Log skidding for distance....

I'm looking to build a power head to skid logs from a distance. The issue I have is my woodlot is wet. I have 2 chances a year to get back there and skid logs out. Middle of February if we don't have 3' of snow and the ground is frozen. Or middle of July if it has been dry enough. If not plan on getting the tractor stuck and dedicating a couple hours to getting it out. Not fun.

So here is what I'm thinking.. I'm getting 600' of 5/8" cable from a friend of mine. It will be in 3 200' sections. I have a old 6cyl engine with an automatic transmission still sitting in the front frame clip. I have a few rear ends kicking around the I could hook to the combo. I'd like to find a large diameter and wide tractor rim to attach to the rear end and hook the cable too. Make some sort of guide to keep the cable in place. Make a 3 point frame so it can all hook to the back of my tractor and a brake on the drive shaft.

I know this seems like a crazy idea and time consuming but I have a lot of good firewood to cut down or has fallen down that I need to get out of the woods. I've already looked at the Wallenstein attachments for the back of my tractor and that is not in the budget.

Has anyone done anything like this? Am I completely wasting my time? Any opinions are appreciated.

 

The title had me thinking there was to be a new Olympic event.

Other than an incident or two, when I was a little one, I know what very little about skidding.

 

This very well might be if I get logs coming through the woods 600' out!

 

I am a fan of home-built solutions.

My winch has 150+ feet of cable. The probability of snagging on a rock or stump seems to be a strong, positive correlation to how far I have to walk out to clear it. For some reason the kids didn’t like being my voice-activated remote control, but those were the easiest days for me.

Is a corduroy road and shorter cable a possibility?

 

I have an access road that goes "outback" to my property line. That is usually pretty soggy. I have anywhere from 12-24" of top soil on top of gray clay. It gets soupy real fast. The area surrounding my woodshed I have built up with bank run gravel. I know trying to navigate that distance with a log I would definitely looking at some snags. I picture a run cleared that I could fall trees into and pull them out. One guy running the rig and another guy following the log with a walkie talkie and a log peavey. If I could haul 1 log a half hour and not get a tractor buried, I'd call it a win.

 

Don't know much about the physics involved but one thing jumps out. Safety. Whatever you decide,please take time and think it through from a safety aspect.From the front end of the tractor rearing up to a snapped cable whipping through the air, there are a lot of things to be mindful of and take precautions for.The width of your skid trail is a factor, especially with long pieces. Had an experience with that once that only by a miracle wasn't real bad,if not fatal.
Not trying to sound like an old worry wart but the savings and enjoyment of firewood gathering isn't worth much if your in the hospital or worse.

 

Safety is a big concern on this one. That is why I am looking at ways to make the cable drum turn slow.

 

The only oak I’ve ever scored was skidded out with a friends tractor that had a Homemade winch set up on it. very crude looking and very slow but it got the job done. I Was thinking a four wheeler and a nice trailer would have been easier in that situation

 

What about a log arch?

 

No one appreciates a "crazy idea" more than me SpeedShop64 ... ... sounds like fun. The safety warnings previously mentioned are good things to consider. First thing I thought of is, how heavy is 5/8" cable... turns out each 200' length weighs around 150 lbs each. Wondering if that's no big deal for you dragging a total of 450 lbs back out for each log that's 600' away. Second... a skidding cone might help a lot with snags... good luck!

Portable Winch Log Skidding Cone, Model# PCA-1290 | Northern Tool + Equipment

 

Would need to be kinda wide too...if not then the speed will go up quite a bit as you pile layer after layer on...power goes down a bit with each layer too...

 

Wire Rope Selection

5/8" wire rope usually has a 8000+ lb safe working load. You can figure it from there.

 

This one is a different type of winch than what most of us think of when we talk skidding.

 

Capstan winch

 

A buddy sent me this Snowsquall's homemade arch and winch in Forestry and Logging . I'm unsure of a horizontal or vertical "cable drum" would be better. I'm sure dragging that length of cable out will not be the most enjoyable part. I'm hoping running the spool in reverse will aid it helping feed the cable out but hopefully not tangle up coming off the spool. Stinny that is an interesting looking piece. That would definitely help prevent snags.

 

Sounds interesting your idea but it might be a more interesting to fix your winch setup to one spot and use it like a yarder somehow set your cable like a skyline and use a snatch block like a carriage it would raise your log out of the mud and you would only be dragging one end it would keep it from snagging on stumps etc the other option I used on a real wet site I cut a bunch of logs and I rented a small dozer for the weekend it was a little 450 JD and it worked great we moved a lot of logs from the site to a landing on high ground and the dozer was only @300.00 just my thoughts JB

 

My woods are wet most of the year. I use my Honda Foreman to skid small logs or I use a trailer. A UTV would be great! Heavy equipment just causes ruts.

 

If you ever go the UTV route D, consider the extra $ of putting Camoplast/Tatou tracks on it. You'll be pleasantly surprised how well it will then "float" across that wet ground, leaving very little, if any, ruts. You can even use it to push old ruts back down flat. Crazy.

 

I'd love to be able to go with some UTV with tracks but that's just not in the budget right now. I have been keeping my eye out for a track kit for my old 9N Ford but even those have their limitations.