Steep slopes?? No problem!! The tethering system today is used around the world to improve productivity and safety. No substitute!! Productive, cost effective and reliable!
So your using a skidder on yarder ground, cool. except part of the reason its yarder ground is those 2' deep ruts created by the skidder some would call that erosion, its not just a matter of safety or production, because a yarder would be just as productive or more so with a good crew, its also a matter of what you leave behind. As far as cost effective? a dedicated single use machine (the line winch) at over $500,000 and a massive skidder to go with it. Lets not forget the safety factor when you have a 24ton machine hooked to a cable that is running over dirt and rocks.
Exactly. The ROPS system on the tigercat almost guarantees no injury. That brings down insurance costs. These ruts you speak of..... not such an issue since the skidder is already hooked to a winch, have you ever been in the woods partner?
Logging used to be hard work but fun. Now everything is computerized and no thinking or common sense hardly needed. I see feller butchers hooked up this way too. No fallers needed. No hook tenders or choker setters. I miss the old days and ways.
