Those are great ideas, however at the current time, I just really don't have a use for anything like a dray (or the expensive trailer I posted earlier). Where I'll be winching some logs out of the woods (like in the below picture), the terrain isn't conducive to pulling any type of large sled due to the closeness of the trees and the abundance of boulders sticking up out of the ground. Winching out logs with a skidding cone is just the best option IMO. I have multiple snatch blocks, as well as a self-releasing snatch block, to assist the process. Once the logs are out in the open, I can grab them with the grapple. Something like a dray would have come in handy several years ago when I had access to an area where I was pulling out a lot of dead and down. At that time though, I was younger and my health was better and I would just buck the rounds on site and haul them back in a trailer or cut the smaller logs into 4' sections and do the same. For moving some of the logs over the next couple months, I'll be doing it while there is still snow on the ground. Since I no longer have a snowmobile, I wouldn't be able to get any type of vehicle in close proximity to the logs even without a dray, so again winching is my best option.
I don't know the regulations for your area, but here's some wood "rack s" we built, not permanently attached to the ground. Just sits on concrete blocks... This rack holds almost 3 cords stacked to top Another size, style we built for a friend
Not sure about the regs where @Burnin Since 1991 is in MA, however where I am, as soon as you throw a roof on it they'll consider it a shed and come after you for taxes (and any permit violations). They even started taxing the canvas Rhino/Shelterlogic style sheds. So much for being the 'Live Free of Die' state anymore. Years ago, an acquaintance built his chicken coop on an old camper trailer just to avoid that issue. Since it was on wheels, they couldn't come after it as a shed for taxes.
Another major thing pushing me wanting to process as much as possible early in the year is that I'm probably going to have hip replacement surgery in the near future. I can manage most things at the current time except driving/sitting in a vehicle, but it will be happening sooner than later. So that's a big factor in just biting the bullet and possibly opting to split/stack right into the woodshed this year. Life (and as you stated Mother Nature) will more often than not dictate what we have to do over what we would like to do.
EODMSgt I go under the knife in a month for hip replacement. I will let you know how it goes. I am finding out there are things I have difficulty doing because of pain. Not fun.
Here's hoping you have a safe and successful surgery! I've spoken with several people who have had hip surgeries over the last few years and they all have said it's a simple surgery and they were up and about in a short amount of time. It's definitely been a humbling experience going from always being self-sufficient and these days living on my own in the woods to having difficulty with some of the simple things in life that we take for granted (like driving, going to the grocery store, or just being able to bend over to tie a pair of boots). I had my first back surgeries back in the early nineties after getting hit by an IED in 1992, so I learned a long time ago to manage and cope with health issues. But the amount of managing and coping we have to deal with as we get older, and in my case compounded by the war injuries, can definitely be challenging sometimes. Keep us posted on your progress please.
