# Renting a skidder



## hutch3912 (Sep 16, 2009)

Anyone ever heard of this being done? What are some typical rates or how does that work? Any of you central maine guys have any brilliant ideas? To much acreage for my tractor to keep up.


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## 371groundie (Sep 16, 2009)

theres a 440b in monmouth for 12k that comes with a parts machine. just what you need. and ####s used trucks in augusta has a 230 sittin in the yard. another good machine.


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## 056 kid (Sep 16, 2009)

if you plan on selling some timber, I would try and find one to buy.

Even if you can rent one, enough stuff will break on the thing that you might as well buy one.



Or play yourself up real big (pro logging outfit) and go "try" a new Cat for a few months.

Yes, they have no problems around here with that...


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## 380LGR (Sep 17, 2009)

I would stick to the tractor.


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## Ohiowoodguy (Sep 17, 2009)

380LGR said:


> I would stick to the tractor.



Way too dangerous, way too slow. Get the 440B and you'll wonder why you didn't do it years ago


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## 380LGR (Sep 17, 2009)

I would still take the tractor over the 440


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## redprospector (Sep 17, 2009)

440 does ok for a small skidder, but you'd better have a wild side to you if the terrain is rough.

Andy


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## 371groundie (Sep 26, 2009)

i talked with a logger in a steep section of this state with a 440a. he was yarding popple downhill and figured he could freight the machine since it wouldnt have to pull very hard. the first several days went ok till he got a good trail established. he winched the wood up too high and it was pushin him hard down the hill. pushed hard enough to pick the back of the skidder up. basically rotated the machine around the front axle. after that he didnt pick the butts so far off the ground and left the blade closer to the ground too. 

you just have to know the limits of your machine.


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## redprospector (Sep 26, 2009)

371groundie said:


> i talked with a logger in a steep section of this state with a 440a. he was yarding popple downhill and figured he could freight the machine since it wouldnt have to pull very hard. the first several days went ok till he got a good trail established. he winched the wood up too high and it was pushin him hard down the hill. pushed hard enough to pick the back of the skidder up. basically rotated the machine around the front axle. after that he didnt pick the butts so far off the ground and left the blade closer to the ground too.
> 
> you just have to know the limits of your machine.



Hahaha. I've skidded logs off a 46% slope with my 440b. That's where that "wild side" comes in handy, cuz brakes ain't much count. 

Andy


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## floyd (Sep 27, 2009)

Rent a crawler tractor. I have leased a JD650 in the past to build roads then just took out enough tom wood to pay for leasing the crawler.

The outfit in Vancouver WA came with a 6 way blade, rock guards, winch & arch. Had to buy my own cable due to the rental yard's liability insurance. Was y$2800/mo & I think 100' of 3/4 or 1" wire rope was $100.
Was a few yrs ago.


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## Curlycherry1 (Sep 27, 2009)

I worked once in a while for an outfit that would clearcut woods and they hired a skidder. My dad and I were the dropper/toppers and this guy would skid the logs. He could skid all that my dad and I could cut and we could barely keep ahead of him. He got paid by the log and I think he got $3/each back in the early 1980s.

His skill and experience made all the difference and as I said two cutters could barely stay ahead of him cutting firewood logs. Basically drop them and top at the first break in good wood and move on. There were days that guy could skid 200+ logs, and the conditions were not always good. We did some nasty swampy areas in the dead of winter on 4' of snow pack in the Snow Belt region of central NY.

Sad ending to the story though was that this operator never wore a hard hat. He got off the skidder one day and a ~4" diameter tree fell on the back of his head as he was bent over a log and it killed him.

Unless you are doing it professionally, hire a skidder and let their experience make you money. The learning curve for operating a skidder is steeper than even I ever thought. First time I got into the seat of one I had it buried inside of an hour. I also made a mess of the ground everywhere I went until I got the hang of it. Turning a skidder under load can really rip up a place, yet, start the skid straight and the ground stays in better shape. My step mom's brother was a ferking skidding wood fairy. His old JD440 could go through a woods and you would be hard pressed to find where he drove. He barely turned over the leaves in his work. An operator like that is worth their weight in gold in terms of preventing damage and keeping the remaining trees from getting skuffed and ruined.


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