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4-WD, 4-Wheel Steer "Skidder' Tractor
"It works great for skidding logs and is articulated so it goes just about anywhere," says Roy Aebi, Dayton, Ore., who built a 4-WD, 4-wheel steer "log skidder" tracĄtor using two truck rear axles.
The hydraulically-steered tractor is equipped with a heavy duty rear-mounted winch, front-mounted blade, and large
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4-WD, 4-Wheel steer æskidder' tractor TRACTORS Made-It-Myself 15-1-10 "It works great for skidding logs and is articulated so it goes just about anywhere," says Roy Aebi, Dayton, Ore., who built a 4-WD, 4-wheel steer "log skidder" tracĄtor using two truck rear axles.
The hydraulically-steered tractor is equipped with a heavy duty rear-mounted winch, front-mounted blade, and large 13 by 24 tractor tires. It's powered by a 100 hp Oldsmobile 88 V-8 Rocket gas engine. A 4-speed Chevrolet truck transmission chain-drives two heavy duty double reĄduction International truck differentials to reduce speed for more pulling power.
"I built it for less than $200 in 1955 before 4-WD tractors had been widely introduced," says Aebi. "I've used the tractor to skid logs 24 to 32-ft. long and up to 2 ft. in diameter. I winch logs up to the tractor, then drive forward. An old car differential chain drives a countershaft which gear-drives the winch. The counter-shaft is mounted on two arms fastened to a lever behind the tractor seat. I push or pull the lever to engage or disengage the winch and use another lever to lock the rear wheels while I'm winching a log up to the tractor. The cable is guided onto the winch by a pulley mounted near the top of a 5-ft. high A-frame. The pulley raises the front end of the log slightly off the ground. The axles are geared low so it has lots of torque. The only thing I'd change would be to use a larger gas tank than the 4-gal. tank mounted behind the tractor seat."
Aebi used channel iron and steel plate to build the tractor's frame and welded 24-in. tractor rims onto the 20-in., 10-hole truck hubs. He built his own bell housing to match up engine and transmission. He angled a pair of engine exhaust pipes ahead of the tractor. He used heavy gauge sheet metal to build the 7-ft. wide, 2-ft. high blade and bolted an old road grader blade onto the bottom edge. "I use the blade to push brush and scoop out dirt," notes Aebi.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Roy Aebi, 8845 S.E. Lafayette Hwy., Dayton, Ore. 97114 (ph 503 864-2390).
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