Tractor logging with winch

[thecfarm]

Like that auto brake!!!!
Looks like it will work good.

[g_man]

 Thanks to all !

gg

[thecfarm]

Much easier on the woods to bring wood out on a trailer.
When My father was alive we brought out the wood on a trailer. Another pair of hands made things easier. You really could not tell where we went.
Now I drag most of my wood out with the 3 pt winch. After I make 2-3 trips in the same spot, anyboby can tell where I went.

[cutterboy]

G man, you amaze me. Always thinking, always doing.

[g_man]

G man, you amaze me. Always thinking, always doing.

Ha Ha - I just posted the same about you. Keep cutting Cutter !

gg

[weimedog]

Some thoughts and notes kind of random while pulling logs with a crop row tractor.

[thecfarm]

Nice ground he has to work on.
I myself like chocker chains without that style of hook.
Forgot to mention, how can you pull logs without a rolling hitch and no use of a snatch block. 

[Jeff]

@weimedog I put your video url in the new youtube tags you will find in the post editor. This embeds your video in the post.

[weimedog]

I'll have to see how to do that, I have in the past put in commentary then a link. This will do the same right? A lot of new stuff on the interface here it looks like to me. 

[Jeff]

Yup, type what you want where, and put the video anywhere you want in the post. Just click in your post where you want the video, click the youtube icon in the post editor, it will have a popup where you insert your youtube url.Then click insert.

You can keep typing under it, add a pic, or what ever.

[g_man]

I've been thinning out some ill shaped Yellow Birch for firewood and decided to give my experimental crane a real life test down in the woods. I pretty much know now how I am going to build the working version so I wasn't really worried that I might break something. But, I was surprised that the wooden boom was able to take the punishment.







gg

[mike_belben]

Does it swivel?

[thecfarm]

@mike_belben go back a page. I think rely 247. He started it there.

[g_man]

Does it swivel?

I used to load by hand which is a problem now. So as an experiment to see if a crane could work I made this wood sorta model. I started off with a pair of hook and eye type gate hinges. I broke the hooks by hanging on the end of the boom and then made my own hooks. In playing with the thing I soon learned that I needed to have the hinge center line plumb in order to move/control any weight at all by hand. I have top and tilt cylinders on the tractor so I redid the hinges to get centered in the control range when plumb on level ground. That way I can use the 'TnT' to plumb up in the woods. That's what I was testing in the woods.
 




gg

[mike_belben]

Pretty slick, i like it.  

On my cable jammer boom it took a while to get it to work.  What seems good on paper is often a disappointment when you put the thing together and then its back to the drawing board with a new chunk of info you wish you had before.  For mine lifting oak sawlogs that i couldnt maneuver by hand, i really needed a swiveling end cable with a guide on the end.  Prior to that it would just try to wreck my cable by derailing when the angle wasnt right. The next most useful feature was a permanent come-along in place to set the height of the pulley.  A fix height was never perfect. 

My cable jammer made me appreciate hydraulic continuous rotation grapple loaders like making hay with a scythe makes me appreciate buying a round bale.   It can all work but boy some can sure work better than others! LoL

[47sawdust]

Back in post # 191 or 194 by member TW,one of the videos he references shows a  backpack type of affair called a "skogskompis".
This is a video of Finnish tractor logging.
I am curious if anyone can explain its intended use or show one being used.
It appears to be a retractable rope in a yellow disc worn like a backpack.
Thanks

[47sawdust]

After looking at the bulletin referenced in post # 191 more closely I got my answer.
The item I was curious about is called a" line caddy". Also called Sonny's Forest Buddy.It is used to engage the winch on the tractor when you are some distance form the tractor.It would be very handy in some applications.I have no idea where one would purchase such a thing

[g_man]

After looking at the bulletin referenced in post # 191 more closely I got my answer.
The item I was curious about is called a" line caddy". Also called Sonny's Forest Buddy.It is used to engage the winch on the tractor when you are some distance form the tractor.It would be very handy in some applications.I have no idea where one would purchase such a thing

I thing it a recoil rope system in the back pack so if you have two guys working - one at the winch controls and one down in the woods where the logs are at - the choker guy can hook his recoil rope onto the cable and then be able pull the cable back to where he is choking the logs. A lot easier and neater for the choker guy than handling and carrying around a long rope.

EDIT: I see you answered your own question. I didn't read your next post before I posted this......  Sorry. It sounds  like a different thing than what I thought it was.

gg

[Stephen Alford]

I have that book . This was the crane .           

[Stephen Alford]

  Thought I would mention that booklet was from 1982 put out by the National Board of Forestry , Sweden .  The crane did not swivel and was used in conjunction with the dump beam concept.  Might work well with a hydraulic winch that spools in,out and free spool 

[Andries]

Here's a question for the brainbank/experienced metal workers.
.
A lot of us think about building attachments, as a cost saver or as a death defining project. 
- Like tractor logging with a winch/crane. @g-man It seems like it's been done before and is really good idea. Drawings and dimensions are in print.
- Mike Belben @mike_belben has posted about his tree spear and rake attachment for a bulldozer. Videos are up. Drawings and dimensions are in Mike's head.  
- Builders fab up boom pole arms that slide over pallet forks, for setting trusses.
.
Once we get past the MK I version, which is usually made of mild steel from the metal scrap rack, and when we're ready to build the MK II version, what's the preferred metal to use? 
I'm not thinking of ordering virgin and dimensional perfect AR400 steel, I thinking more along the lines of: are pallet racking uprights a better choice than ordinary square tubing? Is the metal different in terms of springy-ness or strength? Or weld friendly?

I guess I'm asking for some tips for when I go to my nearby metal scrapyard. How do I recognize the good stuff?

[Stephen Alford]

  Well Mr Andries hopefully those in the brain/banked experienced metal workers will chime in and provide some insight .  While we wait the best tip I go by is ... what was the metal used for originally .  Then it's an exercise in matching material to project .  Just as an example this would be one of the latest projects .
    Prior to the hurricane that struck us I felt a need for a bit of an onsite shelter .  I get all my materials pretty much from ... haulaway .  The metal was from some arched signs that were thrown roadside .  So built the shelter ... then called it a yurt in that order .  mk1    It was a tad awkward to move around so it will need wheels .  Not a biggie but thefts here now seem to focus on anything with wheels .

[Stephen Alford]

So on to MK2 .  Snow plows knock out a lot of road signs . They come in two pieces , the top for the sign the bottom in ground to receive .  No strength really but just bent and roadside ... haulaway lol ....  But they are like lego and now I have an onsite shelter that can be moved in ten minutes , packs easily in the back of the truck .

[thecfarm]

That wood looks good!!!!

[mike_belben]

Sorry i was late to respond to your ping.  These days of inflation habe caused us all to take what we can get. 

The old painted 3" C channel pallet racking was the best youd find and ive bought many many of them.  The stamped and welded shapes should be considered studs, not joists. My little forwarding trailer made from it eventually had to kink and fold up.  Channel woulda worked. 

Finding anything better than mild steel would be a case of good fortune if you could even identify it.  Being a range mechanic in a past life with a scrap pass i do have some AR400 but its usefulness is really limited for special stuff.  Like dozer cutting edges. 

Like anything else today, just do the best ya can. Keep workin and prayin. Itll work itself out one way or tha other.