franklin 130 specs

[mesupra]

Anyone have a spec sheet on a late 70s franklin 130 skidder. I would like to know the weight and anything else you guys might know.

 

[treeslayer2003]

i had a 132xl once. i would estimate the weight at around 7-8 tons. 3-53, manual trans and transfer case that love to jump out of gear. really strong gear drive winch. mine had 18.4x26 rubber, get stuck in a heart beat.

 

[mesupra]

Would you not recommend a 130 with the same size tires? The pics look good guy says it's in nice shape and needs no work. Good tires bit no chains for 8500$

 

[bitzer]

Yer guna want chains.

 

[mesupra]

I know I'll need at least fronts which adds another $1000

 

[treeslayer2003]

personally i wouldn't buy any brand gear banger.......but thats just me. plenty of guys love them. its a simple machine, components are close to truck parts.
on the tires, it didn't work well here, but i am 50' above sea level. if your terrain is more hilly rocky, it will be fine.

 

[northmanlogging]

Mostly bald 18.4x26's on my deere, thats 12k never been completely stuck. Been in some really sketchy holes, and hills, only needed the winch once, but that cause I was stupid and tried to climb a wet clay hill with a slight slope towards a cliff...

 

[mesupra]

As far as the transmission goes in just looking for something to relieve my tractor of woods work nothing for production cutting. The tires are pretty nice maybe 40-50%. What do you think about a decent 130 for around $8000. I would like to get into a simple older machine that I won't loose a great deal of money on if I decide to sell it in 2-4 years

 

[northmanlogging]

I've heard good things about the Franklins, not many of em around here, look the motor, trans, and axles over real good, and check for any cracks in the frame work, cracks can be welded, but wonky drive trains can be a head ache and expensive to fix.

8k isn't a bad price. I'd still try to haggle a bit though.

 

[mesupra]

I'm really tempted but after transport and one set of chains I would be 9500 deep and that's getting close to a magic number of 10 Grand which seems that there are dozens of machines at that price

 

[treeslayer2003]

i would say if the tires are wore down good, 5 would be fair if it runs good. they are pretty old now and not popular with bigger outfits. really good tires.........6-7

 

[mesupra]

I'm thinking 7 would be fair if it's as good as he says but even then I'm $7750 into it just to get it home and another $500-$1000 for a set of chains. Pushing nearly $9000 makes it not such a great deal

 

[northmanlogging]

chains are nice I hear... but you may not need them? depends on what kind of ground you'll be on, if you've been using a tractor, you'll probably be ok without chains.

$775 to move it seems really high to me? unless your moving it a considerable distance.

 

[bitzer]

Chains are the cats ass no matter what ground yer on. They make all the difference to me. I keep em on all year. 600 bucks put used chains on all tires. They had 1" lugs left. Bear paws. Got them from an equipment dealer. They help stomp the brush anyway. Before I got em I thought who needs em. I needed them after an ice storm and I couldn't crawl up to the landing. I wish I had em sooner. Franklins are solid machines and easy to work on.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I never understood NOT running chains. Especially with the cost of tires vs chains and the much better traction. Not to mention chains will add years to the tire life.

I dunno about L48 prices, but up here 4 tires for the 648 I run (they are 31s I believe) is about $14,000. A set of chains about 3000.

 

[mesupra]

I need atleast 1 set of chains maybe all 4. A good portion of the land is a large bog. To cross. It's the main reason for moving up from my tractor to a skidder. New chains are 1300 a set here used can be had for around 500 a set. As far as transportation it's a 7.5-8 hour round trip without loading a unloading.

 

[bitzer]

I guess you have to figure out how long its going to take to make your money back. Good luck with the bog. Narrow tires don't float well.

 

[mesupra]

They are the 18.4x26 I'm thinking it might be a ok combo for that size machine

 

[northmanlogging]

...they don't float, do a pretty good job of sinking though.

If you can try to brush in a set trail, that way your driving on the sticks and tops rather then churning up and making more mud

 

[mesupra]

Yea two winters ago I built a brush road from maple tops. I was able to get pretty far out into the bog with my kubota without issue. I also have a couple skidder bridges to cross the stream. Do you think a 130 is less than 14000 lbs I got a friend with a 1 ton and trailer that is comfortable hauling up to 14k