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What do you use to handle logs???

Started by BandsawWarrior, March 23, 2008, 10:45:45 PM

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BandsawWarrior

Hello,

I'm trying to decide what machine would be best for handling logs around the mill.  Right now we have a farm tractor with forks, fork lift, and a cat d3 with a winch. 

I'd like to get something efficient and able to multi task (forks for logs, dirt bucket for snow plowing) 

The tractor is too slow and cumbersome.  The fork lift is dead in mud or snow.  And the cat is great for pulling stuff out but can't keep the logs out of the dirt!

My question is how many of you use skid steers to handle logs?  Does is work well with forks or a grapple attachment?  The machine I'm thinking about is a cat 252b  2500lb lift capacity.  I'm not sure if that would be enough for handling big logs...any suggestions?

My other option is to look at a mini loader around 13 to 15000 lbs.   Does anyone use a backhoe with forks?

I would like to hear what works well for others

thanks!


Tyler Hart
T&N Custom Sawmill

Tom

The best thing I ever did was buy my Ford 555A backhoe and loader back in 1986.

It has the gumption to pick up a lot of weight with the frontend loader and I have built forks for it.  I hang a Skid hook on the Front end loader, from the top, and move single large logs by hooking them with the skid hook and rolling them up onto the loader bucket. 

I use the backhoe to boom logs around the mill, stack logs, turn logs, unload trucks and trailers and even use the fool  machine to do what it was intended to do, dig holes.

The hydraulics of the backhoe will pull almost any stuck equipment out of the mud or off of a stump.

There just isn't much that it won't do. 

Being rubber tired, I can move down the road on a moments notice.  That's a nice feature when a trailer isn't handy.

Now, forklifts will move lumber easier because they lift straight up and straight down, but I manage with the Backhoe/loader and the forks I built without having to feed two pieces of equipment.

If I had my druthers, I would have a 4 wheel drive.

Brad_S.

I wish I could afford a dedicated front end loader, but my Bobcat still does an excellent job.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,12581.msg175243.html#msg175243
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." J. Lennon

scsmith42

BSW, I typically use one of two machines.  A John Deere 270 Skid Steer (82hp - good for about 5000 lbs) with a grapple or forks with a grapple, or a Cat 420D IT Backhoe with forks.  The backhoe is good for almost 8000 lbs.

Scott
Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

Drew b

The best all around machine I have seen is the one I use.  Its a JCB backhoe:  built in forks on the front bucket that can swing out of the way when not needed and be locked.  I also installed a thumb on the digging bucket.  I have beat the absolute crappola out of this machine logging, digging, pulling stumps, etc., etc., but it still keeps working.   I can lift a 28" diameter by 25' fir log into my dump box with ease using the thumb.  The front end can lift a 4' by 20' fir log and drive it around.  The 4x4 drive is awesome and I have yet to get stuck where I couldn't get out (and I live in gumbo deep rain forest).  I load all my logs onto a log deck and then just roll them onto the mill.  Once my wife asked me if I'd rather have it or her.   I wouldn't answer; and I love my wife.

bandmiller2

A heavy duty skid steer with forks is hard to beat.Myself I use an old John Deere 60 with a JD 45w loader and forks on their own boom [not in bucket].The forks spread out to 5' and I can see the tips,it has good reach.Capacity a little over a ton,if johny won't handle it I don't mess with it.I also have a multitech grapple that fits on the loader,but find the forks handier.I have had forks that fit in /on buckets they work but the visibility is poor.Around the mill being able to see the fork tips priceless.Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

woodmills1

once you have a dedicated log loading grapple trailer you will never go back.  I have 2 now, my blue ox and my forester package from payeur.  Will feed the mill with the blue ox and put the slabs on the metavic.
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

ronwood

I am using a New Holland LX885. It does most of what I want it to do.

Ron
Sawing part time mostly urban logs -St. Louis/Warrenton, Mo.
LT40HG25 Woodmizer Sawmill
LX885 New Holland Skidsteer

BandsawWarrior

wow thanks for all the great replies! 

I've been thinking about all the different things I could do with a backhoe....thanks for the great input. 

tyler

Tyler Hart
T&N Custom Sawmill

MrMoo

I have a JD 410 backhoe I bought 10 years ago. To move logs I clamp forks on the front of it. I bought the forks from Paynes. Although not perfect they do work well.
Beside that the backhoe does backhoe work for me like last year I cleared the site for my new barn. Pulled stumps and spread fill material.
Best investment I ever made. Like Tom I wish it 4wd but I'll take it the way it is any day of the week.

SeeSaw

BandsawWarrior,

I have a 37 hp 4wd White Diesel Tractor that has a very powerfull FEL and I have also added forks that can be quickly added or removed.  This seems to work very well around the mill but there are times when the tractor could stand to be bigger.  On the other hand I have been able to do many jobs in other folks cramped small yards with this tractor that I would not have been able to do with a bigger machine.  Not sure that any 1 piece of equipment is perfect but I can see there are times that a skid steer would be better and other times when a tractor is better.  Even if I do get a bigger machine I would never let go of the old faithfull that I have now.  It's just been able to do almost every thing that I've ever asked it to do and I could not part with it.  Not sure if that helps but that's my 2 c worth.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, completely worn out and loudly proclaiming, WHAT A RIDE...!

IL Bull

I have the older version of Tom's 555.  It is a Ford 420.  I installed a skid steer coupler on the front so I can use skid steer attachments.  I also have a Case 1845B.  It will only pick up about half as much as the Ford.  Both are good but if I had to choose I would have to take the Ford.
Case Skid Steer,  Ford Backhoe,  Allis WD45 and Burg Manual Sawmill

Ironwood

The backhoes make sense for versatility (I have numerous forklifts), but one thing I would reccommend if you chose a hoe, make a special adapter to put the forks right to the arms of the loader that extra couple of feet will help immensely for lifting the big ones and large piles.


Ironwood
There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.- Wayne Dyer

customsawyer

I use the 420DIT Cat back-hoe which I love since you get the bucket and the forks with it and you can change from one to the other from the seat with out getting off of the machine. It can lift about 8000 LBS and if you over load it a bit you can stick the boom out the other end to counter balance it. I have a thumb on the back-hoe end so that when that one log get loose from you and end up in a crazy way you can grab it and just set it back on the mill. The bucket that I have is a clam shell bucket which means you can hook up extra hyd. and it will open up and you can use the front like a dozer blade and pushup a bunch of small slab type stuff and then just close the bucket down on it and you have it all with out trying to scoop it up. I also have home made forks that I hang on the front of the bucket that has three forks built on it which is great for dealing with the shorter slabs.
Two LT70s, Nyle L200 kiln, 4 head Pinheiro planer, 30" double surface Cantek planer, Lucas dedicated slabber, Slabmizer, and enough rolling stock and chainsaws to keep it all running.
www.thecustomsawyer.com

jesse

975 bobcat 573 massey ferguson tractor with loader 1010 john deere crawler loader

Brucer

1) Customer's 8000 lb Toyota forklift. Not ideal, but does the job. Absolutely useless in snow or spring mud.

2) His partner's Cat 910 articulated loader. Good in all weather, great snow clearing machine, need to chain the log to the bucket to move it. Too slow, but gets the job done when nothing else will.

3) My 1980 half-ton 2wd GMC pickup. 400 lbs of weight bolted down at the back of the box. Skids the logs over snow that the forklift can't handle. Faster than the loader in snow less than 6 inches, useless in mud (but who'd want to drag a log through mud anyhow?)

4) Logrite Cant hook.

The partnership is about to break up and my customer is thinking of buying the Cat loader from his partner. I've got him nearly convinced that he could convert it to an ITC and buy forks and a log grapple for it. That would be the perfect machine.

We've also moved logs with a borrowed skid-steer and I've moved smaller logs with my tractor equiped with forks. From my experience, nothing works better than an articulated loader equiped with the proper attachments.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

Dave Shepard

I use my Kubota L48 with a set of homemade forks for moving logs and lumber around the farm, and many other things as well. The hydrostatic is great for precision in close, or fast manuevering when plowing snow. Hoe is detachable and has three point hitch and pto. At the mill we use a Kubota KX-121-3 excavator and an RSV60 skid loader. If you need to multi-task, I would recommend a hoe.




Dave
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

bandmiller2

Just in passing,a wile back the railroad was reparing an old wooden bridge over the Charles river.They had the common backhoe loader and were moving full legnth treated poles with it.One end of the pole was resting on the side of the  front bucket, backhoe slightly off side crooked around the pole driving down the tracks.I didn't see how he picked up the pole.Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

Handy Andy

  I have a Case 60XT that works pretty well on logs if they aren't too big for my mill.  But before I got my mill, went west of Ellsworth to an old farmer that had a B20 and one of those bi-directional ford tractors.  He does his farming with the thing, and when he saws, just turns the seat around and puts on his forks.  That thing is similar to a skidsteer, except it is articulating, and will handle about twice the log, maybe more.  The cool thing is  the seat is located a lot closer than a farm tractor to the front so you have more control of the log, than with a farm tractor. Better visibility.  Thing I hate about a big tractor with loader, from where you sit, you can destroy a piece of equipment without knowing it till you get off and see the damage. Talking about my 4450 JD.  Jim
My name's Jim, I like wood.

ErikC

  I'll second the earlier comments about a JCB loader backhoe. I can lift almost anything I can get ahold of. We move a lot of pretty big logs and it just picks 'em up and packs 'em off. The 4 in 1 loader is a big plus, and the forks are easy to move or take off. It's pretty good all around.

Erik
Here is a smaller cedar log. It doesn't even know it's there. :)
Peterson 8" with 33' tracks, JCB 1550 4x4 loader backhoe, several stihl chainsaws

Bibbyman






We've been real happy with our Terex TX51-19.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

Dave Shepard

A friend of mine had a friend at his shop a couple of years ago. He had a Terex just like yours Bibbyman. He was lamenting having to move it from the shop to the job all the time to move timbers. My friend said "just buy another one". The guy said, "good idea, can I borrow your phone?" He called up and ordered another one, and now has identical twin Terex's. ;D Solved that problem. :D I worked with one of the machines resoring a set of marble stairs last winter, and it was cool to be able to just boom the big landing stones out over the lower treads and set them in place.


Dave
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

SeeSaw

I like your machine Bibby.  I can see where that boom would come in very handy for positioning logs exactly where you want them. And, for a whole bunch of other things too that may not even be related to sawmilling or moving logs!! 8)
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, completely worn out and loudly proclaiming, WHAT A RIDE...!

cantcutter

https://forestryforum.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=1658

I have tried rental skid steers with forks and find that most often my logs are too big for them.
I really like the backhoe with the thumb. It has forks on the front as well. Great for moving logs, but I would get it with 4x4, rear wheel drive does not do so well with a big load.

Handy Andy

  I could find lots of uses for a telehandler.  A friend has one, and he let me use it to put up a new steel building.  We put the trusses together on the basket, loaded the purlins up and just raised the whole thing up and  set it on the legs.  Could move it ever so slightly to line up bolt holes.  Then I just walked the trusses and put the purlins on.  Setting up the roof framing was the easiest part of the whole shed.  Hardest part was getting the insulation on and tin in place without having something blow off.  Wind was the problem.  Building had 16' sidewalls.
My name's Jim, I like wood.

Woodchuck53

Evening, being from south la. I noticed all these sugar cane loaders parked up in weeds when ever the farmers went to the new fangle cane combine type machines. I have a older style Prentiss on a even older Ford F-800 chassis with a Cat. 4 cylinder hyd. unit. The whole package was purchased for 1000.00 and another 500 to get it towed because of interstste speed. Have plans to put it on a pipe pedistal 30" dia. x3/4" wall thickness in my log yard so that I will be able to unload purchased loads off of semi's. I have a case 1030 with a Ford loader from the state mowers and a Ford 3930 (old ford 4000 size) with loader for smaller logs. This works well for me but as I am remodeling my mill I am adding as much hyd. and all the bells and whisles I can afford. Check out the used cane loader idea, it might work for you. Have a good one Chuck
Case 1030 w/ Ford FEL, NH 3930 w/Ford FEL, Ford 801 backhoe/loader, TMC 4000# forklift, Stihl 090G-60" bar, 039AV, and 038, Corley 52" circle saw, 15" AMT planer Corley edger, F-350 1 ton, Ford 8000, 20' deck for loader and hauling, F-800 40' bucket truck, C60 Chevy 6 yd. dump truck.

metalspinner

Welcome aboard, Chuck!

I googled "sugar cane loader" and came up with this.  Is this what you are talking about?...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P--c1JU2eDM
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

Woodchuck53

Hey Metalspinner, I just found your post, sorry. No what I purchase was a regular log loader that had the grapple widen to accomadate the cane. It's mounted on a dual tandem F-800 Ford chassis with the Cat. 4 banker behind the cab. Truck doesn't run so had to tow it. Talk about slow on I-49 home to Alex. But the price was right. I found 2 more fore 3 grand. Same problem with getting them home. To tall to load on a trailer with out removing loader. Haven't convinced the wife I need a spare. I think 1 is a Prentiss and the other a Loghog. Are you interested? Anyway have since thought about dropping a 7.3 diesel in the old truck and using it like that. That would be future project. Take care Chuck
Case 1030 w/ Ford FEL, NH 3930 w/Ford FEL, Ford 801 backhoe/loader, TMC 4000# forklift, Stihl 090G-60" bar, 039AV, and 038, Corley 52" circle saw, 15" AMT planer Corley edger, F-350 1 ton, Ford 8000, 20' deck for loader and hauling, F-800 40' bucket truck, C60 Chevy 6 yd. dump truck.

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