How much logging with how little a tractor

[JP11]

I am getting ready to put in a offer in on some land. I am trying not to get my hopes up too much. But it looks PERFECT.

It's about 65 acres. Power and a driveway are going to cost me a bunch. But I'm ready.

My question.. I plan to burn wood, and it seems like I have plenty of hardwood to keep me warm for years. How much of a tractor do I need?

Now the land is mostly dry. I would plan on doing the logging when the groud was either real dry, or frozen. There looked to be some good size oaks in there.

I'm not concerned with being able to haul a half dozen tree length logs. But.. Can a 40 horse tractor with chains haul a couple tree length logs around ok? or am I going to end up cutting everything to 4' in the woods and using some sort of cart to haul it around.

I don't think either would be too much work.

Just wondering what you can do with a smallish Ag tractor.

Too funny.. back when my dad had his 40 horse AC... At the time I was working flying a million dollar plus aircraft by myself.. but dad didn't trust me on the tractor!!

Thanks for your input
JP

 

[Glenn9643]

"Good sized oaks" might be 12" diameter butt or 48" diameter, depending on who's talking or listening. Green oak logs are HEAVY but you would probably lift one end and drag them out, right? The lift capacity of the 3ph might be more of a factor than the HP to drag them. There have been several posts related to skididng logs in the past six to twelve months. Try a search and you might find more helpful information.

 

[JP11]

OOPS.. specifics.

I did do a search. I was thinking one of those logging things.. sorry, enough of a newbie not to remember what they call them.

Jumbo skid plate with a winch to but the logs up against.. and haul them out.

I didn't do much of a timber cruise on the land.. I have an uncle that buys logs all over for a verneer company.. I will have him do a good look see with me.

The oaks were, I would guess 24 to 30 inch diameter. Im thinking now that cutting to 4' and hauling them out on a cart would be the best bet. Hadn't really planned on that. But probably less mess, and less of a tractor needed.

any other ideas?

JP

 

[tawilson]

I've got a 40hp tractor with a logging winch, and while I haven't got into anything over 24" yet, I am sure it will handle it when the time comes. Cutting into 4' lengths and carting sounds like a whole lot more work, plus if they are veneer quality trees, you want them as long as possible.

 

[adegiulio]

I did a good amount of log skidding in clearing my lot. I have a JD4310 with 32 hp and 4wd. I remember one tree distinctly. I was about 12-14 inches in diameter. I tried skidding the whole log, must have been 30-35 feet long. Couldnt budge it. The 3ph lifted it, but the tractor couldn't pull it. We cut it in half and had no trouble moving it then. So, if you think you can move 24 inch green oak in tree log lengths, I think that may be optimistic. I don't think you need to cut it down to 4 feet either. I skidded a log that must have been 2 feet in diameter and well over 10 long and had no trouble...

 

[JerryG]

Hydro?

 

[Egon]

A little 16 HP can drag something like this around.

Egon

 

[Typhoon]

JP11, your situation is a MIRROR image of what I just went through, except im about 2 years ahead of you. 2 years ago, I purchased a 55 acre plot of land. Half of it is timber. I also just built a 1/2 mile driveway and had the woods logged as well. Before I bought the property, I was a logger part time along with my other job. I didnt skid logs out but I was a faller. I just dropped them and bucked them for the skidder. Anyways, on to your question... Assuming you are talking about actually "logging" your woods... I.E. dropping large trees and skidding out full 16 foot logs, (which is the right way to do it), you are looking in the neighborhood of something in the 100hp range at least. However, if you are actually going to log your woods out and bring down more than 5 or 6 trees, definately hire a logging outfit to come in and do it professionally. A log skidder really doesnt look much like a farm tractor, and for good reason. They are specifically designed to get in there and get logs out of tight spots and steep hills. When we logged my place, there is not a farm tractor on the planet that could have skidded half of the logs out of my woods. Heck the skidder driver that I worked with has been skidding logs for 20 years, and even HE rolled the skidder onto its side twice. Logging a woods is a very big process, and takes all of the right tools to do it. However, you didnt specify how many trees. So none of this applies if you are gonna only drop 5 trees or so. In that case, then yeah, you could probably accomplish it with a farm tractor. Again, most of the trees that I drop, would take a 100hp tractor to pull out the full 16 foot log. If you cut them into 8 foot logs, then I would say something in the neighborhood of 60hp might do it depending on the diameter. You might be very surprised at how heavy an 8 foot, 24"dia oak or hickory log is. Now try and pull that up a steep muddy incline just after a rain. That is where the skidders shine. Hope this helps some. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Darren]

Likewise, my father had a 10hp Bolens that would drag 18" oak logs. It would have probably hauled larger. The trick was each of the rear tires weighed about 300# after being filled with lead oxide powder.

It's the weight of the tractor that makes the difference. A little tractor can do more than you might think.

 

[PerryWhite]

I've got a 4310 eHydro mfwd with a 430 FEL. I regularly
lift logs in the 18-20 inch diameter range that are 10' 6"
long. My sawmill can only cut 11' long logs. I have
the JD ballast box filled with sand, plus 6 weights in the ballast
box of 70 pounds each. I have three 60 pound weights on
each rear wheel. I am very pleased with what I can do with
this setup. I think it would have trouble with logs in the 30" - 36"
diameter range so those would probably need to be 4 - 5 feet
long to handle safely.