What’s better than a telescopic boom loader around the mill?

[stonebroke]

Do you use the grapple to sort and move logs or the forks? Sorry for so many questions.

Stonebroke

[Todd]

 

guess we should.  We spent some money we had intended to use to upgrade our Wood-Mizer.  But we were waiting for out old WM to wear out.  It just don't act like it's going to so we thought we'd put that old moldy money to good use.

Stupid dirty old money lying around in our way all the time!! ;D

[farmerdoug]

So what happened to the 'we do not need another piece of iron around here' statement? :D :D :D

Looks great Bibby.  Now who is going to saw while Mary and you are playing er I mean working with the Terexes? 

[Bibbyman]

What's better than telescoping boom loader ?  TWO of em.  Congratulations...I keep looking at them machines and wondering if they wouldn't make a pretty good skidder :-\

Not a good choice.

The 6622 has a better chance because of it's big ag type tires.  But they're about useless on slick, soft or rough ground.  Biggest problem is that there is hardly any movement in the axels.  The front one is fixed and the back one only will flex maybe 3".  You get onto some rough ground and you have a pair of wheels that won't pull.  You set and spin.  Also, they're a lot heavier than they look. They are not ment to pull - mostly lift and move.

[zopi]

Yep Bibster...Wish yah'd a drove the big turkey down here last night...that big pine has kicked my...


Pretty wood though....

I made wifey come out and help me turn it....she is becoming more enthused with the notion of a hyd. mill......wonder why?

[Bibbyman]

So what happened to the 'we do not need another piece of iron around here' statement? :D :D :D

Looks great Bibby.  Now who is going to saw while Mary and you are playing er I mean working with the Terexes? 

I think that statement was in regards to buying some bargain beast that would likely require a lot more fixing than running.  In this case,  we've retired our oldest and least capable  piece of equipment around the mill – the AGCO 4660 – and replaced it with the much more capable and newer piece of equipment. 

We'll still use the AGCO for things more normal to a farm tractor like mowing, bladeing the road, etc. 

[Meadows Miller]

What's better than telescoping boom loader ?  TWO of em.  Congratulations...I keep looking at them machines and wondering if they wouldn't make a pretty good skidder :-\

I fully agree with Bibby's answer on that one  ;) ;D
Pineywoods  You will need somthing with good articulation on the rear axle and good ground clearance ive used a couple of artic loaders out the bush for skidding and loading namley Cat 910 ,Volvo 944 and a Big old 35yo+  Terex just with a couple of short choker chains on the center of the fork frame if skidding tree length logs in thinning or in clearfell id just arrange my falling so that I could just drive up and pickup a good fork full and drive back out. One thing to keep in mind with any machine your going to use on rough or steeper country is it needs to be as low profile andor have a wide foot print as possable and if driving with a full load of logs to keep it as close to the gound as possabile as they can tip over alot eayser than you think esp if your driving around with at fill lift capacity with 20's on at a higher lift hight  ;) ;D
I saw a bloke who had tiped one over when he backed over a high stump once  >:( :( it coulda been alot worse than just having a dented ego tho ;) :D :D ;D

Reguards Chris

[Captain]

Congrats on the new tool Bibbyman, looks like a great score.

Captain

[Cedarman]

Bibbyman, nice loader. 8) 8)  If you're waiting for the WM to wear out and it only has 4000 hours , you will have a long wait.  Ours LT30Super E has over 10,000 and is as good as new and the resaw has oveer 21,000 hours and is running like almost new.(Have to replace a safety switch)

Enjoy the TELEX, I had to build a loading dock so I could reach high enough.

[Bibbyman]

One of the reasons we jumped on the TX6622 was that it appeared to operate pretty much like our TX51-19.  The cab and controls looked to be identical in the pictures.  But when we got a "hands on" look at the machine, we could see that there were a few differences.  They had moved some switches around and a few things worked a little different.  When in Ardmore,  I drove the machine around in the back lot and worked the boom controls, etc.  Then Mary put it to a similar test.

I used the TX6622 a couple of hours yesterday and again today and got a lot more familiar with it.  The inside the cab controls were easily adapted.  But three other things we'll have to get use to. 

One,  the turning radii, while not big, is bigger than the smaller Terex's.  You just can't wheel into as tight a place with one turn like the smaller machine.  The overall width and length of the machine makes it take up more room and harder to get around things.  I think it'll take a few months but I suspect I'll have spread out some of the piles of logs, etc. to make maneuvering with the TX6622 less of a problem.

Two,  the forks are 48" instead of 42" on the smaller Terex.  When we had only the AGCO with 36" forks, we would make our bundles 36" wide.  Then we got the TX51-19 with 42" forks, we had to watch when we got bundles of lumber out of the shed because we would stab through to the bundle behind.  Since then we made our bundles about 42" wide.  Now we have to learn not to set the stacks of bundles so close or make them wider.  We'll likely keep making the bundles 42" wide as that width stacks well on our Dodge flat bed that is 7' wide not counting the rub rails and pockets.  I guess I could cut 6" off the end of the forks.

Three,  The hydraulics on the TX6622 is considerably faster than the smaller machine.  Even at idle, it only takes a little crack of the valve to get a fast reaction in boom movement.  So it's going to take some practice to be able to get the points of the forks just right to get a log off a truck, etc.  So far, I'm pretty bad to overshoot.

Another thing I've discovered.  With the extra boom and fork length,  I can place a log right on the loading arms of the 16' deck.  Thus I can load the whole deck without putting some logs on and then running them up. 

[breederman]

Bibby, isn't there an adjustment somewhere on the machine to slow down the hydraulic speeds?

[Bibbyman]

Bibby, isn't there an adjustment somewhere on the machine to slow down the hydraulic speeds?

I don't know, there may be. But I like it to be fast - if I can get use to it.

[Todd]

Bibby, there are times when you'll want the 48" forks...just paint or etch a 42" mark on them until you get a feel for how far to go in to the bundles. 

[beenthere]

If'n driving in to contact the load with the back of the forks is of interest, maybe a wood block (upright spacer) 6" thick could be hung on the forks to fill in that space when handling lumber piles. Then the 48" length would be available whenever, for logs and such.   

[farmerdoug]

If you slow the hydraulics down until you get use to the new machine things would go quicker.  Then you can always increase them later.

[breederman]

Less herky jerky  or is that hokey pokey? ;D

[Bibbyman]

You may think I've quit making mods.  Not so.  Seems about every thing I get,  I have to make some changes to make it work better for me.



Here is a step I made for the new Terex.  The floor in the Terex is about 24" off the ground. After a day of getting in and out of it, my knees were hurting. I spend a couple of evenings fabricating this step. It's about 18" off the ground but it makes getting in a lot easier on my knees.  My skill and craftsmanship won't win a blue ribbon at the count fair but it works!



The first time I changed the oil I found that there was a plate under the engine that had to be removed. It's no fun to get off and even worse to get back on. I had a farmer friend with metal working tools to cut a hole in the plate so I wouldn't have to remove it to drain the oil!  I did the same mod on the older Terex when I changed the oil the first time.



The forks that came with the Terex 6622 were the "swinging" type and totally useless for handling logs as you couldn't angle them down. Or you'd put them on the ground and the points would pop up.  Handling logs was like trying to slap someone with both arms numbed by Novocain. I had a local welding shop and this clevis arrangement to anchor them in place.   They work find now.



This is a mod of a Terex style adapter to a skidsteer interface onto a bucket that was made for something else all together. It was made for the old Terex but I had it modified to be able to use the quick attach feature on the new Terex.

It was just luck that we had this Terex toolbar to skidsteer plate adapter.  We ordered the small Terex with the skidsteer tool attachment.  It came in with the Terex toolbar.  The forks we ordered was made for a skidsteer so they would not work.  It was going to take more than a month for Terex to supply the skidsteer toolbar.  We would not accept delivery until we could attach the forks and use it.  So the dealer had an adapter made to go from the Terex toolbar to the skidsteer plate.  About two months later the dealer sent out a mechanic with the Terex factory skidsteer toolbar.  He removed the Terex toolbar and just left it.  I didn't have a use for it until we got the bigger Terex with the Terex toolbar.

The bucket was new but built for a backhoe or something.  The dealer had a skidsteer mounting plate welded to it.   I didn't like how it wouldn't roll back enough so I had a local farmer cut the plate off and weld a section of 3" square tube under the lower side.

I had to make one more mod to the adapter.  The dealer had just drilled holes for the mounting pins.  But to use the factory quick attach,  the holes had to be turned into hooks.  So I had a local welding shop make the holes into slots – now having the Terex forks for a pattern.   The buck works real well on the heavier Terex.  And I can still use it on the small Terex.  That's what I call a "win, win"!

[TheWoodsman]

Great looking equipment, Bibby.  That'd come in handy for trimmig my walnut trees. ;D

[Bibbyman]

It wasn't the plan that failed; it was the failure to follow the plan. We got the heavier Terex last fall to do the heavier lifting. But I had it up behind my folk's house where I was cleaning up an old hay shed and stuff.  So this morning when a truck load of logs came in, I just used the smaller Terex.

I lifted a big white oak log off the truck and started to lay it down when the forks just rolled under and dumped the log off. I couldn't roll the forks back up. Sure enough, the tool bar was broke.

I took me and Mary about an hour to take the tool bar off and get it on the truck.  Mary's off to the welding shop with it now.

[Meadows Miller]

Gday Bibby

That dont sound like much fun mate   :( but you did work it hard for awhile untill you got the Biggn ;)
I just got the chamberlain going after breaking the bloody steering box at about 6 pm on sataday night  : :( but waitin till wed morning for a $75 costom made yoke was a hell of alot better option than orking over $750 plus a 300 mile runn to go and pickup a used steering box tho    :  ;) like they say you have to earn 4 times what you spend mate ;) ;D 8)

I reckon Lill Terry will be back in action shortly Mate  ;) ;D 8)

Reguards Chris

[ErikC]

It wasn't the plan that failed; it was the failure to follow the plan. We got the heavier Terex last fall to do the heavier lifting. But I had it up behind my folk's house where I was cleaning up an old hay shed and stuff.  So this morning when a truck load of logs came in, I just used the smaller Terex.

It seems like all I do is break down sometimes. That is often the cause for me as well. :D

[Bibbyman]

We got the tool carrier back today and I already have it back on so we're back in business as far as loaders go.

The welder said the major reason the carrier failed was that a couple of the critical welds were only cosmetic.  He said they hadn't penetrated.  He found a couple of other cracks and repaired them.  The skidsteer tool carrier was an option we opted for from Terex.  It wasn't built by Terex but AMI Major.

[sparky]

I definitely know what's better than a telescopic boom loader around the mill? It would be the 6000-pound rated Lull loader that my brother just bought. My mill will be set up on his property where he has 480 volt, 3-phase, power available. His loader is a big cost avoidance for me and I will be happy to exercise his loader on a regular basis!

Sparky

[Bibbyman]

It's always nice to have a backup plan.  Last Saturday afternoon Mary was loading a bundle of lumber for a customer using the smaller Terex 51-19.  I noted when she paused for me to cut the banding that she left a small puddle of hydraulic oil.   I later checked it out and sure enough there was oil dripping from the front cylinder area.   I could roll the forks back to max travel on the cylinder and oil would run out.

If there is one Achilles Heel if the telescopic boom loader it's the hoses that run up and down the boom on the inside.  They rub as the boom goes in and out.  There looked to be some rough spots inside the boom at a weld seam where the "nose" of the boom turned down to the set of forks. 

Although the leak had to be within a foot of the front end of the boom, it was impossible to see up in behind the cylinder to see exactly where it was leaking or even what hose it was coming from.  My greatest fear was it may have been the cylinder itself leaking.  But I did figure out that it was nothing I was going to be able to fix.

Monday morning we called the local heavy equipment repair service and yesterday morning at daybreak he was there looking it over.  Even with his mirrors and lights,  he couldn't tell where the leak was coming from but ruled out the cylinder.  After about an hour of looking and prodding,  he come to the decision that it had to go to the shop to get fixed.  So about an hour later the truck and trailer showed up to haul it in.

I hope this mechanic can come up with a repair right out of their shop.  We had a hose spring a leak right after it was out of warrantee and had the company that sold it to us repair it.  They insisted that they had to use a factory new hose that had to be ordered from Italy.  The hose took a couple of weeks to get and cost over $200 – just for the hose and that was 4-5 years ago.

We've been making do nicely with the other Terex as we are sawing a lot of long stuff that takes a lot of time anyway.  That was until we snagged a hose going to the dual-plane clamp on the Wood-Mizer and had to replace a section.

I'm thinking I need to get the equipment to make up my own hoses.  But every machine takes a different style of fitting.

[stonebroke]

You can get all those different fittings. And you will probably stock what you need more than the store in town.

Stonebroke