Franklin 132 Forwarder

Corley5 · December 31, 2015, 07:55:44 PM

I'm looking at a Franklin 132 forwarder. It's supposedly a 1978 model 132 XL-N. Were Franklins of this age made of proprietary parts or assembled with other's parts ??? Would it have Franklin's own axles or Rockwells or something of the sort ??? What about the transmission and transfer case ??? The price on it seems right. It's got a 3-53, good looking rubber, a standard tranny, roof mount loader, and looks good cosmetically. Not that cosmetics make the machine but it doesn't appear abused and hasn't been aerosol overhauled ;) ;D It's supposedly a two owner machine :-\ It doesn't have a bypass bucket or continuous rotator :( I haven't looked at in person yet. I want to know that I can get parts if they're needed.
My C4 forwarder is getting pretty long in the tooth now and is past due to become a back up machine.

mad murdock · January 01, 2016, 02:18:47 AM

Corley5 i wish i could remember, but all i recall from the new 132 we had was it was a 4 cyl allis chalmers turbo diesel, ran good and the running gear was bomb proof in it. Only broke 1 axle running it the year or so I was on it. We overloaded that thing a lot and it would take it, time and time again. It broke a rear axle shaft running in deep snow on a real cold winter day around -40. After that, we would not run much if it got more than -25. A lot less break downs. Had a roof mounted Hawk loader with 20' boom and non bypass on it. Solid solid machine. I wish i had better details on the running gear for you. I am sure someone will come along with the goods for you.

timberlinetree · January 01, 2016, 08:03:15 AM

I love ours although we haven't had it to long. It's a little tipsy. I don't like how the loader moves different than the bed when transporting logs. I'm no expert though. It is nice to have the loader on top for visibility. I'm glad we got ours.

barbender · January 01, 2016, 05:40:43 PM

The roof mount loaders look great for visibilty. I've never ran one, but it would be nice to not be peering around the mast all the time.

Firewoodjoe · January 02, 2016, 04:35:10 PM

I was told they no longer make the turn table bearing for roof mounts. But that's only hear say. Theres a lot out there still.

Corley5 · January 02, 2016, 07:17:57 PM

We went down and took a look today. The seller is the 2nd owner. He bought it from the original owner when he retired. He worked for him and ran the machine from the day it was new and says he put 90% of the hours on it. The meter doesn't work. It quit at 4049. The machine is straight and tight. He fixed everything that needed fixing when it needed it 8) Everything works except the headlights. It's missing one light. The gages all work but the glass is gone from the oil pressure. The valve bank levers are tight and don't cross over each other ;) ;D The hydraulics seem to hold pretty good. The engine runs good. He had the blower rebuilt very recently. It's wet stacking and he thought that would fix it. It's still wet stacking :( I'm taking the gamble that it's from not running much the last few years and when he has used it it's just idling around his personal firewood yard. I'm thinking that a good running is what it needs :-\ It's got good oil pressure. Forty pounds running and 20 at idle warm. I do have a very good 3-53 if it comes to that but I don't think it will :-\ I hope it I don't have to do that

He's only used it at home on his acreage for the last 3 years. He did have the engine rebuilt in the late 90s. Transmission shifted good. Clutch seems good. He replaced the clutch once. He didn't remember when. The center pins and boom swing were rebuilt not long before he went to work for some one else. The brakes don't work but I got all the new parts to fix them still in Franklin boxes. It's got one tire with a bulge and a boot. I've got a new 18.4 tire on the Tree Farmer ;) I don't know if the rims are interchangeable. They're both 12 bolt but look like they might have a different offset and the Franklin center maybe smaller. It does have a butt bucket with no continuous rotation but the Tree Farmer has that stuff ;D I gave him a deposit and need to arrange trucking. I'm hoping to have it home the end of the week

I had my camera battery on the charger and was in Gaylord when I realized I left it on the counter so no pictures. The Craig's List Ad is still up with pictures. It's in the Heavy Equipment section of the Northern Michigan List December 24th. He did negotiate on the price 8) 8) I think I got a good old machine. I want something to get me by a couple more years that can be retired to the farm for occasional use after that.

lopet · January 02, 2016, 09:48:59 PM

Congrats Corley and good luck !! Just curious, in some of your previous posts you sounded like you're on the way out of the business. Couldn't you get a couple of more years out of that old TF ?

Looking forward to some pictures. Must be something similar what timberlinetree 's got.

BargeMonkey · January 02, 2016, 10:13:37 PM

Doesn't look abused, they are getting harder to find in running shape. I had 2-3days cleaning mine up and going thru it when I got it and then the pump went out on day #2.

Corley5 · January 03, 2016, 12:22:56 AM

The list of things the C4 needs is long. My biggest worry is the Centrax axles and planetaries. DAVCO told me a while back to be very careful with them and even suggested rotating the planetaries side to side to reverse their rotation so they'd wear evenly. Centrax isn't supporting this model axle anymore. I've got a front planetary that isn't running smooth now :-\ It may just be bearings, it may be worse. The rear differential has a nasty growl and there's some serious play in the front one. Maybe just bearings :-\ It needs center pins in a serious way. The main pin on the boom has issues beyond just needing a new pin and bushings. The gear reduction can on the boom swing needs to be rebuilt and pinion replaced along with the ring gear being flipped over. I think it can be flipped :-\ It's a Hood loader and I think parts are available for it. The Deutz still runs good. It's rougher than it used to be at start up but cleans up and it's had recent clutch and tranny work. My main concerns are the axles and loader. The axles could be very expensive to the point of possibly having to find different ones. Fixing the loader probably not as much. The center pins aren't a big deal. They're not worn past the bushings but there's not much left. It's the down time that really hurts anyway.
I've always wanted a spare forwarder. If the harvester goes down I can, heaven forbid ;) ;D, strap on a chainsaw and kill trees. If the forwarder goes down there's no way to get the wood to the landing. I'm not going to get rid of the TF anytime soon. It's not worth much anyway with the work it needs and will make a back up machine. I am going to switch the buckets but not before repinning and bushing the by pass one

I could have just bought a $$$ pit but I think it's a good machine with way less issues than what I've got. There is something to be said about the devil you know and the devil you don't ;D
We're hoping to open a winery in the next couple years and bail out of the harvesting side of the forest products industry. I'll never get rid of my firewood machine. We've got three OWBs on the farm ;) ;D I want to keep a forwarder to use in our own woodlots. And I've got sawmills ;)

timberlinetree · January 03, 2016, 07:47:38 AM

Good luck and hope it works out. It will be nice to have a spare.

Corley5 · January 07, 2016, 05:36:20 PM

It's home 8)

snowstorm · January 07, 2016, 05:42:29 PM

i can see it has ac but what about heat??

Corley5 · January 07, 2016, 05:47:40 PM

It does have a heater and plexiglass to put in the holes ;) ;D

beenthere · January 07, 2016, 06:17:33 PM

Looks great..

Ohio_Bill · January 07, 2016, 07:44:16 PM

very nice .

lopet · January 07, 2016, 08:23:21 PM

Doesn't look abused , but overall high above the cab seems to be 13-14' to me. I could be wrong too.

Hope she will do the trick for you.

BargeMonkey · January 07, 2016, 08:59:49 PM

Quote from: lopet on January 07, 2016, 08:23:21 PM
Doesn't look abused , but overall high above the cab seems to be 13-14' to me. I could be wrong too.

Hope she will do the trick for you.

I'm 13'4" on my lowboy. Don't look back. :D engine panels all look straight and blade isn't mangled, you figure about 2-2.5 cord ? 18.4x26 tires?

ScottAR · January 07, 2016, 09:10:21 PM

That's a good lookin' tractor...

Corley5 · January 07, 2016, 09:21:48 PM

18.4X26 tires. I haven't measured the bunk but he told me it was 2.5 cord. I'm going cut the stakes back to 2 cord. They're pretty high and I don't need to haul 2.5 ;D It is tall. The driver figured it was about 3" over height. He's allowed 13'9" and this was pretty close to 14' sitting on the low boy.
I ran it around the barnyard a little and everything seems pretty tight. I'm going to grease it and check the fluids tomorrow. My only concern is the wet stacking. I'm hoping with use it clears up :-\ It runs really good and has good power.

barbender · January 07, 2016, 11:57:23 PM

Nice straight machine, Corley ;)

thecfarm · January 08, 2016, 05:46:30 AM

I like that.

David-L · January 08, 2016, 05:58:55 AM

Nice find. very straight looking.

timberlinetree · January 09, 2016, 07:05:12 AM

Looks to be in really nice shape! Congratulations 8)!

Ken · January 10, 2016, 08:59:16 AM

Good looking unit. I always love getting another piece of equipment to work with. Good luck with it.

Logger RK · January 12, 2016, 08:40:08 AM

Nice looking machine. I was wondering if u found out what kind of axles it has? I've got a 311A Ax & they put 165 franklin axles in it. I'd heard there was the same in Franklin Skidders around that time. I've broken a few axles & it's getting harder 2 find them. I talked 2 Hydro Ax & they said after a couple years they switched to Franklin 185 axles.(much more heavy duty)A year ago or some my ring & pinion went out & after much searching had 2 buy whole axle. Found out ring & pinion were same as 1960's IH one ton truck's but couldn't find one with same ratio. So if any one has Fanklin 165's laying around it b good 2 know.