I always leave tree length logs hang in my grapple then I buck them to length and as they drop off theres alway a few inches between then so I can scale them. This week rain was almost on me and I cut and skidded as fast as I could to get the logs out of the woods onto the landing and ended up with a dozen logs that were not buck. Yesturday morning the buyer comes and it was rainning so I had them bucked laying there in the feild,trying to get them apart to scale was impossible, I had a frost bar and a cant hook and both were pretty much usless, Ive dreaded cant hooks all my life I put a foot extension on the hook years ago so the hook would grab better in our big logs it still sucks. It was to muddy to use the skidder so I pryed and jerked and this morning my stomach feels like I did a hundred leg lifes :D.
You should try one of the big Logrite cant hooks. They are much better than other manufacturers...
I was too cheap to get a Logrite for a long time. One of my log buyers uses one and it seemed to work good so I finally got one and am impressed with it. I would definitely recommend one. I'm surprised your log buyer doesn't have one.
i also bought the log rite at a logging exbo a couple years ago, very immpresive technolegy has done the cant hook well lol
I'll take a peavey over a can't hook any day, if its to small to hook you can always poke under it, get a longer handle, and whack it into the logs... get em to bite and they will bite harder the harder you pull... gives a guy more respect for the oldtimers don't it
Cant hooks are somewhat of a pain, but they're invaluable for what I do.
Has anyone used a "timberjack"? I saw this on Amazon, right next to a cant hook. It was basically a cant hook but with a leg of sorts attached to it, so when you role it, it'll stand a few inches off the ground for bucking.
Any personal experiences? Theoretically it would work, but I'm not sure...
http://www.logrite.com/store/Item/60inch-Cant-Hook
Notice the universal log stand listed in the lower section of the page.
Log stand is a good idea. Too many times I set my cant hook down, only to cover it with sawdust... just about takes a metal detector to find it!
Timberjack works ok for firewood, but not for bucking sawlogs. It rolls the log as it lifts it, and some of those big boys don't want to roll.
If you don't want to replace another handle, try making one out of hedge (Osage orange)!
I too found using the jack just took too much time. Easier, faster to buck the log about 70-80% through along its length and then use the cant hook to roll the log 1/2 turn and finish each cut. Anything to keep the bar and chain out of contact with the ground.
And logrite's don't need handle replacements. ;)
I'm still surprised that those that need a peavy or cant hook haven't actually gotten a good one by now. By good one I mean a Logrite. I hardly ever move a log, by by golly I have two Logrite peavies ready and willing. :)
I just figured not having one in all the years some of ya's have been lurking on this forum is like being the last of the hold outs. Not even surprised if you try one of them cheap knock offs. But, you'll cave eventually. :D
So, basically, the general consensus is to skip the timberjack, and just use a cant hook. And to spend the money and invest in a Logrite, does that sound about right?
I have no idea how old the farmers is. He has one that he constantly refers to as an "antique". All I know is it's older than my 21 years and still going strong!
Yes, the LogRite is superior to the old cant hooks.
Quote from: WDH on December 17, 2012, 10:03:17 PM
Yes, the LogRite is superior to the old cant hooks.
I'll second that. I don't have a peavey, just a cant hook. When I win the Christmas contest I'll have one though. ;D :D
I'm a born skeptic and pooh-poohed all the accolades I read about the Logrite cant hook...until I bought one.
It is without a doubt a superior tool. It's light, super strong and bites like a Loggerhead turtle except it doesn't turn loose when it thunders.
Everything that's been said about them on this forum still doesn't do them justice. It's just a well-engineered tool that works.
We had wooden handle ones around here and the handles were always broke. Back then there was no Logrite. My uncle had replaced all the handles in his to with hornbeam. He mostly horse logged, never had a tractor nor skidder. But his way of logging at home was not production based. When he worked for others it was yarding mostly and could always keep up. But a lot of that was for the natives who never worked based on production either. They all had a cheque whether they put up a load that day or not, mostly not.
My Father used them wooden ones for years. he would tell me quite often,a steady strain. A quick snap and you'll broke that handle off. All the old tools we had around here,I never saw a broken handle on a peavey.
I want a Logrite so bad,I can taste it. But the money problem comes into play. I will get one,someday. Stay off my tractor for a few weeks and the money I saved on diesel,I could buy one.I hear of the trouble some of you have with a wooden handle one.I guess you need my Father standing over you telling you how to use it. No smiley face after that comment. He use to load trucks with the one I use.
I prefer a peavey,the one with a point,over a cant dog.The point can be used to pry the logs apart or to get under them to move them just a little and to stick it in the ground so it will stand up.
My understanding is that a cant hook is just that, designed for moving/turning cants and the peavey is designed for moving/turning logs.
I use both.
Don't have a logrite yet.
The only wood handle I broke was many years ago when I ran over my peavey with my Case 3000 track loader.
My dad made me a handle out of Oak and It is still in use.
This was my pre-Logrite arsenal. The pipe handled cant hook in the center was properly arched and would really catch a log. The handle is full thickness pipe and heavy.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/DSCN0550.JPG)
I do still use the pipe handled peavey on the bottom but as a pry bar and the handle as a cheater pipe. The handle is "race car" tubing.
Magic,
That solid bar one is what we call around here "Inmate Series" they cant break it and at the end of the day they are to tired to run away :) I paint all my inmate Series tools Jail House Gray, I have all sorts of shovels, rakes, pitch forks, and even loppers in Inmate Series :D
Ironwood
I started out with two wooden 5' cant hooks. They were heavy and hard to engage. The thing about the LogRite is that it is much lighter than a wooden cant hook, but it is actually stronger and very easy to engage. When you use it all day long, that equates to a huge difference. Huge.
You need to call Logrite and ask for the A.S.S. It's the Arky Super Stick. A mean lean turning machine that's 77" long. Other cant hooks pale in comparison to this monster. There's not a cant hook made that comes close to the size of this bad boy.
I don't think I ever met a log that I could not turn with it. I suppose there might be some pre-historic log someplace that would give it trouble, but I don't want to mess with anything that big.
The a.s.s won't turn a small log, the hook its too big! I have two of the super sticks, they're awesome
Peavy is the way I roll ;D haven't ponied up the $$ for a Logrite yet, but I am sure one o these days I will get one, they do look like a good tool eh . I have a home made timberjack, all steel, it is ok, but more of a pain than it is worth, I use BT's method, buck most the way through then roll and finish....a lot faster. :christmas:
Or you could borrow this one from one of my customers.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/Savage_s_cant_hook.JPG)
Or this one.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/Image0116.jpg)
Pass. I pass.
Life is too short to mill without a LogRite.
You will never know what you are missing. ;D
Quote from: Magicman on December 20, 2012, 07:48:36 PM
Or you could borrow this one from one of my customers.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/Savage_s_cant_hook.JPG)
That one looks like it was used by old Rip vanWinkle hisself! I have the Logrite peavy on my resolution list for '13, not a bad way to go into the "new era". Looks like we are still here today, but I guess 12-21 2012 is not over yet, so the apocalypes may overtake us yet :snowball1:
Quote from: Magicman on December 20, 2012, 07:48:36 PM
Or you could borrow this one from one of my customers.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/Savage_s_cant_hook.JPG)
Or this one.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/Image0116.jpg)
The top one is EXACTLY what the farmer I work for has. He was a big proponent of the "slow, steady pull" method, too. That's the only way I've ever used a cant hook and it's yet to fail me. As much as I'd like a LogRite, I'll probably go with a cheaper one for now as money's tight.
Quote from: Krieger91 on December 29, 2012, 07:52:16 PMAs much as I'd like a LogRite, I'll probably go with a cheaper one for now as money's tight.
That never changes unless you hit the jackpot. :D Wages don't go up, but everything else does. Right now we make no more on the end of a saw as we did 25 years ago. What was gas and groceries then?