Can't believe the prices people are asking for used skidders

[longtime lurker]

Hey this is all good info, seems their is some good points to consider when buying a small used cable skidder.

Half the problem is that those old small skidders were pretty much built to last forever: the market demand for new machines is low because people like me just keep rebuilding what they have until frame wear becomes an issue. We had one that hit that point a few years back and I actually priced a new 548 at that time... That being the right size for what we do... Then found another Clark 666 with a good frame and literally took the driveline out of our machine and put it in the "new" one. I like Clark - the "keel" frames are a hell of a lot stronger then most anything else.

I have never been a fan of the real little machines like a 664 or 440 Deere... Always seemed too small once a hitch was on them to me, and that next size bigger can do a hell of a lot more work. The footprint isn't much bigger really, a 548/666 class machine in the hands of a careful operator is lower impact then a baby machine in the hands of a driver - people forget that they're only a few inches wider but the length is the same once a logs on the back and it's the hitch you're towing that damages the stand, not the machine itself. That's another reason the little machines went out of production I suspect.

Don't be afraid of freight it cost me 15000 about five years back to shift a D5G from Savannah Ga to Brisbane Australia... Sometimes it's cheaper to freight in the right machine then buy just down the road, and as with anything it's the price of the total package landed in your yard ready to go to work that matters, not just the initial price you pay for the machine.

I'd be surprised if Deere dropped the 540 class - I'd suspect it would be the 640 size that's endangered as its too big to be "small" so makes a mess in a selective cut, but not big enough to  be "big".

[Dave Shepard]

I was told this summer that the 540/548 class was history.

[longtime lurker]

If Deere kill the 540/548 class off that will open a hole for someone else I guess. There's plenty of good small machines still being built: just not in North America. I'm from Oztraya... So pretty much all equipment is imported here anyway.  Given a blank cheque I'd take a Welte 130 over a  Deere 548 any day - double drum winch, swing grapple and a clam bunk all in a 548 class package makes for a lot of versatility and productivity on a smaller machine.
A Welte 110 is pretty much the new equivalent of a 440, but updated to today's standards.
And Google iwafuji for a micro skidder... Japan has a huge low impact forestry industry with specialized equipment manufacturers for skidders and yarders that will fit where a horse would feel crowded.

My point is that if the North American manufacturers don't build it - someone else already is and has been for years. It's fine to say "buy American" or Canadian, or whatever country you come from. But that also means they have to build it there for you to buy it. And it's no excuse for the manufacturers failing to innovate - the reality is that those guys will cease production because of lack of sales because no-one in Europe buys a Deere because it can't compete with what's available locally. Not that the Deere is a bad machine, but in reality it's the same machine they were building in 1990 with an engine upgrade and a laptop installed under the hood. How can it compare at the same price point with this.
http://www.welte.de/English/serien_w130.html


A mate of mine not long ago bought a new Cat 140 grader... Fresh from the factory in China!!!

[Firewoodjoe]

Our rep said awhile ago there gone. Can't get the new emissions engine under the hood. And when was the last time a one or two man hand crew bought a new 540. You can't cut grade with a chainsaw and make a $3,000 payment. And the 648s won't go due to the torque converter trans. You have to go to a 848 to get it because the 748s are only direct drive. And there's alot of guys around here that won't even have a direct drive on the job. I don't blame them.

[Woodhauler]

540 A on maine c/l. its in vermont guy only wants 20500$$$   He may  ;Dbe on crack!!

[coxy]

540 A on maine c/l. its in vermont guy only wants 20500$$$   He may  ;Dbe on crack!!

like my dad use to say     there is a butt for every seat  :D :D :D

[ehp]

so with that being said I guess the good smaller machines will just keep going up in price

[Firewoodjoe]

And until they make it law that all (even old equipment and trucks) have to meet emissions then it won't just be small but older in general go up in price. Some of that new stuff is a real pain. Trucks even cost down time just letting it run its clean burn bull!

[lopet]

I can see that coming on trucks if you run one commercially but not on off road equipment. Think about all the mining and farming industry, they could all pack up and go home.  I am more thinking they slap another tax on the diesel fuel when you're polluting more than one with the new engines.

[longtime lurker]

I tend to avoid electronic control anything - mostly because I don't know and have no wish to learn how to fix it.

Having said that though I know the secret with the newer equipment is to put enough hours on it every year that the fuel saving - which can be considerable when you compare something like our 4v53 detroits with a tierIII common rail engine -equals or exceeds the higher cost of maintenance. With a truck or a dozer  I can see how to do that, but I cannot for the life of me see how to put that many hours a year on a skidder in a selective cut operation like ours unless we shifted from harvesting for our own mill to harvesting on a contract basis. And I don't know that I want to go there - I see the opportunity around here now to do that but I'd really rather run a sawmill then a chainsaw.

[logman81]

Well said, seems a lot of the older small skidders are climbing in price making very hard for the part time little guy to afford one.

[Kodiakmac]

I can see that coming on trucks if you run one commercially but not on off road equipment. Think about all the mining and farming industry, they could all pack up and go home.  I am more thinking they slap another tax on the diesel fuel when you're polluting more than one with the new engines.

Heh.  Coming soon to a (broke) province near you.   ;)   Along with a carbon tax.

[timberlinetree]

A little of track but I heard that in California you have to buy dirty air permit for older chippers @ $600 a year and can only do that for 5 yrs.

[Firewoodjoe]

That doesn't surprise me. I've been there a few times. Searched the motor home for bugs and had to throw out our food before we crossed the state line. Semis can only smoke for like 3 seconds! A friend of mine use to over the road truck and he always chose others loads before cal. just cause it's a pain.