I enjoy doing the work, but with my busy work schedule and the fact that it's now dark as soon as I'm out of work, I only have the weekends and that's if the weather cooperates. I like doing the work by myself also. Feels more rewarding that way to me. The only downside is that I have back problems. I use the tractor loader as much as possible moving heavy rounds to the splitter then throwing splits into the loader, then driving them to the wood pile to stack at a comfortable height. If I can just get a good solution for bucking, I'd be happy and my back would be thankful. Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
Got it. You’re facing many of the same constraints as me. I also have a bad back, but it mostly flares up when I spend too many hours at my desk, and working outside only bothers it if I’ve already irritated it with too much desk work.
I use tongs hung from a hook welded to the top of my loader bucket for moving logs around, but it’s really no way to cut, IMO. Likewise, forks on the back of the tractor are likely only practical if you have the provisions for a hydraulic top link, as non-tilting forks won’t be very useful for moving and lifting logs. Forks on the loader bucket can work, but only if you have a large and heavy tractor, they’re always going to be capacity-limited.
It’s possible you could lift one end of the log with the tongs, buck off it, and then reposition. But honestly, climbing on and off a tractor dozens of times per day is doing your back no favors, not to mention your knees. I can be on and off my tractor a hundred times some Saturdays, and I feel it in my legs and knees.
A grapple, or finding a way to chain logs to the bucket for lifting, may be your best option if your loader has sufficient lift capacity. You can always add a diverted valve to a button on your loader control or foot button (think old-school highbeam switch), so your bucket curl function can be toggled over to grapple open/close control. Just a thought.
The quickest and cheapest solution may be some grab hooks welded to your loader bucket, and some short chains. Roll the bucket onto the log, chain it, then curl and lift. Poor-man’s grapple.