# How I move logs.. without equipment.



## mrector (May 7, 2013)

Here are a couple pics of this thing I fabbed up. It goes in a standard 2" receiver hitch. I have had as large as a 30" dbh white pine on it. Made this because I have no equipment but, I do have a truck. 

I have driven as far as 2 miles with a log on back.. country roads of course. I cut most all my logs at 8'6",- 9' so it doesn't stick out too bad.
Lemme know what ya think.?
Mikey

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## mtngun (May 7, 2013)

That's a lot of weight on your hitch. A street-worthy arch would be easier on the truck.

I'm wrestling with the same problem, looking into ways to load logs into the truck. Sometimes I am able to back up to an embankment and then come-a-long the log into the bed. But I really need a way to lift the log up onto the tailgate (and a tailgate strong enough to handle it). Possibly a ramp ?


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## pdqdl (May 7, 2013)

A clever fellow would have no trouble building one of these. It's a lot safer, easier, and more practical.


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## doogiegh (May 7, 2013)

*Logs to truck*

That does seem to be ALOT of weight on the hitch all at once.. Tons of mechanical leverage there with the entire weight of a log bobbing up and down as you go down the road. Might be ok, but with the bigger logs, I wouldn't be surprised to see a weld fail.


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## mrector (May 7, 2013)

pdqdl said:


> A clever fellow would have no trouble building one of these. It's a lot safe, easier, and more practical.



I also have this..
But sometimes I need the hitch mounted one to maneuver special logs in special places..

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## BobInMN (May 7, 2013)

mrector, that looks like a great idea to me. Hey if it works for you, that's all that counts.


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## mrector (May 7, 2013)

BobInMN said:


> mrector, that looks like a great idea to me. Hey if it works for you, that's all that counts.


Thanks man, I mainly use it for moving logs in front on my sawmill to be sawed.
With this walnut in picture it was on a pretty nasty hillside and I couldn't get my trailer with the danG deadheader lift near it. Trailer has winvh with an A frame pivot to get em on itself.
Mikey


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## BobL (May 7, 2013)

Too much hitch strain for my liking too. No problem if it breaks doing slow movements over short distances around the mill, but what about later when you then hitch a loaded trailer up to a possibly strained hitch and do highway speeds, or sell the vehicle?


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## lps8 (May 8, 2013)

*hitch capacity*

Looks like it works great. A class 3 hitch is rated for 500 lbs tongue weight, and a class 4 is rated to 1,000 to 1,200 lbs according to U haul. And most of that stuff is rated with a safety factor several time greater than the rated capacity. That log does not look like it would be over 500 lbs. 

I'd be good for a couple of miles as long as the front wheels are on the ground.:hmm3grin2orange:

Larry


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## BobL (May 8, 2013)

lps8 said:


> Looks like it works great. A class 3 hitch is rated for 500 lbs tongue weight, and a class 4 is rated to 1,000 to 1,200 lbs according to U haul. And most of that stuff is rated with a safety factor several time greater than the rated capacity. That log does not look like it would be over 500 lbs.



Those ratings will be for effective weight directly over and above the hitch not hanging out in the breeze like those logs. for example If the hitch fixings on the vehicle are 1ft behind the hitch and the log is 3ft in front of the hitch then the log's weight needs to be multiplied by 4.


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## mrector (May 8, 2013)

BobL said:


> Those ratings will be for effective weight directly over and above the hitch not hanging out in the breeze like those logs. for example If the hitch fixings on the vehicle are 1ft behind the hitch and the log is 3ft in front of the hitch then the log's weight needs to be multiplied by 4.



If this is true then the bumper dumper would be over most vehicles tongue weight rating with just a 125lb person taking a dump on it... Haha.
View attachment 294227


I believe it will be alright with the logs.. its a super DUTY.. he he.. get it?
Mikey


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## Dave Boyt (May 8, 2013)

Now I know what happened to my mailbox :shock:! Might consider differential brakes so you can steer when the front end is off the ground. On the other hand, I can see building something like that for the back of my tractor. Especially if I could lift it high enough to get the log on the sawmill.


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## lps8 (May 8, 2013)

*if it works for you, go for it.*

If it works for you, go for it. I think it is great to show some ingenuity. Thomas Edison's first light bulb did not burn. WD40 took 40 tries to get it right. You may have to make some adjustments as you go, but negative comments don't help much. 

Larry


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## Dave Boyt (May 8, 2013)

lps8 said:


> If it works for you, go for it. I think it is great to show some ingenuity. Thomas Edison's first light bulb did not burn. WD40 took 40 tries to get it right. You may have to make some adjustments as you go, but negative comments don't help much.
> Larry



Hope you didn't consider my comments negative. I greatly respect Mikey's ability to design, and fabricate (my welds probably would have fallen apart without a load). I look forward to seeing more posts like this one. They are a gold mine of ideas!


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## TreePointer (May 8, 2013)

BobL said:


> Those ratings will be for effective weight directly over and above the hitch not hanging out in the breeze like those logs. for example If the hitch fixings on the vehicle are 1ft behind the hitch and the log is 3ft in front of the hitch then the log's weight needs to be multiplied by 4.



That and if the load is not centered or becomes uncentered, there can be a lot of torsional stress on some parts (think a big lever perpendicular to the direction of travel). That's why we have hitch balls and other rounded attachment surfaces to prevent this type of stress.


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## mad murdock (May 8, 2013)

a hand winch, cables and chains can help get a good sized log onto a trailer deck, or a flatbed, using a parbuckling method. It really works well. a couple steel angle iron or stout log or board ramps, and the parbuckle technique will do you well. an arch is good as well for single log transport.


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## BobL (May 8, 2013)

mrector said:


> If this is true then the bumper dumper would be over most vehicles tongue weight rating with just a 125lb person taking a dump on it... Haha.
> View attachment 294227
> I believe it will be alright with the logs.. its a super DUTY.. he he.. get it?
> Mikey



There will be no problems with either when the vehicle is stationary. Now what I'd like to see is someone using the bumber dumper while the vehicle is moving. :msp_biggrin:
Sway action would open up a crack or two


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## mrector (May 8, 2013)

BobL said:


> There will be no problems with either when the vehicle is stationary. Now what I'd like to see is someone using the bumber dumper while the vehicle is moving. :msp_biggrin:
> Sway action would open up a crack or two



Haha.. during MOVEMENT I bet most cracks would " clinch" . 

But yes I get your concerns and i definitely took them into consideration before i built it, but with limited equipment I did/do what I need to do. It works ok, i have already made a couple improvements from original design. I've added a pulley and a better come along hitch point. 

I usually do many hitch modifications for other reasons(see vid) and they seem to hold well with 90,000 lb transfer load on them. I haven't modded this hitch but I may for these log hauling reasons.

Mikey

[video=youtube;yFtaJ0fuNKg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFtaJ0fuNKg&feature=youtube_gdata_player,[/video]


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## Hddnis (May 11, 2013)

You should be fine with that. The boom part you built will fail before the hitch does. I've seen hitch failures and all of them were from years of towing at or near the max and lots of off road miles. An example is a buddy of mine that does land clearing and used a 2500 Dodge to pull a 8800lb stump grinder. About 100k miles later, lots of off road twisting and bumping and banging later, and the hitch broke off the truck frame while he was going down the freeway. He stopped it safely and a tow truck came and loaded up the grinder. It took a total rebuild of the rear truck frame and then he got a new hitch mounted. I really doubt a home sawyer is ever going to put that kind of wear on a hitch.

Another real world example is that I own a leaf vacuum that tips the scales at 600lb, factory option is to mount it to a Class V hitch. I made my own mounting frame using 3/8" wall tubing and just for good measure it has safety chains. I've got many miles on several different trucks and it has been no problem. 

There are tons of hitch mounted carriers out there that haul motorcycles, hunting gear, electric wheelchairs, anything up to the rating of the hitch which is pretty substantial once you get over Class III type hitches.

Basically, while I'm all for caution and taking the safe road, I think your hitch log carrier/mover is well within safety margins using "comparative engineering". A quick check of other road rated hitch carriers where you take a look at steel weights and dimensions would be all you would need to do to double check if you had any questions.

hitch cargo carrier - Bing Images



Mr. HE


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## rarefish383 (May 12, 2013)

lps8 said:


> If it works for you, go for it. I think it is great to show some ingenuity. Thomas Edison's first light bulb did not burn. WD40 took 40 tries to get it right. You may have to make some adjustments as you go, but negative comments don't help much.
> 
> When I post an idea, I'm looking for the negative comments also. I don't want just the guys who like the idea to pat me on the back. If some one sees something potentially dangerous, I want them to say something, before I tear my truck up or get hurt, Joe


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## BobL (May 12, 2013)

rarefish383 said:


> lps8 said:
> 
> 
> > If it works for you, go for it. I think it is great to show some ingenuity. Thomas Edison's first light bulb did not burn. WD40 took 40 tries to get it right. You may have to make some adjustments as you go, but negative comments don't help much.
> ...


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## gemniii (May 12, 2013)

For moving logs without mechanized engine driven equipment I rely on lever systems. Around my workshops I've been using a pallet jack and cant hooks to move logs across the parking lot to my mill. I find it difficult to move logs over 12' and 24" in diameter. Got to get one of my tractors down to Mississippi.

To get big things on my truck I picked up this crane:

View attachment 295099


It's from Harbor Freight and good for 1,000 lbs. I mounted it on a frame composed of 2x6's and 3/4 PT plywood, it slides onto my truck bed and I stabilize it with straps and a chain that's hooked on my 5th wheel mounting rails. This keeps it from flipping over and I don't have it permanently mounted in my truckbed taking up space. The picture shows me testing the concept but I have loaded a planer that weighed about 500+ pounds. Picking the planer up in a vertical lift without using a ramp.


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## woodchuck357 (May 14, 2013)

For hauling single logs short distances, I have a trailer hitch welded to one end of an eight foot piece of channel iron with chain hooks welded along it. The channel gets chain boomered under the log in three places. An old trailer house axel and wheels cut down so it will roll up into the pickup bed gets chain boomered just behind the balance point of the log. Tack a 2X4 with trailer lights on the rear of the log and head for home. A small notch in the log helps the axel stay where I want it.

I usually just use sapling poles as levers to get one end of the log high enough to start the axel under the log, then use come-alongs to pull the axel to near center.


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