Tracked Forwarder

[rovers90]

Well, after a few months in the workshop ..... here it is!!! Our purpose built forwarder - a Marooka MST 700 with 2 foot wide tracks and a Patou crane. Over the last few years my friend and I would be chasing timber only to be told, "It's yours when we can get it out, the grounds too wet."

 

And then we were offered some felling work locally where all the extraction routes were wet. So super dumper number two was born.

[Stephen Blair]

Brilliant, surely your going to shift the controls !!

Mine were mounted facing the rear of the cab, I just loaded the 1 side.

You will extract so quickly with that unit, if I ever get a reason to have another I will.

Look forward to future pics:)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

[Aaron]

Looks tidy!! Can I ask where you sourced the dumper? Iv looked at obvious routes but they seem to hold top money. Was it imported?

[log on tommy]

thats brilliant, I love a bit of ingenuity and invention. I wouldn't be surprised if it yields you a bit more work either. landowners will be much more likely to let that machine in to sensitive areas than some of the more commercial forwarders. as above I look forward to more pics and any info on any mods you make

[skyhuck]

Thats a very cool machine, although the crane is pretty small, what will it lift???

 

I've been extracting large hardwood from a very inaccessible site, had to winch the timber twice and then load onto my timber trailer, the winch mog and trailer up a very steep track.

 

That dumper would have been great, but some of the lumps were touching 3T so don't think that crane would have been much help.

[Logrover]

I'm assuming that you use it on a tree surgery day rate? On forestry piece work rates you not get enough out to make it pay. Def has its place though, the ground doesn't look too awful there. Were looking at 4 foot wide band tracks on our 11 ton forwarder for peat work, those dumpers don't travel as tracks are too thin, they go straight down! To get wider pads on dumpers you have to massively adapt the undercarriage, 800 mm pads on a 11 ton dumper is max standard, good enough for normal wet ground though.

[elfinwood saws]

Secret weapon, you kept that quiet! other than someone told me about it:thumbup:

[LGP Eddie]

I'm assuming that you use it on a tree surgery day rate? On forestry piece work rates you not get enough out to make it pay. Def has its place though, the ground doesn't look too awful there. Were looking at 4 foot wide band tracks on our 11 ton forwarder for peat work, those dumpers don't travel as tracks are too thin, they go straight down! To get wider pads on dumpers you have to massively adapt the undercarriage, 800 mm pads on a 11 ton dumper is max standard, good enough for normal wet ground though.

 

Plenty of people don't want the associated mess of a full commercial forestry operation, and we've had considerable success with the unit bought from Stephen.

Little and often is the way, and you'd be shocked just what these can shift in a day?

 

We mainly load with the Excavator, as it's much quicker that way, leaving the Dumper to stack, but on a recent project we had a Roofmount Valtra stacking and the Dumper simply running to him and tipping out in front of him.

The Valtra operator is the real deal, but come breakfast time, he had to admit he could only just clear the load in front of him before the next landed!

We ran all day, and apart from a scrape over of the road where we were tipping, not a mark in sight.

The Valtra operator doubted he could do one run with his bolster trailer across the site!

 

There is a big price to pay in undercarriage terms on these Dumpers, and ignore it at your peril! You may think everything is rosy, until the Rollers start packing up and you may consider breaking the dumper for spares rather than the cost of a new undercarriage?

We have however with a lot of legwork begun to swing the balance back and hopefully have lower priced solutions to give rollers a second life.

 

I'm just interested what your current setup is, if a tracked dumper goes straight down then you're heading towards water not peat!

Trying to put 4ft Bandtracks on a bit like the Drew Graham Forwarder setup John Craig built with 2 metre pads took some serious engineering by John, and at times it seemed almost a step too far for even a man of his talents.

How they got the figures to stack up would blow my mind on commercial rates?

 

The crane is plenty big enough, and a good man can get some monster pieces onboard! But you should see what they will pull, and the skip makes for a monster Butt plate!

 

I suspect the controls are located there Stephen because the seat possibly won't turn on this model?

 

Shall you fit a place to stow the crane over the front?

 

 

Eddie.

[rovers90]

Brilliant, surely your going to shift the controls !!

Mine were mounted facing the rear of the cab, I just loaded the 1 side.

You will extract so quickly with that unit, if I ever get a reason to have another I will.

Look forward to future pics:)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

 

Thank you for all the comments guys. Stephen, the one you bought was originally owned by my friend who sold it to the guy you bought it from. We missed it every day since!! My friend likes thinking outside the box!

 

The dumper was purchased from a guy near Bingley who imports them direct from Japan.

 

Unlike the one you ended up with Steve, the seat on this one does not turn around. In fact I think of the dozen we viewed there was only one or two that did but they were on much bigger machines. Hence the controls being where they are. The pictures were of its "sea trials" to see what works and what could be better.

 

The grab is very small and cannot pick much up and does not have much power but will have to do for now.

 

Logrover - we don't use it for tree surgery. We are felling on an estate where they have employed more commercial contractors in the past with wheeled forwarders. A number of years on and some of the rides are still fairly impassable due to the ruts they left. Yes, it is quite dry in the pictures but the ground conditions vary along the ride and even on the wet and muddy bits you can hardly tell the machine has passed that way 8 times already!

 

LPG Eddie - interested in your comments re undercarriage. What should we look out for??

 

Its handy having the dumper as when we get to the spot where the TW20 and trailer can get in we just tip the load off the back. Lands in a neat enough pile to be picked up with the Vreten crane.

 

Mark - Ian doesn't like to broadcast what he's got!

 

Even had a crazy idea of producing them as more capable than an Alstor or Forcat and will carry more, just not as easy to transport around.

 

More pics to come.

[LGP Eddie]

With regard to the rollers, check to see if you can find a very small plug between the flanges in the centre with an allen head.

You'll have to look carefully for it, obviously you need to rotate the roller to look all around it and possibly do a little scratching about, but hopefully you'll find them.

 

This is where you can top the rollers up with oil and start to see just what you have.

Basically if the oil comes straight out then these are on their way out and need immediate attention.

The ones that hold are sound, but check them regularly.

 

We have replaced a few (at huge expense) to give us rollers in differing states of repair, and are in the process of having differing repair solutions machined.

If all works out the rollers should have a second like and we have differing methods to compare which will last longest.

 

The top roller was very simple, once the bearings were removed, a number was found and easily sourced, plus some large 'O' rings to match the originals then good to go again.

 

I think the first step is price them up and have the heart attack, adjust your rate to suit the workload, and then replace at least two well before time to give you plenty of options for a home sourced second life repair.

 

We hope if all goes well to have a straightforward £80 rebuild cost on rollers, but the initial repair will involve machining etc, so probably £250 for the first repair and £80 a pop after that?

 

The last rollers were quoting over £700 each!!!

 

Eddie.

Edited July 19, 2014 by LGP Eddie