Log Handling Question ??

[wannabeonetoo]

Just trying to get an idea of what guys are using for log and lumber handling.
I was wondering if a loader tractor with forks/grapple or skid steer with grapple/forks or rubber tired fork lift are the choices of the experienced sawyers or any other ideas ??? Pics are good  ;D !!!!! Also how to set up the saw shed, with or without a bunk to allow best handling of material and product??(more pics  ;) ...)

Thanks;
   Steve

[Meadows Miller]

Gday Mate

What type of sawmill are You running  or are planing to run as this affects the way You will setup your yard shed and dictate the best way to set things up I just have a few questions for You .

How much money have you got to spend ?
What type mill do you own?
Is the yard built up ?
Will you be drying/valueadding your timber?

reguards Chris McMahon

[bandmiller2]

Steve,probibly a good size skid steer would serve you well ,forks seem to be the handiest for logs then quick hitch bucket for dust and dirt.A large tire forklift is good but no real bucket option.I would quess most of us use a tractor loader that will do the job just not as handy as the outhers.Frank C.

[mike_van]

I like the tractor option, mostly because you can do so much else with it - Mine's an IH 574, It's got a log grapple on the front I made, when the logs get too heavy for that, there's the 3 pt. hitch forks.  I go in the woods with it for logs [forklift won't] soft ground, snow, whatever. Brush hog, snowplow in winter, rear blade & bucket, 3 pt hitch winch, the options are pretty endless with a tractor. I've never been a skidsteer fan, at 6'2" & back problems, it;s about the last thing I want to climb in & out of. 

[Tom Sawyer]

I sure like my skid steer for handling logs, lumber and slabs.  I use bale forks for the logs, easier to dig into a log pile than pallet forks, and a bucket for sawdust.

Tom

[cheyenne]

I run a Gehl 4635sx skid steer with forks & bucket. Small,powerful & versatile. Best visability of any machine i've seen & they turn on a dime in tight places. As for your saw shed; think of what you want then think again & you can never build it too big. I've been thinking on mine for over a year & still haven't made up my mind but maybe i'm procrastinating.Cheyenne

[brdmkr]

I use a Mahindra 4110 with pallet forks.  I like it as a general purpose sort of tool.  I bushhog, disc, pull trailers, etc.  It is not a specialty tool, but so far I have been able to move anything I needed to.  Sometimes I can't lift very high though.

[Warren]

All depends on your situation:

1) How much weight do you want to lift ?  Most of the smaller skid steers top out at 1,500 to 2,000 lb lift capacity.  You can buy an older off road forklift that will lift 5,000 to 8000 lbs for less money than a skid steer.

2) What type of ground will you be moving across ?  Skid steers with tires only will go well on pavement and packed gravel. But when you get off in soft mud, they can dig themselves into a hole pretty quick.  Steel tracks over the tires go much better on soft ground than rubber tires only.  But the steel tracks tend to cut or dig on loose gravel or sod when doing a tight turn. 

3) Factory rubber tracks are the most expensive, but have the following advantages (my perception):
    a) Rubber tracks cut less than steeel tracks.
    b) Rubber tracks tend to have higher lift capacity for same weight machines because the front idler is small diameter which puts the tip point closer to the front of the machine.
    c) A rubber tracked machine feels more stable on side hills and over uneven ground due to longer "wheel base".

My primary machine is an older Case 1845C with forks and a bucket, foam filled rubber tires and steel grouser tracks.  It will lift up to about 2,500 lbs..  Backup machine for heavier loads is an old Warner Swasey 8,000 lb off road forklift.  Use it primarily for large logs and large bundles of lumber.

-w-

[Papa1stuff]

I use a Puckett Bros grader that I kept after retiring from my paving business.
I made forks that fit on the front bucket ,just drop a couple pins to hold them on .
It is four wheel drive and the hydrulics are powerful enough to handle most logs.
Works great!

[backwoods sawyer]

These little mini excavators with a thumb attachment seem to handle the logs just fine and at the end of the day, they have not torn up the ground the way a skid steer will. You can set your log yard and milling area so that the logs are just shuttled forward to the mill or the log deck is close enough to swing around and pick up a log. They are also handy for picking that 250lb tailing off the top of the log. I have a 8,000lb forklift so having a second piece of equipment with forks would be redundant. I have found that tractors and small backhoes  can not handle near the size of log as these little mini's simply because the weight is kept close to the center of gravity.

[woodmills1]

Once you have a log grapple you never think of anything else for logs or slabs.  It really is the way but might cost more than you are ready for now.

[bck]

I dont "think" a tractor would, but would a skidsteer or forklift be able to unload logs from a tractor trailer?  What is a good option for something that can move logs around yard and unload trucks?

[logwalker]

These little mini excavators with a thumb attachment seem to handle the logs just fine and at the end of the day, they have not torn up the ground the way a skid steer will. You can set your log yard and milling area so that the logs are just shuttled forward to the mill or the log deck is close enough to swing around and pick up a log. They are also handy for picking that 250lb tailing off the top of the log. I have a 8,000lb forklift so having a second piece of equipment with forks would be redundant. I have found that tractors and small backhoes  can not handle near the size of log as these little mini's simply because the weight is kept close to the center of gravity.

The beauty of the small excavator is all the other things it will do. It will push problem trees safely. It grades like a dozer. It maintains a log deck easily. It cleans up the scrap pile next to the mill like nothing else. It loads the flatbed with very large logs. 36" by 20+feet. I could go on and on about it. I also put mine to work for $110 an hour. Customers ask me for an 8 hour day and after they see what it will do they want me to stay for several more. It paid for itself very quickly. Joe

[raycon]

Fastest piece of equipment I have used yet to get bucked logs staged for milling is a skid steer.
If I were looking for a one item does all deal tractor with front loader and forks.

[woodsteach]

I dont "think" a tractor would, but would a skidsteer or forklift be able to unload logs from a tractor trailer?  What is a good option for something that can move logs around yard and unload trucks?

My John Deere 317 has loaded and unloaded drop decks as well as flat beds.  I use forks and grapples.  Usually forks for unloading and grapples for loading.  As far as how much can it lift I've loaded lots and lots of 30" 8' cottonwood sometimes even 10's.

Can you guys tell me more about the mini's how much do they weigh, lift etc.  I'm interested!

Paul

[mike_van]

Paul, I can tell you what they won't lift -  :D  This is kind of funny now, but it wasn't last Christmas - A shop gave me a 24" planer, 3 phase, 1930's by L. Power & Co.  About a 25 mile drive to get it. Went first with my F350 with the crane on it I built, it picked it, about 6" clear & my winch control started smoking, I just set it back down - Didn't want to have it fall.  We think it weighed about 2800 lbs. - Went back the next day with my cousins C-30,& his excavator too on a two axle trailer. Were going to put it in the back of the C-30 & come home. Got there, the excavator wouldn't lift it, not an inch. Had the blade right up to the planer too - So, not wanting to go back a 3rd time, we reloaded the machine, used the boom on it to drag the planer up the ramps.  Probably would'a been in jail had the D.O.T. had any scales out  -   :D  Cousin said he thinks the max. weight it'll pick is 2400 lbs, after that, the sensors just cut it off. 

[logwalker]

In a mini's model number is the metric tonnage. So my Mitsubishi MM-45 weighs about 4.5 metric tons. I think the blade is figured additional to that. I think mine will pick up 4000 lbs close to the machine. As you get away from it the ability goes down. Joe

[mike_van]

I need one of those loaders like they showed on Ax Men, at the mill - Unloaded a semi of 40 footers in one grab -  8) 

[wannabeonetoo]

Back to Meadow Millers question to my original one; I don't have a mill yet,or a shed etc., but am still dreaming and planning trying to formulate a plan using the MEMBERS expertise  :P ;D
I do have a Case 585 loader tractor with a set of forks I made for the Q/A . They worked pretty good when I had a portable mill come here to mill for my barn project.
My idea was to ask and see what the experienced are doing  :D.
Keep the replies coming (and pics  ;) ;))
Steve

[backwoods sawyer]

I use my 3-stage mast, 8,000lb forklift to unload 40' log trucks with 10'-2" bunks. I can lift off as many logs as will stay balanced on the forks.

This little mini here has a bucket rather then the blade. It is also only 7,600lb with hydraulic limits of 3,300lb. These can easily be toted around with a 1-ton truck and a well built car trailer.

[Meadows Miller]

Gday Steve

We have a clean slate to work with and that Case should do the job well for you unless you are planing to cut huge logs or large volumes  Im using a Chambelain C670/JD tractor with a  loader frame I mounted Myself lifts 4000lbs easy and has done the job well for me for the past few years 8) I also had a 84 mod Volvo 942 4x4 loader when I was younger I wish Id kept it :'(
with the yard lay out Its better to sett it up well from the start having a designated place for each of the following. A well built main drive preffrably strait through so trucks dont have to turn around in the mill yard Logs stored so there is minimal time spent unloading log trucks  and infeeding logs to the mill . A Area to store timber awaiting pickup for fast loading it will be long and narrow with a set bay for each order so when somone or trucks arive to do a pickup your not shifting 20 ton of timber to get at that pack at the back  :D Ive done that one bfore You think ahh they wont be pikin that up for a week you stack a semi load infront of it and they rock up the next morning :D.
waste you usually have sawdust behind the mill/shed the trash I bundle into 3'dia buy the length of the pack  with enough straps so I can dock it with a chainsaw to 6' to 8' lengths  someone coms along with there car trailer and You say $30 bucks thanks . from now on I am selling My trash to a kindling company for $55 a ton pickup so it will be in long lengths $1650 and 30 ton at a time. with waste You dont want to handel it any more than you have to.
If you want to air dry Your timber You will want to set up a yard opossed from the storage/pickup area.

So if You walked along the length of Your shed/mill half way and put your back to it You would see two compleatly different areas logyard,trash storage and sawn timber pick up,airdry yards

Ill do a rough layout of my new mill site and post it as I have to post a scetch of a timber drying shed on another post for someone tomorow. At least Your thinking ahead Steve Alot of Us Start out in a Mad rush to Just get that timber Cut and out and then think maby ??? I shouldnt have put that there  :D :D :D  ;);D

Reguards Chris