Wasn't sure what section to post this in so figured I would put it under 'hobbies and interests'. Looking for some feedback from those who have used snowmobiles for skidding, more specifically, skidding downhill. Background: earlier this year, a neighbor told me I could 'have' quite a few downed and leaning trees on his mom's property. She has 126 acres across the road from me that I can access through his property. The downside is that the trees he told me about are all upslope (which is why he has no interest in them). We took ATV's up there during the summer and there were some nice hardwood trees that I would definitely like to add to my hoard, however none of them were what I would call easily accessible. We made it up to them with the ATVs, but I wouldn't want to haul a trailer up there (more so due to potential issues coming back down the slope). I could cut the trees into manageable logs and skid them out with a capstan winch, but that would be a lot of work. With the way the latter half of this year went, I pretty much forgot about those trees until I was having a cup of coffee with my neighbor over the weekend, and he mentioned them again. So now I'm contemplating skidding them out with the snowmobile. I don't remember exactly how large the trees were however I don't think there are any much larger than maybe 16 to 18 inches in diameter. What I am thinking is to cut them into eight-foot lengths and then using the skidding cone, drag the logs down the slope to the main trail with the snowmobile. Once there I can buck the logs and either haul the rounds out behind the snowmobile using the Otter sled or use the ATV and trailer if I can get in there with chains. I've used the snowmobile to skid out logs over flat terrain before but haven't tackled using it to haul out logs downhill. The slope isn't overly steep, but it does pose different issues than pulling across flat ground, and there are no straight-line pulls due to boulders and trees which make for a snaking path. That would lead to a shorter tow line than I would normally use since I don't want the logs to get hung up and bring the snowmobile to a sudden stop. I'm waiting for a bit more snow to fall before I even head back up there, and perhaps I'll just pass on the whole endeavor. At the same time, I hate not at least trying to get those scrounges, especially when they are so close to home (other than having to cross one paved road, I could realistically skid the logs all the way back to my house with the snowmobile, that's how close it is). As for the snowmobile, it's a 2015 Polaris Indy 550 Voyageur, which is designed as a utility sled (why I bought it). It's got enough grunt to skid logs and is already set up to tow, so the sled isn't the issue (other than it's somewhat of a PITA once you get into the timber due to being 11.5 feet long). Pic is from several years ago when I was skidding out some smaller birch trees (PITA without the skidding cone!).
Not hilly enough around here to even think about doing that. I have no "snow toys", aside from snowblower and snow shoes. I'll be following this thread for entertainment purposes.
I've never "skidded" logs with a snowmobile before but I've hauled HUNDREDS of firewood loads off the neighbors farm over the years with my old Chaparral SSX 340 and the homemade firewood sled I built for it. If the snow is wet and sticky, it can be a PITA, but powder with a broken-in trail it was a breeze and I actually really enjoy doing it. Hauled tons and tons of old, standing dead, barkless/sapwoodless gypsy moth kill white oak off of that farm for many years, it got me through heating the house several winters early on in my firewood career. I still use it for hauling a little bit of wood off the farm (and when we do maple syrup, if there's snow around), last few years have been really lean on the snow though. I've gotta dig the sled out and get it tuned up soon....
I have done this numerous times, always with the beast, a 1991 Ski doo formula plus, It has a solid steel frame and I never worried about tweaking it. The biggest problem with towing downhill, is if you have to stop and the push. I always used a sway arm, that kept everything 3 feet off the back of the sled. it was started by carrying 55 gallons of sap to the sugar house. Once you start moving keep moving. Saves the belts
Before Otter and Jet sleds were readily available, a car hoods pulled behind behind snowmobiles were popular for hauling wood around here. I wouldn't bother with logs or even 4ft, total waste of effort for me. Buck everything on site then load the sled and go.
Yes I used a homemade tow arm also because of the negative pressure from the loaded sled going downhill....it took some getting used to, towing heavy loads downhill on a snow machine is a different experience....
Hauling rounds out isn't an issue as I've done plenty of that with the snowmobile and have swivel Y tow arms for both sleds. As noted in the OP, it's the issue of getting the timber down off the slope to where it can then be processed and hauled out. Because of the slope where the timber is, it's just not practical (or safe) to tow a trailer or sled behind an ATV or snowmobile, which is why I am looking at skidding the logs down. I've looked at a lot of different setups and depending on how things go if/when I finally try to skid some logs down, I may end up making something along those lines. I would love to have a timber sled from Iron Baltic or Ultratech (as shown below), however those are not available in my neck of the woods so something homemade would have to suffice. I don't have to skid the logs very far, just off the slope (although if I had one of those timber sleds, I would just use that to bring the logs back to the house).
Was that homemade sled completely flat-bottomed or did you have runners on it? Love those old homemade wooden sleds, so much more durable than the commercial garbage sold today.
Those timber sleds are pretty cool. It would be a fun project, pretty straight forward couple sets of old snowmobile skis and some square stock. I think I would make the removable uprights work as a ramp to roll a log up with a cant hook. Of course that many not work well when snow covered.
It was a tin bottom with angle iron runners, it does ok but if I ever built another one, it'd be raised runners. Lot less friction that way.
Those Alaskan umhw sleds look pretty slick too. Kinda pricy. Not really locally available. Northern Sled Works
I was looking at just bulk sheet prices on UMHW and even those prices are outrageous. The UMHW freight sled is almost the cost of a full timber sled.
How steep is it? Are you comfortable blazing trail in powder? As the guys mentioned above, hauling with a snowmobile as a bit of trickiness, especially with a down slope. An old boat trailer with skis on the axles instead of wheels will work. Load light at first, and only once you have a trail packed green at least the day before. Plan out any trouble spots so if you get pushed, you can just give a bit of gas and have the snowmobile, not the log (s) do the commanding.
I've run snowmobiles enough over the years so no issues breaking new trails and no issues hauling (pic below is at the bottom of a decent slope after blazing several miles of new trail in a foot of fresh powder). I have extra wide floatation skis and a 155 track for off trail riding. Skidding logs downhill is the new wrinkle. I like your idea of getting a trail packed first and if I decide to skid with the snowmobile, I'll probably make a few passes up and down, perhaps while cutting up the trees, and then wait a day or two before I try to skid the logs down. Hauling the timber out once at the bottom of the slope is not an issue. As for how steep the slope is, I'll have to reassess that when I go back out there. One spot on the same property I scouted out last year for dead and down had a slope where when I was coming back down after breaking a trail going uphill, I could see that the snowmobile skis hadn't even touched the ground for 3/4 of the way up the hill. Fun times.
Good advice, I like the boat trailer idea.....something like a small Jon boat trailer may be the ticket
Well weather looks like it is going to put this project on hold for at least the near future. Supposed to have torrential rain Saturday into Sunday before turning back to snow and then a hard freeze so everything that is on the ground now is going to turn into solid ice. Not exactly the stuff I want to be hill climbing on the snowmobile. Will wait until we get more snow over the ice pack before I tackle the project. (Although I may sluff up by foot to cut some of the trees into manageable lengths in preparation.) The good news is that my friend and I took the four wheelers out onto the property this morning and we marked about 20 or so dead and wind-damaged trees I can take. No major scores however other than one hemlock, it's all hardwood so I am grateful. Most are relatively close to a trail so for now I will probably just use the four-wheeler to pull the Otter sled. These trees will more than replenish the amount I have burned so far this year so it's a win-win for me (and I truly enjoy being out in the snow and cutting firewood during the winter).
If the trees you marked are between wrist and thigh sized, then get as much as you can. Consider it all a major score!
They ranged from around 6" up to 16/18" in diameter so plenty of timber. I just won't know the quality of the wood until I get in there with the saws (I'm sure some will be too punky to be worth it). No oak but the hardwoods we marked were a mix of beech, red and silver maple, and white birch.
