Rigging question. Sort of.

[2dogs]

I am guessing this was before you installed the winch that is sitting in the back of your truck.

Good eyes flushcut! I can't remember exactly but I think I had another winch mounted on the front, a 9000lb winch also. Using an electric winch is really slow so whenever possible we use blocks and rope or wire rope and pull with a truck. I have several Skookum blocks in 6", 8", and 10". I also have a couple McKissick blocks. Between all of us that work together we probably have a half mile of wire rope, not to mention what is on the yarder and the skidder. The boss also has a front end loader with log forks and a slip on bucket.

BTW that Warn XD900i is in pieces in my driveway these days. Those light duty Warn winches and their motors don't last long.

 

[flushcut]

BTW that Warn XD900i is in pieces in my driveway these days. Those light duty Warn winches and their motors don't last long.

I hear ya. I have been looking into Milemarker Hydro winches.

 

[imagineero]

just curious but why chain chokers? is that another husky/sthil fight I personally hate the chain choker and have broke more chains than cable... just a thought

If you've got lift and can keep things off the ground then my own feeling is cable is superior. For skulldragging over rough terrain then I've had better luck with chain. Most of the tree guys in aus use chain chokers on their chipper winches.

Shaun

 

[OH_Varmntr]

+1 on avoiding cheap blocks. $40 for a 10 tonner sounds very optimistic. The 10 tonnes would be max breaking strain, but I think they'd break well before that. Working load for a true 10 tonne pulley is only 2 tonnes. If you're running 2:1 the pulley sees double the load which means working load limit 1 tonne. It's not hard to max out a 10 tonne pulley with a 2 tonne log and a 4x4. There's nothing 'static' about dragging a log, it's a very dynamic situation. Easy to see well over 6x the load applied to the pulley. Do go heavy on cable, and get a chain choker rather than a cable.

Use the yarder as much as possible. Try to do something more productive on the other days. Depending on what the terrain is like (hilly, scrub, rocks, slope) and how many trees are still up if any, you have lots of rigging options available. Height is always king, if you can rig a high block your life will be a lot more pleasant. May be able to skid them straight onto the deck, but a 4x4 will never be a skidder. If you're loading in the same place every day you may be able to take advantage of terrain to get the trailer somewhere lower than the logs, or dig a trench/ramp with a dozer to make it so you dont have to lift the logs onto the deck. Hard to say without details/pics.

What are you doing with the logs?

Shaun

Thanks for the info Shaun! These logs will be hauled to my house where they'll be cut, split and stacked for firewood. There's so much wood along this ditchbank that I don't believe I'll be able to burn it all before it goes to waste.

Here's a link to the thread I made about it awhile back. I will basically be driving along the ditchbank, loading logs as I go. So multiple loading sites and nothing to really anchor to as all the trees are cut down. As you can see, most of the trees are <12" diameter, so many of them can be handled manually. But there's some bigger stuff back there I'll rig to get it on the trailer. The bigger stuff is straighter so parbuckling should be somewhat easy.

http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/188108.htm

Im wondering about the trailer? what is the weight rating, decking material? Ive seen some scary former rvs used to haul stuff it was never intended for.Im not saying yours is scary it just sounds like it may have been an rv or somthing specialized with the3 8 foot top deck.

The trailer was a tri-axle flatbed at one time, but was shortened and an axle was removed. Being it was a tri-axle I have no doubts the framing can withstand the rear loading, but sideloading is a different story. It has provisions for a winch mount. The trailer only has a single jack, but it had 2 before. If I can find another jack and put 2 back on it, I can lower the jacks to help side stability when parbuckling up the side. If I have to, I'll drive stakes into the ground and anchor the opposite side of the trailer to help with stability.

Anyways, the axles are 5200#, with all four wheels having brakes. The decking is all steel, no wood. I've got 1/8" steel sheeting on the way to replace the decking as it's currently all jagged and will snag logs pretty easily. I also need to re-weld some bracing and may end up relocating the axles forward a bit as they're pretty far back so the turning radius is quite wide. It will also help keep the weight over the axles instead of over the kingpin.

There's enough wood back there that I may end up leaving the big stuff for the loader, and getting the stuff I can handle myself. But until I get out and do some trails, I won't come across any errors.

Here's the trailer.

 

[Humptulips]

After looking at that brush I think I'd buck them into firewood length and load them that way by hand. I thought you had some logs.

 

[northmanlogging]

If you've got lift and can keep things off the ground then my own feeling is cable is superior. For skulldragging over rough terrain then I've had better luck with chain. Most of the tree guys in aus use chain chokers on their chipper winches.

Shaun

never thought of the dead dragging over rocks thing around here its mostly mud and ferns I leave the rocky stuff for the big outfits with real yarders. Me I'm just a gypo that hates trying to stuff a chain under a log only to have the cheap p.o.s. snap and try to take my head off... some day I'll grow up and get a real skidder and stop abusing my poor tractor (woh dream big right) guess i could shell out the cash and get the proper chain choker but why...just my skull and I'm not using it...

 

[OH_Varmntr]

After looking at that brush I think I'd buck them into firewood length and load them that way by hand. I thought you had some logs.

Haha yea I haven't added new pics in a while. A lot of it is small stuff, but there's some big stuff there too. I'm planning on cutting into 16' lengths, so I can have ~8' of lower deck space available to load the four wheeler on.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Just got back from a friends house. I blew out a tire on my truck and he had another the same size until I can get mine ordered. $242 per tire is rediculous!

Anyways, he has a 12,000# Warn winch he wants to sell me. I told him I'd give him $200 and he's seriously considering it. Even if I have to give him $400 it's still a hell of a deal as a 12000# Harbor Freight winch sells for $400.

So we will see...