Showin the new guys how it's done.

The ground is still too soft in many of the low spots for the Bobcat to go into. I did some damage already in my hunt for wood. But I needed to get the prize out that I had left in the woods. So I went back up to the house in the middle of the morning and turned the old Ford over. Wondering if it would start at 22 degrees at that time. And it started right up. Looks like that new switch and two new wires solved all the problems. Managed to get a chain under the long Ash log and hooked it on one arm of the three point hitch and lifted. In my hast I stalled the tractor twice not giving it enough gas. (With any tractor you need to be careful you don't pull too hard and roll it over backwards on you. So I was being cautious with the throttle when initially taking off. ) But the old Ford brought it out of the woods and to the top of the hill without any problem.

Now I just need to find the drawbar for this tractor. I know we have one, just can't remember where I or my father put it. Here is the old girl. Standing strong. At around 55 years old.

 

You mean buck it up for firewood? I did not cut it because I am thinking of having it sawed into a large beam or something. It is 18.5 feet long. And straight!

 

Nice wide front wheels
Good picture

 

Thanks Dex. When I bought the land the agreement was the equipment that was down there and used to take care of the grass and the like was included. They no longer had a need for it. This was the Ford tractor with the brush hog mower and the York rake. And a Troy Built 25 hp, 50 inch cut, zero turn mower.

The old girl is showing the newer equipment how it's done. And now that I fixed the key switch and the wiring problem she will be getting used much more. Yea! My father thinks he has the draw bar for it in his garage. He was very happy to hear it was fixed and started when it was 22°! So I will be going up there Tuesday morning to see if he found it.

Not sure on the beam yet. Have a few ideas, but not sure yet.

 

My dad has an old Massey that's pretty much the same tractor. It has skidded hundred if not thousands of logs out of the woods. It will rear the front end up, but you've got to have a big'un on there to do that on flat ground. As long as you don't pick the log up any further than you have to it's not much to worry about.

 

Make yourself a pull behind log arch & the front end should stay on the ground.

 

Brings back memories. My grandfather had a Ford like that one. He had a boom pole that we used for skidding. It has been 35 years but as I recall you had to be able to get the boom over the log so that the butt was up at about the hitch, and you needed to lift from the middle of the arm where his had an ring to attach the chain to. It was a balancing act but skidding was a lot easier with the butt end up off the ground so it couldn't dig in. Sharp turns were a bit easier also because the log would swing out as you turned.

 

Oh ya. You have to get the front end of the log up. That is basically all I did was get the front end of the log off the ground about 4-5 inches with the one arm of the three point lift. I will be getting the draw bar tomorrow though. That will get the log further out away from the rear tires. I rubbed up against the one tire a few times.

 

You can see the boom pole on the back of my rollback headed for the scrap yard. Tried to lift an oak log with it to drag it out of the woods and it just folded up.

 

I have seen the boom poles for sale at different locations and at different capacity for strength. I see one on sale right now rated for 1000# @ $199. And one rated for 2000# @ $486. I don't need one really. Once I have the draw bar across the two lifting arms on the tractor, I doubt I will need anything else. And whatever I can't get with the tractor I can get with the Bobcat as long as the ground is frozen or stable enough. I may need a couple more lengths of chain though so I can drag it out to where I want it.

How big of a log was that you were trying to drag out?

Here is that one heavy duty one I saw on flea-bay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/King-Kutter...avy_Equipment_Attachments&hash=item232889ed0f

 

Mine was a cheap Leinbach one, I think the log was around 24" at the butt and probably 12'6" long as I was sending stuff to the sawmill at the time. I replaced it with one similar to the one pictured, but mine is red. It came from Agri-Supply, I see where they have them for less than $200. I think it cost me around $150 when I bought it.

 

The video here is interesting. He is correct when he talks about swinging loads. Check it out.

 

Well. I don't want to "fight" about it with you MasterMech. But no, I have not thought about a front counterweight. I don't skid many logs. This is only the second one I have done on the property. You see, I can usually get pretty close with my truck for loading. So I usually buck them up in the woods and then load them. This leaves the mess there. However. I am thinking of trying out liming them and cutting them into, oh, maybe 8-10 foot lengths. Then get them positioned so I can get at them with the Bobcat and the forks. This would save a lot of lifting and loading into the truck. If I could cut several trees and position the logs, then come back with the Bobcat and bring a good size load of logs back on the forks. I will give it a try and see how it goes when the ground gets frozen solid enough. It is not there yet. We need some cold weather to get that to happen. And it looks like it won't be long now!

 

As MasterMech pointed out, the boom pole would make it harder to keep the front end of the tractor on the ground. This is a simple homemade arch I selected from Google images.



Advantages to using a log arch:
- The log arch carries the weight instead of the tractor. This keeps the front end on the ground.
- Less work for tractor. Moving rolling weight instead of fighting dragging friction.
- Helps keep the log clean. Your chain hates dirt!
- Easier to cut log while up in the air. Easier on your back. Again, "Your chain hates dirt!"

 

I hear you. The only place dirt should get on the log is at the far end that is dragging. And since I cut 18-22 inches long I don't see my chain getting in the dirt. I've been cutting wood a good many years and understand the dirt problem. But, like I said, this is the second log I have skidded out of this property. The only reason I did this was to save the log for a project. We will see in the future what I can make out of it. Maybe a nice beam.