How do you hook your Log tongs to draw bar?

[IslandTractor]

What set me off on this thread is that a large part of our society wants the government ( OSHA ) and manufacturers to solve or engineer away all this responsibility.
cj

So you believe that evil gummit regulators are a total waste of protoplasm and that safety devices like ROPS, seatbelts, air bags, safety testing etc would have been adopted voluntarily by manufacturers or demanded by individuals?

Manufacturers routinely lobby to delay or avoid adoption of safety regs. The public generally needs education to encourage adoption and proper use of safety stuff. Who is going to do that? You don't need to be a raving Naderite to appreciate that the private sector very often chooses short term profit over safety considerations. I for one am glad we have somebody without direct financial interests looking over these issues.

 

[Gordon Gould]

here is the simple question: I am wondering if a pond scoop, mounted backwards, would allow using the scoop to shield the front of the log and lift it slightly while minimizing risk of rolling over backwards. As I said, this is new to me, so please help me out here. Thanks!

Simple answer: yes. And with your woods experience you already know alot about protecting yourself.
The idea of protecting the log may be confussing to some. On a winch when the logs are hung of of the slotted bar they are hooked above the lift arms and therefore if they get snagged they will help lift the front. But the bottom of the winch is below the lift arms so if it gets snagged it will tend to push the front end down via the forward leverage on the top link.
If your dirt scoop is below the lift arms and you set a log in it and use it as a sled or lift the log you should be in good shape.

 

[newbury]

or some people just drag an old car hood, there are plenty of them around.

 

[IslandTractor]

or some people just drag an old car hood, there are plenty of them around.

That would be my cheapo solution. Works for boulders too.

 

[CJBOTA]

Island Tractor,
Yes, for the most part they are a bunch of blood sucking waste. You are wrong when you say they don't have a financial interest. They justify their paychecks by strapping us down with regulations. Not to mention the lobyist or special interest groups that are constantly buying them lunch and more.
Competition would work if it wasn't for all the monopolies. All though in the tractor business their seems to be a considerable amount of competition.
In the 80's the Japanese forced the big three to start making better cars by providing better quality at a reasonable prices. The problem there was it actually wasn't the big three, it had become the big one. Competition ceased when they decided to cut the pie in three pieces. Everyone gave credit to the Japanese worker. Isn't it amazing these same companies are having the same success using American workers.
For those of you that are dragging logs, trees, or whatever, please be careful, think about what you are doing, and act responsibly. Because if you don't, big brother will make it illegal to pull things with tractors, or they will add a safety sticker so big we won't be able to see where we are going.
cj

 

[Gordon Gould]

Not trying to stir the pot but I thought this was an interesting product.
Listed for tractors 20 to 60 hp with a 3000 lb lift capacity. Both Bailey's and Northern Tool sells these. Obviously they can be used safely.

 

[Baby Grand]

Nice grapple. A friend at work has one on his Deere and he works it hard thru the Winter months. I'd bet it's every bit as safe as a chainsaw, in the right hands. I'd also wager maintaining a stable center of gravity can take some heads up thinking.
-Jim

 

[Gordon Gould]

Jim
I see you live in Windsor. I used to live on an old farm on Weymouth Rd in Enfield back in the late 60's , early 70's. Worked at Hamilton Standard. There were still a lot of shade tobacco farms back then. We've been up here about 35 years.

 

[20 20]

Not trying to stir the pot but I thought this was an interesting product.
Listed for tractors 20 to 60 hp with a 3000 lb lift capacity. Both Bailey's and Northern Tool sells these. Obviously they can be used safely.

:thumbsup:

 

[Baby Grand]

Jim
I see you live in Windsor. I used to live on an old farm on Weymouth Rd in Enfield back in the late 60's , early 70's. Worked at Hamilton Standard. There were still a lot of shade tobacco farms back then. We've been up here about 35 years.

Hi, Gordon. You might not recognize the place - a lot of those shade tobacco farms are now office parks and housing developments. I think the recent loss of tobacco subsidies and the house building obsession just fed that fire. About a month ago my wife packed her little Focus 3 door full of tobacco netting that was on the side of the road with a "Free" sign. Thanks to that score we finally beat the birds to the blueberries this year.

The wife and I were just up in your neck of the woods last weekend - around Woodstock, visiting friends. Beautiful country. You picked a nice place to move to.

-Jim