My guess is it may have been pulled by horses. Probably too weak now to hold or pull logs on it. You'd probably be better off building a dray. The reason I build the way I did is so you don't have to lift the logs up onto the dray; just roll them on. With the sled, it is much higher so harder to load but nice for pulling through the woods. And speaking of loading, I intentionally left the bolts stick out which gives some grip if rolling a big log on; especially if there is any snow and the log wants to just slide. The bolts sticking up help a lot. If pulling a big load, big logs go on bottom then smaller ones that you can lift at least one end at a time can be loaded on top. Eyebolts on each side give a way to ratchet strap the load on. Of course if you built a strong enough dray for hauling saw logs you would build the dray accordingly and also use chain and binders to tie down the load. If you want some hints on how we made this, I'll PM you.
With the hooks for securing on the side that was definitely used for logs or pipe or something like that. A lot of the wood looks rather weathered for use - it would be a fun rebuild with some rough sawn oak.
I've done a lot of 4 wheeler loggin. The thing with a 4 wheeler. Even a big one, is , you have to use them within their positive attributes. Power and nimbleness. They don't have loads of traction torque like a tractor does. So , I've found. Its best to give them a chance to work the way they were ment to. Trailers and sleds and log arches. Will allow a 4 wheeler do an amazing amount of good work. As much as your body can stand. If you build a dray or sled , you REALLY want to have PTEX runner skins on it . There is almost NEVER a time or condition where steel , aluminum or wood runners slide as easily as PTEX. The pictured sled has only hauled 30 some cord on it so far. It has PTEX runner skins on it.
This sled has hauled more that 140 cord on it . Runners are skinned with PTEX. And these are all real cords . Not 1/3rd cords. Anyway. You have a Great machine there !! Congratulations !!
The mill belongs to my neighbor. It’s an LT40, yep full hydraulics, debarker, and a couple other goodies. It is a really nice unit. We did about 2500 board feet last year. He’s coming back when it dries up a bit - I’ve got 32 more logs on deck so far for this year.
I think the problem i would have is the tipping over factor... im in nh, hills, rocks, lots of turns because of big rocks.
I used a countersink bit in my screw gun and predrilled . then used 3" coated deck screws to attach them. On the low runner, most used sled the trailing ends wore and tore out from the wood at around the 100 cord mark. Considering I have less than $80.00 iirc in that sled. I sure can't complain. Plus the material I used is only 3/8" thick.
That's what I was thinking you had done. I was thinking that maybe a couple of old snowmobile suspension rails with the hyfax on them run in tandem on each side to make a little wider base might work. For a smaller dray/ sled.
When the snow melts enough so I can find the sleds. One is still out in the woods. I'll take a few pics and post them. Might be several weeks for that much melting to take place. It's not too tricky. Just rip some strips on a table saw or with a worm drive. Start at the runner tip and start screwing off.;-) IIRC I stagered them at around 8" oc.
