John Deere vs. Garrett... wittle skidder

[Slamm]

Looks good.

Make sure you wear a hard hat in that little cage, those little 440 and 540A cabs will knock you the F out.

Sam

 

[northmanlogging]

Its got the previous owners name welded into the blade lucky me its an androgynous name (means boys or gurls, like volleyball, or swimming), I get to drive it home next saturday, should be fun, got to fix a small leak in the fuel tank and fuel line but should be ready to work after that. Now its a matter of keeping it busy at least part time, don't plan on quitting the machine shop just yet, but I should have enough to keep me busy next summer. It doesn't really freeze up here for more than a week or two, otherwise its just soggy and muddy

 

[Icehouse]

You done good, great tires. Looks like you need motor side covers, maybe not might just not be on. I have a friend who has an A that he's using for parts. If you need PM me and I will try and get you in touch with him. My partner and I both have 440's, his an A mine a B model. Also in this area we have a great skidder mechanic, not bad on price, tons of experience. He probably isn't to far from you. Have fun

 

[Slamm]

While you are messing with the tank and lines, you might consider getting rid of the mechanical fuel pump and then wiring in a $50 diesel rated fuel pump from NAPA or ORiellys, find a spot under the fuel tank to mount it. I try to put them on every diesel that I own, because it makes filter swaps and fast starts after sitting for awhile much easier.

If you are interested I'll get the part number for you, they are every bit as reliable as the mechanical ones and if you are paranoid about an electric pump failing you can wire a spare under the tank or in the engine bay somewhere, it doesn't take 15-30 minutes to swap one out .......... I've yet to have one go bad, I've had the mechanical ones fail 3 times.

Think about getting some Amsteel synthetic rope for the winch, you can put more footage on the same winch and it will save your winch and clutch and transmission a lot of abuse from having to respool the steel cable, plus you can just set your winch to freewheel and a kid can pull it out easily, lasts just as long as steel in my testing, but when you wear it down to 50' you can just add 50' of new spliced in and not waste any of the cable like you do with a steel cable.

Later,

Sam

 

[Icehouse]

Not really paying attention, you would have to live in EASTERN wash to be by us. Parts would still be available just a little greater distance. Enjoy your new find.

 

[northmanlogging]

there be a bunch of mountains in the way and a 9 hour drive, there is a bunch of Deere dealers around here, Most of the ones I've talked to have a stick up there huha though, but they can get the parts...

 

[Slamm]

What tranny does that thing have in it? 8 forward and 4 in reverse?

Sam

 

[northmanlogging]

Side covers and belly pan are in the garage, guy removed em to make maintenance easier? Plan on putting both back on seem like a big gamble to run without em especially the belly pan.

Its got the 8 forward 4 reverse, four speeds high low and reverse, that known as the powershift? kinda imply's that you don't need to clutch it to shift.

I should mention the last time I drove a skidder I was maybe 12 and my feet weren't big enough to hold the brake and the throttle... clark or a mountain logger my uncle used both, made it real fun (read funny) to pull a load in when the winch worked as reverse :msp_scared: spent most of my time dragging chokers around, and packing his saw... I'm pretty sure my ma's got pictures of my dumb### out there trying to carry that saw and look professional...

 

[northmanlogging]

its got a new mechanical pump on it now with the manual primer, when it fails I would consider swapping in an electric pump. I am paranoid but if an emp hits the last thing I'm going to worry about is if the skidder runs could be good for zombies though...

Wifey says she ain't settin chokers if we're going after zombies though

 

[redprospector]

Put one of those squeeze bulbs (for an outboard boat motor) in the fuel line before the filter. Best primer you'll ever find.

Andy

 

[Slamm]

With the powershift you just use the foot "clutch" for starting heavy loads and then no clutch after that. You can not use the clutch for starting off in 1st gear and I do, but I was advised it was marginally better if loads were started with foot clutch.

Does it have the hand clutch that disengages the main clutch for easier starting?

Those little skidders are like climbing onto a pony after riding draft horses all day, I really like my 540A with those smaller tires on it, very handy little machine.

If you are working in the cold, I use a synthetic oil and it will start a lot easier and faster. I use Amsoil 5w-30 diesel oil in everything.

Sam

 

[northmanlogging]

Not sure about the hand clutch, there was a forest of levers, and I only drove if for a little bit, I do like synthetic oils but I'm too cheap to buy em, used to work as a mechanic at an indoor go kart track, all we used was synthetic, and most of the time the chain would take off the rear oil lid and you would end up running without oil for 2 weeks, those motors ran hard with no governors for 4 years before the first one blew up, with no oil in it.

How often do you guys change the oil in these things anyway?

Anyway all good stuff, and keep it coming, now if I can find really cheap tires...

 

[Slamm]

Not sure about the hand clutch, there was a forest of levers, and I only drove if for a little bit, I do like synthetic oils but I'm too cheap to buy em, used to work as a mechanic at an indoor go kart track, all we used was synthetic, and most of the time the chain would take off the rear oil lid and you would end up running without oil for 2 weeks, those motors ran hard with no governors for 4 years before the first one blew up, with no oil in it.

How often do you guys change the oil in these things anyway?

Anyway all good stuff, and keep it coming, now if I can find really cheap tires...

Are you are really steep stuff, if not those tires are just fine. If not then get chains, but those tires look just fine, as far as I'm concerned.

I think even if you are on really steep stuff, newer tires aren't going to do you as much good as chains on smoother tires. Newer tires aren't going to do much more than those tires are going to do for the money, but chains would make night and day difference ............. dollar for dollar.

Sam

 

[Icehouse]

Our local deere guru, about 35 yrs on yellow stuff, says 100 hrs, only holds 9 quarts. You'll find 2 filters in front of battery box, 1 for transmission and the other for hydraulics (blade), both same number. Winch filter is same as motor oil filter, winch needs minimum of 900 lbs of oil pressure to operate brake band, release. Adjusting winch brake can be a real chore, special 3/4 wrench. I just bought a open end wrench that is offset on one end works pretty good. Check for small oil leaks up and under before putting belly pan on, there are all kinds of oil lines in there. The oil pump release lever is on left side of cowl above clutch, works good for cold starts, but be sure to re-ingage ASAP as this stops pump from pumping transmission oil and oil to main hydraulic pump in front under radiator. These are some "stuff" that I have learned over time, will think of more stuff later and let you know.

 

[redprospector]

How often do you guys change the oil in these things anyway?

Anyway all good stuff, and keep it coming, now if I can find really cheap tires...

The JD book calls for 250 hours between oil changes on my 440b. I try to keep it changed at 200 hours. I don't use synthetic's though.
Those tires look to have a little life left in them. Keep the pressure about 16 to 18 psi. and you should have plenty of traction. If not, do what slam said & get a set of chains. I run chains year around on mine. I fill the rear tires on mine with winter blend windshield washer fluid. It will make that tippy little Deere a lot more stable machine.

Andy

 

[Icehouse]

Just a thought but most guys around here put their best 2 tires on back and chains on front. Will do well in most conditions, may have to put chains on rear if ice is a problem. I run front chains year around, my front tires are bald. The best chains are Trygg made in Norway, high dollar but worth it. Double or triple diamond are best, no ring chains, they just don't last. If you get rings keep a bag of 1/2" clevis for repair. I'll shut up now.

 

[Oldtimer]

Chain up all 4 as soon as you are able. It's hard to not use that "clutch" pedal, but in time you can run the machine all day and not touch it. Gotta love Deere powershift trannys.

 

[northmanlogging]

Its going to be tough to get em all chained up, but looks like the best option for the money. A guy can find "skidder chains" on CL here pretty often its just a matter of whether they fit... its not like they come with a tag on the inseem...

The power shift will be a new animal for me, shouldn't be to hard to figure out. What about shifting high to low or low to high? still no clutch needed?

And I talked to the guy today he's got the original maintenance, owners manual, and some other paper work for it, worth a small fortune on e-bay.

 

[Slamm]

In short, you basically don't ever have to use the foot clutch if you don't want to. I was told that starting heavy loads ......... if the machine was already "loaded" should be done with the foot clutch, and this would provide marginal additional life to the tranny ........... I don't always do this, LOL.

Just shift into 1st and push to 2nd and push to 3rd all the way to 8th and never touch the clutch............ when "dozing" back and forth you can just toggle between forward 1st and backwards 1st by flipping the lever back and forth after the machine has come to a "sorta stop".

As to the hand clutch you do not need to engage it quickly, that is the main clutch between the engine and the tranny, which is why they start so easy when its disengaged, as there isn't any load on the engine. Let the engine warm up first and then engage it and let the hydro and tranny warm up. If the hand clutch isn't engaged nothing will move, not the blade, not the wheels not the winch, because the engine isn't hooked up to anything at that point.

Better of the 4 tires on the back and chains on the front is the best compromise of performance and cost. I love Ice Chains/I hate ring chains. Ring Chains just beat your brains in, especially on a small machine and rattle your machine to death in 4-8th gear. I personally rarely or barely ever use chains, but then I'm barely ever on anything that would be consided a slope anymore............ life is good, hills suck, LOL.

I use synthetic and change at 200 or less hours, but look into bypass filters, basically your engine will never wear out and you don't have to change your oil, with one of those and good oil, and leave your engine running ......... instead of start and stopping it. They idle for cheap, starting and stopping is hard on everything, that is the key to long engine life. A $500 starter, plus down time, buys a lot of diesel for idling the machine and reduce the starts and stops buy 80%.

Sam

 

[northmanlogging]

Diesel starters are ridiculously spendy, I put three in the truck this year... 2 reman cheapos and one new one from a reputable parts house (Napa) guess which one is holding up...

Plus starting and stopping is just hard on any engine, idling sips the fuel, you might burn what maybe 2-3 gallons in 8 hours (and that's an inflated number), to me thats a small price to pay for long engine life, no diesel oh well guess we're not working today, oh no engine guess we're not working this month, and we taint making no money this year...

Even the "flat" ground around here is has got a bit of a slope to it, but its not all steep mountain slopes and yarder territory, there are a few valleys between all these mountains, there just kinda narrow...