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Any good "log tongs"

Started by wisconsitom, January 21, 2023, 08:06:07 AM

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wisconsitom

Hey all, I'm thinning in a larch plantation.  Stems being removed are typically only ten inches or so at the butt, but are being left long.  These skinny logs are heavy!  Larch is dense stuff.

Got a Fiskars hand-held log tongs to help me position these sticks for a good winching route out of the blocks, but item had to be sent back to it's maker.  Hinge where jaws pivot is not loose, so jaws don't close around piece.

Anyone know of a good one?  I don't think a picaroon or pulp hook would work well in this case.
Ask me about hybrid larch!

teakwood

I have a pair of them, i have them since 15years and we use them a lot. they still perfect. a quality product for cheap money

Hand Lifting Timber Tong | Husqvarna US
National Stihl Timbersports Champion Costa Rica 2018

wisconsitom

Thanks teak.  That's the other one I was looking at....and should have got.
Ask me about hybrid larch!

Walnut Beast

Find or look for some old railroad tie moving tongs. That's the best! I've got a couple pair. But I just looked and there are a few several on EBay under Railroad tie tongs
 Hands down the best for moving logs by hand!!

kelLOGg

I bought a pair from Amazon and rather than return them I repaired them and now they work great. They open to 24" so they are too small for many sawyers. As received they wouldn't open enough to descend onto a log. I welded a "stop" to prevent full closure so sometimes I don't even have to get off the tractor. In my review of them I said. "Don't by these unless you can weld".



 
Cook's MP-32, 20HP, 20' (modified w/ power feed, up/down, loader/turner)
DH kiln, CatClaw setter and sharpener, tandem trailer, log arch, tractor, thumb tacks

Jeff

Sponsor Logrite tools has tongs
Just call me the midget doctor.
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Magicman

Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

wisconsitom

Thanks all. I just need the kind with hand grip.  Got the Norse for tugging.

Ordered the Husqvarna version earlier.  See if they work, lol.
Ask me about hybrid larch!

Magicman

Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

wisconsitom

It was odd to pick up a pair and have it not work!   Yeah those WM look decent.

It's just gotta dangle freely-then it'll work.  Those first ones I got were stiff.
Ask me about hybrid larch!

teakwood

Quote from: wisconsitom on January 21, 2023, 09:13:26 AM
Thanks teak.  That's the other one I was looking at....and should have got.
Be sure you get the big ones form Husqvarna, i think they are 12". i have a small one too, 8" and it's useless unless you do only small branches. it's collecting dust since 15years 
National Stihl Timbersports Champion Costa Rica 2018

John Mc

Quote from: teakwood on January 22, 2023, 08:50:13 AMBe sure you get the big ones form Husqvarna, i think they are 12". i have a small one too, 8" and it's useless unless you do only small branches. it's collecting dust since 15years


I'm on the other side of this coin from Teakwood. I have a two of the 8" Husqvarna tongs (The smaller size) and really like them. They're handy for picking up rounds of firewood to load on the splitter or shifting the end of a longer log. Even though they only open to 8", I regularly pick up 12" diameter logs with them. I don't think I'd want to be moving much bigger logs by hand. The tongs ride on the belt of my chaps in a Husqvarna Multi-Purpose Holster. (I was always losing them before I got the holster.)

I tried the larger model where the jaws open to 12", but didn't keep them. I knew I would be too tempted to be shuffling around larger logs and risking seriously aggravating an old wrestling injury.

Whichever way you end up going, these Husqvarna tongs work very well.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

bigblockyeti

Do any of these hand hooks have weight ratings?  I bent the heck out of a pair of Fiskars I had and they were replaced but working within their limitation, they're really only good for smaller firewood rounds, not so much for 200lb (or more) logs.  I wish I could get something more like skidding tongs but with a single handle to grab.

Magicman

Quote from: bigblockyeti on January 22, 2023, 08:35:15 PMnot so much for 200lb (or more) logs.
??  So you are picking up 200lb logs with hand tongs?   :o  

You will never reach/exceed any weight limit with the Wood-Mizer hand tongs that I linked in Reply #8 above.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

John Mc

I've never seen a weight rating on any hand tongs. The 8" Husqvarna tongs are intended mainly for one-handed operation, though I do occasionally "double up" and use both hands. I've owned a set for something like 15 years and never been able to damage them with any of my use, despite "giving it all I've got" on a number of occasions. The only maintenance I've ever done is to resharpen the tips every few years (mostly so I can still easily grab Beech or other very smooth bark species).

As long as I'm not trying to chain it to the loader on my tractor or something, The only way I think I'm going to damage these is if I run over them with my tractor.

If I recall correctly, the 12" Husqvarna tongs have room for a 2-handed grip, and are heavier construction.

If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

Stephen Alford

   To reposition sticks ,wood or brush I have found a gaff to be very useful . Its a shovel handle with a hook and replaceable tip . There is no bending over and it helps a lot to have something to lean on when staggering around in slash .  I paint everything blue making tools easier to spot .  My hand held hook is for rounds, mind you if you drive a gaff  in your foot it does leave a mark ... not so bad when your feet are froze :D



 
logon

wisconsitom

Heh, @Stephen Alford, "staggering around in the slash"......you know it, brother!
Ask me about hybrid larch!

wisconsitom

Here's the wrap-up;. Sent the very nice looking but nonfunctional Fiskars back and ordered a Husqvarna off eBay.  I thought I was getting new, but it showed up as used, but fine condition.  Oddly, it too seemed like it would likely not work, in that hinge action is stiff, not loose or dangling.

Tried it out though in my plantation thinning yesterday and it does close on the size stuff I'm dealing with.  I don't know if I got the bigger one or the 8-incher, probably the latter, but seems fine.

Later down the road, subsequent thinnings will be fewer, larger trees, and this thing won't matter, but for now, should help a bit.
Ask me about hybrid larch!

Walnut Beast

If anybody that has used or has railroad switch tie tongs they can tell you how good they work

Walnut Beast

Quote from: Stephen Alford on January 23, 2023, 08:22:45 AM
  To reposition sticks ,wood or brush I have found a gaff to be very useful . Its a shovel handle with a hook and replaceable tip . There is no bending over and it helps a lot to have something to lean on when staggering around in slash .  I paint everything blue making tools easier to spot .  My hand held hook is for rounds, mind you if you drive a gaff  in your foot it does leave a mark ... not so bad when your feet are froze :D


<br
I forgot about saying something on this post! I can second that!! Very very smart and handy painting chains and tools! I've done some and have a few more on the list to do.

wisconsitom

Do you guys find the paint you're using to stay on choker chains ok?  I've already managed to waste precious time searching around for where I laid mine a couple times.  I've got blue marking paint-it's the right shade-but probably not a durable paint.

I do agree, a bright blue shows up well in the winter woods.
Ask me about hybrid larch!

beenthere

Quote from: Walnut Beast on February 03, 2023, 01:12:03 PM
If anybody that has used or has railroad switch tie tongs they can tell you how good they work
They work great for switch ties and when using both hands. Not so great for logs if wanting to move with one hand. Also much heavier to carry along with, and do not fit into a scabbard or holster. just sayin... bottom line, "not so good".  ;D
south central Wisconsin
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John Mc

Quote from: wisconsitom on February 03, 2023, 12:53:11 PM
Here's the wrap-up;. Sent the very nice looking but nonfunctional Fiskars back and ordered a Husqvarna off eBay.  I thought I was getting new, but it showed up as used, but fine condition.  Oddly, it too seemed like it would likely not work, in that hinge action is stiff, not loose or dangling.

Tried it out though in my plantation thinning yesterday and it does close on the size stuff I'm dealing with.  I don't know if I got the bigger one or the 8-incher, probably the latter, but seems fine.

Later down the road, subsequent thinnings will be fewer, larger trees, and this thing won't matter, but for now, should help a bit.
The action will loosen up after you have used it a bit. I occasionally hit mine with a shot of WD40 or some silicon lube till they loosened up a bit.

To find what size you have, measure the distance between the tips when fully opened. Also, you probably will have a tough time fitting two hands on the handle of the 8" model. THe 12" has a bit longer handle.

You may need to sharpen the tips on occasion if you are regularly grabbing harder, smooth-barked species (like Beech). I probably only have to touch mine up once every couple years or so, but it will vary depending on how heavily you use them.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

wisconsitom

Hi John.  Used em a bunch today.  Seems like I'll tend to pick up an end of one of these larch poles with grabber and then use grabber plus other hand to move stick..  It helps out.  It's just to position long pieces for snaking out of plantation situation.   The rate these trees are growing at, by next thinning all will be beyond the size where such an item will have much use, I think.

By then though, all the thousands of pine and spruce will be ready for thinning.  I'll still be able to use it there.💪
Ask me about hybrid larch!

Walnut Beast

Quote from: beenthere on February 03, 2023, 02:42:28 PM
Quote from: Walnut Beast on February 03, 2023, 01:12:03 PM
If anybody that has used or has railroad switch tie tongs they can tell you how good they work
They work great for switch ties and when using both hands. Not so great for logs if wanting to move with one hand. Also much heavier to carry along with, and do not fit into a scabbard or holster. just sayin... bottom line, "not so good".  ;D
I was looking at it from a two hand perspective. I know what they can do. I've got two of them and I can pull some big boy logs. Definitely agree about using one hand with them wouldn't work so good. I suppose the one hand model would be good for hand pulling little stuff. But if that's the case you might as well move by hand.
Like I said for moving bigger logs I'll put the tie tongs up against anything! I can pull big boy logs by pulling myself or two people. Or standing in one place reaching forward and pulling the log in place. At various locations on the log for leverage.

Plus they are strong enough I could throw a chain on them and pull with a machine if I was feelings like a runt

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