Ok, so I am looking for a small skidder want to know the good and bad, can I get parts, are they worth the trouble etc. heres a sample of whats "common" around here, Deere 440(abc), Garrett 10-15, Clark ranger? (clark maybe a little large) international, timber jack, and the occasional franklin, I am personally a little attached to the garretts (cause there local and kinda ugly) and the deere 440 cause they are every where... and If'n ya got one semi locale ya want to get rid of... looking to spend under 5k (yes I am a cheap date too)
Looking for the same thing, probably looking at the same CL adds. Garretts seem to come up all at once, then you don't see them for a while. I'm looking at the same price range, but after some of the horror stories of money pits, it kind of scares you. For me its more of a want than a need.
I bought an old 664 clark. Gets around nice.
I wouldn't overlook the option of a cat set up with a winch and arch. Before I bought my machine I was going to buy an old TD-9 that had a winch and arch for 5,000.00 even with 50% or better running gear an old cat will do the job for most guys for years. I got lucky finding my machine within 45 miles for 3,000. Had plenty of issues though, still a few kinks to iron out but it is functional and improving all the time. Good luck in your search, if I see anything over here I will be sure and pm you guys.
What size timber do you anticipate taking out, and what kind of terrain for the most part?
doug fir, hemlock, ceder, pnw staples, bucked lengths up to 42' mostly 32-36' Unlikley to get anything over 36" dia, relatively "flat" ground 30% grade would not be out of the question, have the two drum gypo yarder for the steep stuff, really just looking for the pros and cons of each make of skidder, weak points that kind of thing
There are a couple other good skidder threads going on, too. Have you seen them? One is Tree Farmer, good and bad? I think, and a couple others.
I like learning about the skidders, but don't have one. I've just observed various things over time.
for the most part, all skidders have their "points", some are easier to work on than others. Personally, Garrett, Tree Farmer, Old Timberjacks, Clark, and Mountain Logger would be good fits. JD's are good, but usually more $$ to maintain because you almost always have to buy JD parts. The others were more component built machines, sharing lots of common industrial machinery parts that can be had from more sources. As with any piece of equipment, the OPERATOR is the weakest point, IMO, or the strongest, depending how he/she treats the equipment.
Pettibone, is a good machine very stable.
Your deeres r hard to beat but they all have there good and bad the best advice is to get the what to look for from someone who knows. dont get ur timberjack buddy to look at a deere for u Good luck
mad murdock pretty much hit the nail on the head. :)
well I just did the stupidest thing or the smartest thing in my life, I bought a skidder! 1971 Deere 440a, new motor in 2001 has been pushing snow ever since, and only about three times a year... needs a leak in the fuel tank fixed but thats no big deal... I got pictures but I gotta figure out how to load em
Congrats! I have got a 440B and like it when everything is working right :D Can't beat a Deere, especially on cold mornings! They are the startinist (I know startinist ain't a word) outfits around.
Tom
Congrats on the 440! They are nice machines. Prolly my favorite Deere. Upload the pics to your gallery with the uploader on your gallery page, then scroll down a bit when you are viewing a pic in your gallery to find the "add pic to post" option. Easiest way to post a pic that I have found.
this here be my skidder
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/30304/my_skidder_yo_002.jpg)
Looks just like the hundreds of ones that used to go growling past my house into the no'th woods when I was a little boy. :)
thankee for the tip Mad, its a bit of a pain the, well, lower waste ejection unit
ah man the wifey just said she thinks my skidder is "cute" ::) she hasn't seen it in person yet
I don't count,do I? I think it looks good. Time will tell if you made the right choice. Like I say,ask me in a couple years.
It looks pretty straight, not all bent and bashed. I think you'll like it.
Get side curtains on it, i hope it don't give you to much trouble right away.
The plan now is to drive it home saturday, Its only 2 mi. on back roads, Fix the fuel leak, which involves pulling the fuel tank and replacing a few lines, then go through and change all filters and pertinent oils, put the belly pan back on and side covers, Then build some rear fenders. Come spring should be ready to go loggin, maybe earlier. The ground don't really freeze up around here, but it sure does rain alot, and the jobs I got lined up are pretty soft ground on a good day. Until then I'll keep machining to pay the bills,
Nice looking 440 thenorthman! Rubber looks to be in halfway decent shape too. If you are going to run at all wih any moisture in the woods, you are going to want chains at least for the front, if not all four. My Garrett, will not pull squat if the woods are very wet(no chains) :-[ I am going to get a set for mine, so I can increase the utility of it during more of the year. You may even want to weight your tires, a lot depends on how you use it. If you do weight it and chain 'er up, you will want to use good judgement. A lot of operators end up tearing up final drives with a machine configured like that because they don't know when to quit,'cause since it has traction and will pull, it does to it's (the machines,) detriment, and things can get broke easier, used properly though, a smaller machine with weighted tires and chains can do really well. It's all about the operator.
Mad Murdock, I am increasingly joining the camp of people who suggest, that, rather than weighting a machine down and asking it to do more, it is better to simply operate it within the envelope of its means to begin with, and then you break down a lot less. For a skidder, that means pulling smaller twitches more often.
I agree Okra. I think chains on the front with no wheel weight is what I am going to do. at the very least out here in this northern rainforest, without chains yer literally just spinning your wheels, unless it is real dry.
The chains should be ok, MM, just so long as you don't end up with more traction than structural strength.
International Harvester made some mistakes with a few of their bigger farm tractors and crawlers along the way, some of which mistakes probably helped them to head down the long road to company failure. Among the problem children were models 560, 806, and TD-24. The TD-24 was rushed into production to try to compete with Cat's D-8 and Allis Chalmers' HD-19. The D-8 had been in use a long time, but Allis was bringing out the HD-19 in 1947, and IH were behind the 8-ball. They were working in territory they were unfamiliar with, in terms of size and power, and unfortunately the drive train components of the TD-24 were not up to spec to translate that much power to the ground. Of course traction was never an issue, with the huge steel tracks, and so the poorly designed drive train, between the powerful engine and tractive tracks, was the link that snapped-- one machine after another, causing many woes for IH over the next few years.
Caterpillar crawlers of that era are fairly well known for their reliability. Rarely tore themselves up under their own power.
The thing about those little 440's is they are real tippy on anything other than a level parking lot. If you're going to get anything done with it in any kind of mountainous terrain......You're going to want some kind of weight in those back tires. Or you'll be buying new seats every few days from all the little holes chewed in them. :D
I use winter blend windshield washer fluid in mine.
Andy