I don't know why you are worried about buying a skidder. Take my experience for example. I am a retired operating engineer and I needed something to keep me out of trouble, keep me in shape and keep me in firewood. I was watching two skidders on an internet auction, a 440 and 540 JD, the 440 was going for more than I was willing to spend, about $14,000 and the 540 was stuck at $8000 but hadn't met reserve. With only minutes left in the auction I told the wife I was going to put in a bid on the 540. I bid $8100 and met the reserve price and no one else bid so I was the winner! After taxes and buyer's fees and trucking I had about $9500 in it. It ran good, looked good, it had all new paint, two good tires but the others were usable. It needed a new mainline cable and some springs in the winch but all in all a pretty tight machine.
I used it for 4 years mostly dragging tops for my own use and some to sell and supplying wood for my brother-in-laws two outside boilers. I moved an Amish house with it, helped a farmer who slid a tractor and loaded chopper box off a hill road and dragged tops for an Amish work day. It was a very handy machine with lots of power and maneuverable in the woods and didn't need a super wide skid road.
I reluctantly sold it this spring for $14,500.
So what I am getting at is if you buy a decent machine and take care of it, you can always get your money back if things aren't working out for you.
Good luck.
