NICE! Since you are handy with a welder, grab a 2-1/2" x 10" cylinder and a couple of top link repair ends and make a hyd. top link. It'll give you a few more inches of lift when you need it and is real handy with other attachments.
I'd be awful careful with that - your hitch looks way above your rear axle. If a log that size were to meet something immovable (stump, rock), the high hitch works as a lever to flip the tractor over on its back. If you look at a commercial 3-pt skidding winch, the hitch point when skidding is much lower. In the picture below, when I winch the log to the tractor I'm pulling from up at the blue line, but I am off and back away from the tractor when I do that. When skidding, the log is attached at the green line, not the blue line. I've had farm tractors on two wheels before when I wasn't expecting it, and got lucky. Just be aware and give it respect - stuff goes bad fast.
I advise to go engine driven. Get something with enough juice to run your house hold essentials during a power outage.
Not to argue your point (because it is a safety concern), but if you look at the commercial skidding plates available from several manufacturers (Wallenstein, Erskine and Quick Attach as examples), the general geometry of the skidding plate is remarkably similar to the OP's design. The hitch point for the chain choker is well above the lower three-point arms. Most commercial three-point winches have a notched bar up fairly high on the winch, at or above the connection point for the top link. However - where the commercial designs differ is that they are constructed with that beefy bottom blade, which serves several purposes - it acts to prevent the tractor from being dragged backwards when winching, they protect the lower arms from damage if a log were to swing forward and contact the hitch pins, and they act as a first line of defense against that rock or stump (the potential hazard) you mention. If the log is chained up high enough, the first thing that will hit that hazard is the bottom blade, and the rest of the log will slide right over it. So - advice to the OP - outfit that design with a solid steel bottom blade, or a piece of heavy channel iron or something to prevent contact between end of log and hazard. You do want to get that butt end as high as reasonably possible to prevent it from digging in and flipping the tractor over backwards. Less log contacting the ground also means less dirt and grit getting in the bark.
OK looked up what it was since I will need generator in future that looks like it kills 2 birds 1 stone and not a lot more than generator alone!
That did occur to me when I was making it, but I just don't see how I would get the butt end of the log higher than the bottom blade without a winch.
My brother was in the same boat as you-100 amp service. He bought a bobcat to weld with / use as a generator and he also runs a plasma cutter off of it.
Easy. If you were to put a blade on the bottom of that, when you backed up to a log, you'd lower the blade all the way to the ground. Chain up your log as tight as you reasonably can, and then lift the 3-point. The blade and the bottom of the log will be close to the same height off the ground. Doesn't need to be *higher*, just need the blade to intercept the hazard first.
Agreed- mine is an older winch, and at times I do wish it lifted higher when skidding, and I really wish I had the butt plate to hold logs back when going downhill on snow. Here's a couple of pic's of commercial winches (Wallenstein, and Erskine (I didn't know Erskine made them)). You'll see the notched bar for the chokers is much lower than the top link. Then look at the OP's first photo, and note the height of the hitch point - I was comparing it to the axle height, but maybe the top of his tire is a better reference point, as it appears to be well above the tire. In addition to the butt plate, another way to add a measure of safety would be to lift the log, block under it, re-chain tighter to the hitch point, and skid with the 3-pt at a lower height. I've had a tractor pulling too large a disk in a flat field start to flip over on me before I hit the clutch. Circumstances were different (low hitch but excellent traction), but it taught me to respect the ability of the tractor to quickly flip itself.
Nice work haveissues! Looks like it is built very strong. That will be very handy. I will be skidding logs a longer distance fairly soon, so I would like to get something like that. I will have to see if my neighbor has time to weld something like that up for me. I can take the backhoe off the tractor and put my three point hitch equipment on then put one of those on. If my neighbor is too busy I may have to buy one. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200612305_200612305
I'm in the same boat-backhoe has to come off, then back on with the 3pt arms. I figure I have about 2 hours invested in that and my steel is free. It would have been a bit quicker if my bandsaw didn't snap a blade on the first cut, leaving me with doing my cutting with the plasma cutter. That one you linked to does look pretty nice though, and not too expensive. Oh, and get a skidding hook and make yourself a choker, or just buy a choke chain setup. The skidding hook is real easy to work with. Well worth the $6 or whatever it was.
3 pth pullers a re cheap to make. This one is from an old ditch bucket. Paid $10 for it at a sale, did some welding, added a few hooks, added a receiver and my bil did some painting. I very seldom pull it with it up all the way. I start out up all the way to keep the top out of the brush and then as I get going I drop it down to pull straight and just keep the butt off the ground. We use it on a 17 hp Kubota once in awhile and turn with it up high would teach you a life lesson very quickly.
