Hobbyist looking for equipment suggestions

[NOCO Jim]

So now that I have the mill mostly done and a pile of dust in my welding shop its time to make a saw shed which requires lumber.   I have 100 or so acres of mixed woods all around me.  I am eyeing a fair bit of hemlock blowdowns in the 16" range.  
I have a manual 2wd Deere 950 with FEL.  Its about 25hp or so.  
Right now I am thinking of getting a norwood capstan to pull trees to trails and welding up some kind of narrow trailer with some old minivan wheels I have. maybe a removeable bar across the back up high to hang a pulley off of.  The norwood winch is a little spendy but not too bad.  Sadly, I sent much of my scrap pile up the road to the yard so not too much around to assemble a homemade winch out of. 
I am interested to hear people's take on the capstan winch or any other ideas you might have.
-thanks 

[rusticretreater]

You want to build/get a log arch.  A hitch set up on your tractor would likely be needed.



 

[gasman1075]

I had one for a couple of years and it worked well. It was on a 27HP JD 790. I pulled all hardwoods for firewood. My only issue was having too many logs on it and having it push me down the hill a few times. I had a used Farmi before that but it was well used but not well maintained and I need have the metal fab skills to repair it. 

[kantuckid]

Rears off a mini van are great to build an arch-I built mine that way but was when steel was far less$$$. I never used it much as terrain here made it tough to use, not that they don't have logical purpose.
 Even a small tractor can skid larger logs if you can get one end up using the 3pt hitch. might also look at various set-ups for that 3pt. to lift logs w/o issues. Trees that ask for a powerful initial pull may be problematic as even larger tractors traction becomes an issue. 
Years back, I cut smaller pine for sale into pine post cash market using an old Ford 8n tractor and did well actually, just no FEL on mine so here my worn out body left behind. 
I'd think hard on the tractor variations or another, larger tractor before I built the arch. 
My saw shed uses PT posts and a homemade bridge style truss in front for open span. Lots of pics online of the truss and sheds. I also have a horizontal beam in back with a cheapo HF chain hoist to turn big logs via a sling wrapped around the logs to reduce solo cant hook tasks on big ones. 

[NOCO Jim]

I can definitely weld up a log arch frame or some kind of narrow trailer and I have enough in surplus materials to do that.  Terrain is not bad here.  Old tractor roads are still navigable.  From the hemlocks there is one big hill on the way home.  I thought maybe a log arch and bring them out one at a time would make the hill manageable but bringing a few logs out at a time on a trailer seemed a little more efficient.  
If I go with a winch setup a farmi type seems too expensive, more that I paid for the tractor if I got a new one.  I like how fast and strong they seem to be and I never seem to get to use the tractor PTO for anything.    I have pulled wagon loads of firewood up that hill in the summer, no problem.   Loaded I would be all uphill so no getting pushed around by a big load.
Another thing is I love these woods, I walk and ski them often and I dont want to tear them up at all so I thought wheels = less damage and maybe less HP needed to move a given load.

Gasman, if you still have that farmi somewhere in the tall grass and you're not too far from Potsdam let me know.

And thanks for the input

[thecfarm]

You should not tear up much with a tractor. 
I did it for 3 years with a 40hp tractor and hauled out some big pine with it, and really did no damage. Yes, there was wet spots, but load of rocks firmed them up.
Now I had my land logged and a skidder and the forwarder did some damage.

[jb616]

I'm amazed at what i can haul on my log arch with just a 314 John Deere. That's a 14hp hydro. It has hauled a 30" 13ft white pine through the woods and up to my mill. This is a 13' cherry at 18-20" that is no problem at all. 

 

[NOCO Jim]

Thanks for the suggestions, all
I decided to fab up a skidding winch.

Here's some pics of the drum etc. during assembly.



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Here it is with some extra J. Deere green slapped on.



 

 

 

 

[barbender]

You throw that out there as casually as saying you decided to wear socks today! Beautiful fab work!

[barbender]

I I was in your situation, I think I would build a skidding arch as well, but I like a different style. They use a tube mounted sloped at about 45°, that has a slider you attach your choker to. As you drive ahead, the slider rides up the tube, lifting the front of the log off the ground. If it tries to push you down a hill, the slider rides forward, dropping the front of the log so it is self braking. The only drawback with this is the log ends up on the ground.

[Walnut Beast]

Looks great. What size cable is it ?

[NOCO Jim]

I have about 160' of 5/16" cable on it.  The drum is a piece of old well casing, about 6 1/2" Diameter.   

[thecfarm]

Fab work looks great!!!
I can't tell for sure, but that pulley looks kinda low.

[NOCO Jim]

 

 Thanks

I think you're right.  It is a little low.  I had in mind to make one along the lines of a smaller Norse Like this one.   I was thinking my tractor was small for running a winch with all the leverage a high pulley would exert.  I have since pulled a dozen or so 16 footers and the setup seems pretty stable.  I might add another pulley higher up.

[Walnut Beast]

Get a good snatch block and a tree saver strap. You can do some amazing things with them. When my machine is back in operation I need to shorten the strap up and go another 4' up in the tree to get the big walnut out of the steep creek. My only limit is the trees there. Nothing bigger to anchor to.

 

[Wlmedley]

I would love to build a winch like yours.Where did you get your plan? Or did you copy from a factory made winch.

[NOCO Jim]

I like that Idea of anchoring off trees to get height when needed.  I'm looking forward to getting out some of these blowdowns once the ground isnt so soft.
As for where I got the plan, I looked at a nice build by a fella on Arboristsite called dave_dj1 and also referenced some winch manuals I found available to the public on the  labonville inc. website.  
The drum assembly is the heart of it, the rest is basic rough fabrication.  This one came out with some wonk as I dont have any machinist tools.  I used a plasma, a stick welder, a drill press and a coal forge.   
I have never used or seen a skidding winch in person but, if you could, I would suggest you take a look at one in person and bring a tape measure and pad and pencil, maybe a camera.  
The trickiest bit was probably the mechanism for engaging the clutch...

[kantuckid]

NY state has plenty of loggers. I highly suggest you find one who'll allow you to sidekick along while they work. I'd not build or desgin one more thing until you've got a well rounded feel for how full timers do this stuff.