Skidding Logs with tractor.

[bearthebruce]

... maybe I'm just an "experienced wimp"?? lol

SR

LMAO.. I think not sir... from what I see, you be a rodeo cowboy! Me? I'm rodeo clown they let get on the tractor! hehe

 

[gasmancwby]

sorry but i have to laugh. a farmall super a, with "big" rear wheels. through deep mud? i've never seen a farmall a go through deep mud not pulling something. they are a cultivator tractor and thats about it.

 

[fuchifarm]

The way I have done it in the past is to put the box blade on 3pt, back up to the butt end, choker the log and chain to the draw bar going across the top of box, pull forward till chain is almost tight, raise the box blade till the butt rises a few inches off the ground and then drive. Not the fastest way but with 4wd on my old mf1240 I could drag some really heavy logs as long as I could keep the butt out of the dirt. Never had any issues of the front trying to lift on me.

 

[John_Mc]

Well

It's a good thing I didn't drive up to buy the Igland 3501 yesterday. The dealer doesn't have any, and won't have any till after Christmas.

So is it A Fransgard 3507, or a 3004? Two of each in stock, and they have a $150 rebate! ;-) Or "wait till Chrstmas.........?

Dads4by I take it?

I had a chat with them yesterday looking for the smaller 2001/2501 Iglands. I'll likely be paying them a visit after Christmas when they get Igland 2501's back in stock. Essex Equipment sells Farmi's, but the prices on those were far above the Iglands/Fransgard.


For me with how hilly my area is there are few flat places to drive to pull logs, so a winch is the best/safest method I know of.

Champlain Valley Equipment in Middlebury, VT had logging winches in stock last time I passed through. I forget the brand and size, however. (They used to stock Farmi, but dropped them a couple of years ago when Farmi started regularly missing deliveries.)

 

[WranglerX]

Lots of really good arguments for using a logging winch and also being sure of draw bar pull is below axle line, but I can build a log arch which fits all the safety needs of a pull for a lot less than I can buy or build a winching system....

Other option for me may be to get a skidding sled where blunt end of log is placed on a sled with angled front to slide up and over any obstacle...

Yes for some who cuts many cords of wood a year a good winch is practical but for me when I may cut maybe a cord a year a winch is a big investment to sit idle maybe 360 days a year...

Dale

 

[John_Mc]

Well

It's a good thing I didn't drive up to buy the Igland 3501 yesterday. The dealer doesn't have any, and won't have any till after Christmas.

So is it A Fransgard 3507, or a 3004? Two of each in stock, and they have a $150 rebate! ;-) Or "wait till Chrstmas.........?

Lots of really good arguments for using a logging winch and also being sure of draw bar pull is below axle line, but I can build a log arch which fits all the safety needs of a pull for a lot less than I can buy or build a winching system....

Other option for me may be to get a skidding sled where blunt end of log is placed on a sled with angled front to slide up and over any obstacle...

Yes for some who cuts many cords of wood a year a good winch is practical but for me when I may cut maybe a cord a year a winch is a big investment to sit idle maybe 360 days a year...

Dale

Yeah, a logging winch really doesn't make a lot of sense for a cord a year. I only burn 3 cords/year myself. I felt I could not justify a winch based on that. It was only after I also became one of 16 co-owners of a group-owned conserved working forest parcel that I made the jump. Since then I've used it for a lot of different things on my land, on that group parcel, on friends' and neighbors' properties, and for our town's firewood donation program. It has also pulled the UPS van out of the ditch on occasion.

Prior to owning that, I'd just drive my tractor as close as I could get and drag out 4' chunks with my hand-held log tongs, or put a chain on a larger log and use the tractor to pull it out to where it was easily accessible. I'm also going to put grab hooks on the ends of some cut up lengths of one of my old winch cable. Hoping to get a good 50' length and maybe one of 75 or 100 feet. This would make it easier to use Brutus (my 1951 Dodge M37 military pickup truck) to drag a log out of some places that are too far to conveniently drive my tractor. I've done some of that with chains, but they get heavy when you need long lengths. The cable will also allow me to use my self-releasing snatch blocks when a straight-line pull is not in the cards.

 

[LouNY]

You have to take your foot off the pedal and I'm not sure what you take your hands off??

With a gear tractor I can just push in the clutch, no difference at all, it's all in what you are use to.

Truth is, I don't push in the clutch, I use the foot throttle and let up on that, also I keep my hand on the 3 point lever, and I have never had one problem, not one.

SR

I very seldom use the foot throttle on any tractor.
Many of the tractors that I use do not have one.
Especially when I'm working them hard or in tight quarters one foot ready to clutch and the other is ready to use the brakes either one or both.
I can reach up and adjust a hand throttle easily, then get my hand back to the hydraulics were it may be needed or the control box of the implement which is usually in the right of the tractors operating station.

 

[TractorGuy]

When I had my little JD855 I used a dirt scoop. I could scoop under the end of the log and lift it to attach the chain, then pull it wherever.

 

[s219]

If you have a lot of logs to move from a common area and the path is clear, setting up a fairlead with a bull rope is fast and easy.



When I was clearing a road, I pulled out about 24 pine logs with that rope in a day. Tractor was on our driveway, about 90 degrees to the new road, and I had lots of space to pull (from drawbar of course).

Years ago when I skidded a lot of logs with my smaller B2920, I'd use the skid plate on the 3-pt to lift the butt off the ground with a choker chain, then run a short 2' chain from the choker to the drawbar pull. With that arrangement, the 3-pt provided the lift and the drawbar provided the pull and reduced risk of pulling a wheelie.

 

[WranglerX]

When I had my little JD855 I used a dirt scoop. I could scoop under the end of the log and lift it to attach the chain, then pull it wherever.

View attachment 678853

The would be a great "skidder" or second cousin to log arch....

Dale