What is the smallest logging rig you use?

[woodroe]

My 440 Arctic Cat snowmobile with tag a long sled works good in winter when conditions are right.
Buck up manageable 6' lengths and load em on the sled, looks like a dogsled and is a homemade affair.
Can get into some tight places only needing about 4' wide trail.
Sometimes In the summer I'll use the lawn tractor with a trailer for bucked up tops left behind on smooth trails.
You asked for small, granted neither are production but when you become retired who cares about production.
OK not logging tools but good for firewood.

[Walnut Beast]

I am lazy i like my garret 15 small footprint in the woods and goes any where,and  pull more then it looks like it could, and when I get snow it make a good snow plow

Curious what the weight is on that unit and how many hp 

[Dave Shepard]

 

 

[DDW_OR]

atv is for trips back to the barn
Farmi 501 skidder winch, 11,000 pound pull
will be adding a trailer hitch to tow a trailer for the logs

FYI, the Winch makes a great counter weight for the FEL



 
9 ft 3 way grader blade



Job box i built
yes there are 4 forks on the forklift, makes a tractor-pitchfork


 
job box opened so the lid becomes a work table


 

[Ed_K]

 Mike, one time the bearings in the transmission fell apart, another when I was starting on gas it back fired an blew the rear main seal out so while the pan was down I replaced the bottom end. I finally made enough $$$ to break even and sold it for 2k just to relieve my mind.

[Patrick NC]

don't get something with a CVT transmission,

My '06 Polaris 500EFI CVT trans works great for pulling logs. You always use low range pulling or at low speed. We've skidded logs as big as it would pull. I figured the belt was probably needing replaced at about 3000 miles but left it alone because it was fine. I checked it later, probably about 4500 and it was still fine. At 6000 miles and 12 years old the belt finally grenaded going down the highway at 55 mph.

It's proven fine. Thousands sold. But the transmission in the Honda's are extremely good from what I've heard

I have a Honda pioneer 1000-5. 6 speed dual clutch transmission, hi/low range, differential lock. It will pull way more than you think it should. I have skidded a 20"x16' white oak log with it on flat ground. And if you're in a hurry to get back it will run about 67 mph. Before I had this one I had a pioneer 500. It was a good little rig too. Most of the time if I'm in the woods I use my Kubota L2501 with homemade skidding winch. I will post some pics later today.

[azmtnman]

I have a Honda pioneer 1000-5. 6 speed dual clutch transmission, hi/low range, differential lock. It will pull way more than you think it should. I have skidded a 20"x16' white oak log with it on flat ground. And if you're in a hurry to get back it will run about 67 mph. Before I had this one I had a pioneer 500. It was a good little rig too. Most of the time if I'm in the woods I use my Kubota L2501 with homemade skidding winch. I will post some pics later today.

Is that a standard transmission? 
   I was looking for a Honda Rincon 650 or 700--whatever they were then--when I bought my Polaris but couldn't find one. It was replacing a 2000 Honda TRX300FW not because there was anything wrong with it but because it came from a state that doesn't title them and I moved to a state that required a MV title.
   I wasn't planning to use it to pull logs when I bought it. The Rincon has an automotive style automatic trans. I know the old Rubicon 500 was declared by many to be the best ATV transmission ever.

[Patrick NC]

It can either be run in auto shift or shifted manually with paddle shifters. It is a gear drive transmission like Honda has in their motorcycles.  Not like an automatic transmission at all. I usually run mine in auto shift mode unless I want to hold one gear for some reason like towing or climbing a steep hill. 

[Patrick NC]

 

 

[Walnut Beast]

Very 👍. I really like those units a lot! 

[sublime68charger]

this is mine 2003 Honda Foreman 450ES with cycle country 3 point on the back Warn 3000 rope winch to pull the log in close and choke it up to get the but off the ground and away I go.

can lift the rear dolly wheels off the ground when backing up to make it more nimbly to get around in the woods.



 

[Ed_K]

 Supper bee in the garage??

[John Mc]

Well, i guess this is a pictorial of my lifes work in progress.  Im building a little redneck engineer at my industrial homeschool.

i started him at the beginning.  How much wood can ya move flat dragging with 7hp and 2wd?  Here ya go kiddo. Go find out.

How much wood can ya move flat dragging with 7hp and 2wd? Here ya go kiddo. Go find out.

Mike -

That picture of the little kid driving away with the logs in tow is by far my favorite picture in this thread.

A friend a few miles from me has a son who has been totally into tractors and equipment probably since before he could talk. He has a John Deere battery operated ride-on tractor with trailer that he is always using to help out with the family's yard work. Half the town is posting pictures on her Facebook page with suggestions of what he "needs" to feed his addiction. I hope you don't mind, but I put a copy of your picture there. From the back, he looks just like the kid in your photo, so lots of locals thought it was him.

His mother heard that I was using some of my equipment to clear an outdoor classroom space in the woods behind the school last summer and asked if she could bring him over to watch (he was going stir-crazy with the virus restrictions, so she was looking for something outdoors for him to do). Of course, I needed some help that day, so he got a lesson on using the forwarding trailer and helped me load some logs.


 

 

[Andries]

John and Mike, you guys are the best!
Keep up the good work - takes a village to raise a kid.   8)

[mike_belben]

Thanks buddy, no i dont mind at all.  I didnt appreciate those days when i had them and now theyre gone.  

Dads.. Dont wait.  Do it today. 


TSLs are a good choice for a forwarding trailer that has to do woods and road.  Good on ya for letting him play john.  



I have to get some new links for the joysticks on the backhoe next time i have some money. 

[John Mc]

TSLs are a good choice for a forwarding trailer that has to do woods and road.

The previous owner ordered the trailer with those. The trailer comes standard with "implement tires" which are mostly smooth. He ordered the trailer with electric brakes - not often done on that size/model trailer. He was pulling it with a smaller pickup and a tractor that was basically the Kubota version of my NH TC33D. He didn't want to overwork the brakes on his truck, or get pushed around by the trailer while coming down hill pulling it out of the woods with his tractor. The smooth stock tires would have no traction in the woods. He had a cheap brake controller which he just plugged in to power on his tractor, and ran the trailer brakes with the manual control on the brake controller (Since there is no brake light switch to trigger the brakes automatically on a tractor).

[driftlessinwi]

I have a Honda pioneer 1000-5. 6 speed dual clutch transmission, hi/low range, differential lock. It will pull way more than you think it should. I have skidded a 20"x16' white oak log with it on flat ground. And if you're in a hurry to get back it will run about 67 mph. Before I had this one I had a pioneer 500. It was a good little rig too. Most of the time if I'm in the woods I use my Kubota L2501 with homemade skidding winch. I will post some pics later today.

Is that a standard transmission?
  I was looking for a Honda Rincon 650 or 700--whatever they were then--when I bought my Polaris but couldn't find one. It was replacing a 2000 Honda TRX300FW not because there was anything wrong with it but because it came from a state that doesn't title them and I moved to a state that required a MV title.
  I wasn't planning to use it to pull logs when I bought it. The Rincon has an automotive style automatic trans. I know the old Rubicon 500 was declared by many to be the best ATV transmission ever.

@azmtnman
I have three Honda's (800 Pioneer, 500 Foreman/Rubicon, and a Rincon).  I will say the Foreman and Pioneer are probably best for logging.  The Rincon doesn't have a great rear end for a sturdy hitch (I had to do pretty extensive welding to make one), and it lacks a solid axle like used by the Foreman.  All of the transmissions are great in Honda's, but I would think of the Rincon as a sports car in the ATV world.  Once you trail ride with it, you will love going fast on it because it handles like no other ATV I have been on...but it has really limited slip differentials, so you will get stuck in snow and mud more easily...I was reminded of this yesterday driving in deep snow   The Pioneers are great and are great work horses...I have had 0 problems with all three Hondas over the last decade.   I also have a Polaris ACE 570 that I use for pulling my log arch, it has been fine too, but the CVT transmission drives me bonkers when going down hills, and I have struggled with overheating on it (finally made some tweaks to the radiator and no problems since).  The best part of the ACE is the windshield and roll cage in a footprint the size of a regular 4 wheeler, and it has a mini trunk/bed for hauling the saw around.  Oh, and the Rincon doesn't have a low range, at least mine doesn't.  That should probably rule it out as a puller of logs  even though it would probably work ok.  I have found my favorite features for all my ATVs are fuel injection, power steering, low range, and diff lock.  Get those and you will be happy!

[DDW_OR]

I have found my favorite features for all my ATVs are fuel injection, power steering, low range, and diff lock.  Get those and you will be happy!

I agree
my order would be,
low range
diff lock
power steering
fuel injection

next would be Fuel
Diesel
Ethanol free

[78NHTFY]

Mike_Belben--was watching videos of smaller logging/sawing co's: a small operation, "lumber capitol log yard", might be you & your gang in a few years.  The "Boss Man" (father) has got his kids involved in all aspects.  I wish I could run an LT40 as well as his daughters  :-[! BTW, very impressive how you're bringing your kids up right....All the best, Rob.     

[DDW_OR]

yep, the way to change the future is to start with the kids

[sublime68charger]

Supper bee in the garage??

68 Dodge Charger
Have had the charger since 2000 built that garage for the car to have a safe place to be in the winter months.

[trapper]

 what I use