This old farm implement was behind the barn and I haven’t seen it hooked up since I was a kid. I had dropped several Ash trees behind the house and didn’t really want to cut and split on a hill. I was careful and I had to steer with the brakes a couple of times but it worked out very well.
That's good thinking right there Kevin. I never thought about using one of those 3 point dirt scoops to skid. They come up for sale pretty often & cheap, hmm...
Backup and lift the log. It’s easy to wrap a chain around it and drive away. It’s even better with a 16 year old boy doing the ground work.
Flip through the pics - the upside down tractor is sobering to me because I’ve spent a lot of time on a Farmall Super C... Driver trapped for 2 hours after tractor flips in logging accident NIOSH FACE Program: New York Case Report 02NY055 | CDC/NIOSH No ROPS scares me. I’ve had a JD M almost go over backwards on flat ground, and another time way up in the air on one side. At least chain it lower and carry it lower. I like the idea of the pan because it will eliminate/minimize the chance of the butt hanging on a stump.
When I was younger (I’m 40 now) I was mowing the ditch. It wasn’t very steep where I started but as I went on the slope got worse until the tractor started to tip. I stopped with it so perfectly balanced I could keep it from ending up on it’s side with one hand. But I was stuck in a pickle. Let go to get back on and it falls on over. Let it go to get away from it and....yep it falls over. I stood there a good hour (at least it felt that long) until a neighbor happened to drive by and assisted me in getting out of a jam without explaining to the old man I was past the point he told me to stop at! Obviously he saw how far I mowed and asked me about it. I paused for a second and said I ran the weed eater on some until I ran out of line. Dumb luck for me as he checked it and there wasn’t a single solitary piece left on it!!! I’m pretty sure he knew what I did but not a word was said.
My area has had several farmers die in accidents and that has made me cautious. This system did work out fairly well, I might re-route the chain like you recommend, maybe buy a purpose built choker chain too.
For years I cut the tree up where it fell and hauled it in a trailer. I find the ability to do skidding instead to be much more convenient (and fun!)
For sure skidding is okay to do but one really needs to know about things like that which could happen and when they happen, they happen fast. I've seen some "interesting" situations but fortunately nothing like the above.
