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Timber Harvest Methods & Equipment

Started by Ron Scott, March 24, 2002, 02:14:52 PM

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Ed_K

nothing like getting to the job site and finding out your batt. won't work in the camera  >:( :( :'(.
Ed K

SwampDonkey

Ed :D Do you use rechargeables. Them regular lithiums are expensive when ya use the onscreen display often :(
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Ron Scott

Murphy's Law with the batteries. I now always carry extra batteries and/or a second camera since this happened to me when some photos where very important as evidence in a timber trespass and damage case.
~Ron

Ron Scott

Final Grading of the Access Road. The cable skidder is used to make a final grading of the constructed access road prior to closure of the timber sale. The loggers leave the landowner with a good access road to the back end of his property.

The constructed access road will serve the landowner's continued land management needs and increase future timber values. Lee timber harvest; 10/04.

[
~Ron

Scott

 Here's a few shots from around here.

690E excavator converted to tree harvester.

450 skidder hauling through the old field.

equipment at the landing

truck getting ready to leave the field.

SwampDonkey

Hmmm, the most recent post musta been deleted cause I received notice through email and I don't see it on here. Oh well, I missed it. ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Ron Scott

Forwarder & Cable Skidder. Parked at the landing waiting to be "hauled off" to the logging contractor's next job. Lee timber harvest; 9/04.


~Ron

SwampDonkey

Ron's playing hide and go seek the skidders tonight. ;)

Nice bunch of wood there. Now here's a man that puts the pictures before his words. :)

Well as they say a picture is worth a thousand of'm. ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Ron Scott

"All Show"  Is Ready To Move The Forwarder and Cable Skidder Off To Another Timber Harvest Job. Lee timber harvest 10/04.


~Ron

Ron Scott

Tree Length Skidding. This older Timberjack cable skidder is being used to pull tree lengths off a hill side timber harvest. The sawlog, pulpwood, and firewood products are then cut to length for trucking from the top and bottom of the hillside. Jakielek timber harvest 11/04.





~Ron

Ron Scott

Harvesting From a Lowland Area. The Timberjack cable skidder sets up at the edge of the lowland area which is too soft for the forwarder to work in. The fallen tree lengths will be cabled out to drier ground for bucking. Sportsman's Port, LLC timber harvest; 12/04.


~Ron

Ron Scott

Harvesting From a Lowland Area. The Timberjack cable skidder pulls tree lengths from the included lowland hardwood area. The large hardwood tree tops have been removed and trees limbed by the  cutters before skidding so as to prevent any damage or skinning to the remaining trees. The trees will then be bucked into variable lengths by chainsaw on higher ground. Sportsman's Port, LLC timber harvest; 12/04.




~Ron

Scott

 Anyone out there still using a dozer for their skidding? Our land is fairly wet and I'm thinking of getting a track machine for hauling in the wetter areas. A small dozer seems like a good choice as I could could use it for skidding and making small roads. Any thoughts?

slowzuki

Scott, I don't know of anyone using a dozer for logging.  A neighbour has one for roads and uses the winch to rescue other stuck equipment from the woods.

The thought of putting new undercarriage or tracks on a bulldozer scares the $$$ out of me :D  Nothing on them seems to be cheap!

You mention your land is pretty wet, do you mean swamp?  I'm just thinking little dozers don't do real well in swamp, and are harder to get out.

One of those J-5's with a tracked forwarder trailer and winch are pretty neat.  Up in north nb they drive em on the peat bogs.

OneWithWood

Scott,
I use an old John Deere 450CA crawler/loader to skid with on my property.  I have a pair of log forks that replace the bucket when I need them and a nice big timber winch on the back.  There are times I wish it was a dozer with a 6way blade and the wider tracks but more times I am glad to have the versatility of the bucket or forks.  When the ground is wet I pay the cable in and out to move the logs.  Before I figured this out I buried the critter up to its belly pan when I hit a soft spot skidding up a slope.  Pulled myself out with the winch.
Parts aren't cheap but then parts aren't cheap for a skidder either.  the major drawback is the time it takes to skid a long distance.  The trade off is that the impact to the woods is far less than the big wheeled skidders.
One With Wood
LT40HDG25, Woodmizer DH4000 Kiln

slowzuki

OWW when you say the impact is lower than a skidder, do you mena cause you're going slower and don't smash into things or are you strickly talking footprint on the ground?

OneWithWood

Both.  A crawler or dozer spreads the weight accross a much wider area than a skidder so compaction of the soil is lessened.  Newer tire designs I believe have improved the soil compaction of skidders but I think they still compact more than a tracked vehicle.  Wheeled skidders came into being for speed.  That same speed can cause some serious rutting on damp soils.  I am not an authority on the subject of wheeled versus tracked vehicles but this is my understanding of the impact difference.
One With Wood
LT40HDG25, Woodmizer DH4000 Kiln

Scott

 My family's land has some swamp on it but is most just wet and soft. Right now we have a MF 1040 tractor, its about 33 horse power. The tractor is to light for heavy pulling and its very narrow, making it tippy even on fairly tame ground. Also those skinny little 4x4 front tires slice pretty bad. Most likely we'll end up getting a larger tractor (50 to 60 HP) with wider tires on it. We've also looked at the J5's with winches and trailers. The dozer seemed like a well rounded tool for the woodlot. Travel speed isn't a big deal for us. Undercarriages are expensive but we wouldn't be running it alot so it would probably last a long time (an average dozer UC lasts 2 years around here if run daily) .  Maybe I could do some work on the side to help pay for it? Dad wants a machine that can work in tight spots and not rip things up in the woods. Right now we're still just weighing out our options.

slowzuki

I think I know the MF you mean, its a compact model made by Iseki or something like that?  They do have tiny tires up front!

If you do go tractor, they make tires now called R1W's that have a wide footprint and run at low pressures.  Kubota have em on the M6800-9000's as options at most of the good dealers in NB.  New Holland have em too, I think some of the bigger dealers of other brands carry them too.

Compared to a standard tire they more than double the footprint.

I've seen some of those powered forestry trailers lately that use ground speed pto (only some tractors have this), seems this would make a nice combo in the woods.

My concern on the crawler is many older ones have narrow tracks and seem to get stuck in wet spots, but this may be only if they are trying to push dirt.
Ken

SwampDonkey

Back before my time, father sold stumpage to loggers that used crawlers. They didn't use skidders in those days. Our woodlands were all nice and flat, no side hills. And the ground had gravelly knowls and wet narrow slews where springs come out of the gravel mounds. They used to yard wood quite a long way to the fields and didn't rut the ground up. In later years they used skidders with decent tires on the woodland we owned and didn't rut the ground like what you'd think, we just worked around the wet runs. When I got old enough to cut with dad we left the woods with hardly any evidence we were there. The trails always seemed to seed in with spruce, cedar, white ash or fir. In my plantations there is more ground disruption with C&H plough than any skidder we used cutting wood.

cheers
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Scott

 Slowzuki, yeah the tractor is made by some weird Japanese company, it doesn't run nearly as smooth as the larger Perkins powered Masseys. If we went the tractor route we'd be using the wider flat profile tires that you were talking about, we also thought of using those industrial tires. We would put a farmi winch on the tractor and not a trailer. The trailers are a bit pricey for us and also they probably wouldn't work really well on our land. Those powered trailers are pretty cool though. I'd like to get a machine that can be used to for more than just logging. We could use the tractor for plowing snow, bush hogging, yard work and launching the boat in the river. A dozer could be used for road building, stumping and other such work. A J5 is really handy for getting way back in the woods especially if your taking some cargo. I'm not sure whered youd get parts for those old rigs though. We have a mixed woodlot with mixed terrian. Some of it is fairly solid and flat. There are some decent hills and there are some real wet areas. The timber consists mostly of old growth spruce. there's also birch and maple and a fair bit of cedar.

JN68

Hi Scott; i use a 70 hp 4x4 massey/ 8800lbs winch,405 patu log loder with home made power trailer( older masseys have ground speed match up too a two speed rearend 10-20 tires) no trans and pto running at a fast speed.I have a 420 case dozer ,used it some for yarding ::)all i can say is slow,rufffffff rideand watch out for wood in the tracks( they like too come off ).Hall's has a nice IH winch,chains roll bars for the woods.Oh about that cedar?? ;Dhow much? JN

slowzuki

If you go tractor, I've had great luck driving through swamps on our property in the colder months, they freeze up ok and with snow packed down they bridge the wet holes ok too.

I wouldn't get the regular industrials, they don't work well in mud.  Michillen makes a wide style radial industrial carcas with the R1W tread on it.  This gives the deeper lugs and sharper V.  
http://www.michelinag.com/agx/en-US/products/product_detail_pages/XM27UI.jsp

There was a Kubota M4900 (45 hp) 4x4 tractor for sale in Moncton with a winch and dozer blade on it, FOPS on tops and full skid plating recently.  I'll try to dig up a link.

Quotewe also thought of using those industrial tires. We would put a farmi winch on the tractor and not a trailer.

Scott

 I've seen the tractors that you guys mentioned. I'd probably want to set the tractor up a lot like that, except i wouldn't want that little skidder blade. I'd want a decent loader on it instead, theyre just too handy not to have one. JN, if ya like I can show you around the woodlot, your proabably only a 10 minute drive from here.

Scott


JN, is this the machine you were talking about?

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