Hauling Logs

[Sawdust Lover]

Hello All, I have been a member for a few weeks now and am really enjoying the knowledge on this site. I don't have many sawyers near me where I live so it's nice to be able to chat with you all. I have been a woodworker for 25 years and have a pretty serious woodworking buisness. I bought my Timberking 2000 sawmill a year ago to saw my own lumber and found that you really don't know wood until you start sawing it. I already owned a good size John Deere tractor so I had that covered. I bought the sawmill and built a few buildings to keep the mill in and store the lumber. I just started building my solar kiln last week so I will have almost everything built. So know that I have spent all this $$$$$ I am ready to roll. Just one more problem, I need a way to haul the logs. I tryed to get my local loggers to haul me logs but that didn't last long because it was easier for them to haul it right to the big mills. So I am looking for a way to haul my logs myself without costing me a fortune on a big log truck. I am able to get free logs here and there but I need a way to haul them without breaking the bank. I was wondering how some of you haul your logs to your site. I don't bring my mill to other sites I leave it here at my home.

[bama20a]

Here is one that is from our famous (well almost,DanG,
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,17613.0.html
Looks like a great way to load afew logs with.

[Tree Feller]

Any tandem axle utility trailer will work for hauling one or a few logs. The logs can be parbuckled onto the trailer pretty easily with the addition of a winch, some ramps and sheaves.

[mikeb1079]

i use a car hauling trailer, a winch, and a technique called parbuckling where the logs are basically rolled up the side of the trailer.  you can only skid a small log with most winches but you can roll HUGE logs.  my total investment is under $1500 and i can haul around 6000 lbs.  works for me   ;D

[pineywoods]

This works for me. The tractor has a front loader with forks..



 

[Okrafarmer]

You can usually get an old flatbed or single-axle dump for around $2,000 or so. I say this with the warning that it will take a little fixing, inevitably, and that could cost another $2,000 or so.....

[redbeard]

 

  

  This truck has really worked out well for me. Iam not portable and it allows me to mill customers logs at home. I can haul 1000 bf pretty eaisly or around 10K lbs. Its a 86  F700  with the brazilian diesel  wished it had the detroit those are powerful. It is CDL and it costs around 100.00 per month for tabs and insurance. I also use it alot setting big logs on mill.

[kelLOGg]

I paid $450 for my tandem trailer, twice that to replace the MH axles and tires and I forgot how much for the Rule winch to parbuckle logs onto it. It's a 4 ton trailer but I limit cargo to 2T because of the truck size. Here I am loading a 16' post oak, 22" diameter. I had to double the line on the winch and it was still a challenge to roll it up.



 

[Peter Drouin]

Hi Redbeard nice truck

[Magicman]

 

 
This works well for me.

[Okrafarmer]

I used to do the same thing, MM, but with my peavey.

[Slingshot]

  Here is my rig;



 


_________________________

[Tom the Sawyer]

I too used to haul home free logs whenever I could get them.  I'd stockpile them until I had enough to make the trip worthwhile and then call a portable sawmill to come saw them.  His WM used a boat winch to load the logs and I used a similar method (minus the winch) to get them home.  This was 20 years ago...


  

  

 
It can be done.   ;D

Tom

[scsmith42]

I use a dual tandem axle gooseneck trailer behind an F450.  The trailer deck is 37' long, which allows me to load a skid steer on the back and some logs on the front.




In this instance, this whack of logs is just a tad too big for my skid steer.... :D

If I did not frequently haul oversize logs, something like a Metavic Wheeler Senior trailer would be ideal for loading, transporting, and then unloading at the mill.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

 :D Where did you get those logs?

[SPD748]

Holy smokes!!! ^^^ Now that's a log!

-lee

[Sawdust Lover]

Thats really interesting. It's neat to see how you all move your logs. I might want to get something a little bigger then the Tersel Tom the Sawyer. That must have been heavy on that little car. Looks like I am going to get a new trailer and set it up with a winch system. Thank you all! Hey scsmith, Do you quarter those logs so you can saw them? Thats one heck of a load.

[logboy]

The sky is the limit when it comes to hauling logs. 



A word of warning. If you end up doing a lot of hauling with an undersized vehicle, you'll probably end up with a slew of repairs. I'll be spending $3k on a transmission eventually for my Xterra.

[thecfarm]

Slingshot,that looks good and simple and not cost a lot too. You turn the whole thing by hand,I mean push it? My logs are getting further and further away from the mill. I may have to build something like that.

[scsmith42]

Hey scsmith, Do you quarter those logs so you can saw them? Thats one heck of a load.

I sure knew that they were back there when I brought them home! 

My mill is a swing blade, and I produce quartersawn oak almost exclusively.   Fortunately I don't have to quarter the logs before milling.

Those two logs produced over 3,000 board feet of lumber.  They came from a construction site about 15 miles from my farm.  Over in one corner of my shop is some 16" wide QS veneer that I made from them.  The ray's extend almost entirely across the leaves.

There is a log somewhat larger than these on my logyard right now - it's 70" on the small end.  At the loading site I had to pick it up from each side with two different pieces of equipment, and then back my trailer underneath it for loading.  Back at the farm I used a 25 ton crane to unload it from the trailer.

In the photo it appears that I'm standing in front of the stump; actually I'm standing in front of the small end of the log about 12' above the big end cut.  You can see my backhoe forks on the left side in the background, and the skid steer on the right.

[Jemclimber]

WOW!!!! 

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

And Welcome to The Forum  ;) ;D ;D 8) As has been said get a decent truck for the job as you only end up flogging out a good one if your overworking you personal truck A crane truck or a truck forklift and loader are a good combo too  ;)

JR looks like you have the same Model International 4700  ??? as I have sitting in Joes shed in PA Mines a 97 model 4700 20'bed  dont know what im doing with it yet ???  its a dang good truck though  ;) ;D ;D 8)

Regards Chris

[logboy]

Yup Chris, its an International Low Profile 4700. Good truck, just had a new beavertail and hitch put on the back end of the 16' deck.  Its a dog on horsepower though as its an old fleet vehicle so I'm sure the engine is tuned to the low 175 hp setting. I need to get it to a dealer to see if they'll hook their computer up and change it.

[Tom the Sawyer]

Sawdust Lover,

The car was actually a 1986 Honda Civic Wagon, I think it was rated to tow 1500 lbs.  I usually moved one log at a time but I had a deadline to get them out of the burn pile so I took two smaller ones.  When you really want the logs you use what you can.  That was a great car, I thought it died at 221,000 miles, but it just broke a timing belt.  Cost $100 to fix it but I had already decided to move on and traded it in.

I need to move logs more often, and now I have a sawmill to haul, so I moved up to something more appropriate to my needs.  Here's a couple of freshly cut sycamore logs picked up from a tree service customer's home.


 

2001 F350 V10 with an 11' flatbed dump.  Trailer is a 20' w/dovetail, rated at 10K and using my design of a log loading arch (as many on here have built) powered by an 8000 lb MileMarker winch.

Much, much more efficient and considerably easier on my back and legs.

Tom

[Sawdust Lover]

Tom, That looks more like it. Nice set up! I really got a bunch of ideas the last few days off this topic. I think I am going to buy a trailer like yours and get a used International truck. The price on those trucks looks to be much cheaper on a good size truck then a Ford or Chevy. This way I can use the trailer with my 2500 pickup for a few logs or use the big truck and haul my tractor with forks on the trailer for the bigger loads. I just need to find a truck that dumps in case I leave my tractor at the loading site.

[kelLOGg]

Tom, can you show your loader in operation?
Bob

[sawmillhand]

RedBeard  that is a awesome set up  ;D. I have been looking for something like that with a small crane or palfinger but having the dump bed is even better.  8) 8)

[Tom the Sawyer]

kelLOGg,

I thought I had a little bit of video from that trip but the quality wasn't very good and I haven't been able to find it.  The log lifting arch is not currently mounted on the trailer but I'll try to get some video the next time I use it.  I was very pleased with how it lifts while moving the log forward onto the end of the trailer, reset the chain and pull it on up.  Still have a few modifications to make, would like to limit the travel range while in use.  The larger log was about 3000 lbs, the smaller one maybe 2400 lbs.  It had no trouble lifting them with a single line pull.  From the time the trunk hit the ground, they had it bucked into 2 - 9'9" lengths, rolled about 30' around another tree to the driveway and loaded within 20 minutes.    8)

I had a local steel supplier fabricate the arch and the pivot point/jack mounts for trailer (cost $330), two jacks to keep the trailer from tipping while lifting ($120), and the winch was on sale for $300 with free shipping = $750.   

Tom

[slider]

My rig is old but it works for me.

  

 

[Okrafarmer]

Slider, what brand and model of grapple loader is that? Looks like it works pretty well.

[Tom the Sawyer]

kelLOGg,

I found some video clips.  These aren't very good but I put them together so you can see it in operation.  I still plan to shoot some video specifically showing how the log lifting arch works. 

http://www.youtube.com/v/2PNc5ITIFjo

Tom

[kelLOGg]

Very nice, Tom. As the arch lowers for the next pull does the pull cable/chain automatically remove the slack to get the max pull? It seems so from the video but I couldn't be sure.
Bob

[Magicman]

That is a very innovative idea for sure.   

[Tom the Sawyer]

No, it is all manual.  I cut out the repositioning of the chain to save on the length of the video (you may see the arch angle change between edits).  In the first part I was loading by myself and the winch control cable is only 8' long (on a 20' trailer).  That makes for a lot of back and forth coordinating the winch cable and the log chain.  I am getting an extension cord for the control but it goes much faster if you have someone operating the winch while you reposition the chain. 

I was using a 3/8" chain while loading that big log, a 5/16" chain is much easier to handle and shorten the slack.  On smaller logs (15-20") you can load most with a single lift of the arch and then pull directly to the proper load balance point.  In the second half of the video it does show someone repositioning the chain as the log was pulled up to the trailer and then lifting it on to the trailer.  The dovetail on the trailer comes in handy to clear the bottom lip of the log as it comes over the end of the trailer.

The next time I use the lifting arch I'll try to shoot some video that does a better job of illustrating the process.  I had seen a couple of different versions of this type of device on the forum and designed something I thought would work for me.

[sweetfarm]

Nice set up.   You should mount a winch block on the side attached to one of your d rings when pulling your second log.  That way you could steer the log with less effort and by yourself if you have to.   How do you unload?

[EZland]

Nice work Tom.  I like it.  I have some logs lined up and some of the locations are ify.  So I like the idea.  Besides I really need a trailer for my tractor. 

So much to learn. 

[sigidi]

I have installed a 12,000lb winch below the tray of the ute and above the tow ball.



I hitch the bobcat trailer up drive out to the logs, pull up alongside of the logs, then pull out the bobcat ramps I have stowed under the deck of the trailer, run them out the side of the trailer. Pay out the winch cable to the opposite side of the trailer in the middle, through a pulley



then out and OVER the top and then UNDER the log/s on the floor and then bring the cable back to tie off on the side of the trailer.






Then I can either use the remote control for the winch or the cable control wired into the winch (but as others have mentioned this can be slow and painful as you cant be at the logs helping at the same time as winding the winch in) then I wind the winch in and 'roll' the logs up the side of the trailer onto the deck.

Might be able to post a vid of it in action.....

http://youtu.be/uNl9sFtP9cc

its a bit grainy - poor quality phone, but you get the idea. Haven't quite worked out how to get two layers on the trailer yet  ;D ;)

[Leigh Family Farm]

Sigidi,
Nice set up and thanks for the video. To get two stacks of logs, you only really need to move the pulley up higher. Maybe metal posts on the one side of the trailer and the pulley is linked to all of them to prevent too much bending/stress. Maybe some of the other FF members with metal work experience can say if this will work. just my two pennies rubbed together...

[Tom the Sawyer]

Log master,

I do have a pulley on that cable for hooking to the d-rings but didn't think to use it.  I normally load the smaller log(s) first, roll them to the side and then put the largest one in the center.  In this situation, the largest one had to be loaded first.

Unloading...  I originally had a utility trailer (w/ 1' tall angle iron sides) and would either parbuckle logs over the side (rough on the bed) or angle them up the rear ramps using a comealong (before I bought the winch).  I looked for a long time for a 10K deckover trailer but this one came along at a very good price.  The load balance point is over the axles which makes the fenders a pain when unloading.  I usually drag the logs off the end of the trailer with my tractor. 

I move logs to the mill or staging areas with a Princeton all-terrain forklift.  Called 'piggy-backs', these are the ones you see riding around on the back of semi-trailers and are used for unloading building materials.  Rated to lift 5000 lbs, which is the capacity of my B-20 mill, they only weigh about 4300 lbs.  I like that efficiency and the ability to haul it myself if that were ever necessary.  Three wheel drive with large flotation tires on the front, it will turn on a dime, travels on grass, gravel or dirt without getting stuck and the little Hatz diesel seems to run forever on a gallon of fuel. 



 
1993 Princeton Teledyne D5000

Tom

[Slingshot]

Slingshot,that looks good and simple and not cost a lot too. You turn the whole thing by hand,I mean push it? My logs are getting further and further away from the mill. I may have to build something like that.

thecfarm;
               I just got back on this thread and saw your question. Here is a picture of
   how my post is rigged. I do push it around by hand but the circle plate with grease
   helps it to slide around;



 



 


______________________________-
Charles

[JHEPP08]

Hey do you have any plans for the arch deal?
Thanks

[jmouton]

we use a tandem axle gooseneck behind  my 250 diesel ,,,  but i have found out i am going to tear some stuff up if i dont get bigger ,,  i do have a international  s-1900  flat bed  thats not plated  ,, but it will be soon and i am  looking for a 10 ton trailer  ,,  hauling 8 to 10 k  pounds on my gooseneck is a bit much  ,   medium duty trucks  cheap to plate here in mich ,   log plates are cheap ,, so are trailer plates ,,  when we buy logs   ,  we usually get 20 to 30  oaks ,,   so  bigger trailer  less loads ,,,,

                                                                                                              jim