I have been skidding logs with a boom pole and chokers behind my little John Deere 4WD tractor for years. I saw skidding tongs at TSC and bought a set but have not figured out if they are useful or not. Are they only good from above dropping down on a log? Does anyone else use them ? I thought it would save my hips jumping up and down off the tractor hooking up chokers but now i am not too sure.
Thanks for your time.
You can hookem by dropping them down on a boom pole......but it gets really aggravating as they swing and spin back and forth....i generally end up with that up and down climb
I use tongs on my SkyTrak to move my logs around. You can get good and plucking up a log but I "carry" my logs, not drag them. I've been annoyed more than once trying to drag a log with them. If you get slack, the tongs will want to lie flat, and when the do, more often than not they will let go.
I use tongs exclusively, don't even own either kind of chokers. Attach the tongs directly to a bar across the 3pt arms with a clevis, no chain. Lift the log slightly off the ground so it don't dig in or catch a root. The tongs need to have the points angled upward so they dig into the log. I seldom have any problem with tongs coming loose.
If you plan to skid with tongs, place the tongs on the log end. I like to place one hook on the ground and the other toward the top of the log. If you place them across the log and not the end, chances are they will pull loose and you will be resetting.
I use two skidding tongs with log arch. The purpose for me is to avoid having to get down on my hands and knees attempting to get a choker or chain under and around a log. Especially handy to get a grip on log on a trailer.
Both are handy and both will have one on and off the tractor when solo skidding, a little tap helps hold them when needed. Other times drop snag lift and go, biggest pain for me has been working on hill sides
I built a frame for the 3-point that keeps the tongs flat so I can drop them over the top of a log. About 60% of the time I can hook the log without getting off the tractor. I always have to get off to release the tongs.
I found a picture in my gallery of what I built. The tongs in the picture didn't work well. I bought another set from TimberKing that are heavier and are bent slightly different. They work a lot better but I don't have a picture of them.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10125/PA300001.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1192058256)
It really wouldn't take a lot more work to put a hydraulic pincer on that frame I made....another project. ???
I used to use tongs to load logs using my excavator. I had a 42" long beam that I made a mount for and bolted it across the open face on the excavator bucket. At each end I had a clevis and the tongs hung from those, but the were indeed hard to get both lined up facing the right way at the same time.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12321/SAM_0203~0.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1481758940)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12321/SAM_0206.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1379976515)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12321/SAM_0207~0.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1481758941)
I now have a mechanical thumb, it works well.
For pulling logs and tree length out to my log yard, it depends on several factors. If I can navigate using the excavator, I just hook the log using a log chain to a hook on the bucket and I lift and pull. I can steer a lot by swinging the boom side to side, or rotating the cab as needed. If that doesn't seem a good choice, and I have good ground to pull on, I use a 3 point log arch and a log chain. That will only fit over a log up to maybe 24" across, so bigger ones still require the excavator.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/DSCN0289.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1267041250)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/DSCN0290.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1267041250)
I use End Tongs. ;D
If there is only one decent (14"+) log to skid I'll use tongs but usually there are multiple logs that need to go at the same time so tongs don't work. They are handy for setting up the multiple logs and lifting to get a chain under them. They don't save many trips on and off the tractor for me though.
I used tongs to move and place logs with a front end loader on an old farm tractor. This was before I got forks set up on it. One set on each side of the loader where the bucket normally pins in. Once I got practiced at it I could pick up a log without getting off the tractor, then I decided I didn't want to get off to unhook so I attached a rope to each of the close halves of the tongs and tied them off in front of the tractor seat. Most times I could release the tongs from a log from the seat of the tractor after the weight was off the tongs. I have skidded with a three point and tongs but never did enough of it to bother with a remote way to hook or unhook. Now that I am older I would take the time to have a three point hydraulic glom if I was skidding much stuff.
Maple Flats has the best trick, you just need to get accustomed to driving logs out while sitting sideways. Nice and clean, almost to easy. Turn on the tunes. Best when there is a little snow so you don't get caught on the stumps bc you see your old path.
No tunes here! The excavator has no radio and I don't use muffs with tunes in them.
Maple flats: You say your excavator is 8000. Lifts 2500 pounds, close to the machine I assume. Is that machine the same size as a 430 bobcat? I see 35 in the model number on the side. Mine has some extra tail weight, too. I am impressed by the logs you were carrying, though I do worry about narrow passages when carrying them sideways, if I'm in the woods. I certainly don't want to snag something that causes an upset. I recall another thread on this in the forum, where there was a discussion of using a small excavator with a pole attached to help put up timber frames as well. The sideways carry question came up there, too.