Log skidder for small woodlot ???

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I have a small woodlot with a pretty fair supply of trees that will give me a nice supply of lumber. I am planning to purchase a bandsawmill shortly. Now comes the problem. How to get the logs from the woods to the mill. I already own a Quadractor ( which is kind of like a small skidder),but it is too small to do all that I would like to do. Does anyone have any helpful suggestions:such as a farm tractor, a "doodle bug",an ATV?? Any others?? Thanks in advance for your expected replies. 73's Arnold

-- Arnold (ajkc2fli@local.net), November 16, 2000

Answers

wait till the ground freezes, easy to drag them then, ATV should work, if you keep it under 10 foot

-- STAN (sopal@net-port.com), November 16, 2000.

Arnold are you by chance a telegrapher i used to work for western union years ago when you signed off with 73s sure brought a lot of memorys. sorry i cant help you with the wood lot.i have a tractor that i would use 73 Bob in s.e.ks.

-- Bobco (bobco@hit.net), November 16, 2000.

Arnold! Ole jeep has a Woodmizer bandmill and does quite a lot of sawin. He also has a John Deer with a front loader [with forks] to haul the logs to where the mill is. Draggin'm to the mill proved to be a hassle for'm. Dirt dulls bands and he hates sharpenin bands! Sometimes it can't be helped but most of the time the dirt is very limited because of the loader. Almost any tractor would work fine but it should have the wide frontend as it's almost impossible to steer with a "tricycle" front end and especially no power steering. A person could also use a three point with forks on the back of a tractor to move'm with.

73 de Ka9jyn/e. hootgibson. Matt. 24:44

-- hoot (hoot@pcinetwork.com), November 16, 2000.


Arnold, we skid out logs with a 50 hp Ford SU 4000 tractor, it's low to the ground, and has a wide front end and wheelbase. Wait till the ground is either very dry, or very froze, but no snow, unless the ground is absolutely flat. An alternative that we used when faced with a thick stand of trees in the way, and a very steep slope to climb, was to hire someone who had a hitch of pulling ponies, Haflingers, to drag the logs up out of the woods. That is really the best way to go for minimal impact on the rest of the forest, and they did a better job than the tractor! Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), November 17, 2000.

Thank you for all of your helpful input. 73 Arnold

-- Arnold (ajkc2fli@local.net), November 17, 2000.


I skidded a lot of hardwood logs, to 16' with an old ford 9N, I used a boom onb the 3 point hitch, the additional weight on the back tires increased the traction, also I had chains. I loaded them to the skid way on the mill with a set of pallet forks. Now I use a NH Ford, 3010 57 HP tractor. The trouble with ATVs are they are not heavy enough.

-- Henderson (redgate@echoweg.netm), November 17, 2000.

A truck with a hydraulic winch on the front bumper works well as long as the logs are not too big. It comes in handy for a lot of other things too.

-- Marci (ajourend@libby.org), November 17, 2000.

Sawmilled from 1982 to 1992 or there abouts, small scale. Lacking a real skidder I did fair with a small utility type tractor such as Ford 8N, in that size range. I happen to use an Oliver 550. Trick is to lift frt of log slightly off ground. You can pull alot if it is not diggin in. I would pull whole trimmed trees out to landing and then cut into logs. Made a set of hooks for the 3 point drawbar from 2 old cant hook hooks. Used short pieces of chain to connect to a clevis on the bar. Using the hooks is quick to hook up and most time could remove by lowering 3 point so they would come off front of log. Kept a hammer hanging on rear of tractor and gave each hook a tap after I raised log to help set it deeper. Don

-- Don (dairyagri@yahoo.com), November 17, 2000.

I also have a bandsawmill and use a stoneboat pulled behind my Farmall B to get my logs up to my mill. It's basically a large sled with heavy oak runners which I built myself. I just use two heavy slabs to roll the logs up onto the stone boat with a canthook. You don't need snow, you can pull this on bare ground or snow. It's amazing what that little Farmall B will pull up. Sometimes I wonder if it will even move, but away we go!

-- Pray, Wisconsin (saddlemound@hotmail.com), November 23, 2000.

The answer is on my web site. Check it out for yourself. If you have any questions give me a call at the numbers on the "contact us" page.

http://www.wildak.net/~whtwolf/

-- Al J. Turinsky, Jr. (whtwolf@wildak.net), April 02, 2002.



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