Skidding Tongs for pulling lumber - What else do I need?

Black Acreage · Sep 30, 2021

Hi guys,

First time poster, still 'green' with tractors - running a 1989 John Deere 2155. Headed into the woods to fell trees for firewood and hope to put it to work. I'm looking at hitching up some 32" Timber Tuff skid tongs (Timber Tuff Tools | Tough Tools for the Forest Industry! | 32" Swivel Grab Skidding Tongs with Swivel Teeth) to get the trees out the woods before bucking.

Sorry if this question has an obvious answer, but what else do I *need*? Every YouTube vid has guys using a boom pole or jerry-rigged hitch of some kind or another. Do I need that? Can I not just run a chain or tow strap from the tongs to the back/hole hitch of the tractor and pull?

Thanks guys.

kenmbz · Sep 30, 2021

Welcome to TBN.
It helps to lift the tree so the butt doesn't plow into the ground.

CobyRupert · Sep 30, 2021

Not only does lifting one end off the ground make it slide easier, not dig as deep ruts, or catch on stones and roots, it’s keeps dirt off the bark and your chainsaw doesn’t dull as fast.
When dragging and you catch the butt on a root, what’s the plan to get it up and over?
Often in the woods it’s hard to back up to the end of the log. Cables are handy. A snatch block (pulley) for rerouting cable when you can’t get a straight line pull is handy too.
Of course if that cable is part of a 3 point hitch logging winch, that’s really handy! (My preferred method)
Give us enough time and we’ll try to talk you into buying a log skidder or tree harvester!

CobyRupert · Sep 30, 2021

A couple unsolicited tips:
Don’t try to push tree over with a bucket. That’s too close when things go wrong.
Pull any standing or hung up tree from a safe* distance. (*: farther than the tree is tall)
If you hang up a tree and try to pull the trunk so that tree falls down, remember that weight of tree can plant trunk solidly, so you end up pulling the top over towards yourself instead. This is bad if you’re pulling with a short chain.
Things can and will go wrong. You may imagine how they might go wrong, but they will also go wrong in ways you can’t imagine.
Be safe.

Black Acreage · Sep 30, 2021

kenmbz said:
Welcome to TBN.
It helps to lift the tree so the butt doesn't plow into the ground.

Thanks Ken!

The problem is the trees are 30' from the tractor, in the forest, and down a hill. So even if I had a boom the nose of the tree will be in the dirt anyway, at least until the tree clears the forest line (at which point I could back the tractor right up to it).

At this point my best idea is to hitch two tow straps together, one end shackled to the tractor and the other shackled to the tongs.

CobyRupert said:
Not only does lifting one end off the ground make it slide easier, not dig as deep ruts, or catch on stones and roots, it’s keeps dirt off the bark and your chainsaw doesn’t dull as fast.
When dragging and you catch the butt on a root, what’s the plan to get it up and over?
Often in the woods it’s hard to back up to the end of the log. Cables are handy. A snatch block (pulley) for rerouting cable when you can’t get a straight line pull is handy too.
Of course if that cable is part of a 3 point hitch logging winch, that’s really handy! (My preferred method)
Give us enough time and we’ll try to talk you into buying a log skidder or tree harvester!

Thanks Coby that's interesting. I just googled all those toys and now I have log skidder envy. In the meantime I need a workable solution that doesn't break the bank - even the splitter is rented this year! Is what I'm describing 'good enough'? Or do I need some bare minimum 3pt hitch of some sort, rather than just shackling the strap to the single hole hitch? I just don't want to hear after the fact that I risked compromising the structural integrity of the tractor in some way.

Black Acreage · Sep 30, 2021

CobyRupert said:
A couple unsolicited tips:
Don’t try to push tree over with a bucket. That’s too close when things go wrong.
Pull any standing or hung up tree from a safe* distance. (*: farther than the tree is tall)
If you hang up a tree and try to pull the trunk so that tree falls down, remember that weight of tree can plant trunk solidly, so you end up pulling the top over towards yourself instead. This is bad if you’re pulling with a short chain.
Things can and will go wrong. You may imagine how they might go wrong, but they will also go wrong in ways you can’t imagine.
Be safe.

Well received. I'll be felling with a chainsaw (and a friend!), but yes I'm doing my research and getting the very clear message about the hazards and the safety attitude required.

Cycledude · Sep 30, 2021

Yes a drawbar installed in the three point hitch arms would be very helpful. The tongs can be very handy but if working alone they are sometimes extra trouble like if they come unhooked and you have a long walk to hook them up again.
you might want to get a choker chain similar to this, I have a few and they don’t come unhooked by themselves very easily

Timber Tuff Tools | Tough Tools for the Forest Industry! | Dragging Chains & Tools

Black Acreage · Sep 30, 2021

Cycledude said:
Yes a drawbar installed in the three point hitch arms would be very helpful. The tongs can be very handy but if working alone they are sometimes extra trouble like if they come unhooked and you have a long walk to hook them up again.
you might want to get a choker chain similar to this, I have a few and they don’t come unhooked by themselves very easily

Timber Tuff Tools | Tough Tools for the Forest Industry! | Dragging Chains & Tools

Didn't even think of that - thank you! The first and only option I came across thus far were the tongs - I figured that was the undisputed way to go.

Besides the aggravation of having to get a choker chain/cable underneath a log (which is remedied by a timberjack), do the tongs offer any advantage over a choker? Seems a choke system is simpler, cheaper and easier to store...

Cycledude · Sep 30, 2021

It’s definitely all a learning process, tongs and choke methods both have advantages and disadvantages in different situations. Sometimes it helps when cutting a tree if you can lay a few limbs on the ground for the tree to fall on to make hooking up the choker a little easier.
Whatever you do be careful, ain’t no firewood worth getting seriously injured over.