Carriage designed by Forest Service for the PeeWee Yarder

[getoan]

Edmontana do you have the drawings for the mini yarder available? I'm working on building a small firewood yarder and found some info on the specs etc but no plans. Your operating manual was very informative, thank you

[thecfarm]

Just so you know,Edmontana has not been active since Jan.

[janadellamano]

getoan - - just so you know, and if I read your question correctly, I posted the source for the plans to the peewee yarder in my original question on page one of this string.

[janadellamano]

And as follow-up on our project here, no pictures to post yet as we're a little embarassed by our lack of progress. Currently working on ideas for a brake system that would lock our carriage onto the cable, and some kind of lock or clasp system that would hold the logs up to the carriage and keep the butts up off the ground during the mainline haul back to the landing. That's why we were looking for the plans for whatever the Forest Service built for the PeeWee Yarder, thinking we could just build that or at least use some ideas from it.

[janadellamano]

here's that link for the PeeWee Yarder again . . .
https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr092.pdf

[mike_belben]

Few ideas that utilize cheap/free/household junk.  


De-Sta-Co is the trusted manufacturer of a tremendous assortment if toggle clamps, definitely the industry leader in such things for clamping and fixturing parts in the CNC workholding enviromment and tailgate/tilt trailer latching etc.  Tons of it used MRO on ebay.  Destaco will work for a seach too

Belt driven lawn tractors almost always have a small disc on the exterior of the gearbox mated to an exposed extra length of shafting from the intermediate or output shaft and theyll hold back a car trailer from rolling.  Mower will skid but not roll.  

My dad built a go kart when i was a kid.  It used a jackshaft to transmit drive on one end and braking on the other.  The brake was a double sheave B belt on the shaft, and right behind it was a curved piece of flatstock to match the sheave radius.   He cut and glued + riveted/screwed two strips of a B belt to the curved band.  There was a hinge at the bottom and a pull strut on top.  When you stomped the pedal it yanked this rubber friction band down onto the hinge and bound up the jackshaft.  It was 100% trouble free and locked em right up.  Lay the belt scraps in the grooves, the crescent band over that and sheetmetal screw through predrilled holes to build one.  It needs to align well. 


Automatic transmissions all have one or more plantary drums and bands inside, same principle.  A servo cinches the band around the OD of the planetary shell and holds it stationary for 2nd gear.  So those are very cheap and available parts to scab something together too.  

Or you could have a disk with holes and a spring loaded pin waiting for the log or a choker bell to bump a lever and trip it.  The pin will jam against the rotating plate until it aligns with a hole then pop in to brake. Harbor freight and etrailer.com sell them.  I would taper this pin and put a real good grab handle on the back side to make it easier for the unchoker to disengage it.

[janadellamano]

mike_belben - - thanks for the ideas!

[mike_belben]

Anytime bud.

[edmontana]

I have the full drawings for the bitterroot yarder, but they are too large to post here. If you want them, send me an email and I can get them to you.

[WoodHog1961]

i have been searching for  several years for info  on a small yarder would there be a chance of you sharing those yarder plans if so  email is stongeinc@gmail.com

[h2ofwlr]

  There is a small (christy sized) sitting at a local equipment dealer  near me    i can get you contact  info if you like. 

[Mt406]

Woodhog 
I have been scouring online for a forestry winch for my skid steer and came across uniforest brand. Cost was very affordable.
While I was watching their YouTube videos I came across some videos of their Skyline system and the yarder heads the US and Canada distributors is Hudson Forestry. Take a look at their YouTube videos it might be something you're interested in. Take a look at what they have you may be able to modify it for what you're looking for.

Scott

[Keith94]

I realize this is a very old thread, but did anyone ever get the full plans of the bitterroot yarder from edmontana? I see he hasn't been active in years, if anyone else on here is still around. I've been trying to find them without luck. All of the links to the supposed plans in this thread don't work anymore.

[Zewnten]

Does this help?

https://www.fs.usda.gov/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr092.pdf

Otherwise I just search peewee loader, clicked on the US forest Pacific station page and there was a PDF download.

Here is video of a Bitterroot Yarder.

Bitterroot Small Cable Yarder Demonstration - YouTube

[Stephen Alford]

   This topic seems to come and go . Found another little east coast history  on a similar beast . The University of Main developed their version and called it the Yankee Yarder . Around 1984 the extension forestry department PEI got the plans from them and made a few modifications to it and called it The Island logger Highlead Cable system . At that time most harvesting was being done by hand cutters .  Then processors started doing most of the harvesting in the early 90's so it just kind of faded away .
   In an evaluation of it done in 1989 it suggested the hauling distance be kept to under 125 m or about 400 ft . The average production rate was 1.5 cds/hr if things were prepared and crew experienced . At the time the cost estimate of 23.85$ per available machine hour,it would cost 15.9$ per cd to extract wood .  This was based on an investment of about 15000.00$ over 5 years . They thought it would work on steep slopes and  wet land.
    

[Keith94]

Does this help?

https://www.fs.usda.gov/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr092.pdf

Otherwise I just search peewee loader, clicked on the US forest Pacific station page and there was a PDF download.

Here is video of a Bitterroot Yarder.

Bitterroot Small Cable Yarder Demonstration - YouTube

Not what I was looking for, but I hadn't seen that document. It probably wouldn't be worth building something along these lines, but it'd be really useful right now. I've seen that video, they're yarding stuff a lot smaller than I think it's worth, I've seen another video of it pulling much bigger stuff, and I feel like I could probably make some improvements on the design. 

[Keith94]

  This topic seems to come and go . Found another little east coast history  on a similar beast . The University of Main developed their version and called it the Yankee Yarder . Around 1984 the extension forestry department PEI got the plans from them and made a few modifications to it and called it The Island logger Highlead Cable system . At that time most harvesting was being done by hand cutters .  Then processors started doing most of the harvesting in the early 90's so it just kind of faded away .
  In an evaluation of it done in 1989 it suggested the hauling distance be kept to under 125 m or about 400 ft . The average production rate was 1.5 cds/hr if things were prepared and crew experienced . At the time the cost estimate of 23.85$ per available machine hour,it would cost 15.9$ per cd to extract wood .  This was based on an investment of about 15000.00$ over 5 years . They thought it would work on steep slopes and  wet land.
   

I've noticed it's seemed to pop up every couple years in various forums. I hadn't seen the island logger version anywhere, It probably wouldn't be worth building, but it'd be really handy right now to clear a stand of dead alder in a pretty swampy location. 

[Stephen Alford]

   in case its of any help to someone reading this thread here is a little more info from that report compiled by Wm. Blinn in 1989.



 

 

 

 

[Keith94]

  in case its of any help to someone reading this thread here is a little more info from that report compiled by Wm. Blinn in 1989.



 

 

 

Cool stuff. Quite the contraptions they came up with