which skidder to keep ?

[pdxh20]

Just bought two old skidders very reasonably, got 'em home safely and now I'm trying to decide which one to keep.

#1 is a pretty clean International S-8 with a 3-53 Detroit and Gearmatic 19 18.4 x 26 (15%) rubber. Water-in-oil from unsecured intake over 2yrs in WA, haven't begun checking but assuming needs rebuild but might get lucky. Last piece of the rear driveline was disconnected & missing, previous owner "used it like that". Solid heavy duty machine and potentially useful for my son and I on various properties for small job thinning, clearing and blowdown work, not production.

#2 is a mid '60s Mountain Logger. Same 3-53, Gearmatic 19, same rubber in same condition. Winch currently inoperative due to broken off hydraulic hose to top of winch at fitting, open in WA for 2 years...he said it "worked fine" before that. Runs, steers & drives. Bad leak at one or both steering cylinders (both different, not sure yet which one is original). Front blade trunnions and steel farm grade home-brew but looks like it's worked OK for years. Possible wheel seal leak on one or more axles. Rusty, funky machine but compact and potentially useful for my son and I on various properties for small job thinning, clearing and blowdown work, not production.

Bonus was finding three more tires (2 are 20% and 1 15%) and a seized but complete 3-53 identical to the one in the Mountain Logger for an additional $500 I pulled the starter off of to get the ML running.

One machine will be a part-time project in my well equipped but just big enough shop and the other will get parted out or sold whole. I have the skills and tools to get it done, while learning a few things...my first post here, I'm hoping to hear from anyone with direct experience with either of these machines to help make a choice. Thanks !

[barbender]

Sounds like a couple nice projects!

[Riwaka]

Impossible to say without a close examination of both. Probably the International. Tipping some fresh oil in the top of the engine and wd40 on the valve stems can be all that is necessary to get the engine to go after a diesel system clean out.

[pdxh20]

Thanks. I'm leaning that way too. Dropped the 100LB guard plate under the engine to gain access to the engine oil pan drain to find a guaranteed mess when the recessed plug is removed from the elbow in a position that no bucket can get under it...I always end up making it easy with a ball valve and a nipple and cap so a hose can be rigged for the next oil change. I'll have to rig some kind of plastic deflector to aim the flow for this one.

The bigger question is the status of the rear end. I plan to jack it up and spin the wheels just for a first listen and look at the input flange. We dragged it out of the field with a big wrecker to lift/drag the front end when it wouldn't roll because the front driveline was still attached and the rears rolled fine. I removed that to get it to roll on & off the trailer. I think it's got Rockwell axles and diff's and will check the parts book and operators manual I scored on ebay to see what I might be into there. Musta' been a reason someone dropped that rear driveline and tossed/lost it.

[bushmechanic]

 It may have been that it lost a u-joint and they removed the driveshaft and just never got around to fixing it! That old S8 should be a good machine, can't say much on the Mountain logger. Have fun!

[coxy]

sell both and buy a tj cat or jd they are easer to get parts for    jmop

[pdxh20]

Just finished draining the pan on the S-8 (5 gal water+oil, not mixed), pulling the injectors and blower but the 3-53 is still stuck. Dumped PB Blaster down the bores and letting it sit for a while before trying to break it free again. If I drop the hydraulic cooler and pan and pull the head I can do an in-frame rebuild pretty economically. I'll check that rear diff and axle next but it looks pretty straight forward to remove or fix if necessary. I think the S-8's the keeper. Paid $2K delivered for it so it should turn out OK.

Got into the Mountain Logger and I'm going to sell it as-is running but in need of a winch clean-up and some leaks fixed (looks like a steering cylinder mostly) or part it out. Let me know if anyone needs anything off it. Pix and details in the classified section soon.

[Puffergas]

Fix the Binder up and convert the ML into a forwarder. 😉

[pdxh20]

Yee-Haw, PB Blaster to the rescue ! 3 hours of sitting, pulled the fan off the front end for better access and put my 5' (no kidding) Stillson wrench on it and it broke free right away. Rolled it back and forth and hooked up a battery and she rolls over nicely. Now to rebuild the blower (one broken lobe but I have a complete spare engine), change the filters, trade in the injectors for rebuilts, reassemble the injector control tube, time the valves & injectors, put some oil in it and see how she sounds...Then some driveline work and I should have a pretty beefy addition to the fleet. Pix soon.

I put the Mountain Logger on Craigslist in OR & WA for $4,900 if anyone's interested.