Some sawing, logging and skidding pics and videos ......

[DaddyRabbit]

I don't see what you guys are looking at. the only pics I saw were of that awesome looking woman. What saw, trees, skidder ?

 

[Mo. Jim]

pics

Great post and pictures Slamm.I enjoy reading your threads

 

[Metals406]

You'll love them caulks, and wonder why you didn't have them before.

 

[Slamm]

You'll love them caulks, and wonder why you didn't have them before.

Yeah, I have been thinking the same thing. After the first few weeks of my logging career, a timber buyer was watching me cut and run and cut and run and slip and run and so on, and he said I should get caulks, well, I never got around to it. Mostly, because I hate buying shoes/boots without first trying them on, and I don't live anywhere, where I can try them on.

I think these Danners might be lighter duty than something like whites or wesco's, but I'm not really the type of person that likes to wear those big heavy boots, they are cumbersome, and I love these Danner Pronghorns, and when I found the size that fit me at Gander Mountain, I remembered I could get the same boot in a Caulk version. They were $265 at Bailey's, so I think I will like them. I have a bunch of oddball stuff to do this weekend and will likely start cutting Monday, its suppose to rain Saturday, Sunday and Monday and Tuesday, so we'll see.

Here is some stuff we did today:

Fired up the CAT 910 wheel loader and had Sammy road it over to where I had stashed that Franklin Skidder rearend with the little Swing Boom. I wanted to move it to the farm to hopefully started getting it swapped over to the 540B Cable Skidder.

Hooked up to it at first to get it moved into place, but had to re-position the chains:

 

[Slamm]

Here we are waiting for Sammy to come with the loader. Hammer found an old deer leg at the woods, while we were loading the swing boom.

Here is Rachet, he is Hammer's boy. He kept Taylor entertained in the truck, while Sammy and I worked.

Here she showed up.

Later,

Sam

 

[Stihlman441]

Fantastic pics and post as normal thanks.:msp_thumbsup:

 

[lfnh]

Appreciate the photos Sam. Thanks for sharing them.
Looking forward to grafting the Franklin swing onto the the Cat.
Expect that'll be interesting!

 

[Slamm]

Thanks guys,

Hey LFNH, that little Esco Swing Boom is going onto a John Deere 540B (Hopefully, LOL).

Here is yesterday morning. We drove the loader down the road to the farm about 3-4 miles and it had a leak for that top clamp or thumb thing, so Colton and I took it off and replaced it, $54 for the line. It had finally worn through in a spot.

We replaced that line:

I had bent the 2nd to last cross member on the dump trailer, loading my 10,000 skid loader, because I blocked up the rearend of the trailer, so as to not pull the rear of the truck off the ground, well I apparently need to block it up in two places, because the crossmember can't handled the weight of all 10,000lbs on it at once (when the tracks break over, during loading). Well we braced the appropriate areas and pushed it back into place with the much larger wheel loader, fixed it just fine. Now I need to fab some sort of short legs that flop down when needed and fold up when not needed, or just pick my truck off the ground when loading it, LOL, I guess it doesn't really hurt anything.

I think the hunters at the logging site have killed out because I didn't see them there Friday afternoon and yesterday, went over there to buck up the last of the logs that I pulled out and have Colton sort them (Suppose to rain in the evening). Steve came over to help cut up, and while we were bucking up, Colton, was just starting to move the 2nd log, when one of the hydraulic lines for the left track just blew and no power. Not really sure why, it wasn't rubbing on anything. So we finished bucking and will address that fix on Monday. Thats how it goes sometimes, fix one line and another one breaks, LOL. Forgot to get photos of that one.

Was bucking up a worthless Box Elder and found two of these large grubs in it:

The rest of the day is more firewood related, here is that thread:
http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/183829-2.htm

Its raining now, so Monday will be fixing the hydraulic line and dropping trees, until it gets dry enough to skid again.

Later,

Sam

 

[7oaks]

Sam...Your photos and videos make me feel I'm out there with you. Very enjoyable! Keep um coming.

 

[Metals406]

Did you eat them fat grubs? :msp_wink:

 

[little possum]

We gotta get some legs/blocks on our triaxle. Scary feelin when ya go slidin down hill with no control till the tractor or skidsteer breaks over the edge

 

[Junkfxr]

How about some pictures of that black Chebby in the background of the picture of straightening out the rear crossmember on the dump trailer. Looks maybe like a mudder........or a poor boy's skidder?

 

[LynchWood]

Swing grapple on 540 cable skidder.

I cannot stand it any more but I have to ask do you plan own keeping the winch in place as you are installing the swing grapple,I think I have noticed the 518 swing grapple does not have winch but I could be wrong,any way love your photos and I'm always intrested in your family loggin business.Because of your post I want a modded 441 and I have been checking out a 518 grapple skidder on my way home from work.Please keep us posted.Thanks william

 

[Slamm]

Metals406


Did you eat them fat grubs?

No, no grubs were damaged in the making of those photos, but their dwelling was thoroughly ruined, LOL. I did try to see if Rachet would eat one and he declined the offer.

little possum


We gotta get some legs/blocks on our triaxle. Scary feelin when ya go slidin down hill with no control till the tractor or skidsteer breaks over the edge

Yeah, I'm going to look into making some drop down legs/blocks for this trailer, cause you swear the skid steer is going over every time you back it off or load it up.

LynchWood



Swing grapple on 540 cable skidder.
I cannot stand it any more but I have to ask do you plan own keeping the winch in place as you are installing the swing grapple,I think I have noticed the 518 swing grapple does not have winch but I could be wrong,any way love your photos and I'm always intrested in your family loggin business.Because of your post I want a modded 441 and I have been checking out a 518 grapple skidder on my way home from work.Please keep us posted.Thanks william

I'm going to try and keep the winch, because I figure about 5% of the logs that I will deal with are going to need a winch, plus its handy if retrieving a stuck rig or getting out of a "stuck" situation. Plus its just there already. I also want to keep it to where I can still use the Amsteel Rope and not have to use steel cable, cause I hate that stuff.

That said, I have some pretty neat plans to make the swing boom more versatile than it already is, so I'm not sure how much space, I'm going to need. If it has to go, then it will, but I will try to keep it on there. I'm likely going to convert the shaft drive aspect of the winch to a hydro motor, and get rid of that extra drive shaft so I can use it to run an auxilary hydro pump for faster cylinder actuation due to increase volume, as I would like to be able to move 2-3 directions of the swing boom at once instead of one at a time with limited oil flow volume.

Correct the 518 doesn't have a winch.

Are you thinking about getting a 518?
Because if you are there are somethings to think about. First and for most, the full time four wheel drive, it sucks, its horrible. It eats up power and tears up the ground and your trails. As a result of using this skidder with full time four wheel drive, I have learned I will probably never own a machine that has this horrible feature. There isn't logical way to defend it, period. Its a production killer and hard on everything it comes into contact with. I owned a 540A with a full time locked rear differential and I hated it too, at least you could unlock the front diff, but not that back, this ruins turning radius and again is just hard on things needlessly. It also kills your trails and if you are working in compromised conditions, the full time or locked differentials will degrade your trail faster to the point of costing you money. I saw this every day last winter and spring. The open differentialed John Deere's could go over a trail 10 times and it looked the same, the locked differential 518 would go over it and make a turn or two and ruin the trail, or watch it make a turn in a bean field and it just plows up the ground, where as, you can even tell the John Deere even when through the field and turned around.

Second the torque converter transmission. Its reliable and simple to drive, about a perfect solution for employees that don't know how to run a clutch and manual shift tranny, but they suck fuel and require you to floor the pedal instead of using the proper gear.

That said, I can argue just the opposite points for those above two features, for how I use my 518 swing boom, because, I use it as a support skidder and not as the only machine in the operation. I just use my swing boom to gather hitches for the other single action grapple. It just gathers logs to make perfect 2-3 log hitches for the other skidder that is used to shuttle the logs down the main trails to the landing. Again, I don't use the 518 for skidding logs for long distances, as it just destroys trails and uses too much diesel for that job, but its just supreme as a gatherer of logs, in that capacity, I think I would rather have the above two features, the torque converter more than the full time 4x4.

When I finally convert this Cable 540B to the swing boom, its going to get a big inline 6 cylinder engine (John Deere 6414) shoved into it, along with the swing boom with added features for farther reach and/or added capacity. The big inline will provide forward balast that isn't just dead weight, like hanging chunks of iron on the blade or something, that 6414 engine is huge, but should fit with some minor fab work and it bolts up to the tranny already, as its the largest engine in that family line of Dubuque engines.

When I get home, I'm going to work on getting some flotation tires sorted out for these muddy bottoms. One guy we work for says he had these tires on a 540D and it would go where no man could walk, but the machine didn't have the power for the big tires. I think the only weak link in the 540B with that big engine is going to be the rear axle, but it should last a few years and the added production will make up for the loss of an axle/differential every now and then. I have a line on some cheap 648 axles if it comes to that, I'll narrow the rear axle and throw it under the back of the 540B and it won't ever break, LOL.

Later,

Sam

 

[palogger390]

Have you ever considered a forwarder for your operation. I realize they are expensive but if you work steady they pay for them selves in fuel savings alone. Plus you gain alot of rain days. You can do all of your skidding, sorting, and stacking with one machine. With a set of bogie tracks they dang near float.
We had a 1410d deere for a couple of years and it was a great machine. Very productive and efficient. They will go any where a grapple skidder will and come out of places the grapple skidders won't with a hitch. No mess on the landing because all the cut outs were in the woods. And you can lay logs out any where. We sold ours because we were gearing towards whole tree chipping and that never materialized. I regret that decision. Hind sight is 20/20 right?
I'm sure you've considered this. Just thought I'd ask.

Good luck with your swing boom project. And keep those pics coming.

 

[Slamm]

Well, I've been kinda against the forwarders, but would like to discuss and either show my ignorance and learn something or let others know how or why I feel that way about them. It seems every or several of the logging operations around here have tried them and now they no longer have them anymore.

We select cut timber, which typically means one main trail per rough direction. Hard wood or hill timber is typically cut down to 20" DBH and in the bottoms its down to 18" on Softwood. Thats what contracted, but we do cut a pretty good average, its about 330 Board Feet per tree is not uncommon for these jobs. The forwarders that I have seen all seemed rather wide. The skidders I have are either 8-8.5' wide, the flotation tires will add probably 3-4 feet to that, and could only be used on the main trail for (I call it shuttling) logs to the landing. So this is my plan. I pull the logs to the main trail with whatever narrow swing boom machine that the mud and tree population will allow, and then have the "Flotation" skidder shuttle them out to the landing. Its not the gathering of the logs that seems to be the problem with the normal tires its the main trails (for obvious reasons) repeated heavy loads.

Are you thinking we should use the forwarder for the main trail or for all the gathering and shuttling of the logs? I just don't see them "sneaking" around the timber as neatly, as the little 8-8.5' skidders do, but I could be wrong, ......................but I drive right through so many trees that the tires are just about to skim off the bark with the little skidders and I don't see how the bigger 548-648 machines don't just rip everything to heck, and honestly from what I have seen, they do, and their main trails look like landing strips for airplanes.

For this lower quality timber in these bottoms, I have considered and been close to getting a trailer mounted log loader with a slasher saw, as the lower quality timber can be graded from the cab within reason, no so with good grade timber. I was going to take the swing booms and just pile logs up behind the loader's trailer and slash cut them and load them high, it would cut out some human cutting time, but those things are about $15,000+++ and now its big trucks to move the equipment around and what not.

I don't know, every winter I come to this "mudd" wall and ponder solutions and basically its a crap or get off the pot situation with equipment, and I don't want to get bigger or make payments or get more equipment ........ but wait there is another solution, LOL, and that is I just work when weather permits in the bottom ground and log the hill country when it permits, and for about $4,000 I can get a set of 4 flotation tires and get under 5psi, which is pretty good for floating on mud, or so it is with my little MTL20 track loader. If its just too wet, I go hog hunting or vacation or something, so I look forward to rain at times, thats how I make rain fun, LOL.

Anyways, just thinking out loud. Are there some Models of Forwarders that are smaller, if so, how much wood can they move as compared to a 540B grapple or similar model. A few weeks ago I bunched 30+ logs per hour with that 518 Swing Boom. Could have a guy measuring & bucking them up along the trail, easy enough, and then an appropriate sized Forwarder move the cut logs from the trail side to the landing and stack for the log trucks .............. or load the log trucks (correct).

Those are my thoughts on it,

Sam

 

[Slamm]

As this has come up a couple of times............ are the videos of the cutting trees not working? I can see them without any problem, so I assume others can see them too.

Here are some pointless photos.
Pulled the cover off the Killer 660 after some modest noodle cutting, yikes.

This is both sides of the HD2 filter that is/was on it then.

Here is a neat set of Loctite that I got from the machine shop. I like it better than the liquid, as it is "neater". Much less waste.

Red Loctite

Nobody answered what is this hole for, its on the 084 and the 880 clutch covers?

 

[Slamm]

Stihl Forestry Helmet has been tested and approved for comfort and protection by Taylor (4 years old) she wears her's religiously, LOL, she has crashed a few times on her skooter and bike and had it on, we think it worked, LOL.

Lay over in Washington DC.

Over New York City on the way to Boston. Sat next to a physician and scientist lady, we had good discussions to say the least.

Later,

Sam

 

[bitzer]

Sam I can tell you this about forwarders- Its nice to buck in the woods and my firewood sticks equal what I make (dollars) in bf production. My guess is you are still not pulpin? I apologize, I have not kept up with the thread. I don't know what your firewood market is down there, but that is at least half of my income. My rig is 8' wide and all I do is selective cutting as well. Lots of sneakin around stuff. If all I haul is logs on it I can get between 1000-1500bf per turn (obviously dependant on length). My rig is a single bunk.

 

[Slamm]

Sam I can tell you this about forwarders- Its nice to buck in the woods and my firewood sticks equal what I make (dollars) in bf production. My guess is you are still not pulpin? I apologize, I have not kept up with the thread. I don't know what your firewood market is down there, but that is at least half of my income. My rig is 8' wide and all I do is selective cutting as well. Lots of sneakin around stuff. If all I haul is logs on it I can get between 1000-1500bf per turn (obviously dependant on length). My rig is a single bunk.

Sounds pretty good, what model is it? Got and photos?

That board footage per load/bunk/hitch/turn sounds decent since you can still "sneak" around the woods.

What is the horsepower of that machine?

Does it allow for modifications to provide some sort of flotation "stuff" for it?

As to the pulp, no, there isn't any market for it around here, just due mostly to location or distance to the mill from where most of my jobs are, and the price per ton doesn't compare to the price per board foot with the good timber we get to cut on average, and with no headaches. There are two pulp mills within 3 hours drive and talking to the truck drivers sounds like one of those logger reality shows, when it comes to the mill being open or close and the epic saga's that, that produces. Its just a headache, I've never had to deal with and I won't make anymore money if I do deal with it.

Firewood, don't know, I know I don't know anyone around here cutting for it and nobody seems to be asking for it, so take that for what its worth.

I'm interested in a mud worthy Forwarder, but it better be cheap, its competition is vacations during raining seasons and/or $4,000 set of flotation tires, LOL.

Sam