Logging pics from last winter

[Coon]

Ryan,  we have 3 way blade on the cat.  We can drop either side down to cut deeper.  We can not angle it to either side with the hydraulics.  We'd have to do it manually.

Get out there and play with the sled now.  The snow is only gonna get harder with the temps dropping like they are.   ;)

Another thing too.  If you look on our cat you can see the tarp we have wrapped around the front cab area.  We put it there to help aid in keeping warm.  It keeps the wind off and helps to hold the heat from the trans/diff area while working. 

Also you can see we got a winch on the ol' girl too.  ;D  If we keep getting snow I may even rent the cat from my employer to skid logs.  There is enough cable on the winch that I can back into the edge of the bush and winch tree length out.  Biggest drawback with this cat is that we have very little left in the way of pads.  Ya think Big Bertha did a little work in her day.  :D

Brad.

[poor farmer/logger]

There's times I'd like to have a 6 way blade. Snow plowing especially. Tilt is my bigger need though. Planing on doing some ditching with it so it would be nice there.

I've got side sheilds for it that aren't on in that picture but I don't have any tarps for it yet. Been thinking about making some up but usually I get enough heat off the engine with the suck fan and the heat off the transmision oil helps too. Allot of heat that builds up in all that cast.

Mine needs new grousers too. That's gona be in another couple years though. Rails are good enough to get me threw till then. Then it's all going on new. When I first bought it I wanted to put a winch on but now after having it and working with it in the winter I wish it had a ripper on the back. Be nice for when I'm building roads with it in the winter time. Blade doesn't like to cut the frost to good.

[Dave Shepard]

3-way and 5-way? Must be Saskatchewanese bulldozer slang. :D

[Coon]

 :D   If you came up here Dave then you'd understand how we feel about you southerners and the terms yall use... :D 

Actually we are talking about the blade positioning.


Brad.

[Dave Shepard]

Well, down here, we have 2-way(up and down) 4-way(up/down and tilt left right) and 6-way(up/down, tilt left/right, and angle left/right). I was just wondering if a 5-way was like a 6-way that didn't quite work as well as it did when it left the factory. :D

[Coon]

All points considered Dave, but I wasn't even considering the up and down.  :D  What I was referring to was with the 3 way bade you could have the blade blade in the center (neutral) position or have either one of the sides lowered.  A 5 way would be this along with the angling of the blade to either side. A 6 way is a 5 way with the ability to tilt the top of the blade down for applications like leveling fill.

Brad.

[Magicman]

Sounds like a 7 way.... :D

[4genlgr]

if your pads are still decent, flat bar and a welder can improve the grousers. way back when the family used crawlers to get wood out and when the grouers got worn down they welded a similar thickness steel tabs to them in a 1-2-1-2-1-etc pattern per pad around the track
gave good traction and didn't skate as bad on ice

[stonebroke]

They actually sell grouser bar made specially for welding on worn pads.

Stonebroke

[wi woodcutter]

Mine needs new grousers too. That's gona be in another couple years though. Rails are good enough to get me threw till then. Then it's all going on new. When I first bought it I wanted to put a winch on but now after having it and working with it in the winter I wish it had a ripper on the back. Be nice for when I'm building roads with it in the winter time. Blade doesn't like to cut the frost to good.

You can weld on new grousers on your pads and save some money, but make sure that you weld them on correctly. I have seen where guys have a winch mounted on the back of rippers. I think that would be pretty sweet set-up, you could have the best of both worlds. If you are looking for parts look on Machinery Trader.com they have a used parts section on the bottom. Lots of cheap parts. 

[Dave Shepard]

Make sure you move the ground clamp from grouser to grouser as well. I've heard of people welding all the pins together on the chain.

[stonebroke]

Make sure you move the ground clamp from grouser to grouser as well. I've heard of people welding all the pins together on the chain.

Ouch, not good at all

Stonebroke

[wi woodcutter]

Make sure you move the ground clamp from grouser to grouser as well. I've heard of people welding all the pins together on the chain.

Maybe I am wrong but the pins are oil bath. I wouldn't think that they would weld together.

[Dave Shepard]

I've never heard of oil bath pins in the chain, but I could surely be wrong. Any track chain I've worked on has pins and bushings, steel on steel. I don't imagine it makes a really good weld, but enough to pretty well ruin things.

[wi woodcutter]

I've never heard of oil bath pins in the chain, but I could surely be wrong. Any track chain I've worked on has pins and bushings, steel on steel. I don't imagine it makes a really good weld, but enough to pretty well ruin things.

All dozers have oil bath pins in the chain. I would say they started that in 1950's or maybe 1960's (I think). You can tell when the seals are going bad and they are getting low on oil when you are running them they will turn blue. I know any undercarriage I have ever been around has. I would still move the ground from pad to pad when welding.

[Reddog]

All dozers have oil bath pins in the chain.

Only if you order it that way or upgrade an existing machine. The standard is still hardened non lubed.

[dsgsr]

Nice little grapple you got there Bobus2003. Would be real nice for the short wood for sure.

Ryan

Look at this grapple, http://www.addingtonequipment.com/grapplerakes.html

I have the green one on my tractor. I pick up tree length and place them on my trailer. I also use the grapple for moving rocks from a ton and under and have never had a problem with it, very tough IMHO.

David

[poor farmer/logger]

dsgr, that's a nice little set up. Wouldn't mind to have that brush rake for the skidder too. Be nice to run over the ground after I've brush cut the farm land with the cat.

Dave Shepard just type in salt tracks or rails on google and you'll get all sorts of results I would think. Haven't checked it but that's what they're called. Sealed and lubricated tracks.

New grousers are 50 bucks a peice so I just plan on putting them on new or else finding some really good used. 18,000 for the whole works. Might be able to get it a little cheaper if I shop around some. Surprisingly Cat is just as cheap as most others.

wi woodcutter, I've seen a picture of a JD 650 or 750 can't remember for sure that had the dual set up. Would sure be slick set up to have. Take some figuring to get it to work though I imagine as far as mounting brackets and everything.

Machinery trader does have a nice set up where you can search by part number. I need to find a left hand track frame for mine. It got broken years ago and when they welded it they didn't quite get it straight. I want to get that fixed fairly soon as I'm sure it's putting unwanted stress on the final drive.

[captain_crunch]

P_F_L
Do you have Greg (sawmill's) Email he may know where to look I will see ifn I can rouse him tomorrow. He ran Cats for years and will know all about it

[poor farmer/logger]

 Been away for a few days so couldn't post. I don't think I have it at all. Checked threw my contacts real quick and didn't see it.

Might not be able to buy one for a bit though. Spent my fortune on Sat.lol.. Bought a 07 duramax. Drove it 400 miles home that afternoon and so far so good.

Would be good to get it fixed though. It throws the track off ocasionally too. If I'm working on a bit of a slop it tends to ride off to the outside edge. Usually just back up and it pops right back on again. It hits the c frame so it can only go so far thankfully. Hard on everything though.

Ryan

[Bobus2003]

Mine needs new grousers too. That's gona be in another couple years though. Rails are good enough to get me threw till then. Then it's all going on new. When I first bought it I wanted to put a winch on but now after having it and working with it in the winter I wish it had a ripper on the back. Be nice for when I'm building roads with it in the winter time. Blade doesn't like to cut the frost to good.

You can weld on new grousers on your pads and save some money, but make sure that you weld them on correctly. I have seen where guys have a winch mounted on the back of rippers. I think that would be pretty sweet set-up, you could have the best of both worlds. If you are looking for parts look on Machinery Trader.com they have a used parts section on the bottom. Lots of cheap parts. 

The Company My brother works for has a Case 1850 Dozer with 2 Hydraulic Winches mounted on the Ripper, And they Have a Pair of '94 JD 648G's that have 5 Winches out Back. Has enough Pulling Strength they had to put a Hydraulic Anchor out back.. (Basically a Blade made to be sunk into the ground to hold it in place)

[stonebroke]

What do they do that they need five winches for?

Stonebroke

[poor farmer/logger]

Would be intersting to see some pics of those skidders. Are they trying to make yarders out of them or what?? They'd tear them poor things apart if they weren't careful with that much pull.

Ryan

[Dave Shepard]

That 1850 must be a brute. Where I used to work has an 1150B with a winch. Was originally bought for logging, but was too big for the woods. They got an 850 instead.

[Bobus2003]

What do they do that they need five winches for?

Stonebroke

They use them For Clearing The ROW for Utility Lines.. I'll try to see if I can Get some Pics of the 648's..

The 1850 is a Beast.. Prolly the size of a D7