Large Rounds / Too Heavy to move

[bubba3228]

I use a hand truck to move them around; i have one i picked up at costco that has pneumatic wheels and a ratchet strap the log onto it and move as necessary.
Granted; after that it is maul or wedge&sledge time ... but to move them it's all about the hand truck. I have had some pretty big rounds moved by myself this way [biggest being about 49" across in diameter].

The hand truck has helped me out too, big time. There are also dollies made for moving small trees with the root balls, landscapers use them. I thought they they may work well too, they have big ole pneumatic wheels. Before we had the log lift added to our speedco I would lay an 8' fiberglass ladder with the top wedged into the I beam and roll the big rounds up to the cradle one rung at a time, worked but still a lot of grunting. We found laying the big rounds horizontal on the cradle is somewhat easier to split into the first big quarters. The back is a terrible thing to waste... Anyone ever use a small jack hammer with a wedge bit?

 

[loadstarken]

A tree service dropped off some huge 4-5 foot across round and I used my hand truck to lift an edge and put some small branch rounds under to move them like the Egyptians. Once I had a couple round under them they would just glide over my driveway and even thru the gravel.

My driveway is always open for tree services to drop their unwanted wood! Well except for cottonwood! Hehe

 

[beerman6]

OK so i hope the is not too stupid of a question.

I have a friend that owns a tree service, and drops off rounds for me, which is great, the only down side is some of them are pretty large.

I know I can noodle them down, but I just seem to suck at that, and it take forever. My splitter will go vertical so anything that i can physically move i have been rolling / pushing / dragging to the splitter and getting it small enough to lift.

Ideal i would just lift the logs with the front loader of my tractor, and set them down on the splitter, only one problem, I don't have a tractor, nor the money to get one.

My method had been working kinda ok, until the other day when i heard a pop in my back, and haven't been able to bend over for the last couple days. It is getting better but I don't really want to do that again.

So anyway I was trying to come up with a way to move the wood from the pile to the foot of the splitter.

I have a Garden tractor that has a 2 Inch ball on the drawbar, so i was thinking I could get a 2k winch, and an adapter that hooks to the ball. Then get a tree strap, just wrap the strap around the round and pull it to the splitter.

Do you think that would work or as anybody do something similar?

I am new to the world of winches so just trying to do some research before spending money. Haha

Thanks
Jay


Superwinch 1220210 LT2000 Utility Winch : Amazon.com : Automotive

Superwinch 2060 Portable Ball Hitch Mount : Amazon.com : Automotive

ProMark Tree Strap ATV Winch Recovery Kit. Includes Two Tree Straps and Two D Shackles.

I have THEE answer...Have him drop off the big rounds at my place :msp_w00t:

 

[jrider]

If he is any friend of yours, he will understand when you ask him not to drop off those monster logs anymore. He has a tree business, he gets all sizes of wood so you know he his getting rid of the smaller stuff some place else. No real friend would cut you out of the wood totally.

 

[mhrischuk]

Bottom line.... cut them up where they lay. Move them as little as possible until they are cut down to a manageable size where you won't hurt yourself.

This is what I received last year. I dealt with it right where it sat.

Well I did cheat a little..

Noodled some...

 

[Hinerman]

The old fashioned way...

From here, I use a wheelbarrow. I would never carry pieces that size more than a few steps, if that. I can load several pieces in a wheelbarrow, make less trips and it saves my back, knees, ankles, etc. I don't carry heavy pieces more than a couple of steps. My wheelbarrow is my best friend when it comes to moving wood. I roll the big rounds when I can. If a round is too big for me to stand up on its side, then I noodle or split as needed, then use the wheelbarrow to transport.

 

[Hinerman]

1. Get a "Hookaroon" - They'll have to pry mine out of my cold hands.

2. Drag the rounds over to the splitter with the tractor - may require weights/chains but it will beat fooling around with a winch.

3. Get a "Hookaroon".


I don't have a hookaroon. This is the 2nd or 3rd time I have read this recommendation. I will have one ordered before the end of this week. I don't have a tractor or power splitter so I need all the help I can get. Thanks for the post.

 

[slowp]

A swing of the splitting maul is the first choice.

A metal splitting wedge is the second, and another one pounded in if the first won't work.

If the piece is knotty, I bore in with my saw and then put a wedge in.

If that doesn't work, the chunk gets left behind or used for something else. I do not use a mechanized splitter.

I mostly cut small stuff for firewood. It makes life much gentler.

 

[SkippyKtm]

I made cross cuts to get the wedges in. Sure made splitting them a heck of a lot easier....

Nice setup!

The only thing that bugs me is the way that steel wedge on the right is peeling. You need to grind off that metal or shards of it will come off when striking. I had a friend lose an eye because of that. :msp_wink:

 

[mhrischuk]

Yes.... I need to clean it up. I should know better... I'm a toolmaker from way back.

 

[SkippyKtm]

Yes.... I need to clean it up. I should know better... I'm a toolmaker from way back.

If you have a large mig welder, I weld a bead around the wedge to get rid of the peals. Its faster than grinding, or use cutting torches, I've done that too....

 

[Chris-PA]

Protect your back at all costs. You only get one, and it is a weak spot in your body. If you do hurt your self to the point that you are impinging on the bundle of nerves called the cauda equinia, you can be wearing a diaper the rest of your life. Or you might lose feeling in your crotch, or have painful tingling and numbness in one or both legs. Modern medicine does not have many good options to deal with this either besides steroids, or fusing the lumbar vertebrae.

You say this will not happen to you, it happens every day.

Protect your back!

Dan

Amen. Hurting my back is really one of my biggest fears living out in the sticks. If I can't do the work I do, we can't stay here, and if my back goes I can't do that work. I still have to take a risk now and then, but I damn well try to minimize it. This is a case of working smarter, not harder. Taking the time to learn how to use a splitting tool, and use it, so you can split those pieces into manageable sizes in-place is just part of what you need to be able to do.

 

[hardpan]

1. Get a "Hookaroon" - They'll have to pry mine out of my cold hands.

2. Drag the rounds over to the splitter with the tractor - may require weights/chains but it will beat fooling around with a winch.

3. Get a "Hookaroon".


I don't have a hookaroon. This is the 2nd or 3rd time I have read this recommendation. I will have one ordered before the end of this week. I don't have a tractor or power splitter so I need all the help I can get. Thanks for the post.

OK now the 4th time. Get a hookeroon. Turnkey took away my shot at the 3rd time. Cant hook and hand truck always help but the hookeroon has the task of moving a large piece while it is sitting on end like when you want to "slide" it under the splitter wedge or onto the hank truck. Get a bite near the bottom on one side, lift and slide, get a bite near the bottom of the other side, lift and slide, repeat. Keep in mind you're doing this erect like a homosapien, less back strain. Wedges? I like them so much that I have 7. Actually I started with 2 and the need to free the stuck ones added to the collection but I still like swinging a 10 pound sledge at times. This stuff cost money but you only have to talk to a couple people with permanent back damage to see the value.

 

[dave_376]

I didn't read the whole thread so there may already be a similar idea.
A few years ago I had a bunch of giant boulder to move, I thought about rolling them but then I was worried what would happen if they didn't stop and made it to the hill. I ended up using an old hood to a car I pulled out of a dumpster at the transfer station. I used a chain to hook it up to my riding tractor and slid/dragged the boulder to their new home. I used a pry bar and some logs to lift and roll the rocks on the hood.

Last year I had a bunch of 30" hickory, I don't think that I could have picked one up if I tried. when I had to move them I used the same pry bar to flip them on their side and roll them to the splitter.

 

[Evanrude]

I'd be happy to help you out anytime, Jay. If you've got some large stuff just give me a shout and I'll load up the canthook and my big saws and give you a hand. The 660 is a noodle eating machine! At least let me lend you my canthook so you can try it out. I agree, noodling is the easiest way to get those big rounds to a manageable size. Pushing, pulling, dragging isnt the easy answer here.

 

[upsnake]

Mhrischuk - Dang ok ya if a piece of wood that size every showed up I think i would just quit. haha
I do line the cross cut idea.

Most of the stuff that I get is fine, every once and while there are some big really big (well to me nothing like some of the pics), that i do noodle down.

It is those pieces that are just little too big to comfortably pick up that i mostly have to deal with so maybe a hookaroon or cant hook would give me enough leverage to move them over to the splitter.

I go to the chiropractor on Monday. I am going to give my back a few days, it is still a little tender. I don't think i did anything permanent to it, I think i just tweaked something.

Evan that sounds good, I was looking at them online but it would be nice to try it first. I will hit you up once my back is feeling better.

 

[mhrischuk]

Take care of that back. They can't do much to fix them.

 

[zogger]

I made cross cuts to get the wedges in. Sure made splitting them a heck of a lot easier....

Yep! Best way to get wedges started, nice deep tic tac toe kerf cut!

 

[turnkey4099]

Yes.... I need to clean it up. I should know better... I'm a toolmaker from way back.

Please clean it up before usign it again! I found the fastest way on one like that is to use my 4" discgrinder and grind with the edge biting ito the mushroom from underneath, doesn't take long. My usual source for them is junk shops but haven't had any luck in years. Seems I have a bad habit of losing hem and I am now down to two.

Torch would probably be faster but I don't have one.

Harry K

 

[BrokenToys]

The hand truck has helped me out too, big time. There are also dollies made for moving small trees with the root balls, landscapers use them. I thought they they may work well too, they have big ole pneumatic wheels. Before we had the log lift added to our speedco I would lay an 8' fiberglass ladder with the top wedged into the I beam and roll the big rounds up to the cradle one rung at a time, worked but still a lot of grunting. We found laying the big rounds horizontal on the cradle is somewhat easier to split into the first big quarters. The back is a terrible thing to waste... Anyone ever use a small jack hammer with a wedge bit?

One of these days my welding genius little brother will make me one of those big landscaping tree moving dollies; he made something very similar for my uncle to use at his statuary to move his big statues around [6/7' tall seahorses, sailfish, lighthouses, lamp posts] and it works great. Mine is the generic off the shelf moving dolly but if I can get one that has a v shaped bottom instead of a flat plate; ratcheting turnbuckle like the moving dollies i think I would be set.