Self Loading Skidder or Clambunk

[seastrike]

Hey Guys,

Is there any kind of self loading clambunk or skidder out there other than the timbco 820?? We run a small land clearing crew and have been using a 648 for a year now. We skid whole trees stumps attacted, brush,,,, basically if the trackhoe can bunch it we skid it to a landing,, cut out the logs and recycle the rest. We can pull 95% of the biomass on a clearing job to one spot with a grapple skidder. As you can imagine the skidder is horribly innefficient, I'd bet our pulls dont average 1/2 ton. I have been thinking about some kind of self loading device to increase skidding efficincy, when I thought about the 820 timbco. I bet I could pull 3-5 tons of clearing debris a pop with this machine, because I could pack it in, and turn trees backwards. The 820 though is kinda overkill for me though because most jobs that fit our niche are 2-10 acers. Is there any other brand of self loading clambuck, or homemade version that you guys have seen That would work in this application?? It must be able to pull to the landing the equivilent size whole tree of a grapple skidder,,, stump, top and all, So a forewarder wont work. Any Ideas?? 

[Scott]

Seastrike, check out the trans-gesco.com. They make some huge 400HP grapple skidders, clambunks and forwarders. They have a couple of used clambunks on the site as well. Fabtek offers another one but its not as impressive. I hope this helps.

[seastrike]

Thanks!! That Fabtek is about what I'm looking for, I love how you can use it as a forewarder as well as a skidder. When hauling brush I would use it as a forewarder. I'll bet it runs 350 grand though?? Wish I could find a used one for about 150. I'd put a rake with top clamp in place of the blade, and have one serious debris moving machine!!!

[Scott]

I didn't know the Fabtek coverted, that would sure be a nice feature. I don't know much about the Fabteks but they seem to be a pretty solid machine. Caterpillar is marketing the Fabtek forwarder line under the Cat name right now.
Theres one of those trans gescos on ebay right now with a buy it price of 200,000.

[seastrike]

Thanks for the help guys, I have figured out that a clamblunk wont work for the simple fact that it wont be able to load and unload a large hardwood with stump still attached. Its not uncommon for us to run into few trees per job that a 200 hoe will barley pick up, but we can always figure out how to pull these few large trees with a 648G, it would be impossible with a clambunk, I'd need a hoe to load and unload, or a knuckleboom. The loading of these few large trees I could probably handle, but at the ramp, the skidder is often on his own. I'd have to switch to a dedicated 3 man crew, instead of 2 man to make the clambunk work