Anybody use dogs to haul wood?

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chainsawaddict

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Well, since I only have a 2wd pickup i got stuck a lot last winter trying to get close to trees i was cutting down(too late in the year). This year I plan on cutting down enough wood before winter hits, but you never know. My German Sheperd will carry one log at a time and load it in the pickup, I just got another pup and am thinking about getting a sled to ease my pain. The new pup wouldnt be able to haul until next year, but you gotta start somewhere. It sure would be handy to park my pickup and sled wood back and forth. Not to mention here at the house, where my wood pile is about 50 yds from the house. Ive talked to a few guys that just use a plastic tobagan sled and some pulling harnesses. They say it works great.

Any info out there?:greenchainsaw:
 
Here's about as much wood as my dog helps haul:

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Maybe when she's bigger she can move some bigger pieces. Seriously though it sounds like you have a good idea, and you'd get to spend time haulin' wood with your buddy.
 
Here's about as much wood as my dog helps haul:

attachment.php


Maybe when she's bigger she can move some bigger pieces. Seriously though it sounds like you have a good idea, and you'd get to spend time haulin' wood with your buddy.

yep, that's the best part about it. Last winter I got my pickup stuck in a drift on my way to cut. I realized my only way out was to cut wood and load down the pickup to get traction. The only bad part about this was that the trees i wanted to cut were about 150 yards away. I started cutting and hauling(the powder was about 1ft deep), and the next thing I knew, she was loading one at a time into the pickup bed. Turned out to be a great day, one of the neatest things ive ever seen a dog do on their own. Now she does it all the time. She just really enjoys having a job.:clap:
 
That's the thing, dogs are always eager to please and happy to have a job. I think with a little training you could have a good sled dog. When I was little my sister and I taught our dogs to pull us all over the yard on saucers in the winter. Lots of fun.
 
As a young man (about 14-15) and being the only source for firewood (dad passed when I was 5) I used a couple of huskies to help me get the wood out of the bush and to the house. We lived on the edge of the bush so it was a simple matter to hook them up to the sleigh and head down the trail.

We cleared out the dry stuff within a couple of miles from the house and it sure felt easy knowing that I didn't have to carry the wood out myself!

Once your dogs get to liking the pulling they will get excited when they see the harnesses come out and you may need to find a hook to hold them up with. Tie the hook to the sled with a rope so that you can dig it into the ground when you want to hold the dogs back otherwise they may take off on you. When you are ready to travel just pull up the hook and put it in the sleigh.

I used to use the more classic style of dog sleigh with the upright handles at the back and two runners that extended past the handles. When they were pulling well I could semi-ride the sleigh and only had to push periodically. If you end up with a big load on you will probably have to help them the whole way tho.

They will have a hard time breaking new trails and pulling wood at the same time so try and keep one main trail for as long as you can and carry the wood to the sleigh (as opposed to taking the sleigh off the trail right to the wood).

Once they figure out that they should haul the wood to the truck you shouldn't have to worry about teaching them a lot of commands except starting and stopping as they will generally stick to an established trail.

Even after all these years and now having access to a skidoo, quad, and 4x4, I can still recall the feeling of accomplishment when I started using dogs to help me with my wood - especially knowing how much work they were saving me!

Good luck with your plan! :cheers:
 
My Black Lab likes wood but he steals it out of my pile and takes it somewhere else and lays it down. I guess it's better than a beaver stealing it because I can at least get it back.

Danny
 
My Black Lab likes wood but he steals it out of my pile and takes it somewhere else and lays it down. I guess it's better than a beaver stealing it because I can at least get it back.

Danny

Ive noticed that with my dog, too. Every once in awhile she'll steal a log and chew on it in the yard, i figure its a fair trade for the help. She only started doing it after she started helping.
 
Ive noticed that with my dog, too. Every once in awhile she'll steal a log and chew on it in the yard, i figure its a fair trade for the help. She only started doing it after she started helping.

She is probaly chewing on one she picked out and helped load.

It's her's LOL she earned it for the rest of them she carried.
 
All of the time! Trooper loves it!

<a href="http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj127/reapowilliams/?action=view&current=woodhauler.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj127/reapowilliams/woodhauler.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
 
cjcocn thanks for sharing your story, great pics of the working dogs folks keep them coming.

Cheers

;)
 
All of the time! Trooper loves it!

<a href="http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj127/reapowilliams/?action=view&current=woodhauler.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj127/reapowilliams/woodhauler.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

what kind of harness is that? The harness i have has d rings up by the front shoulders, the one in your picture looks like it would be better for a low load.

Oh....and I think you need a bigger sled :)
 
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