Tremzac Oxtrac skidder (formerly Forcat)

[Jasperfield]

Can anyone give a PERSONAL REPORT of the Oxtrac or Forcat skidder beyond what is available on the manufacturer's website? Or how about late 2010 or early 2011 pricing?

[Stephen Alford]

   Hey Jasperfield, I noticed that you have not had a response.  I only worked with a forcat on a couple of occassions which does not make me an expert for sure. I only say that to  enable you to judge my impression of it for what its worth.  The first thing I liked was the ability to put it on a truck or trailer and take it home and put it in the garage, where you could do repairs and minimize the theft issues. Because of its size  repairs by yourself would be a walk in the park. Cheap on fuel for sure.  They are expensive and  the same amount of money would buy some pretty good used gear.  Most land owners here expect the contractor to be paid with wood from the job, "cash not so much", so you need to be able to sell the product you harvest. On most improvement work here with the mills gone firewood is pretty much the only game in town.   Because of production you would need to be working for someone by the hour or contract for the work and not the wood produced.  On most of our Hw sites you need to deal with stumps and a mound and pitt situation.  Seemed to me clearance would be an issue, but the guy running it went between trees , seemed alot of time in trail layout.  Gear here is priced roughly at 1$/hp/hr just as a  rough bearing.  One of the issues here was ; to move wood off island you need volume, and trucks are timid to show unless there is some hp on site to maintain access and provide a push if they get stuck.  Don't know your situation but if i can help sing out. If it works for you fill your boots !  :-)

[Jasperfield]

Thanks Stephen,

I used one of the diesel machines for about two hours last year and went to a Forest
Service demo where they skidded for about four hours. They are way more capable than they look like they'd be. I was quite surprised.

The machines are pretty expensive, and if Trenzac has sold more than a handful this year I don't know about it. I'm really trying to determine final sales prices, and particularly so, now that the product has been in the U.S. market for a while and is still a slow mover.

[Stephen Alford]

  I am afraid I can't help you with the price or present status. You are correct in trying to determine where the parts and service will be a couple of years from now.  The forcat was considered back when the forest sector was heading to the bottom. There were about 21 processors on the island and forestry was about a50/60 million dollar industry. Goverment was in transition from education to regulation. Contractors started to take on water. It was a time before internet and cell phones were not common place so most thought it was rough water and not the perfect storm.  As the forest industry struggled,  alternative logging was considered ie forcats,4 wheelers,horses.farm tractors.  Suffice to say if you call the captain or first mate from the engine room and his answering service is full day after day, he is out on deck putting on his life jacket.    Trials for the forcat were brief and so its hard to give it a fair accessment.  I might add however climbing in and out of it by someone with back issues would be tricky. The soils here here in a state of muck and temperature is freeze/thaw so keeping the tracks clean would be a pain.  good luck

[madmari]

I used a gas forecat 2000 all summer. NOT a skidder. NOT A SKIDDER! It is a good portable winch to pull to a road for a forwarder. The gas model(27 hp) was very under powered. Had a devil of a  time on hills. Very slow and tippy.
The cost is justified by the quality of the build- well built, but very very expensive to fix. We spent alot of time fixing the machine due to the owners lack of maintenance.
  Get a small diesel 4wd tractor and winch. More versatile, easy to maintain and 1/3 the cost. More stable , too.