Favorite Skidder

[Oldtimer]

Partial to JD and the powershift. But any skidder with a grapple and a winch and brakes would be fine, I am not picky.

 

[lectrocrew]

Ya know i just cant see having one of them around here. Time we get a yard setup and get a road back, we just have the truck drivers pull back in the woods. Sometimes it might be a road miles back along the top of a ridge or just a few hundred yards...

Drag the logs to the landing/yard, cut to length or what ever needs to be done, load them and off they go.

That's how we do it. The dozer stays busy at times and the skidders have to drag trucks around on muddy mornings (like today ), but I would think the fuel cost would be less in the long run as opposed to running/maintaining a fowarder - but I have no experience with fowarders so I'm just guessing?

Also, (other than that on rough terrain skidders can negotiate better than a fowarder), I can't imagine a fowarder keeping up with 3 skidders and 10 trucks, but then we run Macks and some "not so valueable" trucks, not pretty Pete's. I'm thinking the cost of skidders and dragging trucks around in the woods would off-set the cost of operating a fowarder pretty quick (so long as the trucks are woods trucks)?

 

[catbuster]

JimL,
I should have said REAL skidders

Darn. I was going to say a Komatsu D51PX-22

So, since it has to be a skidder,Cat 527,cable. I can do decent dozer work with it too.

 

[PARTSWOODCHUCK]

i have run a 640jd cable quite a bit, guy i work for has 2 of em.
No problems other than tires..


I got a tj 205 i think, cable. Its in the back of the barn in pieces


anyone know where i can get info on the older tj's? Prior to jd buying them.

there is a guy here in vt that knows aboslutely everything there is to know about timberjack. If you ask him a question he will tell you what u need and exactly how to do it, right down to torque specs. He rebiulds detroit motors that last longer than u would believe, and stands behind his work.

 

[wvlogger]

cat 527 grapple but still has a winch

 

[joe wood]

fmc

my FMC 220 will do more on rough ground than any rubber tired skidder can dream of

 

[lectrocrew]

my FMC 220 will do more on rough ground than any rubber tired skidder can dream of

The 220 is awsome but expensive to maintain. Yes it can pull on slopes well without tearing up the ground but I suspect a dual arch Cat 545 wheel skidder with similar power rating (220hp) with an experienced operator, that knows how to use the boom hydraulics to climb, could pull as much wood as the FMC in most "rough ground" situations. JMO

 

[joe wood]

youre living in a fantasy world bring the title and we can have a little contest when youre stuk ill pull my new overratet cat out and sell it to some fool who likes the highest priced parts on the planet . bring the high drive cats too {same story} the fmc is high maintenance but worth it

 

[gwiley]

Skid steer as an Everyman's skidder

While I understand the need for "the real thing", I think there is a place for make shift skidders. For the poor man with only a few thousand to spend on equipment a skid steer makes a great woods machine.

I use a Bobcat 743 as a skidder by attaching 4 binder chains to the top of the bucket and pulling backwards. The chains have binder hooks on both ends and work well enough as chokers (esp. if there is a root ball).

When I am on a cutting site the Bobcat is a versatile role playing machine, not only as a skidder, with the forks it loads 12'-16' logs onto the hauler, switch to stump grubber bucket when I need to push a hazard tree or uproot a tree. Can unstick a stuck hauler truck by pushing or pulling it. Dirt bucket lets me clear the path for the truck as needed.

When the bobcat gets stuck I can usually unstick it without help by just using the loader arms and whatever attachment is on it to crawl out of the muck.

For wet areas the over-the-wheel-tracks let the machine almost float on the ground.