What additions are you making to your 2020 firewooding arsenal?

[rilo_1970]

Any details you can share? I'm thinking about building one myself.

I used 2" square tubing for the frame, spindles/axles and wheels from an old snowmobile trailer axle, and a set of logging tongs, and a boat roller for the winch strap, all of which I had laying around. Only things I bought were the hand winch, 1 7/8" ball coupler, can of primer and paint. The tongs aren't absolutely necessary, but it makes the job quicker/easier compared to running the winch strap or cable under the log. Also helps to have a cant hook handy when loading and unloading the logs. In total, I've got less than $60 with all materials and I've hauled out logs up to 26" in diameter and 10' long, and this thing does a great job. With a log up to 9-10' in length, the entire log can be lifted off the ground with the winch and then I also secure to the front with a ratchet strap (since the total length of the arch is 5'). After trying it out, I added a couple pieces of short angle iron to the front to help secure the log when I ratchet it down, as well as a simple jack to keep the ball coupler off the ground when not in use. For design, I google "ATV skidder" and "ATV log arch" and found several different designs which I used for ideas. Happy to answer any questions if I can help - good luck!

 

[peak-industry]

Kawasaki, cool !

 

[Saiso]

We are hoping to build/buy our home so it would be difficult to convince my wife that I "need" a new saw. That being said, I just spent 230$ or so on small items such as a logger's tape, chainsaw multi tool, 2 in 1 sharpener, another pulp hook, etc. I'll also be looking into getting a cant hook and perhaps a new pair of chaps/pants.

On top of that, we have an area that we cleared last fall that is quite big so I finally have a proper "yard" to bring all my firewood and logs out to properly split and dry.


Baby steps!

 

[cornfused]

Added these two back savers & a son in law!!

 

[sundance]

Added these two back savers & a son in law!!View attachment 806344

Back savers could be a good investment.Can't afford a son in law.

 

[cornfused]

He's a good guy and young & strong. Best part is he makes good money as an engineer

 

[Logger nate]

love this new back saver addition.

 

[Saiso]

Went to the shop two days ago and got a couple new items to add to my previous purchase last week.
A new pair of Stihl chainsaw boots, chainsaw pants and suspenders.
On top of that, my logger’s tape came in the mail yesterday.

That should be all for now until I find a cant hook sometime this summer

 

[svk]

I picked up a Husky 154 the other day. It’s not yet in my possession but appears to be in great shape except for missing covers. No idea yet on internal condition though.

 

[Deleted member 150358]

Broke down and ordered an Oregon 620 AX gave up on finding a good used grinder.

 

[mountainguyed67]

I'm looking to add a gorillaback log lift to cut down on noodling down the bigger rounds just so I can pick them up, by hand. This looks like a back saver and less saw work.

I’m curious why you don’t split with the cylinder vertical. You don’t have to lift them that way.

 

[mountainguyed67]

see if there's any room in the budget for a skidding winch. The Norse winches from Labonville are very reasonably priced.

A 3 point winch for farm tractors?

 

[sb47]

I’m curious why you don’t split with the cylinder vertical. You don’t have to lift them that way.

View attachment 808204

For one it's harder to roll and wrestle a big round and get it positioned properly to get it to split properly. Secondly it tends to push the round away from the splitter so you don't get a full reach of the wedge.
The gorillabac came in today and I have only split about a dozen rounds but man it's easy as pie. The lifting spike screws in very easy and it drags the round up to 50 feet up to the splitter then lifts it and it swings around and set the round on the splitter. It also holds the round as you split so your not wrestling a big heavy half round after you bust it into. I split it in half and swing one half out of the way and work one half at a time. Even though I just got it today and have only split a few rounds, I can already tell it's gonna save a lot of work and no more back strain. I'll update and maybe even do a video in a few days. But it does work very well so far.

 

[sb47]

For one it's harder to roll and wrestle a big round and get it positioned properly to get it to split properly. Secondly it tends to push the round away from the splitter so you don't get a full reach of the wedge.
The gorillabac came in today and I have only split about a dozen rounds but man it's easy as pie. The lifting spike screws in very easy and it drags the round up to 50 feet up to the splitter then lifts it and it swings around and set the round on the splitter. It also holds the round as you split so your not wrestling a big heavy half round after you bust it into. I split it in half and swing one half out of the way and work one half at a time. Even though I just got it today and have only split a few rounds, I can already tell it's gonna save a lot of work and no more back strain. I'll update and maybe even do a video in a few days. But it does work very well so far.

The only thing I noticed that I would change is how close the upright bar is to the foot of the splitter. I would prefer it was about 6'' farther away from the foot of the splitter. It does seem to kinda get in the way after you split off a piece and go to throw it in a pile or in a trailer. I went back out just befor dark and split another dozen rounds and it really works very well. I may mod it just a bit to move the unit about 6'' away from the foot of the splitter to get the upright bar a little farther away giving a little more working clearance. But as for lifting heavy rounds, it really works very well.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

A 3 point winch for farm tractors?

Correct. PTO powered, continuous duty cycle, very robust and also fast. Once you have one, you'll wonder how you ever got by without one. Not my pic, but this is what they look like. Lots of brands available.

 

[mountainguyed67]

For one it's harder to roll and wrestle a big round and get it positioned properly to get it to split properly. Secondly it tends to push the round away from the splitter so you don't get a full reach of the wedge.

Both of these are insignificant compared to getting a heavy round up onto a horizontal machine, and dealing with the pieces after it’s split.

 

[sb47]

Yesterday I used mt kabota tractor battery to run the lift and it didn;t take long for it to run the battery down till the winch wouldn't even work and thetractor wouldn't start. I went to Walmart this morning and bought a 100 amp deep cycle marine battery and ran the lift all day and it ran all day without draining the battery. I put it on the battery charger this afternoon and it only drained it down about a quarter of the way. It will run an a small battery but it drains it down fairly quickly and being a regular battery it will ruin it if you drain it down all the way to many times. So I opted for a deep cycle battery that is designed to be run down and recharged without doing any damage to the battery. I like the lift and was able to move it out away from the splitter foot plate to give me more working room. I lifted 30'' rounds of green oak with no problems at all and the way the spike wheel screws into the round I can split the round in half and swing one half out of the way leaving it hanging on the lift and work just a half round at a time, then swing the other half back on the splitter deck and split the other half without having to re lift it.
I got more work done with less effort and less back strain without having to noodle the rounds down saving me time and saw work.
I'm starting to really like the gorillabac log lift. It's easy to set up and use in just a few min.
The winch is rated at 2,000 lbs but the lift is only rated for 250 lbs but some of the rounds were heavier then the 250 lb rating and it lifted them just fine.
I don't know if the new battery was fully charged or not I didn't check it before I started using it. I have it onthe charger now and I'm going to top it off and see how long it last with a full charge. But the lift is working out great.
I'll try to post pick and maybe a video soon.

 

[mountainguyed67]

Correct. PTO powered, continuous duty cycle, very robust and also fast. Once you have one, you'll wonder how you ever got by without one. Not my pic, but this is what they look like. Lots of brands available. View attachment 808281

I don’t have a regular tractor, this would be appropriate on my loader. They “can” be set up on a wheel loader. They’re quite expensive.


I recently got this, I’ll use it with a length of cable I have. It’s not as convenient as a winch, but it’ll work if I have the room to drive. The picture shows it next to one for a pickup.

 

[sb47]

Here is a video of the lift unit in use and as you can see it can drag the round up to the splitter. But I just roll it up to it instead of dragging it. Also watch how once you split a big round in half you can swing the one half out of the way and just work one half at a time while the other half hangs off to the side. I would have made the unit sit just a bit farther out from the end of the splitter. But I'm sure I can mod it to sit a little farther out. The size of the rounds in this video I would have to at least noodle them in half or quarter them up in order to lift them by hand. No way are you gonna dead lift a round that size and weight up there by yourself. And because the round is hanging, You can let a lot of the weight hang on the lift as you work the round. Thats saves a lot of saw work and creating piles of saw dust. Not all my rounds are that big, but it will save work on the ones that are.I got twice the work done today and was less tired in the same amount of time. I think this was a good move and improvement and will speed up production, and most of all save my back. I lifted and split quite a few rounds the same size as the ones in this video and they were fresh cut green water oak rounds. I'm sure they were every bit of 250 lb or more and it lifted them just fine.
I was thinking of building something very similar for quite some time, then I ran across this unit and it's almost exactly what I was thinking of building.
It wasn't cheap for the amount of material it's made from but it's invaluable in the work it saves. I got the lift with an extra spike kit and the extra recover hitch attachment for $690.00, then I spent another 100 bucks on a good marine deep cycle battery. Total cost about $790 bucks.
I would like to have seen them mount a battery holder to keep the battery off the ground, but I just set it on a stump and it works just fine.
Now comes the test to see how long it last.

If your interested in one contact:
Fred Kalakay at Lift Rite Log Company LLC
11619 Eagle Creek Pass
Fort Wayne IN 46814
260-249-9420

 

[mountainguyed67]

green water oak rounds.

I had a neighbor that called a certain type of oak “water oak”. He said I was wasting my time with it because it was mostly water, and wasn’t very dense. He didn’t know what species it was, do you know?