Winch, log trailer with grapple or both ??

[eyi]

Hi all,

I'd appreciate your thoughts on the following. I have a L 3800 hst, bushhog Sq, pallet forks, 2 420 honda atv, rachet rake, on a 100 acres land with sugarbush and a mix of soft and hardwood.

I have many mature poplars and firs to harvest. So far i made my way hauling some on the snow with the ATVs and stacked it with the forks but it's slow and i am considering to upgrade my setup.

I'm thinking about a 3 pts winch and/or a log trailer with a grapple on it. Do i need both ?

I have also seen log trailers with both a grapple and a hydraulic winch on it, would it be a better choice ?

What do you guys think about it ? Sorry if it is a basic question but i am an almost beginner.

Thanks for your attention

 

[Tor Arne]

How is the terrain where you are going? Relatively flat will a timber trailer With a grapple work well, in steep tereng will a winch be preferable

 

[eyi]

Relatively flat

 

[roadhunter]

Log trailer with grapple would sure be handy.

 

[andy1981]

Many of the trailers you are describing a very pricey, so a lot depends on your budget. A 3 point log winch will most likely hold more cable and have more pulling capacity than one of those trailers that are equipped with a winch. A 3 point winch will be alot more affordable , although I would love to have one of those trailers.

 

[motownbrowne]

I get by pretty good with just a 3 point winch. I'm planning to modify a hay wagon into a simple log trailer. Basically no deck and some uprights on either end. Hay wagon running gear is pretty cheap. I'll load it with my pallet forks.

 

[Grandad4]

The PTO operated logging winch is very effective for getting timber out of the woods. I used one at our place for several years and did work that would be difficult or impossible without. It pulls much faster than a hydraulic winch, which gets the work done sooner. Mine had 260 ft of cable and there wasn't any place on my property that couldn't be reached from near a trail, so the tractor never had to sneak between trees or over soft ground. The winch could haul several logs at a time. If I were doing 100 acres of logging with my tractor, I would think the ideal setup would be the winch in back and a grapple in front.

 

[CobyRupert]

Here's my :2cents:

1st: Winch. (A must IMHO)
2nd: (If in budget) A grapple would be nice for moving the tops and brush into the burn piles.
I got by with just a set of forks for loading/stacking the logs once winched out and brought to a landing (spot) and cut to length.

Think about what it takes (in your particular case) to make the fewest moves you need to make the fewest trips, and/or the fewest hitches/unhitches, etc.... Sometimes you'll be trading one for the other (trips vs hitches).

I was selling 8' pine logs (6"-12" diameter), so at first I use to load 16' and 24' logs on a converted hay wagon "running gear". This often involved having to first pull them (one at a time) to where the forks could get perpendicular to them, then having to unload them, then cut them down to 8' either on the pile (a bit dangerous climbing around) or cut them into 8' and now re-scoop them and move (3)-8' lengths onto pile. The plus of this is the wagon could hold 8-10 logs a trip (which also made unloading 3-4 at a time tricky w/ only forks)

When I got the winch, production time was cut to about 1/3 of using a wagon. Just drag the cable with 4 choker chains and gather 4 logs at once. I then had to decide what made most sense. Bundling 8 logs (with a couple pulls, but more hitching/unhitching per trip) Pulling 8', 16' or 24', 40' lengths?
For me I'd cut two 40" pines into 4 logs (2- 24' & 2-16') for one trip, pull up next to the pile at the header, and make my 8' cuts with one end of the log raised raise as high as possible. I'd then have (10)- 8' logs arranged in 3 lengths that I could stack on pile w/ 3 scoops of the forks.

It really did take awhile to figure out the best method.

 

[Gordon Gould]

What are you doing with the logs ? Do you pile them in a landing and have a log truck haul them to a mill or do you truck them to a mill yourself. Or maybe you have your own mill on sight.

I harvest a lot of fir saw logs on my own place. Not big trees, they average 10 to 16 inches with an occasional 2 footer . I have a 3pt winch and bucket grapple on a L3010. I do my own trucking to the mill with a one ton truck. It is close by. So a small operation but affordable equipment. The winch gets the logs out of the woods and to the landing and the bucket grapple loads the logs into the truck and handles brush.

It really depends on what your woods and woods roads are like. My woods are tight and roads are rough and hilly. Many are roads/trails are dead ends because of terrain so jigging a trailer around wound be a pain. If you have nice loop roads a trailer might work good. I could never justify a trailer/loader with low value logs like fir and aspen anyway.

Even if I had the trailer I would want a 3pt winch I think. So much more nimble in the woods than trying to use a trailer winch I would think.

 

[dickfoster]

Hi all,

I'd appreciate your thoughts on the following. I have a L 3800 hst, bushhog Sq, pallet forks, 2 420 honda atv, rachet rake, on a 100 acres land with sugarbush and a mix of soft and hardwood.

I have many mature poplars and firs to harvest. So far i made my way hauling some on the snow with the ATVs and stacked it with the forks but it's slow and i am considering to upgrade my setup.

I'm thinking about a 3 pts winch and/or a log trailer with a grapple on it. Do i need both ?

I have also seen log trailers with both a grapple and a hydraulic winch on it, would it be a better choice ?

What do you guys think about it ? Sorry if it is a basic question but i am an almost beginner.

Thanks for your attention

He who dies with the most tools n toys wins the game.

 

[eyi]

Thanks all,

So far i hauled the logs on the snow with my ATV, stacked them with my pallet forks and had a portable sawmill do lumbers for my own needs with it. I 'm now thinking about selling the future logs to sawmills and will have to move them right by the road which means 1500 feet farther, not obvious one at a time and even 2-3...

So i need a trailer anyway. If i buy one with a grapple, i'll have the possibility to sometime approach the whole kit close enough to load the logs right there where they are cut and if not i'll have to winch them to an area where the tractor and trailer will solidly lie. I suppose some logs would be winched with the hydraulic winch on the trailer, for the rest i have a problem but could always use the ATV.

If i buy a trailer without a grapple, then i have to winch all the logs close enough, load with the forks and unload with the forks at their final destination by the road. How to with them all ? With the ATV ? Would be long ? So i buy a 3 pts winch and a trailer ? I winch all the logs close to the trailer... unhitch the 3 pts winch, hitch the trailer, bring the trailer to the road, unhitch the trailer, unload with the forks, hitch the trailer back, etc, etc....

Sounds like this what the log trailers are for !!

 

[CobyRupert]

Some 3 pth winches (e.g. Wallenstein) have a trailer hitch built onto them.
I still don't see why you need a trailer. I think it will be a pain to hitch a tree, winch, unhitch, load the trailer, unload the trailer.
Just drag them the extra 1500' and save yourself at least 2 steps, and probably some other too, like cutting them odd sizes to fit on the trailer, etc..
Cut the logs to a length as long as possible and drag them to the road and cut them down to size there, this too saves extra steps (hitching/unhitching, or loading/unloading if you insist) multiple short lengths and extra trips.

 

[Rustyiron]

You know these trailers are close to $20K, anyway, I have a friend with one of these trailers and it has a winch on it. The reach is not much on this type and you need to load from the side, pretty close. My friend finds that the log(s) are always just out of reach of the loader. This is where the winch comes in. I have not operated this with him but can imagine that eventually you'll want both. Using the (tractor) winch to top & trim the trees where they fall, then drag the logs to a landing or an area where you can drive right up to and then haul out. If you fell & skidded in the morning, then dropped the winch and hitched up the trailer and hauled in the afternoon, that would seem to be pretty efficient along with not near as much damage to the remaining trees & roots situating that tractor/trailer around in the woods for each tree.

 

[/pine]

FWIW...My "logging" setup includes a trailer...a 3PH boom pole (log tongs) that has a trailer hitch mounted on it...along with a thumb grapple on the FEL...I also use a heavy skid mounted hydraulic winch (that can be chained to anything) and 20' hydraulic hoses that connect to remotes...being able to move the trailer with the boom pole is one of the most useful, simple modifications I've made...I also use a log dolly...all work well for me as a mostly lone operator...

 

[Gordon Gould]

Some 3 pth winches (e.g. Wallenstein) have a trailer hitch built onto them.
I still don't see why you need a trailer. I think it will be a pain to hitch a tree, winch, unhitch, load the trailer, unload the trailer.
Just drag them the extra 1500' and save yourself at least 2 steps, and probably some other too, like cutting them odd sizes to fit on the trailer, etc..
Cut the logs to a length as long as possible and drag them to the road and cut them down to size there, this too saves extra steps (hitching/unhitching, or loading/unloading if you insist) multiple short lengths and extra trips.

I totally agree with this. ^^

I think loading and unloading a trailer with forks will take longer than skidding long lengths all the way like Coby says.

gg

 

[eyi]

Hum ....interesting...

I am hence excluding the simple trailer loaded/unloaded with the fork.

I was leaning toward the log trailer with grapple...

But must admit it is not fool to buy a good 3 pts winch ( i was proposed a good used opportunity lately), haul the logs to the road, cut them to appropriate lenght there and stack it with the fork ...

 

[CobyRupert]

Yeah, I first tried using loading and unloading 16' and 24' logs on a wagon with forks.
Loading wasn't too bad.
But trying to unload it is tricky. And takes way more time. If the side (or posts) folded down that might make it easier, but often you end up stabbing more logs than you want to pick with the forks, and/or then not all are balanced in the center, so one end doesn't lift and is still stuck in trailer, or catches on the post, and then you try to reset and things gets worse from there....

I only use my wagon if I need to haul a couple logs over the road and can't drag them with the winch.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I'm completely with the 3 point winch crowd! And then, pallet forks on the tractor with a grapple on them...

I couldn't be without mine!

SR

 

[Rustyiron]

But trying to unload it is tricky. And takes way more time.

:thumbsup:
Yeah, like trying to pick up a dime with heavy welding glove's on!
A grapple bucket for the tractor makes this problem go away, just more money. If you really want to trailer the logs, just use a simple farm wagon gear with some bunks. What you save over the grapple trailer you can buy a grapple bucket for the tractor and have $15k-$16k left in your pocket, that buy's your winch and still leaves $13k+ in your pocket. Unless you buy some nice ice chains for your tractor.

 

[eyi]

It is interesting.

Well the vast majority is in favor of the 3 pt winch solution !

So i'll raise the question differently: why and/or when would the log-grapple trailer be a better option ? There sure is some situation because they sell it and people buy it ?