skid steer skidder-attachments

[amberwood]

Evening/Morning all. I am curr researching all of the gear required for urban log collection..and one of the alternatives is a midsized skidsteer to drag/load/unload.
Can anyone assist with feedback on the options?
Tongs/Forks/4in1 bucket/grapple bucket/log grapple$$$$$ ect etc

What is everyone using?

thanks
DTR

[beenthere]

I'd stay away from a skidsteer if I'd expect to be on lawns. Look at rubber tired tractors or log arches that carry the logs. There are many choices, but the ripping up of turf from a skidsteer might not be the best choice.

[amberwood]

lawn damage is a problem I had considered but one option was to use the skidsteer in conjuction with an arch..log arch with no drawbar fitted to on end of the log with a couple of chain binders, and the other end suspended skidder style off the forks/grapple with chain.. lawn damage from the skid steer tyres will be a bigger challenge. Keeping the machine weight down and maxing the tyre width is a possibility.

DTR

[DanG]

The skid-steer wouldn't be suitable for that purpose, no matter what you did to it.  You steer the thing by locking up the wheels on one side, so it is going to tear up some turf every time you turn.

Also, hauling an extra piece of equipment around is a pain.  You either have to have a large truck/trailer, or make extra trips.  It is easier and cheaper to have a self-loading truck or trailer.

[Brad_S.]

I am a big fan of skidsteers, but I second what DanG said, especially the second paragraph. Using a flatbed with a winch or DanG/Deadheader loader is, IMO, the cheapest way to go and a grapple loader on a truck or trailer is the most efficient but costlier method.

[Ironwood]

I have guy locally that is using a skidsteer to load unload urban stuff. HE IS NUTS! You need a crane/ boom on the truck, a winch (perferably on a reese reciever style movable mount so it can go bulkhead rear and front of truck OR on the arch in the yard). Then you need a large arch (Like the tractor arch from Future Forestry) with a modified front channel (which can accept a removable large steerable pnuematic wheel). The channel here in the USA is used at the front of trailers to enable people to change trailer tongue height and freely switch from pintle to ball style with simply removing two large bolts.  I have only seen the heaviere version in limited supply at HEAVY construction shops and specialty stores. It has 5 positions for use up the gradient (seven holes, they are used in pairs), Don't forget a full array of smaller arches as well because you can double arch and fully suspend the log sometimes.

                Reid

[red]

Of course the guy is nuts  he is trying to make money hauling/sawing logs
who in their right mind would do such a thing ?   :D

the skid steer can go places the truck can not

it is also a very good machine to have around the sawmill with unlimited attachments

some of the most unique trucks I have seen pictures of are the "pulp wood trucks"

just my 2 cents 
RED

[getoverit]

I guess I'm nuts then... I have a DanG-Deadheader log loader, a trailer with a winch on it to use it with, but it is much easier for me to tote the skidsteer to a job and load the logs on the truck and then tote the whole thing back to the house. There are times when I get more than one tree, or a lot of logs from a single tree and it becomes necessary to leave the skidsteer behind and go unload the logs and return for it later. I dont have the typical tires on my Skidsteer though. I have the equivilent of mud tires for a pickup on mine, so it doesnt dig up lawns like a normal skidsteer does.

I use my skidsteer for moving all kinds of things around the lot. it is one of the most handiest things I have ever had. I just have forks on mine, but am looking for a cheap bucket for it.

I might also add that I am in the market for a larger truck (I have a 1 ton flatbed now). I really want a 2 1/2 ton truck with a hydraulic boom on it for getting urban logs. This HAS to be the safest, easiest and most economical way to get urban logs.

[amberwood]

I was pondering using a rubber overwheel track to try and spread the load a little..but they are expensive and seem to require special tyres. I was considering the skid steer as a start up compromise. I will need a forklift, something to xtract logs from back yards, to clean up my yard afterward etc etc. Ideally the log is in the front yard right next to the drive but we know that is not going to happen.
In same ideal world I have a 12t truck with a grapple crane, an LT70 in the heated and airconditioned workshop..and I own it all. In the real world 8*4 trailer with 12v winch, DIY bandmill and workshop off the back of the garage. I own the first two.

dreaming is free if you dont count the ISP charges.

DTR

[Sawyerfortyish]

The first thing If I were you I would get is a darn good metal detector. This way half of the hard to get nice looking trees that are always full of of metal you could walk away from and not involve more time and effort than the wood is worth. I gave up on yard trees years ago. To me there just not worth the effort and time and labor then the the people want to get paid for them yet. Those big ones over 30"dia you ain't gonna pickup and move or drag with no skidsteer. Been there tryed to do that good luck. Boom trucks are the answer but you are very limited to where you can go. This is why I gave up on yard trees you need a combination of equipment the get them out most of the time. Start figuring you equipment at an hourly rate and it don't take long before that nice big oak in the back yard cost you more than you could ever sell it for.

[woodsteach]

I use a John Deere 317 skid steer with a 'brush grapple' with 2 cylinders.  I can't remember the manufacture of grapple but it is something like FX or FOX they are not the best but they get the job done for now.

I tell prospective owners that tree removel (sp) will cause damage to their lawn that I don't repair.

Skid loaders are fast and time is money.  Yard trees inhale profusely (I hate the s**k word), but when starting out logs are logs if you have a metal dectector.

I'd get a brush grapple.

woodsteach

[Ironwood]

" He's nut's"

Sorry I should have qualified that. HE doesn't own the skidsteer (double hauls) he sell the logs on the raw logs comdities market 30 miles from his house in small truck loads (ineffecient $) He would be further ahead to cut MOST, not all, logs up into firewood.

I select urban logs for type, size, uniqueness, and then invest in the effort to get them out and in a "full vertically integrated sense" maximize the value added by producing them into furniture. Yes, it is a crap shot and you play the averages in terms of metal and such but hte stuff I want is not usually available in "logging" type stands. SO TO ME YEAH, HE is nuts. Sorry I need to be more specific.  ;D

  Just for the record I think skidsteers are great just not for yard log retreival. Everything has it's strong points.

            Reid

[Ed]

Having owned /ran skidsteers for 20 years, I agree, they are one of the most destructive machines out there. Over tire tracks, rubber tracked....same story.
Except this one...
AWS Bobcat

I ran one at the dealer after they first came out. Absolutely unbelievable, they don't tear up the surface. Granted the aws mode can't be used in all situtations, but it goes a long way toward creating the "perfect" skid steer.

Lots of good ideas have been presented here, I don't think there is a 100% solution for what he's trying to do. He needs to sort it out & figure what's best for his working conditions.

Ed

[getoverit]

I might add that my skidsteer is a NewHolland 785. The wheel base is longer than most skidsteers, and I am able to feather the turns enough that I dont tear up the grass in most cases. When the job requires that I make a 180 degree turn and stay in one spot, then it does tend to dig up the turf a little. Most times that isnt necessary though. It is big enough that it is able to pick up most logs I can bring home on the truck. I also have a counterweight kit on the back of it, so I am able to use the full potential of the skidsteer's lifting cabilities.

[amberwood]

I thinks Getoverit nailed it..I will just have to see what kind of work come along and equip to suit.

thanks all for the comments.

DTR