this weather sucks

[056kid]

20+ feet is seasonal. If you think its far fetched look it up. But to get through the 3-5 feet of ground snow you take your snowshoe and dig at the base until you hit the root flare. Cut/limb/top then drive the skidder on the roads that you previously froze in, and haul them out.

Anywho I'm starting to remember why I avoid this forum... Too many 22 year old kids who think they have seen and know it all...

Avoide it then, sounds like your gettin mad though. You may have it different where you get 20 feet of snow. You get 6 inches of snow overtop of all kinds of laps & you are gonna be one slip slidin dude. I looked at some topos if MI, you have less than 1000 feet to work on so I guess your idea of a mountain is about like the Floridians. . .

As far as I know, I am the only 22 year old here, & i know i havent seen it all & dont know it all, but I can smell horse manure. I think i could show your 548 places where it would have some issues if the snow started falling. . . . . . . . .

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I think i could show your 548 places where it would have some issues if the snow started falling. . . . . . . . .

I know many places it won't go. But those same places it won't go with snow it also won't go in the summer time. Some ground is too steep for a skidder be it dry or snow covered. Properly freezing in a road/trail can make it firm like a dirt road IME.

Your right we don't have large changes in elevation. But we do have many sections of steep ground with exposed bedrock. We successfully navigate it year round, without much issue.

Guess it just comes down to the area. Some people have no choice but to log in the deep snow as it is the only way to get the timber out (like here for example).

 

[ms290]

Well down south in Oklahoma its either iced up roads so we cant haul or its just wet enough to not be able to get into where i need to be. im going to cut some hackberry this weekend in some easy pickens land so maybe ill get lucky and be able to haul out without to much trouble.

 

[tramp bushler]

I know many places it won't go. But those same places it won't go with snow it also won't go in the summer time. Some ground is too steep for a skidder be it dry or snow covered. Properly freezing in a road/trail can make it firm like a dirt road IME.

Your right we don't have large changes in elevation. But we do have many sections of steep ground with exposed bedrock. We successfully navigate it year round, without much issue.

Guess it just comes down to the area. Some people have no choice but to log in the deep snow as it is the only way to get the timber out (like here for example).

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. If you get in a good frozen skid road , alot of times it is easier than bare ground !!! alot depends on the snow condition !! .
. Tahoe ,? what kind of chains do you use on your skidder ? . Pics please if you can .... I,m going to need to invest in chains for my skidder by next winter so I'm getting all the info I can and as you are in real snow your opinion is really valued .....

 

[redprospector]

Well, since my comment got this crap started, I think I'll try to explain what I think the difference is in being able to do things with a skidder.

I know that in MI it get's colder than hell, and Alaska is colder than that. I'm not in MI or Alaska though. I'm in Southern New Mexico. Hell, if you go 75 miles south as the crow flies from my house, you'd be in Mexico. I think we've had 4 nights that got below 0. It usually get's to the mid teens at night, so generally you can work until about 9:30 or 10:00 AM before the world starts melting out from under you.
I can see getting all kinds of work done if the ground was frozen 2 or 3 feet deep, but unfortunatly, that's not the case here this year.
I don't know how it is in other places, but around here we have to rehab what we tear up. Since it's expensive to do, and I really hate seeding any more than I have to, I shut down before it get's too muddy.
The original deal I think was talking about too much snow to skidd. Around here it happens, if your ground ain't frozen good it all goes to :censored: in a hurry.

Andy

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

.
. Tahoe ,? what kind of chains do you use on your skidder ?

Using a bear paw type chain right now. Will try to grab some pictures one of these days. Next year going to probably try studded ring chains and see if they make any difference.

 

[Slamm]

I have experience with 540 A's and B's and I can tell you that when it comes to chains, get the ICE chains. We had a machine in IA that with 4 bearclaws on it wouldn't pull itself up a steep creek bank. We had to leave the machine in the creek and took the bearclaws off and installed 2 of the 4 ice chains that we had. The machine finished that job and 3 others with just 2 ice chains on the back tires and it did much better than the bearclaws on all four tires.

That being said, I got 6 bearclaws thrown in with my 2 skidders and I would much rather trade someone all 6 chains for two good ice chains, because I think they are that good.

The other nice benefit of Ice chains is you can run just as fast, as without chains and get just as smooth of a ride, without bouncing over those rings all the time.

My experience,

Sam

 

[hammerlogging]

If your truly logging mountains when why are you using a skidder at all?
.

Bladed skid trails are by all means out of hand in our mouintains, bladed skid trails on > 60% slopes happen. But, properly located and frequency minimized, bladed skid trails on contour are used for transporting bunched wood to the last place where the trucks can get. Its cheaper than building a haul road way back in there, and might as well keep harvesting cost as low as possible within appropriate env. constraints. Consider these roads as permanent harvesting infrastructure, with proper closeout they are not a water quality problem and minimize % of site affected, minimal affect on productive acreage.
i.e. how else are you going to get the wood out of there?

We go roadless where its more appropriate, or necessary. But, sometimes you still have to swing from your yarder to the landing with a grapple skidder

Redprospector- we have all sort of that freeze thaw crap too in Appalachia. Koller eh? Hell yeah!!!

 

[slowp]

There's differences in snow texture and there's differences in soils. I lived near the UP, and the snow in that area was lighter and fluffier than our concrete--usually. I could drive in a foot of that snow no problem. I have problems driving through 6 inches of the heavy glop we usually get.

In Central Oregon, you either walked on snowshoes or on a packed, skid trail or you would disappear. The guys there who were hand falling, either had the trees shoveled out by exchange students (love that term!) or a cat was used to doze out around the tree.

In AZ, like New Mexico, the temps would rise and you were left with a messy, slippery, clay which made things too interesting to drive or log in.

Here? We are set up for yarder logging on rocked roads and landings. But what with all the seasonal restrictions, there just isn't much logging to worry about in the winter. The one side going would normally be forbidden to operate due to being on a snowmobile route. Last year there was snow up to the loader deck. This year it is bare in the timber and not much on the roads. Last year the outhouse in the snowpark was buried. This year it is bare around it. El Nino makes for mild winters and unhappy skiers.

 

[tlandrum]

i am currently using ring chains but when the ground has not got a bottom to it nothing helps. the mud on the skid trail side of my loader is knee deep and the consistancy of peanut butter. we just had 2 inches of snow over night and its already gone by afternoon so more mud to follow. i am really trying to not tear up the ground everywhere on this job but i am about to have to go full tilt and make some money ,then go back and fix my trails and re seed in the drier months. at this rate i will be til june doing a 100 acre select cut.