Log haulers

I have several very high end customers that refuse to let a bobcat on their property, will pay what ever it takes, but no ground impact. Tree Spyder mentioned that he useses a Blue Ox log hauler, I have been looking at some of the cool arches that www.futureforestry.com makes, does anyone have any experience with one of these type log haulers that leave no ground impact.
Spidy, does the blue ox skid the log or does it lift it completely off the ground? I'm looking for somthing about the size of the blue ox.
One of the futre forrestry products with a 4wheeler could be a strong combo for big moving, low impact.
Greg

I've been using an ATV for about seven years now. Here are some companies that make log arches:

http://www.harbisonbilt.com/default.htm


http://www.norwoodindustries.com/skidmate.htm


http://www.novajack.com/english/index.html


http://www.turboforest.com/


http://www.highlifter.com/


http://www.smucker.net/


http://www.atvbackpack.com/


Be sure to VOTE!

Tom

Cool stuff.

Unfortunately, perceptions of equipment - even if it's proven low impact - will never change for some a-retentive lawn nazis. I have a postal delivery buddy who has some great stories.

I have a JD Gator, kind of a donation thing from a dead guy but man, what an ATV. The stats show lbs per inch sq. on the ground with the standard floatation tires and it's 600% less than a hiking boot of a 180lb man. I factor a 180 man with a three-foot 14 inch dia. log as being mighty heavy, especially with Vibram lug soles. Either way, most clean-ups lean towards the "***" method: Arm and Sore Shoulder. I've returned to some takedown yards weeks later and see a path of footwork from the removals. Pitch-fork 'em, poke those tines alongside the packed earth and fulcrum them back up again. Many of the ground covers like St. Augustine suck, too sensitive. Buffalo grass can weather a packing but like any delicate cover, needs the pitch fork. It's a good addition to dedicated work, makes friends of even the hardest of L.N.'s (again, Lawn Nazis).

I will vote. Thank you. Hope this time the tallies are legitimate. If not, I'm afraid the war will be here at home, guaranteed.

I just bought a log dolly from a local saw shop.. It was designed and manufactured locally, by a retired air force engineer. It is designed to move logs by hand, fully suspended. It breaks down into 5 sections for easy transport. The legs extend higher and wider for different diameter logs. 4 men moved a 1500-2000 lb. log up a slight grade on grass... fairly easily...
I know you skid steers guys are laughing at us "Egyptians" ... and I recently got a 3k job because I was going low impact... the homeowner didn't want his lawn torn up. So one job and the machine paid for itself... Can you say that about your skid steers?
I've been thinking about some modifications including a trailer hitch, a hand winch.. (the present set up is for using leverage only to lift), and a cradle for hauling brush... And I still have to pick the dolly up from the shop and talk to the designer.
I'll post some pics later.
God Bless,
Daniel

Tom, Do you use the ATV in place of a skid steer? What size is it, 4x4? ATV with a winch Could be a strong tool, very low impact.
A guy I know just got a big bob cat (i think 800's) to replace his stump grinder. He has a grinding attachment, and tongs for moving/loading logs. I was told that he put turf tires on it and it is low impact -do the tires make a BIG difference? I've seem my buddies 753 with the standard tires eat up lawns. If it is slightly wet or mushy, by end of day you'll be working in a mud pit if not running on plywood.

I have a Waldon loader for big stuff but the ATV gest used on almost every job. The one I have now is a Yamaha 400 cc four wheel drive. I built a skidding type hauler on the back to lift logs and brush off the ground. We can pull some really huge loads.

Be sure to VOTE!

Tom

I use a long rope, lotsa pullies and my pickup.

The lugs on a Bobcat will chew up the turf. A guy that owns a tree service in my area put wide turf tires on his and it helps a lot but a cat is heavy and still ruts a yard. Every homeowner around here competes to see who can dump the most water on their lawn each night. A crane or the “log hauler” is the only low impact way to remove logs I know of. Ours has large truck tires on it and is pulled by an ATV. It can be towed on the highway because of the truck tires.

I have a good deal of experience with log haulers. I own three of them, a blue ox, a larger mid-size tong / winch log hauler, and then the MacDaddy, what is called a tractor arch, the last two from Future Forestry Products. I tok down a tree today, and the log, 42"DBH, 18 feet long, and by the Sherrill log weight chart, approx 4,000 pounds. I backed the arch up over the log, set up a 2:1 block and pulley (standard with that arch), and winched the bugger up.I am very glad to say I took digital photos of the whole process, which I did in under 10 minutes. 18 feet of log will give me two exceptional saw logs, and what could have taken me a number of hours to deal with cut-up rounds, now takes 10 minutes and no extra helper.

Low impact is the name of the game with these arches. In the photos I took today I show the solo takedown of this rather large tree through the stages. For low impactness, I lay out tarps, then at the base of the tree, I put down plywood and three tires roped together. On top of the tires I have a thick rupper mat. from the top of the tree down, 16 -18" hunks are whacked with a Husky 394 and pushed off from way up high onto the tire /plywood/ rubber mat zone. when I got down to 18 feet, I came out, pulled the tires and mat and plyewood out from the base and moved it all 18 feet away. I dumped the tree right over top of the rounds and WHAM! onto the tire/plywood, mat.
Then it was back the arch up, do the lift and drive it out. The ground, after all was said and done, was almost pristine. I will bring that photo series to view at Future Forestry's booth at the TCI expo. I will also have other photos of how I use the arch to plant trees, move stump sections and how they're used to build log benches.

post some of the arch pictures here.
greg

Log Arch IMAGES

I have some very descriptive pictures of these arches in action, however they're all shot high resolution and the file size is too big for Arboristsite.com to take. I know, I know,.. crunch em down first. I haven't learned how to do that yet, but for now, I'll just share more experience with my three rather incredible devices.

First, they save your back. The Jr Arch I use more than anything. It instantly tongs logs up to 16", and you whisk them out of the zone. The most untrained, newbie ground guy can use this after 10 seconds of demonstration. A 1000 lb log an be move by a single man, over uneven terrain, with ease. Using the utility chain instead of the tongs, you can bundle and haul several small logs at once- fabulous for those back yard issues where your chipper is a ways away. It can also lift a tree which has been cut off, yet is still standing vertically.

The middleweight champ, designed to provide INCREDIBLE leverage, can handle logs up to 2500 pounds (5600 Kg) and just over two feet (~65 cm) in diameter. You roll this arch over direct center of the log, swing the arch to position vertical, the tongs self-position themselves, and then you pull down the tongue; yes, you pull down to lift up, sort of nice having gravity help you elevate something heavy! Once the log is up and you have a teeter-totter center, push. Or pull. I have moved huge logs, easily, out of the depths of a back yard and out to the truck, alone. It is amazing, once you overcome the forces of friction, that sheer mass can be dealt with rather effectively. Two men together can move, by hand, any log that the arch can get off the ground. This arch is commonly use in conjunction with an All Terrain Vehicle. I have mine mounted on my chipper, and take it out only when I have a takedown situation and I want the log.

Now the BIG DOG, what I've pet-named the LOG ROVER, is Future Forestry's T-40 Tractor Arch. It can be towed with any pickup truck ( I use my sport utility vehicle). This arch will lift a 4,000 # log (10,000 Kg), up to 42" diameter ( >100 cm)! This arch has no tongs, because it is too massive to position vertically. Instead, you just back the arch over the log, or hand wheel it, and affix the cable, either choker, or 2:1, than crank it up. I wheel it around, couple it and uncouple it, etc, by myself, but this arch is really a two-guy arch. This arch is built to withstand ANYTHING up to it's full capacity, and probably beyond. The winch is two-stage, meaning first gearing, a quick cable uptake, and then you easily and instantly click it into low gear for the lift. The thing is absolutely amazing. I once bundled and carried 5 cedar logs at once for milling into closet lining and another time, three oak logs, perfect, clear, straight, all 20 -24" (each 50 - 60 cm), each 17 feet long (>500cm long), ALL AT ONCE, and hauled them off to my log stow site for future milling. These logs used to be destined for chunking into firewood, because there was no other alternantive. If you have ever felt sin in whacking up a perfectly beautiful log, then this is your penance. Buy an arch and start reclaiming your Karma.

Compare the price of the big arch to say, a crane truck. You will find a price around 1/20th of the big mechanized behemoth. The arch is low to no impact, uses no fuel, is quiet, and is one of the most amazingly effective tools for doing what it's designed to do - and that is to lift and allow you to move logs. They're very low maintenence tools, so cost of upkeep is ZERO once you've purchased them. Just WD-40 the winch now and again. Ask me more!

i try to use a lawn tractor, selling the idea it was made for lawns.... (JD 400,20hp), also use pulleys and line to fish stuff out with truck without invading like JP. If the truck run is 1/2 as long as the log pull i rigg a 1:2 (1/2 as muuch power, increased distance of log pull by 2x) with pulley on truck.

i believe these fellas have answeed the rest of the questions fully! Just had a gorilla hand truck stollen

Log Treesome

Treesome.... sounds like a sniglet for a threesome involving trees! The latest arch concept is this: Three Arches; Junior, Middleweight and MacDaddy, Configured together as a unit. The Fearsome Treesome.

I actually SAW this, just a few weeks ago. Future Forestry just got the first one built less than a month ago. Mark Havel was set up and showing his lates improvement for the first time, at Bunyanfest, in Nelsonville, OH. Three weeks ago! You guys, I have photos...

The Fearsome Treesome,... it's like your arching future is right there. Mark has built these arch-tools so that they 'nest'; the middle one quick-couples to the Jr. Arch below it, and then the MacDaddy hoists the two of those up into its own self. It is a-mazing. It is a rock solid system, impressive and versatile. I guess 'Versatile' is the biggest word. Once you buy them, you don't schlepp them all around together all the time; you choose your arch(es) (usually Jr. And Middleweight Champ) depending on the job. But the 'versatile' part is, you CAN get all three easily, anywhere (Mark, by the way, towed the Treesome behind a truck, ON THE HIGHWAY, all the way from Oregon to Ohio!).

Anyway, that creature DOES exist. I knowed it, cuz I see'd it. Future Forestry will be at TCI the first weekend in November. He'll have the Treesome there. He also has an optional MOTORIZED WINCH for the MacDaddy Arch, for you ultraluxury crowd. See him at the show, otherwise, the website address is :
http://www.futureforestry.com

I get my log haulers on Cesar Chavez Street downtown. They speak spanish or spanglish at best. Don't do as much damage as skidding with a winch.

Tree Machine You wrote that the Log Rover handles 4000 lbs-10,000 kg. Which? Those are'nt even close to equivalent.(10,000 kg is over 22,000 lb.)

Math Correction

Oops, 4000 KG = 10,000 cubits. If pounds were used, then pi to the X power divided by worms would define the relly of theorivity.
This proves the Tree Machine shouldn't do math in his head.

I multiplied 4000 lb x 2.54 (there are 2.54 cm in an inch) to get 10,000. This just doesn't work. 4000 pounds, converted to Kg (since there are 2.24 pounds in a Kg), the math should look like this : 4000 lb DIVIDED BY 2.24 lb/ kg = ~1786 Kg. 4000 pounds = 1785.7 Kg

I stand corrected, and thank you. I'm seeing that not a lot gets past you guys.

Actually, there are 2.2046 lbs (usually rounded to 2.205) in a kilogram. So 4000 lbs is approx. 1814 kgs.
Sorry, I guess I'm a little anal.

hauler pic

Here is the picture...
Tongs grab and lift log just behind center of balance... handle pulled down to ground lifting tail of log... chain wrapped under front of log... when handle comes up the entire log is lifted off the ground... very little weight on handle..
NICE!!!!!!!
God Bless,
Daniel

I resized some pictures for Tree Machine so he could post them, but he never did. Nice setup too. Anyone seen him lately?

I got the dimensions for the Log Dolly that Sherrill sells. I am fortunate being a laborer/ fabricator at a window co. I got all the pipe ( 1 1/4" OD 1/8" wall thickness ) I needed. A former co-worker got me a piece of 3/8" thick 24" X 36" plate for the bottom. Tires I bought at Home Depot. I have a Lincoln mig-welder and a 14" chop saw in my shop. I did all the work at home. I figure I have about $60 in this. I figure I've moved about 600 lbs. of wood at a time with it. Needless to say it works great. I know that not everyone has the means or supplies to build one of these, but I thought it was worth sharing.