I looked at a new 20 ton deck over gooseneck with a dovetail this morning. Gonna talk to the banker on Monday. I can't swing enough for a grapple trailer so I am going the winch and ramps route. Do I want to have the winch mounted up high on the gooseneck part to have the height to clear the deck when loading the first tier. What kind of arm do I need on the opposite side to run the snatchblock from. Or am I being completely stupid and there is a better way. I am planning on just a 3,700 pound winch. This will be enough, I hope. The horses won't be dragging any 3,700 pound logs so the only way I would tie into anything bigger would be if I cut something I could just drive to without skidding and load. Are 2x12's (a pair) adequate for the ramps or do I need something else. Thanks.
Why not just use the horses to load with?
It be an extra trip because I'd have to have the horse trailer and the log trailer on site at the same time. Right now, I cut, buck and clean up for however many days. Return with the horses and skid to a loading spot and then return with a trailer to load and deliver. I sometimes do use the horses to load logs onto a grainbox running gears in areas where I need to leave no trail at all but that is a lot lower to the ground than a regular trailer. I think they would be alright but I would have some concern with larger logs and the doubletree riding up to the height of the trailer deck.
Are you figuring on loading from the side or the end ?? We end load with the mast and the winch is mounted high in the header of the goose neck. We use a 9000# winch and sometimes it's not enough to pull the logs up into the valley between 2 logs.
My plan is to parbuckle them up ramps from the side but I am open to any ideas.
you can parbuckle a big log easier than you can drag it from the end. The problem in parbuckling is keeping them all in place if they want to roll off, especially the second layer of logs.
is the winch you are looking at an ATV winch?
I do not believe it is an ATV winch. It is a Warn winch that I plan on buying from the trailer dealer. They are a trailer/truck accessory shop. I was just trying to buy the smallest winch I felt adequate for the job to keep costs to a minimum. Should I be thinking bigger? What would you consider the minimum?
You're gonna want a bigger winch than that. We've got a 12,000lb Warn on the front of our gooseneck and there've been times that more would've been better even with a snatch block.
Bought the 9000# Warn off Ebay for $400.00, used. Works great, just sweats and the brushes get corrosion, and stick. We clean them and the winch works fine. There are pics of our Log Arch on the end of the Trailer, in the Photo Gallery. Will post 'em if you want or can't find 'em.
Working by yourself, Not sure the best way to load your logs. I'm thinking they are pre-bucked to around 8'-6" or so ??
Yes, these are logs ready for delivery to a mill. Lengths vary some but never over 12 feet. My diameters range from 10 up to occassionally 30 inches, very rarely a bit larger. I'll go see if I can find your pics. Thanks.
Here ya go Robert
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10330/FDHwaterloader1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10330/waterloader2.jpg)
Harold, you get something usable out of that? :o
We live on a headpond created in the 1950's and we used to get big logs like that wash up on the shore every few years but not so much now. Never occured to me to saw them, the neighbours always burned them for firewood.
We don't load 'em if we aren't gonna saw 'em. 8) ;D ;)
Make your winch movable. I have several mounted on 2" reciever style plates. They get heavy but the versatility is worth it. Truck stuck? move it to the front bumper reciever, or to the bulkhead of the flat bed to winch something there. You cant beat versatility, and YES that is too small a winch, Mine are 8000# worm geared commercial Warn, and 9000-and 12000 worm gear Ramsey's. I want a Mile Marker Style hydr. since I have a truck with "LIVE" hydro's now.
REID
another vote for milemarker here, I really like mine!
I have my winch mounted behind the cab of the truck. It's a MileMarker but I got it before they had the movable models.
I used to use a rig like Harolds on the old trailer, because it sat low between the wheels, making side loading impractical. Now I have a gooseneck deck-over and I parbuckle by backing the truck up to the off-side of the trailer. If you have enough room, you don't really even need the winch that way.
I have always worried about stability if I unhook from the truck. Is that not really much of a problem?
Put the bumper against the side of the trailer, chain/ ratchet it fast ifiin you need to..................So glad to know there is actually a name for the "parbuckling". I was amazed the first time I saw it decribed here, I was like WWOW there's a name for that. I just generally call all simple physics "pyramid building" as in those Eygptians knew how to get the job done. Shoot, with enough blocks and tackles perhaps that small winch CAN get the job done. :o :o
DanG, "they" have always had movable models(with a welder and some iron anythings possible) I have never seen a factory moveable mount plate that I didn't feel I could twist into scrap with a few 3:1 pulls. I like HEAVY plate!!!! and loads of gussets (perhaps that why it takes two beefcakes to wrestle the thing on unless your stuck ADRENALINE)
REID
Quote from: Reid Crosby on November 16, 2005, 10:47:42 PM
Put the bumper against the side of the trailer, chain/ ratchet it fast ifiin you need to..................
Then you can "load" the truck when a big one goes over the trailer eh? :D :D
Winches and ratings
I read by someone on here that they were using a 9000 # warn winch or something like it.
How much cable is on the winch and how much are you using?
That winch will pull 9000 lbs when the line is all the way out. and will pull less the more line that is wound on the spool. So as to make the winch work at its listed rating pull all the cable out and park farther from the pile or remove cable from the winch.
Works on log skidders/ farm tractor winches/ over head hoists anything with a cable and a spool.
Dale Hatfield
It doesn't take all that much power to parbuckle a log up a set of ramps. You can do it with a couple of cant hooks if you're real ambitious. You're not really lifting the log, but causing it to roll up the hill.
Reid, I learned that lesson the hard way. Rolled a 21'x24" pine log up and the trailer was on a bit of an incline, away from the log. When it slammed against the bolsters on the other side, it snapped the welds on the single "Bulldog" jack I had on the trailer. Since then, I carry a few cinder blocks to rest the front of the trailer on. I try to winch uphill when I can. Those big logs can gather some serious momentum in a real short period of time!
On my MileMarker, the control solenoids are mounted on the winch. There was no mention of a "remote" option. I hard-mounted mine on a pair of 4" I-beams across the frame of my one-ton truck. I haven't been unhappy with the arrangement. :)
9000# pull on loading logs is not so bad, unless the log "Hangs up" somewhere. That's why we built the Arch. Takes ALL the strain off the winch, unless ya miss the measurements to calculate the Arch tipping Vs drop to the deck. ::) ;D ;D Y'all don't realize the weight of these waterlogged Logs. Probably twice the weight of a dryland log ;) ;D ;D