Homemade Chainsaw Carrier - Yet another idea

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I built this in haste a year ago, it's simple but actually works. It's never fell or was knocked off so I guess it works out. Thought about upgrading it but haven't made the timeView attachment 733233
View attachment 733234

I like it!
I think I'll make one... as a stop-gap until I make a fancier one, of course

 

[Fxfymn413]

I put this together a couple of weeks ago. Ever since I got the cab tractor I have been trying to figure out a place to carry my saws and the box I carry the oil, fuel, spare chains, etc. in without success. It finally occurred to me that I always put the box on if I am going to cut wood as a counter weight so I just mounted the carrier on it.

I always carry two saws when I am cutting, so I needed a carrier that would accommodate both saws and the ammo box that I keep my accessories and fuel in.

The carrier is as simple as can be; a piece of 1" pipe with a 1" bolt welded into the bottom, a piece of 1/8" flat stock, and a piece of 1" x 1/8" angle welded to it as cross pieces. I had a spare scabbard so I used that for one of the scabbards and softened a piece of plastic pipe with a heat gun to make the other. I welded a couple of "hooks" onto the ammo box I use to carry my tools, etc. made out of a small piece of flat stock. The box hooks over the top bar and rests on a piece of angle. I use a ratchet strap to secure it when it is in use. The pipe is secured to the box through a tab I welded on to the cross beam.

The saws rest on a piece of flat stock and a piece of plywood is used to fill in space on the 271 so it would rest correctly.

The last pic is the receiver tube I welded into the box so I can tow the splitter to the cut site if I need to. It's also handy to be able to move a trailer without having to take the box off.

 

[ning]

I put this together a couple of weeks ago. Ever since I got the cab tractor I have been trying to figure out a place to carry my saws and the box I carry the oil, fuel, spare chains, etc. in without success. It finally occurred to me that I always put the box on if I am going to cut wood as a counter weight so I just mounted the carrier on it.

I always carry two saws when I am cutting, so I needed a carrier that would accommodate both saws and the ammo box that I keep my accessories and fuel in.

The carrier is as simple as can be; a piece of 1" pipe with a 1" bolt welded into the bottom, a piece of 1/8" flat stock, and a piece of 1" x 1/8" angle welded to it as cross pieces. I had a spare scabbard so I used that for one of the scabbards and softened a piece of plastic pipe with a heat gun to make the other. I welded a couple of "hooks" onto the ammo box I use to carry my tools, etc. made out of a small piece of flat stock. The box hooks over the top bar and rests on a piece of angle. I use a ratchet strap to secure it when it is in use. The pipe is secured to the box through a tab I welded on to the cross beam.

The saws rest on a piece of flat stock and a piece of plywood is used to fill in space on the 271 so it would rest correctly.

The last pic is the receiver tube I welded into the box so I can tow the splitter to the cut site if I need to. It's also handy to be able to move a trailer without having to take the box off.

View attachment 733595View attachment 733596View attachment 733597View attachment 733598View attachment 733599

I'm thinking there's a story to be told right here

 

[Fxfymn413]

I'm thinking there's a story to be told right here

You are right, but to be honest I have no idea how I did that. Best I can recall I backed into something while plowing, but I was really surprised when I saw the tab bent like that.

I had put the tab on with the thought of placing the saw carrier on the ball mount, but than realized that was a dumb idea since it would keep me from towing the splitter while carrying the saws. A real case in point of "ready, shoot, aim".

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

Outstanding..

 

[jgoodma1]

Time will tell if mechanical clamping can hold up to the rigors of tractor work. Realize not everyone can weld and you have to work with what you got.

Chainsaws are not very heavy but they also tend to require much other tooling like gas/oil, log chains, cant hook, ect. View attachment 733222
Five bolts secure it to the tractor.

Yeah, I'm still cogitating about a way to carry the cant hook and gas can because of my welding limitations (don't know how + can't with my implanted defibrillator)

 

[davedj1]

Well, I've been wanting to rig up a contraption for carrying my chainsaw on my Kubota L4060 so I wouldn't have to put it in the bucket when I'm in the woods cutting up downfallen trees. I know there are kits on the market like SawHaul, but I didn't want to spend $180 on the thing and I'm not crazy about the polyethylene scabbard on the SawHaul. I keep my saw sharp and just with just sliding my Stihl scabbard on and off the bar, I quickly cut through the top and bottom edge of the scabbard from it rubbing against the teeth of the chain. I also don't know how to weld and even if I did, I did not want to design something where I would be grinding away paint and having to repaint raw steel. I think this idea would be pretty adaptable to most compact and subcompact tractors.

The u-bolt attachment method for the SawHaul only gives you 2 connection points and I wanted something a bit more rigid than that. What I came up with was using beam clamps (top-of-beam type) that just clamped to the steel plate on the driver's side of the FEL where the FEL arm and cylinder attach.

So, I attached 4 beam clamps that receive 3/8" threaded rod. The locations of the 4 clamps just need to be accessible, not interfere with the loader cylinder, and fit within a 12" x 12" square area. The reason for that 12x12 dimension is that I attached a leftover piece of 12" x 12" x 1/4" thick aluminum plate to 4 pieces of 3/8" threaded rod, each 4" long and threaded onto and projecting equally from the 4 beam clamps. I then screwed a nut all the way onto each piece of threaded rod and tightened each nut against the beam clamp to act as jam nuts and prevent possible loosening. I then held up the aluminum plate to the projecting pieces of threaded rod and marked their locations on the backside of the aluminum plate. I drilled 0.50" diameter holes through the aluminum plate in each of the 4 locations. Then I screwed 4 nuts 3/4" onto the threaded rod to act as standoffs, slid a washer onto each rod up to the nut, slid on the aluminum plate, slid on another washer, and then screwed on another nut. All the nuts I used were nylon lock nuts to prevent any of them from loosening from vibration.

With the mounting plate in place, I now attached the scabbard that will hold the saw. I made my own scabbard out of cellular PVC. For those of you not familiar with this material, it is used in the home building business as a substitute for lumber in exterior trim and siding installations. I had a millwork manufacturing business and used this material extensively. It can be cut and shaped with standard woodworking/carpentry tools. It also can be screwed together without pre-drilling, without fear of it splitting like wood. It comes in a variety of thicknesses from 1/4" thick up to 1-1/2" thick. In the case of building the scabbard, I used 5/8" thick material that is readily available from lumberyards that cater to the professional builder. It comes in standard dimensional lumber widths, as well as 4x8, 10 ,12 & 18' sheets. A couple of the better known brands are Azek and Versatex. You won't find this thickness and size assortment at big box stores. Another great feature of this material is that it can be glued with standard PVC cement that is used with PVC plumbing pipe. PVC cement "solvent welds" the material together and it cannot be pulled apart. In the case of my saw scabbard, I both glued and screwed the material together.

So, this PVC material is much thicker than the polyethylene used for the SawHaul scabbard and will be much more durable. And, a new scabbard can be easily made again if for some reason in the distant future, you need to do that. I'm not going to go into the specifics of making the scabbard, because it's pretty self-evident from the attached photos. Depending on the size of your saw and bar, make the scabbard accordingly. With my saw, I made a 4" wide, 5/8" deep, 20" long slot. I used 3 layers of 5/8" PVC. The front and back layers were 7" wide and 20" long, with 1-1/2" wide filler pieces along the edges for the middle layer to create the 4" wide slot (1.5 + 4 + 1.5 =7). I screwed a 1-1/2" tall block in place at the bottom of the slot for the tip of the bar to rest on. This block can be replaced if needed. I built up a rim at the top, the top layer of which is removable for replacement if it gets chewed up from sliding the saw into and out of the scabbard.

After making the scabbard, I bolted it to the aluminum mounting plate, with the four 3/8" x 3-1/2" bolts passing through the 1-1/2" wide area along the sides of the scabbard, and through the aluminum plate. I again used a washer and nylon lock nut to secure the bolts.

It works great, is rock solid and easy to remove, and easy to repair, if necessary. It also drops the saw a little lower than the SawHaul so it's easier for a vertically-challenged, (and old) guy, like myself, to lift the saw high enough to easily slide it into the scabbard.

Looks great! Have the beam clamps loosened up?
Has anyone built one similar that is on an angle?
I believe this will be one of my next projects thanks for sharing

 

[Smokeydog]

Had some exposure to welding growing up. Necessary for farming repairs. In my mid thirties took a vocational welding evening class at the high school. Rebuilt a trip manure bucket for the MF 135 loader. Great source of skills, equipment and materials. Life long experiences and friendships have had many returns. Never miss an opportunity to learn.

A frequent contributor showed fabrication using space-age glue on studs. Takes its own special skill set.

Enjoy tool holder every day.

 

[SandburRanch]

Dose anyone's saw leak chain oil when stored with the bar in the down position ?

 

[Smokeydog]

Dose anyone's saw leak chain oil when stored with the bar in the down position ?

Yes, some. But I also had leakage from horizontal storage in tool box on another tractor. Thermocycling?, vibration? Or residual? Never has drained the oil tank. Does make a mess. A little bar oil goes a long ways.