Skid Steers
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OP
OP
Silver
Well-known member
So far I'm super impressed. It's a really nice machine, quiet and smooth to operate. I have been cleaning out calving shelters, bedding them, moving and setting up freestanding panels, moving some bales around, a little snow plowing, etc. I can see it being the go to tool for a ton of things down the road.
I rank ours right up there with the side by side, both of which I put off buying for years as I thought they were overpriced. Then I used one of each that belonged to someone else, and saw how handy they were.
OP
OP
Silver
Well-known member
Tried out my auction sale 'bargain' today. I think if it holds up and I get used to it I should be able to clean up some grown over fence lines.
wbvs58
Well-known member
greybeard
Well-known member
I do love to see someone getting rid of trees!!
But, that looks kinda shaky, since once clamped on, the whole unit being so top heavy.
Did it make you a little nervous, traveling with it? I think my butthole woulda been triple clamped shut when making that little twist to the left and starting downhill.....
But, that looks kinda shaky, since once clamped on, the whole unit being so top heavy.
Did it make you a little nervous, traveling with it? I think my butthole woulda been triple clamped shut when making that little twist to the left and starting downhill.....
OP
OP
Silver
Well-known member
It is surprisingly stable. I was concerned about it at first but soon realized there was nothing to worry about. Not that I would want to wander around with a 12" dia. tree over uneven ground with the attachment high in the air. But just to try it I laid a big tree flat on the ground, then picked it back up to vertical. Back of machine felt a little light for the first few degrees of lift then felt rock solid.
i picked up some cheap chinese things a year or so ago. bought an auger, rock grapple, and tiller. Haven't used the auger yet but pretty good reviews online of it. Rock grapple has done pretty good. I only use it for brush since its really light .. i like using it for picking up loose hay or netwrap piles. The tiller was good, I run a small plow for the garden, then hit it with the tiller.. it works great.
chevytaHOE5674
Well-known member
Just be careful I replaced an entire boom in a JD CTL that was using a similar "feller buncher" and went over sideways with a tree. Twisted the boom and machine like a toy. Replaced the loader boom and had to cut and twist the machine back into shape.
Ask anybody who has ran a feller buncher logging how quick and easy it is to lay a machine over.
Ask anybody who has ran a feller buncher logging how quick and easy it is to lay a machine over.
I've tipped mine forward carrying brush with a grapple before. I had the brush raised up fairly high to go through a gate and before I knew it I was against the window. Hardest part was bracing myself in the seat to get the armrest back down to get the thing operational again.
Years ago, Mr TC was hauling & attempting to bury a yearling heifer that just flat died. Hit a soft, deep spot in the dirt & hole and pitched forward - with the heifer still in the bucket. He was literally vertical, with the front of the loader down in a hole. It was getting dark when he called me - SOS! Except I couldn't find where he was because the headlights were buried, so he kept honking the horn with our phones on speaker, and I eventually found him and had to call a neighbor for backup & pull him out with the tractor. Heifer never was properly buried and since then, we decided it's easier to let nature take care of it (we have a ton a hungry varmints around).
wbvs58
Well-known member
Anyone that spends enough time in one will put it on it's nose once or twice. After the first few times you'll develop a quick enough reflex to drop the boom when it starts to tip.
Rocking one backwards has a lot more pucker factor to me. I'll never use a tree puller on one again.
SmokinM
Well-known member
Glad you're getting along good with it. You wondering how you survived without it yet?
OP
OP
Silver
Well-known member
Thanks, and yes it's already becoming indispensable. I expect that over the next year it will become the go to machine for a lot of things. I have a lot of grown in fence lines that I want to tackle, and I think I am only a couple of attachments away from being able to do a pretty fair job of it.
I've pulled thousands of trees with a skid. The track machine I have now is pretty stable but the older tire machine would sure scare you from time to time. Nothing like looking up at the sky with a good size tree in the puller. We installed a cattle gaurd last week and it got hairy a few times coming up out of the hole.
yep.. going forward ain't bad.. its the rock back that will tighten that butt... I was backwards on a hillside with the hammer postdriver on and caught a 9' post wrong, it tilted back and i thought for sure i was going to be rolling down that hill backwards.. came out of it ok but wasn't fun.
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