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skidder size

Started by barniescamp, February 26, 2009, 02:39:50 PM

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barniescamp

What do you think is the best size skidder for a firewood operation that cuts about 2000 cords per year.

adirondack harvester

It all depends.  What size trees?  How far do you have to skid?

barniescamp

tree size will vary from 15'' and up, the distance to skid these logs is not very far maybe 1000' at most. Mostly maple and yellow/white birch.

spencerhenry

the ideal size is the skidder i have for sale. a franklin 185 dual arch. seriously it is for sale, but the reality is that it is a big machine, at 10' 6" wide and about 25' long it needs alot of space to work.

ontariologger

where i work we use a 440 John deere skidder late 80s version. skid anything for 15" to 40 " maple oak brich spruce pine. it works good when skidding short distnace get a nice hitch of 6 trees and you get wood out fast

Maineloggerkid

Get yourself a nice 440D cable skidder. Real nice machines. Fairly stabile with the wider tires, and they can outpull a 540B/D because they don't have to run the hydrualic transmission.
JD 540D cable skidder, and 2 huskies- just right.   

Loggers- Saving the world from the wrath of trees!

tw3006

We are currently running a '92 and '01 timberjack 240's. But it seems that for such short skids a grapple skidder would be nice just grab a few trees and go with no hooking or unhooking of chokers. And since you could make such fast turn around times it doesn't really matter how much you pull, of course fuel use would be way up from a 440 JD or 200 series TJ

Maineloggerkid

Well, is a buncher cutting, or is it hand falling? How many people on the crew??
JD 540D cable skidder, and 2 huskies- just right.   

Loggers- Saving the world from the wrath of trees!

barniescamp

Yah a john Deere will be doing the felling and my crew consists of three guys and me, I did consider a grapple skidder but after talking to a couple of guys who own em they say the fuel they use is crazy and did not recommend them for a firewood operation.
There is a John Deere 440 for sale locally for $20,000 unsure of the year and hours on motor.

Sawyerfortyish

I have a 230 tj that will run all day on about 5 gal of fuel for a skid like that.

spencerhenry

$20,000 for a 440 ????? wow, for that much money it better have 4 new tires, new chains, new waist line and chokers, rebuilt motor and transmission, new clutch. better have NO leaks. a skidder of that size and that age should be under $10,000 depending on condition. the last small cable skiddder i bought, i got for $5,000. bought it 8 years ago, and all i have done in that time is pull wood.

for an operation of the size stated, i think the 440 is too small. i know a decent cable skidder can move alot of wood, but for working behind a processor or buncher, i would go for a small grapple skidder, like a 548 or equivalent. a 548 is a small machine, a 440 is a tiny machine. they are rare, but i have seen 448's (440 with a grapple).

PAFaller

I would say small cable skidder based on some reasons, grapple for others. First and foremost small cable machines are light enough you can tow them to jobs on a tagalong trailer behind a dump or log truck. That saves costs when you consider most grapple machines need to be hauled on a detachable lowbed, not so much for weight but height restrictions.  Also, if you run the numbers 2000 cords is 40 cords a week or 8 cords a day. Thats plenty easy enough to do with a small cable skidder, especially if its all bunched. Now if you are cutting softwood pulp, and possibly some logs, as well as that much firewood, a grapple should be considered. Also, if you have your own haul truck to move a buncher and grapple machine, then the cost I referred to earlier is much less. Just some things to consider. Seen a lot of guys start getting bigger and bigger and now are at a point where most jobs arent feasible for them to move their iron onto. Dont know what size woodlots you work on but you need to sell a lot of wood to make up for $75 an hour equipment moves and the extra fuel burned by grapple skidders.
It ain't easy...

Dave Shepard

Why does a grapple skidder burn more fuel? I would think the higher horsepower and weight would mean more cords per hour. It would be interesting to have a fuel per cord comparison between a grapple and cable machine of comparable size. I'd think working behind a buncher would be ideal grapple territory.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

mad murdock

My preference is a pole(cable) skidder.  A JD 440 or a Garrett model 10 or model 15, even an International S8.  I bought a 1964 Garrett for 3.000.00 3 years ago, the winch needed work, and some general TLC on the resto fo the machine, but for the money, hard to beat.  Parts for the Garrett are easy on the pocketbook, as the engine is a Ford 172 Diesel, and parts are real reasonable for it.  Mountain, logger is another machine similar to the Garrett.  If you are not in the western US you will have to look for JD, International or TJ.  The older Clark machines are tough also.  http://awassos.com/home.html  this is a new manufacture machine built in Canada, seems like a good machine, but I think that they are pretty pricey, maybe 60,000 new or maybe more.
Turbosawmill M6 (now M8) Warrior Ultra liteweight, Granberg Alaskan III, lots of saws-gas powered and human powered :D

missouri_logger

you would get along good with a 240a timberjack i got one it would pull firewood all day on 5 or 6 gallons of deisal thats what ya need

barniescamp

I found a skidder for sale that seems to be good deal, its a 1984 Timberjack 240 with a redone engine [ low hours ] all pins for cylinders and hinge articulation points redone, new brakes and is currently redoing the winch the tires are 70% good with one set of tire chains. I'm going to make time to go and see this one it's priced under $20,000 the differentials and planetarys were done two years ago.

Kevin

Barnie, where are you at?

barniescamp


Kevin

There's a place near Iron Bridge that has a yard full of used skidders.
I can see if I can find their phone number if you are interested in calling them.

barniescamp

Quote from: Kevin on March 01, 2009, 04:49:11 PM
There's a place near Iron Bridge that has a yard full of used skidders.
I can see if I can find their phone number if you are interested in calling them.
sure get the number if you can but don't go out of your way, where's Iron Bridge???

Kevin

Iron Bridge is just west of Blind River and east of Thessalon.
I would guess about a three hours drive from the Bay.
They have a whack of skidders all different sizes.

http://northernequipment.net/NORTHERN/Skidders.html

barniescamp

Quote from: Kevin on March 01, 2009, 05:43:25 PM
Iron Bridge is just west of Blind River and east of Thessalon.
I would guess about a three hours drive from the Bay.
They have a whack of skidders all different sizes.

http://northernequipment.net/NORTHERN/Skidders.html
I sent them an e mail and asked them for info about there skidders they have, if the price is right I'll tek a ride to look at it. Thanks for the info Kevin.

Kevin

You're welcome, I know they have a yard full of used skidders all different sizes so they most likely have something of interest for your needs.
Let us know how you make out.

barbender

I would think that with the way timber markets are right now you should be able to get a skidder cheap, lots of them for sale. As far as machine type, I would want a grapple if I was working behind a buncher. Also, there is no reason, all else being equal, that a grapple should use more fuel than a cable skidder. One machine backs up and grabs the wood, the other backs up and sets there and idles while you get out and hook chokers for 5 minutes(at least in my case :)) The only reason I can see a grapple using more fuel is that it is pulling wood (working) instead of sitting waiting to get hitched(idling). So if the grapple pulled 20 cords in a day and used 10 gallons, and the cable pulled 10 cords and used 5 gallons, you can't really complain about the grapple being hard on fuel, it did twice as much work.
Too many irons in the fire

barniescamp

Quote from: barbender on March 01, 2009, 09:26:25 PM
I would think that with the way timber markets are right now you should be able to get a skidder cheap, lots of them for sale. As far as machine type, I would want a grapple if I was working behind a buncher. Also, there is no reason, all else being equal, that a grapple should use more fuel than a cable skidder. One machine backs up and grabs the wood, the other backs up and sets there and idles while you get out and hook chokers for 5 minutes(at least in my case :)) The only reason I can see a grapple using more fuel is that it is pulling wood (working) instead of sitting waiting to get hitched(idling). So if the grapple pulled 20 cords in a day and used 10 gallons, and the cable pulled 10 cords and used 5 gallons, you can't really complain about the grapple being hard on fuel, it did twice as much work.
True enough

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