Stripping a D6H for shipping to remote alaska

[absoluteyukon]

Nomad Air out of Whitehorse has a few of them. They are in high demand this time of year up here. They have a 4500 lb payload (distance depending), maximum cargo dimension are: 6.5' wide x 6.5' height x 18' total depth. A very capable bush hauler by any metric, the downside being the age of the aircraft and the availability of parts (next to non existent). The pilot had a tire failure while taxiing on the strip before takeoff, and I helped him repair it with a tube insert in a magnesium split rim. When he told me the tire was worth $4k Cad I had to ask what the rim was worth, he told me to add a zero and you'd be lucky to find it at that. Needless to say, he wasn't doing cartwheels when I pointed out what looked alot like a crack in one of them. And I thought yellow junk was expensive...

 

[weeder57]

Thanks for the info, so we know the frame stripped must be less than 8k lbs if it flew by heli into a site. I might send out my d3g lgp, but its hardly an improvement over what we already have out there. Yes steam boats used to run to youngstown bend, and all the way to Curry on the susitna, back when stuff actually got done. Im holding back from the d3g though because the used value of the 2 dozers are identical up here, both in good running shape are worth 50-75k, so why not buy a machine that can get more work done and will last longer. I will definately keep you guys posted, this is a longterm project though and will not happen until next year. Unless a dirt cheap d6d or d6c pops up that isnt rallied to death which isnt going to happen, then I would jump on that and run it till it dies. A day on a case 450b you hardly get anything done, a day on that newer d3g you get a lot more done, and on a d6, well you get the picture.

 

[skyking1]

When I was flying up to Wrangell, the Johnny Mountain mine just across the border in BC was going strong. There was a Bristol Freighter there, and a DC-3 with a giant fuel tank assembled inside for hauling Jet-A/Diesel to the mine.
Do you have an airstrip up there that can take a bigger plane?

 

[Orest Anhel]

In 2007 I worked on the Galore Creek project in NWBC. A Russian Mi26 helicopter was operating in Canada at the time on a special permit and was used on the program along with a Columbia helicopters Boeing Vertol Chinook. The Mi 26 was bringing 40,000 pound loads into camp and the Chinook 24000 pounds. A Hitachi 850 a 988 a D10 a 365 10 or more 40 ton rock trucks and D8T's 10 or more various sized excavators a big Kobelco crane for a bridge project and more other stuff than I can remember were all flown in and positioned at various points along the proposed road along with modular camps to house around 800 workers in total. At times there were 20 plus helicopters working on the project. The D6R pictured came in as one lift for the Mi26

 

[chidog]

This is my first post on this website. This thread is the main reason I had to join. I have always wondered if this sort of thing was done to transport machines into remote areas.
Orest Anhel, In the above are you saying that they dismantled D8's and D10's to fly them into the back woods? Just Wow!
How much will a Sikorsky sky crane lift?

 

[Orest Anhel]

S 64E model Skycrane is rated to lift 20000 pounds max.
S 64F lifts 25000 max
Vertol 234 Chinook 28000 max, was delivering 24000 pounds to Galore Creek
Mi 26 the big white one pictured was bringing 40000 pounds to Galore, don't know what the max is.

 

[chidog]

Then my brother is full of it, he said he saw years ago on tv a sky crane moving an old D7 with blade. Have they ever modified them for more lift? I questioned him when he told me that story.
Do you have any more pics of the move?

 

[JD955SC]

Then my brother is full of it, he said he saw years ago on tv a sky crane moving an old D7 with blade. Have they ever modified them for more lift? I questioned him when he told me that story.
Do you have any more pics of the move?

Erickson Helicopters owns the rights for the production of Skycranes plus they are the largest operator. They produce updated models now
He sure he saw a S-64 or one of the Russian heavy lifters?

 

[weeder57]

No airstrip big enough, mine is 1900 feet and grass. Sandbars during freeze up are good to land on, but the price is up there, I would be better off just totally dismantling a machine and putting it back together and hire 3 or 4 guys to make it happen quick. Ive seen the mi26 do some impressive stuff, I heard a d8r being moved up here with one in just 2 loads, which is impressive. I would have bought a d6c or an older d7f or e, as they are common up here but I dont want something thats hard to get parts for. I imagine the d6h or d7h series will be supported fully for quite some time still. If I find a highdrive d8 or d9 that would be the ticket, but would be a hell of an adventure to get it out there. 640 acres even with a d6h will still take some time. I wish I would be able to easily get something with bogey track frames out there, the traction would help a lot.

 

[Tones]

Weeder57 ,could you start making a doco of this move and have the world premier here on HEF as a reward for the help and input from the blokes here?

 

[chidog]

Weeder57, yes like Tones says take lots of photos and keep us informed. I wish I was in a position to help in that clearing job. What size trees? Are you going to log it first? Better purchase a saw mill with the way the lumber prices are going. Must be nice having a square mile of land, what is it going to be used for?

 

[weeder57]

Beetle kill killed off all the sawable logs, we have a sawmill out there. Its a shame that the beetles moved in. Size of trees is 160 acres of second growth birch, most 2 to 10 inches in diameter in extremely dense large areas. Some of the worst stuff I have ever seen. The old growth is large birch, anywhere from 12 to 36 inches across, some cottonwoods approaching 48 inches or more. Horrible undergrowth that you can barely crawl through. Clearing it out solely because the cabin is a hobby, I like big open areas, and so I can see more moose to shoot from my porch, and just to do it. Including the runway and what I have recleared, I have about 20 to 25 acres I can see moose from my porch. Also would like to extend my runway to a solid 2300 feet, and put in a crosswind strip. As with everything involved with a cabin, its a long term project. Im lucky to clear 2 to 3 acres a summer working the 450b case every weekend. And the piles dont get pushed far. The d3g will be a big improvement, but from working other jobs you can realistically only get 1.5 acres to 2 acres a day cleared out with it, and thats not pushing the piles out to make nice windrows and fields about 300 feet wide.

 

[Delmer]

I was wondering if this was agriculture or mining or what. And how you could do what you want to do without heavy iron, since heavy iron seems just out of reach here.

What you need is some trained beavers. Beavers are the only thing I know of that makes clearings in growth like that. Lacking the beaver whispering skills to train beavers, the next best thing would be ditching, levees and flooding to kill the trees. How's the water out there, are you allowed to burn, and what's the plan to keep the area from regrowing?

 

[chidog]

I was surprised when I saw all the birch on some tv shows of Alaska, I always had it in my head that the main trees would be fir and hemlock in that state, I'm just not too tree or wood wise I guess.
So is the ground pretty solid and not wet or mushy? You have enough land there to have nice long airstrip, enough to get a DC-6 in there, is it high or in a valley? Too bad they don't have those Carvair's any more
one of those could haul some dozer parts pretty good.

 

[Orest Anhel]

Sounds like there will be a Chinook in Prince Rupert in the near future. Call up Columbia Helicopters in Oregon and see what they can do for you. Chinook lifted the first 2 D8R's into Galore. The D6H would likely go in 2-3 picks.

 

[chidog]

What all did they have to remove for the Chinook's to lift those D8R's? Just curious has anyone taken down one of the older type of D8's to fly them in? Those newer ones are way easier to break down especially the finals and transmission. And how are they checking the weights of the larger parts? Are they using a scale on the lift line?

I just found this.

 

[chidog]

Maybe some loggers could help you out?

 

[Tarhe Driver]

These lift capacities are with very little fuel on board. With the Ch-54A Tarhe (civilian = 64E) full of fuel, we were limited to about 9,500 lbs of cargo.

Neill

 

[alaskaforby4]

Has a 6-way but looks in pretty good shape!



Caterpillar D6

https://anchorage.craigslist.org/hvo/d/wasilla-caterpillar-d6/7336728702.html

 

[John C.]

I often wonder why the ads don't show both sides of a machine. Maybe they only painted one side, maybe the covers are missing from the hidden side, maybe there is damage on the off side?

If you go to the site and enlarge the photos, you can see where the rock guards are cutting grooves on the back side ledges of the track pads. That might indicate the bottom rollers are worn down or that the machine has been working on steep side slopes. That makes me wonder about that idler being so far back in the track frame.