Fj40 logskidder (1 Viewer)

[wardk]

I'm new to this forum and I own a fairly worthless fj, The bad bent frame , rusted body, no title. The good rebuilt chev 350 ,11,000 lb winch and 40inch rubber.It's not worth much but I live on very steep ground with lots of dead trees due to bug kill, My thought was to build it to skid logs down to flat ground for firewood processing.Does anyone have suggestions for weaknesses right off I know things will break. I think it's 1969.

 

[Kipper7]

I have no suggestions, but welcome to the fun.
Kip

 

[madinal]

Let's see, without the frame and body you're left with an engine and questionable drivetrain. The original engine would be best for a high torque low speed skidder but you don't have the original engine. Best bet is to take and inventory and see what you can sell to get enough money to buy an 8N.

 

[Bret]

There is lots you can do, just depends on what you want to end up with and how much you want to spend. Most folks start with brakes and steering (safety stuff) and work out from there.

I would be curious how your fitting 40in rubbers under there though?

You could make it into a tube buggy or truggy of sorts, trailer queen to take riding?

Maybe a title search to see where the title went? Make it street legal that way.

and BTW, where do you live that has very steep ground? We could all come wheeling there! Very little hills in FL...

 

[78fj40mg]

Welcome to MUD!!

 

[Pin_Head]

Down hill log skidding on steep terrain takes balls.

There's old loggers and there's bold loggers, but there's no old bold loggers.

 

[78fj40mg]

Well said Pinhead!

Down hill log skidding on steep terrain takes balls.

There's old loggers and there's bold loggers, but there's no old bold loggers.

 

[shelfboy1]

its a no brainer hauling logs doing it safely is the key.ive hauled many logs but not down hill for my 90 year old nieghbor .i take them to the edge and he pushes them over with his 41 john deer then drags them to his house.if the trees are so big that you have to beat the crap out of the cruiser to move them its not worth it.i switched to a bobed deuce with agg tires and its much easier now.i also have a pto winch on the back to lift the logs a bit, gives the truck some good traction that way.safety is the key here.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Let's see, without the frame and body you're left with an engine and questionable drivetrain. The original engine would be best for a high torque low speed skidder but you don't have the original engine. Best bet is to take and inventory and see what you can sell to get enough money to buy an 8N.

I wouldn't use a tractor for skidding logs. They can and do, walk themselves right on over. Many have been killed by trying to pull out bushes or heavy logs. Buy some chains for all the tires, skidding logs is hard on the drive train, so don't get a heavy foot.

Good Luck and be Safe.

 

[wardk]

I am in BC Canada lots of wheeling here, a bit of a drive from Fl. though. As for the 8n idea I can't think of anything that would kill you faster than an 8n on steep ground. we are farmers and have two 4wd tractors 30hp and 70hp and it's too steep for them. I can't afford to wreck a tractor, just wanted something to pull the logs to the bottom they are a little too big for the quad,

 

[Rocky_LC]

How about a picture or two? That would be helpful to frame the discussions.

I'd like to see both the truck and terrain!


Rocky

 

[lowenbrau]

To answer the original question (most of this stuff will be obvious)

The end of frame is a bit thin for pulling with rust free frames. Once it is rusty it is pretty useless. You'll need to weld up some re-inforcement.

The three speed trans is a bit weaker than the four speed that replaced it and the ratios aren't very low. If you are going with an SBC anyway you might as well stick in an SM420 (1950s to 1970s chevy truck trans) and adapter to your J30 case. That will give you 2x lower gears. EBI (lower mainland) or RaddCruisers (island) can supply the adapter.

The front CV joints (birfields) are a weak link. If you back up hill and turn the wheels you can expect to break birfields. There are upgrades if you find that happening too often.

The rear spring hangers, where they connect to the frame benefit from a brace to help them stay connected to the frame and not twist. Just a flat plate welded on an angle will do.

If need to hold the rig on steep ground you should consider a linelock. The tcase parking brake is held to the aluminum t-case with smallish fasteners. If you forget to let it go and drive away it will just break off.

Hope this helps

 

[wardk]

Here are some pics of the Fj and the ground. I hope

 

[Rocky_LC]

Really cool logo on the side, there!

Can you pull stuff downhill using the winch and a "Snatch Block"?

I don't know, I've never tried it. need a good way to disconnect fast if something really starts moving fast.....

Rocky

 

[wardk]

Thanks for taking the time for this, I am beginning to think this is a bad idea.I might just cut down a bunch of the dead trees and rent the appropriate machine to get them down,ie small cat ,skidder or a hoe.Question is what to do with the old fj?

To answer the original question (most of this stuff will be obvious)

The end of frame is a bit thin for pulling with rust free frames. Once it is rusty it is pretty useless. You'll need to weld up some re-inforcement.

The three speed trans is a bit weaker than the four speed that replaced it and the ratios aren't very low. If you are going with an SBC anyway you might as well stick in an SM420 (1950s to 1970s chevy truck trans) and adapter to your J30 case. That will give you 2x lower gears. EBI (lower mainland) or RaddCruisers (island) can supply the adapter.

The front CV joints (birfields) are a weak link. If you back up hill and turn the wheels you can expect to break birfields. There are upgrades if you find that happening too often.

The rear spring hangers, where they connect to the frame benefit from a brace to help them stay connected to the frame and not twist. Just a flat plate welded on an angle will do.

If need to hold the rig on steep ground you should consider a linelock. The tcase parking brake is held to the aluminum t-case with smallish fasteners. If you forget to let it go and drive away it will just break off.

Hope this helps

 

[BC40]

For a BC truck that doesn't look to be in bad shape, definitely could be fixed. You can always sell it as a parts truck. Or there are ways to get papers for it from ICBC.


Ok, re-read your first post, where is the "bad bent frame"?

 

[AKcruiserfreak]

For a BC truck that doesn't look to be in bad shape, definitely could be fixed. You can always sell it as a parts truck. Or there are ways to get papers for it from ICBC.


Ok, re-read your first post, where is the "bad bent frame"?

Check out the door alignment...

 

[pardion]

Here is the work in progress boom truck log skidder I am building, 4-wheel steering also.

 

[bikersmurf]

I see a half decent truck there that just needs some TLC. The hardtop appears to be in decent shape, you've got a split hood with the ornament, can't tell about the frame, but the rockers and rear sill are easily to get new.

That said, you could pull and sell the hardtop, install a Metaltech full cage, weld a roof to the top of the cage, and use a winch to drag around some trees. My 40 has dragged around a few 20' lengths of trees that were 2-3' across... Quite easily. But I'd stay off the steep stuff. Use the winch to get stuff to leveler ground.

How big are the trees, a lot of Beetle kill I've seen could be easily dragged around with a stock 40. Just keep yourself safe. With stock gearing I've pulled a few 15,000 GVW trucks out of my lawn. Even 30:1 gearing will do a lot.

X2 on an Sm420/465.

PM me if you want to sell off parts of your 40.

 

[whitey45]

John that is bitchen,thinking about doing something similiar,where did you source the boom!