Logging with 2 Wheel Drive Tractor

[Ted Jenkins]

I would think that it does not matter what the cost is since it all relative. What is your market like? What is the demand like for your products firewood logs or lumber. You would not be asking questions unless you think that you have a chance at getting a good return. In my area the demand has continually increased with the supply dwindling so guess what the price keeps going up. Buy the best equipment possible unless you think that the return is only going to be marginal. If you spend an enormous amount of time repairing fixing or rebuilding your equipment then you will not have too much time to make a profit. I have a budget for equipment so I keep buying brand new saws so working on them is not likely. It makes little sense to spend much time rebuilding saws when I need to be cutting. Thanks

 

[mesupra]

I would check out the availability of island winches. 10k pull new got under $3000 is pretty hard to beat. The wallenstein are nice winches for sure.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

I would check out the availability of island winches. 10k pull new got under $3000 is pretty hard to beat. The wallenstein are nice winches for sure.

I think autocorrect messed that one up for you. I'm thinking you meant Igland winches.


To the OP, that's a lot of winch. If you've got a 10,000#+ tractor to run it, is probably a decent deal. I'd price a new fx90 and 120, just to see how it'd compare.

 

[mesupra]

Yes I meant igland thanks

 

[Sawyer Rob]

When I bought my winch it was all about the details... I looked at a LOT of winches and chose what I thought was the winches that looked the best to me.

It came down to Wallenstein and Farmi... Other brands were lacking features or didn't look as well made.

I wouldn't buy a winch that didn't have a protective screen, and it was optional on some brands... Also I wanted a hitch on it, (adjustable hitch preferred) to pull wagons ect., some had no hitch at all!

I knew I didn't want a winch with a "band" brake, I wanted chainsaw loops and a place to carry choker chains ect...

Adding these things later was just adding to the purchase price, so I just figured I'd buy a winch that had them in the first place.

Anyway, I ended up with a Wallenstein and it had everything I wanted and it came with THREE "quality" choker chains! GOOD choker chains aren't cheeeep so that was a nice addition!

SO, the best part is, once I decided on a Wallenstein, I found a place on line that discounted them, and I ordered my FX90 for a very good price.

SR

 

[Ted Jenkins]

Remember you can always add weight to the front of your ride. With a large load my crawler would lift the front end up so adding 500 to 1000 lbs might get you comfortable bringing those larger logs right up to your truck. How big a spool can your unit handle or how many feet will fit on your spool. Also as the spool fills up it will have less pulling power. Thanks

 

[Gypo Logger]

I concure with all that's been said. It's all about traction and thinking ahead.

 

[ArtB]

completely off topic...

many years ago I desperately wanted to be a professional black smith tried every thing I could think of or hack together to get fire wood to burn hot enough to forge with.

Spent a good 9 years (from age 11 to roughly 20) off and on hammering on an old digger bar to turn it into a sword (nerd...) then one day I acquired a bag of coal...

2 hours and some BSing later the whole thing was nearly done. Later that day I finally figured out forge welding...

I haven't messed with anything but coal in the forge since. tried some coal coke but meh... coal is cheaper and cokes up just fine anyway.

The moral of this story is that that particular project has yet to be finished, mostly from lack of time or interest (its art whatya want wicker), But get the right tools and feed them proper...

More off topic:
Do you have any involvement with NW Blacksmith Assoc ?

Also: once you do propane (or electric even) coal is pretty dirty and time consuming to start for a 'quick fix' type job. Have not used coal for 25 years, but have used 'free' charcoal salvaged from a slash burn pile.

Where I grew up (central IL) there was a coal mine 3 blocks from our house and we heated with coal till I was about 10 YO. Used to use the coal furnace in the winter for the forge. Piece of RR track for anvil.. Until I realized how much sulpher was in IL coal and effect on metalurgy, always wondered why a knife made with a coal forge was never quite as strong as one made with charcoal.

Even more off topic: Remember the Boeing surplus store in Kent? One could get 4340 steel for 25 cents pound (4340 is used for engine mounts on jet airliners). Made some log tong out of it - about 15X harder to forge than 1090 or similar - beat and beat on it at bright red and still did not want to move.

enough off topic for now.

 

[ArtB]

Don't have a file pic, but next time I'm at my 'wood lot' near Mossyrock I'll take a pic of the winch and frame on old JD 440IC used for lifting and dragging logs. Welded up out of scraps'
Something like this but with chain drive winch vs. factory.
BTW, Think I'll need to take one of the final drives off AGAIN to free up frozen dry clutch !!!

 

[muddstopper]

growing up, we did all our logging with a farm tractor. Its a wonder I a still alive. dad had a old winch that ran off the pto of the tractor. Now this old winch was old way back in the 60's, and Its now setting in the woods with trees grown up thru it. Anyways, the winch was way stronger than the little dexter tractor we used for skidding. It had dogs that engaged the drum, it was either engaged and dragging or it was free wheeling. I can remember dad backing it up to a small pine and winching 4ft dia x 100ft long whitepines up to the log landing. One day the end of one of those trees dug into a creek bank. With pressure on the winch, you couldnt release the winch. The winch dragged the tractor up the tree it was backed up against and bent the tree over. Dad bailed off the tractor and it continued to be winched up the tree. Once the tractor got so far up the tree that the tree sprang back up right and filled the tractor on its top. Being a diesel, the tractor was still running and being dragged thru the dirt. Once the tractor was on the ground, dad reached under it and pulled the kill switch. This happened more than once. Dad finally bought a d2 dozer with a winch. It wasnt much better, but he never turned it over. The old tractor winch was given to my uncle, he proceeded to flip his tractor a time or two before giving it up. The winch is setting in the woods beside his old barn.

 

[northmanlogging]

More off topic:
Do you have any involvement with NW Blacksmith Assoc ?

Also: once you do propane (or electric even) coal is pretty dirty and time consuming to start for a 'quick fix' type job. Have not used coal for 25 years, but have used 'free' charcoal salvaged from a slash burn pile.

Where I grew up (central IL) there was a coal mine 3 blocks from our house and we heated with coal till I was about 10 YO. Used to use the coal furnace in the winter for the forge. Piece of RR track for anvil.. Until I realized how much sulpher was in IL coal and effect on metalurgy, always wondered why a knife made with a coal forge was never quite as strong as one made with charcoal.

Even more off topic: Remember the Boeing surplus store in Kent? One could get 4340 steel for 25 cents pound (4340 is used for engine mounts on jet airliners). Made some log tong out of it - about 15X harder to forge than 1090 or similar - beat and beat on it at bright red and still did not want to move.

enough off topic for now.

No association with nwbsa or any other group, heard of em but not a member.

Propane is all well and good, if you have a propane forge... i do not...

A weed dragon is a close second but fer anything that needs a quick heat and beat i just use a rose bud in the acetylene torch.

Coal is pretty hard to come by any more used to be a place in centralia but its been years since I've been there, got a whole truck load from a Ballard basement i'm still working through...

Hammering 440c is probably the worst ive ever come across has to be orange almost yellow or the hammer just bounces off

 

[Skeans]

I'm Looking at the FARMI brand & wondering if they have any real competition in the 11,00lb + pulling class....
Specifically the 51 & 61 models.
Which do y'all run?

We have a farmi forwarder back half for a tractor that gets used behind a 110hp 4wd Deere once in a blue for it's purpose it's ok but it's no forestry machine. If it was me looking for a best of both worlds look into a Valtra tractor they're made for the application.

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[Catfish Hunter]

Here's the Farmall 806. Now just need a winch... (or a skidder)


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[Ryan'smilling]

Here's the Farmall 806. Now just need a winch... (or a skidder)


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Nice machine. Diesel?

A winch, and a ROPS would make it something worth trying in the woods.

 

[Catfish Hunter]

Nice machine. Diesel?

A winch, and a ROPS would make it something worth trying in the woods.

Yep diesel!


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[hseII]

We have a farmi forwarder back half for a tractor that gets used behind a 110hp 4wd Deere once in a blue for it's purpose it's ok but it's no forestry machine. If it was me looking for a best of both worlds look into a Valtra tractor they're made for the application.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

I’ve already got the Tractor.
Kubota M7060 HD12

 

[woodfarmer]

I'm Looking at the FARMI brand & wondering if they have any real competition in the 11,00lb + pulling class....
Specifically the 51 & 61 models.
Which do y'all run?

I run the 501 off a 90hp caseih mfd

 

[JTM]

Case IH

 

[hseII]

I run the 501 off a 90hp caseih mfd

Is there anything you wish that was different with it?

 

[woodfarmer]

No, I had the winch on a jd 3130 2wd before I upgraded to the case. It went no where once the snow flew.
I would like the larger 601, but I’ve run this for 17 yrs without an issue.