John Deere 340D Forwarder

[Horselog]

Does anyone have any experience or thoughts on a John Deere 340D forwarder?  I have an old C5D Treefarmer and am looking to upgrade and found several 340D's for sale. I have a dealer very close so parts shouldn't be a problem. I am just wondering about John Deere vs Franklin vs Tree Farmer. I've also looked at several timber jacks. Any thoughts about usability or experiences would be appreciated.

[BargeMonkey]

 Ive noticed a few more around for sale. The D series skidders where good, i have the 340D books if you needed information. Minimum i would run is 23.1 tires, my jack 230 longbunk still seems tippy with 23.1's, 18.4's forget it when unloading.

[Horselog]

What engine did they have?

[Maine logger88]

The skidders had a non turbo 4-276 I don't know if the forwarders had a turbo or not. The 4-276/4045 is one of the best engines for small to medium sized equipment IMHO!

[BargeMonkey]

 Im not 100% sure but they where all converted skidders, ive seen a bunch of them out in the lake states for sale. It will have a 6F 3R manual trans. I dont know about some of the loader parts, i would call around before i buy. We dont run our forwarder alot, but if we did my jack would go down the road. Stopping and spinning the seat around would drive me nuts all day. I would find a 230A or 610, the Serco 4000 loader is good but the later ones had the european style extend a boom loaders, evern with 17ft of reach its still a pain.