So if you were to be a skidder... which one would you be?
opcorn:
I would be any of the the Cat 530 or 540 series Skidders...
Cable or grapple?
ary
had to remember the original question to answer this post..
started out on a mountain logger H back in 73. you could here the screamin jimmy from about 2 miles away.
got on a timberjack 404 in 74 then on to a Franklin grapple skidder swinging and cold decking from small tower sides that didnt warrant a shovel.
them grapples would leave a good kink in your neck from driving backwards half the time. ( narrow roads, no turnaround).
The big treat was when getting to run the BIGGIE franklins. about a 40 ton rig with a swinging grapple that you could load a hiway truck with if you wanted to.
next job was the mountainlogger ML 200 grapple and cable skidder. V6 detroit and 4 sp allison. woo hoo. that was fun.
spent time on the JD 440's and also the Garrett 15..
both lightweight and agile but the garrett was by far my favorite..
I refer to the garrett as, "THE ANT" because it felt like it was able to pull more than twice its own weight and would traverse almost any terrain.
I remember crawling over rotten logs 3 or 4 foot high and wondering why I didnt get high centered.
so,, I would be the garrett tree farmer. model 10 or 15.
1960 garrett tree farmer