Sled vs. trailer for downhill wood hauling

[kossetx]

I don't have an answer but your in nice country there. I grew up roaming those hills in what is now the slum of Aliquippa. Just go slow and be carefull whatever you do.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Here is one of the threads about trees and Tractors. A lot of reading in there.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/115415-taking-down-trees-tractor-help.html

 

[TomOfTarsus]

Thanks, Treemonkey.

kossetx, I worked at LTV (J & L) Aliquippa for 10 years, up until the shutdown, I grew up on Davidson Heights (top of Maratta Road hill). Yeah, Aliquippa is sad, but there are a few good souls trying to breathe life into it.

Lots of huffing & puffing, but not much smoke yet, I'm afraid.

 

[arrow]

Sorry for the misread.
My recommendation was based for a steep grade. I did not want you pushed down the hill by your load based on my perception of percent of slope and always wanted to create a constant breaking force with dragging the sled. You are afterall , just starting out and I'm not so sure I woudn't do the same thing if I were there just to get the feel of things with your tractor vs. weight loads. So let's see. A 45* slope is a 100% grade level so a 22.5* slope is 50% and an 11.25* is 25% which indeed is worse. ( just thinking outloud as at my age, I seem to have to do that more and more) You would not unweight your tires at an axle level pull. If you do have a concern about that however, you can always hook-up to the 3 pt and adjust your weight for traction. I just think forward traction will not present a problem in this instance . Forward momentum is what your concern here is and all of its ramifications. As many ways as you can think of to control that issue would be the proper thought process in my mind. Down steep hills Tom, full size skidders at times, would drop their loads, amble down hill a bit and then draw back their loads at the driver's discretion based on distance vs. stability. Just go slow and absorb it all in but whatever you do, don't skid sideways to that hill. You should be ok. By the way, how would you get periphery wood to this path?

 

[patrick_g]

When I was a kid I recall the "sleds" used in the Great Smokey Mountains were called sledges. I recall they were dragged up and down some pretty fierce slopes, often by a team of draft animals (mules or horses.)

I for one would experiment with a sledge approach, starting with lighter loads and working up to heavy hauling. I am sympathetic to your desire to bring down cut to size firewood rather than logs. Dragging logs in the dirt IS NOT first choice if you are going to have to cut them up. Chain loops really hate all that dirt and having to pressure wash logs is a hassle as well.

I'd work in tie down points in the sledge design as you don't need the load shifting around and or falling off. At the slopes you discuss the drag of the sledge may not be reliable. Any compromise in the design to insure friction will still mess up your yard a bit. There is safety in the retarding force of friction in this application so don't make the thing to easy to move as it will be trying to push you down the hill.

If you proceed, exercise due caution and be willing to make haste slowly.

I think the basic idea beats even a trailer with brakes. Stability would be enhanced by building in more drag at the rear of the sledge so it didn't try to pass you on the steep downhill slopes.

Pat

 

[Egon]

Slope in degrees is simply that.

Slope in % grade is the feet of rise/fall in a 100 feet of horizontal run.

Pulling a sled with two runners down a slope should not prove to be a problem unless the the load is too great for the tractor to pull. Taking some weight of the front of the sled with the three point will make pulling easier by reducing friction and increasing the tractor traction. This method may not be acceptable as it can lead to the tractor wanting to do a back flip. This tendency may be ameliorated by adding weight to the loader. Do this only if you have some experience but to get experience you have to do it so????

Animal powered sleds were in common use for hauling of logs during winter in days gone by.

There is also a tractor mounted tool that uses a cable and winch with a butt plate to snake out logs and tow them to loading points.

The sled will mark up your yard.

The green maple log behind the little orange tractor came from a block away. It went down a 20 degree slope and went up a twenty degree slope. It wore through one 3/8 ling chain in doing so but that was on pavement.

 

[patrick_g]

Egon, Thanks for translating some of my post into Canadian, just in case the OP doesn't do so well in English.

Oh, and what is that red thing? I know what the orange thing is and the long wood thing but what is the red thing?

Pat

 

[MikeD74T]

Tom, Wood has been hauled on sleds for hundreds of years before tractors. To keep it from pushing the tractor down hill use a rigid hitch pole & let a couple loops of chain drag under the sled to increase friction. 2000lbs of horses pushed a lot easier than a 5000lb tractor & it worked for horses. MikeD74T

 

[arrow]

You mean like this Patrick. Boy, I thought I was one of the older ***** on this forum. This picture dates to 1890. That's not you on the top of the sled is it?

 

[ChuckinNH]

Here are a couple of other thoughts, a couple for long logs, and the others for firewood length.
Norwood Log Hog Log Skidder Tractor Attachment, Model# 41255 Log Hog | Log Skidding | Northern Tool + Equipment

Norwood Log Hog Log Skidder Tractor Attachment, Model# 41255 Log Hog | Log Skidding | Northern Tool + Equipment

Carry-On 3-Pt. Hitch Hauler, Model# 803 | Category 1 Attachments | Northern Tool + Equipment
Carry-On 3-Pt. Hitch Hauler, Model# 803 | Category 1 Attachments | Northern Tool + Equipment

Bringing smaller quantities down might make sense.