skidding logs with a tractor? or?

[sean donato]

I just feel like John Deere or Kubota, you are paying for the name. and if you want extras you have to pay for them, when Kioti and TYM come standard with extra rear remotes. plus the lift capacity is higher than the others. I would think they would have improved on quality in the last 20 yrs.

Certainly there's some paying for the name, however I have to agree with @Lionsfan I can get nearly every part for my old man's 74 L series from kubota, and any part i need for B series. Same can be said for deere, case etc. Not a knock on tym or kioti but they just arnt that good. (At least around here.) There's also the dealer trust thing, which I don't have much for most. Messicks is one of the better ones, and they are fairly close to me. I can't comment on the tym dealer. Kioti already proved plenty of times they ain't got what it takes. (Regonal issue hopefully.)
loader lift specs arnt everything and unless they are taking the ratings from the same spot. (Pin, however many inches in front of the pin, quick attach etc.) You can figure they will be close to the same. Look at break out force and tipping weight for a better comparison. (If either are given) in truth most loaders will lift about the same in any given size tractor, you're usually limited to the tires, not mechanically.
You got me on the rear remote, that should be a standard option on all tractors, however I'll point out that, thats fairly standard with other tractors too. The T4.75 new Holland we got, we had to option in the second and third rear remote. (I think we could get up to 4 rear remotes.) I can't remember exactly, but I think the case and deer we about the same.

 

[Sidecarflip]

Have not been reading along but, when we lived in Ohio many years ago, we rented a home in the country that had a large woodlot on the back 40 and the landlord allowed me to cut and haul out downed wood, mostly hardwood and the house had a woodburning furnace and we used it.

At that time I bought an old International Farmall A, 4 cylinder gas tractor and I skidded the logs with it all the time. Paid like a grand for it, was a 1946, 4 speed gear drive, no front wheel assist but had R1's on the back and a differential lock. I skidded whole trees out with it for the 3 years we lived there, never had an issue.

Up here in the farm (I farm now, part time) I own a pair of Kubota M9000's, turbo diesels, front wheel assist and the both have a lot of ground clearance and I use them to skid out timber as well, but nothing underneath to catch on anything like say a mower. They are ag-utility tractors, both have front end loaders and I remove the buckets when I'm in the woods out back and I use the drawbar, chain and clevis to drag logs. I would never own a HST tractor, they are for non ag use anyway. My units each weigh about 7,000 pounds each and make 93 PTO horsepower and both have R1 tires and locking diff's. They have around 13" of ground clearance and you won't buy one for 15 grand either. I bought them new in 2002 and each was around 56 grand.

You don't want any tractor with a belly mower as you have no ground clearance any way. Get yourself an old gas powered unit in good running condition and use it and leave the lawn mowing to a lawn mower.

In today's market, about all you'll get is an older gasser for 15 grand. Look on Tractor House for a used one in good condition. Brand is inconsequential. Lots of older used ones on Tractor House for sale.

Forget new. All 15 grand will get you is a good down payment and a payment book and not much else.

My 2 cents.

 

[pdqdl]

Made= built.
America= united states of America, specifically Georgia, Illinois, and Kansas.
Some are still made in Japan and assembled in the usa but I'm not certain what the hp/model cut off is.

John Deere is based in Waterloo, Iowa.

Just sayin'.

 

[benz66]

John Deere is based in Waterloo, Iowa.

Just sayin'.

JD world HQ is Moline, IL. Waterloo Works is a shadow of its former self. They assemble the large tractors there. None of us on this list will be buying a waterloo tractor. Most are selling for over $1,000,000 now. JD small tractors are Yanmar, with some made in USA components. Somehow JD has finagled a way to be able to call them Made in USA. Yanmar and kubota are good tractors. JD just announced huge layoffs. Shipping work to Mexico and some other country. JD Manheim works used to assemble the midrange tractors in Germany. I don't know what is done in the Manheim works now.

 

[benz66]

Have not been reading along but, when we lived in Ohio many years ago, we rented a home in the country that had a large woodlot on the back 40 and the landlord allowed me to cut and haul out downed wood, mostly hardwood and the house had a woodburning furnace and we used it.

At that time I bought an old International Farmall A, 4 cylinder gas tractor and I skidded the logs with it all the time. Paid like a grand for it, was a 1946, 4 speed gear drive, no front wheel assist but had R1's on the back and a differential lock. I skidded whole trees out with it for the 3 years we lived there, never had an issue.

Up here in the farm (I farm now, part time) I own a pair of Kubota M9000's, turbo diesels, front wheel assist and the both have a lot of ground clearance and I use them to skid out timber as well, but nothing underneath to catch on anything like say a mower. They are ag-utility tractors, both have front end loaders and I remove the buckets when I'm in the woods out back and I use the drawbar, chain and clevis to drag logs. I would never own a HST tractor, they are for non ag use anyway. My units each weigh about 7,000 pounds each and make 93 PTO horsepower and both have R1 tires and locking diff's. They have around 13" of ground clearance and you won't buy one for 15 grand either. I bought them new in 2002 and each was around 56 grand.

You don't want any tractor with a belly mower as you have no ground clearance any way. Get yourself an old gas powered unit in good running condition and use it and leave the lawn mowing to a lawn mower.

In today's market, about all you'll get is an older gasser for 15 grand. Look on Tractor House for a used one in good condition. Brand is inconsequential. Lots of older used ones on Tractor House for sale.

Forget new. All 15 grand will get you is a good down payment and a payment book and not much else.

My 2 cents.

There are bargains available at times. Farm sales, and sometimes tractor scrapyards have deals. I have been using my Farmall H for skidding. Not ideal. (25 HP, but large frame and 36" tires) THis method gets a lot of sand in the bark, unless you can skid on snow. When we had JDs, I skidded winter only with 1530 with the post hole auger frame. 1. it acted as a wheelie bar, to prevent backflips. 2. allowed using 3 pt hitch to control the weight on the rear tires. 1530 had a diff lock. Still allowed use of brakes for steering. Allows picking up one end of smaller logs to lessen dirt adhesion. I pulled some huge logs out of impossible situations with that rig.

 

[pdqdl]

Ok. I'll take your word for that. I haven't been up that way for a long time.

Still, if they are building the big tractors there, we shouldn't be excluding Iowa from the list states that represent "Made in America".

BTW: when I was hauling flatbed freight back in 1983, I was picking up a lot of loads from the small John Deere factories in the North. The bulk of our freight was painted green, and the company I was driving for was also based in Waterloo. I made regular trips to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Quad cities... They had little lawnmower and small tractor plants all over. I was aware, however, that they were phasing the plants out and moving to overseas manufacturing.

Before too long, they were shutting the plants and all the small tractor freight dried up.​

 

[Lionsfan]

Have not been reading along but, when we lived in Ohio many years ago, we rented a home in the country that had a large woodlot on the back 40 and the landlord allowed me to cut and haul out downed wood, mostly hardwood and the house had a woodburning furnace and we used it.

At that time I bought an old International Farmall A, 4 cylinder gas tractor and I skidded the logs with it all the time. Paid like a grand for it, was a 1946, 4 speed gear drive, no front wheel assist but had R1's on the back and a differential lock. I skidded whole trees out with it for the 3 years we lived there, never had an issue.

Up here in the farm (I farm now, part time) I own a pair of Kubota M9000's, turbo diesels, front wheel assist and the both have a lot of ground clearance and I use them to skid out timber as well, but nothing underneath to catch on anything like say a mower. They are ag-utility tractors, both have front end loaders and I remove the buckets when I'm in the woods out back and I use the drawbar, chain and clevis to drag logs. I would never own a HST tractor, they are for non ag use anyway. My units each weigh about 7,000 pounds each and make 93 PTO horsepower and both have R1 tires and locking diff's. They have around 13" of ground clearance and you won't buy one for 15 grand either. I bought them new in 2002 and each was around 56 grand.

You don't want any tractor with a belly mower as you have no ground clearance any way. Get yourself an old gas powered unit in good running condition and use it and leave the lawn mowing to a lawn mower.

In today's market, about all you'll get is an older gasser for 15 grand. Look on Tractor House for a used one in good condition. Brand is inconsequential. Lots of older used ones on Tractor House for sale.

Forget new. All 15 grand will get you is a good down payment and a payment book and not much else.

My 2 cents.

Why wouldn't you own an hst machine??

 

[kenmbz]

Thumb or forks on my baby tractor work for me. I also have a winch to skid wood into place in tight spots.
Home made belly cover to protect fan and filter.

 

[sean donato]

Ok. I'll take your word for that. I haven't been up that way for a long time.

Still, if they are building the big tractors there, we shouldn't be excluding Iowa from the list states that represent "Made in America".

BTW: when I was hauling flatbed freight back in 1983, I was picking up a lot of loads from the small John Deere factories in the North. The bulk of our freight was painted green, and the company I was driving for was also based in Waterloo. I made regular trips to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Quad cities... They had little lawnmower and small tractor plants all over. I was aware, however, that they were phasing the plants out and moving to overseas manufacturing.

Before too long, they were shutting the plants and all the small tractor freight dried up.​

That list was exclusive to kubota, had nothing to do with deere.

 

[StihlPotlicker]

Why wouldn't you own an hst machine??

I would never own one (unless it was free, but then I would trade it for a shuttle shift geared one) because I don't have flat land that I would only be brush hogging. you lose more pto hp with hst, more filters to change, cost about $3500 more. every dealer I talked to said if I want to skid logs, plow, disc, go with gear drive, but if I am brush hogging open flat fields and want the wife to drive it, then get a hst

 

[Lionsfan]

I would never own one (unless it was free, but then I would trade it for a shuttle shift geared one) because I don't have flat land that I would only be brush hogging. you lose more pto hp with hst, more filters to change, cost about $3500 more. every dealer I talked to said if I want to skid logs, plow, disc, go with gear drive, but if I am brush hogging open flat fields and want the wife to drive it, then get a hst

You do lose pto hp with a hydro. I shopped Massey Ferguson, Kubota, TYM, LS, and Mahindra in similar sized machines. Shuttle shift units were typically priced $1,000 cheaper than the same machine in a hydro. I owned a 1920 New Holland with a shuttle shift. It was a respectable piece of equipment, but for my needs the hydro is a better fit.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Have not been reading along but, when we lived in Ohio many years ago, we rented a home in the country that had a large woodlot on the back 40 and the landlord allowed me to cut and haul out downed wood, mostly hardwood and the house had a woodburning furnace and we used it.

At that time I bought an old International Farmall A, 4 cylinder gas tractor and I skidded the logs with it all the time. Paid like a grand for it, was a 1946, 4 speed gear drive, no front wheel assist but had R1's on the back and a differential lock. I skidded whole trees out with it for the 3 years we lived there, never had an issue.


My 2 cents.

You must have had the only Farmall A that was ever built, that had a diff lock!

SR

 

[sean donato]

I would never own one (unless it was free, but then I would trade it for a shuttle shift geared one) because I don't have flat land that I would only be brush hogging. you lose more pto hp with hst, more filters to change, cost about $3500 more. every dealer I talked to said if I want to skid logs, plow, disc, go with gear drive, but if I am brush hogging open flat fields and want the wife to drive it, then get a hst

there are plenty of old hydro tractors that worked fields for years and years with zero issues. The last one i had at the shop was a gas 656 hydro, original owners grandson brought it in for its third engine rebuild, and fresh paint. 80th birthday gift for his grandad. That tractor plowed 100 odd acres for years with no trans issues, thousands of hours on it.

 

[fields_mj]

I have to admit that if a significant amount of my tractors work was going to be with ground engaging implements (other than a tiller), I wouldn't even think about an HST. Its not that none of them can do it, but when you push their limits (which is prone to happen with that kind of work), the resulting repair bill tends to be significantly higher. Conversely, for mowing and loader work on relatively even ground, the HST is hard to beat. I've not yet owned or operated a shuttle shift, but they seem to be a really good blend of both.

 

[sean donato]

I don't get the hilly ground is bad for hydros, or "working them to the max" will decrease their longevity. If what you mean is a gear drive will take abuse better, then sure I'll agree. Worked heavy equipment too long to believe that bs. Hydros get a bad rap from people abusing the crap out of them in smaller tractors/equipment. It's a varriable speed hydraulic pump/motor bolted to a mechanical transmission. With even semi modern tractors with shuttle or power shift there's just as much of not more to go wrong. I can't think of a shuttle shift tractor that actually deactivates a mechanical clutch and isn't decouppled with hydraulics. Heck some of them are electronically controlled now. We demoed a case with a boom mower for road bank mowing, the shuttle was a little plastic lever, forward, revers and lift up to "de clutch". Still had a clutch pedal, still needed it for range changes but didn't need it for 1 through 6 gears between ranges. That was another lever over in the right side control panel. The t4.75 was "gear" drive with a hydraulic shuttle. 1-4 "super synchronized" (no clutch needed to shift up and down, unless jumping gears) and range changes needed done at a stop. Way over complicated for a gear drive tractor.

 

[benz66]

You must have had the only Farmall A that was ever built, that had a diff lock!

SR

Maybe M&W made a diff lock to add on for B & C. It would also work on A. I've never heard of a diff lock on any letter tractors. But every one is different. For the hundreds of thousands of H and M made, I have never seen 2 identical. Diff lock on an A raised my eyebrows too. I loved the A for what it would do. Never thought of using one for skidding, but we always had bigger tractors available.

 

[fields_mj]

Hilly ground shouldn't be an issue in and off itself. Actually, I can think of MANY applications where I would prefer an HST on a hill instead of gears primarily because I can go from forward to reverse while on the side of a hill without touching the clutch. Pulling a ground implement all day, on the other hand, is a different story. Its not that an HST can't do it, but I do question whether or not the hydraulic systems on most CUTs and SCUTs have adequate cooling for that kind of work. Personally, I wouldn't trust a HST that had 3k hours on it and had spent a lot its time pulling a plow. I wouldn't even give it a 2nd thought on a gear drive though.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Maybe M&W made a diff lock to add on for B & C. It would also work on A. I've never heard of a diff lock on any letter tractors. But every one is different. For the hundreds of thousands of H and M made, I have never seen 2 identical. Diff lock on an A raised my eyebrows too. I loved the A for what it would do. Never thought of using one for skidding, but we always had bigger tractors available.

NO A had a diff lock, you just pushed the brake on the side that the wheel was spinning.

I have an A and other letter series tractors, personally I wouldn't want to have to use one for skidding any logs that had any size to them.

As for letter series tractors being identical, I have two BN's that are identical, I don't think it's all that uncommon.

SR

 

[sean donato]

Hilly ground shouldn't be an issue in and off itself. Actually, I can think of MANY applications where I would prefer an HST on a hill instead of gears primarily because I can go from forward to reverse while on the side of a hill without touching the clutch. Pulling a ground implement all day, on the other hand, is a different story. Its not that an HST can't do it, but I do question whether or not the hydraulic systems on most CUTs and SCUTs have adequate cooling for that kind of work. Personally, I wouldn't trust a HST that had 3k hours on it and had spent a lot its time pulling a plow. I wouldn't even give it a 2nd thought on a gear drive though.

There's no reason not to trust it over anything else. I have ~3400hrs on my B series. I bought it off a rental company in Blue ball. Was a long term lease machine, all the maintenance was done by the rental company. Spent half it's life at a sports complex mowing, dragging fields and plowing snow then went to a produce farm. After that i bought it. Of all the stupid things that needed fixed, the engine and trans have never been touched outside of normal maintenance and the brakes were replaced once.

 

[pdqdl]

That list was exclusive to kubota, had nothing to do with deere.

If you're gonna get fussy about those details, you should make that clear from the start of the conversation.