Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[arrow]

While we were gone over Thanksgiving a big tree blew over in our yard.

View attachment 401367

While sawing up the big trunk the chainsaw found a rock embedded in the trunk at the bottom of the cut. Got out another chain & finished the other cuts. Got out a smaller saw & nibbled around the rock. I managed to get the cut opened up a bit with a long pry bar & then got the edge of the bucket in the cut & popped it apart.

View attachment 401369

Having the tractor was a giant help in dealing with this.

Don't you just hate that. The weirdest thing my chainsaw ever found in a tree was an ancient set of ice skates. The kind you strapped to your shoe. Someone in the early 19 hundreds or late 18 hundreds must have tied them to a sapling and forgot about them. Thats all I could figure as to how they got into a tree. The tree just enveloped them.

 

[Oldpath05]

Looks like the majority of tractor owners are picking up wood with the 3 point hitch and buckets, anyone got pictures of tractors hauling wood with farming winch or on a woods trailer so my tractor wont feel lonely.

 

[Piston]

Thank you for the kind comments gentlemen.

I need a grapple! Piston what grapple do you have and how do you like it?
How much counter weight are you using!?!?
Nice wood operation !

It's a WR Long OBG-2 (OBG stands for "open bottom grapple) I purchased it a few years ago and couldn't be more happy with it. I won't go into details so we don't get off topic on this thread, but if you have any specific questions feel free to PM me.

I can't stress enough how much more efficient, and capable, my tractor is with the grapple instead of the bucket. I very rarely ever have my bucket on anymore, over the last few years, it's only been a handful of times. Mind you, most of what I do is woods work, and wood/brush handling, rather than scooping dirt/crushed stone (about the only thing I find a bucket useful for anymore.)

In some of the pics, I'm not using any counterweight. When I first bought the tractor all I had was a 6' landscape rake, lightweight model. It wasn't enough and I regularly lifted my rears as we all know. I loaded the rear tires with 1,100lbs of Rimguard and that made all the difference in the world. For the most part, I do have something on the back, typically anyone of my implements but most all are over 1k lbs and also help with stability. With nothing on the back, I can still get one tire in the air, but not both anymore.

I also raised the pressure relief setting slightly on my FEL valve, which gives me a bit more lifting power but I couldn't tell you how much. I still max out my lifting power on a semi regular basis. The picture with the large white oak log in it (in my last post) was the second log up from that tree. The butt section which I cut at 14' long, was way too heavy for my tractor, it weighed close to 4k lbs alone, so I had to "drag" it up the street for "processing"




Everyone who cuts firewood, has to deal with the "B" word, it's an unfortunate byproduct of the fuel we are processing....B***H!
There is no better way to handle brush than with a grapple, hands down, NO better way (that works on our sized tractors anyways).


On occasion, I'll use the forks on the FEL or 3 pt hitch to move pallets of wood.


Of course, grapples are useful for many other things as well. If you haven't seen the thread about grapple pics, it's a good read. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/211635-grappling-fun-picture-thread.html Also, I encourage everyone to please post some of your own pics there.
Just a sample...trying not to get too far off subject.

 

[pinetree10]

My 336d resting near the wood shed, we run a small gas powered splitter,never misses a beat !

That's one of the coolest color combinations I've seen on a tractor.

 

[TomSeller]

Thank you for the kind comments gentlemen.

It's a WR Long OBG-2 (OBG stands for "open bottom grapple) I purchased it a few years ago and couldn't be more happy with it. I won't go into details so we don't get off topic on this thread, but if you have any specific questions feel free to PM me.

Looks like someone is camera shy in that last picture

 

[TomSeller]

While we were gone over Thanksgiving a big tree blew over in our yard.

<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/files/owning-operating/401367-tractors-wood-show-your-pics-t1-jpg"/>

While sawing up the big trunk the chainsaw found a rock embedded in the trunk at the bottom of the cut. Got out another chain & finished the other cuts. Got out a smaller saw & nibbled around the rock. I managed to get the cut opened up a bit with a long pry bar & then got the edge of the bucket in the cut & popped it apart.

<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/files/owning-operating/401369-tractors-wood-show-your-pics-t3-jpg"/>

Having the tractor was a giant help in dealing with this.

The roots must have had a rot condition in them? Not much of a root ball came up with that tree. Trees do gobble up rocks, I try not to cut down too low.

 

[94BULLITT]

I tried this pallet thing now that I have a tractor that can lift them. I tried building ends on the pallets to stack wood more easily but that was frustrating as I could not stack pallet upon pallet. I tried the method in your pic but i found that time consuming and frustrating as a result. I tried going half way up with some ends but you still have to cross them at the top and the side stakes loosen and fall off besides. I must be too impatient but this method seems too cantankerous for me. Must be a better way to do the pallet thing as I know it is pretty efficient if one has more patience than I..

It works for me but it might not be for every one. If you think about it, it cuts down on the handling by hand a good bit. Stack it on a pallet after it is split and take it to its drying place. Then when the time comes to burn it you can take it right to the house to be unloaded. I know this is not the most efficient way but it beats the way I did it before. Load the wood on truck, haul it out, stack it, get a wagon and bring the wood in, then stack it in the basement. Stacking the wood on a pallet like is really not any more time consuming than stacking it on the ground. I know some people frame the pallet up but like you said the pallets are not as stackable. I also think with the pallet framed up the frame work would be in the way for stacking the wood on. Monday I rearranged/ moved 16 pallets off wood. I can't imagine how long it would have taken to move that much wood by hand.



I like the idea of the firewood bags but they are too expensive. I have been thinking about way to make palatalizing more efficient. I have been thinking about something kinda like this but a more simple design and smaller scale.

 

[Piston]

Looks like someone is camera shy in that last picture

:laughing:
She was backing up.

 

[Piston]

Looks like someone is camera shy in that last picture

:laughing:
She was backing up.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Looks like the majority of tractor owners are picking up wood with the 3 point hitch and buckets, anyone got pictures of tractors hauling wood with farming winch or on a woods trailer so my tractor wont feel lonely.

I never miss an opportunity to show some pics





And here are a couple little videos when I was learning to use my new self releasing snatch block on right angled winches like those above. Saves a lot of walking back and forth resetting the snatch block.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyvn5k5hokg

http://youtu.be/yosJrGCZo8o

gg

 

[avc8130]

It works for me but it might not be for every one. If you think about it, it cuts down on the handling by hand a good bit. Stack it on a pallet after it is split and take it to its drying place. Then when the time comes to burn it you can take it right to the house to be unloaded. I know this is not the most efficient way but it beats the way I did it before. Load the wood on truck, haul it out, stack it, get a wagon and bring the wood in, then stack it in the basement. Stacking the wood on a pallet like is really not any more time consuming than stacking it on the ground. I know some people frame the pallet up but like you said the pallets are not as stackable. I also think with the pallet framed up the frame work would be in the way for stacking the wood on. Monday I rearranged/ moved 16 pallets off wood. I can't imagine how long it would have taken to move that much wood by hand.



I like the idea of the firewood bags but they are too expensive. I have been thinking about way to make palatalizing more efficient. I have been thinking about something kinda like this but a more simple design and smaller scale.

 

[Locoweed]

The roots much have had a rot condition in them? Not much of a root ball came up with that tree. Trees do gobble up rocks, I try not to cut down too low.

Root rot was my thought also

 

[arrow]

Interesting avc. Can you get a bit more detailed such as affixing the wire or if you are throwing the wood in as it looks stacked in the picture. Thanks

 

[arrow]

I never miss an opportunity to show some pics

View attachment 401432

View attachment 401433

And here are a couple little videos when I was learning to use my new self releasing snatch block on right angled winches like those above. Saves a lot of walking back and forth resetting the snatch block.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyvn5k5hokg

http://youtu.be/yosJrGCZo8o

gg

Always loved your snow pics Gordon.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Arrow - I have a neighbor who does the pallet thing. He does a little different. He uses heavy woven wire sheep fencing on two opposite sides of the pallet. Lets it flop open and stacks the wood on the pallet. Then he folds up the sheep wire against the wood and fastens both sides together on each end with about three or four pieces of plain wire. So two sides of the pallet have woven wire and two have a ladder of straight wire. Easy to open by removing one wire at a time as you empty the pallet. He stacks them two high. I forget the dimensions but it is a standard pallet and high enough for 1/4 cord per pallet.

 

[arrow]

Arrow - I have a neighbor who does the pallet thing. He does a little different. He uses heavy woven wire sheep fencing on two opposite sides of the pallet. Lets it flop open and stacks the wood on the pallet. Then he folds up the sheep wire against the wood and fastens both sides together on each end with about three or four pieces of plain wire. So two sides of the pallet have woven wire and two have a ladder of straight wire. Easy to open by removing one wire at a time as you empty the pallet. He stacks them two high. I forget the dimensions but it is a standard pallet and high enough for 1/4 cord per pallet.

Thanks Gordon
Currently, I stack my wood in 110' single file rows right from the splitter. I split 3 years in advance. After the row of wood sits outside for two years, I then move all of the wood to a woodshed by pushing the piles into the bucket and this wood holder attached to the back of the tractor. I then of course, restack it all in the wood shed. Now I know that to palletize the wood is far more efficient as one is only touching the wood once. My patience level is so shallow, i cannot bring myself to mess with pallets. As non sensical as it sounds, there is something less frustrating to me doing it my Neanderthal way. I know it's dumb, but I continue to do it anyway saying about a million times, "boy this is stupid" It's as dumb as not wanting to sit in traffic even if the way is shorter and you get there sooner, but preferring to take the long way just because I keep moving. A bit pathetic I think.

 

[catskinner]

Used the old Ford during the drier times, used the Kioti today, soft and wet, the 4x4 let me work without making a mess.

 

[94BULLITT]

That looks like it works good. I'd like to come up with a system that I could sit a frame around a pallet then wrap around the frame, throw wood in and lift the frame off. I haven't thought of a way to make it work.

 

[TomSeller]

http://s878.photobucket.com/user/avc8130/media/Boiler/20141108_134445_zpsuq4pux06.jpg.html

In the background it looks like two pallets as sides nailed onto a bottom pallet? Maybe a top board to hold them together?

 

[Gordon Gould]

Thanks Gordon
Currently, I stack my wood in 110' single file rows right from the splitter. I split 3 years in advance. After the row of wood sits outside for two years, I then move all of the wood to a woodshed by pushing the piles into the bucket and this wood holder attached to the back of the tractor. I then of course, restack it all in the wood shed. Now I know that to palletize the wood is far more efficient as one is only touching the wood once. My patience level is so shallow, i cannot bring myself to mess with pallets. As non sensical as it sounds, there is something less frustrating to me doing it my Neanderthal way. I know it's dumb, but I continue to do it anyway saying about a million times, "boy this is stupid" It's as dumb as not wanting to sit in traffic even if the way is shorter and you get there sooner, but preferring to take the long way just because I keep moving. A bit pathetic I think.

I am a lot like you. I don't mind handling wood. It has always just been a way of life. I handle it enough times that when I put a piece in the stove I can remember what tree it came from. I run my wood 2-1/2 years ahead. I have two years worth in the shed and a pile(s) of tree length ready to split next spring when it is to muddy for much else but the weather is nice. I skid out trees in the snow. Split and rough stack it on the landing in spring. Let it air dry for the summer then move it into the shed and stack it before the fall gets wet. I bring it from the shed into the basement where the stove is a wheelbarrow at a time and stack about a weeks worth there.
I finally bought a used splitter a year and a half ago. Hated the thought of giving in to old age. But it has saved me a lot of time and made it easier.