3PH log skidding implement

[patrick_g]

It seems if you use a drawbar and a clevis and hook either tongs or a chain to it you have the same thing.

Pulling with considerable force on the center of the bar in youir pix might bend it. That is why I wanted to take the load mainly on the drawbar (trailer hitch thingy well connected to the frame and made for the load.) The pipe thing which would definitely resemble the bar in your pix would serve to be able to raise the effective height of the drawbar without having to take the full load. Also a round chape (pipe) will be kinder to a chain or cable.

Pat

 

[patrick_g]

I'd just build a logging arch ...

Never saw or heard of a logging arch and after looking at your pix (nice stuff!) I still don't know what a logging arch is.

Pat

 

[patrick_g]

What about something like this Pat?

Egon, I'm sure it is wonderful since you already have it and it probably has many other uses but I can build what I described a lot easier.

Pat

 

[patrick_g]

Using the 3PH lifted high to pull something as heavy as a log worries me that the front of the tractor could get light without weight in the FEL.

Randy

Randy, that concern is part of the motivation to build what I described. I spent a day dragging logs out of the woods by putting a chain on my box blade and lifting the end of the log up a bit so it didn't plow. Heavy logs (over 20 ft and over 2 ft diameter) lighten the traction on the front wheels reducing steering control sometimes. I want to lift the front of the log to avoid plowing but I never want to apply the pulling force above the axle height as that is an invitation to a loop the loop.

I hope that I can lower the bar (pipe thingy described) way low, attach the log and then raise the log to prevent plowing but keeping the top of the pipe/bar at or below the height of the center of the axle.

Pat

Pat

 

[patrick_g]

I'd just build a logging arch and be done with the thinkin' and get on with the doin' ... but that's just me

Home brew, Thanks for using the term "logging arch." I searched and found lots of versions.

I don't log enough to warrant that extensive of an implement. If I were seriously trying to supplement my income then some form of logging arch might be the real deal for me. I only rarely take a log I can't pick up with my FEL and pallet forks although sometimes I can only pick up one end at a time. Since the friend where I am logging most recently uses wood supplemental heat, clearing a path through the woods to an area of concentrated large candidate trees just gives him smaller trees to cut up for firewood.

I can usually "walk" a log out of the woods when the log is only 6-8 ft longer than the average width of the trail we clear. If I get to a spot where zigzag turns will not let me clear the trees carrying the log sideways on the forks then we cut another tree for firewood.

I think I will just whip up what I described since it is simple and give it a try. I'll report back the pros and cons after I get a chance to use it.

I load logs to heavy to lift by picking one end up and settign on the dovetail of the trailer and shoving them up. I have a back up plan I haven't had to use. I have two receiver hitches on the front bumper of the truck that pulls the trailer so I could swap ends with the truck which woiuld position the front bumper mounted 12000LB winch to pull lods up on the trailer. When I load heavy logs I put the heavies on first so there is no interference when shoving them into place.

Pat

 

[HomeBrew2]

Home brew, Thanks for using the term "logging arch."

You're quite welcome! Waiting anxiously for some pix of your creation ... and some pix of your other operations as well!
Cheers!

 

[Egon]

Pat, what you see on my tractor would spends most of it's time doing just what you wish to do.

 

[fortyseven2n]

Egon,
No disrespect and I am not trying to be the safety police or anything but the way you are pulling that log is very dangerous !

You should always hook up as low as possible and also pick the butt end of the log higher off the ground.

If you were to snag the log on a stump or even the ground you could be flipped over backwards before you could react.

A far safer way would be to use a boom pole or similar and chain the log as close to the back of the tractor as possible.

You could also use the drawbar and chain but just make sure that the end of the log is high enough not to snag on something.

I am sure that you have done it this way many times and never had any trouble but I think that this is worth noting.

I actually witnessed ( as in I was right there when it happened ) a tractor flip over backwards because it had been hitched above the axle.

Not someting you want to see.....

By the way, the driver had been driving tractors for probably 50+ years .

Just my .02 worth.

Fortyseven2n

 

[Egon]

Yes, I am famliiar with the concern.

Most times the hitch is used to put weight on the rear tires for traction. Many times it cannot lift the log. I always fill the bucket with rocks and travell very slowly as that is as fast as I can go. For my purposes it works well.

But rest assured your comments are valid.

 

[patrick_g]

I have dragged out a trailer load of logs today where a couple dozers were building a huge pond on a friends place. The LogDragger worked OK but I have some improvements in mind if I get time to make them.

Pat