Let's Get Off To A Good Start, New Farm, New Unit - Opening The First Block Up With The Tigercat

[@craigtjen9130]

Wow great job Jason, glad to see you back. Can’t wait to see your tethered machine in action!

[@thedailylogger]

Hi Craig. Good to hear from you brother. Unfortunately the situation down here hasn't changed, that was a previous video from when we were just getting going on this farm. We are going to do some vids on the conversion of the excavator to line machine and as much as they will allow of me getting going with it. Corporate politics there, kinda disappointing. But hey, we'll see how much we can get out there as we go. Summit has the machine in the yard now and it is scheduled to get in the shop come next month - once they get rolling on it the project should only take about three weeks so stay tuned. Thanks for the comment, hope your winter is going well. Be safe!

[@bobmartin6055]

Outstanding craftsmanship!! What a pleasure to watch!

[@thedailylogger]

Thank you! As I said, this is a new farm for us and i feel as though we are off to a good start. This unit wasn't what I would call easy, but the ground and the wood were fairly uniform. A real pleasure to work on. I think I only had a handful of stems that I had to face, and as it was fairly steep in places that really makes my life easier! Uniform wood, not real big but not small and with good height. Uniform ground, the units are formed primarily by creeks and roads, not by arbitrary boundaries. Put these two components together and you have a recipe for consistent production, and that makes me happy! Thanks for the comment and for watching, we appreciate it! Be safe.

[@timberslasher4899]

The Tigercat impresses again as always! Sometimes when I am inching down a slope that I am afraid I might slide down on I will take a decent tree and keep working in down the slope crossways in front of me to where if I slide I will catch it and it will catch trees I haven't cut yet and it will stop me. It's not practical to do all the time but it gets me down to a clump I can't reach from time to time. I am working to get a week ahead right now so I can take that trip I mentioned. Stay safe out there!

[@thedailylogger]

That's sounds like a pretty good trick. I'm a big fan of trail mix, dicing up non merch for under the low side track. We have this brush out here called vine maple, in general it's a pain in the neck but it's saved my bacon more than once as matting. There's also this tag alder, that's good brush, it grows in clumps but is straight so I can grab the whole clump in one pass and is tough under foot too. It's amazing how just a little bit of help can keep you going or out of trouble with some preventive measures!

[@oldtimerf7602]

Nice vid! Have a great Turkey Day!

[@thedailylogger]

Thanks, glad you liked it! That unit is on the ground I got around 50 acres of the 60. Some handfalling around the bigger draws. The shovel side is chewing through it and the yarder is going at it too, they are liking the bunched wood. We've got a big storm moving in, rain and lots of it but I'm cutting at 2000 ft and it looked like snow as I was leaving tonight. We got a pretty good dusting Weds, I guess it's winter. I've still got my pump can on the truck and haven't put my tire chains in yet! Gonna keep my fingers crossed I don't need them tomorrow. Good cuttin to ya!

[@DC980G2]

After over 20yrs in a buncher I put my madill on its side a few weeks ago so as I’m told I’m finally a buncher operator but that’s a ride a prefer not to take again.

[@thedailylogger]

Man, I'm sorry to hear that. It sounds as though you're ok, did it do much damage to your machine? I hear what you are saying about that being a ride you don't want to take again. I haven't put a Buncher over, knock on wood, but I've taken some rides that could have very easily ended up that way. Those are no fun! I'm sure you do the same, when conditions are slick and the ground is steep I put a lot of time, effort and consideration into my moves, and doing all I can to ensure I stay put. I'd be very interested in the details of what happened if you felt like talking about it. Well, thanks for the comment, and for watching, we appreciate it. Good cuttin to ya when you get your Madill back if you haven't already!

[@DC980G2]

@@thedailylogger My 25lb fire extinguisher broke its mount and it caught me in the back of the head and left shoulder but no permanent damage. The hood opened just enough that it twisted a little but it still opens and closes good enough, lost 2 gal of coolant and a gal of engine oil. I’m glad I have a big shovel because once I found a big enough strap to borrow it was easy to get it upright. I was only 50’ from the haul road going up a short steep section covered in blackberries and was close to the top where it levels out and I cut a tree just off to the side of my right track and soon as I cut it, it started swinging me down the hill and when I went to swing up hill the undercarriage turned under me and she started going over, if I hadn’t had the boom almost all the way up and pulled in to me I probably would have stopped upside down but luckily the boom dug in enough to stop me and under the blackberries I was on was 99% of the rock on the entire 140acres. If it hadn’t been so rocky so that I had better traction I don’t think the undercarriage would have spun underneath me.

[@thedailylogger]

@@DC980G2 Holy smokes! Probably all happened in a few seconds but I bet it felt like a lifetime to you. I hate rock for that reason, too easy to skate on it and you can't tell if you're going to move or not. Sounds like you couldn't even see it under all the blackberries. And once you start sliding it's anybody's bet as to what's going to happen. Too easy to turn like what happened to you, or turn and hit something solid that flips you, or slide over someplace really steep and commence tumbling. Well, thanks for the details, glad you're not any more banged up than you are, and your machine too. Good luck to ya with the rest of the unit, be safe!

[@DC980G2]

@@thedailylogger I really hate working on rocky ground and if I could have seen the ground I probably would have chosen a different route but I went where it required the least cutting of hardwood to get to the next good patch of fir. It’s amazing how quick it happens you don’t have time to think until it’s over, I’m just glad I got the engine shut off real quick before any known damage was done but it’s ran 40+hrs since without any issues.

[@thedailylogger]

@@DC980G2 Copy that. You're probably ok then. I have rolled one machine, a grapple skidder, one of my own. My fault entirely, I was pushing it way too hard on some really steep ground. It was sidehill and the ground froze so hard after I cut it that we couldn't scratch in a trail. I remember thinking as I turned the key off and started to go over, "man, I hope I don't commence tumbling" it was a long way to the bottom. But, she flopped on her side and that was that. Winched it upright with another skidder, let it sit for a bit and all was good. And a lesson learned for me! Good talking with you, good cuttin to ya!

[@alexking-bq4mu]

Just curious have you had to put any hydraulic pumps on that machine and how many hours do you have on it?

[@thedailylogger]

Hey, thanks for asking. I'm coming up on 7000 hours, at 6949 on Friday night. I haven't had to replace any pumps other than one under warranty that was weeping slightly at the input shaft seal, that was when the machine was almost brand new, I think it was the saw pump. The only other component I've replaced is a water pump. I'd have to check but I'm guessing that was about 4000 hours, it was weeping a little at the output shaft seal. I was really impressed by how easy that was to swap out. Loosen the belt, three 13 mm bolts, replace the o ring and put it back together. Course it cost 1200 bucks for something I could hold in one hand, but it was straightforward to do! Some water pumps can be a bugger. I did get a new tilt motor back under warranty too, it was leaking at the shaft seal. I've replaced the seals on the single motor side since then, it's not a bad project to do as long as you have a crane. Are you replacing a hydraulic pump on yours? How many hours do you have? LX870D? Are you working on Winch Asssist? Do you have that upgrade that I got of the cow catcher return line filter? Designed to catch the shrapnel if a pump does detonate. I do change the Hydraulic Oil every 2000 hours, and am pretty obsessive on the maintenance/filters so knock on wood she keeps ticking along. I run at the factory pressures too, she's not turned up. Id like to know what your experience is, good luck on it!

[@alexking-bq4mu]

I am running a 755D timber pro. I was just curious about the hydraulic pumps because the timber pro that I’m running has 2300 hours and it’s working on its second pump just curious to see how the tigercat holds up

[@thedailylogger]

@@alexking-bq4mu Copy. Well, at least it is still under warranty I would think. Is that the main pump that went? Hopefully not too much contamination downstream. I have to admit my blood is running Tigercat yellow and black these days, and so far she's done nothing but continue to impress me! Good luck with yours, and good cuttin to ya! Enjoy talking Buncher with you.