Thot some of you guys might like this one
Thot some of you guys might like this one
I use a Navigator 6500 for moving logs to the log deck/cutting bench, and to unload and stage pallets from the Posch PackFix. Also to load pallets on a flatbed for delivery.
The Navigator weighs about 6,300 pounds, and would need a tandem axle flatbed to haul it, which I do not have. Each piece of equipment is a piece of the puzzle. The issue becomes cash flow when selling firewood on a small scale.
The pluses of the piggyback lift is that I have the future option to get a bigger truck for deliveries. A huge plus is the height and visibility of the operator. I feel safe getting in a log pile seven or eight feet high where as I would not in a skid steer. When pulling out of a pile, logs sometimes skid crooked and endwise toward the machine/operator. Backing out slow pretty much avoids this, but not always. Another plus over a tractor is the turning radius and maneuverability with much heavier loads. Visibility moving pallets 5' high keeps me from wanting a skid steer. Even backing seems of questionable visibility for unloading at customers.
There is a huge down side to a piggyback as well. It is a lifting machine, and not suited for much else. The fork carriage cylinders that extend the forks into a pallet are long, with a rod diameter of an inch or inch and a quarter. You can not push with the forks, as often customers who bring a dump trailer would like, as in loading a pallet and pushing it forward with a second pallet from the rear. I've never tried, and don't plan to. If I can take part of the load off by lifting with the fork tips and then sliding, that works for a single pallet, but it is not a skid steer or tractor. The wheel motor hydraulics are also not set up for pushing.
The few times customers have unloaded pallets with their equipment, usually a tractor or tele handler, the pallets get smashed up and 50% return. The return rate is if I do two trips, then I get the first pallets back but seldom the second set. That adds up pretty quickly. Last time I bought pallets it was $800./100 thin cheap pine crap. Bought used hardwood pallets up till then at $4.00 ea. but hard to find 48"x48". That's been my experience with a piggyback and pallets.
Choppy, you need to add a 12 volt hydraulic pump on one of the forklifts and rig up a grapple arm ( like sawyer Robs) on it for loading logs.
View attachment 743398
Thot some of you guys might like this one
Now and then I need to be reminded why you guys farther East use small saws. Choppy showed some logs that look like sticks that we would cull out for latter burning or scrounging. I can see why any one could buzz through smaller logs fast. I was showing some one the largest logs that I would want to cut with my limbing saw in the picture. 14'' to 18'' seem like the perfect size for handling. Thanks
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