My single log skidder in action per request

[BobUrban]

I have pics of this on here but none with it in action. Well the "Log Dog" went to work today. My original design needed some tweaking so for those that want to build your own I Will explain my changes. The original had permenent fixed up legs that I found were most often unnecessary and forced me to lift the log another 12" higher to load. I cut the original off and refabbed with a heavier angle and short legs that are square tubes so you can just drop the extender legs in if needed. Most of the time the chain and legs are doing nothing because I notch each log end with the saw and just set it on the angle. Gravity does the rest. I do use the extender legs if I am loading two logs at once and I have a quick catch chain hook for added insurance but like I said, it is mostly just laying there doing nothing.

All in all it works sweet! I can get the bike into tight spots that a trailer would not fit without a lot of cutting and path work and the 550 Griz can haul plenty more than I can lift up onto the dog so I am getting large logs out whole to a place I can buck and load or stack. Currently this place is my back yard because I am fortunate enough to have access to a lot off blow downs and standing dead ash. Today it was all ash and cherry with one small oak that was brought down with a big cherry blow down. It was not real big but I do not have any oak so I wanted it.

Loaded:

Close up with legs in:

The original Log Dog:

One more with him supervising my stacks while he munches a deer leg bone he found:

 

[bogydave]

Good idea.
Nice machine.
Looks like it works well.
My hitch don't have the heavy duty receiver.
Made a dray/sled to roll the log on & see if it works better.
Heavy logs & the front wheels came off the ground on mine.

Nice stacks

 

[ScotO]

Looks like it works pretty slick, Bob! Nice stacks, property, and home! Looks like you had pretty much the same winter we had here in PA.

 

[BobUrban]

Dave - I built the receiver too. Pretty much a custom Reese style that connects to 4 points on the frame. I see in my pics that the rear is squashed down a bit so I may adjust the suspension but for the most part it has worked well. With the reese style receiver I can swap out to my hitch for the trailer or splitter as I need.

Note: The skidder is designed to spin completely around in it's access so that when I turn tight corners the log does not move off the lip of the angle. Without this I think I would be reloading often(and frustated)

Also it sticks out a ways to allow for tight cornering without the logs hitting the tires.

The bike is awesome and I am a "take good care of it and they last forever" guy. This is a huge upgrade from my old yamaha 250 2wheeler that I ran for 25 years!!

That old bike hauled a lot of wood and deer over the years but it finally bit the bullet and I did too buying the new one.

 

[BobUrban]

Scotty - actually that is my nearest neighbors house and it is much nicer than mine I think. If you turned around in the same photo my house is about the same distance the other direction. That is 2-3 years out wood and I am working to get as much out to that area I call my working deck before it gets too warm out and the swamp fills up. The winter has been so mild here that I have not had the opportunty to cut all I would like and when summer comes it is a JUNGLE out there.

The upside is that I recently received permission to cut all the dead ash and blow downs I want off the property just behind mine and there is a LOT!

The Log Dog will be towing for years to come I think.

 

[nate379]

Where did all your snow go?! I thought Michigan got feet ontop of feet?

 

[BobUrban]

Not sure where in Michigan you are thinking of? Maybe north of me as I know my home office in Wisconsin got hit with a ton last week and they are about 100 miles north of my location(latitudinally)

Mid Michigan has not had snow on the ground last a week all winter and I do not think we have gone a week below freezing. We did wake to a little snow this morning but it wont last as we have 50 degrees coming Tues/Wednesday.

Ironically I bought a plow with that quad because we had so much snow last year?? Never even mounted it and at this point I am not complaining.

 

[Jack Straw]

Thanks for the pics. I skid w/my atv and I would like to build something similar. Getting the front end of that log off the groung makes a big difference.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Bob, I put the plow on 3 times this winter. Amazing too that not once in those 3 times of plowing snow was the ground frozen. Makes it really bad for pushing gravel that way....

 

[smokinj]

Very cool, Is that your house in the back drop?

 

[BobUrban]

Unfortunatey, No. Not my house. Mine is about the same distance in the oposite direction and about 1000sq' smaller(I think) Up side is that I have less sq' to heat

Here is a shot from my deck giving a better perspective - If you swap those two pics and combine them that is my two closest neighbors and the woods I am getting most of my logs from is behind there lot.

 

[firefighterjake]

Where did all your snow go?! I thought Michigan got feet ontop of feet?

Most of Maine hasn't been much better . . . I mean we have some snow now . . . but to really find any appreciable amount of snow you have to go to Dover-Foxcroft, Lincoln, Millinocket, Downeast or up to The County. I think I've only plowed my driveway two or three times and if I had waited on the one time I could have skipped out on plowing the one time as we had rain and a warm up on the following days. Terrible winter.