Hauling logs off hillside, Kubota or Power Trac?

[m5040]

There is a septic field at the bottom of the hill and out of an abundance of caution, I elected not to drive any tractors loaded with 1,200-2,000 logs balancing on one axle over the leach fields. The forklift forks I have are authentic and together with the carriage, weigh about the same as the small front hoe. The front hoe has a smaller cross section (10") and to me is easier to pick up the log and slice off ends alternating to keep somewhat balanced. The forks would be spread out for better control, and I would end up with a 40" length (verse 10"). Yes, the heavy log would be closer to the lift point with the forks, but I find it worth the reduced capacity for the convenience of the front hoe. Even after the log is cut to length, the hoe/thumb then quickly lifts them into the truck.

 

[MossRoad]

There is a septic field at the bottom of the hill and out of an abundance of caution, I elected not to drive any tractors loaded with 1,200-2,000 logs balancing on one axle over the leach fields. The forklift forks I have are authentic and together with the carriage, weigh about the same as the small front hoe. The front hoe has a smaller cross section (10") and to me is easier to pick up the log and slice off ends alternating to keep somewhat balanced. The forks would be spread out for better control, and I would end up with a 40" length (verse 10"). Yes, the heavy log would be closer to the lift point with the forks, but I find it worth the reduced capacity for the convenience of the front hoe. Even after the log is cut to length, the hoe/thumb then quickly lifts them into the truck.

I've found similar with trying to cut firewood-length pieces off of a log balancing on forks. I think the mini-hoe with thumb would be great for this.

What I'd really like, though, is a single finger grapple on my forks. That would be ideal for my situation, as I could also pile and then grab lots of branches to push/move them around. I've seen a couple grapple forks here on TBN and they look great!

In the mean time, I'll keep using my $29 logging tongs from Northern Tool to lift one end and drag them out.

 

[MossRoad]

Here's another one later in the day. Driving up a hillside and dragging the log down. Excuse the one-handed tractor operation while I record with an iPhone. I need to get a gopro. :laughing: Note the vines on this log. That's typical poison ivy in my woods.

 

[m5040]

Roger that, a lot of options to make work easier. Everything adds weight, I wanted a wrist on the front hoe to pick anywhere in a 90 deg arc. instead of just across the front. They make them for Gradall and other large machines. That would make it perfect for me.

 

[m5040]

I spent most of my tractor owning life working tractors that didn't have the aux hydraulic feature. I worked my Kubota L2250 with an antique version of your Northern Hyd grapple. Unfortunately with the standard tractor configuration (loader bucket in front of engine/tractor) I couldn't see crap! There was no way of gracefully hooking up the logs from the seat. I would have to get off, put the grapple on, try to lift, half the time it falls off, go back and repeat. Now with the aux hyd on the PT combined with great visibility, I NEVER WANT TO LEAVE MY SEAT.... Every think has to be hyd for me. After years of use, the attachments are still worth something, so to me it is no waste to buy what you really need, if you can.

 

[MossRoad]

Yep! The view from the PT seat is outstanding for this kind of work.

 

[johara1]

Yep! The view from the PT seat is outstanding for this kind of work.

Yes it is.... and the engine is in the back where it should be, for weight. .... jim

 

[woodlandfarms]

Is it just me or did I see a bunch of widow makers in your video

 

[MossRoad]

Is it just me or did I see a bunch of widow makers in your video

Yep. It's a spooky woods.

The property is 20 acres, and kite or diamond shaped. There's a 10 acre strip of trees cutting down the property's centerline, which is a varying slope with a 60' change in elevation to the east, and a 30' change in elevation to the west. The forester counted 20,000 trees in that 10 acres. Overly mature multi-trunk cherry, locust, maple, and oak dominate, and then about 20-30 other species. The cherries are nearing end-of-life with multiple trunks in the 24" range. They are spaced about every 75-100 feet. At some point in time, (the forester suspects) someone introduced the locust trees to control erosion. He estimates 10,000 locust. In the northern section where I'm taking these pictures there's about 4 acres of up to 12" maples (several hundred) mixed with locust and those cherries. I'm removing the locust for firewood, which frees up sunlight for the maples. I have dreams of tapping for syrup when I retire in 2027, but that's just a whim. We'll see how that goes. So far, I've pulled about 600 locusts out of there for firewood in the past 11 years. Any under 4" get cut and left to rot (which they don't, because, well, they're locust).

The rear half of the woods is more of a cherrie, oak, locust mix. I haven't touched that yet, and probably never will get to them, as the locusts are 16-20" in size and so heavy it's not practical to haul them out in small pieces with my little machine. No R.O.I. when comparing labor to time to heat savings at home. And, it's a deer factory, so the neighbor hunts it and gives me venison. Win-Win.

Every time there is a weather event, we lose a few cherry trunks, and they bring down the younger trees, leaving them leaning/spring-poled under the larger cherry trunks. More times than not, there's stuff left that could kill you. I'm savvy enough to know not to mess with them and stay away from them. We let nature bring most of them down on her own time table. No one but me and the neighbor have permission to be on the property, and he knows enough to stay away from them as well. We kind of like it that way.