Some times a tractor has no value and some times priceless. There are always ways to get a job done on a budget. I can move a 72'' x 14' log with my F 250 so can you. Trailers are cheap to build and modify as needed. Skidding a log to a place where they can be loaded is not difficult either. When I need to move some thing heavy I grab limbs that are straight to use as rollers under a log. Attach a cable or chain so that both sides that are being pulled stick a row of limbs in front of the log and pull away. Very large logs can be moved this way because the log is not being dragged but rolled. For loading pull your trailer along side of the log and place two ramps enabling the log to be rolled onto the trailer. Once loaded chain it down deliver it and return for more. You can pick up two HF 2500 LB winches for a $100. Place the winches about 8 to 10' apart with two cables or chains around the log spaced equally and pull side ways with the log rolling onto the trailer. There are several threads concerning this. Find a used lawnmower and mount a automotive alternator to charge the battery(s) to power your winches. There are several threads on Google with DIY lawnmower powered generator. Yes it will take some time to set up this but once done it is still yours. Thanks
Tips and tricks yarding softwood logs
- Thread starter Saiso
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Some times a tractor has no value and some times priceless. There are always ways to get a job done on a budget. I can move a 72'' x 14' log with my F 250 so can you. Trailers are cheap to build and modify as needed. Skidding a log to a place where they can be loaded is not difficult either. When I need to move some thing heavy I grab limbs that are straight to use as rollers under a log. Attach a cable or chain so that both sides that are being pulled stick a row of limbs in front of the log and pull away. Very large logs can be moved this way because the log is not being dragged but rolled. For loading pull your trailer along side of the log and place two ramps enabling the log to be rolled onto the trailer. Once loaded chain it down deliver it and return for more. You can pick up two HF 2500 LB winches for a $100. Place the winches about 8 to 10' apart with two cables or chains around the log spaced equally and pull side ways with the log rolling onto the trailer. There are several threads concerning this. Find a used lawnmower and mount a automotive alternator to charge the battery(s) to power your winches. There are several threads on Google with DIY lawnmower powered generator. Yes it will take some time to set up this but once done it is still yours. Thanks
Thank you! I will for sure try and modify a trailer to facilitate our work. Sounds like something I could manage.
The fun begins!
My friend and I spent a few mornings (7-12) cutting the softwood stand near the cabin. It’s coming along pretty good so far. Still a bit of snow at places but it actually helps hauling them out. Still a few sessions here to go before calling the mill. So far just a broken side mirror on the Tacoma trying to squeeze in tight places .. isn’t that what a woods truck is for?
Also had my little helper one morning helping me move/pile logs
My friend and I spent a few mornings (7-12) cutting the softwood stand near the cabin. It’s coming along pretty good so far. Still a bit of snow at places but it actually helps hauling them out. Still a few sessions here to go before calling the mill. So far just a broken side mirror on the Tacoma trying to squeeze in tight places .. isn’t that what a woods truck is for?
Also had my little helper one morning helping me move/pile logs Attachments
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nice photos good luck with the harvest, your doing just fine
Back injury. Yep. I was a bull. Blowed my shoulders one by one. Tore my bicept. Damaged my back. Back in the day I was a wood Splitter dude. The crack of that pole axe and rippling muscle caught the attention of my girlfriend. Then one day my back cracked and I fell. I was rushed to the Emergency room. Now I'm still handicapped. Yes, my shoulders and back are better but it would have been better to not have over do it. At 72 I'm able to work some but now I work smarter not harder. I run a 60cc saw a few times a month and a 50 cc saw more often. Sometimes a man can be strong enough to just tear muscle off bone. Strangely some of us who have worked hard all our lives don't realize when we are hurting ourselves. Be safe.
You cannot afford to NOT get some machinery. Yep, like WOW, me too used to think I was a 'bull' when young. YOU too will get older.
So, this is another along the same line as to machinery and your own self all the while keeping in mind the OP comment:
What have you done without any equipment in the past? Do you just avoid the bigger logs all together? Certain tools to make it easier? Just make sure to stretch and do yoga in the morning and go all out?
When in my 20s and 30s used to flip 8 ft long, 12" dia wet D Fir and alder logs end over end into trailer, even flip end over end to mover a few times. Last time I did that in my 30s grunted so hard popped out a hemorrhoid! So quit that heavy lifting.
Tore rotator cuff clear thru once also in my 50s still thinking I was 'strong'. Hah, too soon old, too late schmartz!
74 YO now, and 98% rely on machinery vs. brawn (the 2% - still use a maul vs. splitter). Probably could not even get the end of a D Fir log 2 inches off the ground today, and wont even try.
Heck, nowadays. even use an electric chain saw when near power vs. pulling the cord on a saw.
In 30s could carry 6 sheets of 1/2"drywall up stairs at a time, now have to tear them apart and trouble carrying one sheet! Used to be able to carry 3 stacked bags of 94# cement at a time from truck 50 feet to mixer, now have trouble with even one 80# bag of premix - and with the premix on a handcart!!
If you have any mechanical ability, old used machinery is cheap, since demand is low as productivity of old stuff is dismal compared to new equipment if you are full time operator. One can get old equipment for nearly scrap steel prices in some areas of the country.
Another tip. NEVER go into the woods with anything overhead with a wheeled or tracked machine to pull logs or anything else. Had the taken FOPS off a D2 dozer 40 years ago to replace a clutch, went into woods without the FOPS for 'one quick trip' - got out of hospital still alive 2 weeks later.
Just for hobby and general use, now have a truck mounted 1000# crane on back of PU, 20 ft crane attachment on back of old 440 crawler, 3 different sized winches that fit trailer hitch receivers, a bobcat, and ford backhoe. All of that equipment was bought used for about 5 to 10 cents per pound, total cost less than about any low end new car today. I do like to repair and weld back together old stuff though<G> Still use a peavey in spot yet though, but nothing is as satisfying a simply grapping a log with backhoe thumb and putting it where you want it!
So, this is another along the same line as to machinery and your own self all the while keeping in mind the OP comment:
What have you done without any equipment in the past? Do you just avoid the bigger logs all together? Certain tools to make it easier? Just make sure to stretch and do yoga in the morning and go all out?
When in my 20s and 30s used to flip 8 ft long, 12" dia wet D Fir and alder logs end over end into trailer, even flip end over end to mover a few times. Last time I did that in my 30s grunted so hard popped out a hemorrhoid! So quit that heavy lifting.
Tore rotator cuff clear thru once also in my 50s still thinking I was 'strong'. Hah, too soon old, too late schmartz!
74 YO now, and 98% rely on machinery vs. brawn (the 2% - still use a maul vs. splitter). Probably could not even get the end of a D Fir log 2 inches off the ground today, and wont even try.
Heck, nowadays. even use an electric chain saw when near power vs. pulling the cord on a saw.
In 30s could carry 6 sheets of 1/2"drywall up stairs at a time, now have to tear them apart and trouble carrying one sheet! Used to be able to carry 3 stacked bags of 94# cement at a time from truck 50 feet to mixer, now have trouble with even one 80# bag of premix - and with the premix on a handcart!!
If you have any mechanical ability, old used machinery is cheap, since demand is low as productivity of old stuff is dismal compared to new equipment if you are full time operator. One can get old equipment for nearly scrap steel prices in some areas of the country.
Another tip. NEVER go into the woods with anything overhead with a wheeled or tracked machine to pull logs or anything else. Had the taken FOPS off a D2 dozer 40 years ago to replace a clutch, went into woods without the FOPS for 'one quick trip' - got out of hospital still alive 2 weeks later.
Just for hobby and general use, now have a truck mounted 1000# crane on back of PU, 20 ft crane attachment on back of old 440 crawler, 3 different sized winches that fit trailer hitch receivers, a bobcat, and ford backhoe. All of that equipment was bought used for about 5 to 10 cents per pound, total cost less than about any low end new car today. I do like to repair and weld back together old stuff though<G> Still use a peavey in spot yet though, but nothing is as satisfying a simply grapping a log with backhoe thumb and putting it where you want it!
It’s not that I think I’m a young bull and that I can do this without consequence. It’s the fact that we’re just starting off and the money isn’t there to buy the tools I would need or want. We’re also in the process of buying/building a house so that’s our priority right now.
Trust me, if I could get the pieces of equipment that I want, I would have gone yesterday!
Thanks
No one has it all to start with it takes time. Set goals to own equipment that you can someday afford,.. and someday you will. I started very very young when my dad passed away using my grandfathers Allis Chalmers model B farm tractor and my mom bought me a new Jonsered 510sp. The owner of the saw shop pretty much refused to sell her the saw knowing who would be running it, but in the end he did. My point is that most of the people here are of an age that they have gotten most everything thing they need to work with by now, I am 56. You will get there it just takes time and of course money.
