Forwarders on peat.

[muldonach]

Hola all. Iwould like to find out if a small forwarder would be the best machine for taking wood to the road on deep peat ground. Over the years I've used quads and an Argo for hauling fencing materials all over the area and find its too wet and slippery to be hauling antyhing over a couple of hundred kilos. Does anyone have an idea what a smallish forwarder (a load of 4 tonnes or so) would be like on uneven peat ground. There are no really steep slopes and the farthest haul would be about a mile.

 

Forget it

 

If the peat is both uneven and so wet that you can only haul 200Kg with a quad or argo - I assume that you are using a low ground pressure trailer - then you need not just a forwarder on tracks and chains but a mechanical harvester to concentrate the brash and build the necessary brash mat. We fiddle about with ground like this reasonably successfully with a quad and a logic trailer but we are gathering firewood for ourselves and clearing rides and roadways not trying to make a living at it - we can haul about 400kg but sometimes need to be careful - e.g. if we know we have a tough slope to negotiate - even just a few feet - we will part load the trailer only and top the load off once we get over the top of the slope.

 

A haul of a mile is a hell of a way to haul with a forwarder and any significant slope on peat is a total pain.

 

The problem with all the modern small forwarders is capital cost - the basic alstor is £27k if I remember right - it is difficult to make them work out financially although a couple of guys on here use them.

 

I would think your best bet is a tracked dumper

[NI Tree]

if you are a machine speek Wm clark and sons, aka clark forestry about tracks as they were one of the biggest manufacturer of band tracks in the world before they sold the tracks part off. looking have a look at clarks forestry site http://www.clark-engineering.com/traction-transport/forest-machine-track they do make a big differance but duel wheel are good to we had a trailed forage harvester we ran duel wheels on for silage.

[nooie]

Thanks for all the replies. I think we might be needing some sort of tracked machine.

[Charlieh]

I run an alstor at work fitted with rear band tracks, it goes places with a full load on it that you wouldnt take a quad bike with out a trailer on it. The wood its working at the moment is so wet you cant walk through it without sinking upto above your boots, yet the alstor is forwarding timber out with minimal damage and it doesnt even have the tracks on currently.

[NI Tree]

Atach a bogging rope to the tow points so you that if you are boged your tow point easy to get to. saves loads of hassel and getting muddy lol and time.

[renewablejohn]

Stu

 

How do you steer that forwarder with band tracks on. Do you just use the brake pedal to lock whichever rear wheel.

 

I know it was a daft question but looking at that forwarder it is not so different to my MB Trac and forwarder. My Kesla trailer is equipped with power rams for off setting the trailer with tracks being a standard option. If the MB steering was locked straight and tracks fitted would this be a poor mans solution. If the trailer steering was not sufficient then independent hand brake steering of the rear wheels would act as normal caterpillar track levers.

 

Any problem with this theory.

[muldonach]

I run an alstor at work fitted with rear band tracks, it goes places with a full load on it that you wouldnt take a quad bike with out a trailer on it. The wood its working at the moment is so wet you cant walk through it without sinking upto above your boots, yet the alstor is forwarding timber out with minimal damage and it doesnt even have the tracks on currently.

 

Ok but what is the underlying soil? - if it is clay then it will go as you describe - the top few inches will be dead soft and you will sink in if you try to walk over it, but it is hard underneath and if you bring the ground pressure down with wide wheels or tracks you can cross it ok.

 

A peat moss in winter is 90% water and the soil has almost no inherent strength whatever - as soon as you spin a wheel you belly out.

 

Now if your alstor is working on peat at this time of year and running fully loaded with no tracks and no brash mat then I for one am getting very interested.

 

Cheers

mac

[Robied]

We used to use. Mini brunnet forwarder on peat and was very good I think with an old nor car forwarder with tracks would be good as v light and cheaper option if you can find one

[keith@honda]

if you still have the quad you could put a set of matt tracks on it which will put a track at each corner similar to the cuthbertson land rover conversion/case quad trac tractor set up

[Stephen Blair]

Using independant brakes will loose drive on 1 side and your ram in the trailer isn't built for it, you could end up just braking your pick up hitch or the trailer will jump out if the gib isn't tight.

handy tricks in a slippy woodbut not for peaty ground IMHO