That is a good size cottonwood, I started working in sawmills when I turned 16 at Johnson Sawmill, Topsy, Ok. We had a cottonwood log come from Big Cabin Creek once that was over 5 ft thick, we had to bust it into two pieces to get it on the mill and thru a 72 inch bottom saw and a 42 inch top mantle saw. It was sawed up into "Chock" blocks for American Airlines in Tulsa, OK. I have seen everthing from snakes, rocks, mule shoes, cannon balls, honey bee nest, railroad spikes, bullets in logs when I worked as the main saw outfeed worker and gang ripper operator. Now 52 yrs old and this brings back memories!
Scott my honest oppinion of the best overall skidder is a 648gIII single arch with fluid ine the front tires. You would love it, it's a grapple skidder with good balance like a cable. We have a GII and everyone fights over it. Dual arch is great for forwarding, but single arch is great for skidding off the stump with allittle of Cableing. And the fluid, makes them feal great. I think it's around $6-800 but worth every penny.
Yeah in know exactly what your getting at. Bear in mind with the single arch a set of 28Ls will hold up the weight just fine with about 25-35 lbs in them and prolly leave a little softer print than your doing now with your 23s. I tell you though, we have both and single arch with fluid front tires i can't stress enough. I gett exited just going on about it. FYI we use windshield washer fluid instead of calcium, 8lb instead of 10lb a gallon but don't rot the valve stem and wheels
There are different kinds of cottonwood Plains,Eastern,Swamp,prairie. They make good fast growing shade trees if there planted in wright spot. The wood is used to make boxes,crates,pallets. The tree provides shelter for birds and other animals. They are gorgeous looking trees. But the wood is soft and there disease prone. Sometimes Cottonwoods can live over a 100 years. Plains does not sucker as much as Eastern and others. I recommend Plains cottonwood or cotton-less cottonwood those 2 have some what better quality to them.
Boys i can't promise that there won't be some dry spells but im not going anywhere. I mainly want to make sure if i start getting slow on the material i don't start posting a bunch of junk videos just to pass some time, always bear in mind that everyone's feedback will dictate how i go about the videos and the channel direction. Thanks wade
My 5c wouldn't let me reply down below. Wow 15,000 is a lot. Somewhere out there, there must be a logging company called "Got Wood Logging". Last year I saw a broke down tow truck with "Camel Towing" on the side.
Larry a cottonwood is in the polar family. Some people calls them water poplar! When you run one through the mill the sawdust balls up like cotton. Plays hell on a blower system, or a hog screen. We just sell the wood for crating.
Yes, fluid in all four, burned a little more fuel, machine is easier on operator going back-an-forth, no bouncing around, nice smooth ride. And pull more wood every turn.
Ok thanks. I also see you have high flotation tires on a couple machines and 28L on the other. My machine is a 1986 518 cat with 23.1's great machine but working by myself I am leaning towards a grapple for speed on the landing and in the woods. Right now I knock a bunch of trees down in the morning and skid in the afternoon when it is hot! And would be nice to have to not get outta the cab.
And they are some of the most capable off road machines next to a bulldozer hell they may even be better that a dozer skidders are lighter with low ground pressure damn dozer will sink in shit them skidders will power right on through I've tried to go down a old skidder road in the woods with a truck on 44 inch cut boggers and get stuck quick.
I had a S8 IH with all four tires loaded, its was unbelievable what it would pull. Like you say, operator know how is a 100 percent of any machines capability of what it can do.
I have to agree with a lot of the folks here. Bear paw chains all around on my ol 668 clark make the ol girl nearly unstoppable. If your spinning your just burnin fuel (that stuff aint cheap esp when your runnin a wound up 653 detroit) granted points on the looks cool factor, but still expensive. That and a little closer choker set would have made it more effective, but again def take away from the theatrics. Cool vid though
Put chains on, then pull half as much, you'll skid 4 times faster. Anytime you have to winch or spinning tires your skidder is not moving, when your not moving your not making money. Also the choker is set to far back on the log, your not getting the weight on the skidder. I owned / ran cable skidders 30 yrs.
We cut a big bur oak in the northern part of the state took us 7 hours to cut it down trim it up and load it the whole tree limbs and all damn near loaded a pitts wagon
Haha thanks for the advice duane i appreciate it.. That being said i think that load right there had more to do with the skidder mans ego than making money. It had been a long week and that ole cottonwood was the last one to be pulled.
I have never used a grapple, just wire, how do they perform? I have always fought of grapple skidders as a waste of time and you need to put more effort into it, but that is just what i have been thinking, how do they really do?
Alex Jones first off I know Wade and he'll be all "muh grapple skidders derrrrr." In my area, 100 miles north of Wade, you have to at least have a winch on your grapple skidder if not an all out cable skidder. It gets steep around me
weak operator wrap the cable closer to the logs end then winch up higher off the ground mean less drag ive done this job with bigger logs in steeper ground with less tyre tread
Just curious Wade but what state or states are you doing most of your logging?? I like your operation and the videos looks very productive!! I cut and skidded by myself for 20 yrs
Nellson Stout i agree, I've skidded logs with a dozer and a rubber tired tractor. I've moved cars with an articulated loader (I owned a salvage yard for about 7 years) but i have one more on that bucket list....... thanks! Bob
Big? hehe yeah it's pretty good size. What are cottonwoods used for up there? Down here about the only use is caskets. They actually prefer cottonwood. By the way if you like falling big timber and doing some exciting and dangerous work that pays like nuts send me a message. I work on wildfires out west cutting monster trees that are often on fire. Lemme know.
Sometimes you gotta cut trees you don’t want to help manage the forest or to keep the landowner happy right wade obviously Steve here doesn’t know how to run a business
All he is doing is creating a bunch of erosion. Why not wait for the ground to dry out more? And, why not cut the damn log in two so he can pull it easier and not spin his wheels so much? What idiots. The log will probably be cut in half at the mill anyway. Another idea is to put some smaller logs under it, once he lifts it up, so the big log rolls on them, making it easier to pull.
That is a good size cottonwood, I started working in sawmills when I turned 16 at Johnson Sawmill, Topsy, Ok. We had a cottonwood log come from Big Cabin Creek once that was over 5 ft thick, we had to bust it into two pieces to get it on the mill and thru a 72 inch bottom saw and a 42 inch top mantle saw. It was sawed up into "Chock" blocks for American Airlines in Tulsa, OK. I have seen everthing from snakes, rocks, mule shoes, cannon balls, honey bee nest, railroad spikes, bullets in logs when I worked as the main saw outfeed worker and gang ripper operator. Now 52 yrs old and this brings back memories!
G
That my friend is a solid lump of a tree!! Great video, nice to see machines working hard but not been over worked!!
I still enjoy watching these old tater time vids!!
Scott my honest oppinion of the best overall skidder is a 648gIII single arch with fluid ine the front tires. You would love it, it's a grapple skidder with good balance like a cable. We have a GII and everyone fights over it. Dual arch is great for forwarding, but single arch is great for skidding off the stump with allittle of Cableing. And the fluid, makes them feal great. I think it's around $6-800 but worth every penny.
I loved it thanks. All the best from Henry in the UK 🇬🇧
Yeah in know exactly what your getting at. Bear in mind with the single arch a set of 28Ls will hold up the weight just fine with about 25-35 lbs in them and prolly leave a little softer print than your doing now with your 23s. I tell you though, we have both and single arch with fluid front tires i can't stress enough. I gett exited just going on about it. FYI we use windshield washer fluid instead of calcium, 8lb instead of 10lb a gallon but don't rot the valve stem and wheels
There are different kinds of cottonwood Plains,Eastern,Swamp,prairie. They make good fast growing shade trees if there planted in wright spot. The wood is used to make boxes,crates,pallets. The tree provides shelter for birds and other animals. They are gorgeous looking trees. But the wood is soft and there disease prone. Sometimes Cottonwoods can live over a 100 years. Plains does not sucker as much as Eastern and others. I recommend Plains cottonwood or cotton-less cottonwood those 2 have some what better quality to them.
Thanks scott, Indiana and Kentucky . Mostly we work in Indiana
Boys i can't promise that there won't be some dry spells but im not going anywhere. I mainly want to make sure if i start getting slow on the material i don't start posting a bunch of junk videos just to pass some time, always bear in mind that everyone's feedback will dictate how i go about the videos and the channel direction. Thanks wade
My 5c wouldn't let me reply down below. Wow 15,000 is a lot. Somewhere out there, there must be a logging company called "Got Wood Logging". Last year I saw a broke down tow truck with "Camel Towing" on the side.
Larry a cottonwood is in the polar family. Some people calls them water poplar! When you run one through the mill the sawdust balls up like cotton. Plays hell on a blower system, or a hog screen. We just sell the wood for crating.
Yes, fluid in all four, burned a little more fuel, machine is easier on operator going back-an-forth, no bouncing around, nice smooth ride. And pull more wood every turn.
Ok thanks. I also see you have high flotation tires on a couple machines and 28L on the other. My machine is a 1986 518 cat with 23.1's great machine but working by myself I am leaning towards a grapple for speed on the landing and in the woods. Right now I knock a bunch of trees down in the morning and skid in the afternoon when it is hot! And would be nice to have to not get outta the cab.
And they are some of the most capable off road machines next to a bulldozer hell they may even be better that a dozer skidders are lighter with low ground pressure damn dozer will sink in shit them skidders will power right on through I've tried to go down a old skidder road in the woods with a truck on 44 inch cut boggers and get stuck quick.
JD the a/c man haha they do ok till you over load them then it's bluhhhhh
You guys sure have skills. Makes my Stihl 045 Super 24" bar happy.
Thanks man
Bill Lively here in Indiana we take conservation very seriously
thanks Mike glad you liked it
I had a S8 IH with all four tires loaded, its was unbelievable what it would pull. Like you say, operator know how is a 100 percent of any machines capability of what it can do.
I am mostly northwestern Pennsylvania and Ohio have done some in the mountains of West Virginia before!
I have to agree with a lot of the folks here. Bear paw chains all around on my ol 668 clark make the ol girl nearly unstoppable. If your spinning your just burnin fuel (that stuff aint cheap esp when your runnin a wound up 653 detroit) granted points on the looks cool factor, but still expensive. That and a little closer choker set would have made it more effective, but again def take away from the theatrics. Cool vid though
i agree with every thing you just wrote those Clarks are good skidders last one i used was 666 and an absolute screamer never let me down
Good stuff right there... keep'em coming look for one every day!
Put chains on, then pull half as much, you'll skid 4 times faster. Anytime you have to winch or spinning tires your skidder is not moving, when your not moving your not making money. Also the choker is set to far back on the log, your not getting the weight on the skidder. I owned / ran cable skidders 30 yrs.
thats cool. we dont have any trees that big up here in NY except for some beach but thats awsome
cotton wood is used as filler in ply wood and cabinet framing
enjoy your videos. been in the log woods myself, just a long time ago.
damn those john deere's have some horse power! Better than a tractor pull video!
Yes it is!! A lot of hillside logging though! Have really contemplated buying a 648Glll but not sure how well it will work on sidehills
We cut a big bur oak in the northern part of the state took us 7 hours to cut it down trim it up and load it the whole tree limbs and all damn near loaded a pitts wagon
Wow, that's a whopper
Haha thanks for the advice duane i appreciate it.. That being said i think that load right there had more to do with the skidder mans ego than making money. It had been a long week and that ole cottonwood was the last one to be pulled.
that's one big tree where I come from if you get a tree that big the skidders just don't move because we have sand and clay
Yeah buddy, i have watched about all of them. They sure was ahead of there time, do they still make cutter heads???
Cool, thanks for the invite!!! We just use cottonwoods for crating
You got some nice machines down there
The links you added to the end of the video, blocked the viewing of the log.
Ok you guys, how long is that log? I see its about 36" dia.
I have never used a grapple, just wire, how do they perform? I have always fought of grapple skidders as a waste of time and you need to put more effort into it, but that is just what i have been thinking, how do they really do?
Alex Jones first off I know Wade and he'll be all "muh grapple skidders derrrrr." In my area, 100 miles north of Wade, you have to at least have a winch on your grapple skidder if not an all out cable skidder. It gets steep around me
Depending on what your doing, and the ground. But a grapple is pretty quick, and if you're cutting with a buncher, it's hands down the best investment
That’s awesome!!👍👍
That's all pretty country up that way.
weak operator wrap the cable closer to the logs end then winch up higher off the ground mean less drag ive done this job with bigger logs in steeper ground with less tyre tread
Now that's a whooper!
thanks for explaining that for me. we don't have them around here. did you get to look up those koehring machines?
Big log! Do you plant trees to replace the ones that are cut for future harvesting, or does mother nature take care of that?
in our area mother nature does it with a little help but when you restore and old field we plant them
why do u drag the log in mud? feel sorry for the guy who owns the sawmill
Yeah we use a debarker
That's why sawmills use debarkers.
I'm curious as to why you don't run tire chains on your skidders?
You put fluid in all 4 tires?
Great video!
all you had to do was choke the log closer to the top and you couldve lifted it off the ground and not plowed with it
treeclimberdave you seem blind honestly
Was John moon from MICHIGAN wade?
Just curious Wade but what state or states are you doing most of your logging?? I like your operation and the videos looks very productive!! I cut and skidded by myself for 20 yrs
what is the purpose of this. I keep being told that cottonwoods aren't good for anything. Was this just to clear the area?
cascadehopsrule crating its all just crating hell the video is work more than the wood lol
Alot of how I would ha e done it thing is half these guys prob sleep til noon on the mom's basement no ow how to u yard wood with an X Box TF
I've run all sorts of machines but never a skidder. Where was this log harvested?
Bob Ordewald Indiana
Bob Ordewald and you should seriously try to find one to run, even if you ain't skidding a drag.
Nellson Stout i agree, I've skidded logs with a dozer and a rubber tired tractor. I've moved cars with an articulated loader (I owned a salvage yard for about 7 years) but i have one more on that bucket list....... thanks! Bob
i would subscribe but who uses winch skidders and who doesn't use tire chains on their skidder?
You don't always need chains here in Indiana
Cable skidders is all we use around here
Why wasn't the front end of the log lifted to reduce drag?
James Campbell all she's got I guess
They got put on the old skidder betsey, she's got a face for radio. Lol
Awesome video!! What size is the grapple pushing the log?
Tiger cat 635 would handle than no issue low impact
Andrew Meek hear that but I bet the impact to the checkbook would be greater. But I know your right about what your saying
Sportin wood
Wonder what it weighed?
Big? hehe yeah it's pretty good size. What are cottonwoods used for up there? Down here about the only use is caskets. They actually prefer cottonwood. By the way if you like falling big timber and doing some exciting and dangerous work that pays like nuts send me a message. I work on wildfires out west cutting monster trees that are often on fire. Lemme know.
Nothing like a tigercat
Caleb Cunningham yeah Caleb this would be a good job for a Tiger
Spent 500 bucks to move a 100 dollar log.
GFWoodchuck yeah your blind as well
so do you own that logging business or do you just work for a guy that owns it?
Not that big for a cottonwood. MO river bottoms grows em 6ft. across at the base and still 4ft 60+ ft. up.
music lover big for our area
Cottonwood : Populus, Peuplier ?
Damn good video
That’s badass!,,, cotton that!,,,
Hella nice
is that for pulp?
How much would that log weigh?
+john wayne at $ 7.00 a cord for cotton wood firewood here in Michigan, it wasn't worth the wear and tear.
Dang that's a tree.
nice push pull
take care
thanks bud
si tu débardes comme ça en Europe, tu auras certainement des ennuis avec les Forestiers des Eaux et Forêts !
THIS WOOD HAS TO BE GOOD FOR SOMETHING, AFTER ALL GOD MADE IT ...
There is no God.
thats what a 5 foot diameter?
I'd say every bit of it
let the driver learn to clamp the wood
weres ur chains if u had a good set of heavy iron chains ud be allright ill pull hemlock biger than that my machine
. ? P08 cube1zip
;, ?**^::&, ,; ":*
where are your chains
+Mud Brothers we try not to run them till it's absolutely time...
20 dollars worth of timber 😂
Hahaha... 10-4 bud!
Don't like john deere skidders or any other skidded with clutch
Lol Pee Wee thinks you’re number 1
tulip poplar?
Naa it's actually cotton wood ain't worth much, just crating...
We put fluid in the front tires of our 648 it helped a bunch. Hay duane go to my channel i have a few more vids i bet you would like!!
search about 'skidder'
e4
kenworth
Chains
21 век а все по бузе,как дети
That's a big mothalicka
Hey I used to date a girl bout that big around
Deere power!!! O ya
a tag team match huh lol
My Dad pulled bigger trees with a 1972 John Deere 440
Bullshit bud
waste of fuel, waste of time
Thanks bud appreciate the comment
Logger Wade
Sometimes you gotta cut trees you don’t want to help manage the forest or to keep the landowner happy right wade obviously Steve here doesn’t know how to run a business
Big tree lol
All he is doing is creating a bunch of erosion. Why not wait for the ground to dry out more? And, why not cut the damn log in two so he can pull it easier and not spin his wheels so much? What idiots. The log will probably be cut in half at the mill anyway.
Another idea is to put some smaller logs under it, once he lifts it up, so the big log rolls on them, making it easier to pull.
648gIII