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Probably a small dozer with a winch something like a 450 or 650 Deere or d3 or 4 cat
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
Quote from: Walnut Beast on January 27, 2021, 10:57:13 PMYour 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.
Quote from: Skeans1 on January 27, 2021, 11:18:06 PMQuote from: Walnut Beast on January 27, 2021, 10:57:13 PMYour 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.)
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
Uh oh.. Weve strayed pretty far for page one buddy!
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!
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.
How much money do you have to spend on a machine
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 .
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.
The longer the distance and the larger the trees the farther a mini ex gets from being ideal. If its clearing scrub in a pretty central area and youve got lots of rocky soil and drainage to install.. Yeah the mini starts looking smarter. Theres always a balance. A trailer ball on the blade of a mini makes it a lot smarter IMO. You dont want to drag 1 tree if you can wheel 5 and keep the hours off your undercarriage.CTL is compact track loader.. ie bobcat on rubber track. Big $. I own a 79ish 450 case crawler loader backhoe because the way the drivetrain and steering is built... they dont tend to sieze up the clutches from long term sitting like you so frequently see on dry clutch machines. 1st gen deere 450 seem to always have one side stuck or no power or freewheel or brake or something.. If i ever found one that worked completely i might have bought one but in my money realm they were always broke. Deere 350 is another popular small logging machine but same scenario above.. It cant sit 10 yrs. The 350 and 450 C model deeres seem to be great but never in my price. I have a d31P-18 komatsu dozer that has been mostly fantastic. It is wet clutch.. Id avoid the earlier dry models.. -16 and earlier. Not sure on -17. The motor has been great, tons of power and theyre often parked "broken" and cheaper than cat or deere.. Usually over shift issues that amounts to simple wear in some linkages that you can fix with a drill and some bolts to oversize the slop out. Parts are getting harder to find but i havent really had to find any so win win. Id be happy with a komatsu D31 loader too. The inline 6 non turbo jap diesel with denso pump is quite good imo. Very good fuel system. Not bad on fuel consumption either. Ive run a big international td25 crawler loader.. Its a big roughing machine. Cant see at all in front of you but whatever is there, its going over or getting destroyed. Those are about a 15ton machine i guess in the $10-15k range.. Old but a lot of knowledge still in circulation over at redpower forums. DT engines and torque convertors. For guys with big impact guns. Cat always made the top tier crawlers at the top price. My only experience was helping a guy who sheared the coupler bolts and im glad i didnt have to go far into that. Never ran one but im sure they were good if you had the $ to have it. I wouldnt fool with fiat allis or massey crawlers, never had enough market share so theyre obscure today.. When theyre broke you part out. Oliver and cletrac are cute parade tractors (sorry barge) And id probably stay away from deere 1010, track frames bend. International TD6/7/8 are respectable, those became dresser then dressta which is still good afaik. the old IH td340 i would skip unless it was ready to work for cheap. Everyone seems to buy a td340 project when they first get started and it never goes back together. Same for case 310. Theyre all just getting too old and have had too many monkeys buy, abuse, jury rig and sell them down the line. The next level up is usually a slightly serious investment and a bit more likely to be taken care of by a business minded person in general. Ive looked at too many play dozers on trailer trash front lawns to want one. Bottoms are very expensive. Guys say $1/squeek. Dont buy one with hanging tracks, pointy teeth, track frames worn to paper at the idler slides, rollers flatspotted and pin bushings busted through. That wont buff out and if it dont steer run away. Crawlers are out of vogue so you have the power there.. Few buyers, lots of them wanting a new home. Unfortunately all good equipment prices are rising fast. Theres still some sanity at the auctions but may not last long, and auctions bring substantial fees plus risk. Plan on $4 a mile to deliver, maybe worse.And never buy a gas powered bobcat! Never ever.
I would like one with a set of forks. Move logs and lumber.And use to clear off more of my land for expansion of the mill.I never see any with fork setups.
Would you suggest tracks or wheels for the property? like I said it's 15-40% slope with sandy loamy topsoil.
Quote from: joebillhill on February 09, 2021, 02:19:16 PMWould you suggest tracks or wheels for the property? like I said it's 15-40% slope with sandy loamy topsoil. you suggested some excavation needs in addition to logging in the first post. wheeled machines are either articulated or skid steering. in articulated wheel application its a skidder or a wheel loader. neither machine will do both jobs very well at all. a skid steer can dig and log but ... sigh... its a long story. skid steers are great and terrible it just all depends. an endless discussion there. on tracks, you've got dozers, crawler loaders and excavators. they can both log, AND excavate. the exact details of your site, other available support equipment and where the logs are destined is a major factor. for instance a dozer and crawler loader can both get logs to a landing to mill up. but if they need to get loaded on a truck you better have a crawler loader or another machine or a friend with something to load because a dozer isn't loading a 13ft high bunk trailer. so weigh that out. logging with an excavator.. aka shovel logging.. very popular on the west coast but thats a excavator with a grapple that won't dig a basement. can you do it with a bucket and a thumb? sure but the logs will be swinging way out perpendicular to the boom plane as you swing. are you going to clear an interstate sized path to swing tree length? thats up to you. i wouldn't want to walk longs any distance with an ex, like how a skidder or dozer does. if a really good deal came up on an excavator and i had a lot of digging i would find a way to have the ex walk a trailer with me. maybe a 5th wheel convertor dolley and a cheap old rotten deck tag trailer with junk bunks welded on? i wouldn't walk an ex back and forth as a skidder. id even consider putting a pintle plate on the back of the bucket and dragging a big loaded arch around before regular skidding. or just make a truck road with it first.
Would you suggest tracks or wheels for the property?
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