Log skidding cone

[Wesdor]

Nice job on the log cone.
A couple of years ago I was part of a crew clearing an area around a remote mountain village in Washington state. We couldn't get any big machinery in and used the plastic log cone and a small motor with a long rope. The motor had several turns you could take on the pulley and could pull quite a good sized log. Without the cone we would have been unable to pull the logs out in one piece and would have had to cut them into pieces and carry them out by hand. When I returned home I checked the price of the cone and motor and was SHOCKED!

Your cone looks like it will do the same job at a much better price.

I do a fair amount of log moving at home and purchased a log arch a couple of years ago. The advantage of the arch is that you don't disturb the ground when you move the logs.

Once again, congrats on a great job with your cone.

 

[beenthere]

Good for you, and glad to hear it works.

A bit worried that you are using nylon rope. Hopefully it is the kind of rope that has a high load limit, and will not stretch and build up energy.

I was witness to a disaster once when a nylon rope broke (believe that was at least 5/8") and the released energy went through the side of a house. There are ropes that are used for skidding and rated in the 10,000 lb class.

 

[Coyote machine]

I second the concerns over the use of a rope and what its rated limit is and where you are positioned when it is stressed.
Rope, steel cable and even chain all build up energy when stretched/stressed. Make sure you are no where near where a failure could send the rope's stored energy in your direction.
Good luck.

BTW, if a highway cone would work I would be using it too instead of spending a bunch of dough on a plastic cone! Will say the cone is not light, and seems to be built to take the abuse it will most certainly see. I plan to beat every dollar I put into buying it out on its hide when I start using it soon.
I just bought a Igland mod#4001 winch the other day to use in the near future.

 

[Skyco]

The highway cones I've seen are way too soft and rubbery to work even if they didn't tear, which I feel they would.
I think the plastic skidding cone I've seen online has only one manufacturer, so it is way overpriced IMO.

I spent yesterday hauling downed timber out of my woods...some of it was up to 24" diameter oak, I couldn't even pick up a 16" length of that and had to roll them to the tractor to haul to the splitter location...what a lot of work! According to this calculator-http://www.forestryforum.com/calcs/log_weight.htm a 24" diameter x 16" long red oak chunk is 251 lbs! No wonder I couldn't pick them up....

The land around me is being logged, they only take the trunks and leave an enormous amount of good size fire wood, if I could only retrieve it...their skidder trail is impassable in places with a 4wd ATV much less trying to drag a very heavy log. The trail has very deep ruts made by 6 ft diameter chained tires and steep too. They leave tops and branches that are 12" or better in diameter if I could only get them out

 

[SpringHollow]

The plastic cone is way over priced (although a lot of plastic with a custom mold - probably not a high volume seller which equal high price) but it does work amazingly well. 95% of my pulls are uphill and without snow. The logs go through brush, over berms of dirt etc quite well. Some scratches but very little sign of wear.

Ken

 

[Chilly807]

With any luck I'll get a good price on a winch in the future and be able to retire the rope and snatch block from firewood duties. It's not so bad the way I use it, the rope is tied off to the bottom of my 3ph log frame, and the snatch block is tied up in a tree. When it does break it's wanting to go down towards the ground, not up at me. I use a lighter sling (1/2 inch nylon rope) to attach the snatch block to the tree, so that should break and relieve the strain before the main line.

The ready-made price for the aluminum cone was going to be about $300, when I priced new material it was $150, I got enough plate from a scrapyard for $25 with a bit left over for other projects. I call that a minimal investment.

I used to hate using the snatch block, or any drag line for that matter. If there were any trees or deadfalls along the hauling route, the odds of getting hung up were pretty high. I've seen people use a peavey and walk beside the log as it's coming out to steer it away from obstacles, I call that a bad place to be when something breaks or gets stuck hard. By the time the winch operator or tractor driver realizes there's a problem things are singing tight. I'd sooner have everybody well away from the log and rope or cable.

As I said earlier, it's surprising how much less strain there is on the rope and tractor using the cone than without. Just the drag from the butt end plowing is substantial, especially with bigger wood. I use a log skidding arch with an ATV in places the tractor shouldn't go, I'm looking forward to trying this with the ATV, which has considerably less traction and power.

Some of the spots I haul from have skidder ruts from 20 years ago, makes an ungodly mess out of what was a decent road at one time. Luckily the ATV fits betwen the ruts, most of the time anyway.

Chilly

 

[CharlieR]

I bought the Nova Jack cone, a Simpson capstan winch (adding my own chainsaw engine) and a turning block.
It helped me clear a 20' wide by 600' long path through our woods, land too rough for a tractor and even hard to walk over.
The photo shows these in use.
The cone is at the upper left.
The turning block is at the end of the white strap attached to a stump.
It is really neat how one can snake a tree through the woods and really not disturb too much at all!
I've replaced the rope but the cone is still going strong behind my tractor or 6 wheel drive AAVT after 6 years of use!

 

[PILOON]

My 'cone' is more like a ski tip.
Some time back I inherited a curved highway guard rail end.
It is about 2 ft long and has a 12" wide nicely curved tip or end.
Underside is like a W shape, so it glides nicely in a straight line without digging in.
Welded a sturdy ring on the front for pulling and smaller rings on the sides to tie the log end onto my ski tip.
Other than tree stumps or larger imbedded rocks, the ski tip does a great job in preventing a log from digging in.
Works for me.

 

[rd_macgregor]

Last fall I found a large plastic bouy on the beach that had washed ashore after a storm. The anchor hook had ripped out. It was a pain to roll it back to the car (there is some kind of ballast inside it), but it is really heavy-duty plastic and, at nearly 3 ft. in diameter, the cone end of it should make a really nice logging cone (that is, as soon as my wife admits that a bright blue bouy isn't good landscaping material).
I've also heard of folks using car hoods...though the best ones would be from 50 years ago when they weren't so flat as now and used thicker steel, too.
BOB

 

[rd_macgregor]

Here's another suggestion: look around for a used plastic whitewater kayak, cut it in half and make two skidding cones. Last week I saw a brand new 8 ft kayak on sale for just over $200, so I'd expect a used (especially a damaged) one to be quite affordable compared to a commercial skidding cone. These are usually very tough plastic.
BOB