First attempt ...alaskan milling

[Boon]

Look in my signature under "log lifterII"

Thanks BobL, FYI one inch of weld (melded correct) will hold one tonne of weight - relative to the material of-course.

 

[flashhole]

That was pretty slick how you made the lift. Thanks for pointing it out to me.

 

[abbott295]

"cool, any suggestions to what height to make it?"

I think my pipe legs are somewhere in the 7 to 8 foot range.

More detailed information: I think the legs are 2 in. pipe, so the "V" would be 2-1/2 in. I also welded a cross bar in the "V" to hang the come-along on. It works better if the handle of the come-along is placed at the log end rather than at the up-in-the-air end. It's easier to reach that way. Chain around the log, come-along hooked into the chain, other end hooked at the top of the "V". Invert the "V", of course.

I also have built a 'HuskyHank' type of log lifter, visible in BobL's "Log-lifter 2" thread. They both work. The Log-lifter is more compact, but always wants to lean someway or other, especially on sloping ground. The bi-pod is bigger to carry and trickier, more complicated, to set up.

abbott295

 

[flashhole]

I took another look at Bob's fixture. I can easily duplicate the setup but I will use angle iron instead of square tubing. The angle iron are old bed frames that I have carried around for years ... about time I put them to use. It looks like the rigging is more for stability than strength. The log attachment mechanism I will not be able to duplicate easily. Any reservations about using a chain or heavy nylon strap around the log? I'm sure it will be functional but I also want it to be safe. I like the dogs on the homemade fixtures.

 

[BobL]

I took another look at Bob's fixture. I can easily duplicate the setup but I will use angle iron instead of square tubing. The angle iron are old bed frames that I have carried around for years ... about time I put them to use. It looks like the rigging is more for stability than strength.

Correct

The log attachment mechanism I will not be able to duplicate easily. Any reservations about using a chain or heavy nylon strap around the log?

By the time you allow for some connecting slack for the chain or strap this will significantly change the height of the load point on the jack from below the centre of the log to above the log. This means that the log can more easily tilt the jack over to the side so the side supports will be essential but a they work under compression they still don't need to be super strong. The only reason I uses square hollow steel tubing was because I had some left over from another project.

BTW as the log is lifted, if the ground is smooth/hard/sloping the log may want to slide away from the jack so something should be placed in front of the log to stop it doing this.

I hate to sound too nanny like about this but those jacks need to be used with some care as they are not fool proof. They need to be well maintained otherwise they can slip (especially when being lowered) and never rely on the jack alone for support if you need to place any body part under a lifted log. The way I use them is to lift them about ~4" and then I stick a piece of lumber underneath about 18" back from the end of the raised log, then raise the log another ~4', stick another piece of lumber on top of the other, etc till I get it high enough so I can roll/slide a short stump underneath the end of the log and lower the log back down onto the stump and then wedge the sides to stop the log rolling. If needed I use the same process going down as going up because going down is the most likely time it will slip. It's a slow process but well worth it.

 

[flashhole]

It all makes sense to me and thanks for the caution about jack safety and proper handling.

 

[Greenland South]

"I hate to sound too nanny like about this but those jacks need to be used with some care as they are not fool proof. They need to be well maintained otherwise they can slip (especially when being lowered) and never rely on the jack alone for support if you need to place any body part under a lifted log. The way I use them is to lift them about ~4" and then I stick a piece of lumber underneath about 18" back from the end of the raised log, then raise the log another ~4', stick another piece of lumber on top of the other, etc till I get it high enough so I can roll/slide a short stump underneath the end of the log and lower the log back down onto the stump and then wedge the sides to stop the log rolling. If needed I use the same process going down as going up because going down is the most likely time it will slip. It's a slow process but well worth it."

These jackal style jacks scare the you know what out of me. A nick name for them I remember from years ago was "kill all". That being said, I have a couple I use regularly. But man I'm careful.