New Wallenstein logging winch

[NHbotanut]

Nice winch". Next toy....er tool you need is a Snatch Block, preferably a self releasing one to make it around stumps or rocks.

I have the Farmi JL290 and can't believe what it will pull. Just be sure to watch the log the whole way in because when things go bad, they happen faster than you think they can.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Very nice heavy looking winch. You are right - It is amazing what you can pull. You will like it more and more as time goes by and you have more work time on it. I have had mine for about 11 years now. Your tractor and wnich are about the same size as mine. I started, like you. with just the winch. Then started adding stuff. This is what my set up looks like now. My tractor is 30 hp and weighs about 5000 lbs and the winch pulls 6400 lbs.
Post some working photos when you get a chance. Have fun and work safe.

 

[Grandad4]

Nice setup, Craig. You'll find a snatch block really helps, but even so, try to make your pulls as straight off the back as possible. If you're off to a side angle and you get a snag, you can flip the tractor pretty quickly.

 

[PapaPerk]

Very nice heavy looking winch. You are right - It is amazing what you can pull. You will like it more and more as time goes by and you have more work time on it. I have had mine for about 11 years now. Your tractor and wnich are about the same size as mine. I started, like you. with just the winch. Then started adding stuff. This is what my set up looks like now. My tractor is 30 hp and weighs about 5000 lbs and the winch pulls 6400 lbs.
Post some working photos when you get a chance. Have fun and work safe.

If I may ask... what do you do with your logs? Looks like it would make fine lumber.

 

[Gordon Gould]

If I may ask... what do you do with your logs? Looks like it would make fine lumber.

You are right. The load of spruce/fir in the picture is going to a saw mill that buys my softwood saw logs. Any hardwood I cut is firewood. Small scale logging is my favorite activity. I try to improve the quality of my woods and help pay the taxes. Those nice logs came from some trees that were to old and had started to stump rot. I have to cut the bottom log until I find good wood. Like this one. I lost about 6 feet off it as you can see.

 

[PapaPerk]

You are right. The load of spruce/fir in the picture is going to a saw mill that buys my softwood saw logs. Any hardwood I cut is firewood. Small scale logging is my favorite activity. I try to improve the quality of my woods and help pay the taxes. Those nice logs came from some trees that were to old and had started to stump rot. I have to cut the bottom log until I find good wood. Like this one. I lost about 6 feet off it as you can see.

Yes I agree... Working in the woods is very enjoyable.

How does selling the logs to the mill work? Do they give u a price for each log, etc? I'm very interested in doing something similar one day.

Good looking place you have!

 

[Baby Grand]

Gordon,

Thanks for another fine photo from your woods. Viewed from the cubicle farm it's enough to make me look for an excuse to sneak out early. Oh, to be outside with no infernal, ringing phone.

I have to commend you for threading the needle on that one. Looks like you dropped it in a crowd - nicely done.

Jim

 

[Gordon Gould]

How does selling the logs to the mill work? Do they give u a price for each log, etc? I'm very interested in doing something similar one day.

Where I am there are several places that buy logs or wood close by. Besides the saw mill there are three log yards. They just buy and sell like a broker. Both the mills and the yards have a spec sheet which is just a list of what they are looking for and how much they will pay for each species and quality level. Anyone can go in and ask for there currant spec sheet. Just like firewood is sold by the cord, pulp is sold by the ton (or cord ), saw logs are sold by so much a thousand board feet. The mill I used last winter had on the spec sheet: Saw Logs - Spruce/Fir 10, 12, 14, 16 feet, 6" min top, $280 MBF. Which means they will pay $280 per thousand board feet of logs. The logs must be saw log quality, which will be described in the fine print, 6" or more in diameter at the small end, and cut at least 10'-4" ,12'-4", 14'-4", or 16'-4" long. To figure the board feet in a log there are several "log rules". We use the "International 1/4 Rule" here. It is a table that shows how many board feet of lumber can be cut out of a log given its diameter and length. For example a log that is 12' long and 12" in diameter at the small end should yield 70 board feet of cut lumber. So when you bring in a load they measure each log, find its board feet and add them all up. The load in the picture was 505 board feet which got me $141.40 (505/1000 X $280). I got paid once a week on fridays for all the logs I delivered that week.
That is basically how it works. Some mills welcome little guys like me and some only want to deal with big loads. Most yards take anyones wood, even one log, if it meets there spec. They often pay less because of the extra middle man involved. But if they are close you save on trucking.

 

[Chilly807]

I'd like to have enough woods to do the same thing, but for now at least we're just cutting firewood from a neighbour's property. The winch makes a huge difference in the amount of work involved, both from a sheer muscle and a road-cutting point of view. It essentially gives you a 150 foot range on either side of your roads, more if you want to use cable extensions and work in two-stage hauls.

We're in the process of truck shopping now, which will translate into a flat-deck trailer eventually. The flat deck will extend my tractor range to other properties which have harvestable wood, both from a firewood and log perspective.

Sean

 

[PapaPerk]

How does selling the logs to the mill work? Do they give u a price for each log, etc? I'm very interested in doing something similar one day.

Where I am there are several places that buy logs or wood close by. Besides the saw mill there are three log yards. They just buy and sell like a broker. Both the mills and the yards have a spec sheet which is just a list of what they are looking for and how much they will pay for each species and quality level. Anyone can go in and ask for there currant spec sheet. Just like firewood is sold by the cord, pulp is sold by the ton (or cord ), saw logs are sold by so much a thousand board feet. The mill I used last winter had on the spec sheet: Saw Logs - Spruce/Fir 10, 12, 14, 16 feet, 6" min top, $280 MBF. Which means they will pay $280 per thousand board feet of logs. The logs must be saw log quality, which will be described in the fine print, 6" or more in diameter at the small end, and cut at least 10'-4" ,12'-4", 14'-4", or 16'-4" long. To figure the board feet in a log there are several "log rules". We use the "International 1/4 Rule" here. It is a table that shows how many board feet of lumber can be cut out of a log given its diameter and length. For example a log that is 12' long and 12" in diameter at the small end should yield 70 board feet of cut lumber. So when you bring in a load they measure each log, find its board feet and add them all up. The load in the picture was 505 board feet which got me $141.40 (505/1000 X $280). I got paid once a week on fridays for all the logs I delivered that week.
That is basically how it works. Some mills welcome little guys like me and some only want to deal with big loads. Most yards take anyones wood, even one log, if it meets there spec. They often pay less because of the extra middle man involved. But if they are close you save on trucking.

Thank you for the excellent explanation!!!! I appreciate it greatly. :thumbsup:

Have you ever explored milling your own lumber and then selling it? I heard somewhere that adding an additional step to a product really increasing your profit.