Bought a 1986 C70 truck any thoughts on rigging it for parbuckling logs

doclogger · September 09, 2014, 02:42:44 PM

Hey all. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
If you haven't looked at the videos on you tube of parbuckiling logs, it is worth the time.

After watching several vids I have a couple question some of you gu7ys might be able to help with.
Can you mount the winch under the bed on a dump bed truck?
How long do the skids need to be? Would I-beam or Channel iron or square tubing be best?

Southside · September 09, 2014, 10:53:07 PM

The question is how big of logs do you plan to load? The longer the ramps the easier it will be to get the logs on. The style of your steel really would not matter as much as the load bearing rating, which will be impacted by how long it is. Not trying to make it complicated, but it all goes back to how big the wood is.

Personally I have only ever winched up a few logs this way, from my limited experience I would think having the winch under the body would make the log roll against the direction of travel and would not work well, I am sure others with more experience will chime in.

Tom the Sawyer · September 10, 2014, 12:06:26 AM

doclogger,

I'm about 90% done with a similar project, although only for an F350 flatbed. My winch is mounted on the driver's side, just above the bed on a frame that acts as the bolsters and a crossbar. The cable goes up through a pulley, across the bed, down to the log, under the log and back to the bed. My 11' bed is about 36" high and my ramps are 7' long.

I needed something to run out and pick up a few medium sized logs without any other equipment. I have a 20' trailer with a log lifting arch if I need to pick up something larger, up to 5000 lbs. which is all my B-20 can handle. I anticipate that with a dump bed truck you'll need to find a way to lock the bed down so that the off center torque (while loading the first log) doesn't twist the bed attachment pivots or hoist mechanism.

I know "no pics - it didn't happen", they'll be posted when I finish it and make sure it works as designed (or as modified).

doclogger · September 10, 2014, 04:56:24 PM

Going to load some decent timber. Will have several 18 footers, some as big as 18" at the little end. Logging 3 or 4 acres on my own property and hauling to mill about 12 miles away. Many years ago on the farm, I loaded some similar logs on a flat bed trailer using 12-14', 4-5" dia. oak and hickory saplings for skids and a four wheel drive pick-up to pull the chain. The smaller ones we just cant hooked up. But alas, I lack the youthful exuberance (a.k.a. stupidity ) I had then. So going to go with some automation this time.

doclogger · September 10, 2014, 05:08:17 PM

Tom, We will have to have a race to see who can post pics first.

doclogger · September 10, 2014, 05:19:20 PM

My bed will be about 48" high. I hope an eight foot skid will work, because I would like them to be attached to the bed and hinged so it can be let down for loading and chained up for hauling any longer will put them pretty high in the air when up.. The opposite side is going have fixed racks on it. It has a dump bed so can either dump the load or roll them off the skids to unload.

M_S_S · September 10, 2014, 06:33:48 PM

The hinge idea is a good one. Why not make them out of square tubing( heavy wall ) with a smaller tubing inside that would telescope out and pin, say another 3 or 4 ft.

Ed

M_S_S · September 10, 2014, 06:35:20 PM

You could also put a swing down jack leg on each one.

Ed

doclogger · September 10, 2014, 06:46:11 PM

Thanks for the telescoping idea, Ed.

Southside · September 11, 2014, 12:24:14 AM

That's a really good idea Ed has there, especially with the support leg. 12' height is a long way up there (4' bed + 8' bolster), not a problem for a full size loader or knuckle boom at the mill, but a smaller loader may have issues with it. My other concern would be lowering or erecting something that tall from the hinge point you will be fighting leverage the whole way. Can you have a lower overall height using the telescope and still get the ramp length you want?

LeeB · September 11, 2014, 08:28:27 AM

I think what you are planning here may be illegal fellows. Hinged bunks were outlawed a long time ago I do believe. Too many folks got mashed when they unpinned them and the load rolled off.

doclogger · September 11, 2014, 10:33:21 AM

Southside, I think it will give me enough length say 7', telescoping out to 12' so have plenty of overlap. puts it 11' in the air.
LeeB, uh-oh going to have to check, but if it is illegal in AR it has to be illegal in IL. (Can't you still marry your first cousin in AR?

)

M_S_S · September 11, 2014, 10:47:29 AM

If you don't use them as bunks, you can make a housing ( larger tubing) acrosse the bed of the truck, then just slide them out and down. Once the logs are loaded slide them back and put some removable bunks in the stake pockets. The jack legs would have to pin on so as to not interfere with the slide. ED

doclogger · September 11, 2014, 11:42:06 AM

I worry about the stock stake pockets being strong enough to hold the weight of a big log or two against it, but could "beef" is up if needed, I suppose.

VAMuleskinner · September 11, 2014, 12:22:44 PM

Hey Fella's, new to the forum.

Doclogger, I have done what you are looking to do, I wish I had taken pictures of it now. I have a F800 flatbed that I built bunks for that could be removable. I mounted a 10,000pd electric winch on the headboard of the truck, I would run the cable to a pulley that was hooked to the standards on the right side of the struck. The standards on the left side of the truck were removeable, slid into a larger piece of pipe and pinned in, the top of those standards had a bracket that could be pinned to the bed and be used as the ramps, they were about 7 - 8' long. I used it for a very short period of time, it got me through what I needed to do. I really didn't like it but it worked. My issues that could have been improved on, it took about an hour to load a MBF by myself, if the winch was mounted on the right side of the truck somewhere it would have made the rigging quicker. Since the bunks on one side of the truck were removable and used for the ramps I couldn't put a full load on the truck, only the bottom log would be touching the bunks on the one side so it made for a lopsided load because all the weight was on the right side of the bed. 7-8' foot ramps were not quite long enough, it was a hard roll for some of the larger stuff, I made a set of extensions to help with that. Since then I have purchased a tractor with a front loader.

doclogger · September 11, 2014, 03:26:54 PM

Welcome Muleskinner, thanks for the input. Definitely leaning towards mounting the winch to the side of the bed or under the bed. Thinking channel iron mounted across the bed, skids that slide into that for the width of the bed and with about a 5 foot Jack leg on it that will act as the upright when hauling.

doclogger · September 11, 2014, 03:52:18 PM

I think I can get at least two layer on with creative blocking/chaining of the first layer and some short auxiliary skids on the first layer. Also considering running the cable up through a pulley mounted on the top of one of the standards on the side opposite of the skids, to help with the angle of pull and getting that second layer on.