Any one use a 4-wheeler as a skidder

2005 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI. I have skidded plenty of logs but now I have a small trailer that I ride right up to where the log is laying and buck em up and toss em in. I can fill a full size pickup with 4 trailer loads. I like this method better than skidding for the sake of clean wood and therefore sharp chain. Around here in Ohio we have a lot of vines so sometimes I cut down a dead stand that's loaded up with vines and then just hook the strap up and skid that whole tree out to the field and leave the vines where they fell. My dad has a Sportsman 500 HO and a trailer just slightly smaller than mine and we can move a surprising amount of wood very quickly with this method. The picture with the wagon is not my ATV it is the stock photo for the trailer as I don't have a photo of mine.

real nice! I need something like that for behind my POLARIS

Hey skinny I was thinking of you the last couple of weeks. I was cleaning up some standing deadwood...mostly elm with the Suzuki Eiger. Its been real wet so instead of cutting/trailing I decided to drag what I could to the staging area and so far got a good 4 real cords + staged up in log lengths. The trees I've been cutting aren't big like the ones you were hauling...but they add up.

I usually do that in the winter but since I was all caught up I figured what the heck...now I'm toying with the idea of getting a small generator with a light tree so I can C&S;during the winter. It gets dark around 5pm and that's so bogus...man I'd love to be in the position where I could get all my wood done in the winter and have the good weather for me and the wife.

I skid with my Polaris magnum all the time. I uusally wait until the ground freezes. Don't have to worry about dirt in the bark then. It's amazing what the fourwheeler will pull on hard ground. Just watch out for snags.

anyone ever try one of the skidding cones they sell on Novajack?

"Any one use a 4-wheeler as a skidder"

I use this to skid 4-wheelers. :lol:

i got two of these that are brand new and have never been used just in case your interested :coolsmile:

pm me for price plus shipping.

It's a toss up for me... Either the Renegade 800 or the JD X500. The quad is 4wd but a sport machine, and the tractor is only 2wd.

This is what I use I use in the woods and around the house. I keep saw, fuel & oil, tools, food, water, etc in the rear. I pull the splitter to the tree or area that the wood is at. This year i was cutting mostly standing dead wood. It worked really well.

The trailer was made 20 years ago in high school metal shop. The Polaris 6x6 is a 1991. Parts are very expensive. The new Polaris Big Boss 800 6x6 is all shaft drive with fully independent suspension.

I have dragged a few logs with it. Works o.k. For me it better to cut up and pull out with the trailer. I do how ever have a 43hp 4wd tractor with a loader if I really what to skid out logs

[quote author: fullbore ]It's a toss up for me... Either the Renegade 800 or the JD X500. The quad is 4wd but a sport machine, and the tractor is only 2wd.[/quote]

My JD X575 4X4 is great. Goes anywhere and pulls hard.

Nice pic Rowski looks like it came off a Christmas card. Those splits look pretty big you must have a boiler huh?

I haul with a Deere XUV (Gator) side-by-side. Bucking up on site and loading up the back seems to work better than dragging, though I do drag some long small diameter stuff to use as fence rails. If you wanna skid logs for firewood, make sure you get pretty good at sharpening your chains.

i built this arch, it works well....


john

in action:


john

Very nice John. ..does the log rest on something solid or is it held entirely by the cable? Any pitching issues when starting or stopping. Once again that's real sweet.

HI;

the log is suspended with the cable. i have had zero problems with it so far. the use of low gear allows for a nice gentle start off, no pinching or anything...
more pics are to be found here:

more pics


John

Nice unit! I've seen some like that which just have a log grab on it and you lift the draw bar up, hook the log, and pull the draw bar back down to lift the log.
I also saw one once that had a short chain hooked to a ring with a log holder on the other end. The ring rode on a horizontal bar that was higher in the back so as you started to pull, the ring would ride up the bar and raise the log.
Personally, I like the winch better because you can run it into the brush and ground drag a stick out to the open where it can then be raised.

John thanks for the follow up pics..it's amazing what you can drag if you can elevate the front end. btw great place to raise kids.

when i'm not towing my log arch,i use this instead.




or if all else don't work i use this.

I've been using these 6' long 3/16" wire rope things they sell at the big box stores as chokers. They have a loop on each end from the factory (i think they're indended to lock up tools) and they work well as both a choker and a "fuse" to keep my larger skidding cable from breaking if the tree gets hung up of something. Just run around your log and run one loop through the other and attach your pulling chain or rope to the other end. I've got a 50' and 100' wire rope that I use to drag logs up the hill out of the woods into my pasture to buck and load in the truck. Only weak link is my 2wd truck with an open diff :/ But with a few rounds or blocks in the back I get a little better traction.

Packin' two artic cat's. both 2004's. one 400, its a suzuki engine, and one 650, its the kawasaki v-twin. use the 650 as a plow in the winter too. btw, try a hitch mounted log hoop. easy to make and keeps a good portion of the log outta the dirt!

how well does that 400 pull? 350 and 400 class quads are right in my price range on craigslist and i've been thinking about getting one

Not to bad, its got two speed belt driven centrifical clutch, and shift on the fly 4x4 (only truly 3 wheel drive). if i keep it in low it'll move my 5x10 pj dump trailer around just fine if its unloaded. owners man. states a 900 pound tow capacity with 150 on the "tonque"

900 lbs isn't too bad... all of my woodlot is hilly, some of them pretty steep. i'd love to have something I could drive right down to the tree and load up rounds into my trailer

Pineburner,

Please describe the "hitch mounted log hoop" that you mentioned earlier.