I have to imagine that beyond safety, hangs ups are going to kill this idea. Unless you have a 600 ft straight shot the logs are going to hang up many times over and it takes a lot of time to undo a snag. Other things to factor in are the weight and drag of the cable itself and getting the connections around obstacles. Can you cut like crazy and have logs down in advance of your access periods? Once you get the chance, skid like crazy? It all can be done, but without seeing the situation I would think it’s going to be tough. Good luck and post updates!
I work within a limited skidding window to be able to skid on snow, but not have too much snow. I've tried cutting ahead, but it kills my productivity when the logs get buried by a big snowstorm. Maybe if trying for a skidding window in dry summer weather this would work better.
I skid a LOT so a couple of observations. Dang that's a big cable to drag around. Your going to need a bit more reduction than just the tranny and a rear end. Your going to need a wide drum and it's got to turn slow like tractor axle reduction slow. A Peavy and a snatch block can negotiate most obstacles. Going to need a helper or 2.
I'm thinking (which is scary) if I make some sort of heavy duty plastic toboggan using plastic 55 gallon drums cut and formed around a skeleton. That way I can get say the first 4' of log out of the mud. Something similar to what Stinny suggested earlier in the post. Portable Winch Log Skidding Cone, Model# PCA-1290 | Northern Tool + Equipment. I have a lot of cluster maples anywhere from 60-100' tall. So If I can pick a "centralized" trail to clear I could fall the trees in the direction to the trail . I'm not saying this is going to be easy or not a PITA by any stretch of the imagination. But I figure once I get a skidding path cleared and some ambitious friends I can bribe with firewood and cold beverages it shouldn't be too awful difficult. Anything is easier than what I'm doing now. I've already had some people saying "just cut wood somewhere else"... I do have plenty of other places to get firewood but I like to utilize the resources that are on my property. And I'm thinking once I get some of the thicker wet areas cleared out there may be a better opportunity for the area to dry out and for me to get some drainage put in and build up a road way with gravel. I appreciate everyone's input and opinions and dealing with my hairbrained ideas!
Only you can know if what you want to do is worth the effort you will put into it. I was looking out my front lawn to the road... my mailbox is 150' out, and a treeline beyond the road is another 150'... then, I imagined another 300' beyond that... pulling logs that distance. Whew. The tension stretch factor from the drag of the log will be almost impossible to have total control of. In other words, when the logs get hung up, under cable tension, you may not be able to tell when you're near the cable's cap. An example: when cel tower installation companies use long cable runs (like you're considering), they park the lift line cable winch truck about 150' from the base of the tower, and then run their lift line to a main pulley block at the base, then up to the top, then down to whatever they're lifting. They do this for one reason... the sag in the cable, from the truck to the tower 150' away, tells the winch operator how much tension is on the cable. So... the higher you mount your cable drum, the better... for the same reasons. Gotta admit, I think in the end, I'd figure out a way, as mentioned before here, to lay logs across the soft wet areas along your roadway (corduroy road), and go standard route, using your tractor to haul the logs. Very interested in what you decide, along with pics...
Can you run an overhead tag line, and use your transmission kind of like a yarder? It will Eliminate some of the drag if you have a straight run, and you could use it year round. 12v dc winch could bring logs up, and transmission could live the entire load. Hardest part would be running and tensioning the cable.
I got the cable the other night and I'm getting the rest of the materials this weekend. I think what I'm going to do is start out with a 200' section of cable and see how it goes and make adjustments and add length from there. I'm actually pretty surprised how flexible the 5/8" cable is and is not as heavy as I was anticipating. I will post pictures once I start fab work.
Could you process rounds in the woods, stack and top cover to retrieve them in the winter? Thinking kind of how Rope gets his wood in. Difference being that he cuts and pulls them back right away with a snowmobile in a sled as he cuts stuff that’s already dead and dried out. Leaving them in the woods for a spell would at least let them lose a bit of their water weight. How much wood are we talking about? Tens or hundreds of cords? Nice when your land can pay you a dividend.
