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introducing le fetch.... tracked skidder bombardier

Started by pinefeller, August 21, 2016, 09:22:05 PM

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pinefeller

if pictures are worth a thousand words......


..... in my spare time ;D
for those who say "it cannot be done!" please do so quietly so as not to disturb those who are doing it.

thecfarm

pinefeller,welcome to the forum.
First question,where do you live?
Second question,can I have a turn?  ;D
Have a sawmill? Or what is the use for the wood that will be behind it?
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

pinefeller

have 70 acres in chichester nh. got hammerd...no smoked by a local logger before i bought it so im (hopefully) going to be retrieving all the blown down remnants of whats left of my wood lot after they, and the wind and ice had their way with it. i have a thomas mill that i rebuilt to saw it up (redesigned guides, more bunks, trailer, yada yada ya.) the wood has been tipped over for a while but the fw should be ok and the pine will probably be a little holey and stained but ill find a use for it somewhere. wanted something small so i could squeek around the regen. i love little pine trees ;D. its should also come in handy for winter excursions with my two boys(a little warmer than a snowmobile. they are too big to both ride with me and too small to ride their own). still got some work to do sheetmetal ect. and fine tuning. hopefully it will be done done before snow.

ha just noticed you also have a thomas same mill
for those who say "it cannot be done!" please do so quietly so as not to disturb those who are doing it.

pinefeller

for those who say "it cannot be done!" please do so quietly so as not to disturb those who are doing it.

danbuendgen

Have you pulled a hitch with it yet? Looks very narrow. I wonder how it will be on side hills. Looks like a sweet rig. What does it have for a motor and winch?
Husqvarna ~ TimberJack ~ Dodge Cummins

thecfarm

Are your bunks movable? Looks like they are above a support and can't be moved. Looks like the tongue can not be removed too.
Paint some inch marks on those log stops. I have 3-4-5-6-7-8 inches on mine. This way when I am edging the slabs,flitches,I know how high to put my supports. 4 inches is really 3½ inches and so on. Each one is a ½ inch lower. So if I want a 4 inch board from a flitch I set the support at 4 inches and I know I will clear it by a ½ inch.
I bought the extension from them,I can cut a 20 foot log. Never have,but when I roll a 16 foot log on,I have 4 feet of rail left over instead of 6 inches.  I also got the 20 hp motor too. Have not even started it this year,even though I need to build a sugar shack.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Ed_K

 Do you have a pict. of the remodeled guides? I'm rebuilding a baker ez mill and want to build some guides with rollers, instead of the flat metal ones.
That bombardier would work great with a forwarder trailer.
Ed K

pinefeller

le fetch is 4', 5' wide blade wide 251 chrysler industrial motor 3 speed standard. 2 speed mile marker hydraulic winch 10.5k. i wouldnt want to do side hills with it,all ready flopped it on its side (with three kids in it, wife was not impressed >:( no one was hurt nice slow roll ). definately have to walk your trail before trying to drive. pulls pretty good so far. i havnt tried freighting it up yet and im only  running two slides at the moment. $$$$ length of the hitch will be its Achilles heel. go light and go often ive been told.... so it will do one full length maybe 12' hardwood tree cut in half or maybe 200bf pine would be my estimate it should weigh around 6.5k so eventually ill really need a worm gear winch and ditch the planetary winch. if you got one lyin around for for cheep cheep cheep or free im all ears!

so nope not a high production machine, should be a good time pulling wood with my kids though lol :D i went right trough it mechanically and that sucked...was it really poor shape total hack owned this somewhere along the line. and he didn't own a grease gun evidently. i do fabrication so the cage and steel was stuff i had lying around (minus the 100' feet of 2x2 tubing) the sheet metal is 250 gal oil tanks i flattened out that i acquired from a friend .

after running 518 grapples and a 548g and a 640d its definately discouraging but it is what it is :laugh:

ill have to start a separate post on the mill but to answer your question...i bet thomas could build a better machine for the same cost if they came down and checked out my rig. look close my back stops are on the opposite side and yes the bunks are welded on and so is the tounge but the mill can still be separated from the trailer if need be. where my bunks and clamps are positioned i can saw down to 3' length logs. my guides allow me to saw 30'' square edge one inch boards and i believe i can fit a 42''? ish x 17'2'' log on the mill if my memory serves me correctly. i still need to build some toe boards for taking out taper ( in the works, still workin out the details in my brain) also want to move the throttle and push handle to the other side to stay out of the saw dust and be on the same side as the adjustable guide. also reworked the lube delivery so it only comes on when the saw is at full throttle<---- awesome. so far probably got at least 50mbf through it, still havent hit the back stops but they are also on my operator side now so i can see them. i graduated fron unh t school in '13 and and ran their lt300, and a friends lt40 before i bought this mill used from a friend.

ps i hate typing so i dont want to hear any complaints about it. im usually throwin chips or burning metal so i never got good at this. ;D. i still havnt perfected the 25 hour day yet either to find the time!
for those who say "it cannot be done!" please do so quietly so as not to disturb those who are doing it.

pinefeller

and yes i would love a self propelled forwarding trailer!!! for le fetch ...would be like an f4 dion i think they were called.
for those who say "it cannot be done!" please do so quietly so as not to disturb those who are doing it.

Czech_Made


bigblue12v

I like le fetch, goes along with the wheeled mini skidder I built last year. Also I like your mill. I'd like to get or build one someday. Be neat to have. Thanks for posting, keep us updated with action pics!
Lots of junk not enough time.. full time mechanic part time logger, firewood junkie, outside boiler owner, meat smoker enthusiast, fabricator, dad, husband

pinefeller

Hmm... been a while since i've said much.  Anywho, had to shelve the tracked buggy for now and went back to workin in the woods for a spell chopping and skidding for a fellow in gilmanton NH that had a deere 540b sitting idle.  Meanwhile i got a new machine im expecting delivery of tomorrow. hopefully. and the 540b is coming back to my place for repairs before it has catastrophic failure in the woods.
for those who say "it cannot be done!" please do so quietly so as not to disturb those who are doing it.

711ac

Quote from: pinefeller on August 22, 2016, 12:09:25 PM
so eventually ill really need a worm gear winch and ditch the planetary winch. if you got one lyin around for for cheep cheep cheep or free im all ears!
Does the Milemarker winch not work well? I do have a Ramsey worm drive winch, I think 8000#, it was off the upper deck of a roll back truck and I horse traded with a guy a long time ago for it. I'm not sure if it will be an improvement from the MM winch, and it will be very slow, but I'm temped to give it to you. You remind me of me 20 years ago! I'm maybe an hour+ northeast of you in ME.

pinefeller

you got my attention on the winch!

Hey 711 ...acres? thats awesome ! the bank threw a fit when we wanted to buy land and it basically added 2.5% on to our mortgage...ugh 

anyway  im pretty sure ive already grenaded something in the mm pulling a large maple log, so now it only works in low range smiley_furious3 back to the drawing board. too bad the high range was a little under powered but the perfect 'walking speed'. low is slower than death lol. hopefully the old skidder i just picked up is in better shape than le fetch.

im pretty sure the worm winches were also used in pto configurations and pretty speedy that way, so maybe with a little gearing or a faster pump it wouldnt be too bad. it should also hold a load better than putting pressure on the planet gears like the mm. 

if you are into fabrication trees and wood production i got a lot of cool things going on at the farm down here, i just dont have the time to photo document my life :D besides my i phone crapped out so im back to the old flip-job that doesnt do pictures. (i refuse to spend $500 on a piece of plastic and glass, or finance it into my phone plan for that matter!) id rather spend it on off road diesel or welding wire. ;D.

gotta go for now just stopped for lunch & sawing all morning and i still need to shoot over and clean up my landing on my last job before the skidder gets moved out. ttyl
for those who say "it cannot be done!" please do so quietly so as not to disturb those who are doing it.

711ac

Quote from: pinefeller on November 10, 2016, 01:10:01 PM
you got my attention on the winch!


if you are into fabrication trees and wood production i got a lot of cool things going on at the farm down here,


That's why you "reminded me of me". This was my last wood's type project build.
oops, I forgot the torturous procedure for pictures here, and have [I have typed a profane word that is automatically changed by the forum censored words program I should know better and could be banned for doing it] hughesnet internet service, and I'm stupid on a 'puter. :D

pinefeller

took it out for a little stretch today...




i like my treefarmer better lol
for those who say "it cannot be done!" please do so quietly so as not to disturb those who are doing it.

campwags

I am just up the road from you, in Alton... I likes your ride.   ;D 
Do you do fabrication of skid plates?  Just got a new Kioti NX4510 that has an exposed belly.
Life is for Living, Loving and Laughing; Not Crying and Complaining!

TK 2000, Woodmaster 718, Kioti DK65s w/Farmi JL501, Kioti NX4510 and a Kubota KX 41-3 excavator, Japa firewood processor and an assortment of trailers, solar kiln and out buildings.

thecfarm

I would think you could sneak that through the woods easy than a treefarmer.
campwags,cutting on your own land?
I've been getting on mine own land since '93. Cut for logs for about 4 years. Just have to keep the limbs short and cut roads. Yes,it takes time,but my woods look nice. Also helps to have a OWB to burn up all the limbs too.  ;D I cut my limbs no longer than 2 feet,when I plan on leaving them in the woods,run my saw up and down the limbs for soft wood. I cut the lmbs about 2 feet long while on the tree. Yes,takes time,but my land in hard to get around on,with rocks,knolls,wet holes and trees I want to leave. This let me drive through my brush. Maybe dumb luck,but never had any damage,from a limb on the ground. Also the cable on a 3 pt winch,can keep me away from a problem area too.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

campwags

Yes, I have been cutting on my own land.  Have good trails and winch to the trail and then skid them out.  I just don't want the tractor to end up like my Kioti DK65 "Woods" tractor.  :embarassed: ;D


This is what I would like for my new tractor...


I talked to them about that very tractor... but my local dealer had a much, much better price, and they don't sell the Forester protection package separately.
Life is for Living, Loving and Laughing; Not Crying and Complaining!

TK 2000, Woodmaster 718, Kioti DK65s w/Farmi JL501, Kioti NX4510 and a Kubota KX 41-3 excavator, Japa firewood processor and an assortment of trailers, solar kiln and out buildings.

pinefeller

theres no point in sneaking on my land it was flattened before i got it

the 'seed' trees they left have all since blown over.... and the slash!!!

myself i am a master "sneeker" in the woods i do a neally nice job, lop everything down in to little pieces and no hangers, leaners or buffed up trees. my high grading jobeslook better than any mechanical crews selective cut.

i originally built the bomber to salvage my lot

i bet ive sawed 10mbf this summer from the tip overs and ive only cleaned up 1/3 of my lot! 15 crds boiler wood, and probably another 20crds firewood i havent even processed yet.

Quote from: campwags on November 19, 2017, 12:00:41 PM
I am just up the road from you, in Alton... I likes your ride.   ;D 
Do you do fabrication of skid plates?  Just got a new Kioti NX4510 that has an exposed belly.
yup in the spring, just get a price on a factory made one(if available) to see if its economical for me to build one
for those who say "it cannot be done!" please do so quietly so as not to disturb those who are doing it.

mike_belben

Good stuff man.  I reckon theres a universal shortage of TSI going on in this country.  With the rate of successive cutting, i think big prime timber will become a thing of the past someday.  Itll eventually be big yard trees and forests of pulp and tie.
Praise The Lord

pinefeller

besides the rain forest id venture to guess America has the most raw natural resources in the world and we are constantly finding new ways to squander it more expediently. i want to a seminar on being more productive in the woods and after 2 hours it amounted to loggers need bigger equipment to move more wood to the mill faster  >:(

even being a younger guy, this topic gets me pretty hot under the collar. theres no consideration for the future. greed
for those who say "it cannot be done!" please do so quietly so as not to disturb those who are doing it.

mike_belben

Im pretty sure siberia has the most natural resources. 

As for us, i dont entirely disagree, a few greedy people in the wrong places can surely mess up entire counties or even states, regional industries, etc.  I  could write a novel analyzing the causes but its probably another waste of time.  Im teaching my boy to grow premium trees before i teach him to cut them. And writing it off as the best i can do.

  Will it make a difference?  I dunno. Makes me feel better about the world atleast.
Praise The Lord

pinefeller

yeah same here. ill never get to "cut"my lot, but my kids will sure have some nice inventory by the time i tip over ;D. im going to have a trail network that will cut the property into sections that will have good access in manageable blocks. ill be weeding for the next 40 years, running my mill, growing x-mas trees, selling firewood and logging. hopefully the kids will take it all over and have some appreciation for it.

it the best i can do.
for those who say "it cannot be done!" please do so quietly so as not to disturb those who are doing it.

mike_belben

Praise The Lord

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