How to get the wood out of the woods....??

[matt9923]

My wooded areas are very steep. I have a number of trees up to about 20" diameter, mostly smaller, on the hillsides or in the bottoms. Would be very difficult to do anything but winch them up. All access is along the higher spots. But that would create ruts and erosion and erosion is already a problem on the steep hillsides. So I was planning on doing something like this:

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/deaton0601.html

I would cut them to whatever length was about 200 pounds and pull them up the skyline. Figured the stress on the line and with some sag 1/4" cable will safely handle that load. Have an old rototiller for the winch.

I think I can do this for a few hundred $ by scrounging some of the material. Only drawback is needing someone at both ends of the line. Runs would be up to 250 ft. And it will be slow... Might be worth going to a bit larger cable to handle more load. Would take a bit more effort to set up though.

I cut about 5 cords a year for myself.

Comments?

seems like a lot of work. winching them wont give much more rut then that contraption. Mount the winch 8ft off the ground on a big enough tree that way it wont be pulling towards the ground? Iv done it it holds the ends from digging in.
Matt

 

[SINGLE-JACK]

Interesting problem

My wooded areas are (1)very steep. I have a number of (2)trees up to about 20" diameter, mostly smaller, on the hillsides or in the bottoms. Would be very difficult to do anything but winch them up. All access is along the higher spots. But that would create ruts and erosion and erosion is already a problem on the steep hillsides. So I was planning on doing something like this:

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/deaton0601.html

I would cut them to whatever length was about 200 pounds and pull them up the skyline. Figured the stress on the line and with some sag 1/4" cable will safely handle that load. Have an old rototiller for the winch.

I think I can do this for a few hundred $ by scrounging some of the material. Only drawback is needing someone at both ends of the line. (3)Runs would be up to 250 ft. And it will be slow... Might be worth going to a bit larger cable to handle more load. Would take a bit more effort to set up though.

I cut about 5 cords a year for myself.

Comments?

(1)How steep? (%)
(2)What species? (oak, pine, poplar, etc. ... all of the above)
(3)250' run, How wide?

 

[IllinoisJim]

Getting the wood out

How steep?
The less steep parts I can drive the tractor to so those aren't a problem. But there is quite a bit that is too steep - I would say 40 to 60 degrees and in places up to 90 degrees (vertical cliffs of up to about 80 feet in places). There is some land that is fairly flat on the other side a small stream but no access due to steep terain. I could run a cable across and winch them across easily if they are suspended, which is the idea.

Species?
Mixed: Oak, black walnut, hickory, mulberry, maple... Mostly smaller stuff maybe up to 12" dia and only a couple larger. Just taking out dead or fallen stuff.

How Wide?
1/4" I was talking about the cable run. With a cable I wouldn't have to clear much of a path for the wood as it would be suspended or mostly suspended. The property is about 12 acres. I figure I can get to quite a bit of it directly (can drive the tractor) or with a 250' cable run into the canyons from different spots that I can get the tractor to. Portability of the cable system seems like a plus. A winch setup with that sort of length for the whole logs is not in the budget. Not sure if I answered your question.

Part of the plan is to clean up the woods so there is a bit more to it than just getting wood...

 

[SINGLE-JACK]

How steep?
The less steep parts I can drive the tractor to so those aren't a problem. But there is quite a bit that is too steep - I would say 40 to 60 degrees and in places up to 90 degrees (vertical cliffs of up to about 80 feet in places). There is some land that is fairly flat on the other side a small stream but no access due to steep terain. I could run a cable across and winch them across easily if they are suspended, which is the idea.

Species?
Mixed: Oak, black walnut, hickory, mulberry, maple... Mostly smaller stuff maybe up to 12" dia and only a couple larger. Just taking out dead or fallen stuff.

How Wide?
1/4" I was talking about the cable run. With a cable I wouldn't have to clear much of a path for the wood as it would be suspended or mostly suspended. The property is about 12 acres. I figure I can get to quite a bit of it directly (can drive the tractor) or with a 250' cable run into the canyons from different spots that I can get the tractor to. Portability of the cable system seems like a plus. A winch setup with that sort of length for the whole logs is not in the budget. Not sure if I answered your question.

Part of the plan is to clean up the woods so there is a bit more to it than just getting wood...

40 to 60 degrees and in places up to 90 degrees
Wow! With terrain like that I'd have to build a small yarder, too. Mostly, just for the fun of building one. But, I think you're right, it's probably necessary.

Just one concern, the 1/4" cable seems a little light to me. I used text book values. A 10:1 safety factor seems reasonable for a dynamic load like yours. Then, a 200# load in the center of a 250' run will sag the cable approx. 40' at the WLL. With a 5:1 safety factor the sag will be approx. 20'. Also, a 200# load means A LOT of turns. So, you might want to consider a larger cable.

Still, it's a great project - hope you post pix of your progress!

How Wide? Actually, I was asking how wide an area the yarder had to service. Just wondering if you had to move the "hook" end to different anchor points.

 

[IllinoisJim]

skyline

Just one concern, the 1/4" cable seems a little light to me. I used text book values. A 10:1 safety factor seems reasonable for a dynamic load like yours. Then, a 200# load in the center of a 250' run will sag the cable approx. 40' at the WLL. With a 5:1 safety factor the sag will be approx. 20'. Also, a 200# load means A LOT of turns. So, you might want to consider a larger cable.

All valid points. The article I posted a link to said they used 1/8" which seems hard to believe - maybe that was the winch line not the main line. Since I will have one end at the top of the steep parts and the land flattens out at the bottom I can live with lots of sag which helps as you point out. To help decrease jerking and dynamic loads I might put a stiff spring in the hook end of the winch line.

No doubt about it there will be a LOTS of turns. That would be the main reason for increasing the cable size and load capacity. 3/8 cable has twice the load rating of 1/4" and 250 ft weighs 60 lbs - a little harder to lug around than 1/4" but not that bad. I could increase my loads to 300 lbs and increase my safety factor. 3/8 cable has a wll of 2880 lbs (at 5:1 factor). At those loads I would think I would need pretty stout brace lines on the anchor trees since the anchor points will be 10 - 15 ft up - lots of torque on the tree roots.

How Wide? Actually, I was asking how wide an area the yarder had to service. Just wondering if you had to move the "hook" end to different anchor points.

There is about 1000' along the edge of the canyon but most of the trees are in a few areas. I will probably end up changing the upper point almost as much as the lower. I have about 5 upper points and maybe 6 or 7 lower anchor points.

 

[gink595]

This is how we got the logs out of the woods this morning, Beligan style! It is a new team so they didn't get pushed very hard, break them in slowly. It is a friend of mines and his fathers horses. It was an impressive day alot of BIG teams moving some big oaks. I can't wait to do it again.

 

[smokinj]

Thats AWESOME!

 

[kodiakattack]

Ya that is the best way right there HORSE it out!!Lots of power there and no break downs!! some times the best way is keeping it simple!!

 

[deeker]

We use a Yamaha 660 Grizzly and LogRite's ATV and JR. Arches.

The destination for the bigger logs.

 

[matt9923]

Grizzly are awesome quads. I have a o8 700, don't know how id do without it.
Matt

 

[dolmen]

gink595 ... great pics, I'd love to see more. Its something I'd like to learn to do, is work with a team of horses like that, especially in the woods.

Cheers

 

[Straightgrain]

Pirvate land wood skidding

Private land and access to a truck makes all the difference in the world. If your land is generally free of pilage, cut and split the wood on the spot, haul it out in the fall by truck.
Blaze a trail (as mentioned earlier) down the middle and load out there.
I made my own arch for less than $100.00. Works great, I skid 24" logs with my 350 Rancher. Sometimes I have to hook my truck to skid the > 16' logs. I only skid them in the direction of the stove and to a level pad for cutting and splitting.
Anyone caught in Oregon wood-piles is subject to all the penalties of timber tresspass. Three times the stump value, plus all legal fees etc.
The only problem I have is the deer and my cows scratch their backsides and knock the wood piles over.
They go nuts after the alder bark too.
I love my arch/atv combo, couldn't make due without them.

 

[RAF]

Private land and access to a truck makes all the difference in the world. If your land is generally free of pilage, cut and split the wood on the spot, haul it out in the fall by truck.
Blaze a trail (as mentioned earlier) down the middle and load out there.
I made my own arch for less than $100.00. Works great, I skid 24" logs with my 350 Rancher. Sometimes I have to hook my truck to skid the > 16' logs. I only skid them in the direction of the stove and to a level pad for cutting and splitting.
Anyone caught in Oregon wood-piles is subject to all the penalties of timber tresspass. Three times the stump value, plus all legal fees etc.
The only problem I have is the deer and my cows scratch their backsides and knock the wood piles over.
They go nuts after the alder bark too.
I love my arch/atv combo, couldn't make due without them.

Do you have any pictures of this arch you made. I have been gathering info and pics to start making one. I like seeing other ideas.

 

[stihlman390]

i use a 2008 for f 350 diesel dually 4x4 of course thats for transporting on a 35 foot gooseneck with tandem axles and its a dually trailer. we also use a 2001 ford f 250 v10 2x4 and it pulls a 35 foot gooseneck. tandem axles but single not duals. and we have a john deere 4600 with a loader. and a timberwolf tw-3HD splitter, but all that is after working my butt off and saving my money. i still make a lot and am still saving oh and 3 honda rancher 350 electric shift atv's 4x4 and stihl saws also known as the best in my book

 

[stihlman390]

Private land and access to a truck makes all the difference in the world. If your land is generally free of pilage, cut and split the wood on the spot, haul it out in the fall by truck.
Blaze a trail (as mentioned earlier) down the middle and load out there.
I made my own arch for less than $100.00. Works great, I skid 24" logs with my 350 Rancher. Sometimes I have to hook my truck to skid the > 16' logs. I only skid them in the direction of the stove and to a level pad for cutting and splitting.
Anyone caught in Oregon wood-piles is subject to all the penalties of timber tresspass. Three times the stump value, plus all legal fees etc.
The only problem I have is the deer and my cows scratch their backsides and knock the wood piles over.
They go nuts after the alder bark too.
I love my arch/atv combo, couldn't make due without them.

350 rancher very reliable atv

 

[archertwo]

This is the second logging arch I've built. The first one I used a 2200lb hand winch on but it took forever to get the 25 feet of cable back in if it had to all be used. Arms get tired after a while.
This one I bulit a bit too "heavy duty" using mobile home wheels and all but it will get the job done.
It has a 3000lb electric winch on it for power and I've wired a second "truck" battery to the original ATV battery for an added boost on those hard to pull logs.
I sometimes have to use the ATV winch to lock myself down so the arch winch pulls the heavier logs out. It will handle 24" hardwood logs with ease and with having the end up it keeps the mud and debris off the logs too.

 

[thenorth]

this is one method I use;

john

 

[thenorth]

another method;

ATV log arch, home made...

John

 

[loadthestove]

Dont have any pics handy,but I use my Cub Cadet big country(Cubs version of a Gator) and haul it out.I cut the tree down and then cut my wood to length ans haul it out to my splitter.
Takes about three trips to make a rick.luckily I have plenty of wooded area next to my home so I generally cut the wood and haul it directly to my splitter located at wood shed.
Doing it this way sure cuts down on amount of saw dust around wood shed.

 

[DocDryden]

Here is how I get the wood out of the woods.



OLD WAY

NOW