i must be some kind of p---sy, but i would never run a tractor in the winter without a cab, drive ten miles down a frozen road in january then get back to me, 8 years with tractor in the bush never scratched a window(knock on wood), that kioti is the perfect tractor i've never heard anything bad about them, what model # is it, 50-60 hp?
tractor vs skidder
- Thread starter Barnie
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Barnie
ArboristSite Operative
its a dk65 65 horse power I believe and it comes with new set of agricultural tires that are not pictured and it also has air. does your tractor have skid plates on its underside, what about hydraulic hoses do you ever break any by getting them hooked on branchs or whatever.
mimilkman1
ArboristSite Guru
Iwould put the agricultural tires on it before doing much in the woods with it. The woods I cut in can get pretty mucky and those turf tires would "load up" with snow or mud pretty quickly. I have traveled in the woods quite a bit with a International utility tractor that is pretty short to the ground and have never had a problem with hitting the oil pan. As far as the hydraulic hoses go, if they did stick out a little you could use zip ties and draw them in closer to the frame if need be. I would worry about valve stems more than skid plates, I haven't had a problem personally, but the loggers that we had in last year had the valve stems covered with a piece of 1 inch pipe welded to the rim and a cap over the end. A cheap preventive measure to have, tires can be expensive to fix esp if you have chloride in them. Not to mention the down time involved in fixing it if you have a good day to cut.
Kyle
no skid plates, i try to stay on the trail, funny you mention hoses, this spring i picked up a maple top 20' long and it swung around and caught the loader hoses, jammed in tight against the front wheel, had a heck of a time freeing it, no damage luckily
hickslawns
ArboristSite Member
I too have a Kioti 3054 and while I haven't had it long it has impressed me. I thought it might be under powered but so far so good. For logging it might be small, but for my personal firewood I should think it would not be a problem. Definately goes places my Bobcat will not due to half the weight. That Kioti DK65 would be a monster.
Unless Yoy Are In Production, Get The Tractor!!
Barnie
ArboristSite Operative
unsure of trans type, why is there one better than the other??
Barnie
ArboristSite Operative
What type of winch would anybody recommend for logging with a tractor, the only one I ever seen was a Farmi.
Barnie
ArboristSite Operative
I'm not producing any wood yet but very soon I marked out my lot last week for the town surveyor to do his job. I like the tractor to I'm going to ask if the price includes delivery , its about 2.5 hrs from where I'm at.
mysawmyrules
ArboristSite Operative
The nice thing about an 100 hp +/- ag tractor is that you can always find skidder tires and chains if it does get a little rough going. We have a 9030 Ford / New Holland and the older 276 Versatile that have skidder tires and chains for both and with no fenders on them they will go anywhere. Have seen them done up with duels all the way around as well. And that size of tractor can still be hauled on a smaller truck and trailer combo.
Jon W
Jon W
Barnie
ArboristSite Operative
If I can only find one that size for the budget I have, something about 65hp to 100hp would be nice for sure.
have you looked at the "farm tractor in the woodlot" thread in chainsaw, some great pictures
Zodiac45
Paleostoveologist & Sawwhisperer
+1 an excellent thread that covers this very subject complete with loads of pix. Use the search function and check it out.
For a firewood bizz I would defo go for the tractor. It's way more versatile and can work in much tighter conditions than a skidder. You don't harvest huge logs for firewood either so a tractor just makes more sense.
It's all operator preference. Both are good transmissions but some find the manual shuttle shift to be an annoyance. The HST is supposed to be faster when shifting from forward to reverse so it would make loader work easier. I have the shuttle shift manual and once you get used to it you can run almost as fast as the hydro trans.
A. Stanton
Addicted to ArboristSite
I decided on the tractor in my situation.
Barnie
ArboristSite Operative
Awesome thread for sure, lots of info.
