small woodlot skidder

[joebillhill]

I've been lurking on here for a little bit but I'm excited to get some post in now that my girlfriend and I recently purchased 9 acres on the east slope of Washington. We plan to build on it as well as manage the land for a healthy productive forest. 
It has fair amount of merchantable/usable Doug fir on it (14-30" DBH) and the site is also 20 degree slope or more for the majority of it.  We plan on developing the site and building ourselves a cabin and woodshop on it along with other structures over the years. My question is what would people recommend as a good all around machine (if there is one) to be able to level the slope in areas that we want to build as well as move logs to be able to be processed on site with a portable sawmill.
Thanks in advance for the input!
Joe

[Walnut Beast]

How much money do you have to spend on a machine 

[Maine logger88]

Probably a small dozer with a winch something like a 450 or 650 Deere or d3 or 4 cat

[Walnut Beast]

Probably a small dozer with a winch something like a 450 or 650 Deere or d3 or 4 cat

That definitely would be good for nine acres 😂. Besides how much money you have to spend do you have a 3/4 ton truck or trailer to haul whatever you get ? What if it breaks down? 

[mike_belben]

If youve gotta do stumps and dig foundations out of hillsides and skid logs with just one machine im going crawler loader. Unless you got money hangin out your ears and can afford a CTL.  Crawler loaders are the cheapest thing thatll curl stumps out, skid big logs and load them.  Even a small one will pick a 5k log no problem.  Theyre crappy at everything compared to anything else, but they can do a lot for cheap.  Nothing else in the $10k range will do it all.  Slow, clumsy, cheap and strong.  

[Gary Davis]

the garrett 15  is a small skidder but forks on a jd 450 will lift a 26 ft log 36 in in dia 

[Skeans1]

Sounds like cat ground to me there’s some of JD 450’s with winches but you’re more likely to find 650’s or 750’s just due to where we are. A wheel skidder might work but you’ll want chains or tracks and a decent sized tire plus finding a small one out here isn’t the easiest anymore. Popping fir stumps can be an interesting task when with the right equipment. 

What part of WA are you in?

[TmbrWlkr]

+1 on the small to medium size dozer - make sure you get a winch on the back and a 6way blade.  Don't need to have a truck or trailer for it if this will be it's "home".  You can do a lot of work with a 450 size machine if you are just a little patient.  Have fun!

[Walnut Beast]

Your right you don’t need a truck and trailer but just remember if your not mechanically inclined if you get something older and have problems. 💰💰 to have somebody come out to work on and if it’s got to go in to the shop then you have transportation costs 

[Skeans1]

Your right you don’t need a truck and trailer but just remember if your not mechanically inclined if you get something older and have problems. 💰💰 to have somebody come out to work on and if it’s got to go in to the shop then you have transportation costs

No matter what you’ll have transport out here I sure wouldn’t want to chance hauling a small dozer or skidder with a pickup. 

[barbender]

Yep, that's hairy enough on flat land😬 We were out in Wyoming this fall, coming down the back of the Bighorns with the 5th wheel camper with the Dodge 3500. Loaded up that camper is probably 12-14k that was a ride down the mountain I did not care for! Google searches afterwards centered around "5.9 Cummins exhaust brake"😂

[mike_belben]

Theyre not that incredible.  i cut the hotside flange off the JY cat c7 turbo i used on my dt466 and welded on a flanged, ungated end to couple up a vee band for a pacbrake i also scored at the JY off a pusher rv.   


Its about 1/3 as powerful as a real jake.  Yes, they do help slow the rate of runaway slightly, but on a 10% grade at say 25 or 30k gross, they wont slow you down.  Theyll try to help keep you from gaining while youre letting off the service brake to let it cool for a second.  On big hills i still drop atleast one maybe 2 gears and ride the pacbrake the entire way.  



An autotrans will need a forced TCC lockup switch or the converter will just freewheel anyway. 

[Walnut Beast]

Your right you don’t need a truck and trailer but just remember if your not mechanically inclined if you get something older and have problems. 💰💰 to have somebody come out to work on and if it’s got to go in to the shop then you have transportation costs

No matter what you’ll have transport out here I sure wouldn’t want to chance hauling a small dozer or skidder with a pickup.

 

 

[Skeans1]

Your right you don’t need a truck and trailer but just remember if your not mechanically inclined if you get something older and have problems. 💰💰 to have somebody come out to work on and if it’s got to go in to the shop then you have transportation costs

No matter what you’ll have transport out here I sure wouldn’t want to chance hauling a small dozer or skidder with a pickup.

(Image hidden from quote, click to view.)
 
(Image hidden from quote, click to view.)

Now try that in a the PNW you’ll be at the bottom of a creek the roads are steep.

[BargeMonkey]

 Somewhere I saw a picture I think came out of TX where a guy had a 210 Komatsu behind a 1 ton, flat ground sure, not here 😆 

 450-650 dozer will do alot of work, i see Deeres out there all set up going for 25-40 with 8-12khrs. Biggest thing you want to look at is the C-frame. From what I see the bigger you go out that way with a dozer the further your dollar goes, decent older 6 will do 2x the work. 

[tawilson]

I've been lurking on here for a little bit but I'm excited to get some post in now that my girlfriend and I recently purchased 9 acres on the east slope of Washington. We plan to build on it as well as manage the land for a healthy productive forest.
It has fair amount of merchantable/usable Doug fir on it (14-30" DBH) and the site is also 20 degree slope or more for the majority of it.  We plan on developing the site and building ourselves a cabin and woodshop on it along with other structures over the years. My question is what would people recommend as a good all around machine (if there is one) to be able to level the slope in areas that we want to build as well as move logs to be able to be processed on site with a portable sawmill.
Thanks in advance for the input!
Joe

If it is going to be your only piece of equipment,  maybe something a little more versatile would be better and just hire someone for a couple days of dozer work, clearing and cutting a couple trails across the property. I've never run a dozer but I've seen what can be done with an experienced operator and I would think 9 acres wouldn't take too long .

[barbender]

Mike, I had heard what you are saying, that the pac brake and others aren't very impressive. But I was riding with my uncle in his Dodge 3500 Cummins out in the Wyoming mountains, kept getting my nose put into the windshield by that brake. I immediately thought, "me want!"😁 My other uncle out there said he can come off the mountain 2 gears higher with his truck that has a brake pulling his stock trailer.

[mike_belben]

Its not that they arent helping to control the load... Its just that your perspective of a pacbrake's effectiveness changes when youre driving a 3406 or 6nz down a 10% @2200rpm with a true jacobs on 3.   I used to think the pacbrake was amazing.  I dont anymore, but i still wouldnt part with it!  

[mike_belben]

Uh oh.. Weve strayed pretty far for page one buddy!  

[tawilson]

Uh oh.. Weve strayed pretty far for page one buddy!  

I call that "bumping the thread".