Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[Red Horse]

Here are some pics from today's little operation. It went pretty smooth which doesn't always happen. I cut and limbed 8 fir trees. I fell them away from the trail so all the slash would be down the bank. As I cut them I trimmed the rot off the bottom of the butt, cut the top at about 6" diameter, (The mill takes down to 6" on the small end) then I winched them up close to the trail but out of the way.

View attachment 404895

I set my self release snatch block on the far side of the trail and pulled logs out of the woods one hitch at a time.

View attachment 404896

I made a little video of the last hitch being winched to the tractor.

http://youtu.be/a0WLEYzlf0g

The next two are the last hitch on the skid trail. The skid to roadside is about 1/4 mile. It doesn't look it but it is pretty icy which is great for traction but not so great for steering . I have to use the steering brakes in a couple places to keep the front end from sliding side ways down hill.

View attachment 404897

View attachment 404898

My little roadside landing. That is a strong cord of wood. Tomorrow I will cut it into logs either 12'6" or 10'6" and bring it to the mill on my one ton dump truck. It should make a little over 500 board feet of lumber. My check should be about $175.

Edit: in my excitement I forgot the last pic. Here it is.

View attachment 404905

gg

Very nice-just what is a self release snatch block? Went on line and could not find one.

 

[KiwiBro]

Self-Releasing Snatch Block, US-Made (for tractor winches) – Portable Winches Plus

Very handy when not clear felling and if using a PTO winch so can get more in line with pull direction so less chance of tipping tractor.

 

[Oldpath05]

Here are some pics from today's little operation. It went pretty smooth which doesn't always happen. I cut and limbed 8 fir trees. I fell them away from the trail so all the slash would be down the bank. As I cut them I trimmed the rot off the bottom of the butt, cut the top at about 6" diameter, (The mill takes down to 6" on the small end) then I winched them up close to the trail but out of the way.

View attachment 404895

I set my self release snatch block on the far side of the trail and pulled logs out of the woods one hitch at a time.

View attachment 404896

I made a little video of the last hitch being winched to the tractor.

http://youtu.be/a0WLEYzlf0g

The next two are the last hitch on the skid trail. The skid to roadside is about 1/4 mile. It doesn't look it but it is pretty icy which is great for traction but not so great for steering . I have to use the steering brakes in a couple places to keep the front end from sliding side ways down hill.

View attachment 404897

View attachment 404898

My little roadside landing. That is a strong cord of wood. Tomorrow I will cut it into logs either 12'6" or 10'6" and bring it to the mill on my one ton dump truck. It should make a little over 500 board feet of lumber. My check should be about $175.

Edit: in my excitement I forgot the last pic. Here it is.

View attachment 404905

gg

What's that white stuff on the ground, looks familiar, I counted 5 keyhole sliders, that's how many I use, I counted one snatch block I wish I had.

I like being able to zoom in on photos, makes it possible to see interesting not see before state of the art tractor logging equipment, like that anti tip over gauge on top the tractor hood, if I only had that back in 1973, 77, two times in 84, once in 95, really really could of used it in 1996, I know it's a miracle I'm here to tell about it, but so far not my L3400.

From my angle looks like a week cord to me, I zoom in and counted 9 fir trees, I even put a tape measure on my screen, it was a metric tape, I don't if that matters or not, but hey a check for $175.00 for 15 minutes of work, that's darn good from angle.

 

[hutchman]

The loggers left me this because it wouldn't fit through their whole tree chipper. I think they said the chipper could do up to 42".

I haven't tried to do anything with it yet. My saw is only a 20". It is hollow in the middle so I hope that allows my little saw to turn it into some manageable rounds.

 

[hutchman]

OK, posted a picture of 'major' wood in last post but forgot the tractor so here is the obligatory 'tractor and wood pic'

 

[Red Horse]

Self-Releasing Snatch Block, US-Made (for tractor winches) – Portable Winches Plus

Very handy when not clear felling and if using a PTO winch so can get more in line with pull direction so less chance of tipping tractor.

Thx-Not exactly cheap but they look like quality

 

[KiwiBro]

Certainly not cheap. There was a deal on forestry forum if you are a member but I'm not sure if it is still valid. Alternatively, I did read of a crowd in Canada called Nova Jack doing them for a good price but I never followed that up.

My interest was for not just general direction changes when winching a few logs out of a thinning operation, but to test if it could be used to widen the road in a small-time skyline cable operation, to avoid having to move the anchor and reset the skyline so often. In that context it might make it a bit easier to justify the price, if it works.

 

[dragoneggs]

True, in this case bigger is not always better. If someone can afford just one tractor, 30 hp. is a good starting point, and if I could afford two, I would double the hp.

My L3400 is about 5' wide with the wheels tuck in, a couple sizes bigger then a ATV, and the fuel consumption is about 6 gal./7-8 hrs. of hard use, just about the right size tractor because I'm always between a rock and a hard place.

All about what your 'battlefield' looks like. Personally, anything bigger than a BX wouldn't do as well for me! Not to say I would love to be sporting around in a Grand L cab model with my feathers perked up!

 

[TomSeller]

OK, posted a picture of 'major' wood in last post but forgot the tractor so here is the obligatory 'tractor and wood pic'

<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/files/owning-operating/404965-tractors-wood-show-your-pics-20141114_164500-jpg"/>

Wow, very nice land. Cool.

 

[square1]

Square1 I like working in the woods when it's misty like that but wouldn't be to crazy about the wind up on your landing.
So far the only draw back with my small tractor was hauling large 16' ft. logs with the loader was very hard on it. As far as skidding 3 or 4 - 18 to 24" logs no problem.
That's a nice winch Gordon and nice pile of logs. Nice to read the posts here gives me a little incentive but I'm going to take it easy until the snow falls off the trees their still loaded from the last heavy wet snow fall with 6" of powder on top of that.

We've been very fortunate to not have snow accumulations yet. Smart move to wait until the weight is off the trees. Have to admit, last winter when we were getting regular snow fall, I suffered withdrawals when it was unsafe to go out and cut.

I'm just cutting in skidding trails and taking out dead ash as firewood so the wood is pretty dry / light. The little Ford (25 HP, 4,000 pounds, 60 inches wide) handles the 8' long logs pretty well and is great for maneuvering through the woods. There's a log arch in the works for bringing out the 16+ foot saw logs. Traded some firewood for some machine shop work to strengthen the axle stub connection points. Once that is done (hopefully in the next week or two) assembly and adding the little do-dads for chain, cable, & tool hook ups shouldn't take long.

Would love to have a set up like Gordon's winch, that's slicker than ice on the skidding trail, but need to get a few logs to the mill to raise the cash. I missed one on CL for $600 when I was out of the area on vacation in July and haven't seen a used one locally since. Oh well, time I have, money...not so much