Giant Cable skidders

loggah · January 17, 2013, 07:35:12 AM

Oldseebee that must have been a great job working in the lab!!! did you get involved in the 675?? there is quite a video on the production of it. Clark never was afraid to use heavy steel in there machines. The 275 B i had was a tough old bird. Don

ClarkF66 · January 17, 2013, 07:36:53 AM

I was buying a large cable skidder in 1992 and was looking at a used Clark 668 at the Clark dealer in Redding, CA. I am from Norway and over here the typical skidder was a John Deere 440 or a Timberjack 225, so I was amazed by the size of the 668.
The dealer told me back in the early 70's they had a Clark 880 in for demonstration. It would pull anything they threw at it so they hooked the wire up to a huge redwood to see what it could do. At first nothing happened, then they floored it and there was a bang! and the winch came off and sat up in the arch by the rollers. The guy was 10 years old back then(family business), but he never forgot that bang!

I ended up getting a Cat 528. Never lost its winch.

oldseabee · January 17, 2013, 07:57:42 AM

Yes it was a great job. Built the 880 in the Forestry lab in St. Thomas Ontario Canada along with the first 667 Grapple skidder and tree harvester, and later transfered to the main lab in Benton Harbor Mi. where I worked on the 675 project, actually did a field assembley of one at Drummond Coal Jasper Alabama, it came in on 9 tractor trailer trucks.

loggah · January 17, 2013, 07:59:02 AM

I would have not forgot it either ,someone must have not had all the mounting bolts in place. I doubt if it could pull a winch off if it was mounted correctly. ;D

loggah · January 17, 2013, 08:05:08 AM

A friend of mine used to work for Ossipee aggregate ,they had a few 475s over there ,they loaded a couple hundred railcars a day for Boston sand and gravel. To get back to the 675's did the first ones have the twin 16v-71's or the twin v-12 cummins?

thecfarm · January 17, 2013, 08:18:20 AM

The only thing I would hate is trying to unhook all that mess. ;D I take it they must of been felling by hand? A grapple would of been much easier if they would of had a havester. But maybe the wood was too big for a machine to cut.

loggah · January 17, 2013, 11:06:29 AM

the sales brochure i have is a 1976 and the cost was $117,000 back then!!!! they were designed to pull really big wood. i believe at the ski area they were putting big chokers around the bundles the smaller skidders were yarding. This was told to me from a person who worked for the Brochu's.

Okrafarmer · January 17, 2013, 01:02:01 PM

Hooking up the smaller skidders' loads wouldn't have been too difficult. The small skidder holds the front of the logs off the ground, and they pass the cable right under the entire twitch, throw it over the top, hook it to itself and cinch it up. I wonder how many 440 or 540 loads the 880 could haul at once?

loggah · January 17, 2013, 01:29:55 PM

Probably half a dozen 440 hitches. 540 a few less.

reride82 · January 17, 2013, 03:40:36 PM

The only time I have ever seen a 16v-71 was in this tractor:

http://www.williamsbigbud.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=68

It was built in my hometown, and its home is about 35 miles from where my mill is. Looks like it is currently on tour in Iowa.

Levi

reride82 · January 17, 2013, 03:44:52 PM

My mistake, it is a 16V92T detroit.

oldseabee · January 17, 2013, 07:29:34 PM

As far as I know we only built the 880 with the Cummins VT 1710 675HP engines, 2 per machine. Some may have been repowered with Detroits or built on special order.

Okrafarmer · January 18, 2013, 12:12:25 AM

I love that old Big Bud, Reride. It's lonely at the top, isn't it? That tractor was one-of-a-kind, even the tires were designed and formed for it alone, iirc.

ClarkF66 · January 18, 2013, 09:16:34 AM

loggah, I am sorry to intrude on your post, but I got my scanner working so I thought I would try it out with an article on the 880.

lumberjack48 · January 18, 2013, 10:37:49 AM

I looked at a skidder that they had been using on the iron mines over by Hibbing, MN. It took me half a day to get clearance to get in to look at it.
It had a blade on each end, winch, arch, 170 hp Cummings. The canopy was about 6' by 6', i could just about stand up, it had controls to go forward or backwards, the seat spun around.
The tires were bad, so i couldn't drive it. When i saw all the hyd hoses and hookups to drive ether direction, this scared me and needing four tires so i didn't buy it.
I don't remember seeing any name on it.

loggah · January 18, 2013, 11:46:26 AM

Lumberjack, That would have been a Wagner,dual controls front and rear.clarkf66 great article ,that outfit had some iron. That is the first actual article i have seen about the 880. and anyone at any time can jump into any of my topics ,were here to visit and learn. ;D Don