Logging on a budget?

[IndyIan]

Use a chain choker. Regardless of tufness little tiny rope fibers grind up easy.
larry

That's what I figured too, but the fellow had rope chokers for sale, all made up with a short chunk of chain to hook onto a hitch.
I've got a few 14' logging chains but I bought them for my Atv so they are grade 30 1400lb working limit ones... Doh! Tempting to use with my tractor on less than 1400lb logs but I should just sell them and get the grade 70 ones. Fooling around in the woods is dangerous enough with good equipment.

 

[SPYDERLK]

That's what I figured too, but the fellow had rope chokers for sale, all made up with a short chunk of chain to hook onto a hitch.
I've got a few 14' logging chains but I bought them for my Atv so they are grade 30 1400lb working limit ones...

Sounds like 1/4 inch chain. A 6' choker of short link [supple and damage resistant] Gr70 would do well. 1/4 would probably be enuf working with rope. It has 3150WL and 12,600MinimumBreak. Gives you an idea of the safety factor built into work load ratings to allow for jerk. The small give in even the stiffest ropes moderates jerk and provides more safety going above the WL on chain.
larry

 

[IndyIan]

I'm pretty sure its 5/16 and I got it at TSC. I remember it saying 1400lbs but I read that many 5/16 grade 30 chains have a 1900lb working limit. I have one better one rated for 4000lbs. With either one on the ATV I don't have to think about them at all, but with the weaker chain I can see it snapping before the tractor stopping if a log get stuck on a root or stump...

I'll have to really watch for a while with the tractor as its pretty much 10x the forces the ATV could dish out. If I bumped a tree with a log behind the ATV, not much would happen, with a tractor it might sway the whole tree and have all sorts of crap raining down on me...
On the plus side I can pull down snags or hang ups from 200' away with that fancy rope and the tractor.

 

[Chilly807]

Which skidding cone do you use? I've been contemplating buying one, the big yellow plastic one but have never been able to actually see one first...

Oh - and nylon rope? You are a brave man, that stuff stretches and stores a lot of energy.

I built mine from 1/4 inch aluminum plate, the nose is reinforced with aluminum pipe, and I added a chain carrying handle to one side. It's 18" across the bottom and about 2 " at the top opening. You put a chain choker on the log, extend the chain through the cone and snug the cone up on the butt. A grab hook where the chain emerges from the cone keeps the cone in place.

Sean

 

[pat32rf]

When we used to skid with ropes we went with 1" nylon, ( dollar/foot, back then) behind the 4x4s. Lots of stretch in 100' but we could never break it.
Now (35yrs later) I use the tractor with a 8000lb winch and a spare battery mounted on the 3pth and connected to the tractor for charging. When I am by myself I work slow enough that I've never killed the battery but one day I was hauling out oak with two helpers and managed to kill it. They also managed to snap the cable.......even with a snatch block on the log. I figure I have about $400 in the winch and $125 into the battery(Optima) which gets used for other things the rest of the year when not doing firewood, but if need be I can get all my wood out myself.

 

[piller]

Thanks for all the responses so far!

I know how much my 20 foot chain weighs and the idea of using 100 feet of chain seems like it would be a real workout. Dealing with logs and chainsaws is already a pretty good workout, I don't really need more. I was not aware of logging ropes, perhaps I'll look into that further, if anyone has suggestions or links please post.

I considered an electric winch, the price is not too bad, however then you need a mounting setup, another battery, cables, etc. I looked at one 8000 lb winch and it was rated at 500 Amps of current at 8000 lbs of pull, that would deplete a battery pretty fast. Perhaps get a portable power generator to charge the battery and ......

Since the tractor has hydraulics and a pto it makes sense to use that, although I'm not aware of any affordable hydraulic/pto winches. Any suggestions for those?

I agree that a real logging winch would be the way to go. A couple of you with logging winches mentioned buying one, using it for a while and then selling, however I think that if I were to get one I'd keep it for a long time.

 

[sizzami]

you could probablysave a couple bucks if you used an axe too... but in the end a winch is the way to go . and not a cheap electric one either , they just dont hold up and are slow.

 

[PILOON]

I rigged an electric winch c/w remote control at about 50 ft.
I run it direct from my CUT battery via #4 cables using Anderson connectors.
The winch is probably rated at 5000 lbs ( I guess) as it is the size you find on SUV's.
The winch cable is 5/16" ad so far pulling out logs has not even taken out the kinks in the cable.
I did hang up the logs a few times, enough to lift the tractor fron clear of the ground.
I have found that my CUT battery handles it just fine as remember by the time you unhook the last pull, drag the tow line to the next tree or bundle lash it all together for the next pull enough time has passed for the battery to be close to being back to full charge.

My install is simple. Bolted the winch onto a 5/16 plate that was welded to a section of 2 X 2 tubing that gets pinned into my trailer tube.

In summary, for occasional usage electric winching seems to be viable.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I wouldnt think that an electric winch motor would stand up to reeling in 200 feet of line day in and day out. It would likely burn up on the first pull unless you let it cool a bit. I would think 50 foot pull would tax them pretty good.

 

[tungularafishcamp]

I have been keeping my eyes out for awhile now for a used logging winch in the PNW, no luck so far but have seen several on the east coast. You can use searchtempest to search mutiple craigslist listings.