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Lumber stack lifter upper thingy

Started by Southside, October 04, 2018, 12:24:05 PM

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Southside

Anybody know what the unit is called that is used to pick up stacks of lumber.  The ones I mean go behind a tractor and have wheels on either side, the operator backs up over the stack and cables or chains lower hooks which then grab the whole stack, lift up the stack and the operator drives away.  

I was trying to look for one but don't even know what they are called.  I think it would work well in conjunction with my kiln for loading and unloading.  

Thanks
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

taylorsmissbeehaven

I cannot help with what they are called but that is a great idea for loading through the door! Brian
Opportunity is missed by most because it shows up wearing bib overalls and looks like work.

Grizzly

This is the only type I'm familiar with. Had quite a bunch working at the sawmill my dad hauled out of at Whonnock, BC.
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br>
 
2011 - Logmaster LM-2 / Chinese wheel loader
Jonsered saws - 2149 - 111S - 90?
2000 Miners 3-31 Board Edger

Ljohnsaw

Googling "lumber unit mover" I get a few different pictures of the above and LOTS of auction results for
Drudge Hyster (toys)  :-\
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

Resonator

What you describe sounds like a log arch trailer, never seen one for moving stacks of lumber.
Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

goose63

Quote from: Grizzly on October 04, 2018, 12:33:06 PM
This is the only type I'm familiar with. Had quite a bunch working at the sawmill my dad hauled out of at Whonnock, BC.
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br>


Stradlebuggy
goose
if you find your self in a deep hole stop digging
saw logs all day what do you get lots of lumber and a day older
thank you to all the vets

Chop Shop

Quote from: Grizzly on October 04, 2018, 12:33:06 PM
This is the only type I'm familiar with. Had quite a bunch working at the sawmill my dad hauled out of at Whonnock, BC.
<
br>

Mill workers appropriately added the "S"!  Lol!

Satamax

French CD4 sawmill. Latil TL 73. Self moving hydraulic crane. Iveco daily 4x4 lwb dead as of 06/2020. Replaced by a Brimont TL80 CSA.

mike_belben

Its like a high crop sprayer and a moffet raised a love child in a lumberyard.
Praise The Lord

Sixacresand

On my mental drawing board, I have a log arch/wheeled gantry.  This rig will hitch to a small tractor or pickup, wide and tall enough to straddle a pickup or wide trailer to lift and load or unload logs and stacks of lumber.  Stay tuned for pictures.  
 
"Sometimes you can make more hay with less equipment if you just use your head."  Tom, Forestry Forum.  Tenth year with a LT40 Woodmizer,

Skipper11A

I like your idea but you've got a lot of engineering problems to figure out.  You can't use  just chains or cables under the  stack because your square stack will become a round jumble of boards as soon as you lift it.  You would probably need two thick steel "U" channels under the stack to keep the bottom flat.  Also, what powers the "lifting" part of the machine?  Big questions here.

What concerns me most is that the legs will be something like 8 to 10 feet tall supported only by weldments at the top.  I'm not worried about the welds, I'm seriously worried about how much an 8' tall steel leg will bend or flex under a 4,000 pound live load (it's a live load because you are going to tow it).  I'm a farmer, so if I were to build the frame, using my farmer's engineering, I would use 6" square tubing with 1/2" thick sidewalls for the legs (assuming only 4 legs).  If we add more legs, maybe 4 legs on each side, I would maybe use 6" square tubing with 1/4" sidewalls but I would still worry about the 1/4" steel flexing. 

Just some thoughts to ponder.  

Southside

Next time I am at the mill I have seen these at I will get some photos, they might be 6' to the top of the unit and are definitely not mega heavy duty by any stretch of the imagination.  The guys moving them around are on 50 ish hp gas tractors and are humming right along.  
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

Skipper11A

Quote from: Southside logger on October 06, 2018, 10:34:16 PMNext time I am at the mill I have seen these at I will get some photos, they might be 6' to the top of the unit and are definitely not mega heavy duty by any stretch of the imagination. 
Southside, you didn't tell us that you've seen these machines in action!  That makes a huge difference.  Go get lots of pics, bring a tape measure  and get measurements.  Look for signs of re-welding or re-inforcement that will show you where the design has failed in the past.

charles mann

Quote from: Skipper11A on October 06, 2018, 09:32:09 PM
I like your idea but you've got a lot of engineering problems to figure out.  You can't use  just chains or cables under the  stack because your square stack will become a round jumble of boards as soon as you lift it.  You would probably need two thick steel "U" channels under the stack to keep the bottom flat.  Also, what powers the "lifting" part of the machine?  Big questions here.

What concerns me most is that the legs will be something like 8 to 10 feet tall supported only by weldments at the top.  I'm not worried about the welds, I'm seriously worried about how much an 8' tall steel leg will bend or flex under a 4,000 pound live load (it's a live load because you are going to tow it).  I'm a farmer, so if I were to build the frame, using my farmer's engineering, I would use 6" square tubing with 1/2" thick sidewalls for the legs (assuming only 4 legs).  If we add more legs, maybe 4 legs on each side, I would maybe use 6" square tubing with 1/4" sidewalls but I would still worry about the 1/4" steel flexing.  

Just some thoughts to ponder.  
My arch is made from 2 1/2" x 1/4" wall sq tubing with only 2 12' legs. Under a a direct pull/lift and upwards of 6000# logs, yes, it flexes a bit. 4 legs 8' tall made from 4" x 4" x 3/8" sq tubing with 6" or 8" 3/8" I-beam or cutting 22 1/2 degree angle in the sq tubing should provide enough wt support for 6000-8000# load. Use a 6-12 hp pony motor with hydraulic pump connected to it, powering 2 motors to turn a solid rod spanning the desired width, connected to semi trailer ratchet strap ratchets and use trucker straps for load lifting. 
It would something similar to gantry used to lift boats at a dock or at a manufacturing facility. 
Temple, Tx
Fire Fighting and Heavy Lift Helicopter Mech
Helicopter and Fixed Wing Pilot

4x4American

Howz about building a track system so you can set a pack down on the trolley outside and then roll it into the mill.  I've seen some homemade tracks built out of wood that worked pretty slick
Boy, back in my day..

Sixacresand

Quote from: Skipper11A on October 06, 2018, 09:32:09 PM
I like your idea but you've got a lot of engineering problems to figure out.  You can't use  just chains or cables under the  stack because your square stack will become a round jumble of boards as soon as you lift it.  You would probably need two thick steel "U" channels under the stack to keep the bottom flat.  Also, what powers the "lifting" part of the machine?  Big questions here.

What concerns me most is that the legs will be something like 8 to 10 feet tall supported only by weldments at the top.  I'm not worried about the welds, I'm seriously worried about how much an 8' tall steel leg will bend or flex under a 4,000 pound live load (it's a live load because you are going to tow it).  I'm a farmer, so if I were to build the frame, using my farmer's engineering, I would use 6" square tubing with 1/2" thick sidewalls for the legs (assuming only 4 legs).  If we add more legs, maybe 4 legs on each side, I would maybe use 6" square tubing with 1/4" sidewalls but I would still worry about the 1/4" steel flexing.  

Just some thoughts to ponder.  
Thanks for thoughts, Skipper11A.   Lots of details to work out for sure and I pray I don't build a trap that will get me injured.  
"Sometimes you can make more hay with less equipment if you just use your head."  Tom, Forestry Forum.  Tenth year with a LT40 Woodmizer,

Southside

Quote from: 4x4American on October 07, 2018, 11:10:53 AM
Howz about building a track system so you can set a pack down on the trolley outside and then roll it into the mill.  I've seen some homemade tracks built out of wood that worked pretty slick
The problem is I want my cake and I want to eat it too.  My new all-in-one mill house is connected to the kiln on one end, so what I want is to be able to saw green, sticker and get rid of it to air dry, saw green, sticker and send right into the kiln, or bring in air dried and send into the kiln, and then from out of the kiln I don't want to touch the lumber with any hands until it is fed into the edger for straight lining, all while taking up the minimum amount of floor space for the track system.  So I am thinking if I can pull it off the tracks will come out of the kiln 20' at which point the quicker picker upper would bring the stack over to the edger which is permanently in line for the sawmill on a day to day basis, then green chain over to the planer, which rolls out of the way when sawing.  Or in the case of a load going into the kiln the quicker picker upper would drop the stack onto the rails.  I also don't want to have to leave enough floor space to fork lift over 17' of lumber when I can do it taking up only 4 feet of space, so the QPU would have casters on it.  Basically double use of the equipment and space, just different time application.  
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

Ljohnsaw

So, are you planning on the QPU being powered or not?  Obviously, it needs something to do the picking but will you be dragging it like a trailer?  That would simplify things.  Just a thought, have a set of chains or levers to control the front and rear casters independently so you can move it any which way.  At the Pick-n-pull junk yards, they make huge engine hoists from wheel hubs (for the swivel part as well as the wheel) and mount donut spare tires on them.  With that big of a tire, it should roll pretty easily on concrete - they do pretty well in the gravel yard.
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

Southside

Yes, thinking along the lines of hyd drive wheels - say off a combine with hyd assist rear wheels, a small engine and wood splitter pump for the power pack, all four wheels set up as a castor. When working at the kiln the pack would slide out from under the unit so the QPU only has to lift enough to clear the kiln dolly. When working on the dock the QPU self powers over the pack.  Steering could be done with a double acting piston, like you said, connect the four together for crab steer, then uncouple the rear from the front for regular steering, could even put a steering piston on each end and she could turn in her own space.  Still trying to think it through.  
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

Crusarius

Sounds like you need to cannibalize a zero turn mower and connect it to a frame. Use a hydraulic winch for lifting since you already have hydraulic pump for drive.

pineywoods

The pics are of a machine called a straddle carrier. They were quite common around sawmills in the south. What's not obvious in the pictures is the 6X6 timbers with a large notch cut in each end. Lumber had to be stacked on these special cants. The movable clamps along each side of the carrier fit into those slots. Straddle carriers were usually built from modified hi-crop sprayers. Worked well in tight room situations where a forklift loaded with 16 ft boards couldn't go.
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

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