The Forestry Forum

It's not like I'm scared to grab my chainsaw, but with a 1 man crew felling, choking, limbing/bucking, skidding, etc and when that 1 man is also a full-time Pipe Fitter, it sure is nice to reduce some labor whenever possible  :D
This is my home-made Delimber. I cut the center out of an old steel wheel, and cut at an angle to create somewhat sharp edges. I welded hooks at 10 & 2 O'clock. Set a 7' choker on the top of the log w the hooks oriented to the bottom, run the winch backwards up the log w the butt of the log secured to the Farmi. 

Here's a video of it in action on some smaller Douglas Fir that I'm thinning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8RPy89YawA&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0hfF2OrFuzAV1xICtrDfKE1X1Q_2_4uFXrQpYeoPCV24VS2QDgaZ1-Lg8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8RPy89YawA&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0hfF2OrFuzAV1xICtrDfKE1X1Q_2_4uFXrQpYeoPCV24VS2QDgaZ1-Lg8)

I've had good luck so far w everything I've tried, even split tops. For the limited equipment I have, this is a good option as it keeps me from driving my little 25hp Kubota thru the branches. Obviously there are much faster ways to delimb, but prob not too many cheaper ways  :D :D.
All of this will be firewood. This is our personal homestead, thinning roughly 15 acres of the 38 acre lot. This lot has never been thinned, and was planted in 10ft rows on 6ft centers w almost no loss! My Forestry Plan calls for 17ft - 24ft centers, which means roughly 2/3rds of this forest is coming down. I'm taking about 50% this winter, then waiting before I take the rest so the remaining trees can strengthen against the winds. My Pipe Fitting job is slammed from Spring thru December, so the goal is to get this done in the next few months. I've dropped alotta trees by headlights/portable lights after work the past few weeks  :D




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I'm thinking of building the same thing but for cedar. I'm thinking of trying chaining the rim to a tree and pulling the tree's through. ???

following:

4x4 Mahindra 5520 (51 HP), Farmi 501 winch
4x4 Mahindra 22 MAX(22 HP), no winch