Best way to skid logs (without a winch)

[sirbuildalot]

For those without a winch. What do you use to skid your logs? Chain, steel cable, rope, straps, etc.

I typically use 3/8" hi test chain. I've read stories of links breaking and the chain getting sent flying at high speeds, sometimes towards the operator.

 

[farmer steve]

For those without a winch. What do you use to skid your logs? Chain, steel cable, rope, straps, etc.

I typically use 3/8" hi test chain. I've read stories of links breaking and the chain getting sent flying at high speeds, sometimes towards the operator.

I've been using the same log chain for 25 years and never broke a link . I've pulled/drug some big azz logs. Never jerk a chain as that will be the quickest way to snap a link. Make sure when you buy a chain it's marked for logging. A slip hook for the end going around the log. Easier to unhook. Here's this morning.

 

[farmer steve]

Drive SLOW when dragging to prevent rollovers if the log snags something.

 

[avason]

I’ll Started using this last year. Best thing I ever did. I used to choke the logs at the bucket. This is safer and easier. I just welded a hook to it. Should have done this years ago. I got the idea from this place “firewood tractors”. Little 16 horsepower kubota too. Good luck!

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Before I bought a winch, this is how I hooked the logs up,

It worked "ok", and not much chance of the log hooking on anything as you skidded it,

I've seen guys hooking and even carrying logs off their 3 points with longer poles (boom poles) and other home made contraptions, but I've seen a few 3 points fail from being continually over loaded too, so I chose to hook closer to my tractor.

SR

 

[Trapper_Pete]

what you should notice from all of those pictures they are all short chained

when you short chain even if a chain would break there isn't the weight and the length to get to the operator,

the danger with breaking chains or cables is you have 20-30+ feet of cable or chain under tension and then you let it go all at once and it goes flying

when pulling people out of the ditch with a cable or chain you could toss a floor mat or old coat over the chain and it would dampen the flying cable or chain.

the tow straps don't have the wight to carry and do the damage a chain or cable does and thus are the preferred method now for towing.

if your not able to back up to a tree to skid it out and you need to pull it out a ways first straps are light easy to carry use that for the long run and the chain right at the tree then when it is out to where you can get it without the strap short chain and go.

you get much better ability to maneuver with a log short chained much tighter cornering as tight of a corner as you can get dragging a long tree

 

[bowtechmadman]

I've skidded with a boom pole off my 3pt and with a log arch behind my quad. Both work equally well...too tight of a woods and log arch becomes difficult.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Grapple skidder.

 

[sirbuildalot]

I do have a skidding attachment I use with a short chain for easy to access logs. The Norwood "Log Hog"



However....

There are often logs on the other side of a stone wall, or not drive up accessible, that may need to be pulled close enough to use the "Log Hog". I have access to a couple of free old 5/8"- 3/4" braided steel cables with looped ends. Each one is about 30' long. I also have a pretty stout blue tow rope with a hook on one end and a loop on the other, also about 30' long. Then the 3/8" chains I have are around 12-15' each.

 

[GVS]

I've been using the same log chain for 25 years and never broke a link . I've pulled/drug some big azz logs. Never jerk a chain as that will be the quickest way to snap a link. Make sure when you buy a chain it's marked for logging. A slip hook for the end going around the log. Easier to unhook. Here's this morning.
View attachment 712697

I use a tractor and chain as well.If the log in too far in I'll back as close as I can get,get a chain on it, drag it to where I can back the tractor's draw bar close to the log,rechain and raise the drawbar just enough to get the front of the log a few inches off the ground.Keeps the log much cleaner.Never mind the hog wash about "it'll pull the tractor over on ya".You must be a little smarter than the log and tractor.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

Never mind the hog wash about "it'll pull the tractor over on ya".You must be a little smarter than the log and tractor.

It's not hogwash. Thousands of farmers have been killed or maimed in tractor accidents, and I'd wager many of them were smarter than you or I. Taking a tractor into the woods is dangerous. Skidding logs even more so, especially with some of the home brewed creations seen online. Rollovers are real and happen very fast.

Being smart is one thing, but what's really needed is being careful and aware of the limits of every piece of rigging that is in play. If you're really "smart" you'd realize that the increased safety that the right sized tractor with a skidding winch brings versus the rest of these arrangements is worth the cost of admission. It's not worth getting killed trying to skid out some firewood.

 

[farmer steve]

I use a tractor and chain as well.If the log in too far in I'll back as close as I can get,get a chain on it, drag it to where I can back the tractor's draw bar close to the log,rechain and raise the drawbar just enough to get the front of the log a few inches off the ground.Keeps the log much cleaner.Never mind the hog wash about "it'll pull the tractor over on ya".You must be a little smarter than the log and tractor.

Sorry no hogwash. Know/ knew 2 guys killed when their tractor flipped back over and crushed them. Both were experienced operators. Sh!t happens. The higher you raise a log off the ground you change the center of gravity of the tractor. No use in getting killed over firewood.

 

[farmer steve]

It's not hogwash. Thousands of farmers have been killed or maimed in tractor accidents, and I'd wager many of them were smarter than you or I. Taking a tractor into the woods is dangerous. Skidding logs even more so, especially with some of the home brewed creations seen online. Rollovers are real and happen very fast.

Being smart is one thing, but what's really needed is being careful and aware of the limits of every piece of rigging that is in play. If you're really "smart" you'd realize that the increased safety that the right sized tractor with a skidding winch brings versus the rest of these arrangements is worth the cost of admission. It's not worth getting killed trying to skid out some firewood.

Guess were on the same page Ryan.

 

[muddstopper]

If I had a dollar for every log I have skidded with the tractors frontend in the air and steering with the brakes. I have also seen tractors with logging winchs on the back be dragged up trees and flipped on their tops. Such was life back in the 60's and 70's.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

If I had a dollar for every log I have skidded with the tractors frontend in the air and steering with the brakes. I have also seen tractors with logging winchs on the back be dragged up trees and flipped on their tops. Such was life back in the 60's and 70's.

Have done it with a 648 before. Either pulling too many logs or one gets hung up. Got to be quick on the clutch cause it'll get the front 10ft in the air in a hurry.

 

[Woodchuck71]

If you use the 3 point hitch to lift the log,use another short chain to pull the log from the drawbar.
Lift only as high as needed,the short chain around the log will do the pulling.
Roll overs happen QUICK.It also depends what kind of tractor your using.I've got an old Oliver 770,and a Massey 135.
Oliver to pull logs wins everyday.
I think since it's longer it works better for pulling heavy logs.

 

[rwoods]

Some of you fellows have full size tractors. Some have FELs and/or factory skidding winches. Many of us have compact tractors and attempt to make do with simpler items even though these tractors aren't actually designed for the work we do. For those like me, I offer the advice to attach the log in a fashion if possible that allows it to be lifted almost from the bottom of the three point lift cycle. This keeps the arms and cross brace close to the ground which should give some back flip protection. For my 30 hp compact tractor, I have filled all four tires and have a few hundred pounds added to the front end to get the tractor some more weight. Even at that the three point hitch lift capacity exceeds the ballast; probably a common fate of most mid-size compact tractors. Add forward motion and you can stand one up quick. Add the leverage of a boom and it happens faster. Nonetheless, I use a short boom and hydraulic top link with a cheap set of 36" skidding tongs instead of chains so I can stay in the tractor's seat more. I avoid side slopes as much as possible. Always shoot for slow and steady. The biggest risk I encounter with skidding is the the load rolling into a ravine (or down a side slope) and pulling me over sideways.

Winching brings its own set of dangers. I won't attempt to address them here.

Here are pictures of a few of the blades of my Swiss Army knife three point attachment as added over the years.

Forks. Broke a lift arm while trying to get under a section of a large diameter oak.


Short skidding boom.


Winch.


Winching and Loading boom.

Be careful.

Ron

PS to avason:

Started using this last year. Best thing I ever did. I used to choke the logs at the bucket. This is safer and easier. I just welded a hook to it. Should have done this years ago. I got the idea from this place “firewood tractors”. Little 16 horsepower kubota too. Good luck!

Your tractor will thank you if you remove the trailer hitch or carry it inserted from the front. Turning against the log jammed in the side of the trailer hitch puts a lot of unnecessary stress on the three point hitch components.

 

[GVS]

Sorry no hogwash. Know/ knew 2 guys killed when their tractor flipped back over and crushed them. Both were experienced operators. Sh!t happens. The higher you raise a log off the ground you change the center of gravity of the tractor. No use in getting killed over firewood.

Do you know where or what point on the tractor the 2 guys were pulling from?If the pull point is below the lateral center line of the rear axel it is near impossible to even raise the front axel off the ground let alone pull the tractor over backwards.In my years of skiding logs I've lifted the front end exactly once and I hooked chain to tractor above the axel.A cousin of a good friend of mine used to help his cousin do logging.This guy used an 8N or 9Ns to skid.When he hooked on and started to pull the front end lifted and was carried until he got to the landing.Steering was with the brakes.He joked that he'd worn out a half a dozen of thoes littleFords skiding logs.Accidents will happen but the operator has to be alert and smart.

 

[rwoods]

Do you know where or what point on the tractor the 2 guys were pulling from?If the pull point is below the lateral center line of the rear axel it is near impossible to even raise the front axel off the ground let alone pull the tractor over backwards.In my years of skiding logs I've lifted the front end exactly once and I hooked chain to tractor above the axel.A cousin of a good friend of mine used to help his cousin do logging.This guy used an 8N or 9Ns to skid.When he hooked on and started to pull the front end lifted and was carried until he got to the landing.Steering was with the brakes.He joked that he'd worn out a half a dozen of thoes littleFords skiding logs.Accidents will happen but the operator has to be alert and smart.

If you use your three point hitch the pull point will be above the center line of every tractor familiar to me. Lifting the log makes an easier pull and keeps more of the log clean. My little tractor wouldn't pull much from the draw bar. Lift the log and it will pull more than you should. I suspect most here lift the log.

Ron

 

[Ryan'smilling]

If you use your three point hitch the pull point will be above the center line of every tractor familiar to me. Lifting the log makes an easier pull and keeps more of the log clean. My little tractor wouldn't pull much from the draw bar. Lift the log and it will pull more than you should. I suspect most here lift the log.

Ron

Agreed. That's what all of these pictures show as well.