Log Skidding Tongs?

[Reg]

Skidding is skidding, which was the original question.
If you want to keep them CLEAN for milling or sawing you could make up a utility company style bogie to go underneath at about the halfway point, then "trailer" them out with a chain on the drawbar - someone wrote about using a quick hitch as a log arch a few weeks ago, you might want to search for that thread.

 

[flINTLOCK]

Thanks Reg. I guess we're making this too complicated.

 

[Logan]

I like Toadhill's design and I am thinking of building the same type attachment. In the photo it appears that if the log hit a stump it would swing some as the load began pulling the top of the attachment downward. If that is correct wouldn't a short chain from the chain on the log to a drawbar hook stop the downward movement and direct the pull to the drawbar? The top chain would effectively be only lifting the log, or am I wrong?

 

[wolc123]

Like Ronmar says, you won't have much luck trying to skid logs by hooking the tongs to a chain attached to your drawbar because the log will roll and the tongs will loose thier grip. Attaching the tongs direct to a drawbar between the lower 3 pt links will usually not give enough lift height either. The best way is to hang them from a 3 pt boom so you are lifting at an angle from above. Gravity will keep them firmly attached, the log will not roll, and the front end can be lifted so the log stays clean and it won't hang up. On a normal log, the front is the only place it will hang up on a straight pull and you only have to get it up a few inches off the ground so safety is not an issue. This method is much more efficient than wrapping a chain around the logs because you dont even have to leave the tractor's seat to do it. Getting a chain under a heavy log on flat ground is seldom fast or easy. Tongs are not usefull for much without a lift boom. I have dragged hundreds of logs this way and never had one hang up and lift the front of the tractor. I have also used this setup to lift many logs onto a trailer by grabbing them at the center but I do find front loader-mounted forks to be more efficient for this task. The only way you could get into some trouble with this method is if your tractor is not big enough for the job. I cut the logs small enough so I can lift the entire log with either the rear boom or the front loader. Lifting just one end to skid is very safe for logs this size. Most booms have multiple hookup points and the heavier the log, the closer to the tractor you should attach the tongs. Any log I cut for firewood I can handle with the outermost point on the boom. For some of the larger, lumber logs, I move the tongs closer. Most newer tractors have lower link stabilizer bars which will protect the lower links from damage while using a boom to skid. One thing to consider about safety is that using less efficient methods (ie: dragging a log with a chain attached to drawbar) will force you to hurry the job and more likely result in an accident.

 

[Skyco]

Don't know where y'all get your log tongs but don't buy this one-

Dixie Industries Swivel Grab Skidding Tongs | Log Skidding | Northern Tool + Equipment

it doesn't work well at all. Slips off the log way too easily. I think the points don't have enough angle pointing back to the draw direction.

If you look at this one-

Northern Industrial Tools Steel Skidding Tongs | Log Skidding | Northern Tool + Equipment

you'll see it has a much more acute angle back to the pull direction. Haven't tried it but I wasted my money on the first one, near worthless

 

[PILOON]

Tongs are for lifting up. I always use a choker cable for pulling, it never comes lose and is easier to stick under the log.

What I have had success with is using the end piece from a highway guardrail fence.(heavy duty, galvanized and ski tip shaped shaped)
The ends are sort of shaped like a ski tip that folks carry in case they snap off a cross country ski tip.

The guard rail end is ski tip shaped as well as corrugated and so welded a ring to the front for pulling and bolted/welded a suitable length of chain to one side that I loop around the log end and tighten it to the other side of my 'skid end'.

When I pull with this 'ski/skid head' the log rides up and over obstructions quite well.
I found that I needed to be pulling low on the 'skidder' otherwise the whole thing rotated and dug in.

I resorted to this method as more than once I had dug in the logs causing 'the pucker factor' to occcur.

Now my logs simply slide over roots and rocks.

I also always pull by attaching my chain low on the tractor.(I have a protruding pull tongue on my MT180D.)