Bell Ultra C

[Maine logger88]

I bought one back mid summer and I am looking for a manual for a bell ultra c with a hotsaw. I have a PDF file for one with a dangle head/shear head which has helped with a few things but I'd like to get the correct one for my machine.

[Mountaynman]

Theres a guy down in Mass that advertises in the northern logger that should be able to help u out probably can give you some history on the machine as well if you cant find the number pm me and ill look it up

[nativewolf]

There was a forum member that sold them if you search history.

I have been interested in them too.  I want a small narrow felling machine that is lighter weight then the larger machines we are seeing. 

[Maine logger88]

Thanks guys snowstorms set me the number to the guy in mass I’m gonna call him this week now that Christmas is over!

[AlexHart]

He's fantastic.   Just bailed me out of a quandry over the phone last week.   Tell him I said hello  

[barbender]

I'd love one of the Bell's with a dangle head.

[mike_belben]

Theres one for sale in chattanooga i think for 59k on tracks with a dangle.

[Pclem]

Is there much difference between the bells and morbarks? I looked at a wolverine last summer with a hahn head on it, but it was rough

[Maine logger88]

He's fantastic.   Just bailed me out of a quandry over the phone last week.   Tell him I said hello

Do you have a hotsaw or dangle head? Pclem I’m not sure I looked at a wolverine a couple years ago but I don’t really remember plus I didn’t know what to look for. I have a friend a few towns over that has a couple wolverines but I have never seen them one day I’m gonna go watch him run he’s been using them for 20 years so I bet I could learn some stuff on how to run a 3 wheel hotsaw!

[AlexHart]

Mine is an old one I think from the 80's that Peter got whupped and rehabbed in his shop there in Mass.  After I agreed to buy it from him I spent a few days helping him work on it to try to learn a little about it.   Its a dangle head with a 3/4 pitch chain that has 49 drive links so its the shorter bar.   I think its nominally 33" but "really" about 24 or 25 or something.   

I've taken down a 35ish " hemlock tree with it although I've come to think its real value its real value is cleaning out the smaller stuff and bunching it.  For a small timer like me I think they are freaking fantastic.   Very versatile and cheap to run.   Really deep snow, steep terrain and heavy rock areas can defeat them though..... or if not totally defeat at least reduce its effectiveness heavily.    I also rolled mine over due to a pathetic convergence of bad luck earlier this year and broke my arm.  So even though that actually happened in a flat area and it really wasn't the machines fault I'm a little less ballsy on steep slopes and stuff than I was previously.   

At any rate I'm no expert but I feel like I got a lot for the 30K or so it took to get it all set up.  In the right conditions I'm not sure you could burn 10 gallons of fuel in a day and if you did you'd probably need a skidder and a half if not two cleaning away what you cut down.   And unlike some of these big crazy things whats the worst thing that can happen?   Blow a hose?   Even the main pumps and engine aren't "that" expensive by the standards of the day.   Actually they are cheap by the standards of the day.       

[barbender]

Alex, that's where I always envisioned a Bell having the most value for a small operator- cleaning up the small stuff and junk, a hand faller can put a lot of high grade big timber on the ground, but pulp and crooked junk kills production- not to mention that is the dangerous wood to cut.

[mike_belben]

Yeah, theyre kinda the bobcat of logging.

[AlexHart]

You kind of need to plan ahead a little bit, actually try to get a few farther ones first, half drag 'em and then get the close ones last and I can usually get 7-10 not only together but totally on the ground.    Then ideally I go a little ways away and do the same thing maybe 3 or 4 times and then I back the cable skidder up to each batch, hook 'em up and limb/top whatever I didn't get with the Bell while I'm out of the machine anyway.  Where I've been working lately I find it takes me about a day and a half to skid away a half day of cutting but thats a rather long pull.     

I didn't expect it to work that way when I bought it but it kind of pairs up really nicely with a cable skidder if your by yourself.  Often you can give your batched wood a quick survey and if neccesary throw a few butts up on a stump or rocks or whatever is handy so its easy to hook the chains up later.   

If you have two or more people working together a grapple is way better and the skidder can keep pulling away the stuff the Bell cuts.   The Bell can't do much climbing like a skidder can so you get even 1 cull tree down where you need to drive and you can get yourself screwed up.  If you have a grapple skidder to keep cleaning the stuff out of the way you can really make a mess fast in your landing.   

[Pclem]

What about putting a smaller roller head on one of these? I don't see many at all out there. Maybe you can't put enough wood out to justify the cost of a roller? Alex, do you limb with a chainsaw, in the woods, or on the landing?

[Maine logger88]

Mine being a hotsaw doesn't get as good of fuel economy as your dangle head it uses 3 to 5 gallons an hour. It is impressive how much wood it will lay down in the right situation tho!