https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMbHvW3OiXs" rel="nofollow -

 

So, we started looking into it. Talked to a few log haulers, and called a few local mills. Wow, did we get an array of answers. How long to cut it, what qualifies for bolts versus pulpwood, trucking costs, the numbers are all over the place. But, if we can get a load or two out, we should make a few dollars.

 

So we worked out a master plan, big brother can cut them down and cut them to length, and I would devise a way to get the logs out. Make a nice pile right in the yard, so a truck can come and get them any time we are ready. That means hauling them 1/4 mile out of the woods, then almost 1/2 mile up the road, out in the open, in the dead of winter. Sounds kind of chilly.

 

Oh well, enough talk. Time to fire up the littlemarv R&D department again!

 

I built a farm crane for the WD a few years ago. One of the handiest attachments I have ever used. I looked it up in the WD attachment manual, the farm crane is rated to lift 1400 pounds. Surely it should handle any 8 foot popple log.

 

 

 

Got out the old firewood wagon. The floor and sides are made of 2X8's. As we filled it, three boards went up on each side. Made for a pretty good load. But, it will need some modifications for logging. Took all the boards off, and took the the pipes and brackets off one side.

 

 

 

 

 

Still has the tag on it. I guess its called a "rocker wagon?" Because the front part actually pivots a small amount. Anyone have any ideas there?

 

 

 

The two cross beams are 7' apart. Perfect for hauling 8'6" logs.

 

We had two choices for making firewood. When we needed to get in a tight spot, we took the trailer. When we were in a more open area, we used the wagon, which hauls more. If I'm going to be driving up the road in the dead of winter out in the open, you can be darn sure I am going to get as much wood per load as possible, So, I fabricated a drawbar for the back of the wagon, so I can hitch the trailer on behind.

 

 

 

Built a swivel to put on the end of the crane. That way I can spin the logs to be in line with the tractor so we can get them out of the woods. Its made from a thrust bearing off a kingpin on a heavy truck steer axle.

 

 

 

Made a toolbox for the side of the tractor. Lord knows you need accessories when you go out in the woods, so this will be a handy spot for the cant hook, straps, chains, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

You can see I also added some brackets for putting some weight up front, just in case.

 

At any rate, big brother went up and dropped three trees, for kind of a trial run. Wound up with 21 sticks. So junior and I went up to check the situation over.

 

 

Also found a pretty sizeable rock. Guess we will be going around this one....

 

 

 

So here we are, outside,  on December 4th, at 9PM, in our t-shirts, painting. Sheesh.

 

 

And, in less than twelve hours, a 30 degree temp swing, and 30+ MPH winds. Plus a little snow.

 

Hooked up my land train and headed out to the woods. Dropped the trailer at the clearing. I use a couple of jackstands to hold up the trailer to ease hooking it back up.

 

 

 

 

 

Toolbox? More like the "everything but the kitchen sink" box.

 

 

 

 

I cannot believe how well this works. Dropped the wagon in a spot where I can turn around and back up to it, and went to the first tree, probably 50 yards away.

 

Backed up to two smaller logs, lift them up, then chain the front to hold them in place...

 

 

 

 

 

And deposit them neatly on the wagon.

 

 

Repeat. Sure works slick.

 

 

 

You can pick a log up from any angle,

 

 

And swing it right into position.

 

 

When you get to the wagon, spin it back and set it down.  Pin the pipes back on, and make a pretty nice load.

 

 

Next comes the trailer. Its a little handier, cause you can take it closer to the logs.

 

 

 

I often wondered why Pa always used the B and never got a bigger tractor. The B is 5' wide. The WD is 6'. Boy, what a difference one foot makes in the woods. Snuck her through some pretty tight spots, that for sure.

 

 

 

So, out to the clearing, to hook this wagon train back up.

 

 

 

 

The unloading process needs a little refinement. I thought we could use some ramps to gently roll the logs onto the pile.

 

 

Yeah right. The ramps kept slipping out and the logs just fell on the ground. The end result is the same, I guess. To unload the trailer, I just backed it up to the pile and pulled them off by hand with a chain. Won't be doing that again, Pa has a swell Gator for just such an activity.

 

The most dangerous part? Climbing on and off that slippery tractor 97 times.

The hardest part? Backing the damn wagon up to the trailer to hook it back up.

The coldest part? The 1/2 mile run up the road across the open. May think about using the truck to haul the loads home.

 

So, there you have it. I told the saw man to crack the throttle on the saw and start laying some trees down, we will give er hell until it gets too cold or the snow gets too deep, whichever comes first.  Going to wait to put the chains on until its absolutely necessary. We will be learning and improving our strategies as we go, but it sure looks doable. Big brother loves to work with the chainsaw, I love to work with the tractor, and Pa loves to stay in the house and watch football and cook us supper, so its a win all around!

 

 

Thanks for looking!

-------------
The mechanic always wins.

B91131, WC23065, WD89101, CA29479, B1, Early B10, HB212, 416H

There are rocks on our spread that make yours look like gravel. Seriously.

If your rocks are like mine that's just the top of it. I thought you were going to pull out the logs not lift them. I like the crane. Pretty neat. I know I would somehow rip the tool box off. Good family project.

[TUBE]3vH09lYB-B0[/TUBE]

 

 

So, today Junior and I (and the dog) headed up to Grandpa Marvins for a few hours.

 

Got the chains on.

 

 

I went up to the end of the woods and fished out a trailer load of sticks. Uncle Eric showed up, and he and Carter got to work on laying down the next batch. With Carter running one end of the tape measure and clearing brush, they can really lay down the lumber!

 

 

Goes pretty fast when you are on the edge of the woods and drop them into the open. I have to give big brother credit, he is excellent with the saw. I will stick to tractoring.

 

Got the trailer load home. Carter jumped on the Gator, and we were unloaded in like 10 minutes.

 

 

They slide right off onto the pile pretty slick. We will have to improvise once the pile gets higher.

 

By the time this whole endeavor is finished, we will have it down to a science.

 

After driving up and down the road once with the chains on, hauling loads with the truck is sounding better and better.

 

Well, after 6 hours in the woods, lets check on the dog.

 

 

And the boy?

 

 

 

The only problem is, we left the woods and hammered home so we could just get to his Christmas concert in time. Probably not the best of planning by his Father. Oh well, thank God he didn't have a solo.

 

More to come.....

 

Today I managed to get a couple hours to myself, and it warmed up to like 8 degrees! Time to get back to work. We had dropped a bunch and skidded them out to the field before Christmas break.  I threw the battery charger on the WD when I got up to dads, and took the Gator up to check them out. Swept all the snow off them, knocked them loose with a sledgehammer.

 

The WD fired right up in the cold, but snubbed off when I let the clutch out. Fired it back up, held the clutch down for a minute, and let the clutch out real slow, must have been the hydraulic pump that was dragging it down. Worked the lift arms a few cycles, everything works O.K. Wasn't sure if it would, its been below zero for the last two weeks.

 

Just took the wagon up today, it was late afternoon by the time I got up there.

 

 

 

Pretty easy to get a nice load when you are working with the big end of the tree!

 

 

 

 

 

I have been struggling with unloading the wagon and the trailer. When we originally started this project, we were going to make the pile in an open field near the road, where we would have plenty of room to turn around, and get at both sides of the pile. Then Pa piped up and said the pile had to go behind the old barn foundation, next to the trail, near his firewood pile.  I screeched a little bit, but, his land, his rules, I guess.

 

SO, I have been:

 

pulling the logs off by hand (back breaking, finger smashing, sweaty process)

 

using the gator to pull them off (only works on one end of the pile)

 

Using the gator and a snatch block and cable to pull the logs off using the WD as an anchor (time consuming pain in the ass that didn't work that well and conveniently didn't get pictures of)

 

The very first load, I used ramps, but they kept falling off. I have been thinking on this unloading process for awhile, and decided to get back to basics. Simpler is better, remember.

 

Put some eye bolts in my ramps, and ratchet strapped them tight to the wheels.

 

 

 

 

 

I think I may be on to something here. I unloaded the wagon by myself with no sweating or swearing! Now this is progress!

 

 

 

Once the pile gets higher, I may actually have to roll or push the logs up the ramps, but they aren't the worst to work with.

 

 

 

So, the pile of bolts is on the left, and the pulpwood goes on the right. We shall see how the piles progress.

 

 

 

Even got to take in a beautiful late afternoon sky on a cold day.

 

 

 

Pondered the wonders of nature a minute, then walked in the nice warm house, where Grandpa Marvin had pork chops, potatoes, and corn ready and waiting.

 

A good afternoon indeed.

 

Like that New Idea running gear.  Always liked they way they look.

 

Jim

 

 

Wish I had something more exciting to report, but here is the monotonous part, load after load. Slowly but surely.

 

 

Those 4" square LED's sure do light up the night. The garden tractor battery kept them burning brightly for over 4 hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kids have their own brick makers. I repurposed the recycling bin to make a Pa sized brick maker.

 

Kids are pretty industrious when they want to be.

 

 

 

 

Oh great, here we go again! 

 

Someone at work replaced the front hubs on his pickup recently, and lucky for me, he never throws anything out either.  Talked to the scrap man at work, and after a quick dip in the steel dumpster, came out with all the steel I need for construction. Got some 4" square tubing, and some frame rail.

 

 

 

Got two rims and tires pretty cheap from the junkyard.

 

 

The reason I bolted the rims on backwards is for clearance on the legs. But even with them bolted on backwards, there still isn't much material sticking out to work with.

 

 

Anyways, now I can finish my calculations, now that I have the tire height.

 

 

So here is my master plan.  Note: it is not to scale, the geometry is sketchy at best, and half the measurements got changed on the fly...

 

 

Four cuts of 22 1/2 degrees should get around a 90 degree corner, and make some 45 degree angles for strength as well. Made a pattern and laid out all the cuts.

 

 

 

 

Took the steel to a machine shop to have it cut. Laid it all out, looks like my angles are good.

 

 

 

 

Added a little material to the pieces of framerail to get it out past the tires.

 

 

 

Laid the arch out on the floor, tacked it all the way around, and welded it tight. Turned out pretty good.

 

 

Before I welded the hitch together, I tacked a couple of 3/8" bolts into place for mounting the winch.

 

 

Fabricated a tongue.

 

 

Laid out the hitch and welded it up.

 

 

 

 

 

Picked up a boat winch, I had the cable and hooks and a snatchblock already. So today we went and tried it out. We don't have any popple logs laying at this exact moment, but lucky for us, Grandpa Marvin has a load of oak logs sitting in his yard.

 

Rolled a couple out to where we can get at them.

 

 

 

 

Works pretty slick. This arch has room for about 6' from the back to the hitch, so it should handle 12' logs.

 

Off he goes.

 

 

Here is a video

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7EdaXykEyw" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7EdaXykEyw

 

 

Put things back where you found them!

 

 

So, I am very pleased with how the arch turned out. Its not quite done yet, I have a few ideas to try out now that I know it works. And I need to weld on some grab hooks and some loops for attaching hooks and chains and we should be in business. Already thinking cheap electric winch too.

 

 

Fired up the WD, broke a trail down to the corner of the field, where we will be cutting next.

 

 

The rearview mirror looked like this

 

 

 

And, of course, we had to switch spots.

 

 

 

 

We have had it pretty good weather wise lately. Supposed to fall back into the single digits this week, we will see what February brings.

 

Thanks for looking!

I got the middle one below at Harbor Freight for my flatbed, but instead installed it temporarily in my small workshop as an overhead lift.

works excellent holding 8N hood up and out of the way, but would it handle your heavier loads???

the wireless remote is very handy... and safer in case of a broken line whip back.

 

In the video I realize we forgot to chain up the front of the logs.  I need to add some grab hooks for chains and add them front and rear, so the logs aren't hanging from the winch during transport.

btw mine came with a guide for the cable in case you don't want to go directly down with it.  I'm not using it... just informing.

either way, a pretty good assist for your superkid there, and should make it go easier and faster.

and like everyone else, I thank you for sharing the experience(s).

 

Its like a weed around here, pretty much everywhere. If you want it to be, its like a crop, like anything else, needs to be harvested once in a while.

 

Back in 1895, a dapper young man by the name of Bruno Sommer bought 80 acres of popple trees from the railroad, cleared half of it, and built the Sommer family farm.

 

The stuff grows, fast, gets rot, and falls over. May as well clean up the mess and have some fun doing it!

 

 "Wood ain't no good in the woods!"

 

I wouldn't know what a quaking aspen was if I saw it, unless it was actually quaking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dad said that wagon was there on the farm when he got there, circa 1945. Wonder how long those wagons were made?

 

Any straight, solid log 8" in diameter and larger qualifies as a "bolt".  They make them into boards or posts, I guess.

 

The rest is pulpwood that goes to the paper mill, at around $80/cord.

 

The problem we are running into is, the logs are either 7 1/2" and perfect, or 8" and dozy in the middle. Good bolts are hard to come by.

 

Trucking is about $20/cord.

 

Think about it. The wood buyer sets the price, the trucker gets his cut, and we get whats left. Who do you think is going to get the short end of the stick, every time?

 

So, I have decided to give up on the money making prospect, and just have fun working with my machines and my family. So far so good.

they aren't the bushy windbreak type, they are "crown eucs" with 6 or 7 trunks growing from a single root system.  The trunks are 100' + and mostly straight as an arrow.

they were originally intended to be processed into railroad ties till the growers discovered their unfortunate tendency to twist as they dried out (over 2 years).

great for fencepost or pole barn use tho... if you are patient enough to wait out the curing cycle.

anyway... why I am mentioning it here is that I was considering a portable sawmill.

thought it would be fun to make my own lumber.

but... once again these proved to be the wrong trees for the purpose due to their instability in any but the full round uncut form.

would that work for popple?

there's a wide variety of prices, kinds, kits and plans available on the net.

saw one inexpensive bandsaw kit that was designed for those who can weld.

like most, the saw head travelled on tracks along a stationary log.

wish I could use that, but I am limited to posts and firewood with my twisty eucs.

- Ben

 

Went up after work one night and skidded some whole trees across the field, up into the yard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not a huge fan of skidding whole trees. It's tough in the woods, it's too easy to get frustrated when they won't move and jerk on them. It can be hard on the tractor, but when we drop them in the field and just skid them up to the yard, it isn't too bad.  It does eliminate having to load and unload them, you can just pick them up and throw them on the pile.

 

So, spent a Sunday morning cutting and piling...

 

 

 

The smaller ones are actually easier to flip onto the trailer, back up to the pile, and flip them end for end onto the pile.

 

 

 

 

Some of the bigger ones still require the tractor.

 

 

 

 

So, got the yard cleaned up, all logs put away, and drug a new batch up into the yard to do it all over again. The saw man came and cut them up during the week, and junior and I headed up for a day of fun working outside again.

 

 

Ahhhhh, the joys of teaching a kid to back up a trailer. Actually didn't take him too long and he got the hang of it.

 

 

 

Went around and knocked everything loose with a splitting maul.

 

 

 

 

Then we sort the sticks. Bolts stay up here, the pulpwood goes in the lower pile.

 

 

 

 

Now, to get the logs up on the pile. I made this handy attachment to bolt onto the arch. It is just a pulley mounted up high, with some loops to tie back to. Should give us the lift we need to make the pile higher. Also got a handy electric winch with remote control! Just runs on a truck battery, in the box of the gator for now. If we are going to use it a lot, may have to mount a battery box on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a video of how it works, unloading the wagon.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXr7RTcx5ZU" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXr7RTcx5ZU

 

 

Of course, no day is complete if junior can't drive a tractor. Told him if anything goes wrong, to throw the hand clutch forward or shut the switch off, plus he was pulling logs across the field in second gear so I just walked along next to him.

 

 

 

 

 

So, another batch cleaned up. For all the work we are doing, the pile sure doesn't seem to be getting any bigger. But, we were in a bad batch of wood, it was mostly dozy, so a lot of it went on the pulp pile. Luckily, big brother went to a new spot and found some of the largest, straightest trees we have come to yet. Some of them are so big, I'm not sure the farm crane will lift them. We will get to try the log arch out yet!

 

Here is a question for you fellows. The new spot is across the creek and at the other end of an alfalfa field. Pa said we can't drive on the field cause it will crush the plants and kill them. There is 6" of snow on the field, and aren't they dormant now anyways? Its a little late now, I have been driving the trails after every snowfall to keep them open. And its a good thing too, cause if you fall off the trail, you start spinning and play hell to get back up on it!

 

Thanks for looking.

 

 

 

 

 

Regards,

 Chris

 

Was a little worried about thin ice on the creek, so we went down the road and around to get up in the woods, but ran into a rather large snag. The gator was cruising along on top of the snow until I hit a soft spot or something. All four wheels started spinning and we were high centered immediately. The big flat bottom of the gator sits on the snow nice as can be and the wheels are rendered useless.

 

 Taught junior the fine art of just the right amount of shoveling mixed in with just the right amount of colorful language to handle such a situation. He should have that down pat next time he needs it.

 

Its tough working in the woods now, but the tractor with the chains does exceptionally well.  Fired up sweet Allis and went over the creek, which was perfectly solid.

 

We headed up to bring home a load of bolts and skid a few more trees into the yard as well.

 

I guess I have been demoted to passenger, as long as we are out in the open.

 

 

I have been letting him help me with the crane. We just have an understanding that he doesn't move in until I have the crane down and the tractor in neutral. He is really getting good at fishing the chain through, and centering it on the log, and hooking up  the slip hook correctly so it doesn't fall off as soon as you lift.

 

 

 

I'd say he's earned the right to a little seat time. Plus then I get to relax for a few.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doesn't take too many big 'uns to fill the wagon.

 

 

 

So, that took us till lunch. We threw most of out clothes in the dryer while we ate, and after lunch, I went out and skidded the few remaining trees home to be cut up in the yard. Which leaves us with 5 logs laying up in the woods. We will go get them with the log arch tomorrow, hopefully. 

 

I never broke through the creek, but there was standing water on top of the ice that wasn't there when we started.

 

Which makes up for the cursing trying to get the old girl started..... the engine pops then the starter kicks out and you have to let it wind down and start over... sure can be a stubborn thing to start.

 

Going to pop the starter off today when we are done and have it gone through.

 

We were grabbing logs two at a time, but we just weren't getting the clearance I had imagined. My hook and loop and snatchblock and swivel all add up and take too much space.

 

 

 

 

Then I had an epiphany right out there in the snowbank. Put the high pulley back on and back up we went.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNFVjhkf4rc" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNFVjhkf4rc

 

 

 

 

Boy, that sucks em up nice and tight. We string chains under the log and release the winch a bit so it doesn't get jarred when going through the woods.

 

 

 

 

 

And then, to really put the day over the top, Uncle Eric showed up and brought Carter the single shot 20 gauge that both he and I have learned to shoot with. Suffice it to say, all logging operations ceased once that was brought out. Carter has never shot  a shotgun before, so I just wanted him to pop a few off to see how it felt. We were standing so close that the wad punched a hole in the target! He says it kicks a lot, but he wants to shoot it again. Maybe we will grab a slip on recoil pad for him, that single shot is pretty light.

 

 

 

 

And who was watching us while eating supper across the road? More deer in one spot than I have seen in several years of hunting. Kind of neat to watch them once they yard up for the winter.

 

 

 

Authors note: That field WAS soybeans and WAS combined with a green machine. The deer have been eating in that same field for several weeks now.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

So, we winched some more onto the pile,

 

 

Some of the smaller ones, its just as easy to skid them over to the pile and flip them onto it.

 

 

So, we did that in the morning, then ran up to the woods and put a load on the wagon, and stacked the rest of the logs in piles of four or five to make it easy to grab them with the arch. I figured we need to get this wood out quick, spring is coming fast!

 

Mother nature has other ideas, I guess. We got 4" of heavy wet snow Friday night, and they are calling for 6-12" overnight into Tuesday.

 

The kids and I headed up yesterday to haul everything home. They sure do have fun up there, and don't even realize how much help they are, or how much they are learning.

 

 

Now that I figured out how to get the maximum lift with the arch, its time to see how much it can handle. I put the hand winch back on cause it has thicker cable. We started picking up bundles of smaller logs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BUT, we started hooking onto bigger and bigger log piles. The high pulley attachment was designed for the cable going out to winch logs onto the pile, not straight down for heavy lifting.

 

This little tidbit was discovered the hard way.

 

 

 

We are really starting to deal with some large amounts of force here. I am stuck in town on call for the next week, so I brought the piece home with me to straighten out and re-work it a little to make it able to handle the load. Keep finding and fixing the weakest link, and eventually we will have quite the machine.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are supposed to get 3 1/2" of rain, or 10" of snow, in the next 4 days, depending on temperatures. Junior and I scrambled up in the woods after supper to clean up the last of the logs, before we become swamp loggers!

 

He grabbed the pulp wood,

 

 

 

I loaded the rest of the bolts,

 

 

 

And we made one last trip home, for awhile anyways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, we got everything piled, just at dark, in the rain. Can't see it in the picture too good, but the bolts are on the left, and the pulp wood is on the right.

 

 

 

We need 12 cords of each to make a load. One load to the paper mill, and another to the sawmill. I think we need a couple more loads of good bolts just to be safe, but that's up to the saw man. Once it dries up again, the logging should be a lot easier. Plus, the trucker told me to hold on to the wood until June, when the mills empty out and the price may go up. That's about when the yard dries up anyways , so should work out perfect.

 

Sure was a blast working on this all winter. Time spent with kids, and family, and dog, and tractors, is time well spent.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

trite as it may sound... thanks for sharing both with us... especially with this desert dweller.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So there is a winters work. Should be close to 24 cords. Hopefully I can be there for some pictures when the log truck comes.

 

 

 

Thanks for looking!

 Great documentation of your logging event this past winter. Really enjoyed the pictures and story. Great to see all the machinery options and the kids helping. You son with the B in some of the last pictures is great. Looks like he has his own orange tractor now! But he does a good job with the WD too! Those bull chains remind me of when I was a kid his age. They will really grip!

Thanks for sharing!

Regards,

 Chris