My New "Log Rite" Log Arch

I've been wanting one of these for a while now, but the smallest one that will fit my needs is about $1000.






I downloaded some pics of the older (welded) design from the Log Rite site and realized I could make a clone for next to nothing. I overlaid a grid onto the photos (not the model shown above) so I could figure out the scale of everything from the measurements given on the website. I determined that they used 1 1/2" square steel tubing, and by using the weight given for the device, I was able to calculate the gauge of the steel from the cut list I made.


I went to the local steel yard and bought one 21' piece of 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" welded steel tubing with 3/16" wall thickness. $54. I went home and cut it up with my cheap used tool sale horizontal band saw. Here's the layout of the arch itself:







A buddy gave me one of those wheeled jacks for moving trailers around the lot. I pulled the wheels and mounted them on the arch frame. Then I welded a 6' piece of the square tubing to the top (using a sheetrock square to get it as square as I could), braced the handle heavily near the fulcrum area with more square tubing, added side braces made from some scrap pipe, and stuck a pipe into the end to determine the best resistance arm length for the wood I want to lift. Here's a pic of the front with my log tongs hanging off the pipe, grabbing onto a piece of pine about 3 1/2' long and 22" across - about 300 pounds.






Here's a side view of the arch with the log held up:






Here's Lady BK, all 5'6" and 142 pounds of her, lifting up the log all by herself. The welding gloves are only because I just completed that weld at the handle end and the steel was still hot.






Now she's having a real easy time of it because I slid the ring on the tongs back and shortened up the resistance arm a bunch. Notice how relaxed she is, and she isn't even having to hold the handle at the very end for more leverage. As soon as I can find a piece of 1 1/8" cold-rolled steel that will fit snug inside the front of the handle, I'll drill a few holes through it so I can make it as adjustable as I want it. I'll be making a 4' extension handle for pulling long logs (up to 16'), welding on some pipe for pull handles, then sanding, priming and painting it.

I may spring for new wheels and put these ones back on the trailer jack, but I kinda like having the whole thing for under $60 for now. I already had the lifting tongs for lifting logs out in the field onto the truck bed, but you could go with skidder tongs to save a bit of money, or just use some chain, or even some HD rope to hold it tight so you can lift it. The tongs are fast, though.






Here's what I want to use it for.






I have to get the logs about 150' away from where I'm storing and cutting them, and up a slight grade as well. I ain't gonna try it with a hand truck (some of them I need to move will be 600-700 pounds), and I don't want to winch them up onto the truck bed and do the same to get them off again, over and over again. It'll come in handy for bucking up logs for firewood as well, or rolling them off somebody's property during a scrounge instead of digging up their lawn with the truck.

I'll post some more pics of it once it's finished, hopefully with some bigger logs. It rolls real nice, even up the hill. I'd love to eventually mount some 12" wheels with 20" tires on it, but that means spindles, hubs and the wheels themselves. Lotsa dough. I'll make due with it the way it is until it won't do what I want it to do. Nice thing about this stuff is you can cut it apart and put it back together any way you want, all you need is a wee bit of time.

I'll also get together a complete BOM and an accurate cut list, so anybody wanting to make one won't have to start from square one.

snowleopard said:

That is incredibly cool!

So that's the little lady that bought your line? That gorge behind her, is that the one where you dumped the ashes and almost burned down the neighborhood last winter?

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Thanks, guys, it was a fun project. Been putting it off for a while now. Amazing how easy things get when you stop procrastinating and just do it. Dare I try my own splitter next?

Yes, Snow, that's the gal. She not only bought my line, she bought the whole hook, line and sinker. Apparently, she's still fallin' for it, too. After 32 years, I still feel like the luckiest man alive.

And for the record... SHE dumped the ashes over the bank. I'm the one who saved the neighborhood. :coolgrin:

smokinjay said:

Very Sweeeeet set-up!

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SJ, you guys doing milling could really benefit from one of these arches. With the extension handle for added leverage, you can lift a 2000 pound log (22" walnut log 12' long) in an instant, then strap it to the handle and tow it with a quad or garden tractor to where you want to mill. Mine will take a 25" diameter log between the legs. By going to 2" square tubing you could make it even bigger, maybe 30", and still be light enough to hoist it onto the truck by yourself.

GolfandWoodNut said:

Nice job, I have to learn to weld one of these days.

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Me, too. :red:

Don't look too closely at those welds, a real welder would laugh. But they have multiple passes and excellent penetration, so they're strong as hell. That's all I care about.

My friends keep telling me, "Well... you're a welder." I say, "No... I have a welder." Those little pocket MIGs are easy to use, just need a little practice. You practice on the scrap cutoffs, they're free. The units themselves have come way down in price since I bought mine over ten tears ago. Even if you don't weld, you can cut the stuff up in your spare time, one cut at a time with a Sawzall, or even a HD hacksaw. I worked for years with only a Lenox HD hacksaw frame and an angle grinder. With those tools to cut and prep the steel, a Craigslist ad will likely turn up dozens of amateur welders in your area who will put it together for chump change.

oldspark said:

Nice job BK, love your wood carvings, I wanted to try them but I have no talent for it.

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Neither do I. Thankfully few others do, either. Lots of bad chainsaw artists out there. It comes quickly, just set a block of wood up on top of another and go at it. Think about what a bear or a cross or a mushroom or whatever you want to carve looks like in your head and slowly take away everything that's not that. Nice thing about chainsaw carving is that they all have their own individual charm... even the butt-ugly ones.

Give it a rip, it's a real blast. Then burn the evidence and try it again. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Ten logs in, you'll have the feel for it, guaranteed. If nothing else, it's a fun way to break in a new saw.

oldspark said:

Sounds good, it would be fun to see pictures of what hearth members could come up with.

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Hey, we should do that. We could try to do something each week for a month and post pics here. Nothing fancy, maybe make something creative out of one of those unsplitable rounds we all love to hate instead of just noodling the thing. Could be as simple as some abstract shape, done the best you can. That's how 99% of the guys doing this got started, getting bored with a saw in their hands. Beats racing your buddy cutting cookies, at least for me it does.

Flatbedford said:

Does she know you put her height and weight on the internet? Why not really get yourself in trouble and post her age too!

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C'mon... Does a 50 year-old woman really still care about such things? :roll: