and you'll do okay.

My 2 shekels.

 

[slowp]

I was impressed with the production of a trailer mounted Koller. The yarder had an extension on the tube. They towed it with a log truck to the site. It had a small, motorized carriage. The crew was two guys. One running the yarder and unhooking logs, and one in the brush, setting chokers. Because there is no cab, the yarder engineer does not have to climb up and down...the yarder controls are run at ground level.

Because there is no cab also means the yarder engineer is exposed to the elements. I've seen tarps rigged up.

I can dig up a picture. Stay tuned.

 

[slowp]

Here's the little Koller.

View attachment 196698

 

[wowzers]

I've heard those Kollers are a wood getting son of a gun.

 

[hammerlogging]

feeding a processor its got to be.

 

[slowp]

feeding a processor its got to be.

Nope. They got an average of a couple loads a day out. Two guys. They owned the processor so had it there and handy. When the logs plugged up the chute, the choker setter came up and ran the processor. The truckdriver ran loader and loaded his truck. Two guys logging plus one guy trucking.

The truck driver also did falling. It was a family operation.

 

[RPM]

The Koller looks like the 070 Madil. There are a couple around for sale in the Okanagan. Expensive to resurrect and limited opportunity to use. Your yarding cost ($/m3) would be very high and limiting….you need production to make money on that machine. The Skylead is hooky like Coastal said and out of business I think. They were set up in Enderby, BC. I saw one working about 15 yrs ago in Vernon doing a select / corridor block for visuals…..haven’t seen one since.
With that yarder, or any for that matter in the absence of a nice road side, you would need a tracked loader as well to land the logs…and a skidder to forward things out of the way. Everything is tree length so skidding to central landing with room to process is desirable. All our wood is bush run to the mills or dump so not a lot of sorting room so landings are a necessity. Our cable contractor also builds all his own yarding trails so unless whoever you are logging for provides all the built trails - you will need equipment to build with as well (D5-D6). Cats make good guyline stumps.

 

[Humptulips]

So I would say no to the grapple as to far out. If average is 1200' what is the max? How big the wood? You mention decking and 1/2 buncher ground so I assume the ground is'nt bad. That makes me think decent landings and not too steep of ground. I'd say what you choose depends on how much down hill ground you have. You do say a mix but what kind of mix. If you have a lot I'd be thinking swing yarder and fly chokers on a mechanical carriage. If not much and you can shot gun the biggest share I'd go with a tower or a mini, kind of depends on what you mean by decking. Really though decking is probably not a good choice unless you have grapples and it sounds far for that. Hard to tell with out a look see.

By the way Kollers aren't much and would be next to worthless downhilling.