Welcome to the forum. As stated throughout the answers, there are many ways of tackling this type of job and much depends upon what tools you have. You have a tractor and a saw. Don't sell either of these short. Yes, the 250 is a small saw but you can still do a lot with it and a lot depends upon your attitude. Do what you can with it. Sure, a bigger saw is faster, but sometimes you make do with what you have! With a tractor, you can do a lot with just a chain and chains are not expensive. We've moved logs with atv many times but my preferred method was always to clear as much as possible then back an atv trailer as close as possible. However I've been known to move a lot of wood by hand a good distance. I've also used a wheelbarrow and a 2 wheeled cart. A few times when our sons were still home we waited for snow and used ropes plus manpower (2 boys and one man) to skid some out. One thing that always strikes me is the thought that one needs all the big tools, be it saws, splitters, tractors, etc. Not many seem willing to make do with what they have. The big tools are nice, but not always necessary. I've known many men who had little and did not have the funds to get more tools yet got the job done and were thankful the were able to do it.
Hey Backwoods Savage !! You have to remember that most of the time when we are talking about buying all that fancy stuff like big saws, tractors, splitters, trucks or even firewood sheds, we are talking about spending OTHER people’s money. I can make do with what I have, but YOU need all the fancy stuff to make your operation more productive!!!! We certainly have way more options than our ancestors had..
The rounds look like they will be pretty easy to roll if its at all downhill. Get yourself a pickaroon, they are a great tool for handling rounds like those. You can pull/guide rounds along if they are going to roll. It will save your back moving them around.
When I bought my current house in 2011, I only had a few 2wd old garden tractors and a little 4x7 trailer to haul wood. I made it work, but it was a lot of work. Now that I have my 45 hp Kioti with bucket, forks, grapple, hydraulic dump trailer, etc, I can do a lot more work in a much shorter time. That's the decision you have to make, time or money, which do you want to spend more of? One can be made back, one cannot!!!
ATV and a log arch. You will be blown away at the size of logs you can pull, especially if headed down hill. Less 20% of the log drags so it doesn't get all dirty.
How steep is it? How far to the road? I would cut to length and then roll down to the road. Does your tractor have a loader on it or a carry all for the 3 pt hitch? Those are nice size handling rounds.
Yep, noodle em. I have also started going only 3/4 through, then cracking the rest with a maul. No rolling or flipping over, no chain in the dirt.
I have used the bar tip as a feeler gauge. When the chain is not turning, you can plunge into the cut to feel where the high spots are that need to be cut. With a little practice, on a log that has thick bark, you can cut all they way through the wood without putting the chain in the dirt. When you feel a high spot, pull the trigger to cut some wood and then with the chain stopped again, find the next high spot. I don’t do this for every round I cut. I use this technique to section a log to a size that I can use the peavey to roll it. It takes time, but so does sharpening chains..
I was in the same boat with a JD 1025R loader backhoe when we moved to our 153 acre property. I quickly learned it was too small to be out back in the woods with low ground clearance, narrow, and light machine. I did research for about a year and ended up with a JD 4052R with forks, grapple, and a Wallenstein FX85R winch. The larger tractor has been a game changer, it can haul two 8' long, 18"-24" logs in the grapple while dragging 3-4 more behind the machine. This time of year they all get hauled with the grapple to keep them clean. With the 1025R I was cutting everything to 4' logs and hauling with the forks, it took a lot of time. We also sold the 1025R and bought a 2025R for mowing, snow blowing, rototilling, and light loader work. The 2025R is slightly better suited for the woods with more ground clearance, but its the yard machine, and the 4052R is the woods machine. I would think a log arch would be a better option for that size machine than a winch, you will run out of traction quickly dragging logs, especially with a smaller machine. Its easy to spend other peoples money, and quickly want implements you might not utilize as much as you thought. My best advice is sit down and make a list of things you want to accomplish on the property, and then figure out which tractor/equipment fits the need and the budget. I would like to get a logging trailer with a loader on it, but they are $20K or so, and for the amount of time it would be used I can't justify the purchase. Upgrading a log splitter from a box store 27 ton machine that was bought with the property, to an Eastonmade or Wolf-Ridge for saving time completely makes sense.
