Log skidding cone

[Chilly807]

After pricing what it would cost to get one made, I decided to build my own. It's intended to fit over the end of a log, the choker extends through the nose cone to the hauling cable.

I built it from 1/4 aluminum plate, cut with a recip saw. Welded with Miller 180 MIG w/spoolgun, argon shielding gas, and 5356 wire.

As it pulls through the woods, the cone keeps the log from hooking on trees, submarining under other logs, and keeps the cable from getting fouled in general. Ideally it would be round, but I don't have the gear to roll plate with, so the pyramid will have to do. I suspect eventually it may take a bit rounder form anyway...

Trials will have to wait until the ground firms up in late spring !!

Chilly

 

[Coyote machine]

Nice cone! Will you wear that as a hat 'till the weather is better?:laughing:
I have a plastic version of the cone I got from DR. power equipment in Vergennes, VT a few years back. Haven't used it yet, but will soon.
Link below:
DR Power Equipment

 

[Skyco]

Nice work!
I've been considering fabbing one up too, although I'd use steel since I don't have aluminum welding capabilities.
Is the small end open? The plastic commercial ones have the end open for the choker chain/cable to come through. What's the chain on the side for?

 

[20 20]

You'll have to get some pictures of it in action? I no longer skid my lumber, log length gets loaded into trailer and driven out to a staging area. Fire wood gets blocked on site then driven out and split while stacking. The mini ex with thumb has spoiled our operation

 

[Ductape]

Nice ! I was just looking at the plastic cones...... I was shocked at how expensive they are for a piece of plastic. :confused2:

 

[Egon]

Uh oh; will there be a run on the large plastic highway cones used in traffic direction?

 

[Chilly807]

Nice work!
I've been considering fabbing one up too, although I'd use steel since I don't have aluminum welding capabilities.
Is the small end open? The plastic commercial ones have the end open for the choker chain/cable to come through. What's the chain on the side for?

I was considering steel too, but the aluminum was quite a bit lighter. The small end has a 2 inch opening, the sides are 16 inches at the wide end, and the whole thing is 18 inches long. Most stuff I cut will fit inside, as long as it stays on the front of the log it should work ok. If I have to, I'll stick a big carabiner through the choker chain where it emerges from the cone to keep the cone in place. I

The chain is a carry handle, it's an awkward shape to carry without one.

 

[Chilly807]

Nice ! I was just looking at the plastic cones...... I was shocked at how expensive they are for a piece of plastic. :confused2:

Yeah, they are pricey. I skid a bit in the summer months, wasn't sure how well the plastic would hold up to bare ground, I doubt there would be any problems in the snow. If I'd bought the aluminum plate new, it would have been almost $150 Cdn just for the plate.. I got it at a scrapyard for $25, easier to swallow.

I've seen them made up from blue plastic 55 gallon drum material, how well those work I don't know. They were riveted together, the seam would be the weak point I think.

Chilly

 

[Chilly807]

Uh oh; will there be a run on the large plastic highway cones used in traffic direction?

If I could have found one big enough and thick enough to stand up to some use, it would have been a goner..

Chilly

 

[Chilly807]

I had a chance to try the cone this morning, it worked better than I had dared to hope! I skidded out two good size hardwoods, a birch and a maple that I had doubts the rope would handle.

I use a snatch block and 5/8 nylon rope, no winch in the picture as yet.

I made a point of not trying to clear the path, which was about 150 feet long and uphill all the way. The maple was about 14 inches at the butt, just fit inside the cone. I welded a piece of pipe inside the nose of the cone last week to reinforce the small end and keep the grab hook on the rope from going back inside. I've got a bent grab hook, I think it was originally part of a load binder to get a straighter pull on the chain. Works well for this.

It pulled both trees out without any snags at all, load on the tractor seemed lighter since the butt end of the log wasn't plowing it's way. No dents or other damage to the cone.

The picture quality isn't great (phone camera), I'll have to wait until the ground dries up a bit to get better pictures.

Chilly

 

[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