Soderhamn forwarder - buy or not?

[claytonfsmith]

Well, I bought it for $2,500. Even with the front end dragging the ground and the loader hoses raining oil, it seems strong, reasonably tight and moves well in every direction. Hardly any leakage from the cylinders themselves. Now I'm looking into cheap used ag tires to get started with, and hoses from the less expensive vendors. Additional investment will remain minimal until I can give the thing a decent test in the woods. I'll add pictures as I make progress.

[thecfarm]

Please add more pictures.  ;D  Does not look like a high production machine. BUT it's like you paid $100,000 for it either.

[mike_belben]

Tell ya what, im jealous.  Beats what i got for right now.

[coxy]

do your self a favor don't skimp on cheap hydro hoses it will come back and bite you in the ars later on  jmop

[chevytaHOE5674]

IME 2 wire hoses have no place on any forestry or farming equipment. They maybe cheaper and get you running, but any sort of abrasion, stray stick, stiff breeze, etc is just asking for a blown hose. 4 or 6 wire hoses are all I buy anymore, more expensive up front but better lifespan and piece of mind. 

[lopet]

Congrats and good luck with it.

[bushmechanic]

Good luck with your "new" machine there claytonfsmith. I disagree with the two wire hose comment on forestry equipment but I do agree that the four is a lot better. I ran Timberjack 230D forwarders for years and all we ever used were two wire hoses and they lasted just fine. The system on that machine should relief out at 2000 PSI so a two wire hose is fine. We used reusable fittings and had a vise welded to the side of the machine, kept a roll of hose also and made hoses right where they burst in the cutover. Very efficient and little downtime as opposed to now where if you don't have a spare hose you need to find a crimper and walkout to find it >:(.

[lopet]

We used reusable fittings and had a vise welded to the side of the machine, kept a roll of hose also and made hoses right where they burst in the cutover.

You forgot about the two gallons of spare oil you carried on the machine as well. ;D ;D Or did you have a secret spare tank to tap in to ?
Agree on getting hoses made according to your hydraulic pressure system.

[chevytaHOE5674]

I don't run 4 wire hoses for the higher pressure rating. I run them because they are much more immune to abrasion and wear and tear. 2 wire hose all it takes is a little nick in the wires and it will soon blow, a 4 wire gives you an extra layer of protection, and locally the price isn't really that much more for a hose that lasts way better.

Last fall I had my pickup buried in the mud right to the frame and my tow strap wasn't quite long enough to reach good ground. We tied a 3/4" 2 wire gates hose onto the strap and promptly broke it, then tied a 1/2" 4 wire hose onto the strap and we were able to jerk the truck up out of the mud, then went on to run that hose on the processor for a while until it finally rubbed through in one spot.

[claytonfsmith]

That machine is an early design and the main design features are no longer used. Specifically the loader mounted on the front section is not a good idea as you can't get 360 deg rotation so when you swing to one side you have to go all the way back around the front to get to the other side. The dead spot in the rotation must be in the back since the loader is all the way to the front when traveling. Plus the loader mounted on the front section is a no-no for many reasons.

If you put enough money into repairs you might get a workable machine and you might not. You have to wonder why there were so few of them around and why that one was abandoned.

So far the loader seems to travel 270 degrees, from front, swinging around the back to a point straight out on the left side. I think I can make do with that, but the seller says it should swing 360 degrees. I'll figure out that situation when I get it home.

[barbender]

I'm going to disagree with Chevy on this one too- I think 4 wire would be overkill on this machine (unless you needed to pull someone's pickup out with one😁) our forwarders run 2 wire and I'm amazed at how long they last, even after there's frayed wires sticking out. There are sometimes friendly wagers placed on a frayed hose, as to when it's going to let go😊 Most of my hose issues on the forwarder are from me hitting things and breaking fittings.

[Gary_C]

So far the loader seems to travel 270 degrees, from front, swinging around the back to a point straight out on the left side. I think I can make do with that, but the seller says it should swing 360 degrees. I'll figure out that situation when I get it home.

The swing mechanism on that forwarder and most other forwarders is a rack and pinion gear which determines the maximum rotation. On most forwarders the dead spot is the engine end of the machine which is OK because you rarely have a need to work on the opposite end from the bunk. With the dead spot in the bunk end it limits your working area because if you are picking up wood on one side of the machine, in order to switch sides you would have to swing all the way around the front of the machine. Depending on the exact placement of the dead spot, you may not be able to access the entire width of the bunk from either side of the rotation. With that type of design, you would hope to have somewhat more than 360 degrees of rotation.

Truck mounted loaders usually have a hydraulic motor for swing rotation so you are limited in degrees of swing by how the hydraulic supply and return hoses are connected.

[chevytaHOE5674]

our forwarders run 2 wire and I'm amazed at how long they last

We could never keep a 2 wire hose on either our processor or forwarder for more than a few weeks. Anytime you bumped them or caught them on anything they would start weeping and finally blow. 4 wire hoses could be smashed just about flat and have all kinds of wires sticking out and still keep on rolling.

For reference I had a hose made this morning for my hay mower. I paid $55 for a 4 wire hose locally, he said the same hose in 2 wire would be $46. To me the added protection is a no brainer for 9 extra dollars, that would barely buy a gallon of oil when the 2 wire hose fails.

[claytonfsmith]

I bought one of those 10-12 years ago for $1500.  Had a ford engine, truck transmission, and maybe a franklin transfer case.  You start looking at finding seal kits to repack cylinders and replacing hoses etc if that's all that is wrong and I don't think it would be worth the trouble.  I scrapped most of the one I had out and I never regretted it.  A good tractor with a hydraulic grapple is hard to beat.  Easier to move if you needed to and you can do other things with it beside logging.             

Any chance you still have a 26" wheel from your old Soderhamn? I need one.

[Skeans1]

our forwarders run 2 wire and I'm amazed at how long they last

We could never keep a 2 wire hose on either our processor or forwarder for more than a few weeks. Anytime you bumped them or caught them on anything they would start weeping and finally blow. 4 wire hoses could be smashed just about flat and have all kinds of wires sticking out and still keep on rolling.

For reference I had a hose made this morning for my hay mower. I paid $55 for a 4 wire hose locally, he said the same hose in 2 wire would be $46. To me the added protection is a no brainer for 9 extra dollars, that would barely buy a gallon of oil when the 2 wire hose fails.

I run 2 wire hoses on most of the forwarder joints other then the knuckle and most of my 4 roller has 2 wire on it with no issues.

[ironmule2004]

Yes, i think i have 4 of them.

[mike_belben]

Maybe its the operators

:snowball1:

[chevytaHOE5674]

A lot of it is different forest floor conditions. We did hardwood thinnings and we're constantly reaching into underbrush so thick you couldn't see 10 feet. So often times you would be reaching blind and snagging hoses on things you can't see. Then running harvester in the winter it isn't uncommon to grab a tree then run the head down 4+ feet into the snow and cutting the tree down without seeing your procesing head at all, making it very easy to bump hoses on things. Also the processing head I ran had some hoses that by design flexed everytime you opened and closed, the wires would fail at the flex so 4 wire just got you more life between changes.

If we were in clear cuts or thick softwood with no underbrush and no snow then hoses weren't too much of an issue

[Skeans1]

A lot of it is different forest floor conditions. We did hardwood thinnings and we're constantly reaching into underbrush so thick you couldn't see 10 feet. So often times you would be reaching blind and snagging hoses on things you can't see. Then running harvester in the winter it isn't uncommon to grab a tree then run the head down 4+ feet into the snow and cutting the tree down without seeing your procesing head at all, making it very easy to bump hoses on things. Also the processing head I ran had some hoses that by design flexed everytime you opened and closed, the wires would fail at the flex so 4 wire just got you more life between changes.

If we were in clear cuts or thick softwood with no underbrush and no snow then hoses weren't too much of an issue

I've been back to the Midwest and East coast you guys don't have under brush trust me or a lovely weed called vine maple like we do out here. This stuff is lovely it'll take out hoses, bend bars, break chains, bend metal covers, and it's coolest feature it bend like crazy plus it's springy we'll get huge clumps of the stuff growing, I've put down down a 5' 200'+ Doug fir across a patch of the stuff to save it out and all she'll do is bounce.
This is small vine maple also it'll smash your hands or stick open a deaccelerator on a machine.

[Stoneyacrefarm]

Skeans.
We have mountain laurel in the northeast here.
Sounds about the same.
It grows crooked as heck and is so thick you can hardly walk thru it.
Catches on everything.

[chevytaHOE5674]

I'll just bow out. You guys have ran processor and forwarder in our conditions for thousands of hours so I'll just take your word for it.

[barbender]

I will say, I thought I had seen underbrush until I visited middle Georgia once. If those guys don't do managed burns in the spring, that stuff is impossible to even walk through. But Chevy, I hear you- different jobs can tear more stuff up, and the snow conditions you yoopers deal with I don't think the rest of us can fully appreciate

[chevytaHOE5674]

As for it being the operators you are correct the 2 dozen or so guys I've worked with are all terrible operators that's why we run 4 wire hoses :D. Expecially the guy who just paid off his second brand new processor and forwarder set, he got that way because he likes spending extra money on things like hoses. :D

[mike_belben]

Im just teasin ya's.  Hence the snowball guy

[claytonfsmith]

Finally got it hauled home yesterday, after taking my time getting tires on the front wheels. I also primed the front wheels while I had them off. Working on replacing bad hoses now.