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building a log forwarding trailer

Started by logman81, February 22, 2011, 09:58:03 AM

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Ironwood

That is great stuff, love it. Nothing ever wasted.

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

Coon

Marcel, I was thinkin that if this hydraulic tank was not big enough I could just remove the filters and such off of it and use them in the tank I will be building.  From my research I have found that I would require atleast 2-3 gallons flow for a pump and that the tank should be atleast twice as big as the flow.  This in itself tells me that this little tank does not have enough capacity for what I need.  I need to get out my graph paper and start drawing something up.  ;)  -30 C is too darn cold to be outside welding and such anyhow as my feet get cold if I am standing in one spot too long.  I will see what I can come up with today.  :)   

Brad.
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

ickirby


logman81

Some neat stuff guys. Lumberjack48 thanks for the info,that is a nice little dray but to small for my needs. I'm going to build one that can haul 16' logs and will have a floating boogie setup. ;D
Precision Firewood & Logging

logman81

I have a question about what type of shafting I should use for the main loader shafting. I was thinking about using 3 1/2'' 4140 but it is not the easiest to weld. It needs to be strong because it will bare the weight of the loader arm and grapple plus the weight of the logs. It needs to be weldable because I will be welding a sprocket to it. Let me know what you think I'm planning on starting on the project in a few weeks if everything goes to plan.   
Precision Firewood & Logging

lumberjack48

That Hill lake dray handled 16' logs , a lot of guys put a another axle under them, made it pull a little easier. We used it for loading trucks, sorting and piling wood on landing, besides skidding.
On good going my dad put 2 cords on it.
Third generation logger, owner operator, 30 yrs felling experience with pole skidder. I got my neck broke back in 89, left me a quad. The wife kept the job going up to 96.

logman81

I didn't realize that it could handle 16' logs it looked kind of short. I would rather build my own using my design that way I get exactly what I want for my needs. And when it is finished and thoroughly tested I my decide to manufacture them and sell them locally as I do with the log skidding arches and firewood conveyors that I build in my spare time. :) 
Precision Firewood & Logging

Stephen Alford

   Hey logman81, just a couple of thoughts. I prefer to have the loader on the back,over the years the work space behind the trailer has worked for me. The other advantage is I can back the tractor up to the trailer and just have the loader on the 3 pt hitch for hourly jobs. On an off road unit I have found the fold out legs to work better than ther telescope style. Personal preference I guess. there are some pics in the gallery. Good luck with the build.   :)
logon

logman81

Thanks for the thoughts Stephen and thanks for wishing me luck.
Precision Firewood & Logging

logman81

Still looking for suggestions on what type of steel I should use for the construction of the main loader shaft. I was thinking 4140 but not sure. It needs to be a weldable metal because I,m going to need to weld a sprocket to it.
Precision Firewood & Logging

Ironwood

I hear you on weldable, but can you put some type of sprocket mounting fange, weld that to the mast and bolt the sprocket to that (if the sprocket wears out or breaks you dont have to go back thru the welding process. Just a thought.

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

logman81

That is a grate idea Ironwood I think I might just do that it makes sense to do that thanks.
Precision Firewood & Logging

logman81

What do you think I should use for the loader mast 4140 or another metal?
Precision Firewood & Logging

mog5858

if you are going to weld 4140 make shere you take the sweat out of the steel. or you could have underbead cracking.

Ironwood

Sorry, no expert at alloys, I have a local friend who I quiz on that when I need to.

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

logman81

mog5858 I'm not to sure on what you mean by taking the sweat out of the steel. I'm used to working with mild steel and aluminum, Do you mean preheating it before welding?
Precision Firewood & Logging

UN Hooker

For a joy-stick loader valve you may want to look at this one. For the money its a pretty decent valve.
http://baileynet.com/index.php?id=31&productcategory=1000010       Look at #220-951.
I have a 4 spool one - they did not have the 6 spool when I bought mine.
   UN
Retired Toolmaker/Moldmaker
C-4 & C5D TF - 5500 Iron Mule - Restored 4400 Ford Ind. FEL ex Backhoe w/custom built boom w/Valby 360* grapple w/18' reach - 920 Cat w/bucket & forks w/clamp - Peterson 10" WPF - LT-15 - Cooks Catsclaw & Dual tooth setter - many Husky saws

logman81

Thanks UN Hooker that is really close to what I'm looking for just missing on lever. :D I need one that has the two four position joy sticks plus two levers to operate the stabilizers and one to open and close the grapple, like the one on the baileys log loaders. 
Precision Firewood & Logging

barbender

I ran a little loader that had joysticks with the seperate lever for the grapple open/close, I thought it was kind of a joke. I'd way rather have a switch controlled solenoid so the switch could be mounted right on your joystick. The other configuration was way too slow, you basically had to let go of the stick so you could grab the grapple control.
Too many irons in the fire

logman81

I understand your point but I want to keep it simple and not get to involved with electronic stuff! :)
Precision Firewood & Logging

redlaker1

if you dont want to go electric you could put a hydraulic selector valve on a foot pedal to control the grapple circuit.    foot on for rotation,   foot off for grapple.

if you do go electric its pretty simple really,   you could put a button on the joystick,  or a foot button like the ones that old ford trucks had for the dimmer switch.    as long as you have 12v power you are good to go. 

this is what I am going to do if I put a grapple/rotator on my excavator,  as I only have one aux hyd circuit

todd.crow

As someone has mentioned I have been building a boom and grapple for my log trailer. It has been pushed to the back burner by several projects. I hope to be able to get back to it before spring and the farm field work begins again.
I also bought the plans from sawmillplans.com, but I think the only thing I used from them was the idea of the hyd motor for the swing system.




There were so few specs in those plans it rendered them basically useless. I designed my version with a 3D design program called Alibre.





The swing shaft on my boom is 3 3/4" 4140 steel. We did not welded to it, it sits in a sleeve and is held by 2 set screws. 



On the shaft rides 2 tapered wheel bearings (the same as in a Semi rear axle). We machined into a 6 1/2" by 5/8 wall tubing places for the race to go and then welded the attachment point for the boom to the tubing. The swing gear is bolted to a flange that is also welded to the tubing.




For the hyd valves I decided to use two valves, a 2 spool for the outriggers and then a five spool for the boom/grapple. I plan on a seat mounted to the swivel where I can operate the boom so having 2 valve bodies works out fine.

You could do something similar, just remove one valve from the backhoe valve configuration, and add it to a single stacking valve.

Todd

Coon

I was just looking up info on the two sets of control valves that I have here to use on my project.  I have a 5 spool bank made by Prince and the other set is FPS which was bought out by Parker and is a 4 spool bank.  The nice thing I found out about the Parker valves that I have is that for $150 plus taxes and shipping and such I can buy a dual joystick conversion kit.   ;D   I see this as a bonus to what I was planning on doing.  I will set up the valve as I currently have it now but will also set it up so I can convert it at a later date when I have the money for the conversion kit.  Now all I need is a pump and a motor for the grapple rotator.  ;D

I am putting on both banks of valves to give me other options as well.  In the future I will be building a dump box with a sand spreader on the back.  I will be able to load the box with a hoe bucket and be able to dump the box and use the spreader or convert it all back to use as log trailer.

This is the bank that will be converted to dual joysticks.



 

Brad. 
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

logman81

Tod.crow it looks like you have a very good design going there. Do you think I could weld a sprocket collar to the 4140 shaft then bolt the sprocket to that. How would I weld the collar to the shaft? Would I have to use a collar made of 4140 or can use mild steel and can I use my mig to weld it. Were did you get the sprockets from? Sorry for all the questions but want to make sure I have everything all figured out before I start building. I would have to agree about those plans I'm basically using them for the basic concept not the actual design.   
Precision Firewood & Logging

todd.crow

If you look at my shaft, there are 2 pieces to the shaft. A shaft of 3 3/4 with a collar that we machined to have a ID 10 thousands smaller than the OD of the shaft. We heated the collar in the oven to as hot as we could get, while the shaft was in the freezer. We then (in a hurry) took the collar and slid it over the shaft and once the collar became the same temp as the shaft (took about 10 seconds) it will never move again.

We avoided welding on the shaft. Didn't want to create any places for cracks to form. You can get Drawn of Mandrel tubing that can slip over your shaft to weld your base/boom to.

I purchased my sprockets from Surplus Center. I did have to use the mill to machine out the centers to fit over the tube that they attach to.

Todd

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