pro and con's fixed head compared to dangle head.

[turkytrk]

I'm looking at both were in steep country in southern Colorado and mostly pine and fir.

[Firewoodjoe]

I've never ran either. We slash. But all of guys around here do and they say the dangle head will cut circles around the fixed heads. Especially in the pine. I just know there big money to cut one stick at a time:/

[SliverPicker]

If you have any blowdown that you want to pick up the dangler is the way to go.

[BargeMonkey]

 What are you planning on using for a carrier ? Process on the stump or on the landing ? Ive got a barsaw with lateral tilt on my Timbco, holding out for a Rolly2, and I have no complaints. I dont believe you can rest much weight on the dangle head with the carrier, I use my head all the time for turning, I maybe wrong but on the super steep ground its handy.

[tj240]

my old employer has a 445 timbco with a 20 inch quadco 360 rotation my friend that runs it does blow down like mad. even does small building lots. wood put where he wants it. dangle head tree fall in a direction you want. fixed head tree goes where you want when you want unless it got to be double or triple cut

[deastman]

I went with a fixed head so I could use it as a feller-buncher also if I wanted too, and I like having more control of the tree with the fixed head. And like Bargemonkey pointed out you can put the head down and lift the carrier up to help in turning and getting around in rough terrain. I've never run a dangle head but from what I've seen they are faster than a fixed head.

[snowstorm]

if you need to use the crane on a tracked machine to help it get around and want a dangle head they use a heal.

[barbender]

I've never ran a fixed head, and I've only worked around 1 crew that had one. They later went to a dangle and were much happier with it. They cut mostly aspen, with balsam and maple in the mix. It depends on what you're cutting, I think. Hardwood thins in steep terrain are perhaps better suited to a fixed head, but if you are cutting  softwood, forget it- a dangle head will run away from a fixed. I don't think folks realize how much control a skilled operator has with a dangle head, either. You can lift and turn a tree right off the stump to change the direction of the fall. We thin hardwood all the time, operators don't look forward to it since it is much harder on the machine than aspen and softwood. But it is certainly doable.

[turkytrk]

Thanks you guy's I went and looked at a timberjack with a log max dangle head but I still have more research to do.

[1270d]

Which model TJ?  Which logmax?

[turkytrk]

 97 Timber Jack 2618 log max 700 and log max 400 computer