A new Madill

[StihlKiwi]

The first new Madill 124 produced in 5 years has just gone into service in the North Island. It was manufactured here in NZ under licence.
Its good to see new yarders being built, and apparently the company that built it have plans to redo the 120 and 172 as well

 

[slowp]

Pictures if you can, please.

 

[OlympicYJ]

Pictures pretty please with a cherry on top

 

[StihlKiwi]

Seeing as you asked so nicely I found a video instead

First New Zealand Built Madill 124 in Operation.mov - YouTube

 

[KYLogger]

Awsome! I want one.......(small steps Tom, small steps) LOL
Thanks for posting the video!

Tom

 

[bert0168]

So please explain how a swing yarder works.
How do they get the grapple to different parts of the strip?
I can't figure out how the machine is able to swing and still maintain the main cable on a non mobile anchor point.

 

[StihlKiwi]

So please explain how a swing yarder works.
How do they get the grapple to different parts of the strip?
I can't figure out how the machine is able to swing and still maintain the main cable on a non mobile anchor point.

Swing yarders essentially do the same job as a tower, but can work on smaller landings as they swing and land the stems beside the machine instead of in front of it – this allows them to sit right at the edge of a landing so they can see the setting and steer the grapple. The grapple is like most other carriage systems, it’s pulled out into the setting by a tailrope.
Im not really sure what you mean about maintaining the cable on a non-mobile tailhold while swinging? Most swing yarders use mobile tailholds, like this one is doing, especially when grappling.
Someone else could probably explain this more, my brains not working

 

[slowp]

You can slack off the skyline so the yarder can swing even when tied off to a stump for a tailhold.

Or are you wondering about the guylines?

 

[stikine]

The guylines that anchor the machine pass through a separate gantry tower which allows the yarder to turn on axis, after the running skyline is slacked off.

 

[bert0168]

Swing yarders essentially do the same job as a tower, but can work on smaller landings as they swing and land the stems beside the machine instead of in front of it – this allows them to sit right at the edge of a landing so they can see the setting and steer the grapple. The grapple is like most other carriage systems, it’s pulled out into the setting by a tailrope.
Im not really sure what you mean about maintaining the cable on a non-mobile tailhold while swinging? Most swing yarders use mobile tailholds, like this one is doing, especially when grappling.
Someone else could probably explain this more, my brains not working

You can slack off the skyline so the yarder can swing even when tied off to a stump for a tailhold.

Or are you wondering about the guylines?

Sort of both. I figured it has a stump tailhold or does is it tailed off to another machine on top of the side that can move along to allow the grapple to get to the entire width at the top of the side?

I imagine with a stump tail hold, the grapple looses it's ability to cover from side to side of the lay as it got closer to an immobile tailhold, right?

 

[StihlKiwi]

Sort of both. I figured it has a stump tailhold or does is it tailed off to another machine on top of the side that can move along to allow the grapple to get to the entire width at the top of the side?

I imagine with a stump tail hold, the grapple looses it's ability to cover from side to side of the lay as it got closer to an immobile tailhold, right?

It has a mobile tailhold (the yellow digger in the video). Instead of time-consuming line shifts you just move the tailhold along. The yarder can slew side to side to move the grapple laterally a little bit, but like you said, this lateral movement get smaller the closer the grapple gets to the tailhold

 

[bert0168]

It has a mobile tailhold (the yellow digger in the video). Instead of time-consuming line shifts you just move the tailhold along. The yarder can slew side to side to move the grapple laterally a little bit, but like you said, this lateral movement get smaller the closer the grapple gets to the tailhold

I wasn't sure if that track machine in the beginning was just pulling cable or was part of the setup on top. The video never showed it or at least I missed it.

Now I understand how it works

 

[Humptulips]

Probably ruffle a few feathers with this comment but here it goes.
I really can't understand why anyone would build new grapple yarders. They are obsolete. On a perfect show like the one pictured, road on the back end for the tail machine and a lot of room up front to move around it looks pretty good. Trouble is no one would use one on that show. It would all be shovel logged. Yarders now are only used on steep shows which usually makes it tough to use a tail machine and without one it makes for a lot of narrow roads and a need for a lot of pretty decent tail stumps. I just don't see grapple yarders being used now.
They are being used with a dropline carriage and a crew and they work OK for that but I question the wisdom of building a swing yarder to basically take the place of a small tower. They cost a lot more to manufacture. I would think a small tower like a Madill 171 would be a better fit for the majority of logging shows where a yarder is needed today.
Also I don't agree with the comment that they can get by with a smaller landing. This has not been my experince.
I could be wrong. I am terrifically biased against them as they make a ton more work for the hooktender. Even though I'm worn out and I'll probably never have to deal with one again I hate to think of the extra work they have caused me.

 

[madhatte]

Huh. If it weren't for the silly hats, that could be Kapowsin country.

 

[StihlKiwi]

Probably ruffle a few feathers with this comment but here it goes.
I really can't understand why anyone would build new grapple yarders. They are obsolete. On a perfect show like the one pictured, road on the back end for the tail machine and a lot of room up front to move around it looks pretty good. Trouble is no one would use one on that show. It would all be shovel logged. Yarders now are only used on steep shows which usually makes it tough to use a tail machine and without one it makes for a lot of narrow roads and a need for a lot of pretty decent tail stumps. I just don't see grapple yarders being used now.
They are being used with a dropline carriage and a crew and they work OK for that but I question the wisdom of building a swing yarder to basically take the place of a small tower. They cost a lot more to manufacture. I would think a small tower like a Madill 171 would be a better fit for the majority of logging shows where a yarder is needed today.
Also I don't agree with the comment that they can get by with a smaller landing. This has not been my experince.
I could be wrong. I am terrifically biased against them as they make a ton more work for the hooktender. Even though I'm worn out and I'll probably never have to deal with one again I hate to think of the extra work they have caused me.

Obviously mileage will vary depending on species, terrain, logging practices etc but they work alright over here. Usually if the tailhold machine can't work on the cutover you can get away with pushing one track in along the back of the setting, which is no worse than tracking for a groundbased operation, and thanks to our plantation forestry theres plently of stumps for tailholds if you can't get a machine in.

The yarder in that video will probably spend most of its life in country like that, they can be quite productive. It will definitely be on a smaller landing than a tower would be as its a stems operation, so there is no processing happening on the landing.

 

[StihlKiwi]

Huh. If it weren't for the silly hats, that could be Kapowsin country.

Silly hats is a relative thing :jester: Although I did see a full-brim helmet on the shelf the other day. Maybe they're catching on, Axmen did just start airing here again..

 

[Humptulips]

Obviously mileage will vary depending on species, terrain, logging practices etc but they work alright over here. Usually if the tailhold machine can't work on the cutover you can get away with pushing one track in along the back of the setting, which is no worse than tracking for a groundbased operation, and thanks to our plantation forestry theres plently of stumps for tailholds if you can't get a machine in.

The yarder in that video will probably spend most of its life in country like that, they can be quite productive. It will definitely be on a smaller landing than a tower would be as its a stems operation, so there is no processing happening on the landing.

So why bother to spend the money for a swing yarder if it is all like that. That's all shovel ground. Gonna stand by my statement about landing size.

 

[StihlKiwi]

So why bother to spend the money for a swing yarder if it is all like that. That's all shovel ground. Gonna stand by my statement about landing size.

I watched the video again and the terrain isn't as steep as I thought it was before my coffee this morning, and yea that is more likely shovel or skidder country.

Someone must think its worth spending the money, they're building more of them. And they're not really taking the place of small towers if they're run with a grapple.

 

[slowp]

Maybe they have a federal judge who has ordered them NOT to use any ground based system. That happened here. The hooktender learned to rig intermediate supports.

Judges are lousy at prescribing logging systems.

On the other hand, there are 'ologists and enviros who think that skidder logging is lighter on the land than yarder logging. These are people who are doing actual planning. :bang:

OK, soap box tipped over and removed.

 

[madhatte]

there are 'ologists and enviros who think that skidder logging is lighter on the land than yarder logging.

They're right... so long as they're talking about skidding on south Puget Sound glacial outwash soils made entirely of cobbles the size of golf balls, where it's too flat to get any lift with a yarder, and soil compaction is impossible. 'Course, the only place where logging like that is done is right where I work. Twenty miles in any direction and you're back in hill country where a yarder is the most sensible tool.