International skidders?

[gman98]

Are these machines any good?  I'm starting to see quite a few of these machines popping up for sale locally for pretty cheap.  I'm currently tossing up the idea of buying my first skidder and I was wondering if one of these machines would be reliable for production cutting or a waste of time and money?

Thanks

[jdeere540a]

That's a tough question. What model would make a big difference. Early ih skidded like the s7 probably wouldn't bee a good choice for production they were pretty light built and hard to find parts for. If you find an s8 or s10 from the mid 70s to early 80s when they stoped making them they were good machines especially with an ih diesel and power shift. But I think some parts can be hard to find. How much production makes a difference to I run a 1975 John Deere 540a works very good for me but I have friends that could never survive with it they always tell me I should update but I like where I'm at. I would say if it's an s8 or 10 in nice shape check around for parts availability and if all looks good go for it.

[coxy]

jmop but run run run and don't look back  :D

[BurkettvilleBob]

Gman, did you buy that S8 in Westfield? I was just up in Island Falls and would have gone to look at it, but was headed home when I saw it. Sure looked a lot cleaner than the other 5k dollar skidders I've seen on Craigslist.

[gman98]

Gman, did you buy that S8 in Westfield? I was just up in Island Falls and would have gone to look at it, but was headed home when I saw it. Sure looked a lot cleaner than the other 5k dollar skidders I've seen on Craigslist.

Unfortuanately not.  I was in the process of getting a few things straightened out first then l planned to call in it and try to go look at it.  I just now noticed that the post has been deleted.  Shoulda jumped on it sooner I guess!

[BurkettvilleBob]

There are a bunch of decent looking machines on CL right now, but that one sure was cheap. I suppose most times you get what you pay for. There was a FF member named BHC from Wyotopitloc that had an S8, I wondered if that one was his.

[loggerman1959]

I have a 1978  S8A IH skidder and I love it . Its been a very reliable machine for me . Not the most powerful machine on the market , but as a small operator it does the job just fine. Parts are out there but you may have to look around a bit . I guess transmission parts are tricky to find , but I haven't had to cross that creek yet .....