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DIY Fellerbuncher

Started by northforker, December 14, 2011, 11:48:42 PM

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Ron Scott

Northforker: Are you located near Polebridge, MT?
~Ron

northforker

Yes Ron, pretty close. My home is south of P'bridge and have a cabin north of there. Are you familiar with the area?

Quote from: Ron Scott on December 25, 2011, 07:36:57 PM
Northforker: Are you located near Polebridge, MT?

barbender

Wow, you fellas get talking about moment of inertia and all, I have to tap out :) My wife and I went to NW Montana on our honeymoon back in '98. We stayed at a B n B in Eureka. I was amazed at all the logging and mills out there at that time.
Too many irons in the fire

northforker

You'll see a lot less logging and mills up there if you were to see it now. Stimson pulled out of the old Libby Mill in 2003 I think. What was left burned to the ground in 2010. Owens and Hurst in Eureka closed some time ago as well. The area ran out of timber sales and trucking in trees from Idaho was too expensive. The American mill in Olney shut down too as did Trout Creek over in Thompson Falls. I'm sure there are others that I forgot about but needless to say there's hard times for Lincoln County now.

Quote from: barbender on December 26, 2011, 12:31:54 PM
Wow, you fellas get talking about moment of inertia and all, I have to tap out :) My wife and I went to NW Montana on our honeymoon back in '98. We stayed at a B n B in Eureka. I was amazed at all the logging and mills out there at that time.

Ron Scott

Quote from: northforker on December 25, 2011, 11:09:16 PM
Yes Ron, pretty close. My home is south of P'bridge and have a cabin north of there. Are you familiar with the area?

Quote from: Ron Scott on December 25, 2011, 07:36:57 PM
Northforker: Are you located near Polebridge, MT?

I've been to Polebridge a few times and out to Bowman Lake, etc.so know the area some. A neat place. There have been several forest fires in the area and my son Todd lived in Whitefish as a fishing and rafting guide on the Flathead and worked at Big Mountain. I also have some good  friends that live in Whitefish and Kalispell.

My son Todd and his wife live in Bozeman now. He and his wife were here over Chritmas and just left here today.
~Ron

northforker

Ron, Your son did a fine job of pairing his interests with geography. Smart kid. We had big fires up here in 2001 (Moose) and 2003 (Wedge,Robert). 2003 was a bad year for us but could have been a lot worse, The Wedge fire started a few miles from our cabin and was about a mile away when we went up and evacuated what we could and brought it home and put the stuff in the garage. Five days later, the Robert fire started and came within 1/4 mi. from our house on its initial run. We had to evac in a hurry. It's not a good feeling looking in the rearview mirror and wondering if your house was up in that cloud of smoke. Tough summer as the fires started early and burned nearby for a couple of months. Both our home and cabin survived thanks to the work of the firefighters and a little luck in wind direction.

Give me a holler if you make it out this way again.

northforker

It's been a while since I've posted on the DIY fellerbuncher and have been meaning to add a video. It's been working pretty well for me. I made some modifications like adding a bunching arm and lengthened the main arm so I can grab and cut downed timber to length. I plan on adding a second arm to better keep the stem from flopping around while carrying. As I expected, cutting capacity far exceeds carrying capacity for my little track loader (I can fell a 15" diameter tree). I haven't quite tipped it over yet, but have to be careful on uneven terrain. For the bigger trees, I just fell them then cut them into manageable lengths for carrying.

http://youtu.be/Tuvc5FUM6KA


clww

Great to see it's still running well for you. :)
Many Stihl Saws-16"-60"
"Go Ask The Other Master Chief"
18-Wheeler Driver

northforker

Here's a pic of the business side showing the saw disc and teeth. The carbide teeth are holding up pretty well, but it's time to rotate them. Anybody know how to sharpen these quadco teeth? I figure I would make my own sharpening jig using a right-angle drill attachment and a spherical stone bit.


 

northforker

...meant to say "HSS teeth."

barbender

Is the drive hub the rear axle off of a pickup? It looks familiar.
Too many irons in the fire

northforker

Ha! You are correct sir. Dodge, I believe. I figured why reinvent the wheel...or at least the axle.

Quote from: barbender on June 04, 2013, 06:09:51 PM
Is the drive hub the rear axle off of a pickup? It looks familiar.

barbender

Oh I can totally appreciate repurposing items. That is a slick unit you built, you should be proud of it. Just don't be flipping the ASV over ;)
Too many irons in the fire

northforker

Thanks! And I'll try an keep the tracks under me.

barbender

Too many irons in the fire

redneck logger

Hey Northforker have you done any good size cutting with that rig as far as small woodlots and stuff,also you should look into building a stroke harvester or something along that line and keep up the good work,I always love seeing what people can build and stuff like this just blows my mind smiley_clapping
got to love working in the woods

northforker

Thanks redneck_logger! The biggest tree I've felled with this is probably about 16-17" and that's much bigger than I'd dare grab on to. I actually thought about building a stroke harvester at the time I was building the disc saw. There's no reason it couldn't work. What I've learned is that my ASV has a plenty of power for felling trees, but has a pretty limited carrying capacity, basically 2200 lbs. at the bucket. I envisioned cutting trees and carrying them upright through the timber, thus keeping the weight close to the bucket. The video below shows that it's easier said than done, even in a stand that's fairly open.. So my next project will be designed to cut a tree down, cut it into manageable lengths, then carry or skid them. I'm designing a grapple right now that I can add a saw cassette module to when I get around to it, then possible adding some CTL module, either stroke or wheels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A781qAyS8-U

Quote from: redneck logger on June 12, 2013, 06:25:26 PM
Hey Northforker have you done any good size cutting with that rig as far as small woodlots and stuff,also you should look into building a stroke harvester or something along that line and keep up the good work,I always love seeing what people can build and stuff like this just blows my mind smiley_clapping

redneck logger

Right on buddy that sound like a good idea, id say by the look of things you would have no problem fabbing up a harvester head of some sory
got to love working in the woods

Adeleron

NorthForker,

Do you have any pictures of the motor assembly including the coupler to the hub?

northforker

I don't have any pictures (and it's now covered in snow), but I made my own flexible mount of sorts. I used a rigid coupler between the motor and hub shaft with a shear pin on the hub side, but mounted the motor to the frame on rubber mounts and with slightly-oversize mounting holes. This way, the motor can wiggle a bit if it needs to.

mike_belben

Pretty awesome attachment.  Now that youve got some time on it.. Anything youd do differently if there was a version 2.0?
Praise The Lord

maple flats

My brother has one slightly similar. It is on an ASV85. The differences are that he bought a shear, then he built the part to grab the tree. He has 2 shears, only one wears the holding part to grab a tree. He finds he has plenty of GPM and pressure to do the job. He does not carry the trees though, unless rather small, he cuts then tips it where he wants to set it down.However, he also has a stump grinder attachment and that works better on his Bobcat Toolcat, a little more GPM and about 200 more PSI.
What model is your ASV, his has 25 gpm at 2700 PSI the toolcat has 27 GPM at 2900 PSI. What seems like just a slight difference makes a big difference with the stump grinder.
On his ASV he also mounted a Fransgard V4000 rigid mount on the back, drives the winch with a hydraulic motor.
While my brother is a retired aircraft mechanic by trade, he has a small machine shop ( 2 lathes, a milling machine and some other things and does some machine work for hire, he is also an excellent welder and fabricator, while I've only successfully welded one thing that did not fall apart.
logging small time for years but just learning how,  2012 36 HP Mahindra tractor, 3point log arch, 8000# class excavator, lifts 2500# and sets logs on mill precisely where needed, Woodland Mills HM130Max , maple syrup a hobby that consumes my time. looking to learn blacksmithing.

Southside

Quote from: northforker on November 17, 2017, 05:03:31 PM
(and it's now covered in snow)

To say that on November 17th is wrong, simply wrong.   :D

Took this today....



 

Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

Gobeylogger

Very impressive fabrication work.  Should work really well for small pine and hardwood. Just be careful with larger trees. I have been a feller buncher operator for 22 yrs now and when u are cutting and trying to carry your trees just be car full because all that weight in the top will turn u over really quick. Should work well for what your wanting to do with it. Nice work. Would love to hear how it performed for u

DDW_OR

here is a link to northforker's bypass grapple
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,67465.0/all.html

FYI i grew up in Columbia Falls.
"let the machines do the work"

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