Yankee Yarder pictures

[treetech]

Hi All

I posted on the portable winch thread but I thought maybe I should start a new thread. People were looking for a picture of a yankee yarder. I promised I would get some and I did but I am having a real hard time getting them posted. So far, I have them reduced and into my personal gallery. :P People can look at them there, or maybe someone can take pity on me and post them here for all to see. This is an old machine I rebuilt. It is not exactly like the plans I sent out but it's close.

[beenthere]

You have 99% of the work done, with the pics in your gallery.

When posting a reply (like I'm doing now), look below the blue window and you can click on "Image Archives".. that will take you to the forum pics posted most recently (or when getting there, click on your own gallery to see just your own pics). Find the pic you want to post, and click on it. That pic will enlarge and have a line below that says "Click here to copy photo code to your post window" and when you do, it will ask Yes/no for confirmation. The photo should then be in your post. You can preview your post by clicking on "Preview" to make sure it looks like what you want.

Hope this works for you. You are there, just don't realize how close you are.  ;D  That's the great thing about computers.

Now, getRdun

[treetech]

I'll give it another try!

[treetech]

Thanks beenthere! I gotRdun and didn't even break anything! Let me tell ya, it's been some learning curve to get here! smiley_whacko

[beenthere]

Good on ya. We all "beenthere" and "gotRdun", so knew you could do it too. Good pics. Clever free-wheeling clutch too.

[Quebecnewf]

What would be the line speed and line pull in this machine?

Why use cable would not good braided nylon or kevlar rope be bette to handle

Quebecnewf

[treetech]

The line speed is about a slow walk. I haven't had a chance to take this one to the woods yet but last spring it would pull my Chev Tracker across the yard with the emergency brake applied and the back wheels dragging uphill across ice. I have used other ones in the woods years ago and they would haul tree length pieces if they weren't really big (over ten inches?). Anything over that would be better bucked up. It's been a while since I used one so I am relying on memory here and unlike a fine wine my memory is not getting better with age! You could set it up however you like, less line speed = more power and vice versa. These winches work best with a snatch block and a skid cone. With limited power you have to work smart to take advantage of every chance to make things go smoother. The body of the winch is shaped like a boat so that you can attatch the cable to a tree and pull the winch to where you need it and save some manhandling. 
Rope vs cable
I am not a big fan of using rope in a situation where it may break under load. Rope is elastic and if you happen to be in the path of the rope when it breaks you could get snapped. Rope is even more dangerous if you have a steel hook or anything else attatched to the end of it and it comes loose under load. The extra weight on the end becomes a projectile. I like cable because in this application 3/8 ths cable would probably be very hard to break. Woods work is very dangerous and any chance I have to up the odds in my favor I take. I just think cable is safer but you should wear good gloves.

[MDP]

That's a miniature Wyssen yarder, that's pronounced (weesen) or my Swiss native boss would say "Veesen" . Look them up on the net, they'll send you a free video if you ask for it. They use bigger versions of that for downhill yarding very long strips upwards of 5,000 ft. or better.


Mark

[treetech]

I finally got around to taking the Yankee Yarder to the woods to haul out a few logs. It worked pretty well. Not overly powered but not bad. As I suspected it would haul out pieces with no trouble but couldn't handle entire trees with the branches on. I made a skid cone as well and it helps to keep the logs cleaner as well as getting around stumps. With Dan G's parbuckling system to load the logs it was an enjoyable afternoon.

The two logs side by side show the diff with and without the skid cone. In this case at least the cone kept the end of the log clean.

[beenthere]

Great logging pics.

What is the cone constructed of? It looks well polished. I'm trying to picture the chain hitch that you use inside the cone and around the end of the log so it centers up with the hole in the end.  ???

[treetech]

That was the first time the cone was used. The sun was shining on it making it look well used. The cone was easy to construct: I used a can that chain was shipped in,( approx 15 inches in diameter) cut the bottom off, cut slits in the sides about every 5 or 6 inches and just narrowed them in  and welded them to a ring. The chain is just a choker that you feed through the hole. hopefully this close up will help.

[thecfarm]

Like the can idea.That will keep the log from digging into the ground and coming up against a stump or a rock and stopping you.I would suggest slides and chockers to hook up the logs.I would have at least 2 on there.One for the log and one to be used to move the log to the left of right to get away from a tree or other hard spot.I suppose you only twitch one log at a time.The chockers keep the cable fron twisting too.Small one like what I have on my Norse winch would do good.

[treetech]

The can did seem to work well and was nice and light but the material it is made of is thin and very hard to weld. Hard to say how it will hold up! Knowing how often I seem to be able to get to the woods it may last a long time. ;D  The chain in the picture is not attatched to the cone in any way; it is just a homemade choker that is attatched to the log and threaded through the hole in the cone. I am going to try to make a snatch block for directing the cable around trees and stumps.

[Wallys World]

Look at the one for sale on eBay.  Item number: 320147430876  Looks like a monster!

[SwampDonkey]

We had one for years and a skid cone at the local marketing board we would lend out to woodlot owners. It got a lot of use, but a lot of work to for someone. ;D

It was sold about 10 years ago as I recall.

[Burl]

Here's mine.

[Burl]

https://forestryforum.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=3089

[CX3]

Cool Pics.  I have a question though.  Do you just hook your winch to a tree or something and run the cable out to twitch the wood to you?  And how do you get the logs turned around to get them parallel to the trailer for loading?

[tyb525]

Welcome to the forum Burl. That's my middle name ;)

[2308500]

plastic skiiding cone can be found at novajack.com
Iv ehad one for years and its light quick and tough as all he ll

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah the yarder we had, used a plastic cone. It was lent out, no one ever busted it. They weren't meant for great big wood, just for thinning thick hardwood and softwood, 4"-12" stuff.

[treetech]

Awesome looking machine Burl! Any idea how much it will pull? Also how much does it weigh?

[Burl]

Thanx treetech.  Dunno what she weighs, not sure of the pull either. 

The winch unit is branded "SASGEN DERRICK" and according to my internet research appears to be a hand crank derrick hoist for hi rise construction, working limit 1000 lb. would be my guess.  The shafts are 1 1/8 with babbet bearings and squared off ends for attaching the hand crank.  I tapped a press in zerk in each of the holes for pouring the babbet and keep er greased that way.  I had the center "input" shaft turned down to 3/4" and keyed.  I put a #50 sprocket on that.   A riding lawnmower transmission driven by an electric start Tecumseh 8hp powers it.  It has 5 fwd speeds, neutral, and 1 reverse.  A added a lever that engages the tensioning pulley on the 'mower' to engage the drive to make er go.

The winch first caught my eye in a neighbors yard with a sheet of tin over it.  It really caught my interest because it had TWO drums!  which could give you Mainline and Haulback capability, the two drums will actually interlock, but I don't run it that way.  It's either Mainline ahead while I pay out Haulback, or vise-versa.  To the side of each drum I added a motorcycle disc and a mini-bike brake caliper.  a pull lever with a cable works the brake.  That's not enough brake to provide suspension, I just use it to control backlash only as the line pays out on the free spool.

There's 500 ft of 1/4" galv 7x19 on the haulback drum on top, about 240 ft on the mainline.  1/4" is rated about 7000lb.  I cut my logs to about 6 - 8 ft to keep loads light.  I will STOP immediately if I even THINK there's a hangup.  I can't afford to be breaking things or hurting anyone, this is just fun stuff, remember?  If it's hung up my son will re set the choker on the opposite end.  It'll usually swing around, clearing the hangup, then come in the other way. 

There are four 3/8" guylines through blocks at the top of the spar, they lead down to truck bed winches welded just above head height.  I use a truckers bar to wind em up tight. 

The spar is raised with a hand crank ratcheting winch from a boat trailer.  That hoisting cable is a two-part bridle which is anchored at the bottom corners of the back bumper.  This "Y" cable assembly assures the spar stays centered as she comes up and doesn't swing to the side as a single-line hoist would (or used to!).

So far our first trip out was strictly a high-lead setup, you know, 'ground pounding'.  So I had to keep loads light.  Next setup will be with a standing sky line and I'll run a North-Bend setup.  That should provide enough lift to haul some bigger stuff in.

You might notice in the photo it doesn't take much to plug the landing.  What you see is the last log coming in.  That pile was just cut up into 16" firewood right on the pile and tossed in the (other) pickup.

Since our last outing was just the two of us, we only had time for a couple of cell phone pictures (not too bad though), though I really want to get some video and more photos of better quality which I'll post soon as I get em.

Standby for more and thanks all for the compliments and encouragement.