Need a new loader

[KYLogger]

I know this has been covered before in various contexts, however I need to know from a full time "depend on this as my sole source of income" viewpoint. I currently load with a 85hp FWA farm tractor (common practice around here) it works good as long as I have plenty of room to maneuver and it's dry. If I am cramped and it's muddy, well......life just plain sucks!

I have been looking at a knuckleboom, but moving one around and setting it up on a small deck can be a pain. I also am thinking of a track loader (450-455 etc..) My buddys got one and it works well. But what I am drooling over is a fairly large tracked (or over tire tracks) skidsteer. Anyone have any experience loading a log truck with one? I usually dig a hole with the dozer to load in so height would not be an issue. I am concerned about reach, providing I cannot load from both sides (which is sometimes the case). The versatility of a skidsteer would be nice as well.........

Any advice, input or ridicule is welcomed and appreciated:msp_wink:

 

[8433jeff]

Gonna be a fairly big skid steer to load logs with. And the reach isn't there. Look for a used telehandler, with taller tires it should be equal to or better than a FWA. A quick tach is common, so you can go from forks to bucket if need be.

 

[northmanlogging]

If my memory is correct you gots a dozer and a skidder right, so my next step would be an excavator one of them little dudes say a 110-120 size ish with a thumb would be pretty handy, guy could stack and sort with it and not have to be moving all over the landing every time he picked up a log, just grab and rotate. So in wet muddy conditions you could almost park it in one place until the job is done and just back the truck/s up to it and load away. Pretty sure you can get the smaller ones with a log grapple on em...

Paying for one is a bit of an issue though:msp_unsure: they can be a bit spendy

 

[redprospector]

I guess it depends on what you call a fairly large skid steer.
I used to use an 863 Bobcat for several years, and that's as small as I think you could get by with. Yes you can load a truck with it, but the reach isn't really enough to load from one side.
If you do choose to use a skid steer to move logs I highly recomend a grapple bucket of some kind, makes things a lot quicker and safer.
A log loader is built to do one thing, move logs, and it does it well.
A skid steer is built to do a lot of things, and it does them all ok.

Andy

 

[KYLogger]

I had the same thought about using an excavator, the guy logging down the road from the house is loading with his knuckleboom on one job and a 315 Cat on another job. The versatility would be awesome. I would need to find a hoe that I could haul on my 10 ton tagalong. I was looking at an older pc 60 Komatsu hoe, $12,000 not too bad but the controls are way out in front like a rubber tire hoe or somethin. That would take some gettin used to. The skid steer I was lookin at was a TL 150 Takehuchi I have got alot of hours in a 140 and they are a stout, well built outfit. I need to do somethin' soon!

 

[northmanlogging]

I've thought about getting one of the really little excavators, but kinda doubt they could pick up the wood I work with, plus they generally don't have a cab or any kind of cage on em so it would be dangerous as Hel, but the slightly larger ones would do it... most of the big outfiits around here run the mammoth 300 series that you need oversize trucking and a lowboy to move, I just don't work jobs that big...

I've seen piktures of the knuckle boom things, there mounted on a tailer frame right? seems kinda silly to have a loader that can't move on its own, my uncle used one for years that was a loader on a truck frame, so it was highway mobile and to some extent landing mobile, sure they have a name for em but that was years ago and its the only one I've seen in these parts... remember seeing some on fleebay and craigskrooks on the east coast for reasonable amounts...

 

[StihlKiwi]

Whats a knuckleboom? I thought that was the same as an excavator.

 

[northmanlogging]

here ya go... maybe, might be kinda small...

 

[StihlKiwi]

Ah yep I've seen them before.. Swamp loggers or something I think. Whats the point of having an effectively immobile loader on the skid?

My vote would be for an excavator, pretty versatile piece of gear if you have a grapple and a bucket for it

 

[8433jeff]

Whats a knuckleboom? I thought that was the same as an excavator.

Some knucklebooms have the arm and grapple mounted on the truck, no cab.

Self Loaders - Prentice

 

[GRTimberCO]

Everyone full time logging around this part of the world that I've ever seen uses some version of a knuckleboom. I've heard there is a guy around Gaffney, SC that uses a huge skid steer on tracks to sort and load. They say he loves it but I can't imagine that working well for high production logging. I've seen knucklebooms sort, limb, buck and stack 20+ loads a day. It works pretty well for the way we log.

Now, since y'all didn't know what a knuckleboom is, I don't feel so stupid asking this question - what is a "gypo" logger?

 

[northmanlogging]

Everyone full time logging around this part of the world that I've ever seen uses some version of a knuckleboom. I've heard there is a guy around Gaffney, SC that uses a huge skid steer on tracks to sort and load. They say he loves it but I can't imagine that working well for high production logging. I've seen knucklebooms sort, limb, buck and stack 20+ loads a day. It works pretty well for the way we log.

Now, since y'all didn't know what a knuckleboom is, I don't feel so stupid asking this question - what is a "gypo" logger?

Gyppo, is slang for small scale independent logger, started out because back in the day the independents never stayed on one job very long, they where very mobile kinda like Gypsys, unfortunately many gyppos are less then ethical so now its sometimes used as derogatory term

 

[slowp]

"I'm just a poor old gypo logger, tryin to make ends meet...
[video=youtube_share;3CXSSLGfjlo]http://youtu.be/3CXSSLGfjlo[/video]

My favorite Buzz Martin tune. We gotta close you down.

 

[StihlKiwi]

Some knucklebooms have the arm and grapple mounted on the truck, no cab.

Self Loaders - Prentice

We have self loaders here too, but ours have the loader mounted at the back of the truck so the trailer can be loaded easily.

 

[GRTimberCO]

To the OP, what kind of terrain are you in? What kind of loaders do most of the loggers in your area use?

 

[nhlogga]

Excavator with a log bucket is the way to go.
http://www.arboristsite.com/forestry-logging-forum/194624.htm

 

[KYLogger]

I log in E. Ky, the terrain is fairly hilly (read that mountainous, but I didn't want to peeve off the WC guys ) Alot of times the deck is really small and cramped. The guys around here are pretty well split with some having knucklebooms, some farm tractors, some with industrial loaders, track loaders, a few excavators. You never see a shovel loader in these parts. But one while being highly practical is also highly cost prohibitive!

A knuckleboom would be awesome, however toting one around and trying to find room for it on some decks would be a nightmare. Same goes with a self loading truck, logs can't always be skidded right to truck........

 

[floyd]

Maybe you want a 16K # trackhoe with a winch?

 

[4x4American]

We love our John Deere 450-B that we put a valby grapple on. Great machine very useful.

View attachment 277093

 

[Steve NW WI]

Gonna be a fairly big skid steer to load logs with. And the reach isn't there. Look for a used telehandler, with taller tires it should be equal to or better than a FWA. A quick tach is common, so you can go from forks to bucket if need be.

We have a JCB 540-something at work for outside jobs. I really want one here, 5500# lift, and a cute little package that's almost as maneuverable as a skidloader, also just under 10K lbs, so gooseneck transportable. The problem I see is that if the OP is having trouble in mud with a FWA farm tractor, he's gonna have trouble with one of these, or an untracked skiddy for that matter.

An answer for the OP might be a knuckleboom mounted on a surplus deuce and a half, self transporting, fairly mobile off road, and reasonably inexpensive. Upgrade to a 5 ton, and you've got enough machine to pull the skidder on a trailer to the next job.