Advise on tractor for skidding

Hey all! I currently own a small farm in central NY and my woods (78 acres) is in the NYS forestry program. I have been advised by my forestry consultant to remove about 30 to 50 beech trees ( large, 20" up ...big trees) to help my money trees grow for harvest (sugar maple and cherry). I currently own a ls mt350e (50 hp turbo diesel 4wd) but i really dont want to bang it up too much using it in the woods, so im looking at a few cheaper tractors to help with trail building and skidding the wood out. The issue is that all of these old tractors that are in my budget are 2wd (older fords, masseys and int's), but they are all around 50 hp and in real good shape. The property is relatively flat, so steep slopes not an issue. If i put chains on the rear tires do you think that these tractors can handle pulling 10 to 15 foot sections with only 2wd? The tractor im looking to pull the trigger on is a ford 661 with 48 hp and in mint shape, used locally by an old time farmer and been kept in barn since hes had it. I've never owned a 2wd tractor, so im not sure if they are capable of skidding out wood this size, but i do know that my 350e can, because i've pulled out larger logs with it last year. Thanks for any help, spring will be here soon and i want to start cutting!!

 

They should do fine. Just make sure you have enough counter weight on the front to hold the tractor down. The key to being able too skid them is to lift the but end off the ground. As long as you can do that they should pull fine.

 

Hey- i have a 3pt skidding attachment i use on my newer tractor and plan to use it on the older one too. It hooks to the log and when you raise the 3pt hitch it lifts the end of the log off the ground for easier skidding. I'm just worried about the weight and the tractors front end lifting ( no loader up front of the older tractor)

 

Does it have a weight bar you can hang more weight on?

 

No, but it has a front bumper with grab hooks on it- i've thought that i may weld a couple of pipes on it (i've seen this done before) and sliding on a bunch of 50lb gym weights on it to give it some front weight, there a guy around here i saw do this and it worked great. Or could i just pull the logs with the draw bar and just drag them? That would pretty much prevent front end jumping i think. I guess ill have to experiment ......

 

The weights would work well. Hell I’ve seen guys chain large chunks of concrete to the front end. Anything to counter the log. As for just draw barring them it’s going to depend on the size of the log. It probably won’t work to well with larger stuff when the fronting the log digs in and your trying to pull the entire weight of the world.

 

Are you skidding it out for sawlogs or firewood? Hills and creeks make it a challenge if you have those.

 

small hills and no creeks where this beech grove is. Its all firewood, but to be honest with you id rather drag it out to my splitting spot ( nice flat area on the edge of a pasture) than cutting it up in the woods and bringing it out in cut logs. In the splitting area i can use the newer tractor with the pallet forks to lift and cut with out bending over too much (i've had 2 spinal fusions and bending over isnt the easiest for me) The drag out is about 150 to 300 yrds mostly flat grade depending on where the tree is.

 

I skidded logs with an old Farmall M for years. 3 point box blade with a hydraulic winch set up. No issues other than no power steering. Set of chains & a little common sense & you'll be good. Front weight I would wait to see if you need it, you can always cut firewood logs a bit shorter if they're too heavy. Good brakes are very helpful for steering as well. A 50hp tractor will skid way more than you think. If it were me I'd start now, not spring, but I don't know your conditions. 20F & 6-12" of snow is ideal around here.

 

That type of tractor will do fine. Decent tires, weight, and chains and you'll do what you want. Some of my father's logger buddies actually did small scale commercial logging with about the same tractors 40 years ago.

 

My father in law cut & skid beech firewood all his life on the farm with a 1946 John Deere B I think it was rated about 16hp drawbar horsepower. He had a set of tire chains for it. As unstable as a narrow front end can be it was dandy in the woods he got in & out of places with that thing you could have never have gotten near with a wide front end. He never had weights on the front. Amateur Cutter is correct he did a lot of steering with the brake pedals. He was probably the calmest person I ever met. Never in a hurry, never got mad, just took his time and would weave his way through the wood lot. As I think back he may have done a lot of brake steering because his one hand would alway be busy operating that danged hand clutch! I sure do miss him. I think that 661 would do you fine if you exercise common sense & take your time.

 

If you cleared out one central trail, you could get a forestry winch for the 3pt of your current tractor. Not sure on your budget, but it could be worth a look.

 

I have an old TO-35 Ferguson and I skid out of our woods a lot. I have a primitive home made skidder for it and I've brought out 12' long, 24" logs no problem. I lift them with the top bar of the skidder, then attach chains to the lower hooks of the skidder for the big stuff so the front end stays down. I don't have any weights on the front.


I don't have any pix of skidding a big'un, but I can skid 4 of this size 16' long at one time no problem without chaining to the low hooks. I've only had to add chains to the low hooks a couple times on the over 22" logs to keep the front end down. Linking into the low hooks lets me keep the pulling point at or below the rear axle.

More of a discussion with issues at New home made toy for my 3 point hitch

I had a 32" Honey Locust log that was 16' long I was trying to skid, but I had to cut it in half to skid it over to the saw mill. I'm not sure what that thing weighed, but it was a handfull...

 

For logging and other tips I learned a lot from watching this gentleman's videos:
Logging with a Farm Tractor in the Boreal Forest of Northeastern U.S.A. - Chapter 1 - YouTube

He goes into the benefits of logging roads, gear, technique, etc..

Long story short for you: Get a skidding winch, build logging trails, be careful, and enjoy your little slice of heaven.

 

^^^. This x2.

 

My experience on my tractor. I bought a brand new Deere in 2008 and its my baby and I rarely buy new, heck I even got our dog used. Since then about 600 hours later about 1/2 of that blazing trails, skidding logs and general deep in the woods stuff I have yet to damage it. Zip nada nothing. My opinion is to become one with your tractor young grasshopper. Go slow and calculated and be a machine operator not a tractor jockey. I'd rather be working with 4wd, granny gears and power steering than bouncing around on a old 2wd with a concrete sidewalk strapped on the hood. Oh and I love old tractors and have a few.
Ah what do I know I have a screw loose.

 

Thanks all for the good advise....after looking everything over, do you think i'd be better off getting a 3 pt skidding winch (about same price as the old tractor) ? I figure with the long cables and such i'd never really have to go in places that may damage or mess up my new machine. My tractor, with the loaded tires is about 4500 lbs, is that enough weight? I'm kinda new at this (skidding wood, not cutting firewood) , so please be paitent with me !

 

Yes this is what you should do. Your tractor weighs plenty, just pull in line with the winch and the weight doesnt matter much. The winch has a blade on it that will dig into the ground to prevent the tractor from being pulled backwards. Get a self releasing snatch block as well to ensure you can always pull in line. With a 50 hp tractor you can fit on a pretty big winch.

Those PTO winches are pretty serious. Idle speed is plenty fast enough to get the logs in.

 

As Spencer stated above, 50HP & a good winch will skid anything you're likely to encounter. You can retrieve stuff with a winch that you would think nearly impossible. Only other item I might suggest is buy or build a skidding nose cone. Save a lot of hassle on big logs.

 

I tend to agree with you...there is a auth dealer about 10 miles from my house....any thoughts on the uniforest winches??