2816 for logging

[KPark]

My 2615 is all that I need for areas like this. Trees up to around 15" can be moved whole. After dropping it, I'll pull the whole tree with the FEL and chains to a place to trim and buck and then use bolt on forks to move 6' logs and branches to their final resting places for further processing. Trees bigger than 20" or so will get bucked in place and then moved. I try to clean as I go so that branches won't puncture or break things on the tractor. Making a makeshift road along the way helps a great deal. I don't have a lot of ground clearance with the hoe attached, so I have to be a bit more careful. I can run chains to a log a hundred feet back and pull it in with the FEL a bit at a time if I don't want to (or can't) get up close. Did about 40 face cord this summer like that. The branches get used to make the road or get piled to dry and burn later or get the chipper treatment and used to smooth things out a bit.

There are times it would be nice to have extra power, but I think the balance of power and size is good. Very easy to think that your machine can do more than was designed for, but taking it easy and using your head will take you a long way. Luv my tractor

 

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There are times it would be nice to have extra power, but I think the balance of power and size is good. Very easy to think that your machine can do more than was designed for, but taking it easy and using your head will take you a long way. Luv my tractor

I think I am in line with your way of thinking as far as tractor size. I once had a JD 950 that I found a bit cumbersome in our dense woods. Now that was a puller. We need something low and heavy and not too long or wide. The backhoe makes your rig pull pretty good, I cannot take out an entire 15" tree out of the woods with my 750 and is where it proves weight moves weight. It has to come out in two pieces. In snow it will drag out 30' long 18" oak stems, I then have to go back and grab the canopy and pull that to the slash pile where I cut the worthy wood out of the top and push the slash into the pile. It goes pretty fast. Over the years I've experimented with several different ways to make firewood efficiently without a wood processor. Not counting the slash harvest, I only touch the rounds once and that is to split them. The secret is the curved forks I have mounted to the bucket. Put me in a different world as far as making firewood.