Cut to length harvesters

[Jenneville]

I am looking for info on what people are running for processing machines/heads - pros & cons

[snowstorm]

rottne with a keto head

[furltech]

1070 timberjack/john deere  witha 754 waratah

[Tree Killer]

Komatsu 430FXL with a Rolly 2 Rotosaw,WEI .

[1270d]

Deere 1270 w/h480.

Some pros
Powerful, smooth, comfortable.

Biggest con is the cost of parts. 

[ABTS]

Fabtek 153 four roller fabtek head Good machine abit slow compared to a dangle head . but stout.

[Corley5]

Fabtek 133 with four roller Fabtek head.  It gets the job done  8)  Much better than running a chainsaw 

[Jenneville]

Deere 1270 w/h480.

Some pros
Powerful, smooth, comfortable.

Biggest con is the cost of parts. 

We have a lot of mixed wood here , whatbarebyou cutting primarily with your machine.

[Duhnis]

 My brother runs a J.D.753  with a Skidmore CF-20 four roller fixed head, unlimited rotation.

[Jenneville]

We have a mix of hardwoods and softwoods here , what size wood do your machines work well in?

[Jenneville]

Fabtek 153 four roller fabtek head Good machine abit slow compared to a dangle head . but stout.

How did you decide on this machine?

[wannaergo]

Just picked up a 2013 Cat 501HD. Absolute animal. Used to run a 99 Timbco with a keto head. The cat is smooth comfy and extremely powerful, but its not as fast as a dangle head.

[BargeMonkey]

 Ive been wondering about picking up a 120 deere / fabtek with a 4 roller, cut to length isnt real popular around here but it could have its purposes, anyone have one..?  Im only looking at it because ive got a 120C excavator, and a 501 is way more than I want for something that may get 500 hours a year. Just wondering if anyone else has alot of seat time in one.. ?

[ABTS]

That style of machine is very common in Wisconsin. Mostly because of the size of some of the hard wood here  . Pin is not as common . Oak is very common and what we call wolfy. Very bushy.I would love to try a dangle head the speed everything goes is nice . The newer fixed heads are trying to fix that namely the barko or the john deere both with Skidmore designed heads. I do not know how well the dangles heads would cut of limbs. It does a very good job. We do a lot of farm wood lots and hedgerows so the fixed head works well when you need to fell in a certain area as long as you can pick up the tree. this machine is basically a cat 501 hd just a older version. It does a good job in pine a good day you could lay down 50 to 60 Cord in a clear cut in hardwood depending on how wolfy it is 30 to 40 cord. I would think most dangles would kick my but in pine. But hardwood I would like to see. Also you have to decide on which form of movement you want wheels or tracks . You do not find to many wheeled fixed head harvesters. Not real popular.

[BargeMonkey]

 I have a Timbco that handles the larger wood and limbs pretty well already. The state and some foresters are playing weight games now, wanting equipment less than 35k on certain jobs, or we get alot of blow down work I dont wanna put a man into, thats really what im looking at this machine for. I saw a 490D with a fabtel package a few years ago on a spruce job and he looked like he had all he could do to slide up and down the hill,

[1270d]

We cut mostly hardwood.  Saw logs, veneer and pulp.  Probably 75/25 hardwood/softwood.

How bout some pics of the new kitty keV?  Any hours or does it have that new harvester smell still?

[wannaergo]

Mike, I'll have to get some pictures off my phone at a later date. The thing still smells brand new  ;D it has a whopping 15 hours on it 8)

[Duhnis]

Just picked up a 2013 Cat 501HD. Absolute animal. Used to run a 99 Timbco with a keto head. The cat is smooth comfy and extremely powerful, but its not as fast as a dangle head.

I sure hope you have better luck than  my brother did with his new one , failed tank pressure regulators (several times), Hyd tank leaking into fuel tank due to a poorly welded seam, main hyd valve blowing out seals between the sections,  (lost count). Front engine oil seal oil seal leaking and was the day it left after multiple repairs, blown  hyd oil coolers , saw motor seals, broken drive  wheel chains ( 300 - 500 hrs).
Honest to god , this rig never ran continuously for 4 days straight in over a year.
Not bashing , but there was two 501 HDs in our county and they have gone away do to
  being unreliable.   Hopefully these two were just a couple of bad apples, But my brother seems pretty happy for the most part with the 753, Just still getting used to it.
Robin  ( Skidmore) and the Parker hyd people have bent over backwards to solve a few of the teething issues he has had going from Cat / Fabteck to  JD / Skimore.
I work on all brands of construction  / forestry equipment, they are all good as long as they run !

[SPForesrty]

1270E with H480C
Very smooth, good speed and power.  Don't want to be using these machines if you have a lot of pulling/pushing of trees but great off the stump.

[deastman]

I run a Samsung 130 LCM-3 with the Fabtek conversion and a Fabtek four-roller fixed head.  It's a very economical machine, great on fuel, 2 gallons or less an hour, simple to work on, and the head has been very reliable.

[deastman]

Anyone seen or heard how the new Barko processor is workin out? I've seen the ad for it in the Northern Logger and it looks like a good rig. Also, can somone give me some info on the Skidmore processor heads? Havnt seen or heard about them yet.

[Jenneville]

That Cat 501 seems like a good rig, who runs this with a dangle head ?

[JLeBouton]

Here are the spec sheets for the Skidmore heads.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1eA8e-eiePbdEdUYkxnSmZuV1prSWVuNFAyc290QlFZcThZ/edit?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1eA8e-eiePbV1VWTVBkOEw5SVhEVC1MeGtFU1ZlM1IzM2tF/edit?usp=sharing

The rotation is completely continuous, not limited by wire as stated on the Deere flyer.

[snowstorm]

nice looking machine. the deere may chase the cat up a tree

[jdament]

I run a Fabtek 153 with 4 roller head.  Like the machine hate the tracks.   Would like to have wheels I have worked on several 501 cats and the hydraulic cooler has been replaced on them and the high pressure fuel pumps are not reliable and are expensive to fix.  One engine blew up at 7500 hrs and cat said it was 3/4 used up.  I really do want to see and try the new Barking work.  The head looks awesome and the machine is about the same weight and width as the ft153 .  I just can't seem to find any videos or demos of the machine at work. I think Barko will give cat a run for there money with this machine.

[Northern Timber Harvesting]

Cat 521 with a quadco 5660. pros- low maintenance cutting, handles any size wood, lots of power. cons-oil consumption for disc lubrication, there are a few weak spots on the head, that quadco seems to be working on improving. As far as the 521 i have nothing bad to say yet, just hit 1000 hrs. I had a 501 with the 4 roller, way too small for what I was trying to do. Also I didn't like the exposed hoses on the head, and there was some reliability issues.

[Ken]

I run an old 1997 Timberjack 608 with a 762 Waratah head.  Although the machine is far from new it does well when we can keep the mechanical/electrical gremlins at bay.  Yesterday I averaged nearly 100 trees/hr over a 6 hour period.  Small trees that average 15-20/cord were harvested from a road right of way.  The block was previously harvested in 1980 and pre-commercially thinned in 1983. 

We generally cut more softwood than hardwood.  I do not use the harvester for large ugly trees.  We cut them with a powersaw.   

 

[wannaergo]

I don't think I've heard anything but good about the 501 until I started reading this thread. They have a really good reputation up where I am. They really amped up the roller speed and saw speed. I've talked to guys that cut 50-60 cords a day, no problem in a hardwood thinning.

[Northern Timber Harvesting]

I don't think I've heard anything but good about the 501 until I started reading this thread. They have a really good reputation up where I am. They really amped up the roller speed and saw speed. I've talked to guys that cut 50-60 cords a day, no problem in a hardwood thinning.

Well hopefully your experiences  are good ones. I think what it comes down to with harvesters and heads, is application. I could see a 501 doing very well on smaller (less than 16") hardwood and flat ground.

[Duhnis]

 Isn't the new Barko harvester  a Puma Machine.
Our CSA came from A company that sold Pumas and he thought they were .

Anyone know for sure?

Duhnis

[snowstorm]

Isn't the new Barko harvester  a Puma Machine.
Our CSA came from A company that sold Pumas and he thought they were .

Anyone know for sure?

Duhnis  yes

[ABTS]

Puma was bought out by Barko and they redid the machine does not look alike at all .Hopefully will turn out better that the puma's

[JLeBouton]

Isn't the new Barko harvester  a Puma Machine.
Our CSA came from A company that sold Pumas and he thought they were .

Anyone know for sure?

Duhnis

I know for sure, and the answer is No. The new Barko is not a Puma.

[Kemper]

Glad you are happy with it, that's really all that matters. Down here you won't find much cat logging equipment. We don't trust their equipment or engines, don't like loaders or trucks with Cat engines. We do like the cats when it comes to dozers and heavy equipment.

I don't think I've heard anything but good about the 501 until I started reading this thread. They have a really good reputation up where I am. They really amped up the roller speed and saw speed. I've talked to guys that cut 50-60 cords a day, no problem in a hardwood thinning.

[deastman]

Cat 521 with a quadco 5660. pros- low maintenance cutting, handles any size wood, lots of power. cons-oil consumption for disc lubrication, there are a few weak spots on the head, that quadco seems to be working on improving. As far as the 521 i have nothing bad to say yet, just hit 1000 hrs. I had a 501 with the 4 roller, way too small for what I was trying to do. Also I didn't like the exposed hoses on the head, and there was some reliability issues.

My only con with my 130 with the Fabtek head is also what size wood it can handle. It does a great job for it's size but if I were to buy another one I would look for something a little heavier that had a Rolly II or the Quadco 5660. I've always had disk saw bunchers and a disk topping saw delimber so I would definitely go with a disk saw processor.

[wannaergo]

Today was the first full day cutting with the 501, and it went really well actually. With the learning curve, I still managed to get about 40 cords. We were lucky to get that with the old timco. One thing that did bother me though, was that I couldn't get the head around bigger trees. I think if they made it open a little wider, it'd be perfect. It also seems a little nose heavy too. That thing spits out wood though!  8)

[Duhnis]

Does anyone have any experience with the Waratah 624c head. I see that a few are fixed heads and with a 32" diameter  processing size it should be quite a weapon. 
  How well does this head delimb when  it reaches the top of the tree or on small wood 3-5", really curious.
Thanks,
Duhnis

[Jamie_C]

Starting on Dec. 9 i will be running a Tigercat 860 with a Target processing head. This combination is fairly popular up here and is considered almost bulletproof.

[1270d]

I hadn't heard of that head before so I had to look it up.  Looks simple and functional. And huge.

[Ken]

Starting on Dec. 9 i will be running a Tigercat 860 with a Target processing head. This combination is fairly popular up here and is considered almost bulletproof.

That is one large combination.  Brand new units or already broken in?

[Jamie_C]

My machine will be already broken in, supposed to be a new one coming in January but I doubt I will get it as I will be at the bottom of the seniority list.

[Jamie_C]

Turns out i won't be running the Tigercat 860/Target combination, was talking to my supervisor today and he said they have a newer Tigercat 855 with a Waratah head that i could run if i wanted to instead of the older 860/Target combo. Since i much prefer to sit inside a nice comfy cab running the machine instead of being outside turning wrenches he made my decision easy.

I will be sure to post some pics of my new office early next week

[1270d]

Are you picking out of cold decks or following a buncher Jamie?  What kind of waratah and wood?

[Jamie_C]

Following a buncher, going to be mostly softwood. Not sure what size Waratah head it is, I will find out monday morning at 6:00am when I climb into the cab

[JLeBouton]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3niyYpWsCc&list=UUw9S4v_O3CXuYGlH19iMkTA&feature=share&index=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL-cWCBLe08&list=UUw9S4v_O3CXuYGlH19iMkTA&feature=share

[1270d]

Please show some vids of it cutting rough wood.
How come you went with the two roller design with this head vs your old 4 roller?  Patent or no compete clause, or is there some other advantage?
Is the Pettibone facility going to produce some of these machines or be some sort of a sales outlet/dealership?  Ithat would be a good area to have an dealership presence with fixed head equipment.
And finally will barko refine the puma forwarders, possibly produce an eight wheel model?

[wannaergo]

I'll second 1270d's comment. I'm curious how it does in nasty crooked crap. its definitely faster than my 501, so if barko does ok with reliability and parts availability, i think i know what my next harvester will be.. i'm also curious how it handles big wood.

[Mainelogging94]

Has anyone ever heard of people swapping a harvester head and digging bucket on a excavator set up for a processing head?

[1270d]

Try a Google search for "harvadig"

[Mainelogging94]

perfect thank you!

[Big Rooster]

Hey deastman I'm gonna try and pm you with some questions on your set-up!

[JLeBouton]

will barko refine the puma forwarders, possibly produce an eight wheel model?

Barko is planning a re-design of the forwarders. I believe a 6, and 8 wheel version will be offered. Think 546, and 548 with all the latest advances.