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Tracked skidders, again

Started by sprucebunny, November 09, 2006, 05:51:39 PM

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Coon

Cool lil rig there grassfed,  A little unit like that would be very valuable on my land.  Lots o' swamp n' 'skeg, but rough going.  Even on higher land that would be good for very tight selective logging too...  How many lbs will that thing pull.  What is the ground psi. on Otto??

Check out my gallery for pics on Critter.  Got a dig cam now thanks to sprucebunny and all the other forum members.

Not much happening on Critter for a couple of days now as it's just too *DanG cold out to try and heat my uninsulated garage.  I have very little for firewood here other than spruce slabs.  The stove just loves em and eats em like candy and don't give much heat in return.  Supposed to warm up the first part of the week.

Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

grassfed

Coon you are one ambitious son of a gun. ;D

Ground psi. =+-2.5-3psi
Machine weight =+-4500
As it sits it will pull about 2-2.5 tones on flat ground but the front end gets real light.
With a lower mounted drawbar (under the axle center line) hooked to a sled, a lower first gear and more front weight it would probably pull much more.   

If I had your ambition I would put a three point hitch on the front and mount my 501 Farmi with a hydraulic motor replacing the pto-shaft, add to that a radio control for the winch and it would get to be a fairly productive/low impact skidder. You could just pull in straight winch in your logs and back straight out to the main skid road.

Here are a couple of photos I took this afternoon.

They show Otto on the skid trail that I am working on. While this system is no where near as productive as just using a skidder I can start working now before we get a hard freeze. Last year we only froze hard for about two weeks at the end of Feb. I just barely got my roads ready and we had a rain and a thaw. If this year turns out the same as last year I figure I can pull 10-15mbf a day for the 2 weeks. 
Mike

Ed_K

 Welcome grassfed, Kool machine do you have any problems with logs butting up against the tracks? Can you hook a forestry trailer to it?
Ed K

Coon

I love that lil machine.  Gonna build meself one o'dem tings when Critter is done.

That machine seems a lil heavy for its size.  The Subaru car I am using was only 2040 lbs  minus what I chopped of  and gutted out it should be about 1500-1600 lbs then I have been adding on more weight framing the back wall in and such.  I figure I should only be at the 3500 lbs when it is finished complete w/ blade, winch and, hitch.

Gonna try to get my fix on Critter tomorrow.

Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

Minnesota_boy

How long are you planning to make the tracks?  Short tracks mean you can make tight turns an fit between trees better, but they are rougher to ride on and tend to make the front of the machine rear up on a hard pull.  Long tracks ride smoother and spread the weight out better, but are harder to turn and may scuff the ground up more.
I eat a high-fiber diet.  Lots of sawdust!

Coon

The plans I have for the tracks tell me that I will have 96" from spindle to spindle.  I am using tractor tires for the tracks and don't know the width yet.  I am figuring that the tracks will be in the neighborhood of 18-24" wide. Remember the machine will be driven from the front end so I should plenty of pulling power.  The logs will keep the back end down when skidding.  Total width of Critter will be around 8 feet or so.  My main objective for this machine is for working in deep snow conditions.
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

Coon

Thought it was time for an update on how far along I am with Critter.







These two pics show what I got done today.  I cut and placed Critter on 4- 24" blocks.  Tomorrow I will be able to start measuring and cutting pieces for my frame.  Gonna be quite interesting too as it will be a stepped ladder frame with my steering clutches built into it.  If you're wondering what I mean by a stepped ladder frame you'll just have to wait and see.

Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

Coon

Well I thought it was time for another update. 

It turns out that Critter will be totally different than in the previous post.  The following day after I posted the pics I crawled underneath it to get some measurements and such.  I discovered a tragedy to most of the work I had done.  During my venture underneath I found that the cars existing frame was rotted out where you couldn't see it unless you were underneath.  The car did not have a complete frame to start with so it was going to be an interesting venture building a frame for it to sit on.  I decided to salvage the motor, tranny, wiring harness and anything else useable that I may need from it for another unit.
 
  I guess i will be building a unit similar to grassfed's but maybe a lil bigger.  I am thinking that I will end up with a unit that will be around 6 feet wide and 10 feet long in the end.  I want to build this unit to be able to seat two people and will have most of the same features that it would have had with the car. 

I have managed to get the wiring harness, coil, electric fuel pump, radiator and fan, removed from under the hood.  I have the tranny mounts and shifter also removed and am currently working on removing the cv-axles so I can pull the trans. with the engine.  I am having troubles getting the axles out of the tranny and bottom of the strut housings.  I have removed the ball joint and tie rod end, brake caliper and hub off of the axle and am stuck.  Any cv axles I have ever removed just simply pull out of both the strut housing and the tranny by pulling on them once you have the fore mentioned stuff done.  NOT THIS ONE.  If I cant get it figured out tomorrow I will go another route.  I will unbolt the crossmember, a-frames and, struts and slowly lower it to the floor and hold the front end of the car up with the neighbors tactor and FEL and a chain and pull it out of the garage once ready.  Once I have that accomplished I will have more working room and will be able to figure it out.

Sorry no pics today as my cam batteries are dead. :(
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

amberwood

Coon. from memory the early subarus has a cross pin fitted thru the inner CV/trans connection..it should just drift out. It was this way on my 84' model.

DTR
MS460 Magnum
MS250
DAF CF85-430
ASV RC-85 track loader

thecfarm

I would suggest 6 feet wide as you are leaning towards now.My tractor is 6 feet wide and makes it a lot easier to get through the woods than something 8 feet wide.Keep the post coming.Looks like quite the project.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Coon

amberwood thanks for the help.  I will look for that crosspin later today and see what I find.  I hope you're right as it would save me a pile of work.  Hope the older ones than what you had were the same.  If not I will have to remove it with the cross member and then figure it out from there.

thecfarm, I think the 6 ft wide seems about the best for me.  I don't know if the 10 ft long will be long enough though.  I was thinking 10 feet because I can build the tracks 8 feet long from end to end and still have enough overhang in the back for my bullboard and also enough frame out the front for the blade to be attached.  Will see how it goes as I have the unit figured in my head and am tryin to cut a little timeoff by not having to draw it up on paper and then have to change it over and over with every mod I do from the original plans.

Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

Coon

amberwood, thank you very much.  You were correct about there being a crosspin.  I managed to get the cv axles and the struts out but that was as far as I got today.  I may have a chance to work on Crit more tomorrow but may not as I am supposed to be getting company first thing in the morning.

Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

Coon

Time for another update with some pics this time.

This first one is of the engine ready to be pulled.  Just three motor mount bolts and lift it out.




This one shows the cab mostly stripped of everything.  Even less in there now.




These next two just show all of the parts laying around waiting to be used on Critter.







Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

sprucebunny

You're doing some serious 'taking apart' Coon ;D

I'm real good at taking apart.. haven't done as well putting together on my project.
You are just about to turn the corner and be building your machine instead of taking apart  8)

My J5 hasn't made it out of the garage untill today ::)
I was gambling that I could just put new tires and bearings on this machine and hit the trail but it hasn't worked out that way. I knew the machine was modified and a little beat up but I hadn't counted on there being different axle lengths or corrosion inside the differential housing. Silly me ;D

The body of the machine is the differential housing. It was pretty beat up but the oil wasn't pouring out and the gears sounded fine. My attempts at welding it had mixed success and ... well.... it was a waste of effort because one area of the metal was so thin from rust inside ::)



Oh well. You win some , you lose some ;D

So I got around the longer rear axle problem and got the wheels kind of aligned with the sprocket/track on one side.
On the other side, the rear bogey axle is bent forward and the drive axle was an inch too long ???  :o Hey, the rear bogey axle is an inch longer on each side, why not have a drive axle longer :D That makes 3 out of six axles that are an inch too long. Not all on the same side :D

Anyway...poor Ted (Theodore Tugboat ;D ) is off to the doctors.

MS193, MS192 and an 026  Weeding and Thinning. Gilbert Champion sawmill

Coon

Glad to see you're gaining progress there sprucebunny.  I have gained some more too.



Next little project is to get my frame ready....
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

Dave Shepard

Quote from: sprucebunny on November 13, 2006, 09:10:56 PM
Here's a picture to help you think, Brad ;D





That pic is giving me flashbacks, hate track work! :D


Sprucebunny, Coon, how are you making out with your projects?


Dave
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

Coon

Well Dave to tell you the thruth they are coming along sloooooooooowly.  I have totally restarted my build.  That unit was ending up to be too large for what I wanted.  I drew up new plans this winter and I am going hydrostatic instead.  This will help my weight issues.  I want to be as low of ground pressure as I can get.  Just started work for the season this past week s my time is limited, however my days off will be build days.  I don't have any current pics to show you but I will get some when I get to working on it.  These 10 days away from home at a time are not my cup of tea but I need to save up for a downpayment on a beautiful piece of land with a 2 year old home. This land is a 1/2 mile from the Porcupine Provincial Forest and separated by wildlife development lands.  Gotta buy land soon as prices are sky rocketing. 

Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

sprucebunny

Dave, I got the J5 all fixed up but haven't had a chance to go logging with it because of too much snow !!!



There is a picture of it plowing in one of this winter's "snow" threads. It is a great plow !!!
I'm hoping to go out and drag in some blow downs this week. This is usually the time of year I can get the most done because there isn't much traffic on the state snowmachine trail ( my skid road ) and the trail is frozen in the morning.

Once the welder put new axles in and we got the wheels and drive sprockets in line with each other, the track work was WAY simpler  :D ::)
MS193, MS192 and an 026  Weeding and Thinning. Gilbert Champion sawmill

leweee

 ;D Looking good Joan!  8) 8) 8)
Love the new paint scheme. :)
Looks like a lot of hard work has payed off....you must be proud. :)
just another beaver with a chainsaw &  it's never so bad that it couldn't get worse.

sprucebunny

Thanks, Leweee !

It was alot of hard work .

I'm happy that an old machine will move into the future instead of the scrap pile.  :)
MS193, MS192 and an 026  Weeding and Thinning. Gilbert Champion sawmill

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