pettibone skidders

mad murdock · December 22, 2011, 06:38:38 PM

Sorry to hear about your breakdown. I hope the skidder pans out well for you.

logman81 · December 22, 2011, 09:37:28 PM

Thanks mad murdock I appreciate your sympathy.

Hopefully something can be worked out.

bill m · December 22, 2011, 09:42:42 PM

What brand and size tractor are you using?

UN Hooker · December 22, 2011, 10:49:50 PM

Logman81
Yes, that is the one. Many years ago, I used it to pull my firewood for several years and when it left here it was working real well. I liked running it, it would pull a good hitch!

I know what a Mico brake lock is, I have one on my TF. At one time Mico made calipers for aircraft (they may still ) but these were surplus parts and eventually you could not find seals to repair them. On my TF I used a rotor & caliper from a Chrysler "K" car and that works real good.

The axles on that skidder are Pettibone , the same ones used on some of their wheel loaders.
I hope that deal works out for you.

UN

barbender · December 23, 2011, 12:26:14 AM

Mico has a website, and it looks to me like they are still making these systems. They were never intended to be a parking brake, my machine has a separate parking brake.

barbender · December 23, 2011, 12:35:23 AM

I just looked, their site is www.mico.com. I don't know about parts, but you can buy new ones on there.

logman81 · December 23, 2011, 07:38:45 AM

Thanks guys for all the info. Bill m the tractor is a dong feng made in china. :D It is the 354 model 38hp With loader it's a good machine as long as you don't push it to hard. UN Hooker can you tell me more about the machine? From what I know is it has a good running 4 53, Standard trans and has decent 23's instead of the usual 18.4's. If I go fourth with it I plan on giving it a good sand blasting and a new paint jobs and fixing anything that need fixing so It will be nice and reliable. It will be mostly used for doing selective wood lot thining's and firewood harvesting and some saw logs from time to time and house lots. I will try and take some pics of it.

jocco · December 23, 2011, 09:42:28 AM

Logman going by what unhooker said if the axles are same as the wheel loader they should be plentiful and are the michigan/clark type. (they have 3 "frost plugs") in them over the pins. There may have been different sizes or weight ratings but they were rugged never see to many broke.

logman81 · December 23, 2011, 07:36:20 PM

Well guys I went and looked at the skidder, Not to bad from what I could tell couldn't test drive it because the rad isn't in it yet. It has a gearmatic 19 winch that looks dry with a good main line and slides. It's got 23.1 tires some weather checking but still have some tread left and they hold air. Standard fuller transmission, no major leaks. All the sheet metal is their and in good shape. It does have Pettibone axles and all seals are dry on them as well. One thing I thought was neat was that it had an adjustable arch. Looks like a heavy machine a lot of iron built into it not to many re welds I think I only found two. Needs a paint job but as far as I can tell the mechanic's are good.

jocco · December 24, 2011, 08:53:18 AM

Logman: i have some sources for parts for these (you can get some stuff right from bone itself) let me know if you need help or sources. Just so that you know a gearmatic if in use every day is a good winch if it has sat for years well in can be worse than all my ex wives

What model or size was the machine.

logman81 · December 24, 2011, 07:07:03 PM

Thanks jocco for the help. The machine hasn't sat for to long it has been pretty well cared for. I does have some strange short pieces of plumbing pipe coming out of the right side of the winch looking at the back of the machine not sure what that's all about. I'm still not sure what model it is but it is bigger than the 501. I think it did have the ID plate still on it by the seat I will look when I go back to test drive it and let you know.

jocco · December 24, 2011, 07:59:48 PM

The strange plumbing in the center cover is the line to the clutch cylinder. On top of the casting is the brake line cylinder. Read some posts on here on gearmatic 9 and 19 winches and mine and ed k on how to fix the leaking gland seal. 501 was a good machine also. Just so you know if set up right those 19 119 will pull very good.

jocco · December 24, 2011, 08:04:34 PM

Also strongly recommend you pressure was all the belly pans and eng compartments due to fire hazzard. If it has not been done in the last 20 years. That adjustable arch was common on many machines as well as tire size options.

logman81 · December 24, 2011, 09:11:15 PM

I agree, actually I plan to power wash the entire machine including the belly pans, then sand blast it and give it a new paint job including the engine. I found out that dupli-color makes high temp paint that is the right color "Alpine green." I like the fact that it has the wider rubber makes it more stable and less prone to making ruts in soft ground. The place where it is at has already power washed it pretty good and they are going through it and making sure everything works as it should they won't let it leave until every thing has been gone over and working. ;D

jocco · December 25, 2011, 09:40:33 AM

Sounds good logman on them ensuring its working condition. In the right areas a skidder can bring 10-20 grand puzzles me to see them in other areas for south of $6 same machine. Another fire point is top of manifold on the detroit, debries used to set in there. Nothing wrong with the wide tires, skidders were speced out like a truck one in the south was configured different than one in maine etc. Also to test that winch (there should be an aluminum hande/cylinder in the cab). Hook up to some thing very solid and see if it slips with brake on. Do the same on cluth (under heavy load) also watch out for the cable starting to wind in itself. Why i say this all the bands bearing seals could be $1500 to fix The clutch side has a bunch of cams to adjust it. happy holidays

Ironwood · December 25, 2011, 12:11:14 PM

If ANY of you guys want parts, I have a friend cleaning up an old sawmill and I could likely get any parts, axles, winch (see pics, parts only no bands), rims etc. There is also a front steer Pettibone "forklift" machine on site, I did not get a picture of it. It would be a full day to go get the torches and my 550 crane truck up to the site and burn the stuff off, so whle I could get the parts you'de need to pay my time fuel etc,... and give the FF there %age. There are also Detroits in each machine, of unknown running condition. I dont lik to see stuff like this scrapped, but it is too far to drive without someone wanting them (3 hour each way). I know sometimes the Pettibone axles are hard to come by, I had an other guy loooking for a Pettibone axle for a crane, cant seem to find his # now. Tires are so shot, you cant even read the tire size, they also had skidder chains from the Pettibone, might be able to get those.

Let me know ASAP, the scrap dumpster is VERY near the machines and they are moving fast to clear the land. I have no idea what model or make the inverted frame was, looks like a "divorced" transfer set up if that helps.

UPDATE: my buddy says they are not his,....yet. If they lay there for a while he takes ownership. If you are still interested I can get contact info on the guy who technically owns them currently and he can piece them out, you would just need to compensate Jeff for the FF connection
Ironwood

logman81 · December 26, 2011, 07:54:05 AM

jocco what I meant about the strange piping was some what I think to be 1/14 schedule pipe that nothing is hooked to coming out of the outside of the winch on the top of the winch and the side clutch cover I have not seen this before and seems odd. This is one of those skidders that is selling for south 10 grand and should be a fairly equal trade. Hope you all had a good Christmas. ;D

jocco · December 26, 2011, 08:14:47 AM

Don't know unless i see a picture maybe a guard for hyd hoses, wireing. Have seen auxilary hyd on a skidder to run whatever on a wood yard.

logman81 · December 26, 2011, 05:02:58 PM

okay I'll try to figure out how to put some pics up of the machine.

logman81 · December 28, 2011, 09:18:04 PM

Tried to post pics of the winch and machine but it won't let put them on my gallery oh well. I should be finalizing the trade by the end of the week.

jocco · December 29, 2011, 12:56:31 PM

Can't help on pictures.

logman81 · December 31, 2011, 04:54:29 PM

No problem jocco I was just trying to put a picture up to show you the winch with all the strange sticking out of it. The trade has be delay a little do to a magnetic switch going bad on the chipper couldn't happened at a worst time. >:(

logman81 · December 31, 2011, 04:55:51 PM

I've also been told that the engine is new but can't verify it till the test drive.

jocco · December 31, 2011, 06:33:13 PM

The detroit 3 and 4 53 are good engines and parts or spares are available they are a pain to work on if you are not a detroit man. What did they do with this skidder since it is at mill? How much logging is in rohde island?

logman81 · January 01, 2012, 06:30:27 AM

I'm lucky enough to know several diesel mechanics that are familiar with the detriots. From what I have be told by the previous owner is that it was used to skid firewood for a few years. The mill bought a package deal a timberjack 460 and this one. They didn't need this one so they decided to fix the things wrong with it and sell it. I plan on using it to clear house lots and and selective firewood harvesting for the most part and all so doing some sub-contract work for my friend. Their is actually quit a bit of logging going on in such a small state it's a heavily forested state. A lot of nice white pine and red and white oak.