Timberjack 560 / 660 yes or no?

[Polish Hammer]

I need a larger grapple skidder I have the 450B which is working hard to keep up where I'm cutting. There is a cat 545 on site and it moves wood when it isn't broke down.  seems every week it goes down for a couple days and it is putting more strain on my 450 to keep the wood moving. My question is are the newer Timberjacks 2001 reliable machines ? this machine I'm looking at has the cummins 8.3 which i like as is a great engine and easy to work on. Any one run a 560 or 660 ? pros and cons ?

[thompsontimber]

We purchased a 2002 848G JD new, which was basically just a painted TJ 660.  Awesome machine, have ran it along side a 545 Cat and it runs "smaller" than the 545, which is a good thing. I actually preferred the 535 Cat to the 545.  It operates more nimbly, doesn't get bogged down as badly due to weight, etc., yet will pull just as big a drag of wood.  With our 848, for the most part, if you can hook to it, its coming with you. Of course ours has the 6081 JD engine as opposed to the Cummins.  We tried out a TJ 660 with the Cummins, late 90s model prior and almost bought it.  For whatever reason, the TJ was a bit slower on the ground than the 848.  The JD is pretty quick, though not as fast as our direct drive JDs.  It is a steady puller, not much tire spin, and not bad on fuel either.  Always loved the machine.  Unfortunately, we have had some tranny issues with it though.  Its in need of a transmission now in fact, as well as 10K+ in 35.5 tires on the front.  With 8500+ hrs on it though it is tight as a brand new one.  My opinion is that you will not be disappointed with a TJ660 and it won't be quite as painful to work on as the 545 Cat. 

[Polish Hammer]

a guy was telling me they had problems with the output shafts on the trans breaking when the machine was fully articulated, the ended up welding on additional 2 inch stopper plates so it couldnt turn so sharp. the guy also said they were good machines and that was all he could say for issues.

[tj240]

the  848 is a jd , the 2001 tj is a jd just painted green any tj after 2000 is a jd. prentice bought the tj patent so, prentice is a tj ,jd is a jd. back to the point, a pre 2000 660 is an oversized 460 which is smaller with a little smaller motor, that will pull just as much and is easier in the woods and on fuel. basically the only difference is the size of the grapple and frame. good luck

[thompsontimber]

Yes, the 848 is a JD and JD had the rights and patents to the TJ post 2000, but the original 848G is a TJ with a  JD engine.  They weren't making the 848 prior to acquiring the TJ line.  It was/is the last gen TJ660.  Ran them both extensively, and identical machines for all practical purposes excepting the power plant. As for pulling just as much wood with a smaller skidder, I guess that depends on how much wood you intend to pull.  As for our experience, we replaced 2 skidders (a 548 and 648) with the 848, able to pull as much wood with the one skidder and saved significantly on fuel.   

[thompsontimber]

As for your original question Polish, whether its labeled a TJ or a JD, my personal opinion would be "yes" to serious consideration for the skidder, but reiterate my word of caution concerning the transmission.  Not sure if our tranny experiences have been a fluke or not.  Buried the machine in a swamp in 2006 and managed to ruin the transmission in the process...transmission done by JD at a whopping price...machine caught fire in 09, mainly electrical issues with no major mechanical problems from the fire, but transmission problems arose again a short time after being put back in service.  Haven't been running the machine much in the past couple of years, but about to go back into transmission and put it back in the woods. 

[so il logger]

What transmission does it have?

[Polish Hammer]

http://www.forestryvideos.net/videos/timberjack-the-top-of-the-line-560-660-skidders/?size=high
all the info in the link.

[lumberjack48]

Who was ever driving the skidder when it got stuck, kept going back and forth until the trany over heated. Power shift is the only way to go, but you have to have a guy who knows how to run it. From what i seen they want to run in to high a gear, lugging the motor thinking there saving fuel. When running a power shift with a big load, you don't shift until the motor is running free or at peak rpm. Then when you shift and the motor don't go to peak rpm, you have to down shift, and you never let up on the throttle when shifting. Basically the only thing that will ruin a power shift is pulling in to high a gear casing the trany to over heat, unless its just plain wore out.
When i had the S8 IH, Funk power shift, my father or my brother couldn't run it. They just couldn't get it, they wanted to idle around. They wanted to drive it the same way they ran the Tree farmer stick shift. Unless you were like the wife, she ran the S8 or the TF it was pedal to the medal. When going to get a drag or coming out with a drag the Detroit was screaming both ways.
There were only five people i'd let run the S8, my two boys, the wife, my trucker, or me, i always had the shut off pulled.
Will anyway, about 9 out of 10 power shift failure is caused by the operator. Sorry for getting off track.

[Maine logger88]

I have never had that problem of wanting to lug a motor when I run my skidders there on the governer most of the time 8)