SKIDDING LOGS WITH TONGS ;QUESTION

[Cami]

I want to be clear that using the clove hitch was an act of desperation to prevent driving back to town for our rigging. If you do try it, Baby Grand, then don't put the turns adjacent to each other....tie it with a little space between the parts so if it jams up you can just tap them closer together to create slack....Clear as mud? I'd offer a drawing but my MS Paint skills aren't as good as I let on....

 

[mustangsallysdad]

Escavader-

If you examine geometry of the tongs, the pivot pins and points, you may observe that the hooks close together when you lift the attachment ring or hook due to the resulting angle. The closing force depends on this geometry and as the tong teeth get closer together that geometry (closing angle) changes and the closing force is reduced. I have a set of "blue" tongs that won't even close all the way - they stay about 4" apart when hung by the attachment hook. I suppose you could wrap a bungee cord around to force the points together on small diameter "tops" or do as some others have suggested and use a choker chain.

A related suggestion - I find that lifting a heavy log with the tongs is fine, but for safety I also run a choker chain wrapped around the log to a hook I installed on my drawbar. This way the tongs do the lifting, but the actual forward dragging force is tranmitted through the drawbar.

When hauling a log suspended only by the tongs from the 3pt hitch there is often the possibility that the butt of the log will dig into a stump, root or rock as you are moving forward. If this happens you will be in the s--t (but fast) if you don't stop. This all may happen before you even realize what needs to be done.

-Jim

I say forget the tongs...I have the very same set and once had a problem with the "aligatoring" with a large log on a slight slope...when it finally reached it's apex it almost turned me over...my tongs are now gathering dust in the barn...I use a 8' x 5/16" chain with 2 grab hooks and choke the logs now...it's easier, faster, safer and more effective than the tongs, in my opinion. I can choke it close to the 3PH and raise it and have no problems anymore.

 

[Baby Grand]

I want to be clear that using the clove hitch was an act of desperation to prevent driving back to town for our rigging. If you do try it, Baby Grand, then don't put the turns adjacent to each other....tie it with a little space between the parts so if it jams up you can just tap them closer together to create slack....Clear as mud?

Clear! (Ray Charles could see that)
But now that I have the image of a log with a clove hitched chain in my head I will have to try it. Thanks, Cami.

Whatever you do, don't press the red button ...
... the red, shiny button ...

 

[wolc123]

I use that heavy-duty blue set from Northern, attached to a boom pole. They work great for anything over 10" or so. Rarely do I need to leave the tractor seat while using them, I just back up to a log, lower the boom until the hooks slide over the log (near the end for skidding, center for stacking or loading trailer), and raise slowly to engage. To unhook, I just lower the boom and shake it a little. Very rarely has a log came unhooked when I didnt want it to. This is much faster than using chain (it is usually a real pain to try and get chains under heavy logs). For logs under 10" or so I either use a chain, or cut them small enough that I can lift manually and throw on a trailer. Log tongs are especially good when you dont have someone helping you, as lots of productivity is lost climing on and off the tractor when you use chains.

 

[escavader]

I was trying to figure out ,when i get my boom pole done ,do i want the tongs to still be able to swivel?
ALAN

 

[Baby Grand]

I am starting to get the hang of snatching logs up with the tongs without leaving the seat, but I still have to dismount to chain them if I have any distance to go. I have some work to do before I can say I've mastered the trick of unhooking them, too.

For the tongs to be really effective I think you need to keep the swivel, Alan. Otherwise I suspect you'll get problems with the tongs coming unhooked whenever you turn, but I may be completely wrong about that.

-Jim

 

[oldballs]

Yeah, I went thru the Red Northern tongs use and had the same problem. I sharpened the points and even took an 18 volt cordless drill to tap some placement holes. On my small property, with just 3 or 4 (12-18 inch) pines to deal with annually, it was no big deal. I just choke chain them now using my old Case 448 (no 3 pt) to drag them out.

 

[Gordon Gould]

If you decide to go the choker chain route you will find a similar problem.
It takes a heavy log to make the chain "choke" it. A light log is apt to
slip right out. But you can help the situation alot by wrapping the chain
around the log more than once making a figure eight. A bunch of light
logs in a choker is a pain in the butt. especially if they are wet and
slippery. Just a fact of life. The more resistance the log offers
the better the tongs or choker will grip, thats how they work.

 

[escavader]

Thanks for the tips guys,i guess what you use depends on what your using it for
Id haul the smaller trees out whole tops and all,but i chip the brush to keep my woodlot looking nice ,and that gets them all dirty,and dulls the knifes.
ALAN

 

[oldballs]

You are right about that Alan. The only reason that I cut my Pines down is that they were/are diseased. I started about 200 trees from seedlings 35 years ago and it kills me to take them down now that they are tall and beautiful. The Scotch pine were affected the most. But the Austrian and White pine also got other diseases which have blanketed the midwest. Nobody wants the wood for firepaces due to the sap. And one has to burn the brush and logs to kill the infection.