Does anyone on here have any experience with Volvo equipment? We are looking at getting into a small road builder for piling slash in thinnings. We found a couple 210BF Volvo machines up in BC and I was wondering what kinds of problems you run into when running Volvo equipment. Here's a pic of one we are thinking would fit our needs. Not my pic. The machine is at source equipment. Any thoughts?
Cant speak about the Forest spec in Volvo's range like the one you posted as i have no experience with them! But the Volvo EC210B was a great machine! We did convert a few 210bs to forest spec to run Lako harvesting heads, and from what i know them held up we in the forest! Aiden
Thanks for the feed back. I have heard some horror stories about the cat forestry equipment not holding up to the abuse. I know a guy who got a 330 road builder new on '08 and had to put in all new hydraulic pumps and completely re-build the under carriage at 6000 hours.
Each site is different, so it's difficult to compare brands and others experience without it being on your site. Volvos forrestry gear is based on the same platforms of thier coventional crawler excavators which are an extremely capable digger. Bare in mind that 210BF is an older model with the C series being the current. In saying that, the B series is a tough and reliable digger that will cop it's fair share of abuse - I've seen a number of older Volvo forrestry gear at the end of thier life and they would still perform the same task that they performed on delivery day.
I have a 240b, its been good. Engine is strong, starts fast every time Computer works good, as it should. Hydraulics are both powerful and can work very fine too. You just want to really watch the final drive seals in sub zero temps, just to make sure they don't dump the oil. Its easy and quick to do at least once a day.
Thanks guys. I know that link-belt puts larger undercarriages and swing bearings on their forestry equipment. IE: a 210 gets an UC and swing bearings from a 240 class machine. I am wondering if Volvo does the same.
Not 100% sure but i think they do that too! think i read it in an online leaflet somewhere!
Cool. I'll have to look some of those up. Thanks again. We are hoping they do. It greatly increases the versatility of a machine when you can switch from a rake or bucket and thumb to a log grapple and heeling rack and shovel log. Swinging logs up and down a slope all day puts quite a bit of wear and tear on swing bearings and motors.
You might want to look at the Deere 2054 and the Hitachi 200 as well. Both great machines in that size class and theres lots of them around. Also, all the manufactuers use next size up components but the log loaders usually have stronger swing motors than the roadbuilders. What you said about the 330 roadbuilder really surprised me as they are really popular in BC. Lots of outfits using them for shovel logging too. Theyre actually probably the most common 30 tonne roadbuilder from what I've seen. Maybe your buddy got a dud?
Gday all, I've been looking at forestry gear and being able to use it for both forestry work as well as doing some earthmoving. Is this at all possible?? The machines is a Timbco 425, i like the fact that i can alter the platform angles to suit the grade, and would have an excellent hydraulic capacity. Given the price for this machine it could be quite a reasonable proposition. Sorry if i'm Hijacking your thread, its just i thought it might be relevant, as your converting the other way. Any thoughts please Cheers Alex
I know of an outfit from around the Coeur d Alene, ID that put a thumb and bucket on a 445 Timbco to build fire trails on forest fire jobs. From what I hear it worked quite well. The only problem I could see with it is the lack of reach. I also read and article in a magazine a few years ago about a logger that put a heel rack and grapple on a big Tigercat leveling buncher to shovel log some really steep ground. That would have been a fun job!
The 2054 would also be a good fit. I know the only difference between the Deere and the hitachi are the paint scheme and the engine. I hope my buddies machine was just a lemon. The only problem I have with Cat equipment is the fact that parts are just so expensive. Because they are painted a propriatary yellow. Haha. The Deere/ Hitachi machines are hard to find in a road builder configuration around Oregon and Washington. I appreciate the input. The problem that we are running into is OSHA is going to require every machine that is off a prepared surface to have an OSHA approved forestry cab within the next five years. So that really narrows down the search.
Don't worry about hijacking the thread. I feel that there are a bunch of people on here who have experience with this stuff. If anyone has questions I don't have a problem with this thread going all over the place. As long as its forestry equipment related. I was talking to a guy at Crowley Equipment here in Eugene Or and the only problem he could forsee with doing this type of conversion would be attachment weight and trying to keep the machines balance somewhere close to where it was designed to be. Also, I think it was some of the older timbco machines that wouldn't turn 360 degrees on the circle. If anyone had any pics I would love to see some converted feller bunchers.
HCF, I had heard at one time that volvo parts were pricier than Cat? Not sure if its true but worth looking into. Should be fairly easy to come by a 2054 RB in British Columbia used. Good luck and keep us posted!
Thanks for that HCF, well the other machine i was looking at a possible conversion was a 1270 TimberJack fellerbuncher. The 6 wheel drive and high hydraulic capacity make it ideal for my application. If anyone has any ideas it would be wonderful to hear from you cheers Alex
I was talking to the salesman at Clyde West and he was telling me that one of their regular guys purchased oil filters from napa and actually paid more there then he would have buying the parts from Volvo. I told him he was crazy. Then he offered to give me the guys phone number. Must be pretty true. The 2054 is really growing on me though. The fact that they're purpose built for the woods right off the assembly line is pretty impressive.
We found a nice machine a couple months ago with a stroke delimber on it. After looking into the time alone required to convert one to an excavator we decided against it. On top of the time involved we figured it would be pretty hard to sell a used stroker unit.