Wire Rope

[2manyrocks]

Another good thing about chain is the hook ends are easily installed without any wire splicing.

This hook has a more heavy duty latch mechanism. Amazon.com

I've not had any trouble with the slip hook coming loose on the log end.

 

[WinterDeere]

Another good thing about chain is the hook ends are easily installed without any wire splicing.

You can also use an oval connecting link to install a grab hook anywhere you need, along the length of the chain. Always nice when you want a grab hook a specific length off your choker, for lifting the fore end of a log for dragging by your 3-point, etc.

 

[chim]

I have a bucket full of 3/8" chains but the past few years have been almost exclusively using 1/4". They're much easier to work with and can handle a lot more tension than my L4240 can dish out.

I have a few chains that I made up with slip hooks like the ones below. Also made a short chain with two grab hooks like WranglerX shows for oddball applications. Regular slip hooks have such flimsy keepers and are about worthless.

Logging Chain Choker Hook

Size: 5/16" & 3/8" Hook Capacity: 2 Tons - 3.15 Ton Working Load Limit: 4500 lbs - 6900 lbs Heat treated Drop Forged Alloy Steel

www.myteeproducts.com

 

[WinterDeere]

Logging Chain Choker Hook

Size: 5/16" & 3/8" Hook Capacity: 2 Tons - 3.15 Ton Working Load Limit: 4500 lbs - 6900 lbs Heat treated Drop Forged Alloy Steel

www.myteeproducts.com

Great... something else I'm going to need to buy, now. What to do with a half dozen regular slip hooks, now that you've obsoleted them for me?

 

[David in KY]

I have bought choker cables, chain hardware, arborist equipment, ect. from these guys. They are squared away.
They can fabicate your cable exactly as you like (install thimbles and swage the ends).

Westech Rigging

 

[chim]

Great... something else I'm going to need to buy, now. What to do with a half dozen regular slip hooks, now that you've obsoleted them for me?

Haha. I tossed mine in a drawer. Saw these on one of the tractor boards a couple years back and had to have some too. My BIL liked mine so I made up a chain for him as well. Pretty handy with a grab hook on one end and one of these on the other. The slotted angles on my attachments make it handy to use any chain ends - or none at all.

 

[WranglerX]

I have at least two dozen hooks with those lever keepers, between various chains and tow straps. I can tell you not a single one of them has ever survived more than a few uses. They're all bent, distorted, jammed, or broken. I usually get around to grinding them off, if they're sewn into a strap, or replacing them with non-keeper hooks if they're on a chain.

I do like using chain as a choker, I have four made up with a grab hook on one end and a slip hook on the other. I've found that the keeper really isn't necessary, if you lay the chain right when setting up to lift or pull. If you can't manage that, I'd bet WranglerX's mousing trick is more reliable and less frustrating, although I've honestly never tried that.

One bit of advice on chain is to standardize on a reasonable size, so that as you can build up a nice collection of chains and hooks that all work well together. If that's not reasonable for your situation, then you'll want to make up some short adapter chains, with a grab hook on either end that adapts from one size to the next. I went with 5/16", partly because my father already had a few 5/16" that I inherited and built from, but also because it's a reasonable compromise between strength and weight, for most of what I do. Yes, my winch pulls hard enough to break 5/16", so I can't be an idiot at the controls, pulling against a dead stop. But I've never broken one, and my back thanks me every time I avoid picking up long lengths of 3/8" chain.

I have slotted "hooks" on my loader also, BUT I try to get a way for using them as not to bend or distort loader..... Always try to pull from chassis locations....

 

[chim]

I generally center the load on the loader. Not sure it's necessary, but have a feeling it could lessen the chance of tweaking the loader frame. I have no concern about using the center slot to grab any load. In the picture below, that 6' LandPride RFM on the L3200 is rigged that way because of the location it needed to be picked from. That weight with the chains at that angle placed a lot of stress on the rigging.

 

[WinterDeere]

Just ordered 4. Looking forward to trying them out on a few stacks of logs staged for this fall.

 

[Williy]

Try Tracto;r Supply they have all kinds of chain, cable and parts
to make what you want.
Personelly I would not use cable as over time the little strands
that brake off can stab you and it don't feel very good when that
happens and with a chain that don't happen but when you pinch
your finger using a chain you can howl!

willy

 

[WinterDeere]

Personelly I would not use cable as over time the little strands
that brake off can stab you and it don't feel very good

We call them "meat hooks" in sailing. We have wire halyards and standing rigging, in my boat class. All stainless, but it still frays and gets stabby, with time and wear.

 

[SmallChange]

I usually use 5/16" or 3/8" chains with a grab hook on one end and a slip or choker hook on the other. I also have premade 3/8" cable chokers that feature a slip hook with a socket for the small lug on the end of the cable, which makes it easy to pass under a log. And, I also have 5/16" cable I cut into pieces a few feet long, to wrap around trunks; I put both ends into cable grips.

One main concern with cable is that it is much easier to damage. Dragging a log over rocks or pavement will break lots of wires!

I think lang lay cable would work better for this kind of thing than ordinary lay cable. In ordinary lay, wires are twisted into strands in one direction, and then the strands twisted into cable in the other direction. In lang lay, both twists happen in the same direction. An ordinary lay cable has wires that run along the cable length on the surface, making it easier to slip, but a lang lay cable has wires that run circumferentially on the surface, so it grips.

If you were picking a cable to use to saw through something, lang lay would obviously be the way to go.

But I can't find the stuff for sale!

 

[mikennh]

50 feet of 5/16" grade 70 chain will fit in a standard ammo box. Chain doesn't kink, doesn't fray like wire, and stores so much easier.

 

[TreePointer]

Over the years, I've used cat chokers, chain chokers, and skidding chokers from Westech Rigging Supply. Very pleased.

I have bought choker cables, chain hardware, arborist equipment, ect. from these guys. They are squared away.
They can fabicate your cable exactly as you like (install thimbles and swage the ends).

Westech Rigging

Same here. Over the years, I've used lots of logging gear (skidding chokers, chain chokers, etc.) from Westech Rigging Supply. Very pleased.

 

[Little Red Tractor]

Though cable may be the right thing for some applications, I think a chain--or pair of chains as already suggested--is the better option.

 

[EdwardL]

Over the years I've had winches with steel cable, for getting firewood. Eventually the cables would have wire strands that broke, and cut you handling them.

Now I have synthetic rope on the winches, chain with a log choker on on end (they cost about $12, simple to put on), and I've strung 2 and 3, 20 foot tow straps together if I had to pull a log from father away. I use quick links to hook tow straps together.

Sometimes I've gotten fire wood from the national forest where an area was logged over, and an 8 in log would fall out of the grapple, and the logger say I'm not going back for it... So I did.

My point, I would not use a cable for what you want to do. A chain on the log and tow straps to the tractor will work just fine and are a lot safer.

 

[BlueKnife]

I want a wire rope assembly with a thimble already crimped into the ends. I am looking for a 3/8in 50ft wire rope I can use to pull trees over or logs out of the pasture. Any recommendations where I can buy it?

FWIW, you should consider getting a cat choker, rather than just a cable with eye's in both ends. Much nicer to use. Don't have to feed the entire cable through the eye in order to choke it around a log. This place, Logging Chokers from Westech Rigging Supply has decent prices. You may be able to find it locally by looking up logging supply places.

 

[BlueKnife]

For those suggesting chains, yes, they have their place. Cable chokers though can do things that chain or synthetic rope cannot. It's really handy to be able to push a cable through a small slot under a log, something that chain and synthetic rope cannot do. Synthetic rope does not hold up well for skidding. They all have their place.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

Besure slip hook has lock lever that keeps chain from falling out of hook though....

View attachment 819350

good idea but in practice when pulling trees in the bush those lock levers seem to last about ........ hmmmm......... 1 minute.

these "c" hooks be about same price, available all over, and will outlast my remaining years.

Cheers

 

[WinterDeere]

Now I have synthetic rope on the winches, chain with a log choker on on end (they cost about $12, simple to put on)...

I'm really surprised this is holding up for you. I race sailboats, and we use nearly all vectran and dyneema lines in various configurations, often jacketed as double-braid in nylon or polyester for better handling or running. But winch cables I've seen appear to be just single braid vectran or dyneema, which has a host of issues for skidding logs, including poor wear resistance and very poor UV resistance. You must go through a lot of it?

For those suggesting chains, yes, they have their place. Cable chokers though can do things that chain or synthetic rope cannot. It's really handy to be able to push a cable through a small slot under a log, something that chain and synthetic rope cannot do. Synthetic rope does not hold up well for skidding. They all have their place.

Cable can do a lot of things chain can't, but with regard to skidding logs, I'd say the only legit advantage is pushing it through a tight gap under a log without having to roll the log onto it. Pushing chain can make one feel impotent.

these "c" hooks be about same price, available all over, and will outlast my remaining years.

One step ahead of you there. Switched two of my most oft-used choker chains to these hooks just ten days ago: