Eventually i would like to get a grapple. I have a set of pallet forks that I built and are 60" wide. They work good for moving logs. A grapple I thing would be better because you can clamp the log.Just found the post about the hooks I welded to the top of my bucket. If you're not going to buy a grapple, this is my preferred way of moving logs. Lay down two 10' chains with a slip hook on one end, roll log onto chains, cinch and hook to bucket. You can pick up and move logs like a grapple. I also use these hooks for skidding, and many other uses.
Bucking Ergonomics
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New tractor
- Thread starter duramaxman05
- Start date
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i have a kioti dk4710 that i use around my 40 for wood, the main attachments that i use for firewood are a 60" grapple and a 3 point log skidding attachment. I also have a homemade land plane, back blade, 3 point 4" chipper, pallet forks, a backhoe and i made a quick attach plow from a old truck plow. One thing i hated about the tractor was when you have anything on the front the headlights are useless, i fixed that by making a bracket that sandwiched the rops and mounted 2 light bars up high, one is pointed to the front and one is to the rear for running the backhoe at night. The other things i had done when i bought it was a block heater for in the winter and that works great even when its -10F out. The back tires have 700lbs of beat juice in them and sometimes when im lifting heavy oak i still get light on the backend.
Sawset
Minister of Fire
I do find the grapple very useful. In the past if there was something down needing cleanup, I was the first to get out the block and tackle, cut up the brush into arm sized loads, move things using methods vs machines. I really got a kick out of that, lots of satisfaction. Minimal was in. It took a little longer, but not much longer. However - now with a grapple those methods have changed, to mostly that one tool. Very useful. Yesterday was cut day for one large oak. After all was almost done and hauled to the yard or carted off to the brush pile, only then did I get off the tractor and actually have to move one large round by hand. Kind of a wake up call as to just how heavy those things are, and how much work it had been in the past. My only ache was a sore wrist from handling the steering wheel with cold weather mitts on. So many say that forks are also a kind of wonder tool that finds uses that are difficult to explain - one thing that could possibly stay attached "most of the time". Right now the grapple is that most of the time tool.
sloeffle
Minister of Fire
Ashful
Minister of Fire
You didn't ask me, but I spent nearly 10 years skidding logs on a 3pt drawbar, before getting a loader big enough to just lift most of them. You've been here long enough that you've probably seen some of the photos I posted of skidding oak and ash logs > 40" diameter, on the back of an old Ford tractor.
My thoughts are, it can work beautifully, depending on the terrain and ground condition. Most of my skidding was out of a deep woods, using an old creek bed, such that I was skidding these logs over a mostly rocky surface. The logs stayed clean, I wasn't doing a ton of ground damage, and it was all good. If anything, it helped with a bit of de-barking.
But it's an awful way to move logs across your lawn, obviously. And on mud, or a field, any deeply-grooved bark is going to pick up a ton of mud and the stones that come with it. Real hell on your chains, if you don't leave them sit long enough to knock the bark off before cutting.
Also, since you almost always want a bit of lift on the front of the log to prevent the fore end from digging in or catching on ground obstacles, you do have to be careful to not wheelie the tractor, if it does manage to catch on something. A sled or arch is obviously much safer, but I did manage to skid nearly 100 cords this way without any major incidents, before my equipment allowed me to change technique.
If you still have that tandem Fergusen in your avatar, I guess going wheelie would be less a concern for you, than those of us driving "regular" machinery.
I made a 3pt attachment years ago. If you can get the one end of the log off the ground, it's amazing how much easier they will pull. Plus puts extra weight on the tractor for traction. We use it just to get the logs to our log deck. Then either block the logs up or load them on to the trailer.
sloeffle
Minister of Fire
That's what I'm dealing with now, I have a couple areas in my woods that I pile up all of my logs at, but I'm finding even when I skid them in dry weather they are still packed full of mud / rocks / leaves etc. I'm using a two 6k pound straps tied together that I put over my 3 point drawbar. Raising the 3 point drawbar helps a little but not a lot it seems.
I found out this past weekend, they all usually end up frozen to the ground or each other if you don't get them cut up before January sets in ( in my area at least ). This generally picks up more frozen leaves etc when you get them unstuck. I'm not sure if it's the most efficient way to process the logs. I was going to start another thread about that topic.
That's my dream tractor, I'm not sure if they ever landed here in the states though, it's a Fordson Doe. I have one half of that tractor sitting in my barn, my current daily driver is a newer 47HP 4WD Yanmar.
I can see that. In my current setup, if I can get the front of the log off the ground I notice it collects a lot less mud and tears up my paths a lot less.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
I always lay down a few perpendicular sleepers, usually a 6” or smaller cedar or some 4” - 6” branches stripped from the tree I just cut, and pile the logs on them. That prevents anything freezing to the ground, or rotting if I don’t get to it for awhile.
The loader is the best tool for rolling logs off of a frozen pile, when a cant hook proves insufficient for the task. But I also have a sharp iron hook, stolen from a very old cant hook or peavey, that will do the same job. Put it on the end of a chain, wrap it over the log, and hook chain to tractor. Pull, and the log rolls to you.
my 3 point arms almost touch the ground when lowered all the way, my 3 point log attachment is homemade but the hook for where the chain on the log attaches is at the same height as the top link which allows me to get 90% of the log off the ground so normally the only part of the log that is really dragging is the last 2 feet and it works great, the biggest log i have pulled was 30" across and probably 25' long (white ash) and the tractor didnt have a problem nor did the attachment. I have skidded around 40 cord of wood the last 3 winters with it but prior to that i either just drug logs with the 4 wheeler or took the truck right to where i was cutting, skidding with the tractor has cut my time cutting wood in half and made it a lot more enjoyable doing so since i can bring the whole log right to where i would like to work on it.
