skidder chains

OH logger · December 10, 2017, 08:42:23 PM

I have only ever had to use them once before and I only have one pair. I put them on the front casue that's what was told to do. now I need them this week on a hilly froze and snowy site. the guy that hauls logs for me now used to log with his dad and he said not to put them on the front. a stick can and will get caught in em and come around and smack the side covers and could screw em up. especially when the axle pivots. he says they always put them on the rear. I always thought to put them on the front for turning better. when I did use them it was only for a few days but I had no problems with them on the front. it is a 548 G111 with 23.1-26 and I'm putting the ring style chains on. any thoughts??

Southside · December 10, 2017, 09:14:35 PM

Any machine I have ever seen that only had one set, had them on the front. Same reason you want to pull your hitch up as high as possible, the weight transfers to the front of the machine and it drags a lot easier. Just my $0.02

BargeMonkey · December 10, 2017, 11:38:10 PM

Put them on the front. We never take chains off up here, run them yr round unless it's flat and dry 😂

Riwaka · December 11, 2017, 01:55:37 AM

Only one set of chains - put the tires with the best tread on the rear and the two most worn tires on the front with chains.

Preferably the right kind of chains on all four wheels otherwise. 548gIII avec chains.
https://youtu.be/ioSa-YQjn5Y

coxy · December 11, 2017, 05:54:14 PM

Riwaka its a JD what do you expect :D :D

Puffergas · December 11, 2017, 06:25:10 PM

Poor thing thinks it is a sky line yarder. Neat grapple on the blade.

I have my chains on the front, that was the way it was when I bought it. It will pick up sticks and try to toss them at me but I drive slow.

OH logger · December 11, 2017, 07:00:54 PM

maybe my skidder has too easy of a life!! :D

OH logger · December 11, 2017, 07:01:43 PM

also thanks for the replies. so far I haven't needed them but maybe I will Wednesday and if I do they WILL go on front

Gearbox · December 11, 2017, 07:54:42 PM

If we skidded in the dirt like that we would get run out of the wood yard . The land owner would own you after the first rain with the washouts .

Firewoodjoe · December 11, 2017, 08:08:15 PM

If I want to steer front if u want to pull and climb put on the back if u want both. Then u need two sets. Generally we have one skidder with each and one with all 4. Got a 848 with 35.5-32 with all 4 chained up now. Wow!

barbender · December 11, 2017, 09:23:24 PM

Life is easier if you're chained up all the time, IMO.

Spartan · December 11, 2017, 09:28:23 PM

A skidder in snow, ice, and hilly terrain with only one set of chains is a two wheel drive skidder, and not much good.
If you have only one pair and you like the option of steering put them on the front.
I'd have to close up shop if i only had one set in the winter, but i'm not a flatlander.

Southside · December 11, 2017, 10:27:06 PM

Quote from: Gearbox on December 11, 2017, 07:54:42 PM
If we skidded in the dirt like that we would get run out of the wood yard . The land owner would own you after the first rain with the washouts .

Agreed - There is a time to pull out of ground like that and let it dry out. Those are the images that lead to additional regulations on logging. Around here we are in phase one of a 15 year (if I remember correctly) Chesapeake Bay runoff prevention plan, guys need to look and see what is coming in phase two and phase three - logging as we know it here in Virginia is going to change.

coxy · December 12, 2017, 06:18:42 PM

always ran them on the front but now all 4 year round this way every thing gets the same bite mostly

Maine logger88 · December 12, 2017, 07:39:49 PM

I hope wherever that video is taken they get paid more for there wood that is painfully slow skidding. I run 4 chains year round I would hate to have to run only one set I have a few times in the past and if I did I would run them on front. If the chains are tight they don't pick up much brush anyway

Spartan · December 12, 2017, 09:41:03 PM

Thats an interesting comment about the sticks smacking the side covers. Never heard that before. Im assuming he meant body panels?
I just spent 4k on new chains for my rig. I guess I'm in the other camp that says I want a functional machine. I had 4 chains that were wore down to just the links. Worthless. Now I can get around and make money. And they protect my tires which are 2k a piece if I have to buy them.
I would rather have a functional mechanically sound machine that makes me money so I run 2 sets of iron.

Skeans1 · December 12, 2017, 10:54:20 PM

Have any of you guys tried the tire tracks before? I know on a forwarder going from chains to tracks made a huge difference and a lot of the guys that have wheel skidders here now only run them.

BargeMonkey · December 13, 2017, 02:03:38 AM

I see videos of guys down south chewing and fighting in the mud, bald tires and I just shake my head. Chains on all 4 yr round. I do know a guy who picked up a good sized limb which came in the cab and broke his foot on an older 518, if chains are tight you tend to pick up less brush.

mike_belben · December 13, 2017, 07:01:58 AM

Fwiw, during rain season it doesnt matter what you run in bottomless southern clay. New rubber and new chains will just churn itself to the belly pan faster during rain season if particularly wet.

If you see a video of someone actually driving around pushing clay soup rivers successfully, its because they are driving on the ledge rock found under the clay. If that ledge rock is 5ft down, forget it.

We have enormous water pockets just parked under the surface all through wet season that cannot drain. Drive over one and itll squeeze up out of the grass. Its nuts