Tree-length extraction

[Rick Alger]

Has Logrite or any other company  developed technology for  small-scale multiple stem tree-length extraction for 4 wheelers and/or horses?

[beenthere]

Rick
Any more specifics as to what you have in mind?

Multiple?   ... how many ya thinkin?
Small-scale?....meaning stem size or one-man?  dbh and tree height?
Are you thinkin something that would bunch the stems too?
Thinkin under a certain $$ amount?

Sounds like you have an application in mind.  ;D ;D ;D  and ya made me curious as to what it is in particular. 

Suspect it would have to do with your horse logging and TSI work..

[Rick Alger]

Been There,

You read my mind. I'm thinking about something that would collect and yard three or four stems with a 7" to  8" dbh and a length of 50'. - About a third of a cord at a pull.

This should improve production thinning softwoods with horses considerably.

There are homemade rigs out there that will more or less do this, but before I cobble together yet another, I thought I'd see if there was something already available.

Most of the stuff is I've seen so far  is for large log extraction. Great for big high-value hardwood, but not adaptable to small, low-value softwood.

My margin is too small, and my terrain too mountainous to consider crane mounted forwarders as an option at this time.

I've already got a good forecart, so I'm thinking of some kind of simple add on such as a sled or trailing arch with a  winch system to use for collecting scattered small stems and top logs. 

Thanks for your interest,

Rick

[zackman1801]

mabey you could build one yourself? only YOU knows what you want and what better way to get it than to have YOU build it so you get exactly what you want out of it. building arches and the like is not difficult as long as you have access to the materials and a good welder. 

[Kevin]

Logrite ATV arch will do that.

http://www.logrite.com/atvarch.html

[Rick Alger]

Kevin,

Thanks for the link. That arch will certainly haul the volume I'm planning on. 

I'm working on a selective cutting in marked wood. Not much room to maneuver.

I'm looking for something  to pluck a selected tree  from about  20 feet off trailside  then move along and pluck others until there is a load  without unhooking, backing up and rehooking.

Has this arch ever been rigged that way? Will it resist side-slip and leaning if under  pressure?

Rick

[Tam-i-am]

Rick,

Around 1999,  a man in Oregon was maintaining his own property much like you.  He happened to be an engineer and developed his own set of arches.  He then went into business selling these arches under the name of Future Forestry.  He recently sold the business to Logrite, so that he could do more education stuff.  You might want to check him out.  Even though his name is Mark he markets himself as Forest Dan.  www.forestdan.com  He also is a believer and supporter of Jim Birkemeier's Full Vigor Forestry, sustainable forest management program.  He can be reached at www.timbergrowers.com.  Coincidentally,  Jim is a Logrite dealer.

Mark developed his ATV forwarding arch to go behind an atv then he used the Junior (his feller/buncher arch) to move logs into piles for the ATV or sometimes used the Junior as a tag axle for longer logs than the ATV arch would suspend, thus having no drag on the ground.

If you would like we have a video that we can send you.  I would even be willing to send you an old copy of Marks video as well.  Either email me your address or call me at logrite.  Click on our logo on the sponsor board, I believe it goes right to our website.

Tammy

[Kevin]

Rick;
I don't have a plucker so I winch them out using a portable gas winch and skidding cone.

[Stephen Alford]

Hey Rick; I have found these self releasing snatch blocks to be a real help

[Gary_C]

Wow! I took a look at that Jim Birkemier's web site again. It's been a few years since I last looked and he still has that double bareled shotgun at his keyboard leveled at the entire forest industry.     He catches landowners for poor management, foresters for telling landowners they are too stupid to manage their forests, loggers for devastating the forests and ripping off the landowners, and everyone else, sawmills and other forest related companies for doing something wrong.

And apparently there was some Smallwood conference in Madison earlier this year and the organizers would not let him in to speak. I wonder why?  :

Apparently we are all doing it wrong, except for his coop.

He also is telling all forest owners if they follow his plan, they can earn $200 per acre annually from their forests!   

[Rick Alger]

Thanks very much for the input.

You've helped me rethink my plan of attack.

I'm going to try a rope system with a couple slides and an end hook. Instead of coming out with either all logs or all pulp sticks, I'll  start out with a butt log and see if I can pull pulp sticks to it as I move along the trail.  ( Like bunching with the portable winch only using horsepower) I'll also look into  the self-releasing snatch blocks. If this works, I  won't buy the arch, but I will certainly keep you in mind for other things.

Thanks again,

Rick

[SwampDonkey]

$200 an acre is not so far fetched, but not all profit and not every acre is worked every year either unless your on a tiny acreage. It involves a lot of work and that is where most landowners will fall short.  ;) Not that woodlot owners are not hard working. The woodlot is not the income source for the majority of owners. It is usually turned to in crisis or to invest the proceeds, but not especially for the woodlot's welfare.

Thirty years ago, in this area the majority of woodlot owners were cutting their own wood and it was an income earner for 10% or supplemental for 90 %. Gears have shifted. One of our reasons for it shifting locally was access to market was restricted and delegated to large volume producers who could meet mill contracts and delivery schedules. The volumes where controlled through a mill delivery ticket system administered by a marketing board. In the beginning they were Woodlot Associations before marketing began. Marketing boards were formed by woodlot owners who elect their representatives and legislation was passed endorsing them. But it was the bigger players that organized it and thus became "quota holders". They were obviously first in line for the deliveries and were more dependent on deliveries for their annual income than the guy who was only going to move 2 loads of pulp a year or once in 10 years. That helped drive the shift from owner operators to woods logging contractors. The shift was actually pretty swift.

As soon as government funding for establishment silviculture (PCT, planting) dries up, so does the work to improve the woodlot. Just about nobody will take money from their own pocket to invest in their ground. There are many of us on the forum who do improvement work to their ground, but we are tiny and usually are not looking for a podium to make speeches or a spot light to stand under.