Tractors and wood! Show your pics

THEPARTYHOUND · Mar 27, 2019

Here is the one we have currently parked at the house (and in need of repair).

John_Mc · Mar 27, 2019

Finally got out with my Metavic forwarding trailer. Bought it used last September, but haven't had a chance to use it much - just practicing and doing a demonstration on a log landing.

Today I brought it out in my woods. It was warmer out and the snow is melting off, but the ground is still frozen, so I could get around without making a mess of my trails. I just did a small load, since I don't have the snow packed down on my trails, and wasn't sure how it would handle. It worked out fine. This was some Red Oak blow-down from a while ago - it's destined for firewood.

Diggin It · Mar 27, 2019

I don't EVEN want to see a price tag on that gizmabob.

Looks mighty handy though.

Jstpssng · Mar 27, 2019

^^^^^
That's a nice looking setup. It will leave your wood cleaner, and your saw chain or wood buyer will thank you.

ultrarunner · Mar 28, 2019

Looks like new...

Gordon Gould · Mar 28, 2019

Nice pics of your new trailer John. I have been hoping you would post some in the woods since you got it. How long is the bed? And are you going to take it on the road at all. I remember you were looking to do that. Do you think you will have to modify your trail system so you have loops or can you find room to get turned around. The reason I ask is when I started using a trailer in the woods I found getting turned was tough but I have a lot of hills and ledge and dead end trails on shelves. I can't wait till our snow gets down to where you are. Still way over 2', over 3 in some spots, on this side of the state.

gg

John_Mc · Mar 28, 2019

Diggin It said:
I don't EVEN want to see a price tag on that gizmabob.

Looks mighty handy though.

The new price was something I never could have justified (even the used price was more than I could "justify"). I've been watching the used equipment ads for years, but never found one in a size range My tractor could handle. This one came up for sale on Craig's list and was just a couple hours drive from me.

This is kind of an odd-ball size. It's too small for a commercial logger, yet too expensive for most folks to buy for personal use. He had it loaded: it's powered by a Honda engine, not the tractor hydraulics, so I can use it behind a pickup truck as well. It has the optional winch with 100' of cable (shorter cable, and slower than my logging winch, but very handy for those logs that are not quite in reach). He also added electric brakes and the knobby tires so the wheels will have some traction when braking. He added a brake controller to his tractor and ran it manually. We both have HST so rarely use the brakes (and there is no brake light to pick up a "break-activated" signal from). I still have not figured out where I'll mount the brake controller - probably on my right fender somewhere. Unfortunately, no one makes a weather-proof controller, so I'll have to pull it off when not in use.

Jstpssng said:
^^^^^
That's a nice looking setup. It will leave your wood cleaner, and your saw chain or wood buyer will thank you.

That was part of my reasoning. Most of my harvesting has been for firewood. I tend to winch the trees to the side of the trail, cut to length and split them right into my trailer. However, I've been thinking of cutting some 8'-10' logs for friends, and possibly doing more with sawlogs (a friend has a bandsaw and is always interested in barter). My other reason is that rolling the logs out on wheels as a whole lot easier on my trails than skidding them out.

ultrarunner said:
Looks like new...

I forget if it had 30 or 50 hours on it when I bought it. The owner was mostly a hobbyist - got it because he'd always wanted one since he was a kid. Working in the woods was his "therapy". He also had a CAM Woodsman dump trailer (which I also bought), and a sawmill (which was gone before I got there - and probably a good thing. I don't need another hobby).

John_Mc · Mar 28, 2019

Gordon Gould said:
Nice pics of your new trailer John. I have been hoping you would post some in the woods since you got it. How long is the bed? And are you going to take it on the road at all. I remember you were looking to do that. Do you think you will have to modify your trail system so you have loops or can you find room to get turned around. The reason I ask is when I started using a trailer in the woods I found getting turned was tough but I have a lot of hills and ledge and dead end trails on shelves. I can't wait till our snow gets down to where you are. Still way over 2', over 3 in some spots, on this side of the state.

gg

The load length is 9 feet. The previous owner regularly hauled 12' logs, and occasionally 16'. Once he did some 20 footers. He cautioned that with the 16 and 20 footers, the trailer was "self-unloading" - if you drove through a ditch or other rough terrain, the overhanging ends of the logs would catch on the ground and get dragged right off the back. Since this was my first real load, I chose to do 8 footers. THey were going into firewood anyway, so length doesn't matter much.

The reach of the boom is 9'6". A bit on the short side, but having the built in hydraulic winch helps make up for it (100 ft of cable, so it's shorter and slower than my dedicated logging winch, but still very handy for those logs that I can't back right up to). It will pick up 1500# at 4 feet (i.e. right near the trailer) and about 600# at full extension. The log shown in one of the picture was 12+" x 8+', so I'm guessing a little over 400# (the tree had been down for a while, but was still in tree length, so probably not a lot of drying going on).

The previous owner drove it locally on the roads. There are no lights, so he stuck to daylight hours. He never had any hassle from the local police about it. I've had the same experience here - I never get hassled when hauling my unlicensed, unlit "woods trailer" over the local roads. Since this will get used frequently at two properties about 5 miles apart, I guess I'll find out. I probably should find a way to hang one of those SMV triangles on it somewhere.

Industrial Toys · Mar 28, 2019

Picking up Deadfall. The tree that crushed my best Stihl 036 Saw. Well, that and my stupidity and impatience!

I built this arrangement for the grapple and do have a regular single lid grapple, but find this easier to get under something with the forks, then get it well balanced and just hold it in place with the claw. It was built more for hand bombed brush like pine branches. You could keep compacting stuff like a garbage truck and then not loose a single branch on the way to the burn pile. A huge labor saving device!