2wd Forest Tractor - Opinions

[Matthew Storrs]

6 hours ago, drinksloe said:

Do u think these crawler tractors are better than the 4wd alternatives for the more modern wetter climates?

 

How do they cope going up steep hills? I now the tracks are a bit more aggresive than digger tracks bit rubber tracked diggers do struggle in greasy conditions

 

Some of them are not that expensive

I’m not sure how they perform in a forestry environment vs conventional. But certainly in soft conditions they are going to have far more flotation than a standard tractor, I hire in a tracked dumper with similar undercarriage every now and again and that thing goes anywhere- floats over soft Peat bogland. It’s quite common for crawler tractors to be on steel with grousers fitted- doubt you’d ever stop one.

Clay ground isn’t so great with rubber tracks.

[Matthew Storrs]

https://www.tractorsandplant.com/product/marooka-mk220-tracked-tractor/

 

Found this beasty the other day for sale.

[MattyF]

Do u think these crawler tractors are better than the 4wd alternatives for the more modern wetter climates?
 
How do they cope going up steep hills? I now the tracks are a bit more aggresive than digger tracks bit rubber tracked diggers do struggle in greasy conditions
 
Some of them are not that expensive

I know where there’s one of these for sale around 7k I think he wanted
For smaller scale extraction it looks ideal but the guy said he has used it for big hardwoods.

[LeeGray]

6 minutes ago, MattyF said:

I know where there’s one of these for sale around 7k I think he wanted
For smaller scale extraction it looks ideal but the guy said he has used it for big hardwoods.

Has it got a 3 point link and pto matty?

[MattyF]

Tractor porn awesomeness-keep it up!!!
4x4 would definitely be my first choice but they are either over budget or have had the daylights kicked out of them. Would 2wd do till budget allows for a 4wd...plus when you’ve got a big snig on what difference do the front wheels make when they are up in the air???

Depends if you have independent rear brakes , not sure if that is a feature on modern 2wd tractors it is certainly what makes the old fordsons and the like great skidding machines.
Never had the 6400 up in the air skidding as it’s used for felling or winching on to a landing but it can get itself in better positions to winch that’s probably more important , the reality is advoid skidding and winch as little as possible .... dirt and saws don’t mix plus if you have saw logs it devalues them.

[skc101fc]

Depends if you have independent rear brakes , not sure if that is a feature on modern 2wd tractors it is certainly what makes the old fordsons and the like great skidding machines.
Never had the 6400 up in the air skidding as it’s used for felling or winching on to a landing but it can get itself in better positions to winch that’s probably more important , the reality is advoid skidding and winch as little as possible .... dirt and saws don’t mix plus if you have saw logs it devalues them.

Now there's the real important issue. My heart sinks when a client tells me he's skidded the logs to a convenient worksite.
As a sawmiller the last thing you want to see is logs plastered with mud, with stones and gravel packed into all the crotches, crevices and branch joints. I know its going to be a slow day trying to scrape and brush the worst of the shite off, and expensive in damaged blades.
If you need to skid, keep one end as high as possible, so the log drags only on the heel end, which can be cut off at the landing site.
Come on keep 'em clean guys.
Shaun

[drinksloe]

47 minutes ago, MattyF said:

I know where there’s one of these for sale around 7k I think he wanted
For smaller scale extraction it looks ideal but the guy said he has used it for big hardwoods.

 

That's not a lot of money for a tool like that (esp if it has PTO and 3 point links, which i'm guessing it does)

Does he ever have any bother getting brash stuck in about the track rollers?

 

A mate bought a larger version iseki? in the spring this year for working the posst knocker as sick of being stuck with his tractor, not spoke to him for a while but said he liked it the 1st month.

Be intresting to see if he's still using it with this dry spell or back on to his tractor till winter time again.

It wasn't a lot of money for the age and looked a tidy machine

 

Few years ago we were fencing a big hill job (10km+) over very soft ground and carted the gearout/in every day with a clapped out old Massey 290? (so old it never had a pto but a big spinning fly wheel u put a belt on) had twins on it and it travelled no probs and floated over the wet bits.

The chapper tractor was a MF390 4wd with twins all round and only needed to look at a wet hole to sink out of sight, often the old massey had driven throu the same hole laying out stuff and never even marked the ground

But postknocker do make tractors very heavy even with twins on

[difflock]

Take it from me, tracks, whether steel or rubber baint no fun when going over stumps, as the Yanks ud say they be a "force multipler", and yes I would have doubts about rubber tracks gripping, based on my somewhat limited digger experience.

That Yanmar bes a sweet bit of kit though, with its differential steering, complete with a steering wheel, I presume.

marcus

P.S.

Re the "skidding", me being in rank Moss, stones, or even grit are not an issue, and skidding is simply the most efficient way, if not the only practical way,  to extract the timber.

I do shudder at the sight of logs being blithely skidded over granular soils, mostly on Youtube footage.

Edited July 25, 2018 by difflock

[Ferguson system]

I prefer 2wd tractors for forestry.

[spuddog0507]

11 hours ago, drinksloe said:

Do u think these crawler tractors are better than the 4wd alternatives for the more modern wetter climates?

 

How do they cope going up steep hills? I now the tracks are a bit more aggresive than digger tracks bit rubber tracked diggers do struggle in greasy conditions

 

Some of them are not that expensive

the block of larch we felled and extracted with the yanmar, i think 4 or 5 times in an out with a conventional 4wd would of been it ,we where on the edge of some very wet peat  moorland and i am pretty sure we would of been digging/winching a wheeled tractor out by dinner time, when you walked in the the track lines you just sank up to your ankels in shite, and as for steep hills it just went up em we only had it going up n down a banking about 20-25 mtr run up but around 45 degree incline ,only problem was the rubber tracks popping off on the edge of stumps but once you had sorted a run in and out it was fine i was skidding 4 lach poles out about 60-90 ft at once and it coped very well ,i have a video of the last stalk coming out that i will try and put on tonight.