Box Scraper hauling logs

[Ken45101]

If you are implying that he lift one end with the fel and drag in reverse with the fel, that is not a good idea either

Please explain why.

Ken

 

[Cowboy Billy]

With limited time to skid logs get them cut and staged next to the trail while its wet then when it freezes all you have to do is haul. Also when my great uncles used to have work skidding they would pull a log crosswise behind them and it would pack the snow down and after a day or two in cold weather it would make the snow hard enough to haul on.

Coboy Billy, that old Farmall Cub looks real bad azz with the wide rears. :thumbsup:http://photos.cubfest.com/albums/userpics/10036/IMG_0557.JPG

What size are those rears - are they on the sock rims? Wouldn't mind having wider rears on mine...

Thanks Easygo

Thats a 1957 farmall 130 and one of my favorite tractors. But I do have a cub too.

Howdy Code54

Those are 14.9x24 rears and its on 15" rims but it would have worked better on 13" rims. I have another farmall 130 with 11.4x24 and a 100 with 12.4x24 on stock rears. The 12.4x24's seem to be the best for me. On a cub 9.4x24 is as large as you want to go.

That wagon was a old grain wagon I got for $100. I picked up a newer wagon for $300 and built racks for hauling logs but I had to use a bigger tractor while the 130 would haul it it just did not have enough weight and brakes to do so safely.

Billy

 

[LD1]

The reasons are many. I am sure it has been hashed out before.

Here is a list just for starters

1. Less traction in reverse
2. weight distribution is poorer. (lotsa weight up front, not so much in back)
3. 3PH hydraulics are stronger than loader hydraulics
4. With the log elevated in the front it is easy to tip forwatd
5. Loader isnt the strongest to pull from
6. when making turns and pulling from the FEL, you are putting EXTREME side forces on the FEL arms
7. Front axle isnt as strong as rear

ANd plain and simple fact, tractors are made to pull from the rear.

I am sure I missed a bunch.

 

[Barry 1]

I built a Bill Reeks sawmill,then I started logging,but there was NO way that I could pull 24-30"x18' logs up my steep hills with my JD1050.So I built a log arch trailer,somewhat like the one Bill Reeks built. Now I can back down the hill,over the log,pick the whole thing up,and climb my STEEEEP hills,with little problems.Then,I can back over my mill,and set the log right on it.

 

[piller]

The reasons are many. I am sure it has been hashed out before.

Here is a list just for starters

1. Less traction in reverse
2. weight distribution is poorer. (lotsa weight up front, not so much in back)
3. 3PH hydraulics are stronger than loader hydraulics
4. With the log elevated in the front it is easy to tip forwatd
5. Loader isnt the strongest to pull from
6. when making turns and pulling from the FEL, you are putting EXTREME side forces on the FEL arms
7. Front axle isnt as strong as rear

ANd plain and simple fact, tractors are made to pull from the rear.

I am sure I missed a bunch.

I've just moved several logs in the last few days using the FEL and a chain. Now, I'm not hauling 4000 lb logs three miles uphill backwards at 10 mph in rough terrain, just moving them short distances around a relatively flat area, and unloading them from a trailer. For me this is the quickest, easiest, and safest method. Chain up the log, lift the end with the FEL, drag it to where I want it, lower the FEL, remove the chain, move on the the next task.

The FEL is great for doing this stuff. Let's say you have a 16" diameter log that is 16 feet long and has a density of 50 lbs per cubic foot. That log will weigh about 1120 lbs. Pick up one end of the log and you are only lifting a little more than half of this, let's say 600 lbs, that's not a big deal. Put a counter weight on the back of the tractor and you are good to go. With one end raised off the ground the log is easy to pull, same as with an arch, so there is not much of a drag load.

 

[monheganview]

ramblings,

The 4 wheeled wagon put together by Cowboy Billy sure seems like a good rig.
chilly807 nailed it when he wrote "It sounds like you're in the same boat a lot of us are, you have a small scale wood harvesting job to do, and the easy way to do it (tractor and winch) is fairly expensive. The flip side is that the cheaper way to do it is harder on you labour wise, and may tear up the woods more."
I talked to the sawyer in Maine, and he says frozen ground is very good, but frozen with some snow is even better, as far a dealing with mud on the logs. A woodcutter friend who uses horses is suggesting I find a way to use a Farmi winch, maybe rent one, as they sure make twitching out the logs a lot easier.

Recalling how old timers moved houses with rollers or how boatbuilders launch huge vessels on a greased track, this log moving work I have to do also comes down to friction. If there is limited friction as with the roller or the grease, the object moves easily like Cowboy's wagon. There is an Ag fair in Maine called Common Ground, and their woodlot is managed with a wagon, pulled by a tractor, and the wagon has a loader. Another good rig.

 

[Ken45101]

The reasons are many. I am sure it has been hashed out before.

Here is a list just for starters


4. With the log elevated in the front it is easy to tip forward
...
7. Front axle isnt as strong as rear

I would rather tip forward where the loader bucket will prevent a flip over, than take a chance of flipping over backward.

Any modern well designed tractor with the proper loader should have it's front axle designed to handle the loader capacity.

Everybody keeps warning to keep the load low when skidding (I agree), but that makes you more vunerable to a flip over if the log catches on something. Much less likely, IMO, if you are lifting with the loader and going backwards.

Maneuvering backwards does seem more awkward than dragging forward, I will agree to that.

Ken

 

[tbutman]

I'd go with options #5 or #6 they are the most appealing. However if you want the logs this winter you can buy the following items at Union Farm and be out of there after plucking down about $50. It works just fine. Draw bar goes into the lower links of your 3ph and the hook attaches to that. Buy a length of 5/16 or 3/8 chain with a slip hook at the end. Your total investment may be around $70 if you don't have the chain yet.

ps: with the box blade attached you may not be able to raise the end of the log off the ground.

I'd go with your drawbar option. I have a log arch (Norse) and many times came out of the woods with my front end in the air or barely touching the ground. You can scoop some gravel for counter weight though I never do. Always figured that was why they had turning brakes.

 

[Baby Grand]

A little off topic, but since you bring it up - The Plant Manager & I took a drive in 2010 to go see the MOFGA / Common Ground event. Had a great time. Really enjoyed watching a horse drawn sickle bar mower and a horse drawn potato harvester. They also had a crew demonstrating how to hew beams from logs - lots of fun!

 

[LD1]

I would rather tip forward where the loader bucket will prevent a flip over, than take a chance of flipping over backward.

Any modern well designed tractor with the proper loader should have it's front axle designed to handle the loader capacity.

Everybody keeps warning to keep the load low when skidding (I agree), but that makes you more vunerable to a flip over if the log catches on something. Much less likely, IMO, if you are lifting with the loader and going backwards.

Maneuvering backwards does seem more awkward than dragging forward, I will agree to that.

Ken

Personally, I would rather NOT tip at all than to tip forward. And tipping forward is WAY more likely with an elevated loader than pulling from the rear.

And the front axle IS designed to handle the loaders capacity, if properly ballasted. But even if properly ballasted, pulling by the method you describe can put WAY more force on the loader and front axle than the hydraulics ever could:confused2:

Not to mention that the front axle is mounted on a pivot, so the changes of flipping on its side is greatly increased.

I cannot honestly believe you think this is a good way to skid logs

And I also cannot believe that no one else has commented on how absurd it is:confused2: