Leveler vs flat base?

[Hallback]

As someone who has had numerous leveling machines including the very first 855 tigercat in North America, multiple different tethering systems and a handful of yarders I can tell you that a leveling shovel does help in the very steep spots as a flat bottom is spending a lot of its swing power just to overcome gravity. Now a short boomed leveling shovel is not going to be your go-to for all out shovel logging as they just do not have the reach and therefore you add multiple swings to a unit. The best is a leveler for the nasty crap feeding a 568 Cat. Right now we are producing more with our '071 and Mexican crew then we did (yes, i have sold all my base machines) with tethered logging. Not to mention I paid $65,000 for that 071 with an acme carriage versus 1.4 million for my 855 and falcon base machine. They each have their place but you're never going to get away from guys on the ground out here on the Washington coast.

 

[Tugger2]

I wonder if the stress on the owner that owes the millions on these high tech machines is counted in the list of work place hazards. It seems that once you are indebted to that kind of iron in many cases it seems you have joined the race to the bottom.
Hope the tower work is going good for you.

 

[Hallback]

I dont wish the multi millions of debt on anyone especially with having to rely on todays labor pool to pay for it.

 

[BingDeere909]

I work in that crew with the Madil 123 swing yarder and all the Cat machines that was shown.. We are a fully mechanized crew working on the East Coast of the North Island, New Zealand. We also have a JD 909MH on a Falcon Winch assist machine and a Cat 325C tailhold machine that wasnt shown in the video. It looks like a big skid (well it actually was lol) but we were set up on an existing metal pit. There was no skid put in for the setting we are doing so we had to build a small pad for the yarder to sit then pass the wood along side the road back to the metal pit, although we were using it for our skid temporarily. Usually the 330D that is shown passing wood off the yarder is down the hill shoveling into lines, feeding the swing yarder grapple or doing abit of ground base when available and the 320D is a back up loader for times when we do abit of Ground based logging at another skid, work on tight landings so need a machine to shovel from the yarder or need a machine to stay at a old skid and load out the last of the wood. Just thought I'd explain lol P.S I'm new here and really enjoy reading everyone's thoughts on logging. Got a awesome thing going on here

 

[team 527]

Ok, so to add another scenario to the leveler vs flat base, has any one had experience running a fixed felling head with a flat base excavator? Were boom mods required ? I'm asking because the company I am contacting to have hinted that's what they want us to replace our dangle head machines with . But I just find it hard to justify the cost of a leveler that will depreciate at around 70 bucks an hour. I think komatsu are shortening booms on pc300 s to run them.

 

[Hallback]

Why would you replace a dangle head with a fixed head if your dangle was running just fine?

 

[team 527]

The forest company i work for is suggesting fixed heads are the way to reduce breakage. Personally I'm happy with the dangle as it's more multi purpose.

 

[Hallback]

The forest company i work for is suggesting fixed heads are the way to reduce breakage. Personally I'm happy with the dangle as it's more multi purpose.

The good operator on a dangling directional felling head can put down way more wood and eliminate breakage also.
When I ran them I would slack open the grab arms just as the tree was releasing from the stump and let it strip through the head about 20 or 30 ft and then close the grab arms again and it would set it down to the ground softly as it effectively had a counterbalance on the back of it then. The fulcrum point had changed and was very easy on the timber.

 

[Plebeian]

The Tigercat 857 is being shown by AB's in NZ in 2 weeks, guess most people will be turning up for the Barbeque.

Brand's D-FM on a wire. Did they dry sump the engine on that? Satco stick dangle.
CREW'S VIEW: Sam Dixon of Brand Logging with the Falcon Winch Assist

TAC Winch Assist with Volvo with felling head

Other Youtube video titles
'T-WINCH 30.2 in Australia (level 822 and fixed head -T-winch 30.2 in Australia)'

Thomassen's levelling 855e with tigercat 5185 fixed bar saw head.

'Tigercat 5185 / Falcon Winch Assist(Tethered)'​

Active VMA and a few others chop and change the excavator sticks.
https:// www. activevma. co. nz/ machinery /harvester- machines. html

One option (always risk in used) is a partially depreciated tilter with a dangle head/ boom and make a fixed boom for the tilter. Some NZ excavator operators have short hard dig booms and a long boom for pond cleaning etc that they swap on the same excavator. Could do the same for a flat bottom excavator too. (long dangle head boom and shorter close it fixed)

Remote control operator with a flat bottom excavator on a steep slope, caravan teleops.
http: //www .appliedteleoperation. co.nz /full-teleoperation/

Madill said they were looking at making their tilt feller buncher again. I wonder if they might consider factory associated 'ridge runners' too, that could be put on multiple excavator brands.

YT vid title​

'Ridge Runner 450 Class Tilt Undercarriage installed on a 2850 Madill Log Loader'​

 

[Hallback]

The side that I am on has a field mechanic there at least 3 days per week to work on the TigerCat 857.
Imo Tigercat needs to get there R&D correct before sending these machines out for purchase. Just like their 180 yarder.

It's insane selling these machines and allowing the customer to work the bugs out of them while making payments.

 

[Hallback]

The Tigercat 857 is being shown by AB's in NZ in 2 weeks, guess most people will be turning up for the Barbeque.

Brand's D-FM on a wire. Did they dry sump the engine on that? Satco stick dangle.
CREW'S VIEW: Sam Dixon of Brand Logging with the Falcon Winch Assist

TAC Winch Assist with Volvo with felling head

Other Youtube video titles
'T-WINCH 30.2 in Australia (level 822 and fixed head -T-winch 30.2 in Australia)'

Thomassen's levelling 855e with tigercat 5185 fixed bar saw head.

'Tigercat 5185 / Falcon Winch Assist(Tethered)'​

Active VMA and a few others chop and change the excavator sticks.
https:// www. activevma. co. nz/ machinery /harvester- machines. html

One option (always risk in used) is a partially depreciated tilter with a dangle head/ boom and make a fixed boom for the tilter. Some NZ excavator operators have short hard dig booms and a long boom for pond cleaning etc that they swap on the same excavator. Could do the same for a flat bottom excavator too. (long dangle head boom and shorter close it fixed)

Remote control operator with a flat bottom excavator on a steep slope, caravan teleops.
http: //www .appliedteleoperation. co.nz /full-teleoperation/

Madill said they were looking at making their tilt feller buncher again. I wonder if they might consider factory associated 'ridge runners' too, that could be put on multiple excavator brands.

YT vid title​

'Ridge Runner 450 Class Tilt Undercarriage installed on a 2850 Madill Log Loader'​

I've been speaking with agents in the madill organization at great lengths about upcoming product lines and ways to make them better. Keep your eyes open for new releases.

 

[IceHole]

Video I took a few years ago out on a job

 

[Plebeian]

IIRC this is a block the educators gave the trainee logging planners to figure out, decades ago. High tension power lines/ towers, average tall trees, moderate slope, in full view of the city population to complain about. The big question was 'Whether logging trails were going to be allowed to be pushed in for the steeper terrain' or some office bureaucrat was going to insist on cable or helicopter logging near the high tension lines. One of the solutions decades ago was cable logging away from the powerlines to minimise the logging trails dug into the hill and cable dozer to pull trees away from the power lines. Today's answer is tilt dangle head feller buncher on a wire with bogey skidder with the tracks dug.