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Lets go shopping...

Started by longtime lurker, May 19, 2018, 09:01:52 PM

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longtime lurker

yeah. I hate this stuff.

So might have a need.. need not want... for another skidder.
And if its a need its going to have to be quick:

H67 Clark. 11k hours indicated, looks a bit rough but described as fair working condition. Price is reasonable (for here) at $60k, Decent enough rubber.

for $75k you  get a 560 Jack, again in fair working order, similar kind of hours indicated... got a pretty good recent service history, engine and pumps not long done... front rubber is pretty ordinary.

or a 525D Cat around the same money ... pushing 20k hours but looks clean and well cared for

or a 525 with genuine 8k hours and really really straight for $90k with new paint and new rubber all around.

All dual arch.

AS a price indicator $425k gets you a 2016 545 D here still under warranty but... too big even if I could afford it



I lean to Clark because they're the devil I know and because I havent been able to beat one to death yet, and I can probably back it up in the event of a failure with one of the 666's for long enough to get her fixed. You can still buy a bit of love for 20 grand, even here.

One of them jobs where if it goes it will go fast... and uptime will be critical for 5 months.

Anyways... there a list of gear there. Some y'all have time on various ones... where do you go looking for trouble/ weak points on the various options.

The quickest way to make a million dollars with a sawmill is to start with two million.

mike_belben

Cant help, but sorry to hear man. 
Praise The Lord

mike_belben

None of you guys have opinions on those machines?
Praise The Lord

celliott

Were the H model Clark's where they started to use some Deere components? 
Chris Elliott

Clark 666C cable skidder
Husqvarna and Jonsered pro saws
265rx clearing saw
Professional maple tubing installer and maple sugaring worker, part time logger

nativewolf

I don't have any input.  I'd suggest  maybe change thread title so people know you want input on what skidder to buy..?  Title is not clear and I skip a lot of threads.
Liking Walnut

bushmechanic

It seems like a crap shoot to me! Clark and Timberjack are no longer in business and Cat is nice but super expensive. What I would be most concerned with is parts availability especially when you are. With those prices I think I will start an export business :D. 

Firewoodjoe

My 2 cents. Well, never ran a clark heard good about the older ones. And never heard good about the cats until the latest models. The early cat 525b were trouble some. Deere is number one around here. Get a torque converter and move wood. Fast, lighter than cat (swamps) and they will run 30,000+ hours. But exapect an engine every 10,000 unless u get an H so far so good on that one. At the end of the day there all used.

Firewoodjoe

Oh those 60 series timberjacks were great. But heard the 560 were to big for there britches. 360 and 660 are around here.

longtime lurker

Quote from: bushmechanic on May 21, 2018, 09:00:33 PM
It seems like a crap shoot to me! Clark and Timberjack are no longer in business and Cat is nice but super expensive. What I would be most concerned with is parts availability especially when you are. With those prices I think I will start an export business :D.
Yeah I tell ya what... theres been about 3 times in the last ten years where had I had the right guy that side I'd have purchased 2nd hand ex either the USA or Canada. And I know about a dozen guys that could say the same.
The issue that puts the brakes on it real quick isnt the freight or logistics or exchange rates (though that latter has taken some of the shine off it over the last two years). The sticking point is getting them through quarantine on this end... they have to be spotlessly clean, preferably freshly painted and all done "right". Otherwise well... customs have been known to not let it off the ship and it has to go back... or more often put it into a yard and make you pull the dammed thing apart and clean it right and the dollars just keep on rolling the whole time for yard space, waste disposal fees, re-inspection fees, freight to the yard, clean the machine that freights it to the yard... on and on and on. All because some guy just lifted the dirt from one part of the machine with a pressure cleaner and blew it to another instead of really washing the thing properly.
Clark's been good to me... I like them, pretty simple and built tough! But here at last Cat is still the way to go for parts backup particularly in the more isolated bits I get around.
The quickest way to make a million dollars with a sawmill is to start with two million.

bushmechanic

Darn it longtime you got me put out of business already, my dad tells me I'd get dirty in a hospital...so the real clean won't work for me :o. I think you answered your own question, Cat it is!

Riwaka

Is that aus cat 535c grapple skidder still available? Didn't appear to have a winch was the downside. Less hours than the Clark. Even adding a winch it would probably come in under half the $ of the 545D


longtime lurker

 yeah the 935 is still for sale:probably a size to big for select cut work here, its open enough but not like a plantation setting. The other thing is the $... up here you get the odd "real" job where you make some $ and move a lot of wood in a short period... but not a lot of long term certainty and I've learnt the hard way to keep my payments at a level I can afford if it's under utilised for a couple years. You never go broke if you take a profit... and i tend to not like buying a machine, ironing out the bugs, then on selling it later. Okay with some equipment, but there tends to be limited demand for forest machines here with the industry generally contracting. As it is most of what i'm looking at is 2000 km south of here... nothing for sale apart from old flogged out junk much closer then that. 
The quickest way to make a million dollars with a sawmill is to start with two million.

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