Thinking about logging

[BeeferMan]

You'd be amazed at what you can skid out of the woods with a tractor that size. It's all about hooking up right and keeping the tractor on the ground. 42 HP is a lot of power if you can apply it correctly. Hook up low on the 3 pt, try to pull from as close to the drawbar level as possible, use the weight to increase your traction. Be very careful of side hill grades! If you're pulling straight up or down the grade you can always drop the hitch/log if you get in trouble, but if you drop the log on a side grade it can roll sideways - not a good thing if you got a big one back there. But you can pull over a house with 42 hp if you get all that power working for you.

 

[20 20]

I have logged with a 25hp jinma tractor, an old allis chalmers C, a ford 8n{no brakes}, an old H and so forth....... It can be done but depnds on experience and YOUR capabilities. A 40hp machine would do fine as long as YOU know its capabilities and are a SAFE operator.

 

[terry.dinerman]

I have moved some 18-24" dia 20'+ pine logs without a problem with my little 28hp JD 850 using a carry-all and a chain.

With a couple of double-hooks I ran the chain from the top of the carryall crossbar provide the lift, and ran the rest of the chain off the tractor drawbar to keep the pulling force low.

I just lifted the load enough to get the front of the log off the ground and kept the gearing low. Worked just fine. The weight of the log created immense traction.

You will be amazed at the power a small tractor can impart when you can keep the wheels from spinning.....

The "forks" on the carryall made tight turns a bit of a problem, so next time I am going to experiment with using the "harp" from my boom pole as the base....maybe justify the purchase of a set of skidding tongs.

Like others have pointed out....dropping the trees is a whole lot more hazardous than the skidding...but none of it is without its fine points.

Be Careful Out There....

 

[RosseauK]

Hey thanks for the advice. I do have weighted wheels and my Fel should hold the front down however I was thinking of blocking some hardwood up and putting it in the bucket to help with the large logs. My land is fairly flat so I'll start with the easy trees to get a hang of it. I was wondering how you guys attached the skidding tongs to the 3pt. As for felling the trees that is something I have experience so hopefully nothing will go wrong that way.

 

[Grandad4]

Hey guys I've been thinking about doing some logging on my property this winter and was wondering how good my kioti 40hp will be. Ill be skidding 16ft logs of pine and maple around 2ft in diameter. Does anyone have a estimate what the logs would weigh. I'm going to try and lift them with my Fel into my f550. I also don't have any logging winches and was wondering if there were any ideas as to how to attach them to the 3pt. Thanks for the help

As others have mentioned, there are several ways to drag logs using the 3pt., and your DK40 should handle that work OK. One technique I didn't see anyone mention was rigging up an old car hood as a drag sled for the front of the log you''re pulling, which helps over rough ground.

I don't think your FEL setup is going to be able to lift those 16 ft logs into your truck unless you cut them in half. It helps to have a grapple or forks for that kind of work. A quick attach grapple or fork setup is best, but I've gotten by with clamp-on forks, with a toothbar on the FEL for reinforcement, and it has done OK. One problem is you'll need some counterweight on the 3 pt to lift the logs with the FEL, but you're also using the 3pt to lift and pull the logs to the truck.

 

[90cummins]

Years ago I used a JD 650 which is a very small 1600lb 4x4 2 cylinder diesel (no fel) to clear my first property. I attached the drag chain to the top of my T bar lifting the butt off the ground giving that small tractor amazing traction.
The front wheels spent a lot of time off the ground & I often drove out of the woods using the brakes to steer. Using the 3pt hitch I could lift & lower the log to maintain control. I survived my younger dumber days but I got the job done. What I did was not wise but with only 17hp I was going quite slow and reaction to the log hitting a snag and the front wheels rising was also slow.
I now have a ford 1720 with fel and a homemade set of forks to carry concrete ballast (1500~2000lbs) for stability and traction when using the fel for lifting logs or any other heavy fel work. This also takes strain off the front end.
The ballast is on a pallet so I can pick it up or drop it as needed; I also carry the ballast as low as possible. Use your seat belt, be careful of uneven ground, lift slowly and only as high as necessary & know when to quit and at the first sign of the rear lifting drop the bucket!

Tim

 

[Gordon Gould]

As others have said you shouln't have many problems moving those logs once they are at the hitch behind the tractor. The biggest thing that determines the minimum equipment required to log an area is the site characteristics. If you have wide open woods with fairly flat solid ground ground so you can drive anywhere and back your tractor in fairly close to the downed logs then that is good. But if your woods are hilly like mine and tight with a mixture of younger and older growth plus full of bolders, hummicks, holes, stumps, soft spots, blow downs, root balls ....ect then you are very limited where you can drive. And if you have a lot of trees you don't want to damage, then between them and the rough terrain it becomes impractical to impossible to log with just a tractor and a chain. It is just to hard to get the log out to the tractor. A 3" root can stop you from dragging one of those 24" logs to where you can pick it up.
You will learn alot. Work safe and slow. Things are very unpredictable so protect your self.

 

[skipmarcy]

I did some logging with my 40 hp Mahindra this summer, had some blow-downs in a deep ravine behind the house here. Skidding the logs out wasn't much problem, I just used chains to drag them straight up the hill without lifting them at all. Had to get a little dirt in the bucket to help keep the front end down. I left the boxblade on the 3 pt and ran my chain underneath the blade and back up to the main frame of the boxblade and kept the blade low to the ground. I like keeping the boxblade on when I can, makes a good safety anchor when needed, especially on hills. I don't trust my park brake on the tractor alone so I drop the box when getting off and also could drop it quick in an emergency to help stop. I skidded 20" red & white oaks, 25' long and 24" beech 13' long up the ravine just fine. Once out of the ravine I cut the oaks to 8'8" and they were easy to load onto the trailer. The beech I left at 13' long and they were a pain to load. Had to lift one end with my FEL & chain and back the trailer under it as far as possible, then get behind the log and push it up and onto the trailer. My FEL could only lift the log end about 2' or so off the ground. Even with my Nissan in 4x4 and emerg. brake on hard and in gear, and pieces of firewood in front of the tires it shoved the whole trailer and truck about 10' before the log was fully on the trailer. I never realized how heavy beech was - it's worse than oak !! Made some really fine boards though, just finished my front porch ceiling with them. You being on flat ground you should do just fine if you take your time. Have fun !!!

 

[rd_macgregor]

Depending on what the winter conditions are like where you live, and what tires you have on your tractor, you might also want to put chains on the tires. My land is really hilly and steep and taking my Kioti DK45SC with T4s into the woods can be an adventure if it is wet or snowy/icy.
BOB

 

[Dr_Zinj]

...Now felling those trees was a totally different matter. I had two or three bad experiences. And I mean I scared the crap out of me. Those big ones go where they want to and you never know what is going to fall out of them. And they are hardwood heavy. I had one 44" diameter at the base, and no matter what I did, it couldn't decide where to fall. When I finally got it on the ground, I quit for the day, I drank a 12 pack, smoked 4 packs of cigars, and had a serious discussion with Jesus. Just be careful, go slow, and don't think for one minute that you know what you are doing. Good luck!
CJ

Felling trees is an art and a science. Like all sciences, you need to understand some math and physics and translate that into the real world. Like all arts, it requires practice to get good at it.

Logging is right up next to farming as one of the most dangerous occupations you can do. And that's just with the ones with their feet on the ground, go aerial and you've multiplied that danger by a factor of 10.

CJBOTA is right. Go slow, NEVER hurry. Stop and think about each step before you do it. Always have an escape route planned and cleared. Wear the right safety equipment the way it's supposed to be worn. Make sure your chainsaw is clean, properly maintained, and the chain is sharp and in good condition. There's a bunch more 'isms on the list, but those are the basics.