where do you hook up skidding tongs ?

[spikeland]

i have a skidding tong and i am new to tractors.im an ex-manual labor guy looking for advice .so where or how do i hook up the tongs if dragging logs?please include hook points on the tractor,additional equiptment(chains, clevis etc.thanks in advance for your experience and knowledge /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[George2615]

I made a 3 pt. receiver hitch for moving trailers around my yard. Toward the top I welded on a tab and hook for hanging a chain. Last summer I used a short chain and loggers tongs to drag several logs 30-40' long. Pic attached.

George

 

[spikeland]

nice idea George. so using the 3 point hitch is o.k. i was wondering
how a hook point on top of the front end loder would work keeping the fel low as possible.will this safely work.i will be dragging small 15" or less diameter logs out of the woods.

 

[tractorhal]

If skidding with the 3ph you want to keep the hitch point low. this will help keep you from going over backwards if you catch on to something. The fel will work, one thing with the fel you get a further swing when you turn. Sometimes this is good. Also if you have a lot of turns you will put a side load on the bucket and frame.

 

[ksmmoto]

I think the loader hook would work fine. I have tongs with a chain attached and hooks welded to my bucket, BUT have never used it yet! I have seen other posts here on TBN that used the loader.

ksmmoto

 

[inveresk]

I wouldn't recommend skidding with the fel. I've felled around 7500 board feet on my farm and have been skidding logs up to 18' long, 35" diameter with my L3130. I stopped using the fel for skidding after I had two close shaves when the tractor nearly tipped over.

If you use the 3ph or drawbar, any weight on the back pushes the back of the tractor down helping stability. Even when keeping the fel low, the points where it attaches to the tractor are high up on the chassis and if you get an asymetric load on one side or other of the fel, you can very easily flip over.

 

[spikeland]

how would you set it up using tha draw bar?since the drawbar is low and stationary how do you get the log to not dig in the ground since there is no way to lift it using the drawbar.or is there a way?

 

[inveresk]

I used a logging arch hooked to it.

 

[IslandTractor]

Assuming the FEL is close to the ground and the logging/chain/tongs are attached to a chain hook on top of the bucket (in the middle), how could the tractor flip?

Seems to me at worst the rear end would raise a foot and that the FEL would then hit the ground and because the rear wheels were off the ground, the tractor would stop dead. I assume that even in 4wd that the front wheels could not drive the tractor futher in reverse in such a situation. As the FEL would provide fairly good lateral support against tipping, how could the tractor flip in such a circumstance.

I am well aware of the dangers of towing logs by chain attached to rear axle and higher points on rear of tractors but don't get the physics of the situtation you described.

 

[inveresk]

You're right, IslandTractor. Both situations I had problems with were when the bucket was up, not down. At the time I didn't have the logging arch so was skidding the logs with a chain slung around the bucket. Dumping the bucket fast brought the tractor back on all fours. It still scared me witless and caused a reassessment of how I was going about the task, thus the logging arch acquisition, slung to the drawbar or the 3ph.