Skidding with Skid Steer

[catvet]

I'm new to the forum and have some questions about skidding, or forwarding, logs.  I have a 58 acre woodlot in Northern Vermont which I hope to improve over the next 10-15 years taking out mostly firewood but possibly getting a portable sawmill to mill some lumber.  I have a 30 HP tractor with logging winch and 500 cc ATV as equipment at this point.  There are some old logging trails on the property.  It's a mixture of soft and hardwoods with a resonable sized, currently unused, sugarbush.  My forester thinks some thinning is indicated as there are a lot of mature trees.  I've noticed a lot of large pines coming down with windstorms in the 2 years we've owned it. 

My question at this point is what would people recommend as far as moving logs out of the woods?  I'm willing to invest money in other equipment but would ideally like something which had more than single use capablity.  Are Skid Steers (like your typical Bobcat) used in forestry?  If so what attachments are specifically used for logging?  I would like to minimize damage to the woodlot and am thinking of some sort of trailer for forwarding logs so that I'm not skidding too far. 

Any help appreciated.

Jerry

[beenthere]

....... I have a 30 HP tractor with logging winch and 500 cc ATV as equipment at this point.  There are some old logging trails on the property.....
........  Are Skid Steers ... used in forestry? 

Welcome to the forum.
Is the logging winch you have like the Farmi winch?  How comfortable are you logging with it, and what do you see are its limitations in your timber?  too slow? 

Some use skid steers, but I've not heard too many like them for 'in-the-woods' work.

[wiam]

Welcome to the forum.  Where in Northern VT are you?  I am just south of St Johnsbury.  Is the tractor four wheel drive? Does it have rops and a seatbelt?  I use a 65 hp in the woods.  I have pulled out a lot of wood with a 17 hp 2 wheel drive that is older than me. :D 

Will

[catvet]

It is a Farmi winch that I have.  I feel the winch is great at what it does, though I just managed to break the PTO shaft on it.  My concern is more forwarding the logs.  I would prefer not to skid the logs long distances both for what they do to the trail system and also for the speed issue, the tractor is only moving a couple of logs at a time and I have a 15-20 minute ride to get the logs out of the woods.  Don't move a lot of logs in a day that way.

I live in Hyde Park Vermont, the woodlot is in Waterville. 

[beenthere]

I see.
A member woodmills1 has a loader/trailer that he moves wood with, and I found a reference with pic in this thread for you to look at.
log loader/trailer

[wiam]

Any skidsteer I have been on was a lot slower than a tractor.  But new ones might be faster.  A forwarder trailer and a little bigger tractor might work.  How hilly is the haul? :D

Will

[catvet]

Thanks for the thoughts.  Anything I get is going to happen next year so I'm in the figuring out stage.  Any input is helpful. 

There is moderate slope to the property, by Vermont standards.  A couple of steep spots.

[ronwood]

I just bought a New Holland LX885. My son and I used it to skid about 10 logs out this past week. It seems to work fine for me. I going to make a skidding cone or a logging arch in the future so the logs don't tear up the ground so much and make it easier to pull.

We try to make fairly large turns so that the skidsteer doesn't tear up so much ground. Also it the trail is wide enough and the log is short enough we will carry them out on the forks. The one thing that I like about the skidsteer you are pretty well protected in the cage.  Hope to get tracks for it next year.

Ron

[Larry]

Welcome catvet. 

I log with a 27 HP tractor.  To small and slow to do much skidding so...I bought some old farm wagons.  Load the logs on the wagons with the FEL than pull the wagons with the tractor.  If it is dry and not to steep I can pull 3 wagons at a time with my F350.  Paid about $100 per wagon.  I also got running gear from an anhydrous wagon...I can load that one as heavy as I want.

Old trailers work good also.  I bought a flat bed made on a old 3/4 ton pickup frame Sunday for $50.

My only experience with skidsteers in the woods has been bad...they didn't have nuff ground clearance in soft soil to keep from floundering.

[Buzz-sawyer]

i would not recomend a skid steer in and woods I have....tracks would make flat ground possible..but they just dont do well on the terrain.

I like doin what Larry described.load em out

[catvet]

Thanks for the ideas.  I like the farm wagon idea.  I've been looking at trailers but they are always single axles, or tandems with the axels close together.  I figured you couldn't load them unless the trailer was attached to the tractor.  The farm wagons obviously have a longer wheel base so I could unhook the trailer, load it, and then hook it back up.  I should have remembered farm wagons from my youth.  That's what I get for spending most of my adult years in New Jersey Suburbs.

[beenthere]

Farm wagons is what I was thinking for Kirk to load those long logs he wants to haul. Two farm wagons hitched together could accomodate some pretty long logs, like the old-time pic recently posted of the two trucks under the long logs.  I don't think the rear wagon would even need a longer tongue, but don't know for sure. A cross-bolster on each wagon to let the logs pivot around a point should allow for easy steering and transporting.

[wiam]

My trailer has a 7,000lb jack on it I have taken it places with the tractor that the truck would not.  I have a hitch reciever on the three point.  This works well to unhitch and load logs. Then I can leave the jack high when unhitching from tractor so I can let it down onto the truck.  Some of my hills would be scary coming down with the truck.

Will

[oakiemac]

I use a skid steer to haul logs out of the woods. I would agree with the others though when they say that the skid steers aren't ideal. I have been hung up on stumps before because of the low clearance.
However, I only have a skid steer so I use what I have and just have to be carefull about stumps and really soft ground. I think a 4X4 tractor with a farmi would be real nice or even a small dozer.