Gonna wind up getting hurt on this skidder. I can run equipment and always stay within their limits but this skidder isn't gonnna work for me on the hillsides I cut. Timberjacks look much more stable ! Wider, lower and obvious lower center of gravity from what I can see... Its got 16.9-30 tires (dry). Just seems to damn narrow and tall. Anybody got any adviser for me ? Turn rims around to gain width as they are not center in rim ? Load tires ? Will chains help with their weight ? New tires and rims (wider) ?? Or just flat out sell the skidder and buy one that will do the job I need it to do ?? Frustrated with it to the point Im gonna purposely roll it over the hill.....
Hey mate. I would suggest selling the tree farmer and getting a bigger skidder as bigger is always more stable. I drive a johndeere 648g and is a fairly stable machine. I would suggest a 540g for what you do and chains would be a good idea for better traction and from my experience skidders work straight up and down hills fine but are not so good sideways. If it is too steep then just use a dozer to get them out of the steep stuff.
Are you working up and down or trying to skid on the side hill. Increasing the width by reversing the tires will make a difference. The height of the fairlead makes a huge difference when you are not pulling straight. Chains certainly help as they add weight. Any weight below tipping axis is a help. Got any pictures of the slopes you are working on. Hard to imagine what you are up against. If you are looking at the old Timberjacks with the sideseat, the seat is lower but you won't find much difference in the center of gravity. What size tires are on your Tree Farmer. The C4s ranged all the way from 28" to 38" tires. 16.9 30s are not a tall tire.
Timberking, you need a new Cat 555D
It is a case of assessing what you can afford, how far you have to drag the logs, how big the logs are now/ how big are logs you want to drag in the future, is the ground slope of your jobs getting steeper etc ? You might keep the skidder (rather than lose money) and use an old dozer on the hill to drag the logs to the skidder, if pulling the logs to a flat processing area further away. Caterpillar 518 if they had an oscillating pivot were fairly ok on moderate slopes. Bigger skidder = bigger and more expensive tyres, often more fuel consumed etc = more wood needs to be pulled to pay for everything. More expensive gear sitting if the available work is slows up.
It doesn't matter, how big your skidder is, if you are going to roll one, you will find a way to accomplish that event. The bigger the skidder, the more options you have to get in trouble. Best advice, as others have said, look the terrain over, choose a good skid trail and keep your wits about you. Don't try to chew more than the machine will swallow.
Timber king,I am not full of knowledge in this area but I have closed off my career with the 3-Cs. Care and Caution lead to Cash. Be safe.
I am going to disagree with a new skidder. I have seen new 748giii machines upside down from being empty on a side slope, I also have seen 2 month old timber jacks go end for end after running empty downhill across ledge. Make sure your fire extinguisher is mounted secure, and your seat belt is good and you use it, people are killed jumping out of rollover machines. There are 2 logging operations that seam to make money, small hand cut, or large full mechanized. Here is a link for a skidder operator manual by usfs. http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/newtown_square/publications/research_papers/pdfs/scanned/ne_rp170p.pdf Here is a small 440 on steap slope. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sYOySdz9Yv8
No way in this life time I would be going down that sloop.
That 440A cable machine in the video could have gone down that hill much safer by either backing down or by having a couple trees hooked up with some cable out holding the backend down. The machine is built very front heavy to balance the weight of the jag you are pulling. He did it the worst way but obviously knows his machine and kept his blade down.
Oh my....... Sell it and get out of the business. I owned one of those great machines for many years. Heck, I'll buy it. If you decide to run it correctly there are some things you can do to make it more stable but a poor operator will still cause an accident. Not to sound harsh but a poor operator will get you or others around you killed. Know your machine and respect it. A wider blade will help hold it upright, off-set rims, chains, fluid in the tires, etc but nothing will beat a good operator. Please be careful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O2GH2VBx50 Here's another one with the same skidder bottom side up