tractor for small time logging

[beenthere]

Saw your pics in your gallery. A little more tweaking and you can get them bigger so they are easier to see. 
Hope you don't mind that I dragged one in here to show what that 'little' Deere can do.  ;D



That's a nice ash log.

[Wallys World]

I get this place figures out sometime. Thanks for moving the picture. That 445 also pulls a Bush Hog SQ42 brush cutter. I'll go thru anything I can drive over, usally 2 inch is max. It takes a beating but holds up great.
Wally

[Ed_K]

 Max, its hard to see but I have a Baileys loader on the front of the trailer. The grapple is laying on the logs. I also have a grapple from valbys that mounts on the front end loader for moving big logs. It can be set to pick up sideways or from the end to stack piles.

Beenthere, nice log trailer. I started off with a similar setup w/ 4x4 yamaha.

[beenthere]

Ed K
Actually is Wallys World's log trailer, and I just posted it for him from his gallery. Hope we get some pics of that trailer. It looks well built and must pull easy to have the 'garden' tractor bringing in logs (although that class of garden tractor is a workhorse and has the 22HP Kawasaki gas engine in it, with fuel injection, water cooled).

Someone mentioned the potential for a unit like this, - that has hydraulics (two rams), hydrostatic forward/reverse, cruise control, and power steering - as a portable mill power source for moving through a log and hyd lift.  Seems to be worth pondering.

[Qweaver]

Just a Q, is your loader the LA513 (513 kg lift) or the LA723 (723 kg lift)?  Many dealers put the lighter loader on to save $ when pricing out a machine.  The old Ford was likely 30 pto hp and the 3130 is 31 engine hp, only like 25 pto or so.  The older compact fords were a respected tractor for sure, the 2120 was a beast and loved by all who owned

it.

The Ford was 30 engine HP and 26 PTO HP. The loader is a GB2130 (max lift 1730lb at the pivot pin to 59") and the BH is a GB2175
I'm pretty well satified with the loader but the BH is built very well but just does not have enough boom power.    I need to be able to lift the back of the tractor with the back hoe and set it over.  It will bearly do this and only if I have no down pressure with the loader.   In defence of the Kubota, The Ford's Bradco backhoe had 3" cylinders while the Great Bend backhoe only has 2.5.  I my replace the boom cylinder with a 3" and see how it does.
Quinton

[slowzuki]

Many of the new machines won't pick up the rear with the hoe, I was surprised that the manuals even warn against trench crossing.  The Bigger dedicated machines like the L48 and L35 and the JD unit seem to have this ability still.

The LA853 on my machine can pick 2930 lb at the pin to 59" and I still find it isn't enough to get the biggest stuff moved.  I think something like a LA1302 would be a better size loader for logs.

[Greg_B.]

my 4020 branson would pickup the rear end of my tracter and shift from side to side before i had the rear industrial tires filled with fluid.

[fronk327]

While I am new to running a sawmill, I am not new to tractors. An 8n is a well built and economical tractor, and will pull a good size log if it is set up properly. I own an 8n and work for one of the largest internet tractor parts companies, ssbtractor.  The 8n is an amazing old tractor that has been around for 60 plus years. It was made when Ford really had a better idea. Parts both new and used are readily available. With a log arch you could pull all day long without consuming a lot of fuel.
First purchase and read an operators manual. Next I would put a bumper on the front, to prevent damage to the grill and radiator. I would put a draw bar with a draw bar lock across the lift arms on the 3 point hitch.
If you do not have a log arch you can use logging tongs along with the draw bar.  Also get a set of height stabilizer chains. These will take the load off of your hydraulic pump.
The draw back to using any of these old tractors is the fact that very few have roll over protection. If for some reason your tires get stuck or prevented from easily rotating, such as in the mud, or the tree you are pulling catches on something, the tractor(any tractor) can flip it self backwards.
When I read  the posts on sawmills, there are many that will tell you to always read the operators manual before using the sawmill. The same holds true for tractors, yet few posts make that reference. I do not mean to scare anybody who is exploring this option, but please know how to use your machine properly.
I guess my point is older tractors can be had for relatively low prices and be a real work and money saver, if you use them properly. Safety is always a factor.

[Ironwood]

I have had three separate 8N's here, all with loaders and have been GREAT tractors. TONS of safe and enjoyable work.

Ironwood

[g_man]

I have a 30 hp Kabota (L3010) with a Farmi winch and an ATI grapple on the bucket.
I take out fir, white pine and firewood. It is  not a problem with 12" dbh stuff. The
biggest concern is hills. You have to stay straight up and down if its steep. I use
straps and snatch blocks to pull at 90 degrees to a steep road. It is slow work
but I've taken out 24" pine. Then it is one log at a time. I use the grapple on my bucket
to load my dump truck for hauling to the mill. Very small operation but it gets done.

[chevytaHOE5674]

N's have their place in history and around the farm but I wouldn't take one in the woods IMO. Their front axles are very light duty and repeated loader use can stress and break it (parted 4-5 N's out in the last few years that suffered severe front end damage). And I just got done rebuilding the front end of my ferguson TO-30 (almost identical to an N) because of years of loader use. They also lack live hydraulics and live pto. Very few N's have ROPS, and many have been injured when the tractors go over.

If your going to truly use the tractor there are much better alternatives to the N with a similar price tag IMO.

[timberfaller390]

I totaly agree. I have worked on about every brand and age of tractor you can imagine and the N series as well as similar sized ferguson, international and pretty much any row crop model are too lite and have no place in the woods. I watched a friends uncle stand a JD model M straight up in the air when a log hung on a rock. This was on flat ground. He jumped off and killed the motor just as the tractor started to come of the ground(how he could think to do all that and not think to hit the clutch I'll never know) but by the time the engine was shut down it had the front end pointed skyward.

[steveforest]

8N is not really geared very low and yes, must have roll over protection(ROPS). I've got a Ford 2110 38 HP 4X4 with loader. works great. Wish I had a winch, but I can buy a used skidder for not much more than a new winch.

[captain_crunch]

T-F 290
Reason clutch did not get disengauged was due to you have to push them foreward and when a Tractor rears up opperator is generalaly grapping at anything to stay on board and pushing a lever ahead just don't happen. This killed lots of people.
8&9 N fords don't have a very heavy front end for a loader but they done it for years. There are lots better choices now days but in yester year Ford made a version of them called a Woods Tractor had an arched front axle canopy and skid pans. I prefur a crawler for the brush farm tractors just don't have the stability for hills nor the tires to resist logging hazards but we use what we got just need to be aware of their limitations

[Green Wood]

I use a newer 26 or 28 horse Kubota, BX series, with a bucket. I just chain around the drawbar and pick'em of the ground, It puls out two pretty big 16 footers and dosen't think twice. I could pull more but it wont fit on the drawbar I also pull out single 40 footers and it works fine for that. I also run ice chains on it and I think that helps alot.

[Knute]

I have used an Allis CA and WD for years. Extended the two lift arms and put a bar accross for lifting one end of the log. Have skidded logs 24"+.