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Log moving gizmos on the cheap

Started by LKasdorf, May 15, 2003, 08:21:02 AM

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LKasdorf

As I get nearer to having my sawmill ready to start making dust, I'm realizing that there are several devices that I'll be needing for moving logs around.

First, a peavey or cant hook. I see that northern toolhttps://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=position"> Note:Please read the Forestry Forum's postion on this company sells one for $35 + shipping. Any better sources?

Second, I've been trying to devise a system that woudl let me pick up moderate to short logs with a boom pole and my tractor. I was thinking of getting or making lifting tongs. I have lots and lots of steel scrap and a good welder, so maybe I could fashion some tongs.

Third, is some sort of skidding arch. I've seen these things that have 2 wheels on an arched frame that goes over the log, and a way to hoist the log involving lifting tongs and a big screw. Again, this seems like something to build.

Actually, a fellow up the road from me has what looks like a large one of these sitting amonst his junk. His has huge military looking wheels (like off a power wagon), and a big beefy arch frame. No tongs or winch, but a slide where a cable would ride from a winch on the towing vehicle. Maybe he'll sell cheap...

Any ideas for making some of these things for the handy-but-cheap among us, would be welcomed.

Tom

I favor a canthook over a peavy and a 4 1/2 foot handle is best.  You really could use two to your advantage.  Shop at flea markets for used ones and keep in mind that it costs almost as much for a new handle as for an entire hook.  Unless you are handy with a draw knife, don't bother to buy just the hook thinking you will make a handle.

Moving logs with a lift pole (boom) on the three point hitch can be convenient, especially if you are trying to lift them onto a ramp or a stack of other logs. A tractor will skid logs safely with a tool bar (flat bar with holes between lift arms) and a Skid Hook.  Keep the weight beneath the axle to prevent the tractor from rolling over backward.  It's a great danger.

Skid Hooks (tongs) are probably better purchased to insure that you have proven strength. A manufacturers steel, joinery and design has supposedly been proven.  Make sure that you size the hooks with the logs to maximize the hooking capability.  I've seen problems with too small as well as too big.  Mine will hook a 20" log and do good on a 10" but begin to fail on logs smaller than that.

Skidding arches are neat.  I wish I had one.  Actually, I wish I had two.  One larger one for bringing logs out of the swamp and one smaller one for bringing logs out of back-yards. There are a lot of logs to be sawed that need to be pulled through a 4 foot gate opening.

LKasdorf

I am considering ordering some of these from northern toolhttps://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=position"> Note:Please read the Forestry Forum's postion on this company. Here is a smallish set of --Photos MUST be in the Forestry Forum gallery!!!!!--/buct

...tongs with 2 1/2 in. to 17 1/2 opening, since much of what I need to move is on the smaller side. Or, better yet, --Photos MUST be in the Forestry Forum gallery!!!!!--/bucp

And this timberjack looks --Photos MUST be in the Forestry Forum gallery!!!!!--/bucl

This is definitely the sort of thing that shows up at flea markets, so I'll keep an eye out.


Tom

The 1" tongs at --Photos MUST be in the Forestry Forum gallery!!!!!--/bucp
are like mine.  As a matter of fact, mine are Dixie's and I like them.  (you may think that you should buy small stuff because you have small logs but it's false economy.  When you start sawing you will be looking for a minimum of 10 inch logs.  Lesser sizes just don't have the wood for any production and they are labor intensive as well)

A customer of mine has the smaller set with the chain hook that he uses on a tractor boom.  They are usually too small for most of our logs and the chain hook gets in the way. It looks like it would be handy but keeps falling off of the chain during rough handling, tractor bouncing, etc.

That Cant hook with the prop on the back is functional for bucking small logs but the prop gets in the way when working around the mill.  I think you should favor just a plain cant hook. (just an opinion.)

OneWithWood

I got to second Tom on that timberjack thing.  I have one.  It sits in the corner and gets in the way occasionally.  Once I bought a real canthook I realized how ridiculous the timberjack was.  
One With Wood
LT40HDG25, Woodmizer DH4000 Kiln

Tom

Lynn,
We used to get log handling equipment from the industrial Supply houses here until most of the larger ones went out of business.  You might look in the phone book for one around Leesburg and see if they handle the stuff.  It can be a lot quicker than mail-order, though not any cheaper. :D

Here are two threads that fit in with the purchases you are considering.

https://forestryforum.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?board=sawmill;action=display;num=994012887;start=

https://forestryforum.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?board=sawmill;action=display;num=1044756862;start=0

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Here is a Mobile Dimension thread you may enjoy.

https://forestryforum.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?board=sawmill;action=display;num=1009047911;start=

Once you learn to use the search facility there may be a fortune in help in the old posts.  There is probably help in the Knowledge Base as well but we will be looking forward to your contribution to it as you bring your mill to life. :P

Minnesota_boy

I have to put in my 2 cents worth. I differ form Tom in that i use a peavey for 90% of my work.  My peavy has a short handle, maybe 3 feet long and it works great for the small logs, with the point being used to pry where necessary.  When I get to bigger logs, then the cant hook comes out, but not too often, as there is a limit on how big a log I can roll anyway before the winch becomes necessary.  The hook on the peavy or cant hook is really important.  I've replace the hook on my cant hook to get one with a larger hook with a long taper and a sharper point.  It takes a long taper to bite throught the bark of a large white pine.  Shorter hooks just rip out a piece of bark and let you fall over the log when you push too hard. ;D
I eat a high-fiber diet.  Lots of sawdust!

Fla._Deadheader

Call Eagle USA in Pelham, Alabama.   800-828-8121
  They have all sorts of Tongs and cant hooks AND chainsaw accessories. Prices seem good, also. ;)
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

Larry

A picture of the log forks on my loader along with the log tongs in action.  Got the tongs at a garage sale.  They will open to clamp on a log around 36 to 40 inches but don't work very good on small 10" logs.  Brand unknown but I aint gonna part with em as they work great.  Log forks are home made, adjustable, quick detach, and do a good job.




Back end of the tractor has forks off the 3 point something like hay forks for big bales.  It will lift a lot more than the loader but I can't adjust the tilt to gently drop a log on the mill without the help of a cant hook.  Also have a boom but never use it for logs as too hard to get them balanced plus the logs swing around way too much.

Built a logging arch out of an old trailer axle.  Sorta looks like the trailer they use to haul propane tanks with.  For the hitch I bought a gooseneck thingy from the farm supply store and it sets on the ball of the tractor drawer bar.  Never took a picture of it because I never painted it and it is sorta ugly.

Cant hooks are a 4' and 4 1/2' Dixies and an old 5' one brand unknown.  I use the 4' one to just position logs in the yard or roll them off a trailer.  Use the 4 1/2' and 5' one to turn the bigger logs on my manual mill.  Both the tongs and the cant hooks work a whole lot better if you keep the points sharp.
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

Larry

Tom,
It would be a lot safer to skid big logs off the tractor drawbar rather than the toolbar.  Even better would be to attach a cable to the front end of the tractor and run it through a clevis on the drawbar.

There has been a lot of people get in big trouble pulling off a toolbar especially when they raise it to get something over a hump.
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

Tom

You're right, Larry. Although I skid with the lift arms I probably shouldn't.  I do usually run a small chain from the eye on the skid hook to the draw bar so that the drawbar is doing the pulling.  It's well stated to remind everyone of rollover though.

oakiemac

Mammoth wood products makes a dandy log arch that attatches to your 3 pt hitch on your tractor. I bought one recently and it cost $170 with shipping.  Check out www.mammothwoodproducts.com.

I'm still looking into a log loading system for my MD.  I think to start with I'll use ramps and a come-along.

Steve
Mobile Demension sawmill, Bobcat 873 loader, 3 dry kilns and a long "to do" list.

Weekend_Sawyer

 That's just another thing I like about my old farmalls, the swing drawbar connects to the belly of the tractor so when you get on a serious pull or hit something with a pulled implement it is pulling from below and infront of the rear axle. of course these days I am using a skid steer with forks to move logs
 
 I like my 5 1/2 foot cant hook for around the mill but when I am going to trailer logs I like the point on the peavy, I have stuck it in a trailer deck to ancor a log, used the point to lever loggs around and you can stick it in the ground near you so you don't loose it or run over it.

 I also spraypaint my tools red so my brothers don't walk off with them or when I look in their garages I can easily spot my tools ::)
Imagine, Me a Tree Farmer.
Jon, Appalachian American Wannabe.

Kevin_H.

Just to add one more thing to the mix, when I saw at the customers site, besides the cant hooks, I always take along my 6 foot pipe, 1 1/2 dia. you can get a lot of leverage (sp?) using it.

I also take along several 2" pipes about 2' long, If the customer has to pull the log on the ground we place the pipes under  the log to let it slide a little easier.

also on the WM the 2" pipes will fit over the rear log supports so we dont roll the big one off the other side...(Now that's a Mess)
Got my WM lt40g24, Setworks and debarker in oct. '97, been sawing part time ever since, Moving logs with a bobcat.

DanG

How long does it take a WoodMizer to saw through a 2" pipe?

 ;D
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

Kevin_H.

Well,
To be honest I've never made it all the way though one...Yet :o

You know I can stand styrofoam on styrofoam and even nails on a blackboard, but that sound of saw teeth grinding off on a part of your mill, now that sends chills down my spine... ;D
Got my WM lt40g24, Setworks and debarker in oct. '97, been sawing part time ever since, Moving logs with a bobcat.

Fla._Deadheader

I got one of my 2" square, solid steel log stops, about 1/3rd sawed in two. :o ::)  Does that count for anything??  
  Hey, maybe we could start a contest to see who can saw the deepest into their log stops??
    Naaaahhhh, Ain't no footage to be made there!!  :D :D :D
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

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