Cant believe the prices people are asking for used skidders

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They can ask but that doesn't necessarily mean they will get it. Time for some serious negotiation.

Some of those ad's are for selling other people's machines for twice the price.Saw a jd440a for $35000..I can't see buying a machine for more than it went for new.

Prices are high on dozers and skidders in ohio. Funny thing is you go 2hrs south into kentucky. You can buy both pieces of equipment for the asking price of one in ohio. I'm talking about 450dozer and 440 skidder.

back in 1982 after my grandfather died the family sold off his farming equipment. Gramp always kept things top notch! He had bought a 3020 jd power shift diesal tractor in 67 i think and it sold for mor in 82 then he paid for it! Never sat a nite outside! Only milked 40 cows so that was his baby!

I've noticed that too about tractors. My buddy has a mint 2550 jd he bought new in the 80's. Now they won't more used for them than what he paid new for it. He is proud of that tractor said it's only set outside for three nights since he owned it.

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They can ask big money for a old skidder but that doesn't mean their going to get it. Some brands seem to hold more value then others. Seems some people think there skidder is made of gold.

It seems regional- around here, an old cable skidder (I'm talking pre-1980's) like a Timberjack, Treefarmer, or Pettibone that runs, has tires that hold air, and the winch works, brings $5000. That's what I paid for mine, and it was ready to go to work. From the little bit I've looked at prices in the northeast, it seems the price would be double that. I think the difference is that you guys actually still use cable skidders to make a living over there, where here there are very few guys doing so. Everything has went to mechanical harvesting and grapple skidders or CTL crews. People have cable skidders for firewood or nostalgia it seems (here). We don't have much in the way of nice hardwood forests, the vast majority of our timber is managed for pulpwood. It seems wherever there is high grade hardwood to thin, the cable skidder is doing well- and the prices of the machines reflects that.

I'd also add that JD skidders seem to bring about 50% more than other brands.

You have to look at the market when your pricing a used machine, around here clean cable skidders don't exist, and the little guys dont have a lowboy to wanna move a big skidder. My 450C has been in the paper about 2 wks and i will know tomorrow if its gone, the clean stuff doesn't sit long.

Sometimes it seems to have to do with the market. Wood selling everyone wants one. Wood not selling they sit for awhile and go down in price.

I will only make one comment, that is Condition, condition, condition. Compared to a payment for a new machine alot of these used machines are priced fair IMO. You can also buy cheap and sink alot back into them quick and still have a marginal machine. I have been that route before. Its' up to the buyer to make the final decision.David l

a few things     over 200k for a new one   15k and up for a used one   smaller plots of land  lower wood price   ill stick with used  the most my dad ever spent on a skidder was 11k back in 80-81 and  2after that 5k and 6k and still have them  3years ago I hit the jack pot and got a 81 518 cat for 5k and drove it 3miles home  so its used for me and I wont pay over 10k for one that's just me

Quote from: barbender on December 25, 2014, 02:05:22 PMIt seems regional- around here, an old cable skidder (I'm talking pre-1980's) like a Timberjack, Treefarmer, or Pettibone that runs, has tires that hold air, and the winch works, brings $5000. That's what I paid for mine, and it was ready to go to work. From the little bit I've looked at prices in the northeast, it seems the price would be double that. I think the difference is that you guys actually still use cable skidders to make a living over there, where here there are very few guys doing so. Everything has went to mechanical harvesting and grapple skidders or CTL crews. People have cable skidders for firewood or nostalgia it seems (here). We don't have much in the way of nice hardwood forests, the vast majority of our timber is managed for pulpwood. It seems wherever there is high grade hardwood to thin, the cable skidder is doing well- and the prices of the machines reflects that.The comment about the pre 80's stuff at 5-k is exactly true around here.

Quote from: Woodhauler on December 25, 2014, 01:19:08 PMback in 1982 after my grandfather died the family sold off his farming equipment. Gramp always kept things top notch! He had bought a 3020 jd power shift diesal tractor in 67 i think and it sold for mor in 82 then he paid for it! Never sat a nite outside! Only milked 40 cows so that was his baby!I was at the auction of your grandfather's farm, my father bulldozed for your grandfather with his D 7 around the farm clearing land and ditching!

For one thing no one in this country that I know of makes small skidders. Land owners don't want to see 748's on their 20 acre chunk. Small dozers are a thing of the past also. 350 and 450 size machines are or will be shortly out of production. Deere, Case, and others. C4, C5, 440, 540 size machines are handy and easy to move around. As are small Jacks. I guess if you cut pulp and need a 1000 loads a week to pay the help then big machines are the way to go. Like everything else it is about supply/demand. Seems in my area there is a demand for them and they keep their value. I love mine for firewood and small logging jobs. I have been offered more than twice what I paid for it. For one it is in excellent condition and there are a lot of old guys like me that want to dabble in a little wood. I may even make a grapple for it someday. lol Don't laugh it can be done...we made one for a 450 dozer, the slickest thing you ever saw. Great for bunching or short skids.

I agree to a certain extent about condition but still think most of the skidders in the northeast are over priced some of them not all of them.

The value of any given object is what the buyer, and the seller agree on. I think that new pickup trucks are way over priced, but that doesn't change the fact that there are buyers out there that think that $55,000.00 is a good price on a new pickup truck.Pricing is generally a regional thing (supply and demand). I have not bought a pickup, or piece of equipment locally in years. Sometimes I have to travel well over 1000 miles to look at something, but if I have the potential to get what I need and save well above travel and transportation cost, then I figure it's a good investment.

Try and find a low hour 540-g3, if you do they bring 100k plus. Landing loaders and dozers are cheap, but a good clean skidder or log truck is gone quick.

totally agree with you  ;D

Quote from: deastman on December 25, 2014, 03:59:43 PMQuote from: Woodhauler on December 25, 2014, 01:19:08 PMback in 1982 after my grandfather died the family sold off his farming equipment. Gramp always kept things top notch! He had bought a 3020 jd power shift diesal tractor in 67 i think and it sold for mor in 82 then he paid for it! Never sat a nite outside! Only milked 40 cows so that was his baby!I was at the auction of your grandfather's farm, my father bulldozed for your grandfather with his D 7 around the farm clearing land and ditching!Rode a time or two on that ole d7!

Quote from: tantoy on December 25, 2014, 03:46:03 PMQuote from: barbender on December 25, 2014, 02:05:22 PMIt seems regional- around here, an old cable skidder (I'm talking pre-1980's) like a Timberjack, Treefarmer, or Pettibone that runs, has tires that hold air, and the winch works, brings $5000. That's what I paid for mine, and it was ready to go to work. From the little bit I've looked at prices in the northeast, it seems the price would be double that. I think the difference is that you guys actually still use cable skidders to make a living over there, where here there are very few guys doing so. Everything has went to mechanical harvesting and grapple skidders or CTL crews. People have cable skidders for firewood or nostalgia it seems (here). We don't have much in the way of nice hardwood forests, the vast majority of our timber is managed for pulpwood. It seems wherever there is high grade hardwood to thin, the cable skidder is doing well- and the prices of the machines reflects that.The comment about the pre 80's stuff at 5-k is exactly true around here.Yeah, around here that's a 10-15k machine, and a 5k machine is parts\scrap.Weird.But I think barbender hit the nail on the head, here in VT there is still quite a few guys running small cable machines every day.

A lot of us around here still use cable machines and the demand for then is still strong.

[/quote]Yeah, around here that's a 10-15k machine, and a 5k machine is parts\scrap.Weird.But I think barbender hit the nail on the head, here in VT there is still quite a few guys running small cable machines every day.[/quote]That's pretty much it around here too.  If you do your homework $12 grand is gong to get you a really good skidder in the 70 - 80hp range.  Any diesel skidders I've seen for 5 or 6 grand have been jury-rigged junk.  However, I have come across a few small gas-powered skidders in that price range that were in decent shape.

when i bought my 540A the seller was asking for 24k, its a 71year model! so i told him that he is way of with that price! There are maybe 15-25 deere skidders (440s and 540s) in Costa Rica, i have never seen an other brand here. As logging business has almost died in Costa Rica i am sure i was the only buyer with the money in the pocket and i am also pretty sure that this was the only skidder in decent shape for sale at this time. so long story short i offered him 12k and he tooked it! We are good friends now and i ask him if he regrat the sale and he told me that he never did. he rater have the money than a machine laying around he will never us again and also liked that his machine will be in good hands.I put about 3k in that machine the last 2 years for new cable and chokers and some parts and oil changes. she is in pretty good shape and i eliminated all oil leaks! I park my skidder in the shop after working and there is not one oildrop on the floor the next morning! ;D

Red, around here we got the pickup dealers phoning us trying to buy our pickups back off us cause there sending them to the USA, I guess you guys are paying more than us plus with the dollar difference they are making pretty good money on that deal, I know if you got a skidder in good shape guys are offereing real high dollars for them , I got a guy that lives about 1 mile from me that offered me $45,000 for mine . I paid $14,600 for it 3 years ago and told him no , Yep thats big money for my machine but what can I buy to replace it , the only skidder I think would be a newer 540 cable like 2008 or newer so alot more money and will it make me more money maybe abit more but not a huge amount but cost alot more

Where would a person look up north for one of these reasonably priced skidders. I feeling the waters for to use on my farm.

Price of parts,tires, new machines, the demand for wood and there are no small new machines. These smaller skidder will only go up more. Heck a lot of these skiddes have $6-8,000 worth of rubber on them!

10k buys you a " it runs and drives " cable skidder around here. But then again, you can't use a grapple machine around here too much, a man can an I would love to have one but haven't made that leap yet, but getting closer. What I need around here and would love to have is a good shape,solid,  grapple/cable TJ 240A.This is my (realistic) dream machine. A worn out 240a with slick tires gos for 40,000 here 😕. A worn  JD 440a needing tires and a transmission your looking at 12k listings. Crazyness....

I wish the border stuff was easier for the Canadian skidder buys but it is not. You need the broker, taxes, duty payment and trucking which makes it a pain. Machines in the north do seem to be priced way cheaper than in the U.S. Everything is so expensive here, tires are $1,400.00 a piece for 16.9x30 Forestry Specials and only five years ago they were $750.00. People keep mentioning in this post and I agree, they don't really make small cable machines anymore and if you have one in good condition it will hold it's value strong.Matter of fact I'm selling mine, any takers.

I had a 1995 548E I had owned for 9 years. I wasn't even thinking about selling it until a guy offered me $45,000.00. I paid $42,500.00 for it 9 years ago. So I sold it. Another guy offered me 30,000 for my 1986 440d, but I turned him down. I take real good care of my machines and guys know I do. I have had a few of the 10k timberjacks...but like I tell guys you get what you pay for. Do you want to spend 10k on a machine that your working on all the time or do you want to spend more for a machine that will start making you money right out of the box?Are you in the wrench turning business or the logging business?

X2 Nemologger. Nice post.David l

My 450C just sold tonight for 37k, there was no hesitation from the kid when he pulled out a deposit and will be back at noon tomorrow to pick it up. The good stuff doesnt sit. Had the kid call at 3pm, met me at 5pm, i was shocked. Was out in syracuse today, that will be home monday. New toys for christmas.  :D

Barge monkey that will plow the general store out! 😄

Quote from: Firewoodjoe on December 26, 2014, 08:33:40 PMBarge monkey that will plow the general store out! 😄;)  My parents had to spend the money before the end of the yr. Thank you Mr Obama.

That 644J would just about do it for me. :D

when i was looking for a small skidder,they were around 12 to 15.000. and needed work, i found a c4d with 4 new firestone tires a recent 4bt cummings with full set of chains for 10,000 ran it for 400hrs then did winch bans. put 500hrs on it this summer pulling firewood,it was a lucky find i think and a hr from home .

DrLewis, sounds like a good deal. Any pic's for us to gaze at.

ill try ,  someone had a picture of it this spring on here  .the machine was for sale on craigs list last winter, ill see what i can do.

That c4 sounds like a good buy.

there was a couple 664's around here that the owner wanted $7500 for them, I donot know if they sold or not , 1 had a 4bt in it and the other had 353 in it , both ran ok but both needed brakes . If you get up north above me you can find skidders for a good price but have to check them over very well, Alot of rock up there so if used real hard they get beat up quite bad

On average what is a 540 JD worth these days say a 2008 and newer , just looking and would like to know , not very many of them up here

We a testimony to skidders being obsolite in certain areas. Our cable came from Va. Where they use mostly grapples now. It's our most used piece of equipment. 81 230 super e for 6k working condition. Up north it would have been 10k.

I hear John Deere is doing away with the 540's size machines. The 440's are already history. They quit making 350 dozers and I also hear the 450,550 dozers are going to be put out to pasture also. Case quit making 350, 450, and 550 dozers already. Others have quit making small dozers or skidders or have gone out of business altogether. What machines are left are it. This certainly increases value. I can remember when you had a 450 size dozer you had the cat by the tail. lol Many roads and landings were made by these machines. Now they use D5 size machines and 40,000 lb. track hoes or bigger. Today a skidder new has to be at least $200,000, that is a lot of sticks on the landing to pay for that.

Got a friend who just bought a new Cat, 200K $ and then some . yes High tech , thats alot of sticks on the landing.

Its really to bad they dont do small machines anymore.In my type of work the push for bigger machines is noticable every year at the trade shows.  Mini loaders went from 1200 lbs to 2500 lbs, its crazy. Just not mini anymore.  I went bigger on two of my machines last year and still wish sometimes i had the small stuff. Life was less stressed.  :-\

Quote from: timberlinetree on December 28, 2014, 05:47:38 AMWe a testimony to skidders being obsolite in certain areas. Our cable came from Va. Where they use mostly grapples now. It's our most used piece of equipment. 81 230 super e for 6k working condition. Up north it would have been 10k.Here it would be closer to 15k

I looked for a good 8 months on Kijiji to find my Timberjack 230 in southern Ontario. Got it for 5K and I've put 1k into it so far. I have two pinion seals to do and I'm going to change some hydraulic lines and maybe one of the front hydraulic blade rams.  Now a lot of the stuff I am doing doesn't  really need to be done so 6k and your logging.  With the condition that its in now i could probably sell it for 10 to 12k.Most of the cable skidders for the 5k price usually had a major component down like transmission, transfer case etc.Theres a decent looking  Timberjack 520 posted on Kijiji 3 hrs ago for 10k!! It has a 6-53 Detroit and a 10ft Root rake on the front.  I think its a 1981.  Now if all is in working condition then i would say thats a cheap price for that machine.  Now thats at the large end for cable skidders.  Its around the Ottawa area.  If anyone wants the link I'll post it just let me know.

Unless you've got some serious long term contracts in front of you its nigh impossible to justify the price of a new machine, and the only guys I know in the industry with that sort of resource security are softwood plantation operators. In that game bigger is better, which is why there are so few late model smaller machines out there. Trust me - I have been looking and I'm not afraid to pay the freight to bring a machine from the other side of the world if its the right machine.What constitutes a fair price is of course buyer dependant. For me I don't worry so much about years as i do about component history. Given a choice of a "cheap"machine with a good frame (say below ten or so thousand dollars), and a 40k+ machine thats ten years youngerunless i know/trust the sellerI will nearly always take the older cheaper machine. My rationale is that I depend on my gear to put food on the table and a 10k machine thats had 30 thousand dollars worth of rebuild in my workshop is going to be a hell of a lot more reliable then a 60 thousand dollar machine of doubtful history. 30k can go a long way around a skidder.Whats expensive is also subject to need, by which i mean how badly do you need a skidder? If you're just chasing a part time job or something to play with and maybe drag a bit of firewood for yourself spending 20k on a machine looks expensive. When your income depends on having a couple of skidders then its not so much expensive as just another business expense, and you have to factor in downtime on cheaper machines against higher repayments on a new one.

Hey this is all good info, seems their is some good points to consider when buying a small used cable skidder.

Quote from: logman81 on December 29, 2014, 07:33:32 AMHey this is all good info, seems their is some good points to consider when buying a small used cable skidder.Half the problem is that those old small skidders were pretty much built to last forever: the market demand for new machines is low because people like me just keep rebuilding what they have until frame wear becomes an issue. We had one that hit that point a few years back and I actually priced a new 548 at that time... That being the right size for what we do... Then found another Clark 666 with a good frame and literally took the driveline out of our machine and put it in the "new" one. I like Clark - the "keel" frames are a hell of a lot stronger then most anything else.I have never been a fan of the real little machines like a 664 or 440 Deere... Always seemed too small once a hitch was on them to me, and that next size bigger can do a hell of a lot more work. The footprint isn't much bigger really, a 548/666 class machine in the hands of a careful operator is lower impact then a baby machine in the hands of a driver - people forget that they're only a few inches wider but the length is the same once a logs on the back and it's the hitch you're towing that damages the stand, not the machine itself. That's another reason the little machines went out of production I suspect.Don't be afraid of freight it cost me 15000 about five years back to shift a D5G from Savannah Ga to Brisbane Australia... Sometimes it's cheaper to freight in the right machine then buy just down the road, and as with anything it's the price of the total package landed in your yard ready to go to work that matters, not just the initial price you pay for the machine.I'd be surprised if Deere dropped the 540 class - I'd suspect it would be the 640 size that's endangered as its too big to be "small" so makes a mess in a selective cut, but not big enough to  be "big".

I was told this summer that the 540/548 class was history.

If Deere kill the 540/548 class off that will open a hole for someone else I guess. There's plenty of good small machines still being built: just not in North America. I'm from Oztraya... So pretty much all equipment is imported here anyway.  Given a blank cheque I'd take a Welte 130 over a  Deere 548 any day - double drum winch, swing grapple and a clam bunk all in a 548 class package makes for a lot of versatility and productivity on a smaller machine.A Welte 110 is pretty much the new equivalent of a 440, but updated to today's standards.And Google iwafuji for a micro skidder... Japan has a huge low impact forestry industry with specialized equipment manufacturers for skidders and yarders that will fit where a horse would feel crowded.My point is that if the North American manufacturers don't build it - someone else already is and has been for years. It's fine to say "buy American" or Canadian, or whatever country you come from. But that also means they have to build it there for you to buy it. And it's no excuse for the manufacturers failing to innovate - the reality is that those guys will cease production because of lack of sales because no-one in Europe buys a Deere because it can't compete with what's available locally. Not that the Deere is a bad machine, but in reality it's the same machine they were building in 1990 with an engine upgrade and a laptop installed under the hood. How can it compare at the same price point with this.http://www.welte.de/English/serien_w130.htmlA mate of mine not long ago bought a new Cat 140 grader... Fresh from the factory in China!!!

Our rep said awhile ago there gone. Can't get the new emissions engine under the hood. And when was the last time a one or two man hand crew bought a new 540. You can't cut grade with a chainsaw and make a $3,000 payment. And the 648s won't go due to the torque converter trans. You have to go to a 848 to get it because the 748s are only direct drive. And there's alot of guys around here that won't even have a direct drive on the job. I don't blame them.

540 A on maine c/l. its in vermont guy only wants 20500$$$   He may  ;Dbe on crack!!

Quote from: Woodhauler on December 30, 2014, 04:44:34 PM540 A on maine c/l. its in vermont guy only wants 20500$$$   He may  ;Dbe on crack!!like my dad use to say     there is a butt for every seat  :D :D :D

so with that being said I guess the good smaller machines will just keep going up in price

And until they make it law that all (even old equipment and trucks) have to meet emissions then it won't just be small but older in general go up in price. Some of that new stuff is a real pain. Trucks even cost down time just letting it run its clean burn bull!

I can see that coming on trucks if you run one commercially but not on off road equipment. Think about all the mining and farming industry, they could all pack up and go home.  I am more thinking they slap another tax on the diesel fuel when you're polluting more than one with the new engines.

I tend to avoid electronic control anything - mostly because I don't know and have no wish to learn how to fix it.Having said that though I know the secret with the newer equipment is to put enough hours on it every year that the fuel saving - which can be considerable when you compare something like our 4v53 detroits with a tierIII common rail engine -equals or exceeds the higher cost of maintenance. With a truck or a dozer  I can see how to do that, but I cannot for the life of me see how to put that many hours a year on a skidder in a selective cut operation like ours unless we shifted from harvesting for our own mill to harvesting on a contract basis. And I don't know that I want to go there - I see the opportunity around here now to do that but I'd really rather run a sawmill then a chainsaw.

Well said, seems a lot of the older small skidders are climbing in price making very hard for the part time little guy to afford one.

Quote from: lopet on December 30, 2014, 07:50:19 PMI can see that coming on trucks if you run one commercially but not on off road equipment. Think about all the mining and farming industry, they could all pack up and go home.I am more thinking they slap another tax on the diesel fuel when you're polluting more than one with the new engines.Heh.  Coming soon to a (broke) province near you.   ;)   Along with a carbon tax.

A little of track but I heard that in California you have to buy dirty air permit for older chippers @ $600 a year and can only do that for 5 yrs.

That doesn't surprise me. I've been there a few times. Searched the motor home for bugs and had to throw out our food before we crossed the state line. Semis can only smoke for like 3 seconds! A friend of mine use to over the road truck and he always chose others loads before cal. just cause it's a pain.

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