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tiger cats

Started by redneck logger, December 25, 2008, 03:41:00 PM

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redneck logger

i was wondering if anyone out there runs tiger cat skidders because i never hear tell of anyone using them.
got to love working in the woods

Ed_K

 I think they are more popular down south. Saw a picture of one with triple tires on all three axles. Used for clear cutting in Florida.
Ed K

Maineloggerkid

ONe crew around here uses a 620C grapple next a 648GIII . The tigercat will out pull the Deere by far. almost on a 2 to1 ratio. The hydrostatic tranny combined with a big grapple and slightly higher horsepower is a recipe for a pullin' machine.

My uncle works for Ralph Proctor in Florida, and they demoed a 635 with the 6 wheels. He could out pull it 3 to 1 with a regular timberjack 560 or 660. The tigercat gets so much weight in the grapple it can't steer, so always are crabbing over on corners, which slow productivity way down.
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Don K

I am starting to see more and more Tigercat equipment around here. The big thing seems to Knuckleboom loaders. Still see a lot of Cat skidders on lowboys.

Don
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WDH

The Tigercat fellerbunchers and loaders are very popular.  The skidders can pull more than most, but they are a good bit more expensive to buy.  Also, a big issue with the Tigercat skidders was significantly poorer fuel economy than their competition.  They (Tigercat) have been working to improve the fuel economy, but they have a ways to go to improve the market share.  Not so with the fellers and the loaders, though.  They are top of the line.
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Reddog

Redneck L,
The Tigercat's started out for Boreal forest harvesting. The first place I heard of them in North America was Quebec.
They do large clear cuts and haul very large twitches out at a time.
The flotation is very important, every time you go into a low spot it would be muskeg/swamp.
So that is why they seem to do well in the southern U.S. like Florida. Lots of water and low ground.

I think they will have a slower time overtaking and getting a foot hold in the hardwood market. But we will have to wait and see.

vtbuckslayer

i seen a guy in northern new york running four 620 tiger cats. things are animals but suck down the fuel like its going out of style anywhere from 75 to 90 gallons a day per skidder.  i watched them in operation and they just wanna pull stand themselves up on the back wheels. impressive machines. where i am in vermont only usually see cats and deeres. hard to handle a fuel bill like that for a small time logger.
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Ron Scott

Just too much machine for use by most of out loggers here. Most private landowners wouldn't allow them on their property due to their huge size. I believe that they have the largest grapple built.

They were built for working large clear cuts in the boreal forests of Canada as previously stated.
~Ron

Reddog

Redneck,
If you are not on dialup, here is 625 grapple with tracks showing what they do best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS5ch9ofpMg

wi woodcutter

WOW-That is one heck of a skidder! :o
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pineywoods

DanG, why not just hang a grapple on the back of a D8 ;D
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beenthere

Impressive how that operator picks up additional logs in the grapple, until finally it is full up.  :)
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Reddog

D8's are to slow and ride rough. ;)

semologger

I ran one for a guy a few years back and i loved the way it ran. he had a 525 cat also and the tigercat would pull it in half. It wasnt as big as the one in the video.

Maineloggerkid

Quote from: beenthere on December 29, 2008, 08:20:08 PM
Impressive how that operator picks up additional logs in the grapple, until finally it is full up.  :)

Thats how we run grapples around here. Double and triple bunches. A lot of times the grapple won't even be closed. The only thing holding the wood in is the pressure. Very common on sites where they are pulling chip wood.
JD 540D cable skidder, and 2 huskies- just right.   

Loggers- Saving the world from the wrath of trees!

SouthernRumRunner

All of my logging equipment is tiger cat 8). Most of my logging equipment is set up for swamp logging.The skidders that i used are the 620 and 630.The only complaint i have is the bad fuel economy you can thank cummins for that.But they will out pull anything on the market except a dozer.

Reddog

Quote from: SouthernRumRunner on January 04, 2009, 10:38:37 AM
The only complaint i have is the bad fuel economy you can thank cummins for that.

I think that has more to do with the hydrostatic transmission. Cummings has always been one of the better fuel miser engines in the past.
But that drive train is what allows them to pull so much.

Has anyone done a side by side on the same terrain. At the end of the day compared tonnage hauled to fuel used?

Maineloggerkid

Deere did a comparison on a 748H and I think a 620.  The deere won, but it was designed in the deere's favor. It was more like a race, with the distance being a 3/4 mile yard, and they didn't list all of the details about the test, that I saw. If anyone else knows more about this or sees where I am wrong, please add to/correct my statements.
JD 540D cable skidder, and 2 huskies- just right.   

Loggers- Saving the world from the wrath of trees!

SouthernRumRunner

I think you can check over at tigercat's website they have some information about the test.

Maineloggerkid

Ya, thats where I got some of it, but I didn't have time to sit and read the whole thing yet.
JD 540D cable skidder, and 2 huskies- just right.   

Loggers- Saving the world from the wrath of trees!

semologger

The guy on extreme loggers had nice tigercat machines. But all he was working for was to pay his payments. he had to get out 90 loads to break even a week.

thompsontimber

I don't have a lot of knowledge about Tigercat machines, but have worked some loggers that run them and speak highly of them...Big downside on the skidders (or upside depending on your circumstances and perspective) is hydrostatic transmissions...they aren't nearly as fast on long drags with good skid roads as say, John Deere skidders.  And fuel consumption seems to be a lot higher for the guys running Tigercat skidders.  There knucklebooms are certainly growing in popularity, and I believe it is he 720 feller buncher is one of the most popular cutters around, never here anything bad about them and seem to do great for pine thinnings and such.  We run a 848 John Deere, and its plenty fast, brings a monster load, and is not bad on fuel (replaced a 648 and 548 with the one skidder, doesn't seem to really burn much more than he 648).  Now the 648 was direct drive and the 848 has torque converter, so u lose a lot of that wheel spin that was present with the smaller skidders, and with 35.5 tires it isn't burning fuel spinning, it moves things. 

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