Tips for preventing cable break related injuries when pulling stuff

[Hilltop366]

We use to rig a chain like you describe YellowHammer, we even had a old forged grab hook that was around 10" long with a 4" long chain slot in it, the long slot made it harder for the chain hook to fall out and the long overall hook length made a handle and it was much easier to grab the hook and hook it on the chain. We would hook on a log and take the slack out of the rest of the chain with the grab hook then drive the tractor ahead then back up and re-hook the grab hook on the chain shorter until the log was on the wood road then re-hook with a shorter chain so it could be lifted a bit to reduce drag and put weight on the rear of the tractor to haul to landing.

With the grab hook on the vehicle you are no longer restricted to how short you can make the chain so it was just a matter of hooking the chain on the log once and shorten on the grab hook and go to the landing. After we got a logging winch the chain method is not used any more but I put grab hooks on my tractor bucket and use that often to move things around, its so much easier and dependable to adjust the chain on the bucket hook than doubling the chain and it also gives you the ability to switch the chain around and use the grab hook end of the chain when needed when you don't want to have the chain choke around something. 

[Magicman]

I believe that at least 6 of my chains have a grab hook on one end and a slip hook on the other.  Works for me and my needs.

[beenthere]

And Ginger will be finding out what works for her, and then know if the ATV will pull anything out of the pile of tree tops she faces. But a good chain and a secure place to hook to on the ATV will be top of the list. Hope she lets us know.

[barbender]

You'll have a heck of a time pulling anything out of that pile with an ATV. All of those tops will be tied together with the cumulative weight of everything holding them all fast. Even if you had a cable skidder with a 20K# winch, you could hook a choker on to one log and half the pile would come with it.

 I'd cut the better stems loose from the pile, and then pull them away with the ATV. I think that's the only way you'll have any success.

[Hilltop366]

I figure it would work better and be safer to try and pull them off the top or near to it.

[thecfarm]

Hilltop, I moved a lot of logs doing the same thing with my Father.
My father would drive the tractor, and I would be the chain man. That hook better be hooked the way he wanted it too!!
But it was the right way to do it.

[Ginger Squirrel]

I will try to find that chain style choker in Canada, I think at this point I might only do this next year though as we were having a nice spring so was feeling like I could get it done this year but the weather just turned fast.  Lot of cold and rain. The cold is not so bad, but working in rain is no fun. Although I've been told they are planing to plow the main road year round now so I could end up going in winter before the snow gets too deep on the unplowed part of the property as I don't have much in terms of equipment there or place to store it.

But yeah I will have to experiment as I go. The best would be to pull from the top but I will see how possible it will be to pull from the middle or bottom.   I will probably be moving to different logs and going back and forth as I work it out. Come to think of it I might get more than one choker once I find a source as if I'm trying to jiggle logs around it may be useful to alternate where I pull from.

Oh and I'm actually a dude, I guess the screen name kinda sounds girly but I'm a ginger.

[Ginger Squirrel]

Found this, so got two, just to make the shipping more worthwhile:

https://theforestrystore.com/products/choker-chain?_pos=1&_sid=02d3eafa7&_ss=r

And I'll get some 1/2" grade 70 chain locally at the hardware store with regular hooks just so it matches the same rating. Then I'll be ready for whenever I get the chance to go out to my property again whether it's this year or next year.  I do want to try to squeeze in one last trip this year as it would be nice to bring my ATV there and leave it there, to make room in my garage so I can do work in it this winter.   Also will be good to have some firewood ready for next year already sitting on the property, even if I don't get around to splitting it at least it will be in rounds. 

[YellowHammer]

I tried the hook welded on the tow vehicle thing, decades ago, but I didn't like it.  Two hooks welded to the bucket of the tractor, a hook welded to the landscape box, a hook welded to the bush hog, a hook on every other implement I happened to have in the woods at the time. which size? 5/16" or 1/2" Or both?  Then a hook would break, so weld on another.  Or just don't. 

Now I move logs with the excavator, or the track loader, or the trailer,  but I still use my short chains all the time for various jobs on the farm.  My long chains just lay in a rusty pile in a couple milk crates in the shed.   

In my mind, a chain need to have a hook on both ends, no matter what it's used for, and one hook may as well be a slip hook. 

[thecfarm]

Much better price then the link I posted. Two for the price of one. 
Good luck with the job.
Pulling at different angles might get things moving better. May take 3-4 times to get a log out.

[Ginger Squirrel]

The chains came in, will still need to buy regular chain lengths but the local places seem to have that so I'll just get it locally whenever.  



Hoping to get a day off with decent weather so I can go and try these out sometimes. If I go I'll post back with results.

[Peter Drouin]

They work well, I have some.

[Ginger Squirrel]

Got a chance to try this out today.  I bought a 20 foot 1/4" grade 70 chain and an assortment of hooks so I can figure out what works best. I found the slip hooks, at least the ones I got, don't insert properly into the chain, but I also had some quick hooks so I will probably just use those for attaching the lengths together and to the ATV.  ATV does not have a good spot to hook to so I did the faux pas of using the hitch ball but I figure if it breaks it's going the other way, and odds of it happening is slim to none.  Traction is the limiting factor not the steel. 

Managed to pull out some smaller logs, and also snap some in half if they were very stuck, but I don't think this will work out well for the very big ones that are very jammed in there. Didn't have that much time as I wanted to head back home before it gets dark and the days are very short now, but at least I know this works.  I have a good 10 or so logs that are loose and ready to be bucked for the next time I go for a visit.  The choker chain really holds on well though, so that worked out nicely.

Over the winter I want to brainstorm what I want to build next and that will require making quick work of the piles to free up the space, so I might end up renting an excavator to handle that in order to get it done faster, and I can also use the excavator to prep the ground for the structure while I have it, and maybe even dig an outhouse.  But in the mean time I'll pick away at it with the ATV.