SHAW’S WIRE ROPES IRON TEST
When a skidder is working flat out it’s hard to beat in the wood hauling role. But wet winter conditions often see 4-wheelers parked up or severely restricted. That’s when 6-wheelers come into their own and Tigercat has expanded its range with the new 625E – the first having gone into the Bluewood Logging crew in Southland/Otago. It’s just what owner, Clint McIvor, wanted
MAYBE WE SHOULD REALLY BE CALLING THE NEW six-wheeled Tigercat 625E the ‘Goldilocks’ skidder. That’s because it sits right in the sweet spot for harvesting operations like Southland’s Bluewood Logging; it’s not too small that it struggles to pull wood effectively and it’s not too big that it might be regarded as overkill.
It’s just right.
Well, that’s how Bluewood Logging’s owner, Clint McIvor, sees it. And, having completed our Iron Test of his new 625E, the first to arrive in New Zealand, we think that he may just be right, too.
The 625E bridges the gap between the existing six-wheeled models in the Tigercat stable, the 615E and the big, range-topping 635G.
Both of those models have been out for a while – more than a decade for the 635 and five years for the 615 – though they’ve gone through a series of updates over the years. In that time, Tigercat has reigned supreme in the six-wheel-drive skidder market, with no challenges as yet from their green and yellow rivals.
So Tigercat could be forgiven for making hay while the sun shines and adding another arrow to the skidder quiver.
And it could just be that the Canadian manufacturer has saved its best for last.
Indications are that the new 625E will become the most popular of the six-wheeled Tigercat skidders because of its broad appeal. It already seems to be working out that way judging by the interest and orders for the New Zealand market. That’s the ‘Goldilocks’ effect in action.
AB Equipment’s Mark Hill says the 625E has struck a chord with many logging contractors here, being relatively compact and light, but still built from heavier-duty components and featuring sufficient power to be well suited to high volumes, challenging terrain, demanding duty cycles and long-distance skidding. The sort of conditions found in a number of forests throughout New Zealand.
The sort of conditions that Bluewood Logging regularly encounters around its forestry stomping ground in Southland and Otago.
For owner, Clint McIvor, the arrival of the 625E was perfectly timed, making up for missing out on his ideal skidder when he
first purchased a Tigercat in 2010, which was also the first Tigercat machine of any sort to be sold in New Zealand by AB Equipment.
Back then, he wanted a grapple skidder that was also equipped with a large and powerful winch, so he could rope stems from difficult pockets which couldn’t be reached with the tongs.
The right grapple model was not available and he ended up purchasing a 604C dedicated rope skidder, the first ever made by Tigercat, which he’s been working right up to the arrival of the 625E. Turns out that if Clint had waited another six months he could have ordered a 620 grapple model that also incorporated the full-size Allied winch fitted to his 604.
“It was a shame we missed out, but at the time we needed the rope skidder for the work we were doing and it served us pretty well,” he says.
Clint has got what he wants this time round, with a 196kN (44,000lb) line pull Carco winch sitting just behind the voluminous 1.95m (21ft) grapple on his new 625E. That’s more line pull than the Allied winch on the old 604C and a larger size grapple than is available on the current 615E. Sweet.
The comparison with the 615E is relevant, because prospective buyers could be interested in either machine and the new 625E shares quite a lot of the componentry with its stablemate, including transmission choices, axles, hydraulic system, wheel/tyre combinations, blade and even cab. For markets like New Zealand, which take Tier 2 engines, there’s no difference in the power output
between the 615E and 625E, as there is between Tier 4 motors. Both are powered by Tigercat FPT N67 engine, delivering 172kW (231hp) of peak power at 1,900rpm. The main difference between the two models is size; the 625E measures 8,740mm in overall length and has a 4,445mm wheelbase, against the 615E’s 8,460mm and 4,320mm respectively. Both are 3,350mm in width and 3,150mm in height. Weight-wise, the 625E tips the scales at 21,860kg, a full tonne heavier than the smaller model.
There’s a much larger gap between the 625E and the 635G in size, performance wood hauling ability and, of course, price. But get the 625E out into the forest and the difference is not as marked as you might think. It’s right in the Goldilocks zone.
When the NZ Logger Iron Test team turned up to the Bluewood Logging site on the western flanks of the Blue Mountains, in Otago, the 625E had only recently replaced the old rope skidder, which was already on its way to a keen buyer in South Africa.
We’d arrived at the tail-end of the summer harvesting location, prior to their shift over to Conical Hill (where it’s still working well), and it was easy to see why this block is not used in the winter – the long winding track from the skid site out to the cut-over has to traverse a very steep incline, which would be very difficult to climb in wet weather, even with the extra traction provide by six driving wheels, instead of four, plus the bands.
This forest has got an interesting assortment of Douglas-fir and self-seeded pines, so the drags can consist of skinny stems and some heavier wood. Not the easiest mix of trees to pick up and then retain in the grapple for the drag down to the skid.
The other challenge is distance. The current drag is around 800 metres, which is long by most standards, but the previous distance was over a kilometre, which could take around 45 minutes to cover on a round trip. So when the skidder driver also has to jump out and chain up logs and then unchain them at the other end, it eats into productivity.
“You learn to live with it, but it is frustrating when you can’t get the wood to the skid quickly enough,” says Clint.
“So we bided our time until the cable machine had done its job. Now we’ve got what we wanted the first time around, but with another axle. The reason we went with the six-wheeler is that you keep hearing how good they are but a 615 would have been too small and a 635 would have been too big.
“Back in October Mark Hill and Dean Cousins came and saw me and said they are doing this model and showed me the specs on it and I said yeah, put me down for one.
“Even though it’s early days and it hasn’t really done many hours it’s been going really well. We’ve noticed a big difference in the wood flow, especially with the distance we are pulling. We’ve got a pinch
point at the skid now. We’ll have to see what happens there.”
That’s understandable, with the new 625E pulling eight loads to every five dragged in by the 604C, we’re talking a 60% increase. Might be time to think about moving from manual log making to mechanical processing, Clint!
On arrival at the site, regular operator Craig Stiven had already parked the 625E for Iron Tester Stephen ‘Pud’ Unahi and myself to inspect. These six-wheelers are always impressive when you first encounter them. It’s amazing how that bogie gives the machine so much more presence. And it’s not just an illusion.
Effectively, this model is a 620 with another set of wheels bolted onto the back, which adds 1,375mm to the overall length and 125mm to the wheelbase. Inevitably that extra length will have an effect on manoeuvrability in tight spaces, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
First up, the cab, which has evolved into a nice workspace over the years – made even nicer with the advent of the TurnAround seat. Clint’s old machine had a fixed seat and steering wheel, so the driver was constantly craning his neck when backing up to rope stems and avoiding the need to reverse long distances to the cut-over.
Craig is almost pinching himself that he now has the luxury of (mostly) facing in the direction in which the machine is being driven now, after eight years of looking over his shoulder. The seat doesn’t fully face the direction the machine is heading, swivelling through 100-degrees so that the operator is still at an angle to the front and rear screens, but it’s certainly preferable to a fixed position. It also means the grapple, arch and steer functions are all controlled through armrest mounted joysticks – no more steering wheel.
“The TurnAround seat is great, especially when you are backing up to a drag and you don’t have to look over your shoulder,” he says.
“Just got to get used to clicking it and then watch that it doesn’t catch your legs as you swivel round in a hurry. Done that a few times.”
Surprisingly it didn’t take Craig too long to get used to steering