skidding logs

[Bobrown14]

I use chain and sometimes back up with the chain attached to hooks on my bucket. Never pull anything attached to a tow ball on a draw bar. I have a very large shackle attached to my tow bar.

Backing up with a chain attached to the bucket can probably move 2-3 logs at a time. The bucket keeps the end of the logs off the ground for easier pull. Slow and steady gets the job done. Dont lift too high off the ground only enough to tow the logs easily.

I do this method a lot. We have a ton of dead ash trees that are full grown + 60' tall they very similar to red oak we have some of them down too but I'm not pulling them until the winter.

 

[Bob64]

For anyone interested just out of curiosity about how much a given log weighs I would refer you to this website - Wood Species - Moisture Content and Weight Several years ago I put a spreadsheet together when I was curios as to why I couldn't manhandle 16 inch long piece of an old sugar maple I had cut down. It was about 50"'s in diameter. Once I saw the results I got out my sledge hammer and wedges so I could make the pieces small enough to get them to my vertical splitter. Nothing like good old exercise and fresh air on the side of a Vermont mountain in the frosty days of November. That wood kept me warm more than once. I have attached a couple of screen shots of my spread sheet. Any questions feel free to message me however. Oh, by the way I now have a winch on the back of my tractor and have pulled out a good many logs. Bought it 2nd hand since I have been retired for over 17 years. Now wood I used to manhandle when I was young I now have to try to work smart even if this old brain doesn't want to.

 

[Mallard1]

We went out today and got quite a few. We ended up with 17 logs 9’6” and 7 logs 19’. Putting a short log in the forks or grapple and skidding another worked well. We just hooked the long tongs to the top hook on the quick hitch. The jd quick hitch top hook is welded on, the kubota quick hitch is adjustable and ended up breaking the bolts that hold in the top hook and bent that part of the attachment so that will have to be replaced with thicker metal.

We hauled all the logs out to a road and loaded onto a gooseneck trailer then drove down the road where we are having some pice cut and set them off with the loader. We will have them hauled off to the mill Monday. Looking forward to seeing how much it weighs. The largest log was 38” at the butt end.

 

[beenthere]

We had several oak trees blow over this year and block trails so now I need to move them out. I was thinking of building something but then I saw this picture using a quick hitch and tongs. I have tongs so I could do this for free. any reason why I should build/buy something rather than just do this?

View attachment 821680

This setup works like a dream and is about as low cost as one can get without fabricating something.
For extra long hauls, throw a log chain around the log using the tongs to lift the log to get the chain underneath.

 

[beenthere]

Can someone explain to me how you use this style choker, I understand about the chain hook wrapping around log but fail to see how you attach choker to tractor to pull....

View attachment 821999

Weld grab hooks onto your quick hitch to secure and pull on the chain.

 

[JONNY BOYYY]

We had several oak trees blow over this year and block trails so now I need to move them out. I was thinking of building something but then I saw this picture using a quick hitch and tongs. I have tongs so I could do this for free. any reason why I should build/buy something rather than just do this?

View attachment 821680

BECAUSE YOU OBVIOUSLY DONT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, HIRE IT DONE...BETTER THAT THAN TEARING UP YOUR TRACTOR...CHEAPER IN THE LONG RUN...

 

[Doz]

Sounds like a good way to go I tried pulling some out with my grapple it didn’t turn out very good bent the upper arms and had to straighten and beef up lots of wasted time and money

 

[jswann1975]

I skidded several dozen logs out of my woodlot this year with a pair of skidding tongs chained to a round bale hay spear on a MF165... Worked like a charm. Even just a log chain on a hay spear frame will work and you don't even need to buy the tongs... They just make it easier.

 

[nyone]

BECAUSE YOU OBVIOUSLY DONT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, HIRE IT DONE...BETTER THAT THAN TEARING UP YOUR TRACTOR...CHEAPER IN THE LONG RUN...

hire everything out so you can wash and wax your tractor that sits in its garage?

 

[WranglerX]

BECAUSE YOU OBVIOUSLY DONT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, HIRE IT DONE...BETTER THAT THAN TEARING UP YOUR TRACTOR...CHEAPER IN THE LONG RUN...

Hmmm..... Might be candidate for dumbest statement of the year.....

 

[RjCorazza]

If I only did things with my tractor that I know exactly how to do, I wouldn't be doing anything (for the most part)!
I do find in my old age I think and plan a lot more than I used to.

 

[Mallard1]

BECAUSE YOU OBVIOUSLY DONT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, HIRE IT DONE...BETTER THAT THAN TEARING UP YOUR TRACTOR...CHEAPER IN THE LONG RUN...

FUNNY ENOUGH, WE HAVE TONS OF SEAT TIME IN JD SKIDDERS CUTTING MACHINES AND DELIMBERS. CUTTING AND MOVING WOOD IS NOTHING NEW. WHERE THESE TREES FELL WE WOULD HAVE TO CUT A LOT OF TIMBER OR JUST RUN OVER A LOT OF SMALL STUFF. A SKIDDER WITH DUALS ON DOESN'T JUST EASE THROUGH THE WOODS. JUST LOOKING FOR AN EASIER WAY TO MOVE THESE LOGS WITHOUT TEARING UP THE TRACTOR.

I ALSO UNDERSTAND HIRING OUT LOGGING, WE HAVE A CONTRACT CREW THAT DOES NOTHING BUT LOG ON OUR LAND ALL YEAR LONG, WHEN ITS DRY A SECOND CREW ALSO WORKS ON OUR LAND. SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO PICK THE BEST TOOL FOR THE JOB. IT WOULD NOT BE FINANCIALY BENIFICAL TO PULL THEM AND MOVE ALL OF THE CUTTERS, SKIDDERS AND DELIMBERS JUST FOR SOME BLOW DOWNS.

NOW I CAN TURN CAP LOCK OFF... Thanks to everyone else that contributed to this thread. like I said in my last post everything went smooth and all of the logs are banked up waiting to be hauled to the mill. We will probably make one more run before hunting season if it stays dry. all it takes is one 2"+ rain and we wont be getting a tractor or trailer back there until late next summer.

 

[beenthere]

BECAUSE YOU OBVIOUSLY DONT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, HIRE IT DONE...BETTER THAT THAN TEARING UP YOUR TRACTOR...CHEAPER IN THE LONG RUN...

No better way to learn, than to give it a try with the plan proposed. All that money invested in a good tractor, leaves little to "hire" it done.
At least that is how I've gone about jobs around my acres over the last 55+ years. Most of my tools and equipment are a result of tackling the jobs myself, and saving money by not hiring it done. And it is done right the way I want it done. Plus the satisfaction that I have doing the jobs.

 

[EdwardL]

I would just use a logging choker chain and leave the log 6-10 ft behind the tractor. With that gap it will never slide into the tractor.

 

[JONNY BOYYY]

We had several oak trees blow over this year and block trails so now I need to move them out. I was thinking of building something but then I saw this picture using a quick hitch and tongs. I have tongs so I could do this for free. any reason why I should build/buy something rather than just do this?

View attachment 821680

APPARENTLY, YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING OR YOU WOULDNT ASK FOR ADVICE---THE BEST ADVICE IS TO PAY SOMEONE WHO DOES THIS FOR A LIVING TO SKID THEM OUT OF THE WAY OR OUT FOR A SAWMILL TO BUY....IT WILL BE FAR CHEAPER THAN TEARING UP YOUR MACHINE, HURTING SOMEONE OR YOURSELF, OR PAYING A WRECKER TO WINCH YOUR TRACTOR OUT OF A MUDDY DITCH OR THE RIVER...A PROFESSIONAL WITH A LOG SKIDDER AND HIS OWN INSURANCE WILL HAVE THIS DONE SAFELY IN NO TIME.

 

[JohnTexas]

I use tongs and a long tow strap rated for 4,000 pounds. It helps to get them out of an area which is hard to access. Chains are fine but you need to be able to put it around the log/tree which may not be easy if in a restricted access area and laying on the ground. Tongs are fine in my case. Once pulled out I tend to cut them up into smaller pieces which can be picked up with the grapple.

 

[KenOrr]

I've moved tons of logs around with thongs, usually just hanging from the bucket, but also made a boom attachment for my compack JD 790 tractor. You have more control from the front, stacking them, or getting them out of the way. If the tractor doesn't want to pick it, just cut them smaller.

 

[bartjoebob]

We had several oak trees blow over this year and block trails so now I need to move them out. I was thinking of building something but then I saw this picture using a quick hitch and tongs. I have tongs so I could do this for free. any reason why I should build/buy something rather than just do this?

View attachment 821680

Yup. With that setup I would just want to minimize the log hitting the back of the machine. The log only needs the front to be barely lifted off the ground and not as high as that picture. Use a longer chain to distance the log away from the machine. Then maybe throw a tow bar on the quick hitch to protect the tractor and call it good.

 

[JJT]

APPARENTLY, YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING OR YOU WOULDNT ASK FOR ADVICE---THE BEST ADVICE IS TO PAY SOMEONE WHO DOES THIS FOR A LIVING TO SKID THEM OUT OF THE WAY OR OUT FOR A SAWMILL TO BUY....IT WILL BE FAR CHEAPER THAN TEARING UP YOUR MACHINE, HURTING SOMEONE OR YOURSELF, OR PAYING A WRECKER TO WINCH YOUR TRACTOR OUT OF A MUDDY DITCH OR THE RIVER...A PROFESSIONAL WITH A LOG SKIDDER AND HIS OWN INSURANCE WILL HAVE THIS DONE SAFELY IN NO TIME.

As an technology professional I would recommend you hit your caplock key, found on the left side of your keyboard. It's pretty obnoxious to see a post in all caps. All caps is the equivalent to YELLING.

 

[kneedeep]

Drop it if things get dangerous