logging with dozer?

[troy31]

Do any of u all log with small dozers with winches? I mean like 440jd 350jd.. 310 case .I know u won't drag a ton but on a small scale logging are they any good? I have some small jobs to do on the side lIke 100 trees..not enough for a big ctee bUT great for me..plus some of my own farm..and I thought idea would be a small track loader with winch.. I picked up a Lil Allis h3 with loader and winch cheap cheap and thought it be perfect, but haven't used it yet..figure drag logs..cut up then load with same machine onto my single bunk log truck.. anyone else do this or done it befor..

[longtime lurker]

Dont worry about little dozers... they'll drag a lot of log, and drag it out of places a skidder wouldnt ever get to. What they cant do is drag anything fast.

Personally I'd put an arch behind any small dozer: Takes a lot of wear off the finals and walking gear if they are dragging the load rather then both lifting and dragging the load. Increases the load size you can manage too. Aint that hard to build one suitable for that kind of pressure (none of the arches ive seen that are available now off the shelf will handle what that dozer can drag)

[coxy]

iv done a lot of skidding with a 350jd they are slow and the rocks will rip a dozer apart fast if your not careful as far as a arch goes I don't recommend one it puts a lot of strain on the rear sprockets,track pins and bushings  and final drives  trust me been there done that  :D :D

[troy31]

Thanks for the info..I'm not looking to drag anything fast at all and it got to be better then a tractor with no winch, thing that worried me about a tractor is the tires..and they don't go the best in the woods..I think I'll like the Lil dozer. I had my hart set on a 450 track loader with winch but there not in my budget.  Gotta start small and work my way up  thanks for the info guys

[Gearbox]

You will like that H3 . Only drawback is the dry reverser need adjustment more often .

[troy31]

Hay gearbox. Have u had a h3?  I could sure use some books or manuals on it and the winch...also need a few pices

[Gearbox]

No books just ran then and overhauled one . Its been a few years they were new then and my kids were baby's .

[longtime lurker]

iv done a lot of skidding with a 350jd they are slow and the rocks will rip a dozer apart fast if your not careful as far as a arch goes I don't recommend one it puts a lot of strain on the rear sprockets,track pins and bushings  and final drives  trust me been there done that  :D :D

Everything wears finals and the walking gear...its a dozer thing isnt it??? Put on wider tracks/longer track frames/ hang an implement off the back/ do drawbar work and we all say " increases the wear on the finals and track gear" :D :D

Used to be a lot of dozer and arch skidding around here in the rainforest logging days. Need dozers to push the tracks in because of the thickness and size of the vegetation, plus steep hills and well... just big logs. 5's and 6's mostly, at least a 7 and better an 8 for the track building part on the first cut. But I did a lot of logging with a little D31e-18 Komatsu coming along behind them decades later where all I had to do was clean up the existing track network. It was too small though... I got rid of her after it took me 4 days to shift a log a mile playing with multiple blocks ( 3 singles and a double) and about a mile of cable. Nice log - still made money - but it wasnt worth more because it took me longer. A 6 would have had it out of there in half a day with but one block on the line.



 

Thats an arch suit D7 class dozer... it dont look big in the picture but thats where worn out skidder tyres go to die.

[loggah]

Back in the 60's pulled a lot of wood out with a 310 case, worked good in snow where you werent running over rocks. They are slow,one big pine at a time,but they had good ground clearance,and they always  had power to both tracks which helped.

[Caseybow123]

We used to do a lot of skidding tree length with D-2 and D-4 caterpillars. They work very well providing there is not a lot of snow. We never used the winch or had an arch.  Just hook up with chokers, but make sure you pull on the tree top and not the butt of the tree.

[lynde37avery]

I have a jd 450c. works great for logging. steep terrain it is nice.  it's not fast. it's a clunky ride. but the road building part of it is wonderful.

[Riwaka]

The advantage of the dozer (over ag converted wheel tractors) is the weight and low centre of gravity.
What conditions are you intending to work in e.g steep, wet terrain, with mostly uphill drags etc?
What is the likely weight of the trees to be pulled by you? 5000 lbs per stem etc? (assuming in forest delimbing, prior to removal to landing/ skid)
There are ways of making ag tractors more suitable to working in the woods - forestry tires, valve stem protectors, tire chains, cab protection, lexan etc windows, radiator, fuel tank guarding, front blade etc. You can still use the tractor for field work with the pto shaft etc.

http://www.nokianheavytyres.com/tyres/forestry-tyres/

https://youtu.be/fIpJhFK7JI8  (Tractor and winch in woods, you might pick up some tips on general log winching techniques for small trees)

[chevytaHOE5674]

Is it a "later" model H3 that is based off a D15 allis tractor? Fwd/Rev shuttle on the left hand side, two clutch sticks and two brake pedals? If so I used to have one. Be careful with it as most crawler parts are obsolete and can be tough to find. Undercarriage and track parts are also getting scarce.

Also the fwd/rev shuttle is an oil bath clutch.