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OK thanks. Good explanation and a good way to do what you do. When I see something different I am always curious how it is used. There is something to be learned everywhere. Where in VT. I'm in Waterford near St. J. gg

Some pictures from today. I added some to the Spruce/Fir stud wood pile. Then I went back down to get one more. A white spruce that up rooted in the wind about a month ago. It was hung up and at a 45* angle until Thanksgiving when the wet snow brought it down. Fun limbing that and it's...

I like your counter weight. I'm thinking that is what it is. Nothing wrong with that - a weigh is a weight. How do you hook it to your top link ?? Or do I have it wrong ? gg

Looks like perfect weather for splitting wood. gg

Good luck with your eye surgery Monday !! We've been getting a little snow every day since Thanksgiving. Finally got our gravel road froze in and covered so I can plow w/o the extra work to keep from turning up gravel, And of course it is going to warm up and rain next week. gg gg

^^^^^ Don't you love it when you have to scramble to cover all the bases. gg

Small project yesterday to make up a couple crude hinges for fold down stakes on my little wood trailer. I could work in the garage if I moved all the fuel containers and such but it's easier to just roll the table outside when it's a nice day.

I replaced a failed logging bridge at the outlet of a swamp with a culvert. It was doable but not that easy. Pull out old bridge and dig a culvert trough in the muck. Set Culvert Cover and cushion with 3/4" gravel. Bring gravel one bucket at a time 1/4 mile down skidder road...

Yes sir it could. gg

Id you mean anchor the panel to the tractor ? Maybe the V will work. If not I'll take it off and there are 2 shackle lugs right there that I can use. I'm sure I can make something work. gg

You mean on the abutment ??

In my case I plan on two 8' panels to span 6'. Each panel will have 6 - 6X6 and 7 - 2X4 to make up about 4' wide. It will be eastern hemlock or southern yellow pine and weigh less than 1000 lbs - probably around 800 with green lumber less with dry. I will place it like this. gg

Have you seen the simple design used for skidder bridges. These are for 30,000 lb loads so can be scaled down for your use. They are 4' panels for mobility. I plan on making one using this concept 8' wide using 6x6's spaced with 2x4's.

I have a spinner on my M5640 and it moves around but it doesn't bother me a bit. I'm mostly jigging around in the woods often with a trailer and the spinner makes it way easier for me - especially turned around sideway backing. gg

I agree Beech is high on my list. gg

Down pressure here too. Just dump the SSQA plate to collapse the chain and make contact with the A frame. gg

For my long gravel road that is not always frozen float like a truck plow is way better. I used a standard old Fisher truck plow and mounted the push plate below and behind the SSQA plate to get the blade close to the tractor. More work but in my situation well worth it gg

Happy Thanksgiving all ! Our family get together postponed until tomorrow. Up until yesterday weatherman said 1 to 2 inches here more to the south where the turkey dinner is. This morning our local prediction went up to 6 inches. So I went out and took the grapple off and put on the plow on...

If you have an adjustable side link like most tractors do you can get more angle. I think Lou was saying that too. gg

OK good - I understand that. What happens if you pull out some cable, Say 50', and just lay it on the ground. Then engage the pto. Grap the winch rope and pull on it very hard like you do for a jammed log. After the very hard pull on the rope release it. Does the clutch release and cable stop...

Hoob, are you saying it only happens when the clutch is slipping and if you have no load on the cable, so the clutch won't slip, and you pull the rope as hard as you can it will release like it should ??? gg

That's the same thing I have and I agree you have to be careful where you use it in our bony ground. But just cleaning loose stuff out off an already formed ditch works OK for me. gg

Our neighbor likes to make some big wreath decorations for their porch ands asks me for boughs. Sometimes she makes a large one in the shape of a horses neck and head for the gable end. Pretty neat looking. I brought her a top and some limbs today. gg

This is my set-up - Small saw, helmet sits on saw handle when not on my head. Big saw, wedge pounder, tool box. Cant hook, chokers and chains, snatch block. Gas and oil. Snatch block straps- 4'X2, 6'X2, and 9', extra wedges behind seat or in tool box. Anything else like an...

I have a 7' First Choice sickle bar I run on my L3010. I use it just like JDW1 for roadside mowing. In some places I run it w/o ground contact. Small trees especially green are not a problem just slow down for them. Here is a picture mowing along the top of an old roadside stone wall with the...

Maybe you can find some JD suitcase weights for it if it has a rack like some do. Home Despot here has 43 pounders. You have that Chevy pretty well stuffed !! gg

How do you keep in place when you lift the blade or from moving sideways when you angle plow ?? Did you weld on some tabs that you bolt to the cutting edge or something else ?? gg

They should like that. But if they don't use it at first the mice will and then the kitties will take over. gg

^^^^^ I agree. Go to watch your progress and success the last couple years. (y) (y) (y) gg

Don't be like me - started wearing hearing protection after I was deaf. gg

^^^^ Looks like a nice bucket of oak. Those versatile 22 ton splitters have worked up an awful lot of firewood over the years. gg

Yesterday I started cutting fir, my annual winter TSI project. We have an area with some bigger trees ( for my wood lot here in the east, anyway ). They are recently dead or dying. Since there is more light on the ground now I want to them cut before any new regen starts in fear that they will...

Very nice job on that wood shed (y) (y) Looks straight, solid, a nice size, and airy. gg

Two years ago we had a big wind storm that took down some nice pine. I wanted to salvage it. But in order to get to it I had to go through a wet spot. We had a dry late summer and fall and the wet spot was pretty good when I started in early November. But by the time I was done it had...

BSPP to JIC (y) (y) (y) gg

Yes I am - Thanks. Eyes are better than I can remember them being. Amazing. Supposed to stay quiet, not bend below the waist, or lift more than 15 lbs until Monday but I couldn't do it. Cheated a little today and cleared a couple fir blow downs off a trail with my saw grapple and winch. Felt...

If we had 8" spread over 3 days it would be way too much. But you are in a whole different environment. Hopefully it is what you need ???? gg

Living proof that winter is closer. I don't mind winter at all but am in no hurry. Been seeing blue on the weather maps out your way this week. gg

^^^^^^^ Very nice professional work (y) (y) gg

That's quite a log to pick. Nothing like eastern cedars that I see. What do you do with something like that ? gg

Had to look that up. Don't think I will ever catch up. I'm still working at being a '90's man. But you are so right - different strokes for different folks. It's all good. gg

There are a lot of variables when it comes to crotches :) We have a lot of red maple which tends to be crotchy. But they aren't huge and split pretty easy if you split them into two 'Y's first. So I usually bring them home rather than dealing with short logs when making up a hitch to skid out...

Also, in addition to the specialty wrenches rScotty showed there are hydraulic fitting/hose wrenches readily available like the one in my pic that is in back and vertical that might help. gg

Taking the bucket off of an L3010 is dead easy - I do it all the time. Just follow the manual instructions. If you don't have a manual I can email that section to you. Just let me know. Or if you know a welder buy a wrench and shape it as needed gg

Real plywood (y) (y) gg

That is what I use. Farmi JL501. Nice slow controlled pull and yo can see what is happening. Last pull was a Spectrum truck installing fiber optic on our road last February. gg

Thank you!! Great info and pictures. You are a talented and knowledgeable man. gg

That is a really nice unit. Intriguing !! Could you describe the drive components you have there to get your 2000 RPM and a 20" width. I recognize the hydraulic motor is all. Is there also a gear box? And what flow and pressure do you need to drive it. Thanks. gg

Definitely counts !!! gg

Yes truely amazing. That is a classic beauty !! And a testament of the craftsmanship and hard work of the past. Thaanks for posting!!

That's quite a "wall" for sure !! I cut my wood in the winter and work it up in the spring so that it has two summers to dry. The fist summer in the sun typically like this and the second summer in the wood shed. We use one side of the shed each year keeping us ahead one year. gg

Our situation is similar to yours. We have a nice tight 1365 sq-ft ranch with an England 3500 add on hot air furnace that we was as a stand alone main furnace in the insulated basement. I keep the basement about 75* so we have warm floors up stairs and there are two ducts from the stove going...

I'm in the middle of two weeks of cataract surgery recovery, had the second eye done this morning, so I'm not doing much in the woods. So this is a "cart and wood" picture from yesterday. Brought in three loads so the wife wouldn't yap at me for doing too much to soon ???? We had our...

Years ago I made one with the idea of being able to sort logs and move them around the landing w/o getting off the tractor to set chokers. I used a cross drawbar and some angle. The top link is a chain that passes thru the slotted block at the top and allows adjustment. I made this short...

You must be enjoying your tractor time to rack up that many hours in a year. (y) (y) gg

Hats off to you. There are not many who would go that far for the benefit of a client. hope you had it easier today. gg

The style of the vintage footage, equipment, and cars brought back old memories. Thanks for posting !! gg

Thanks. That's interesting. I have an L3010 which seems to have to much lead. 4WD gets bound up even in the woods. Often need to put in reverse to shift out of 4WD. My M5640 will go any where in 4WD and hardly ever has any resistance at all shifting back to 2WD. Both handle well but the M is a...

Just out of curiosity how much did the rolling circumference change on your 11.2-24's going from 30 psi to 15 psi ?? gg

Most if not all the modern mills do have metal detectors that each logs passes thru. Even so they will not take yard trees. The risk is not worth it. gg

^^^^ Something about this weather makes you use more energy than you actually have. gg

Put the sickle bar on today for the late season mowing. gg

I put an adjustable return stop on my 22 ton splitter. It has and automatic detent valve that cut out when the ram was full back with a 26" opening for a round. My first attempt to make it stop at 18" was to bolt a plate across the beam for the wedge to hit on the return stroke but the detent...

Wow - Three 30'ers from one tree. Nice wood ! I'm lucky to get three or four 12'ers from one of our firs here. They might peel easier in the spring. Hard work whenever you do it though. gg

Just some old pictures that I thought were interesting. gg

I am curious as to why you think there should be a 3/8" gap. That would bother me and I would shim it. In my mind there should be no gap in any of 3 places (see arrows); between face of SSQA adapter and SSQA plate, between face of pin and SSQA plate slot, and between angled surface of SSQA plate...

^^^^ I used old motor oil on a skidoo trailer once many moons ago. Lesson learned the hard way. Not so much messy, soaked in good on the old dry plywood, but slippery when wet. Had to screw cleats down onto the deck. gg

Nice pile of fire wood right there. That will keep you busy for a while. Looks like you have some empty totes ready to load. gg

^^^^^ Most important to me. gg

^^^^ Same as my M5640 gg

Nothing wrong with a plywood table in my book - I have one too :) I did glue a metal skin on it though so I wouldn't gouge it up so fast. gg

I like to work off of the carry all when I go vertical for the big rounds. They slide nicely on the deck so it is easy to position them and I don't have to hold up the unsupported end of the block to make it align with the beam it just sits there on it's own. gg

Absolutely - I feel lucky the whole thing didn't come down. gg

A couple days ago I was sitting having my morning coffee. When it got light I could see something hanging down from the bottom of my 2009 Tacoma. Checked it out after breakfast - one of the two straps that support the gas tank was so rusty it broke. No choice but to fix it right there. gg

You have a well thought out rugged splitter there !! gg

^^^^ Great trailer you built. Have fun with the dozer !! gg

I did exactly as ruffdog did and for the same reasoning but it turned out that it was not the best way for my set up. It was fine for slowing down the implement adjustment speed to a nice manageable rate when the blade or grapple was on the ground and gravity was not a factor. Where I had...

SweetTractors.com and Sweet Farm Equipment is still there. At least their web site is. I buy my First Choice Sickle Bar parts there though I haven't for a couple years. https://www.sweettractors.com/ gg

I installed new TnT hoses the other day. It is pretty tight behind the L3010. I crushed the hoses with the back of the winch because it was leaning back to far when raised. This forced a destructive severe radius in the hoses. It was the second time I did this so I put some 90* elbows in the...

I have 1/32" orifices on 2-1/2" cylinders on both tractors. They work really well. Mine are 1/2" NPTF Male - Female Swivel. So they thread directly into my Ag Quick Connects. Got them at Champlain Equipment. gg

Just a comment on POCV's - I bought a used M5640 and it came with a hydraulic top link that had POCV's on it. When I put an implement on the 3ph, like a winch or box blade, and lifted it off the ground and then extended to top link the top link would extend with a lot of chatter and jerkyness. I...

Yes, I wondered about the side twist also. The swing is limited to less than 45* though. I kept the design as simple as possible on purpose thinking that would be a good starting point. This was a field test to find out what changes or additions I need to make in order for it to be usable. I...

That's a yetti for sure. I've seen it before. It's a female and walks the woods trails a lot. Feels like she is keeping track of me but stays out of the way. You have some sharp eyes !!! Good idea - A small shut off would work good. Thanks. gg

Thanks Gregster !! gg

OK thanks. Cylinders are 13 years old. gg

Thanks Thomas. I just show it like it is. Bungles and all. gg

That's a very good question. I'm going to pull the QD's and put a load on and see what happens. Another thing I was wondering was if could I be pulling a vacuum make it spongy and drift as the load changes ? I have one restrictor on each cylinder to slow them down. I put them on the welded end...

Oh-my, the things that slow you down. That's a big one. What's the rest of the story ?? gg

I gave my crane a field test yesterday. I picked up wood in 3 spots. Each spot had bigger wood, getting a feel for things as I went. I knew that the boom hinge post needed to be plumb. If it is at an angle the boom will seek the lowest point and rotating it from there is like pushing up hill...

Somehow you got the wrong impression. If my shadow ran at all it would be out of sight up ahead. gg

I finished my crane last week and mounted it on the Farmi JP290 winch today. This is the top mount, bottom mount, and hinge pin. The boom is a 3-1/2 X 2-7/8 channel made up from 3/16 bar. This is the under side. You can see the bottom pulley, 4 slider hanger hooks, and the top pulley and...

Wow - good thing you pay attention to lunch time and didn't keep mowing !! gg

Don't procrastinate on repairs you know you will need to do. I know this but still it happens ??? Late last winter I jammed a top link hose into a severe bend. The outside layer of the hose cracked in several places and exposed metal. It didn't leak - yet. Plan was to get thru winter and fix it...

Last July while we were out in Oregon for a family visit we went to the Great American Steam Up held at Powerland Heritage Park. All kinds of antique running steam powered equipment. Here is a saw mill being driven by a Case tractor. Here is a minute long clip from the parade. What a...

Looks like your doing a thinning maybe ?? Looks good !! gg

I thought this one was interesting. A saw mill powered by a steam driven tractor via a flat belt. Saw it in operation at the Great Oregon Steam Up held at Powerland Heritage Park last July. gg

Thanks - that's good to know. Especially the side hill part. gg

Your mower does a nice job. What is it like pulling it from one corner like that? It gives you a great offset so you can keep the wheeler out of the rough but does it try to run off to one side ?? Just wondering. Mine pulls from the middle with no offset capability. Wish I had some at times. gg

I'm just starting to get back in the woods after all the wet this summer. The other day I went by this apple tree in a wooded opening and noticed it had the top of a maple blow-down tangled in it's own top. Looking from the other direction. The apple tree is a little mangy but it is a...

We had piss spruce here. gg

I think they are green from jealousy and will turn grey on their own. gg

Yes, we are lucky to be on higher land at the top of any drainage. Other than having to do way more road grading than usual with a down hill road out and woods to wet to go in we were fine. gg

I copied this from a thread on shake in the Forestry Forum- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Shake, wind shake and ring shake (and also ring failure, ring separation, and ring check) are the same thing...a separation of the wood parallel to the growth...

Yes, I did note the Kubota mounting system. Right now I'm in a wait and see mode to tell whether or not I need additional stabilization. They don't have much lateral wiggle room the way they are. You are lucky you could get Kubota weights. I contacted two different Kubota dealers here that were...

Looking at the front of my tractor notice that the flat bar that the weights hang on is below and behind the FEL brace/grill tube. You have to lift the weights above the tube to mount them. Rotating the weights inward under the tube makes the angle of the mounting slot to severe to allow the...

Same thing happened here with all the wet snow. We didn't get as heavy a dose as you did though. It is hard to find a birch pole here not bent over - both white and yellow. We have a lot of birch poles. The pine regen took it hard too - new growth from a too heavy harvest in the late 90's. Now...

I wanted a couple hundred pounds on my L3010 when I ran the sickle bar mower or my crane with the loader removed. The best deal I could find was 70 lb'ers in stock at a local JD dealer. I had to trim the mounting fingers a little to get them onto the stock weight rack on my tractor. They cut...

What a huge difference you have made. (y) (y) Should be interesting watching what happens as the seasons and years roll by. gg

That's good (y) You are lucky. It is caused by a bacteria in the soil that enters thru the root system. Probably why infections are localized vs random. It used to be considered a symptom of strong winds but that has been proven to be false. gg

Do you have much of a problem with shake in your hemlock? It seems to be problematic in some areas here in Caledonia county including my lot. The mill I used to use before they shut down a few years back would not buy Hemlock sawlogs from Caledonia because of it. gg

Made a start on some Spruce and Fir stud wood yesterday. I have 10 12'ers in that modest pile. gg

Happy Labor Day to you too. This is a good thread. Lots of contributors with varied methods, equipment, ideas, and reasons they do what they do make it interesting. Always something to learn and/or think about. You are right about the extra urge to work on wood when Labor Day arrives. I had the...

That's seems like a clever way to enhance your business. Make a useful byproduct from scrap. Hat's off to you and your wife Hoobie (y) gg

I use white pine and/or balsam fir for all my kindling in both the stove and fire place. Use the cut-offs from softwood landing and put them through the splitter. Some here laugh and think it is silly to do up kindling but it's easy to do and it is easy for the wife or I to get a fire going...

From what I can tell the stumps aren't to old - no signs of rot and solid, bark still sight, but discolored to grey. What you did with your saw was our initial thought also then as we waited for cooler weather I started wondering about a grinder. From what I learned above the saw them off flush...

Thank you - That is good to know. I really appreciate your opinion !!! gg

Looks like it worked well. My son has a new to him place and there are about a dozen balsam fir stumps along his property line. They are probably 14" to 16" with some crowned up roots spreading laterally. We are considering renting a grinder but don't have a clue what it will take for a machine...

This was well over a decade ago, almost two. They were doing a lot of track maintenance in the area and there were huge piles of old ties in the St J RR yard. The foreman had a little house for living quarters right there in the yard at the time. I asked him if I could get some ties. He said...

Corduroy works pretty well. I know a guy a little north of us that has over a 1/4 mile of corduroy road like that through a cedar swamp. He used slabs off his mill. It has worked out good for him. He doesn't skid logs over it unless there is good snow cover but using his Metevic log trailer is...

Most of the time you put the scabbard where you can with few choices and lots of trade-offs. I was lucky with my M5640 and had a place behind the FEL tower so it didn't stick out to catch on stuff or obstruct view and wasn't in the way getting on and off the tractor. Plus easy to reach standing...

Nice to see that you are able to get into your woods and do some work with all the rain we've had. Sounds like you have gotten quite a bit done. (y) (y) You must have a well drained lot. Up here in the St J area we have more mud, wet soil, and water pooled up on the ground than we do during...

Wow - Makes you appreciate what the colonials went through to stay warm or more likely just keep from freezing to death. Things were colder then too. gg

That seems like a lot of wood to have stored and/or in the works. Especially if you are talking full cords, which I assume you are, and not face cords. How much do you burn in a year ? gg

You are right - a receiver hitch on the winch is super handy. If you can't weld you could bring your winch to a welder or a welding friend and have them put one in. It's not a big job. I put a 2" hitch on my Farmi JL 290 winch and a 1-1/4" hitch on my trailer. gg

My daughter lives out in Oregon. Since we get out there often enough I know what you mean when you say "good sized DF". Have fun !! gg

I been moving wood into the shed between rain events lately. It wasn't a very good summer here for drying wood with all the rain and high humidity. But still, I am amazed at how dry it actually is compared to last April and early May when I split it. Not ready to burn but another summer in the...

So it grows over there in Monkton ? I didn't realize that. For some reason I thought it was a mid Atlantic hardwood species. Do you have enough to be commonly used for fence posts in your area ? gg

Pretty good load in that grapple. What is locust like for firewood ? We don't have any here. gg

Everybody should work the way they want. There are lots of variables, terrain (as oldnsloe mentioned) and wood lot characteristics are two big ones. For me a forestry winch is the way to go. I wouldn't get very far w/o one. I was working in this area last January. A link to pictures of one...

When it comes to making your landplane cut more aggressively by adjusting the top link it depends on the geometry of your unit. On mine I get a more aggressive cut by shortening the top link and putting more weight on the front blade. Just the opposite of Matt's. This is because my blades are...

Very nice work !! I would love to see some pictures of your equipment at work. It would explain a lot. gg

I know nothing about your mower but my JD mower has a timing belt and if I hit something hard enough the spindle can slip on the belt and cause the blades to hit. Just wondering. gg

We have had a ton of rain in July. According to the Fairbanks Museum Weather Station in St Johnsbury, 6 miles from here, they received 17.14" of rain in July. The wettest 1 month total by far in their 130 years of record keeping. The old record was 11.1" in May 2008. Last Monday night was the...

Almost - delayed by heat and rain. gg

I guess you could say I built a snow plow. I got an old Fisher plow that was all bent up from being used as a dozer, straightened it, and made an SSQA frame frame for my M5640. But mostly I just tinker and modify stuff to try to make it more useful for the way I use it. gg

I was out in the woods on my 4-wheeler yesterday checking out the tractor roads looking for water damage from all the rain. I use a lot of water bars and they held up pretty good. Have one spot to fix where a wooden culvert clogged. It is open so easy to clean. This is it during spring thaw. It...

Flow doesn't matter much as others have said. Instead look at lift weight and height, break out force, etc. If you are going to dig with the FEL look at cylinder rod diameter and robustness of those components. You can dig with a FEL but they are designed for handling loose material so pick the...

I have a 5' pin-on bucket on my 2001 L3010 and bought a ATI grapple kit for it a few years later. This was long before SSQA FELs were common place. It worked very well. Here is the original. I have made some improvements since then. Mostly little things but the first, like others have said...

Don't know if these will help but they might at least be interesting...

If they are like most cutting edges they were symetrical when new. So, if you flip them you will be back where you started if you havent made adjustments. In most cases, but not all, adjustment isn't critical. Think back over time looking for a period when it worked best, if there was one. Then...

The remnants of Beryl were not kind to us here. Lots of road work coming up if it stops raining. Just showers now. There are washed out roads , ditches, and culverts every where. A neighbor took this picture of a full size p/u. It is out on the town road a couples mile from us. gg

That's a good stroke of work BackRoad. Keep your driveway pictures goming. gg

Here is a simple one I made. A nut welded to a piece of bent up light steel. You could do it w/o welding but you need a wrench to hold the nut. I am using it to hold the connector open to drain the yucky oil from an old plow I bought. gg

On my M5640 woods tractor. gg

Thank you all for the info. Amazing, I've been buying tires for over 60 years and still don't know much. gg

Yes, I have done that. gg

I purchased on-line a pair of front tires for my old 2007 Polaris Sportsman 500 4-wheeler. There wasn't much selection for the size I needed. They came in today. They were marked as 23X8R-12 6 ply nylon tubeless radials. The nylon surprised me. What is the significance of them being nylon ? My...

Thanks, I have - but it is what I like to do. gg

Ha-ha - Big time now. And they will follow me forever. gg

Started doing some trail mowing today. I mow a lot of trails that my tractor can't go on so I use my Sportsman 500 and a 42" self contained bush hog. gg

Never seen a TL with screws like that - never to old to learn. They are short and must be just for grease exit holes - when grease comes out that's enough type thing. I'm guessing now that one of the jack screws is bent ???? Take the top link off and see if one end is bound up. gg

I would say by the looks and top links I have seen that they are not original screws but put on by a previous owner as an extra lock. I would try loosening them. They will tighten into the jack screw if they are long enough. gg

Back in day I would do that job just for the wood but I didn't know any better. gg

No, not really. It's a small set-up for small logs from thinning, like in the picture with the wood boom. The boom is 7 feet horizontal so if I pick a 500 lb log, which I may never do, that is less than 2 ton on the top link. Lifting a bush hog can give you that and is well within the 3ph specs...

Last winter I experimented with a crane mounted on my winch for loading my trailer in the woods - It worked so well I decided to build one. I've been picking away at it and I'm getting close. This morning I mounted what I have so far on the tractor. My grapple flopped over about a...

Organized right from the get-go (y) (y) Much easier than trying to organize after 5 or 10 years of chaos. Your new building looks good ! gg

Plenty of time to putter with all the rain here. So, I stole your idea and made me a SmokeyDog Clamp. Will probably steal some attachment ideas too. Thanks ! gg

Thanks for the picture shooter. That's the real deal right there !! gg

You couldn't find a buyer for your pine ???? gg

Hats off if you were working in this weeks heat. I barely made it to 10:00 o'clock just trimming brush and branches from trails that I plan to use when I start cutting. Will have to wait a while for all this water to dry up again. gg

Sounds like a fun day and a great event for a benefit !! gg

If you remove all of the rippers in your BB except for 1 or 2 in the center I don't see any problem at all. All the pulling and ripping force will be centered on your 3ph. The 3ph is designed to rip and pull. If you go slow and easy and and don't buck and jerk the worst that can happen the way I...

I am just across the river from and north of Littleton, NH - in Waterford. It is hard to find good beech in our entire area. BBD is wide spread. But there are pockets of very nice beech. They seem to be in well proportioned Northern Hardwood Forests but, only here and there. I know of one area...

A lot of the charts use short or local names like Beech. Are they talking Blue Beech which has slightly more BTU's than Sugar Maple or American Beech which has slightly less BTU's than sugar maple. Causes confusion. I like to burn Beech also. Mine have Beech Bark Disease and instead of having...

To hot this afternoon so I spent some time watching some firewood videos. The splitter in this one had a fixed wedge and an extra arm on the ram that pulled the piece back for resplitting on the return stroke. I have not seen one like that before. Saves a lot of work not having to pull the piece...

Back in the '70's time frame the farm family down the road had 8 kids. They had a wood furnace in the cellar of the big old house. Every fall a logger would drop off about 12 cord of log length firewood in the door yard. The father and 2 oldest boys would work at the log pile blocking off the...

Speaking of pine brings back old memories. There was a family owned mill 7 miles down the road and across the river in NH. They would buy my softwood logs. I would buy pine, hemlock ,spruce, and fir lumber from him. Used quite a bit building our house from 2000 to 2005.We lived in...

Look at the fourth picture in post 45 above. The box just sets there locked in place by the ROPS. It is heavy enough so that it just sits there. Both the box and plywood shelf just lift off when I want to remove them to do something like grade the road and need to be able to see. gg

(y) Very impressive seeing it all lined up like that (y) gg

Why did you cut them - firewood, saw some boards, or just thinning out the poor ones ? gg

I took those pictures in the beginning of December and had just put on the chains getting ready for winter. For me in northern VT chains are indispensable in winter both on the road and in the woods. I have them on both tractors. I have R1 Ag tires and use euro style chains because they can not...

This is one of my saw boxes on an L3010. Finished with 50/50 mix of boiled linseed oil and turpentine - all it would soak up. Been in service since 2012 and like new to this day. The M5640 box is on post #18 and I have added gas and oil storage to that. gg

Nice box bigtiller. I can see you enjoy woodworking and good craftsmanship (y) (y) gg

It must be - I'm jealous. Good to see some pictures of your mill work. gg

How wide is your trailer. My one-ton is 7' wide and my buckets 5' and 6' wide. I load the buck in the truck. When the pile gets to far forward to reach I close the tailgate and raise the bed go get the material back to the rear then go at it with the bucket some more. This is my 5'er on the...

Just for reference, talking green wood, a 10' white ash log 12" in diameter weighs 375 lbs and at 18" diameter it would be 850 lbs gg

My loader is an LA482 with the heavy duty curved bucket - 1060 lbs. gg

This is how I did mine back in 2011. It is on an L3010. Much cheaper than a kit but more work. Finished 3rd Function Valve Project gg

Had to move a big old pasture spruce blow-down that was across a trail. At first I thought it was hung on another tree. But once I cut in under it I could see that it was not hung up on anything. It was propped up and spiked into the ground by all the underneath branches. I cut enough of...

Very nice indeed. And welcome to TBN. Next time include some pictures of your equipment so we can see what it takes to do a nice job like that. gg

We have a lot of down fir from last winters high winds and heavy snow. I am going to salvage what stud wood logs I can from it. Only need a 5" diameter to make a 2X4. Since I haven't had a tractor in the woods for a while I started with the smaller stuff just to get the rust and cob webs out...

I didn't think it was possible to have to much wood. Especially up where you are. gg

It is unbelievable when you see the amount wood going through one of those stud mills. gg

Looks like fir and aspen will fund your garage if you keep going like that. What are the specs on the aspen ? Chip Board ?? Good job piling with your tractor. gg

I think you can make either method efficient with some thought and experimentation on your set up. There are a lot of variables and trade-offs. Especially if you work in different locations like in the woods one tree at a time and out back beside the log pile. And everyone's priority list would...

My wife took some pictures while I was working on our wood today. Shows my system pretty well. gg

Looks pretty enough to me (y) (y) (y) gg

Welcome to TBN fc1. That loader must be good for about 1500 lbs. An upgrade for sure (y) gg

^^^^^^ That is a really nice picture BackRoad. You have a beautiful spot there ! gg

This is another way to do it. Pretty poor pic. Put a hinge on the draw bar at the base of the boom and a slide on the tractor draw bar. Gets you more lift. Always pulling from draw bar not top link. gg

I made this 10 years ago. Not a boom but moves logs and may give you some ideas. Used a tractor draw bar from TSC and some angle etc. Put an over the center type latch on my tongs to hold them open. And a rope pull to latch open the tongs. I made this short video the very...

Do you mean a boom pole like this ?? https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/threads/homemade-telescoping-boom-pole.354862/ gg

In April 2013 I built an asparagus bed for my wife using 2 X 12 rough cut hemlock, no preservative. I am going to replace it this year by building another box around the old one which is starting to pull apart in the corners. I think 11 years is pretty good. You can see it in a picture from last...

(y) (y) Lots of experience and helpful people on both sites. It's just a matter of finding the right guy. gg

Spent yesterday afternoon picking up branches that fell during the winter's heavy snows all along our long drive. Needed to get them out of the way before I mow, which will be earlier than normal this year. Used my dump trailer with stake sides to haul the stuff to the brush pile. This picture...

^^^^^ Looks good to me!! Otta have a thread for old guy projects. Here's one of mine. A set of slide-in, slide-out, castors for my chipper so I can move it in and out of it's storage corner. gg

Thanks for the update. Glad to hear it worked out so well ! gg

I never thought about the twisting and torquing with all that weight traveling on uneven ground. (y) on the fruit trees gg

Apple trees ??? I wouldn't mind having one of those if I had some easy ground. But all the ground I have here is to boney. gg

Thanks - that FrostBite grapple works well for me and what I do. Light, narrow, strong, and capable. gg