How do you hook your Log tongs to draw bar?

[eastexan]

Slacker, be careful that big log don't tip you over.

 

[Gio]

Slacker, I think that's a little overkill for that piece of timber...:laughing:

 

[Marveltone]

Slacker, if I were you, I'd be looking for a bigger tractor for those big timbers!

 

[Goodluck w/ That]

I see others have issues with it but it would be nice to hook them to the 3pt hitch, then you can pickup the end of the log just high enough that the front doesn't dig in the ground. Use caution, like some other said you can flip. My uncle use to pull logs out of the woods with a little 40 John Deere driving it with the brakes, the front end never touched the ground!! People used whatever they had 50 years ago.

 

[IslandTractor]

People used whatever they had 50 years ago.

Yes, and sadly a fair number of them were killed. Modern tractors have drawbars for exactly that reason. This is becoming a rehash of the debate two or three weeks ago so I won't continue but please don't use the fact that someone's uncle or grandfather did it that was as justification for doing it today. My grandfather didn't use seatbelts or airbags but that is no reason for me to bypass those safety features today.

 

[CJBOTA]

I have been following this thread for several weeks and I just don't get what all the fuss is about. Are you guys telling me I am going to get killed by lifting up a 20" diameter x 16' long log 6" of the ground and pulling it on a nearly flat surface, very carefully at about 1-1/2 mph using the three point hitch and a pair of tongs.
I am not talking about ripping around like a cowboy. I am not any kind of expert but I did log three truck loads of black walnut a couple years ago without incident. Not so much as a bump. Yeah, I snagged a couple times but I was going so slow and careful I had more then ample time to react.
I am thinking if I don't drink, (beer) use my seatbelt, and a boatload of common sense I am going to be ok.
Cutting the trees down was much scarier. Unexpected limbs falling from the sky was even scarier. But flipping the tractor, not so much. Can it happen? You bet! But if you apply a reasonable amount of common sense I just can't see it happening. Under the right conditions you can drag a log until you run out of fuel wthout flipping the tractor.
I don't mean to offend anyone, and if you are not comfortable dragging logs, then by all means don't do it, however for me I don't see what all the fuss is about. I promise the first time my front wheels come off the ground more then a foot, I will re-evaluate my thinking.
cj

 

[IslandTractor]

I don't mean to offend anyone, and if you are not comfortable dragging logs, then by all means don't do it, however for me I don't see what all the fuss is about. I promise the first time my front wheels come off the ground more then a foot, I will re-evaluate my thinking.
cj

Likewise you could argue that driving your car on a sunny day at the speed limit is safe and therefore you don't need your seatbelt on but that you would put it on the minute you saw another car cross the median and hit your car.

The issue here boils down to well intentioned but fallable human judgment versus no brainer engineered safety devices. Humans screw up. The laws of physics around which the drawbar was developed do not. You might well intend to use the 3pt only on flat clear land at 1.5 mph but you might forget that in the fall leaves cover the ground and you might not see a stump or rock and/or you might be in a little rush because it has started to rain or you are late. In those circumstances you would be allowing incrimental increases in risk, probably without consciously acknowledging as much. No one is saying tractor flip overs are common. They are relatively rare. That is part of the problem because we become complacent when guarding against rare events. A drawbar doesn't need to remember to keep speed down or to recognize that the autumn leaves might hide an obstruction.

Ask any safety expert to choose between an engineered safety solution and one that depends on human training and judgment. If there is a decent engineering solution (eg drawbar) they will choose the engineered solution almost all the time.

 

[kidr]

Stupid question I guess, but what makes pulling a log more dangerous than pulling ground engaging equipment? It seems to me it would be more dangerous pulling a potato plow or middle buster than a log. A root grapple would seem to be the worst, but I never see saftey concerns when some one talks about that. What am I missing?

 

[Gordon Gould]

Others may have a better explaination but I'll try here.
A plow is rigidly connected to the 3ph at both the lift arms and top link. When you hook on to a snag at or below ground level with the plow blade the bottom of the plow is pulled or held back. This makes the top of the plow frame try to rotate forward. So you have forward pressure on the top link. This forward pressure actually tends to hold or push the front of the tractor down and is the design principle of the 3ph. Inorder for this leverage to work the force on the impliment from the snag must be below the lift arms. The lift arms act as a fulcrum and the end of the lever pushes forward on the top link.
With a log chained to the lift arms or above any force on the top link is pulling back. The higher the chain is attached the greater the force pulling back on the top link. This pulling back tends to raise the front of the tractor up. Just the opposite from the plow.

 

[kidr]

Others may have a better explaination but I'll try here.
A plow is rigidly connected to the 3ph at both the lift arms and top link. When you hook on to a snag at or below ground level with the plow blade the bottom of the plow is pulled or held back. This makes the top of the plow frame try to rotate forward. So you have forward pressure on the top link. This forward pressure actually tends to hold or push the front of the tractor down and is the design principle of the 3ph. Inorder for this leverage to work the force on the impliment from the snag must be below the lift arms. The lift arms act as a fulcrum and the end of the lever pushes forward on the top link.
With a log chained to the lift arms or above any force on the top link is pulling back. The higher the chain is attached the greater the force pulling back on the top link. This pulling back tends to raise the front of the tractor up. Just the opposite from the plow.

Great expanation, thank you:thumbsup: