John Deere vs. Garrett... wittle skidder

[dnash]

What about shifting high to low or low to high? still no clutch needed?

By the sounds of it, you have the syncro-shift transmission, not the powershift. Can you post a picture of the shifter/dash area? I'm not sure it can be driven in the same manner as the powershift.

 

[Slamm]

If you have the syncro shift, the skidder is still good, but not as good as a skidder with the powershift. Take a pic of the shifter setup.

I drove a 440D and hated that transmission, basically the same skidder as a 540B but has the syncro tranny.

If you have the syncro shift you will be using the clutch .......... a lot. The powershift doesn't have a HIGH and LOW, it just has 8 forward gears and 4 backwards gears.

Sam

 

[northmanlogging]

Its dark when I get home and dark when I leave, and its 2 miles from home, so I will try to describe the shifter... directly to the right of the steering wheel there are two levers nearest to wheel is marked 1-5, 2-6, 3-7, 4-8, next one out is marked I, N, II, R. movment is forward and back with a sort of slolum course, not yer standard H shift pattern, there is a hand throttle sticking more or less straight out the top of the steering wheel housing, and to the far left is what I assume is the hand brake, unless its the mysterious hand clutch of which you speak... eh I dunno... I don't think the guy what sold it to me really knew what everything did, twas his father's or grandfather's. In addition in the center below the steering wheel is bar I was told engages the winch pto. and on the left side of the drivers seat is a T handle deal that connects to the winch I assume as well that that controls free spool, pull, and hold, former owner didn't know how it worked. Its a little different than the good old lever I'm used to... I'll try to get some more graphic images Saturday or Sunday, no promises though. Thanks again

 

[Oldtimer]

It's not a true powershift. But still beats a torque convverter or a true standard.

 

[northmanlogging]

Got it home today Barely... pulled off the road to let some angry people go by and the shaky fuel line had enough, took a 50 mile trip to get it fixed and about an hour of hand pumping, so a 10 min trip home ended up taking about 3 hours, got a spare tire out of the deal to.

I was going to skip the pull out and just finish the last 1/2 mile home but... decided I should just to be nice, good thing too taint no where else to pull out and no shoulder to speak of.

Its a "synchro shift" whatever that means, and I'm pretty sure there is a family of bats in the air cleaner, runs fine at an idle anything over half throttle and she wants balk and spit blue smoke. I'll try and get some more picture up EENter nut is really bad today...

 

[redprospector]

Got it home today Barely... pulled off the road to let some angry people go by and the shaky fuel line had enough, took a 50 mile trip to get it fixed and about an hour of hand pumping, so a 10 min trip home ended up taking about 3 hours, got a spare tire out of the deal to.

I was going to skip the pull out and just finish the last 1/2 mile home but... decided I should just to be nice, good thing too taint no where else to pull out and no shoulder to speak of.

Its a "synchro shift" whatever that means, and I'm pretty sure there is a family of bats in the air cleaner, runs fine at an idle anything over half throttle and she wants balk and spit blue smoke. I'll try and get some more picture up EENter nut is really bad today...

Synchro Shift is John Deere's way of saying Manual Transmission. It's what I have in my 440b, I started to say that earlier but you left out the P at the top of the left side shifter. Speaking of the P, if it doesn't want to come out of P on a hill (and it will not want to sooner or later), don't panic, and don't force it. If you're heading down hill, put the right shifter in R and ease out a little on the clutch, it'll slip right out. Just the opposite if you're heading up hill. Don't trust the Park station, or the hand brake when getting off the machine, put the blade down hard.
All in all, it's a decent system. A lot cheaper to work on than a power shift if you ever do have problems.

Andy

 

[northmanlogging]

I'm thinking about moving the tires to the narrow mount side... If that's even possible. The wheels appear to be able to mount either way? Other than the obvious stability issue is there any other reason not to do this? As it is right now there is no fluid in the wheels that I can tell so I shouldn't need to call in for help from a tire store to pull this off, and then I could fit it in the back yard and tear out the fuel tank without the neighbors getting all uppity.

 

[redprospector]

I'm thinking about moving the tires to the narrow mount side... If that's even possible. The wheels appear to be able to mount either way? Other than the obvious stability issue is there any other reason not to do this? As it is right now there is no fluid in the wheels that I can tell so I shouldn't need to call in for help from a tire store to pull this off, and then I could fit it in the back yard and tear out the fuel tank without the neighbors getting all uppity.

Hmm. Don't know, never thought about trying to make it more narrow. It's only 8' wide as it sit's with 18.4x26 tires. I think tearing the back yard fence out, and then replacing it would be easier. If I did have to narrow it, I sure wouldn't want to try to work it that way. Like I said earlier, they are pretty tippy.

Andy

 

[northmanlogging]

More along the lines of tearing the wood shed out... it would probably fit I'm just not real comfortable driving it through there as is besides I can always move the welder allot easier

 

[Driver625]

Park it in the neighbors yard. Then they can't get uppity about it being in your yard. Just a thought.:msp_smile: I'd let you park it my yard but I can't guarantee my 6 yr old wouldn't drive off with it. She's a wild one.:msp_sneaky: